New earrings...

I recently went on a very inspiring trip to Kraków, Poland.  Whilst there I fell in love with the work of artist Stanisław Wyspiański, particularly his incredible stained glass.

The colours are just amazing!

And then, for the first time in months and months, I felt inspiration creeping back, and the desire to try out some new jewellery ideas.

Apollo I

influenced by the colours in this wonderful glass:

I also experimented with some other Wyspiański-inspired colours:

Olea

and smaller pieces of embroidered and beaded felt:

Hydro

Berie

I like how these turned out - a little more delicate and feminine than my previous designs, and they all swing pleasingly from the ear when worn!

Now available in my Etsy shop :D

More brooches...

Today I finished the rest of the wooden bezel brooches - here are Topaz, Lavandel, Natsu, Nimbus, Baya, Melocoton and Agua.

I still can't get enough of these wooden bezels: I love the way the beautifully smooth wood contrasts with the texture of the felted pieces.

Brooches...

I'm working on some more brooches using the beautiful wooden bezels made by brightcolorart.  Hoping to have them all ready in time for the Magpie Market!

Here are the first few I've just finished: 

Moonshine, Islet, Guava, Pomme and Flamenco.

Affodell...

Today I finished the second of my two narcissus brooch experiments - I wanted to explore colour, petal/sepal shape and corona size, so here is an alternative to Jonquil: Affodell...

 Giving shape to the edges of the corona:

The felt for Affodell is made from silk throwsters waste, wool roving, silk lapps, wool locks, bamboo fibre, silk fabric and wool nepps, with glass beads, freshwater pearls and seed, colonial knot, bullion knot, detached chain and detached fly hand embroidery stitches.

Here they are together - my ode to spring!

Jonquil...

I managed to finish this today.

'Jonquil'

Another attempt at a more 3D beaded and embroidered felt brooch, this time inspired by the beautiful narcissi and daffodils that are blooming all over Edinburgh at the moment.

Here are my preliminary notes - I found out that 3 of what I thought of were petals are actually sepals!  The corona posed a particular challenge.

The felt is made from wool roving, silk velvet, cotton scrim, organza, soy silk, bamboo fibre, silk noil and silk tops, embellished with glass beads and colonial knot, seed, bullion knot, detached fly, detached chain and Algerian eye stitches.

Work in progress...

Trying to get this finished before all of the inspiration finishes flowering!

Pencil cases...

For the last couple of weeks I have been working on a special present of a pencil case.  I wanted it to be a 'wrap' style case with no zip, and to make it from a piece of felted, embroidered and beaded linen, and to use some Japanese fabric for the lining.

When I do projects like these I always start off with a rough sketch of what I hope it will look like, with approximate dimensions - this becomes the 'pattern' that I work from (although I don't actually use pattern pieces, just measurements).  I generally make two of anything so I can iron out any problems with the design in the first attempt.

Here's my rough sketch:

The first pencil case I made was like this:

It has a pouch for storing pencils and pens...

(the black and cream lining fabric that you can just about see is more from my vintage kimono stash that I got from Kyoto)

...and then rolls up like this.  It's held closed with an 8-tama kumihimo braid.

 Here's a closeup of the front felted area:

Fortunately the pattern worked out ok, which meant I could also make up the second pencil case - this time in my favourite autumnal shades:

 the inside has red kimono fabric:
(I used felt for the lining of the pouch to provide some extra protection for the contents)

The Autumnal pencil case has been given as part of a special present, but I am keeping the blue prototype for myself - and I'm looking forward to using it on our next sketching trip!

Sakura...

I'm really ready for proper Spring now.  We woke up to snow this morning!  That just doesn't seem right.

The crocuses and snowdrops are out here at least, but I'm longing for narcissi... and cherry blossom!

This is a piece that has been in progress for some time.  She's my first experiment in slightly more 3D work (she's not hugely 3D but I needed to start somewhere).

'Sakura'

Sakura is made from 5 petals made from beaded and embroidered felt:

After making each petal, I gave them a little bit of extra shape:

and then joined them all together...

...into a brooch!

Phew...!

Finished! (and more besides)...

These amazing wooden settings are by brightcolorart on Etsy - I love them!

hat pins

...and now all packed and ready for tomorrow!

Dreamcloud...

My first new brooch of 2011 - and another experiment and attempt at working with colours I don't usually favour - this time, pink and lilac.

I had a brainstorming session trying to come up with new shapes for brooches and necklaces, and this shape was one I decided to try to see how it turned out.  While I was sewing around her edges I remembered about some labradorite droplets that had been languishing in my beady stash, and the idea developed from there.

'Dreamcloud'

Felted silk hankie fibre, cotton scrim, chiffon, organza, tencel nepps and silk throwsters waste, embellished with tiny 2mm sequins, glass beads and seed, colonial knot, detached fly and detached chain stitches.  The labradorite drops hang from assorted sterling silver chain.

I love labradorite.  It's my favourite mineral!

Unexpected...

I tend to work in a rather intuitive way (maybe that's just a nice way of saying completely unplanned and disorganised!) - I felt first with my embellisher in a sort of spontaneous mess, and then I bead and embroider along contours whispered to me by the felt.  I rarely, if ever, plan layout in advance, and although I usually have a rough idea of the finished overall shape even that sometimes takes me by surprise...

Two cases in point, finished today:

'Cephalopod' - somehow became reminiscent of an octopus!

'Meteor' - some sort of pomegranate asteroid fallen to earth?

Leaves...

It definitely feels like winter is well on her way here - so I've been trying to eke out the last drop of autumn inspiration before all the leaves are gone... .

An autumnal gust of wind must have swept through my flat to leave these on my desk!

New brooches - Ginkgo, Maple and Holly:

Sketchbook cover...

As you may have noticed, I'm a bit obsessed with making covers and cases for things... :D

Another project that has been taking up room on my desk waiting to be finished is finally complete - a wee 'wrap' style cover for my beautiful new sketchbook made by Hypsela.  I am trying to lose my inhibitions about drawing and to give it a go, and thought a lovely sketchbook and cover might be encouraging :) - the cover necessary because I have so much detritus in my bags and I would hate to damage this beautiful book!


Isn't the hand-dyed fabric cover beautiful?

I went for the wrap idea so that it would fit any small-ish sketchbook and could be re-used once this book is full.

I used oatmeal linen and a felted piece on the same linen that I had made but hadn't yet thought of a use for.

I hemmed the linen, sewed on a lovely laquered button and added a thin kumihimo braid for closure.  Then I beaded and embroidered the felt to finish it off. 

Running, split, bullion knot, colonial knot, seed, detached fly, woven spider's wheel and detached chain stitches:

She will be getting her first outing tomorrow on my maiden sketching trip!  *gulp*

Autumn winds...

I've been working on another fibre art piece inspired by Autumn.  The season is in full force here - this week we've been having wonderful light especially, and the smell of falling leaves is thick in the air.

'Autumn winds' is a piece worked straight on to heavy-duty vintage upholstery linen - first of all with my embellisher and then with hand beading and embroidery.

To start, I felted abaca tissue, metal organza, wool waste, cotton scrim, linen scraps and silk fibre onto the linen:

Then I added tiny 2mm sequins, lots of glass and metal beads, including some vintage beauties, and then finally lots of hand embroidery stitches:

seed, colonial knot, bullion knot and detached fly:

running stitch in the form of Japanese stylised wind:

and detached chain stitch (the tiny gold ones in the middle top):

to make the finished piece:

I have rather enjoyed working on the vintage linen with its stains and faults - it is very satisfyingly thick and I think the irregularities add to the texture and feel of the piece.

Bosket and Namida... and believing in your own work!

I'm beginning to gear up for fully reopening my Etsy shop with revised photos and pricing.  It's something I've been thinking about (and struggling with) for a long time - the different ways to value one's work and having the confidence to do so.  After some while, and many helpful discussions with myself and other friendly ears (you know who you are - and thank you!) I have decided that it's time to support my own work more strongly.  


One of the main ways to do this unfortunately involves money - price often being construed to equal value (although often not actually the case) - but when your work is in the public sphere I do think this has to be taken into account.  There is so much information and advice available on the internet regarding pricing - what factors need to be taken into account and so on.   By the time you have factored in supplies and time often the numbers just don't add up to a feasible amount.


When I first started out, I couldn't believe that anyone would actually want to buy my work - I loved making it, but the process was the goal for me and the end result it was sort of extraneous in a funny kind of way.  Now over the months and years, I feel my skill has developed and so has my confidence (in myself and in my work) which means now that I can better value the time, care and skill that I put into the pieces that I make - pieces that I feel are beautiful and original.  This isn't meant to sound like blowing my own trumpet (so apologies if it does!) but rather it's an understanding that is very significant for me personally as well as for my work.  If I don't believe in it, who else will?!


It still feels all rather nerve-wracking though, particularly as another goal that I have set myself is to approach some galleries and boutiques in Edinburgh to see if they would consider selling some of my jewellery... *gulp*! I plan to do this after my shop is sorted out... and I'll let you know how it goes!


So anyway, back to the crafting - amidst all of this soul-searching I have actually been making things too :P - today I finished two brooches:

Bosket 

(loving this word - just learned it today - it means a clump of small trees or bushes :D)

and Namida (which is Japanese for 'tears')