Snail

I love it when a commission takes you in a direction you may not otherwise have gone in. Look at these teeny tiny garden snail shells sat next to a 5p.

I'll keep you posted on this one as it develops.

The pale sunlight of the north...

...rose across the wilderness.

This little beauty posted today to a new home. This was one of the scribblings I penned on my Arctic trip.

What a lovely Show

I really enjoyed Sparkle. The setting is gorgeous, with the high vaulted ceilings of the Church. There were good crowds, and a lovely atmosphere. Healthy sales, were a pleasing reward after all the hard work of getting ready for it. Here are a few of my favorite stands:

This is Wick Hutton's fabulous oil lamp. I just NEED one of these! Unfortunately naked flames were banned, so you couldn't see the full glory of the flame coming out of the spot. Look at it's feet. Tiny pickle forks! LOVE.

Wick Hutton's garden candles and bird feeders made from vintage cups and saucers were best sellers. Rumor has it Wick had a very late night getting more stock ready for Sunday.

Wick's daughter Emma Hutton, makes the most fabulous jewellery. Her website here is well worth a visit. She makes unique and quirky pieces, which I would wear. She is self taught and has mastered the art of casting. She trained in theatre design, and as you can see here, her jewellery was displayed in a perfect little 'set'. 

Katherine makes the most scrummy sketchbooks, notebooks and diaries by hand, using traditional bookbinding techniques but with some amazing contemporary papers and fabrics. You can find her website here. As a sketchbook junkie, I thought her product was lovely, and she was possibly the most smiley person at Sparkle!

Known to me as the mouse lady, Claire has possibly the cutest stand ever. She doesn't do websites, blogs, or social media so she is tricky to shop from unless you see her in person, but you can e-mail her at claire212jacob@btinternet.com if you see a little handmade treasure on these jam packed shelves that you would like to own. Her prices start at 50p, and I don't think anything is over £10. She has teeny peg dolls, beautifully crafted bunting, palm sized mice, velvet strawberries with individually hand sewn beads for seeds, a stocking fillers dream, and guaranteed to make you smile.

And finally jeweller Alex Yule, who had jewellery made from castings of the most gorgeous minute urchin and muscle shells I have ever seen, amongst other things. Her website is here. 

Sparkle

Getting ready for Sparkle at the Landmark Arts Centre in Teddington, SW London tomorrow. Just finishing stock lists, mailing list form, and a few prices. My stand has been constructed and deconstructed. Everything has been finished and polished. Nearly ready, and very weary. Here's the mock up in the kitchen.

Woohooo! any excuse for fairy lights.

Night night.

x

Made Just So

Just posted off this little lot to the beautiful 'Made Just So' in Bristol.

Made Just So

32 The Mall

Clifton Village

Bristol 

BS8 4DS

www.madejustso.com

Arctic hare pins

Although these were started a while ago, they only just got finished today. I think I will be wearing one tonight!

Who would have thought that something that appears so simple, can be so time consuming to make?

The trouble is, when silver is thin, it is actually quite soft. When you heat it, the molecules jump around and it becomes more soft. Here's the problem... you need a pin that is thin, so you can get it though your clothes easily, and it doesn't leave a great hole afterwards. Yet you need the pin to be rigid so it doesn't bend easily and distort.

The pin has to be heated, when it is soldered to the back, so pin = soft :-(  To make silver hard again, you need to 'work harden' it. By hitting it with a hammer, rubbing it with a burnisher, or tumbling it in steel shot. Firstly I tumbled mine. But when I took them out of the barrel polisher they were a bit bent. I rolled them in steel plates to straighten them, but the plates were marked, and the pins didn't look so good. So today I sanded the pin to a fine point, and rubbed it with my agate burnisher, and finally I got it to the standard that made me happy.

As you can see, this little chap is marked with a full set of British Hallmarks. Some have been given a high polish and some a brushed finish. He is just 3cm long from the tip of his front paws to the tip of the back ones. It comes with a solid silver tie pin stopper, and is beautifully packaged in one of my special boxes. If you nip over to my 'Charlotte Bezzant Jewelley' facebook page' you will find out how to buy one at a special price!

MADELondon

For the first time, Brighton's Contemporary Craft Fair MADE hit London. The Venue One Marylebone, an old church on the edge of Regent's Park. Sponsored by the marvelous madebyhandonline.com it was a fantastic opportunity to see over 100 of the country's best designer makers together, spread over four floors in a great venue.

I had recently discovered the ceramics of Porte-bonheur de Wollie. Both jewellery and functional items that make me smile, so it was a pleasure to see them here. My one and only treat was the two piece doll brooch you see here at the bottom right, but I think I am going to put it in a little frame as a mini work of art. I loved the attention to detail of the printed bag, with ribbon and sticker, a proper little gift to myself.

If I had had more pennies to spend, then I would definitely have bought a tiny enamel plate by Buddug Wyn Humphreys. She was showing in the crypt as part of the Dialogue Collective. I have loved following the adventures of Buddug and Jesse and their fantastic little shop, and you should definitely take a peek at the creative exploits of this pair here. Living the dream!

The lovely plates, and also Welsh Love Spoons.

Also in the crypt, were Katrin Moye's ceramics. The colours of the glazes she uses really appeal to me (I suppose I am always using blue and green stones in my jewellery, so it's no wonder I like them) but I also love her use of pattern, and would be quite happy if Father Christmas delivered me one of these.

I also enjoyed seeing Helen Noake's jewellery as always - tiny figures and animals in resin set in silver. I would definitely wear some of Helen's bits (and I am a fussy thing!). Finally, I was amazed to see makers that had been at Farnham Maltings the weekend before like Henrietta Fernandez. How do they have time to make so much stock - do they ever sleep?

I am sure the organisers of MADELondon must be giving themselves a big pat on the back for such a successful event. Still no time for them to rest, MADE12 takes place at the end of November in Brighton - just think of the amzing Christmas shopping you could do!

Gem shopping

The October Gem Fair is one of the bigger ones of the year. I came away with this little lot...

Aquamarines

Blue Topaz, Ametrine and Green Amethyst

Small Periodot cabs, Green Tourmaline, Faceted Periodots

Pink Tourmaline

(Just could not resist these shades)

Garnets

I have been feeling rather low about my jewellery right now (for reasons the censor asked me to remove!), but opening these up today brought a big happy smile to my face, and reminded me that I love what I do.