Zwierzyna...

My friend Kasia and I just opened up an Etsy shop!

We bring you... 'Zwierzyna' - where we will sell jewellery and perhaps pieces of artwork that we have collaborated on together, made from Kasia's illustrations and my fibre-y embellishments.

The first items to go into the shop are three brooches that we made a little while ago, featuring...

a dapper gentleman cat:

a proud fish-catcher:

and a playful fattycat:

we're looking forward to developing more brooches and other ideas!

Sculpture inspiration...

Today Kasia and I visited Jupiter Artland, a secluded sculpture park outside Edinburgh.  We timed it just right before it got busy, and spent a lovely couple of hours wandering around the woodland admiring the sculpture.

This is 'Firmament' by Anthony Gormley, inspired by an old star map:

Although I love to look at sculpture, it doesn't often move me.  An exception to this today was the group of sculptures called 'Weeping girls' by Laura Ford.  I thought these were the best sculptures in the whole place - very sad and rather chilling, with such attention to detail in the hands and shoes, in a perfect setting in the deserted woodland:

Seeing so many different styles on such a larger scale than my own work was very refreshing!

Meanwhile on a much smaller scale, yesterday I completed a prototype pair of earrings in my favourite wooden bezels.  

Turkus

Jewellery...

Since coming back from Japan I've been having a long, hard think about my jewellery making and my Etsy shop.

  At the moment particularly I have so little time, but I'm also focussing more on other projects.  Also, I've been trying to think more about what is really 'me', and to make pieces which more truly reflect that.

So, I've made the decision to slowly streamline my jewellery making.  At the moment and for the foreseeable future, the only pieces I will work on will be more 'wooden bezel' brooches.  All other items in my shop will not be renewed when their listings expire.

This feels like the right decision, and in celebration, yesterday I finished two new pieces:

Profond

Peregrine

I'm still in love with these beautifully smooth wooden settings :)

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!

Auction for the Japan quake appeal

I just wanted to let you know that my sister will be running a series of auctions/raffles over the next wee while, with all proceeds going to the Japan quake appeal.  First up is my 'Sakura' brooch that I posted about here a few days ago.

You can find the auction, more details, and instructions on how to participate in the bidding for a chance to win the brooch here, at my sister's blog.  

Colour, shapes... and a giveaway!

Over the last couple of days I have been revelling in the colour of beautiful new supplies - silk hankies from Sassalynne, Tussah silk roving from SilkAndShine, handdyed firestar from FeltStudioUK, and the most amazing 'wooly crumbs' from The Wool Peddler:

so much inspiration!

I'm also still trying to come up with new shape ideas for brooches and necklaces...  so I thought I would open it up to you!  Leave a comment on this post with your suggestions for new shapes for me to try - if I end up using any of your shape ideas, in return you get to pick an item of your choice from my Etsy shop that I will send to you as a thank you! 

I seem to prefer more abstract or organic shapes, and am limited to somewhat simpler forms (it's not possible to preserve detail in very complex shapes). Here are some shapes I have already tried, to get you going:

Thank you!

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:

Etsy packaging...

Another thing I have recently revamped slightly is my Etsy order packaging.  As a buyer on Etsy I really appreciate lovely packaging and I have always tried to make the packaging for my own work pretty but as sustainable as possible.  I've recently tried to update everything, and here is the latest incarnation that will be rolled out with all new pieces:

The large box is for brooches and necklaces, the smaller for earrings and bracelets.  The boxes are recycled, and reuseable - I used to stamp my 'KT' logo on boxes but have decided instead to go with a moo.com sticker to decorate the box, which I hope makes it more reuseable.  Around the box is some black organza ribbon, folded into a bow and secured with thread and some small beads.  With the box goes an origami crane, a moo minicard, and a recycled kraft card on which I write a short thank you message.  These all go into a wee glassine envelope.  Finally it all goes into a pink and white striped paper bag (the sort you used to get penny sweets in!).  I send it all off in a Jiffy Green padded envelope, which is recyclable.  

I'm always on the lookout for new packaging possibilities, and have had some wonderful inspiration from many fellow Etsy sellers who come up with some beautiful and original ideas.  My favourite packaging so far has been from tinctory (no longer on Etsy but now here) and bullfinchbarbury - both were for beautiful pieces of jewellery and the packaging was the icing on the cake!

Sale!

I've recently been thinking hard about my Etsy shop and my jewellery-making in general, and have made some decisions about the direction I'm going to take (more on this to follow in a later post!).

As a result I have decided to hold my very first sale in my Etsy shop - selected items from my older jewellery design ranges will be available at a substantial discount, starting October 1st 2010.

This is a precursor to me slightly revamping the shop, and and reconsidering difficult things like pricing structures and packaging.

So, if you would like a tastykaeru original at a bargain price, check out my Etsy shop from October 1st - the sale will run throughout October.

Sunburst and Vortex...

It has taken me quite a while to get these finished... . I've been otherwise engaged all over the place doing lots of fun things like the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and travelling down to Birmingham to see my sister and nieces and going to the Festival of Quilts.  The Festival of Quilts was quite an event (I had never been before) - and although I am not a quilter we had a wonderful day drooling over all the stalls and getting lots of inspiration.  The highlight of the day though was actually getting to meet lovely Myfanwy of Sassalynne in person and to see (and buy!) a collection of her wonderful supplies 'in the flesh'.  Over the course of the day I bought lots of exciting and inspiring supplies, and discovered new sellers like 21st Century Yarns, which was great too.

Anyway, back to Sunburst and Vortex - these are prototype necklaces, the first two end results of my Sassalynne viscose felt project. 

'Vortex'

I haven't done any felting myself this time - the colours of the felt were so lovely I didn't want to cover them up by adding any more fibre.  Instead I just beaded and embroidered onto the surface, and experimented with a more 'ethnic' feel with dangly (not sure how else to describe them!) additions at the bottom of the felt piece and on the chain.

Glass beads and tiny sequins, with seed stitch in ribbon and cotton.

'Sunburst'

Glass beads, and seed and running stitches in gold thread.

The addition of the metal drops is a bit of a departure for me - the idea arose from wanting to try to incorporate a bit of movement into a necklace.

Aegis...

'Aegis' is another new necklace prototype I have been working on - I wanted something a little smaller than the 'bib' idea, but still large enough to give me a good area to play with :).  I have been trying to think of iconic shapes, but steering clear of anything too figurative like hearts or stars.  Eventually I was reminded of a 'shield' shape (inspired by beautiful earrings I bought from ILDVED on Etsy) - ok so still quite figurative but more unusual, and the symbolism of protection and strength really appeals to me.

So, I tried a few shapes and sizes out in card, came up with a prototype stencil, and here is the finished result:

in situ:

I made the felt from silk hankie fibre, merino roving, abaca tissue, silk throwsters waste and cotton nepps.  Then I added couched thread, glass beads, and seed and colonial knot hand embroidery stitches.

Free time...

 As of this week my Thursdays are now free, meaning I have more time available to develop some ideas that have been brewing... .

I recently bought some absolutely beautiful hand-dyed viscose felt from the ever wonderful Myfanwy of Sassalynne (her Etsy shop is here).  As usual I have been 'sitting' on it for a wee while waiting for inspiration to strike - which it inevitably does, sooner or later, when one is lucky enough to have a store of such lovely supplies...  .  Here is the first stage of my idea - 9 versions to be precise - more to follow at a later date:

The colours and the texture of the felt are irresistible!

Another project I got to finish today is another 'bib'-style necklace - I've slightly tweaked the design with this one, and changed the parts that connect to the ribbon to a more 'pointed' rather than 'rounded' shape.

This one is called 'nightgarden'.

The felt piece is made of silk hankie fibre, cotton scrim, cotton nepps, and silk tops, embellished with many glass and antique metal beads, and colonial knot, seed, bullion knot, detached chain and woven spider's wheel hand embroidery stitches.

Verdure

My second 'bib'-style necklace prototype is called 'Verdure'

She is smaller than 'Flare', and measures 13.5cm x 5cm at her widest and longest parts.

To make her, first I made a piece of felt with my embellisher, using silk hankie fibre, cotton scrim, cotton nepps, silk throwsters waste and silk thread. Once I've drawn up and decided on the necklace shape, I mask off the area with paper so I know where to work:

Next, I added couched silk boucle thread, and lots of glass beads in shades of green, yellow and gold:

and then seed, bullion knot, detached fly and colonial knot hand embroidery stitches in silk ribbon, cotton, rayon and silk threads:

Usually by this time I have decided on a name for the piece - although as you can see I changed my mind with this one!

Once the beading and embroidery is finished, I carefully cut out the felt shape and then whip-stitch around the edges:

Then I added hand-dyed variegated silk ribbon, joined to the felt piece with bronze jump rings and tiny stitches:

I decided to go with ribbon rather than chain to make sure the necklace would be adjustable to the right length for any wearer.  

And finally, to give a (rough!) idea of what the necklace looks like in situ:

I've really enjoyed making these necklaces - it's been a real treat to have a larger 'canvas' to work on and I love the amount of detail and texture it allows me to add.  Although I've decided to keep 'Flare' for myself, I'll be adding 'Verdure' to my Etsy shop later today.

Silver and felt necklaces... the sequel!

In Autumn 2008 I started developing some ideas for a series of sterling silver and embellished felt necklaces during my jewellerymaking evening class.  I wrote about the first prototype here, but never got around to finishing the other pieces I started.  In fact, I confess that I all but forgot about my selection of silver pendant bases that I had made that were hiding in my metalsmithing workbox.

Well, they finally made it to the top of my projects list again, (I have to admit that actually I've been a bit scared to finish them, as working with silver always seems terribly serious!) and I have made two more prototypes:  'Quezacotl' and 'Materia'  (if anyone can make the Otaku link to those names then I'll sort you out with a special prize :P).

I sawed sheet silver into a tag shape, filed the corners to gently round them, and then added a matte brushed texture and an asymmetrical hammer texture pattern.  Then I made the bezel settings from tiny strips of thinner silver sheet and soldered them onto the base tag.  The pieces of felt are made with silk hankie fibre, and embellished with tiny glass beads and hand embroidery stitches.

'Quezacotl'

I'm still not totally sure about jewellery photos featuring live models, but I wasn't sure how else to best show the necklace's scale...

And here's 'Materia':