Such a nice day!

Spent a lovely day with a good friend, in our local florists 'Jo Butler Flowers', doing a little day course making table centres. The florist is owned by the lovely Jo, who not only has a great eye as a florist - she also stocks some delightful homewares, and sources and paints one off bits of furniture and household items. It was a perfect blend of floral creativity, cups of tea, nice chat, a lovely lunch, and then at the end of it we had two stunning displays to take home. This one is my favorite.

Obviously the shop is a feast for the senses. At this time of year, there was a wonderful fresh smell of eucalyptus which we used in the long table centre. There was also a gorgeous smell of rosemary which we used in a more traditional red and berried circular display. There was also lots to look at.

ROSE'S TABLE CENTRE

MY LONG TABLE CENTRE

A BOUQUET READY TO GO

SEA HOLLY

PLANTED SAUCE TUREEN

LINDA BLOOMFIELD CERAMICS

You can find Jo's website here, and read about all the courses she offers, including Thursday Night Flower Club where you and a bunch of friends can sit, chat, drink wine, and get creative with flowers.

One for each of them

A daughter commissioned this, many months ago:

2 x 10 mm aqua blue chalcedony, brushed finish

Then her mother commissioned this:

3 x 10 mm aqua blue chalcedony, brushed finish

And now this commission has just been completed for the other daughter.

4 x 8 mm aqua blue chalcedony, polished finish

Obviously all photographed under completely different light conditions.

Sadly, I will never see all three together as they are all in the USA (the international wonder of Etsy). But I just love the idea of the mother and daughters wearing the same, yet different. I feel strangely humble to be able to join a family together like this.

Working to commission

Posted yesterday. One of my very favorite 'Family' pieces. Hours and hours of work.

For me, working to commission means:

The opportunity to create something unique
To make something utterly special for the wearer
To make the people who give and receive commissioned pieces very happy
To sometimes take your own work in a new direction
To sometimes push yourself design wise or technically

And sometimes:

Feeling the pressure to make it perfect
Deadlines keeping me awake at night
The cost of the final piece not = the hours you have put in, researching, designing, making


But I still love to do them as the top list still outweighs the bottom one in my mind.
x

Rings

While everyone is busying themselves with Christmas posts, I am not quite ready for that yet, so instead will show you the rings that I uploaded to the Etsy shop yesterday. Although you may have seen these before, I only just got round to taking individual pics of some of them, and only just got round to their listings.

Aquamarines, moonstone, and sky blue topaz. Large aquamarines and Topaz £110, medium aquamarines and moonstone £85. Handmade, hallmarked, gorgeous, and if I say so myself, a bargain. Click on the Etsy shop on the right hand side if you are tempted to shop!