Return to Etsy

I have finally got round to re-opening my etsy shop after a longer than expected break. I've made some new work inspired by microscopic life. Here are a couple of examples.

"All Things Natural"

My jewellery is now on display in this exhibition inspired by the natural world at the Oriel Cric Gallery. I don't think I'll be able to see it myself as I live too far away, but if you are in Wales I'm sure it would be worth a visit.

Chain Making

I've had a go a designing and making a chain link necklace. I don't think I'll be making too many more, as it was quite laborious. But as a 'one off' I enjoyed the challenge and I've been wearing it a lot. Sometimes it's nice to make something for myself, just for fun. I oxidised the silver and gently rubbed it back to highlight the balled section.

The British Seaside

As we are beginning to enjoy the sunshine, my thoughts are turning to my long awaited summer holiday at the beach. This pendant has the cold, grey sea with fragments of stone and shell and the occasional glimpse of something more precious.

Long Necklace

No blogging for nearly two months and then I come along with two posts in one day!

Inspired by cells, lichen, moss, biology, geology and water.

Made from silver, resin, mother of pearl, gold foil, glass fragments, pearls, glass beads, semi-precious stones and a tiny dot of gold.

Hello again...

When I started this blog I decided to try to write a post on a weekly basis. Well, I have failed miserably and it is ages since my last entry. I blame a virusy computer and children being off school for holidays. However, I have not been entirely lazy and have been working on new jewellery. This mixed media brooch includes resin, enamel and rose quartz and combines my favourite jewellery making techniques. I am also experimenting with a new way (for me) of doing a brooch pin. So of course I've had to road test it myself, by wearing it as much as possible. It's holding up really well and I'm looking forward to making more like this in the future.

How Does Your Garden Grow...

I love making these little flower pins at the moment. I'm still using silver and resin, but having fun playing with different materials. These ones also have copper, mother of pearl, fragments of glass and gold foil in them. I might make a whole garden full of them!

Geometric Earrings

I've been inspired by geometric shapes and mid-century design recently. These earrings are the first in a series I plan to make very soon. There will be lots of simple shapes and bold colours, watch this space...

Mar de Color Rosa

I recently discovered the wonderful blog, mar de color rosa written by Montserrat Lacomba. I spent hours the other evening browsing through the hundreds of images of jewellery from all over the world. I would certainly recommend it to anyone interested in jewellery design. So imagine my surprise when I logged in yesterday evening to find that Montserrat had included my work on her blog. I would like to send her a huge 'thank you' for featuring my jewellery and for writing such an informative and interesting blog.

Experimenting

I've been making lots of jewellery in my 'flowers and leaves' range recently, in preparation for Spring. Now I've got a little time to experiment, I'm having a bit of a change of direction and am working on a new range. This time, inspired by geology, lichen and microscopic life. As you can see, circles are going to feature strongly in this new work.

Skeletons

Here are some of the pieces I'm working on at the moment. They are in their skeletal form before having the resin inlayed. Some will end up in my etsy shop and others are going to a gallery. I like having a few days when I focus on metal working and soldering and then have a change and spend time doing the resin. The thing I'm not looking forward to is all the polishing up at the end, which I find a bit tedious.

I'm In A Magazine!!!

I am very excited today as my work has been featured in the February issue of "Jewelry Artist" (Lapidiary Jounal) magazine. Thanks to Annie Osburn who phoned me to ask a few questions and wrote the article. The piece is all about artists who make jewellery using resin and I am featured along with Carla Pennie, Christina Aucone (Modica Design) and Tracy Page Smith, who all make beautiful jewellery.

Red Pendant Commission

This piece was collected by the customer yesterday. Each 'petal' is a slightly different shade of red. The resin is slightly transparent allowing light to shine through from the back when worn.

Thank You to Lora Hart

Weekend Eye Candy - Fiona Chapman Edition
Originally uploaded by lorahart
Thanks to Lora Hart for featuring my jewellery in her regular Weekend Eye Candy feature on her blog and her Flickr page. I have seen Lora's lovely mosaic style collections on Flickr before, so it was a lovely surprise to find that she had chosen me this week. Her blog is a really interesting read, it is full of interesting work from other designers as well as her own jewellery, which is beautiful and imaginative, specialising in Precious Metal Clay.

Work in Progress

One of three commissions I'm working on this week.

craft&design Magazine

I am pleased and excited to have my work accepted onto the "Selected" section of the craft&design website. craft&design is a UK magazine published six times a year and I always look forward to it coming through my door. It is certainly one that I read from cover to cover and their website is full of great information for makers as well as wonderful work to browse.

New Work

This is the latest addition in my online shop. The resin 'flower' has been coloured in shades of grey and white, just right for winter.

Craft Fair (Yesterday)

The Craft Fair I was at on Tuesday was great. It was only small, but very well attended. Thanks to Lindsay(Daisy Patch Studio) for her fantastic organisation. I sold about half of the stock I had with me which was a big surprise. I had not done a fair for a long time and had forgotten how good it is to speak to customers 'face to face'. I certainly hope to do a bit more of this in the future.

Craft Fair

I'm preparing for a small craft fair at the moment, so the tumbler is in full swing and I'm up to my eyes in price tags and handmade gift bags, not to mention unfinished jewellery. I'm really looking forward to it as I haven't done one for a very long time. It's going to be particularly exciting as a couple of close friends are also going to be there, one of whom is the organising the event. So, we've lined up plenty of coffee and cake, there's no real pressure to sell as the overheads are minimal and I'm looking forward to a fun day of networking and craftiness.

I made this "ring" a few months ago. I was trying to be more imaginative with different materials, so set myself the challenge of making a piece of jewellery from an elastic band and this is the result. My family thought I had lost the plot, but I found the exercise quite rewarding. Of course this material is not viable for long lasting jewellery as it has already started to perish, but it was fun while it lasted.