Machi de Waard

New Ashgate Gallery exhibit

2012-01-25T18:22:00.002Z

My work will be shown in the New Ashgate gallery Spring Exhibition! The opening is on Friday 3 February, 6-8pm. The exhibit is on from that evening until Saturday 28 April. If you've never been, this is a great reason to go see this lovely gallery in the charming town of Farnham. The gallery is in a lovely location and is well worth a visit!

New Ashgate Gallery

Waggon Yard, Farnham, Surrey, GU9 7PS

Open Tues-Sat 10-5

Registered Charitable Trust No. 274326

JaM

2011-12-20T11:05:00.004Z

I'm Flavour of the Month over at the JaM Gallery in Eton. JaM is located at 81 High Street, Eton, just over the bridge from Windsor. My work is also available on the JaM website (just follow the link to see). I'm also working at JaM part time. I am there pretty much every Thursday, so come by and see this lovely gallery. We have a wide selection of jewellery - including jewellery made by the jeweller who made the Algerian love knot necklace for my favourite James Bond film, Casino Royale with Daniel Craig. That's not all, though, there is also a dazzling array of glasswork and ceramics, along with cards, woodwork, etc. Come and have a look :-) In the meantime, here is a photo of some earrings that are part of my new collection:

Yay!

2011-12-01T00:59:00.002Z

Yiipppppeeee the opening to my show (and 3 other fab artists!) is finally nearly here! The opening is on Saturday, 4-6pm at South Hill Park in Bracknell. My new collection is there to see and I will have matching cupcakes! The cupcakes have edible gold balls on top! Yes, I am overly excited about the cupcakes! wheeeeeee

one down, two to go.......

2011-10-31T12:42:00.002Z

Well, the Crowthorne fair is over for another year. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and had a chat! It went well and it seemed busy - more so than last year. Now it's time to get the orders done from the show and get ready for the next fair, which is the Craft & Design Show at South Hill Park.

dates: 19 & 20 November 2011

price: £Weekend tickets £7, Conc £5 (Advance only)

venue: Wilde Theatre

Enjoy and explore handmade crafts from a wide range of UK artists.

Taster session available on the day in silversmithing, ceramics and printmaking.

Sat 19 Nov - 11am-6pm
Sun 20 Nov - 10am-5pm
Tickets on the day: £5, Conc £3, Under 10s FREE. Family £10 (2+2 or 1+3)

Craft in Focus 28-30 October

2011-10-21T10:29:00.003+01:00

Next weekend is Craft in Focus at Crowthorne! I'll be there, along with loads of fabulous crafters like Lauren Denney - beautiful ceramics (stand 21). We'll be across from each other, I will be at stand 90.

1pm to 6pm Friday; 10am to 5pm Saturday & Sunday

Adults £4.50, Over 65's £3.50, Accompanied under 14's free!

End of Residency show

2011-10-10T14:22:00.003+01:00

Come see my new collection! Opening reception is at South Hill Park on Saturday 3 December from 4 - 6pm. There will be a secret sweet treat related to my new collection for anyone who comes to the reception!

My end of residency show

2011-09-26T14:14:00.001+01:00

Just a quick note - details about my end of Residency show over at South Hill Park are on the website - http://www.southhillpark.org.uk/3842/shows/fundamental-modernist-forms.html

More details to follow soon....with photos!

close-up

2011-09-02T11:20:00.004+01:00

I've been busy, busy, busy getting ready for my End of Residency show. More details will follow, but for your calendar - the opening reception is 4-6pm on Saturday December 3rd at South Hill Park in Bracknell.
In the meantime, a close-up of a commission I did several months ago (aquamarine stone in 14ct gold with pearls necklace):

just some nice pics of cornwall

2011-07-25T14:05:00.000+01:00

silver thimble

2011-07-21T10:00:00.000+01:00

I made this silver thimble for my gran, who is 92 today! Oma is the Dutch word for grandmother. Happy Birthday Oma!!!!

Finished ring

2011-07-15T10:41:00.002+01:00

White gold with sapphires.

Exhibition and news

2011-07-04T09:53:00.005+01:00

There is an exhibition on in Didcot in which you can see the lovely work of one of the Caversham Artists, Julie Simmonds. Details below on the flyer, just click on the image to get a larger, legible version.

Also, the Jelly has acquired a new home - today (10am - 6pm) is the last day to help paint and fix up the new location. If you're free, it's at the Coopers Arms in Reading town centre, across the street from the main post office and NatWest.

And lastly, it's a hard time for arts centres, and several are struggling to hang on in the face of "cost cutting", reduced funding, or relocation. If you are interested in keeping The Fire Station in Henley as an exhibition centre, then move fast - attend the meeting at the Council Chamber of the Town Hall, Henley at 7.30 this Tuesday, 5th July.

South Hill Park in Bracknell has also lost a lot of funding - this is a thriving arts centre that hosts numerous exhibitions of painting, drawing, conceptual art, ceramics, jewellery, to name but a few. Many people attend and enjoy the courses in all manner of artistic fields. Hopefully it will still manage to do all these things, but of course a big chunk of funding gone means cuts have to be made somewhere! To support South Hill Park, please sign the petition here (we have 681 signatures, we need at least 1000): http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/save_our_south_hill_park/

thimble

2011-06-27T11:07:00.004+01:00

Here's a picture of my copper thimble. It's a small project I demonstrated for my classes. I wanted to do something a bit different. If the thimble was silver, of course the solder joins wouldn't show up as here - since I used copper with silver solder. If you'd like to make a thimble, this project and many other interesting projects are in this book: http://tiny.cc/o17r9

cufflinks

2011-06-06T11:55:00.000+01:00

These are 2 of 5 pairs of different custom cufflinks I made last week. Each had a logo from a different company. They are to be presented at a congress today which a representative of each company is attending. I liked the idea behind it a lot - it is showing the links between the companies, between people and cufflinks link the cuffs :-)

just a nice picture of Wales

2011-05-31T21:37:00.000+01:00

copper sculpture

2011-05-23T10:34:00.003+01:00

A good friend asked me to make a copper sculpture...I came up with this:

phew

2011-05-16T10:21:00.005+01:00

So, the Caversham Arts Trail is over for another year. Thanks to everyone who made it out and for all the lovely comments. You can see some lovely pics from the weekends over on Lauren's blog: www.laurenceramics.blogspot.com

I have work over at the Runnymede Gallery until the end of this month.

Unrelated to all that, on Saturday I went to the Dollhouse Show in Kensington to go look at loads of miniature things. It was amazing, everything you could imagine in miniature! I have two tiny bears and I thought they needed a chair and now they have their very own park bench. Oh and I saw another mini bear who was just too amazing to be left behind, so now I have three tiny bears. Here's a pic of my grumpy little bears on their little park benches. With a pound coin in front to give an idea of size...

Plenty to do

2011-05-05T17:45:00.003+01:00

So, if you're at loose ends about what to do this weekend, there's plenty to choose from:

Runnymede Gallery Exhibition - modern jewellery by me, Jane Tadrist, Dana Kidson and Jo King. The opening reception is on Saturday from 12 - 4pm. Follow the link for the address...

Caversham Arts Trail - open 7 & 8 May and 13 - 15 May. Opening reception at Albert Road Day Centre in Caversham from 10.30 a.m. You can download and print a map of the Arts Trail here: http://tiny.cc/z980n

There is also another fantastic Third Thursday event coming up on May 19th. Please click here for more information.

It's been a busy week already, getting ready for all the shows. I also have a couple of new items added in my case in the foyer at South Hill Park if you happen to be going there.
Classes have started again, so it's all go!
Hope everyone is enjoying the fabulous weather, long may it continue!! :-)

Caversham Arts Trail

2011-04-28T16:57:00.002+01:00

Caversham Arts Trail coming soon - 7 & 8 May and 13, 14 & 15 May
Here's our lovely spread in Craft & Design Magazine! Click for a bigger view...

Runnymede Gallery show 7 -30 May

2011-04-12T11:19:00.003+01:00

I'm exhibiting at the Runnymede Gallery in May from the 7th to the 30th. We are having a opening view on the 7th of May from 12 - 4pm. We are: Jane Tadrist, Dana Kidson, Jo King and me. Details to follow...
In the meantime, my hinges course was last week and seemed to go down quite well. Everyone did really well and made at least a couple of hinges. Here is a photo of some of the samples I made, mostly made from bit of copper. I didn't clean them up, so these are just to demonstrate the mechanics of making various types of hinges.

Caversham Arts Trail

2011-04-11T09:47:00.001+01:00

Will be 7 & 8 and 13-15 May... here's the flyer!! Click for a larger view....

Craft & Design awards

2011-03-28T11:55:00.003+01:00

It's the last week to vote over at the Craft & Design selected awards - http://www.craftmaker.co.uk/machidewaard/

It's busy as usual here - been working on an interesting bit of fashion for a fashion retailer...will post more about that after I see if they're happy with the first piece I did, which is in the post now!
Also this week is the last week of term over at South Hill Park. However, I still have a packed week next week as I'm teaching a three-day course on hinges there. Hinges and tube, here we come!
Today the plan is to finish a pile of polishing. After this polishing, I think I'm actually nearly ready to start on some new designs! Well, after the hinges preparation, that is. Nearly there...
Hope everyone enjoyed the measily couple of warm days we had. It's back to chilly now, but there are still people walking around in shorts and t-shirts as if it's tropical weather out now. I guess it is officially spring because of the time change, but I still need a scarf!

custom pendant

2011-03-21T12:46:00.001Z

Photos of a custom pendant made to match my silver bud collection...

finished pendant

2011-03-17T15:56:00.002Z

This is the pendant I was discussing in my last post, now finished:

the ides of march have passed

2011-03-10T18:32:00.006Z

I've been making tube and it's a bit addictive. I keep wanting to see how much smaller I can get it. Here's a photo of two of my attempts - both made from sheet. (I had to colour over my nail in photoshop because being a jeweller is not a good thing for the state of my nails!!)

The tube on the left is copper and just over 2mm outside diameter. The one on the right is silver and 1.3mm outside diameter. I'm thinking this will be useful for making hinges, possibly for odd shaped hinges. Also a wee bit cheaper than buying tube ready made.
So yeah, that's been the excitement this week! I've also been working on a custom pendant for my soon-to-be-ex-boss (she's leaving to pursue her own art). It's a silver rectangle, with edges, so it's sort of a shallow open box. We're going to fill it with the internal components of her father's watch - all the teeny tiny cogs and springs and things. Then we're going to fill it with clear resin. It's the ultimate personal piece of jewellery - made by someone my boss knows, filled with material from her father's watch, and she'll pour the resin herself. Hopefully I'll get a good photo of it when it's done...
Also working on some wedding rings, birthday presents, and making more gold ball stud earrings and rings. Photos coming soon...

time flies

2011-02-28T11:39:00.004Z

It has been incredibly busy again and I find it hard to believe that tomorrow is March! It was just Christmas! This past weekend was eventful. Saturday I helped out in the morning with our Caversham Artists show in Kings Walk in Reading town centre. It was a lovely show and the opening especially, as one of the Third Thursday events, was very well attended. My next show will be the CAT (Caversham Artists Trail) in May.
Then yesterday I taught a one day ring course over at South Hill Park. The idea was for beginners to make their very own ring, which indeed they did, and some even managed to walk away with an impressive four rings at the end of the day! It went well but I was pretty knackered by the time I got home. But today it's back into the fray and I have loads to do as usual.
The weather has been so dreary and the garden is all dark so I also bought a bunch of lovely mini daffodils over the weekend. From one day to the next they flowered like mad, they look super cute. I'm not a great gardener, but hopefully I'll plant them soon to get some colour into the garden.
Anyway, I leave you with a photo of a stack ring I completed recently...

King's Walk Saturday 26th

2011-02-21T11:29:00.002Z

It's been busy around here again - and more coming up! Firstly Caversham Artists will have our show open again this coming Saturday the 26th in King's Walk in the centre of Reading. Come and have a nose around if you're in town! The opening night last Thursday was lovely, with lots of people milling about and enjoying the live music (and wine)!
This week is half term, but on Sunday I'm teaching a day course on how to make a ring over at South Hill Park. In the meantime, I'm hoping to get a bunch of items finished today. The aim is to finish a ring that I've started on and also a pendant which has some pesky firestain.
There's still time to vote for me in the Craft & Design Selected Awards (you can vote at the bottom of the page here: www.craftmaker.co.uk/machidewaard).
It's such a gloomy day out, I think I need a lot of tea to get going. At least I've cleaned my desk and put up a sign that says "Keep Calm and Carry On"...surely that will help....

Third Thursday

2011-02-10T10:25:00.005Z

My next event as part of the Caversham Artists will be taking place on 17th February 2011 at Kings Walk, Kings Street, Reading, RG1 2HG from 5.30pm until 9pm. Why not come along, we would love to see you there.

As part of the Third Thursday event s for one evening only the shop windows will come alive, you will see demonstrations from artists, have the opportunity to talk to the artists and purchase the art work on show, all in the ambient surroundings of Kings Walk through sponsorship by London and County.

There will be musical entertainment, wine tasting from Award Winning local Organic Wine Merchant, Vintage Roots and The Third Thursday team will be on hand to talk about the partnership project between Reading UK CIC, jelly and the future arts events.

Our next event after the Third Thursday will be the Caversham Arts Trail on 7th & 8th and 13th-15th May 2011. There will be 15 venues with 31 exhibitors. Click here to see who is taking part.

(thanks Lauren Ceramics for this text and image!)

Exciting events coming up

2011-02-03T15:44:00.002Z

Plan to go out the evening of February 17th - and enjoy an exciting Third Thursday event in Reading town centre: Please see below the note from Reading's very own Jelly: (Please RSVP to come along!)

We would warmly like to invite you to an evening of creativity at our next Third Thursday, on 17 February, The Walk, Kings Street, Reading from 5.30 until 9pm.

The hosts for the evening are the Caversham Artists who have taken over the currently available units in The Walk, through sponsorship by London and County.

The Caversham Artists have over the past few years put on a number of successful Arts Trails. The work ranges across many mediums including painting, ceramics, sculpture, textiles, decoupage, printmaking and jewellery.

For one evening the shop windows will come alive, you will see demonstrations of how the artworks are made, talk to the artists, all in the ambient surroundings of The Walk.

There will be musical entertainment, wine tasting from Award Winning local Organic Wine Merchant, Vintage Roots and The Third Thursday team will be on hand to talk about the partnership project between Reading UK CIC, jelly and the future arts events.

Why not extend your evening by enjoying the delights of the restaurants and bars in the The Walk ~ details can be found here on the Rguide or if you fancy musical entertainment, head up the road to South Street for Thirdsday Blues where National Steel - Cumberpatch, Cohen and Geraghty with their take on late 19th, early 20th Century Delta Blues will be performing. Click here for full details on Thirdsday Blues.

For more information on the Caversham Artists, you can take a peek at their website http://cavershamartists.co.uk/. The exhibitions will continue throughout February, with a further Open Day on Saturday 19th.

For more information on Third Thursdays, please visit this page http://jelly.org.uk/third-thursdays/

We are always looking for new venues to take part, new artists across all art forms and new guests to come along too so please feel free to pop by, bring a friend and find out more.

Hopefully see you there
Suzanne, Jo and Justine

RSVP suzanne@jelly.org.uk by Tuesday 15th February

Progress

2011-01-28T12:22:00.005Z

Progress is finally being made - I have nearly prepared all the demos for my classes for the whole of this term, which is a big relief. There's a wedding ring on the horizon, a stacking ring, a pendant, some cufflinks and a clasp to repair. I finally got around to buying some PNP paper for etching, seems to work much better than just using a transparency. I took ages to buy some because I didn't know that I had to look at enamelling suppliers! So, some on order.

On the 27th of February I'm teaching a one-day course for beginners on how to make your own ring. On 6,7,8 April I'm teaching a three-day course for advanced students on hinges. If you'd like more info, drop me an email or comment.

I'm entered for the
craft&design SELECTED AWARDS

please vote for me
by visiting
www.craftmaker.co.uk/machidewaard

The Public Vote is open until 31st March 2011
Thank you for your support

Finally getting better

2011-01-21T15:13:00.005Z

Well, the holidays were all about tissues for me. What fun. I am finally emerging from a fog of tissues, pain and medicine. Today's the last day of antibiotics and I am actually getting things done. A craft fair application out of the way today and trying to sort out my domain and hosting for my website. Hopefully this will not result in website failure. If I've managed to code it properly, everything should just continue working. However, if you do happen to spot website blips, I would be most grateful if you could let me know so I can fix them!!

In other news, I sent out a newsletter today. If you'd like one, just drop me a line in the comments. The most exciting thing is that you can vote for me in the Craft & Design Selected Awards on their website here: http://www.craftmaker.co.uk/machidewaard/. Just go to the bottom of the page to vote - registering and voting is free. Also, you get entered into a prize draw so you can win stuff too! Brilliant!

Internship opportunity at South Hill Park Arts Centre

2011-01-13T14:31:00.001Z

Live Art Internship, South Hill Park, Bracknell, Berkshire

2-3 days a week, 3 months with possibility to extend (voluntary)

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join our dynamic visual arts team. The intern will gain experience of multiple aspects of exhibitions work with a particular focus on Live Art during our Live Art season. There will be an opportunity to gain experience of the following tasks:

* Administration
* Artist relations
* Supporting the development of new Live Art work
* Invigilation
* Marketing
* Installing and dismounting exhibitions and events
* Researching
* Supporting events.

South Hill Park has been a centre for innovation in the arts since 1973. In a grade 2 listed 18th century mansion and gardens, people of all ages and tastes find something to enjoy. South Hill Park is proud of its tradition of nurturing talents, among many big names. The centre has six exhibition spaces and an innovative exhibitions programme.

Live Art has been a fixture on South Hill Park’s exhibition schedule and the 2011 season will include the following:

Rules and Regs (www.rulesandregs.org) is an organisation that promotes artistic development. It is also the name for a residency where three artists are invited to create new work in response to a set of rules devised by a curator as a challenge to explore new ways of working. For 2011 Jo Bannon, Florence Peake and Melanie Wilson will be undertaking residencies at SHP.

Testing Grounds (www.testinggrounds.org.uk) a Live Art and Music platform supportive of artistic risks where artists are commissioned to make and present new work rather than reproducing a set performance (participating artists to be confirmed).

Finally, in April At Play returns to South Hill Park for its third year. At Play is an exhibition that explores play and includes Live Art performances at its opening.

Person specification:

This position would suit a graduate with an interest and/or experience in live art processes either personally, as part of their own practice, or professionally. Who wishes to gain more experience of Live Art and more generally an exhibitions department within a public venue. Your primary role would be to assist the exhibitions department during the Live Art Season and act as point of contact for the participating artists. An enthusiastic attitude, time management, organisational, interpersonal and basic IT skills are essential. A driving license and access to a car is helpful as the art centre is outside the town centre with limited public transport. The position may include occasional weekend and evening work.

Please email your CV and statement to:

Gemma Cumming

Email: gallery.tours@southhillpark.org.uk

Website: www.southhillpark.org.uk

South Hill Park, Ringmead, Bracknell RG12 7PA

The CV and statements should indicate: Your availability, why are you interested in this position, previous experience in arts and educational background.

The deadline for application is 5pm 4 Feb 2011.

We aim to interview week beginning 7 Feb and would expect the post to commence on the week beginning 14 Feb

Kind regards

Gemma Cumming

Gallery Education Intern
South Hill Park

only 10 days til christmas!

2010-12-15T15:12:00.002Z

Another commission done, sterling silver star earrings:

blue wave pendant

2010-12-09T15:29:00.002Z

just a quick photo of a wee commission I did last month:

Reveal in Henley

2010-12-03T12:37:00.003Z

Reveal is on this weekend at Henley's Old Firestation Gallery - see www.revealshowcase.com for details. I will be there 10-12 tomorrow morning. Unfortunately I got a little overzealous when I put my display stuff back in the car after Desire, so I've sprained a muscle in my back. So I was dreading setting up at Reveal yesterday because I knew it would hurt. Luckily Lauren (of the beautiful ceramics) and another Caversham artist very kindly carried my cases inside. I am pretty sore today from all the shlepping around yesterday, but jewellery is up at Reveal and even have a small case up at South Hill Park (also for sale, just ask the reception). I have to say, though, that I am super tired. I've been running around since October doing a ton of things and now I'm ready for a rest. Today I had a major lie-in after my last class of the term at South Hill Park. There's more snow in Bracknell than there is in Reading so I guess people were nervous about driving, so there were only three students in the last class!! Oh well, Emy kindly brought biscuits so we had biscuits and made stuff anyway! Hope everyone's keeping warm, it sure is cold out!!!

Desire and Reveal

2010-11-25T09:50:00.002Z

Desire is nearly here - the jewellery and silversmithing fair in Winchester. It starts tomorrow and the private view is tomorrow evening 6-8.30...
Next week is Reveal in Henley, in the lovely old fire station behind the town hall. I always like to go Henley, preferably by walking there. If you walk from Reading to Henley, then you arrive in Henley on a long walkway over the river. It's very pretty...and then there are all the super cozy pubs! I bet that, given the layer of ice on the cars outside, rather a lot of those cozy pubs will have lovely warm fires!
Today is packing for Desire. I say packing, I mean just repacking and adding some extras - like some posters I made for the behind me on the shell scheme. I also need some more boxes and some more stickers and some more postcards and so on. Nearly there, also want to finish some earrings that I'm still working on. I only have one pair of each left, so making a few more which will hopefully be ready in time for my early departure tomorrow morning.
It's a hectic time of year, so to those of you across the pond, enjoy your day off - happy thanksgiving! Enjoy your long, lovely meal!!

Desire Fair at Winchester

2010-11-19T14:30:00.002Z

Next weekend is the Desire Fair in Winchester - below is a bit of info on times and dates and so on. I have no private view invitations left!! I am still getting ready, polishing a pile of earrings this afternoon. I've made posters too, so I'm hoping my stand will look sharp :-) See you there and have a lovely weekend!

Desire Fair - Winchester

26 - 28 November 2010.

I hope to see you there where you will be able to view my latest designs

For further details and directions to the show see below or log onto www.desirefair.com

12.30pm - 5.30pm Friday, 10 am - 5 pm Saturday & Sunday

AA signposted

The Desire Fair showcases stunning collections from emerging British talent together with a number of established contemporary designer jewellers and silversmiths. All are professional craftsmen who have been selected from the very best jewellers and silversmiths in the UK for the quality of their work, individuality and innovation.

Desire offers an opportunity to see and purchase or commission work direct from the designer makers. By discussing the purchase with the maker, you will immediately be aware of their enthusiasm for the creative process and understand the inspiration behind each piece. There is an enormous variety of stylish designs on offer from the latest in exciting and contemporary designs to classic pieces that will not date. Each item sold is unique and can often be designed specifically for the wearer – a world away from the mass produced items offered on the High Street!

To see examples of just some of the stunning designs on offer please visit www.desirefair.com

Jewellery classes

2010-11-17T16:04:00.004Z

Phew, another craft fair done - South Hill Park Christmas Fair was at the weekend and I saw loads of people I knew, so I certainly had a lot of nice chats. Now it's on to the Desire show at Winchester. I still have some tickets for the private view - contact me if you'd like one. I still need to finish a whole bunch of orders and make some things for the Desire show that I've sold out of...
Also booking began this week for the next term of jewellery classes at South Hill Park. Some of my classes are already full for next term. Booking for members who aren't on the course starts next week. Keep trying if you want to get on those courses, but if you can't get on, you can always have a look at the brilliant Janet Richardson's classes in Wokingham - for info just follow this link or look at this poster here (click to zoom):

Friday again!

2010-11-12T10:49:00.003Z

So it's nearly the weekend and nearly time for the South Hill Park craft fair. I'm nearly ready...still a couple of things to make and polish and pack and... yeah, so, nearly.
It's been another busy week - and I've been on the Folksy blog! A lovely selection of silver jewellery was showcased, including my silver crossover ring.
Meanwhile, over on the Reveal blog, there's a piece about my jewellery as part of the 'meet the maker' series in the run-up to the Reveal Showcase in Henley in early December. Just follow this link for more info.

South Hill Park and benchpeg

2010-11-09T22:48:00.004Z

South Hill Park Christmas Craft Fair this weekend!!! 11am - 6pm on Saturday and 10am - 5pm on Sunday!! I'm in the Wilde Theater, see you there!

Proof that I've been working hard - here's a photo of a new benchpeg, followed by a photo of my well-loved benchpeg. The benchpeg is the centre of a jeweller's bench - it's where almost all the work gets done!

South Hill Park Craft Fair 2010

2010-11-04T12:29:00.001Z

Coming up soon: South Hill Park Craft Fair.

things I like

2010-10-27T11:51:00.008+01:00

I've been so busy with craft fairs and teaching and my engraving course that I would like to just mention something else besides all that! So here's a small list of things I like that you might like too. Firstly there's my friends' new shop called Comma in Oxford which I visited last night for the first time. It's brilliantly set up and looks amazing - plus lots of fun gift items, so I need not worry about where I'm going next time I need a birthday present for someone:Then there's the talented bag and purse maker I was next to at Farnham - another good destination for presents for any girly girls you might know: Nicola de Cruz
Then there are the delicate, gorgeous ceramics of Lauren, for example this round vase that I think is absolutely lovely:And then for the knitters in your life (everyone's got one or more!!!) there are the luscious hand dyed yarns by Skein Queen like this one:

Creative Boom and Craft in Focus

2010-10-19T22:46:00.004+01:00

hey hey, just a quick note to say - check out a mention on Creative Boom's fab website! Yay!
Also this weekend is the Craft in Focus show at Crowthorne!! See you there!! Open Friday from 1pm and Sat & Sun 10am - 5pm.

It's late now and I need to get ready for tomorrow, so keeping it short...

silly season

2010-10-18T13:18:00.004+01:00

Well, silly busy season....first craft fair is over and I'm preparing for the next one! This coming weekend, the Crowthorne Craft Fair at Wellington College, Crowthorne is on from Friday until Sunday. It was excellent last year, with a good buzz and people enjoying seeing the fabulous skills on display. Between now and Friday I have four classes, my engraving course, and about a hundred little household tasks. So, busy it is! I'm going to try to get some items up on Etsy and Folksy today as well. I have so many ideas for new items, it's hard to focus on the things that need to happen now...must concentrate and write down all my new ideas for testing after the busiest time of the year.

Also, aside from all that, an amazing new shop has opened over in Oxford called Comma. The website is coming soon, but the shop is already there! If you're in the area, you should definitely give it a look! Especially since it says Hello in giant colourful letters in the window :-)

16 - 17 October Festival of Crafts

2010-10-14T10:43:00.004+01:00

Festival of Crafts is this weekend at Farnham Maltings in Farnham! You can see details here on their website: http://tiny.cc/2v9t5!! Looking forward to seeing and meeting lots of people!! I will be ready, with a new stand, new business cards, new postcards, and of course lots of new lovely jewellery. See you all there!

beautiful flyers

2010-10-11T11:16:00.002+01:00

All the beautiful flyers for the craft fairs are arriving - like this one (click on it to get a larger image):

other art exhibits to see...

2010-10-08T12:38:00.000+01:00

South Hill Park Arts Centre, Ringmead, Bracknell, Berkshire RG12 7PA.

Directions at: http://www.southhillpark.org.uk/aboutUsTravel.jsp

New exhibitions on 11 September - 7 November:

Memento by Ed Pien (Bracknell Gallery)

Out of Print? by Printmakers Council (Mansion Spaces)

The Human Response by Bracknell Camera Club (Community Gallery)

Beauty Spot (diptych) by Rowena Easton (outside the Bracknell Gallery)

Craft Fair (13-14 Nov)

Crowthorne Craft in Focus show

2010-10-07T12:59:00.005+01:00

Wellington College, Crowthorne, 22 - 24 October

I hope to see you there where you will be able to view my latest designs

For further details of the show see below or go to www.craftinfocus.com

The event displays only the highest standard of exhibitor that visitors to Craft in Focus have come to expect. We hope that you will visit us and look forward to seeing you at the show, as rarely is such a wealth of top quality work seen together at a single event.

Due to a strict vetting and selection procedure Craft in Focus has earned an enviable reputation for presenting events of the highest quality, and over the years, reports in the national media have often placed Craft in Focus above all others in the UK. We hope you will continue to visit our events around the country, and do keep an eye on our website for future developments and other shows in your area - www.craftinfocus.com

If you'd like a discount card for entry, drop me an email and I'll send you one!

Happy October

2010-10-04T12:46:00.003+01:00

It's October - welcome to three months of fabulous craft fairs. First up is the Festival of Crafts at Farnham Maltings. Not only is Farnham a lovely town, the Maltings is a great building (are a great set of buildings, technically, I think). There will be loads of fabulous crafts on display. You can see many of the exhibitors here: http://tiny.cc/5sal5
I will have new items on show, including my gold ball hoop earrings (sterling silver with 18k gold ball):
Thankfully I'm mostly over my horrendous cold of last week!So it's back to getting ready for classes, making more things for fairs, finishing my stand...and so on. I'm unveiling my new stand at Festival of Crafts as well....nearly finished....

new logo

2010-09-30T10:33:00.003+01:00

Ah, I forgot to actually put in the pic of the new logo - so here it is:
Also, in December I'm participating in the Reveal Showcase over in Henley. Right at the top end of Henley's main street, the show is set in a lovely space. Do come and have a look at then afterwards you can relax in one of Henley's many fab cozy pubs! In the meantime, you can 'meet' the makers over on Reveal's organiser's blog here: http://laurenceramics.blogspot.com

plodding ever closer to craft fairs...

2010-09-29T13:40:00.003+01:00

So now it's 2 weeks until the first of my autumn craft fairs - Festival of Crafts at Farnham Maltings. I'm still making things and will be sending off a hallmarking package soon.
I went to the Goldsmith's Fair on Monday but was too ill to enjoy it - just helped my friend and then went home again. Yesterday was worse, felt awful and had to get another friend to cover my evening class for me. Today is a bit better, after the long sleep and lots of medicine! I'm going again to Goldsmith's Fair on Friday so will have a proper look around then. What I did see all looked very impressive! In the meantime I have one more class to teach tomorrow and I have a lot to make!
My new website is finished apart from some tweeks here or there: www.machidewaard.co.uk. There's a new logo - same as at the top of this page! New layout and several new pieces of jewellery. It's neater and hopefully simpler for me to maintain!! I also sent out my latest newsletter - if you'd like a newsletter, you can sign up here.
In other news, my friends over at ToDryFor have been very busy indeed - and are opening a shop in Oxford! A real bricks & mortar shop! It's all super exciting and their opening is going to be in a couple of weeks (I'm crying into my tea that I can't make it to the launch, boo hoo!).
Here's a photo of my new gold ball stud earrings:

engraving...

2010-09-23T13:16:00.003+01:00

Ok, not the best photo in the world, but here's a photo of my first go at engraving... Last night we had a lesson again and we started on our lions. This is what mine looks like so far... If you click on the photo, you can get a proper look, closer.

teaching again

2010-09-20T09:23:00.005+01:00

This week teaching starts again at South Hill Park - have lots of plans and things to show, so besides some small preparations to go, I'm ready for that! Went and had a look at the Caversham Artists' show yesterday, lovely location and very nice display too. Sorted out a bunch of stuff yesterday so now just need to knuckle down today so the week doesn't get too hectic. It's going to be busy though, with the teaching and meeting people and the engraving course on Wednesday! I'm updating Etsy and Folksy, adding things a day at a time. I've been adding things that I already had but hadn't been on either site yet. Soon I'll start adding new items (some I have to wait because I still need to get them hallmarked). So here are a couple of photos of washi earrings now up on Etsy & Folksy:

mini pliers

2010-09-15T14:08:00.001+01:00

Look at these super cute tiny pliers - a freebie from Walsh's at last week's Jewellery Symposium at Farnham Maltings:

Caversham Artists autumn show

2010-09-14T10:25:00.001+01:00

Caversham Artists' next show will be taking place on Saturday 18th (11-6pm) and Sunday (12-6pm) 19th September 2010. The exhibition is housed in Mays Barn, a historic 17th century brick & flint building tucked away in the garden of 234 Peppard Road, Emmer Green, RG4 8UA.

Check out the details here: http://cavershamartstrail.co.uk/

inspirational week

2010-09-13T13:35:00.003+01:00

Last week was packed with inspiring trips and new lessons and things. On Monday I went to International Jewellery London, which is a massive all-things-jewellery show at Earl's Court in London. The trip in was the usual London excitement, with the tube being sort of functioning - it had rained so hard that the gutters were overflowing and the water was gushing out of the cracks in a brick wall like a giant waterfall. I still got to the show, though, and was dazzled by the huge selection of gemstones and beads in what was only a small section of the event. There was lots to see and I got some useful information about boxes and display gear.
On Wednesday things got even better with my first evening of a 6 week course about hand engraving. The course is offered by the Hand Engravers' Association and in the first evening I learned a ton of things - even though I got home at 11.15pm I could hardly sleep for thinking about all the useful tips and things. I'm already looking forward to the next class this Wednesday evening!
And then to top off an already exciting week, on Friday I went to the Jewellery Symposium at the Maltings in Farnham. I took the chance at lunchtime to look around the New Ashgate Gallery, which had some amazing work in it. I went to three workshops - Reticulation & Heat Scarring, Keum Boo and lastly and most exciting, Polymorph and making a flocking machine. I'm going to try out all the things I learned as soon as possible! Polymorph is amazing stuff - you can heat it in warm water and then shape it to anything you like and then it cools and hardens to be like nylon. I can see the tool possibilities already!!
And last, but certainly not least, progress is being made on my brochure! I'll be updating my website, sending a newsletter and offering a brochure very soon...hopefully all by the beginning of October - so watch this space!

things are getting busy again...

2010-08-31T13:09:00.002+01:00

Tomorrow is September again, which I can't quite believe. Where did August go? Today is a bit of a running around day and I think I better get used to it - might be a running around type rest of the year! This morning I had an exciting dentist appointment. I use the word 'exciting' here to mean 'not remotely exciting' which is exactly how I like my dentist appointments! Nothing wrong so then I drove over to South Hill Park and took down the students' show. Went pretty well, 6 pieces sold and I'll return the rest when the term starts.
I've started posting again a bit on Etsy and Folksy. Will be trying to increase that slowly. Also finally getting towards the end of a project I'm working on with Hello Wilson - just a couple more things to do and it's nearly finished.
You can probably spot the most exciting news at the top of my blog/etsy/folksy/twitter....see anything new???

want to learn how to make jewellery?

2010-08-23T10:33:00.001+01:00

Click on the photo below for a closer look - take a jewellery class taught by an experienced silversmith and learn how to make your own creative pieces:

Summer course over...

2010-08-20T11:36:00.003+01:00

The summer course is over now, I think it went quite well. We discovered some interesting things, one of which is that hollow items with no holes can indeed explode during soldering. It hadn't happened before and then it happened twice - it is loud, an enormous bang! Luckily there were no injuries!! I covered metal inlay and things that look like inlay, for example, amongst others:

So now back to making more things and very soon hopefully heading off to London to get more boxes, as I'm out of nearly every type of box. I'm hoping the supplier won't be too low on stock...

just randomly...

2010-08-16T10:12:00.002+01:00

Just thought I'd point out these posts in case someone else finds these interesting. They are about the work life of one person in London in the 1940s over on Mary Portas' (of Mary Queen of Shops fame) blog: http://tiny.cc/3lhiu

cont'd

2010-08-11T14:18:00.004+01:00

So Ernest Jones have agreed with no fuss to get the watch fixed, new strap and all at no cost to me. So now I just have to wait another 2 weeks. Sigh. Oh well, at least I didn't have to kick up a fuss.
The guys at The Watch Shop in Reading has been exceptionally helpful and polite. They went out of their way to help me get this sorted.
Anyway, in other news I am working on an order for a wedding gift - a collection for the bride & groom. I had one of the necklaces in stock, so I re-polished that:I've nearly finished a pair of the earrings, of which I had sold out:
And I just need to polish the cuff links which had also sold out:

arggghhh

2010-08-10T15:25:00.002+01:00

So I have been working on jewellery and will stick a photo here soon of some new stuff. However, am now posting to vent. You know when you have a little task that should be super easy? And then it goes horribly wrong? Through no fault of your own? Wellllll....so I had a very nice watch. I liked it a lot. My mom had the same one. She liked it a lot. Hers broke by accident. She wanted the same one again. We searched and scoured the internet, could not find one anywhere. It's a lovely, slim line Skagen watch. Very minimal, neat and modern. In the end, I gave my mom my watch because it seems Skagen have stopped making any of their slimline watches for women. They have men's, but they are way too big.
So, I needed a watch. I went to John Lewis, thinking they might still have a Skagen slimline watch for women because they used to have one. No luck. All other women's watches either covered with diamonds, pink, or otherwise bling. Nothing minimal.
So, went online to a reputable shop and bought a minimal calvin klein watch. No numbers, no extra dials, no fuss. It arrived a bit later than I had anticipated because it was out of stock.
Anyway, lovely watch - far too big. Can't self-adjust it because it has links. Go into town for what should be a 5 minute job and go into Ernest Jones. Can they do it? Yes. Now? Yes. About 40 minutes later - sorry can you come back tomorrow, I can't get it back together. I come back the next day, manager hasn't been able to do it either. Watch in pieces.
Took the watch to another shop. They are amazed at the incompetence of Ernest Jones. Turns out Ernest Jones broke one of the pegs. Come back tomorrow....
Went back today, turns out Ernest Jones hadn't the foggiest what they were doing and took out the wrong peg, breaking the watch strap. I need to buy a whole new strap. I haven't even worn the watch yet. Arrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhh.
So, now another week to wait while this shop fixes the problem. Will be presenting the bill to Ernest Jones. Why didn't they just stop when they realised they didn't know how to do it????
Sigh. Anyway....apologies about the long post about this, needed to vent!!!

more cat action!

2010-08-02T17:21:00.001+01:00

Thomas, who lives near us, made an extended visit today. (I'm also working on jewellery, but a cat photo for now...)

Peppy

2010-07-28T06:31:00.004+01:00

Peppy, originally actually Pepe Romero (influence of a concert I'd just been to) is our family cat and he's nearly 21. He's still going strong and is super cute. Here are some photos to prove it!!

Summer Course at South Hill Park

2010-07-27T17:48:00.001+01:00

There are still a couple of spaces left on my summer course at South Hill Park! See here for details: http://tiny.cc/i1gb8
It's a three day course from Tue 17 Aug - Thu 19 Aug 10.00am - 4.00pm each day.

fun photo

2010-06-26T16:29:00.001+01:00

I just like this photo. It's a super close up of some laser hallmarking on a clasp for a piece I did which is part silver and part 9ct gold. You can't see this detail with the naked eye!!

engagement ring...

2010-06-18T21:55:00.002+01:00

and here's another commission. Sterling silver with ruby, sapphire and CZ. Middle stone in 'mock' tension setting - ie there's a tiny bridge behind it to make it sturdier. satin finish.

more commissioned work

2010-06-14T13:11:00.000+01:00

Here are some photos of a piece commissioned for a birthday. I think I said in a previous post, the hard part with this one was finding the right stone (checkerboard cut aquamarine). I found one and it looks much better than the photo the supplier sent. It also actually looks a lot nicer in real life than on any photo I could take. The light dances over the surface, hard to capture on a photo!! In any case, here is the final ring. Bezel set in sterling silver with a satin finish.

and more wedding gifts

2010-06-10T11:54:00.003+01:00

And a chop of the couple's names on cuff links and a pendant...chop is actually upside down on the cuff links in this photo, sorry! These look fairly simply but they took a whole load of steps to make!

wedding gifts...

2010-06-08T06:13:00.003+01:00

These have now been given to the various wedding guests, so safe to put up some photos. These are brooches and cuff links with silk Chinese cloth. The surround is all handmade by me, sterling silver:

holy busy, batman

2010-05-27T16:37:00.004+01:00

Still manic around here, which you can probably tell, since the number of blog posts has been dwindling! Just getting a job ready and hoping I'll manage to get to the post office before it shuts. Meeting some people tonight, one pair for a custom job and another to return a repair job. Also need to clean and make one earring (for someone who lost one of their pair) and laundry and ....etc. I finished another custom job that I'd love to post photos of, but it's a secret so better wait til after they've been given! Right, I better run off to the bench again but before I go, for another custom job (another secret but I highly doubt the recipient would see this post and even if they did they wouldn't recognise it was for them) we tracked down the right fabulous stone, which is this facet cut cabochon aquamarine:

So much going on...

2010-05-21T11:35:00.001+01:00

It continues to be super busy chez magpienest. Yesterday I did a private craft fair which was ok but to be honest a bit disappointing. Ah well, can't win them all! At least I met a bunch of interesting people and two ladies in particular really liked my jewellery and are hopefully going to come to the Desire show in Winchester to see me. I had good news as well, I've been accepted to Festival of Crafts in Farnham! Hurrah! So I'll be putting up links to that soon on my website. I have a bunch of commissions on the go with the related research. I'm searching for a particular stone, which I may have a look at in Brighton because I'll be there for a friend's wedding. Also have a mock tension setting in the works. For another piece, I thought I was going to photo etch it, but in the end it made more sense to photo etch brass and then use the brass through the rolling mill to imprint the image on to the silver. It worked beautifully, so just need to tidy up the silver and transform it into cuff links and a pendant.
In other news I couldn't sleep and came up with a (I think) pretty good idea for my 3-day summer course I'm teaching over at South Hill Park in August. If you're interested in that course, let me know. The brochure is being printed, so it's not out yet. I believe it's going to be 17-19 August, but I'm waiting for the brochure to be 100% sure!! There will be two summer 3 day courses, one for beginners (taught by Bev) and my one, which is for people who have already been taking the jewellery courses.
Tomorrow I'm going to South Hill Park to do a resin in jewellery workshop - should be good and something different for me. I've used resin a bit, but not extensively, so it will be interesting to see what other options there are!
Right now I need to go off to the post office yet again but happily it's a beautiful day out, so it'll be a pleasure.

Caversham Arts Trail

2010-05-17T10:15:00.002+01:00

Yesterday was the last day of the Caversham Arts Trail for this year. Copious amounts of tea were had, cake was eaten, pots were made, earrings were created, and visitors said they really enjoyed seeing the locals artists! Here are a few photos. The first one is of the super cute kitten, Friday.This is the clay pot making session in action:
Lauren's beautiful work:
My two cases:
The fuel for all the hard work: tea and cakes!

Caversham Arts Trail

2010-05-07T10:57:00.002+01:00

We've been on the radio, loads of flyers have been circulated, things have been made, people have already said they are excited about it : tomorrow is the first day of the Caversham Arts Trail!!!! See details over at http://cavershamartiststrail.co.uk - we're open from 11am - 5pm. See you there....................

Reading Beer festival and rain

2010-04-30T14:51:00.003+01:00

It's been such good weather lately that I got lulled into a false sense of security. I had visions of lounging around outside with a big crowd of friends at the Reading Beer Festival. Picnics, sunglasses, blankets laid out on the grass... But alas, the weather has gone back to its usual dreary and there are great big dark grey clouds hanging over Reading. I am now back to regular mode and assuming it will start pouring it down the second I get down the beer fest. Ah well, at least they have two HUGE tents so I'll be safe and fine and still have a great time!!
I've been busy on the jewellery front - finished the wedding cuff links and brooches. I have loads of photos, but the bride & groom are keeping secrets and these are surprises for the recipients, so I'll hold off on posting those until after the wedding! I'm also progressing nicely (finally) on their wedding rings. Also finished some other items and even snuck in a tester of a new bit of washi that I got for Christmas. Here's a photo:
The black came out very nicely with the metallic bits of silver and gold staying shiny. I'll be showing this washi at the private craft fair I'm doing on May 20th (newsletter readers have already received their invites - let me know if you're interested!).
Classes are progressing fine as well, with a bunch of new techniques show and next week I'll be doing a demo on photo etching. So, once I get these wedding rings done I can start making some new items - whose designs have been sorting themselves out in my head for months already! Hope you all have a lovely weekend, rain or no rain!

Craft and Design magazine

2010-04-29T20:16:00.001+01:00

Hey, hey, that's me in Craft & Design magazine....

new items

2010-04-27T11:33:00.002+01:00

Some photos of commissioned washi paper pieces:

monday monday

2010-04-26T09:01:00.002+01:00

I've finished the brooches and cuff links, hurrah! Still working on the wedding rings, fitting on Thursday. Hands still on the mend, left one has a huge purple spot which hopefully will fade. I've got tons to do so am being slow about blogging. I'm sulking because I really want to take the hand engravers' course, but it's always on a Wednesday evening, which is one of the times I teach. I might see if I can change it in the autumn so I can the course. I've been wanting to take it ever since I first saw it advertised, so I really hope I can figure out a way to get on it!!! Besides that, just plodding away planning and trying to get as much done as possible. Plus in 2 weeks it's the Caversham Arts Trail! Hope to see some of you there....

birthday fun

2010-04-16T13:25:00.001+01:00

I'm preparing a massive feast for the birthday boy. I've cleaned, set the table, blown up the balloons and made a couple of the courses already. A couple of things need to chill or freeze, so I did those this morning. Now I have to think about the order in which I'm going to make all these things, otherwise the meal could take a very long time indeed. I'm making 13 very small courses. There will be lots of leftovers, so I think we'll be eating from this for a while!
I'm nearly ready for next term as well - plan at the ready! I've got a goal, some lesson plans ready to go, lots of examples and now I just need to type up some more instruction sheets and make a couple of example items.
Making progress on the wedding rings as well - white and yellow gold line wedding bands. I got the bits and pieces I need in the post today and will be making the 'mock' version in silver first. I almost always do that for large commissions to make sure that the sizing and look is exactly right before I plunge into the gold side of things. Massive package went off to hallmarking yesterday, too, so things are progressing once again.

back to the bench

2010-04-13T11:36:00.003+01:00

I'm going back to work at my bench today for the first time since I hurt my hands. They are mostly better now and my other half got me some fingerless cycle gloves. They have padding over the palm, so should help me to keep it painless. I've got oodles to do and now of course I'm well behind because of all this nonsense. I did get to sort out my spreadsheets and update my Folksy and Etsy in the meantime though. I picked up the flyers for the Caversham Arts Trail last night and will be distributing them around. If you'd like one, let me know. I'll put a bunch over at South Hill Park as well, so you can pick one up there. Here are some pics of items added to Etsy/Folksy:

end of financial year

2010-04-07T16:46:00.003+01:00

So today I got around to doing my stock take, which means taking everything out of boxes, counting, and then putting it back in the boxes. So I've been relisting items on Folksy and Etsy since I now am sure of exactly what I have! I still have a bit of commission work to do, having been rather slowed down for a week because of my bruised hands. They are healing quite well, but man is it a pain to have big, painful scabs on my hands! I'm going to get back to the bench tomorrow and see how it goes. Today it's all paperwork and relisting. I'll be listing some newer items soon too. I've added the 18k yellow gold crossover post earrings for the first time. I only have one pair, so while the craft fairs and shows were on it didn't make sense to also put them in my online shops. I guess I could put up a gross photo of my bloodied hands, but I think you'd probably prefer a picture of the gold earrings, so here they are:

photos, finally

2010-04-06T08:31:00.003+01:00

Here are, finally, some photos of a commission I just finished. A ring and a pendant, 18k white gold with a diamond on the pendant and diamonds and a sapphire on the ring.

oooo pretty

2010-03-31T11:47:00.002+01:00

lovely flyer for the Caversham Arts Trail: (click for larger image!)

ugh

2010-03-30T09:18:00.001+01:00

so i'm still sitting here waiting for the postman, hopefully my items will arrive very soon!!!!! argh. also i fell really hard on my hands last night while bravely jogging in the rain (lesson learnt, no more jogging, ha!) so my hands hurt rather a lot. can just about type. so not sure what i will get done today.... bah. more exciting posts coming when my hands heal a bit....

stress

2010-03-26T10:19:00.002Z

You know how some projects seem to go wrong at every turn? I was thinking I was finally at the end of one such project and I could breathe easy again and all would be well. Except that this project required a stone setter. If the stones are high value and I'm using 18k gold, then I prefer to send the pieces off to a stone setter because I know he will do a perfect job. Now, I am well aware that I am small fry to the stone setter. I don't send off huge packages full of items and it's only occasionally that I feel the need to use their services. So I included a letter saying please can you do this job by this time. I left a margin for error in my deadline. I called on the deadline, since of course I hadn't heard anything. He said he'd try to get it done this week. Now, the absolute LAST day I can get these items and still get them hallmarked on time would be Tuesday. Guess what? No word from the stone setter. So I phoned today and guess what? He's not in. His colleague was very kind about it, however, now I'm in an awkward position. I sent the items 4 March. It's now 26 March. So now I have to phone him Monday morning and pester him to please get these items finished. Sometimes I really wish that not everything had to be chased up. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to rely on someone to do their bit without having to check up on them?

End of term

2010-03-25T11:28:00.006Z

It's the end of the first term of this year. Less than a month until the next term starts and I have big plans which I need to get sorted. Before that I *still* have to sort out the commissions. I'm making major progress though, so that's getting there. I'm still waiting for the stone setter and he's making me nervous so I really hope post arrives from him today.
Today I'm very happy to be featured on a fantastic new website called Creative Boom. There's a central Creative Boom website and then there are regional ones and I'm on the Reading Creative Boom. (The link is http://www.creativeboom.co.uk/reading/2010/03/25/focus-on-jewellery-maker-magpienest) It's a website that showcases art and creative happenings around the country and it has a fab design. Check it out!

ps. just got tipped off to this website...oooo if you like modern furniture: http://www.deconet.com/

almost weekend

2010-03-19T12:45:00.003Z

Wah, what a dreary day outside. Luckily I'm inside! I just wrote an email delving back into my linguistics past. My mom's Japanese teacher wanted to ask me some questions about English/Japanese learning issues so I had to think again about syllable structures, consonant clusters, phonetics, etc. A whole different set of jargon to jewellery!
I've had a packed week, with a very interesting demonstration of anticlastic raising. I had a go as well and bought a stake for small items and am even getting a custom made hammer.(That link will bring you to Tim's page about tools, if you are interested in buying any from him.) I'm excited about it because I could see applications to my own designs immediately. So that was a fun bit of the week. My classes went fine, one more week to go for this term. I have plans for next term, but am a bit worried that the students won't go for it. It's hard to introduce new things when the students have been coming for years and years and know the studio better than me! Still, I don't want to just plod along, I would like a bit more structure and a bit of a fun challenge for the students too. It would be nice to have something to point at at the end of the term for the whole class to be able to say "we did that" instead of just trailing off with all kinds of different projects, half of them not finished. In any case, I will make my plans and just see how it goes...
I should be sitting at my bench right now. I'm still working on the cuff links and brooches. I'm getting closer and closer. Just a bit more to go until I can send them all off for hallmarking. I'm also still waiting for a word from the stone setter for my other big project. I really, really hope I hear from him soon so I can just get that project finished! I asked for the items to be returned by this coming Monday, so hopefully that'll happen and I won't have to phone and pester him. I hate chasing people up, but it seems to be required for pretty much everything.
In any case, hurrah to the weekend and hope you all have a good one.

morning........

2010-03-15T08:36:00.003Z

Ugh, I dreamt about rivets all night. I can think of more restful things...yawn! At least it's bright and sunshiney outside. I have loads to do again today...had a lovely weekend. Yesterday we walked a whole long way so I felt like I got in a bit of exercise. On Saturday we did indeed go to Garlic & Shots, the restaurant I mentioned on Friday. I have two words about it: don't bother. The food was very disappointing, below pub grub. The super hot chili was bland and the plate it was on was mostly tortilla chips with a bit of chili in the corner. When Dougs told the waitress he was disappointed and thought it was bland, she said "oh". Then when she brought the bill, he said it again and she just kind of mumbled "oh" again. Plus the service charge was included and she didn't even offer to make it optional, or even say sorry he didn't like the food. I had baked garlic which was fine (but I've had better, and considering it's supposed to be their speciality...). I also had nachos, which looked good at first but then they were in a bowl and there was a bit of averagey topping on the top but the rest of the bowl was just plain tortilla chips. Anyway, overall it was very overpriced for what it was and very disappointing. Shame, because the idea is good and the place looks cool. Shame about the service too, I would've felt a little better if the waitress had shown one iota of interest in whether we liked the food or not.

Lookee here

2010-03-12T12:59:00.003Z

Or should it be looky here? Hmmm...anyway - the first bit of press for the Caversham Arts Trail is here (http://www.caversham.info/2010/03/caversham-arts-trail-coming-in-may/). Remember you can follow us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/CavArtsTrail) which you may want to do anyway if you're looking for a piano. You'll have to go look to see what I mean...
I'm still working on the cufflinks & brooches, unsurprisingly. The weekend is shaping up to be a fun one, yippeee! We made a proper plan on paper and everything! One of the things we're going to do is go try out this restaurant. It's called Garlic & Shots. I've only ever gone to the bar bit and that was just to meet someone and then go elsewhere, so I was there probably only 5 minutes. I didn't even realise it had food. How can you go wrong with food full of garlic? Methinks you can't....I'll let you know what I thought of it....

thursday already...

2010-03-11T11:00:00.003Z

So, I passed my driving test! Hurrah! Now for the fun, fun search for car insurance that is mildly affordable, not so fun. I've been working as hard as I can on 9 cuff links and 9 brooches. Later I may take a photo of all the bits and pieces I have now. It looks like a sort of miniature manufacturing plant on the bench! I am getting there, but it is a lot of work. My classes went fine this week, but as usual I was totally tired by the end of Wednesday evening. Got a bit of a lie-in today and have now caught up on all my blog reading and emails (more or less) and twitter and facebook and all the rest of that nonsense, ha! I really need a cup of tea and then it's back to the bench. Well, after I call my gran and have another cup of tea....and take some photos....I'll update with some photos in a bit...

UPDATE:
here's a photo of lots of little bits for making brooch parts, all handmade, not bought:

here we go...

2010-03-04T12:25:00.004Z

Tomorrow's the day - my driving test. I am trying to stay calm and focus on all the driving around I'll be able to do when I pass!!!
Plus I'm sending off two items that I've been working on for ages to the stone setter. Am very excited about these two and hope to high heaven that they turn out beautifully...photos to follow in some weeks after their return and hallmarking.
I got the go-ahead for a big commission that I will be slaving away on all of next week - lots of cuff links and brooches. And I'm even making progress on my copper bowl. The bowl is moving towards vertical on the top half...I'm working on getting the top to go in so I have a rounded bowl. Photos to follow for that as well.
The financial year's end is near so am also aware I need to sort out my folders of invoices, expenses, etc once again. It's hard to believe it's March already. I wouldn't mind spring to hurry up and get here already, my fingers are so cold again today!!
Here's to the weekend and hopefully good news after about 12.15 tomorrow!!!

bunch of interesting things

2010-02-26T09:26:00.005Z

First of all, something that I am upset about. This article in the Guardian, which says that there are plans to axe BBC radio 6. That's a music channel. Will there be no decent radio stations left at all??? Argh!!! I finally found one I like and now there's a whiff of rumour that it'll be shut down!! When I listen to the radio over at South Hill Park, it's for 7+ hours straight. I can't deal with ad breaks for that long. I also can't stand waffling about rubbish - if they do talk, it should be about the music. And Radio 6 does that and keeps it interesting. They also don't have the same 10 songs on rotation all day, otherwise, similarly, I would go mad! So please, BBC, wake up and see the loyal following that Radio 6 has and keep your mitts off it!!!!!!!!

Anyway, more positive things: join a giant creative people map:

Message from Louise of www.myehive.com ....

We've just launched Craft Nations Unite, but we need your help! It's the largest google map of artisans and designers of it's kind.
http://bit.ly/bV2Dru
Please add your photos, links, embed video, show us where you live and work, make this the largest visual reference of handmade and homemade designers on the planet!
Once you have done this please blog it, tweet it and share the link in forums.

And one last thing....an interesting website that a friend pointed out to me which some of you might find interesting to explore: http://www.behance.net

and breathe...

2010-02-25T13:38:00.002Z

I had another driving lesson this morning, which is going along fairly smoothly. I have another 3 lessons, I think. It's all going fairly well but I have to practice the old left around a corner a bit more. I can't seem to get it quite right. sigh. All this driving has been sucking up time, so I'm getting busier and busier trying to fit everything in. Tonight I'm going to my first meeting of the Caversham Artists, which should be good :-) It looks like I'll have to do some work this weekend though (ehem, I mean more than usual!). Ah well, I'll feel better if I'm more caught up on everything! I have 2 large commissions to go and one small one that's nearly finished. Then I will be caught up. I have to say it's been a shocker every time I need to order gold, bah, the price is so very sky high at the moment! I've also upped the stakes on the exercise front and am really trying my best to stick to it. I'm even jogging, which I do not like, but it sure is a workout, so I'm determined to stick to it. That's all for now, but hopefully soon I'll have more photos of the remaining 3 commissions.

Caversham Arts Trail

2010-02-22T09:25:00.004Z

Oooh it's so lovely out - a nice mix of wet snow and rain. What a fantastic day for another driving lesson! woo hoo! Ugh....get me some more tea!!!!!!!
ehem...anyway....so in May I will be participating in the Caversham Arts Trail alongside Lauren (that's Lauren Ceramics to you!) and there are now a number of easy peasy ways to follow the plans for the Arts Trail. If you're on Twitter, follow either me (magpienest) or the Arts Trail (http://twitter.com/CavArtsTrail). If you prefer facebook, please become a fan here. Or you can just click this link, which is also on my sidebar on this blog and brings you straight to the website (http://cavershamartiststrail.co.uk). Sooo many options, surely one is right for you!
I hope everyone is nice and warm and snug today. My day looks like it's going to be full of driving, a bit of making a ring and quite a lot of tea. Oh yes and probably a trip to Hobbycraft!! I shall leave you with a picture of a nose stud I made a few weeks ago. It is tiny and has a leeeeeetle tiny stone set (yes, set, not glued!!) in the end. Here it is next to a ten pence coin so you can see quite how small it is:

custom work again....

2010-02-19T10:45:00.004Z

I got a lovely email from the recipient of this ring - very happy with it and it fits perfectly :-)

twit

2010-02-15T10:33:00.004Z

I've succumbed to pressure and joined twitter. so if you're into twitter then I'm @magpienest. I'll see how it goes. So far it's fun to see what the big organisations write - I thought I'd follow the Guggenheim Museum and the Museum of Modern Art. Those are interesting. But I'm not so sure I can think of much interesting to put on there...ah well I'll just see how it goes. So I have a lot of plans for today, including yet another trip to the post office. I also need to continue with a huge custom job for a wedding of a good friend. I'm already working on it, but it's requiring a couple of goes to make sure that the materials are right for the desired end result. In the meantime, I still have work over at the Craft Study Centre, Norden Farm and at the Evolution exhibition at South Hill Park. For that last one we all did a piece themed on DNA and I made this pendant:

some new earrings....

2010-02-11T14:18:00.001Z

Hello hello, just a quick post. I managed to squeeze in making some new earrings in between trying to get a million other things done. I just wanted to try out something new. Here are some pics, they are up on Etsy too.

2010-02-08T11:15:00.002Z

It's snowing out right now! How is that happening? I thought we'd already had way more than our fair share of snow for the year. Or even for the decade!
Anyway, so on Friday was the opening of the Evolution exhibit over at South Hill Park. By all accounts it went well and a good amount of people came. I wasn't one of them, though. I tried, but when we got on the motorway there was a very long queue and when we got to the end of the queue it turned out that there had been a major accident. The police made everyone do a u-turn over the grass verge and sent us back the way we had come. Both sides of the motorway were closed. By then there was no time to get to the opening anymore another way. So sadly I missed the opening!
This weekend I caught up on some much needed sleep and now it's back into the ring. I had a Folksy sale, which is great, so those earrings are going to be sent off today. So today's plan is post office and sorting papers and then back to the bench to start on the next batch of custom jobs. I'm hoping to have an item returned from the hallmarking office, but it looks like no luck on that front because it's already noon and usually it would have arrived by now. That was a bit of bad luck because one of the items I sent off for hallmarking came back with no hallmark on it - the Assay office just forgot! So another hallnote, another trip to the post office and another delay.
Here's a random photo of Mt Fuji that my dad took from an airplane - an exceptionally clear photo:

Evolution show opening tomorrow!

2010-02-04T12:45:00.001Z

All welcome to the opening reception of the Berkshire Designer Jewellers "Evolution" show tomorrow evening 6.30pm - 8pm at South Hill Park in Bracknell.

custom necklace

2010-02-04T10:33:00.000Z

Machi de Waard

New Ashgate Gallery exhibit

JaM

Yay!

one down, two to go.......

dates: 19 & 20 November 2011

price: £Weekend tickets £7, Conc £5 (Advance only)

venue: Wilde Theatre

Craft in Focus 28-30 October

1pm to 6pm Friday; 10am to 5pm Saturday & Sunday

Adults £4.50, Over 65's £3.50, Accompanied under 14's free!

End of Residency show

My end of residency show

close-up

just some nice pics of cornwall

silver thimble

Finished ring

Exhibition and news

thimble

cufflinks

just a nice picture of Wales

copper sculpture

phew

Plenty to do

Caversham Arts Trail

Runnymede Gallery show 7 -30 May

Caversham Arts Trail

Craft & Design awards

custom pendant

finished pendant

the ides of march have passed

time flies

King's Walk Saturday 26th

Third Thursday

Exciting events coming up

Progress

Finally getting better

Internship opportunity at South Hill Park Arts Centre

only 10 days til christmas!

blue wave pendant

Reveal in Henley

Desire and Reveal

Desire Fair at Winchester

12.30pm - 5.30pm Friday, 10 am - 5 pm Saturday & Sunday

AA signposted

Jewellery classes

Friday again!

South Hill Park and benchpeg

South Hill Park Craft Fair 2010

things I like

Creative Boom and Craft in Focus

silly season

16 - 17 October Festival of Crafts

beautiful flyers

other art exhibits to see...

Crowthorne Craft in Focus show

Happy October

new logo

plodding ever closer to craft fairs...

engraving...

teaching again

mini pliers

Caversham Artists autumn show

inspirational week

things are getting busy again...

want to learn how to make jewellery?

Summer course over...

just randomly...

cont'd

arggghhh

more cat action!

Peppy

Summer Course at South Hill Park

fun photo

engagement ring...

more commissioned work

and more wedding gifts

wedding gifts...

holy busy, batman

So much going on...