A tale of Commission......

I often take commissions from clients to design and create a unique piece of jewellery for them, sometimes they know exactly what they want but other times they have an idea that I then need to bring to reality.

I had just such a customer recently - she was interested in the Evenstar pendant featured in the Lord of the Rings films. Now, I couldn't recreate this exact piece for her - that design belongs to the film studio and as such I would infringe their copyright if I were to do so. So we got talking about the piece as it featured in the film (and more importantly where it WASN'T featured in the book!) and she decided that she would rather have a completely new piece based on the book.

Now, where do you start on such a commission? Well, with the book of course ("oh dear, what a shame I guess I'll just have to read it again", I thought to myself with glee) so to the pages of my copy I turned.

If you know me at all, then you will know that I could talk for hours on the intricacies of the plot from Lord of the Rings, but I will not bore you with all the details now. Suffice to say we settled upon using this description of Arwen's pendant,

"a white gem like a star that lay upon her breast hanging upon a silver chain"    

This was a good place to start and left me with plenty of space to add my own ideas, so after lots of thinking and head scratching and crumpled up pieces of paper I settled on this idea:

The design features the impression of real leaves and an 8mm round moonstone cabochon at the centre. The customer loved the design and so I set about making it for her.You can see some of the stages of production along with the finished item in this picture:

I'm happy to say that my customer loved the finished piece - I enjoyed working on it so much that I was sorry to see it go really, it's given me lots of ideas for the future though!

The post is here!

Just recently I read a blog by a lady who had signed up for Postcrossing - I thought it sounded interesting so I had a look and signed up too.

Basically, you sign-up (for free) and get the addresses of other members around the world so you can send them a postcard. Each postcard has a unique ID which you write on it with your message and when the postcard arrives the recipient logs it online. Your address then gets given to another random member and you receive a postcard in return.

Already I have sent cards to Germany, USA, Russia and China and today I have just received my first card back (see the photo above).

I thought it would be a fun way of looking at Geography with the kids and there's something nice about getting post that isn't a bill isn't there!

If you'd like to find out more have a look at their website at www.postcrossing.com 

Now Booking!

Look what I received in the post this morning! The brochure for this year's Gloucester Arts and Crafts Summer School featuring a two day class by little old me.

This is what it says about my class:

Silver Clay Jewellery -  21/22 July - Fee £95

Learn how to use precious metal clay and sterling silver wire to make your own pieces of silver jewellery.  The course will include making pieces from lump clay and clay in its paste form, as well as some wire work.  We will be using naturally found materials in our work to add texture and make moulds.  All tools  and equipment will be provided.  The cost of the materials is £30 payable directly to the tutor.  Each student can expect to take home at least three pieces of finished jewellery depending on what they choose to work on.  This course is suitable for complete beginners.

Tutor

Heather de Gruyther runs MoonRiver Jewellery, specialising in silver fingerprint keepsakes and draws her inspiration from the natural world around her.  She sells her work online, at various shows and shops, and at Gloucestershire Arts and Crafts Centre.  She also works to commission.  You can see her work on her website - www.moonriverjewellery.co.uk

There are also classes available in painting, textiles, stone work, mosaics, beading, glass, decoupage, encaustic arts, sculpture......... if you'd like to find out more information or to book a course then visit www.spanglefish.com/gloucesterartsandcrafts 

Scissors and Sentimentality

I recently found this old pair of scissors. They don't look much, but I love them. I'd forgotten all about them and found them in a drawer.

They are old, but they're still surprisingly sharp and just right for certain little jobs. They used to belong to my Gran - she kept them in a glass pot on the mantlepiece ready for use, where everyone knew where to find them. I particularly remember using these scissors while she taught me to knit - a skill I'll always be grateful for.

Gran's not here anymore to see all the new things I've learnt with silver  and although the scissors are no longer shiny, I'm glad I still have them.

MoonRiver - Light!

Well, I'm used to my jewellery being bought and ordered for different occasions - birthdays, Christmas, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day etc. - but this week I found a whole new use for my work!

A customer of mine dropped in to say thanks for some jewellery sets I had made for her but that she had felt a bit frivolous in just buying so much for herself - so she had come up with a cunning plan........

She allowed herself to have one set straight away and was using the other set as a 'carrot' to encourage her to lose a little weight. She is going to have the earrings after she loses a certain amount and then the matching necklace when she reaches her next target. What a great idea.

Thinking of carrots - perhaps I should make a carrot from silver........ that would certainly have no calories whatsoever!

P.S. I did ask my lovely customer if I could use this story and she so very kindly said yes xx  

Birthdays and Hobbit Holes

Well today is my daughter's 10th birthday - where on earth did those years go?! I don't consider myself to be old enough to have a 10 year old!

We all know that you can't have a birthday without cake, so I spent last night making a cake look like Bilbo's house from Lord of the Rings (as you do!) - yes, that's right, we've done a good job and got her to love Lord of the Rings already.

Now, I'm not an expert at cake decorating but I'm quite chuffed with the result - and so is she.

Out with the old.......

Well, it might be grey and damp again today but we have at least seen some sunshine this week. On Thursday I even sat outdoors to eat my sandwiches!
This quick snap was taken next to the bench where I sat - it's in the cloister gardens in Gloucester Cathedral. I love the fact that you can see the dark evergreen holly bush in the background surround by the snowdrops. There's a lovely daffodil there too just about ready to bloom.