The view from my window

I looked out of my window this morning and this is what I saw.

And when I looked out the front it looked like this.

How did that happen ?

Snow at the back and sun ( just a little bit ) at the front.

Funny old world.

51st post

I think I missed a landmark. I have just noticed that my earlier post was number 51. And I also noticed that I got my 51st face book fan today.
Maybe I should have had a party....
I'm going to pay more attention now and if I get to 100 fans by my 100th post I really will celebrate.

Some more of my work.

This is a very simple little pendant, made by wrapping a small agate with gold coloured enamelled wire. The husband of one of my customers has been collecting and polishing stones as a hobby for a while and very kindly passed some of them on to me. The other one here started as a very pretty heart shaped mother of pearl. I do like to personalise things though and this one has been wrapped with a piece of jade enamelled wire.

I have mentioned before that I knit bracelets and that I am now learning to crochet. Well here is wee look at what I am doing. The bracelet is an example of one of the many I have made in the last year. They have a magnetic fastener which means you can dress yourself and not be fiddling about with little catches all the time. On the left is a very simple little crocheted wire and bead necklace with matching ear rings. I am now working on a crocheted bracelet to match.  It is similar to the knitted bracelet but has a closer mesh.

My Mind Blowing Weekend

Thank goodness it's Monday and I am now returned to the relative normality of Buy Design : making jewellery, arranging displays and speaking to customers.
I have just spent the weekend on a course learning about making websites using Dreamweaver software. The possibilities are endless and it was really interesting using the package, but oh my brain was seriously overloaded. I now understand why web designers charge so much to make web sites.
It has been about 9 months since I started blogging with the idea that this would be a good place to start and to practice on. It took some time but I can now post photos without any help and I usually get them the right way round !!
Now I know that making a web site is totally different and I have so much more to learn.

So for now I am going to rest the thinking part of my brain and concentrate on the creative side.

Fat Free, Calorie Free and Gorgeous

Crochet Cupcakes.

I have been addicted for a week now with crochet. It's on my list of things to learn this year and I am loving it. So far I have done a couple of sampler squares, which will hopefully become a blanket in the coming months, a cute purple bunny with long ears and a pink hat, and six cupcakes. I absolutely love my cupcakes and can't wait to start another one. Just need a nice cake stand to display them on now. As soon as I get them set up I will share them with you.

Snow Days

Oh I wish I had appreciated my garden while it was still green. Haven't seen the grass since the week before Christmas. I'm sure it's still there. I just want to see it again. Having said that, the nearby ski centres are delighted to be having a great early start to the season, so I really shouldn't complain.

Some of my recent work

It's all a bit pretty in pink but we are surrounded with snow here and a bit of colour makes a nice change. As promised I have made a start at posting pictures of my jewellery. This bangle has a hammered texture to it, and is similar in style to some bangles that I did earlier for our baby collection.

I personally like simple jewellery and do a lot with simple twists and coils. Here is a small selection of rings.

Something else I like to do is make things up as I go along. I think the proper word to describe the next two pendants is Organic. The first one is made from lots of tiny pieces of scrap silver: left over bits from other projects. They are all fused together and I love seeing how it all comes together. This one reminds me of the ship in Peter Pan as it passes through the clouds.

Similar technique here, although the silver has been melted right down and dropped in cold water. The benefit is that I can use up all the little bits of silver in my scrap pot and if I'm not happy with the result I just melt it down again.

As I said before, I do like twists and coils.

This piece probably took the most time to complete. The little square measures about one inch, and has tiny holes drilled all round. Do you remember string and pin pictures ? Very popular in the seventies. This piece reminds me of those pictures, with very fine silver wire threaded through the holes.

Happy New Year

I have been back to work for two days now and am just about back in to a routine again. Sadly my lovely Christmas window display has been packed away and I quietly planning next years'. We are currently enjoying!!!!! the lowest temperatures in about 30 years so I am knitting hats and scarfs as fast as my needles will go.
Poor Mary, my flower lady is enjoying even worse weather up in Aberdeen so we still have some of her lovely Christmas decorations in stock. If you fancy stocking up for next year now would be a good time.
I realised the other day that despite being a jewellery maker I have posted very few pictures of my own work so that is on my ToDo list.
New Year resolutions. Now, I don't normally make any but have made the effort this year. My target is to learn as many new things this year. I wonder how I will get on.
First on my list is learning to crochet. I do quite a lot of knitting, currently woolly scarfs but I also knit with wire and I hope to be able to produce some interesting crocheted jewellery before too long.
Second on the list is a bit scarey and I am already getting a bit nervous about it. I am booked on to a course at the end of January to learn about making a web site. I'm convinced that everyone else on the course will be computer whizz kids, but hopefully it will all be people like myself.
I will keep you posted on my progress.
Happy New Year to everyone out there.
Fiona x