Birds of a Feather

Sitting in my studio this morning all I could hear was silence...….and birds! The house next door to us is a tall 3 storey affair with a chimney where starlings nest every year. Some years I've counted over 30 baby birds lined up along the rooftop as they have several broods. They're very noisy and very greedy and can go through a couple of fat slabs in our feeder in a day, squabbling all the way. By contrast, the blackbirds that nest in our hedge are quiet and gentle. I saw one this morning picking our viola flowers to line her nest - soft and fragrant. Clever lady.
 

Todays earrings are birdy. Polymer clay birds (mum and baby) by Jana Bliznakova, textured ceramic discs by Nitta of  Corvus Ceramics, czech glass feathers, peanut beads and dark copper metalwork by Lucy Haslam all add to the rustic feel.

So off I go to fill up the bird feeders yet again - see you in a couple of weeks time.

                                                                  Lindsay xx

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Sunshine, Showers and The Tempest

 

It's been an odd sort of week, weatherwise. At the beginning of last week we were out on our bikes in warm sunshine; by weekend, it was back to rain, sleet and hailstones. Tonight we have a mini storm, and there will be some fences down by morning - hopefully, not ours as we had to replace them all at a similar time a couple of years ago. So this weeks earrings represent the weather - sunshine yellow, rainy blue and stormy soldered silver.    

 

 

 

The beads are, of course, Basha Beads; nothing quite like them for magical depth of colour, with gold, blue, and aqua all vying for attention. The headpins are Lucy Haslam's 'punkies'; copper, soldered with bits of recycled silver - here I bent them sideways, to form an interesting shape, and from them dangle vintage oxidised silver chain and swarowski crystals.

 

So there you have it - this weeks weather, condensed into a pair of earrings! In my Etsy shop now.

 See you in a couple of weeks, by which time, we will have hit Spring. Hope all is well in your world!

                                                                          Lindsay x

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A Happy Fall Out

 

 

It's been a busy week so far, invoicing and packing orders after a show over the weekend. Today I'd planned to make  a new pair for the post but sod's law says that the cold that has been brewing as a sore throat since last Friday chose today to make its debut in full technicolour! So with a head full of cotton wool, I offer you this pair that I hadn't had time to photograph for the show. 

 

 

Blood red lampwork criffles from Kimberly Rogers  dancing flirtily above ceramics from one of my all time favourite makers HappyFallout. Sadly, another not making any more.  Great contrast of red and green - picked up in the Czech glass bicones - and an interesting placement of holes!
The beautiful 'tangled' earwires you will recognise as Lucy Haslam's.

                 That's my lot, I'm afraid - hot vimto, ibuprofen and bed is calling me! Keep well.


                                                          Lindsay xx

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Leafy Shade.

 

Oh my, it's so hot over here - the north of  England reaches 31 degrees? What's all that about? Hottest summer since 1976 - which I recall well, as I was chasing a very mobile 15 month old around at the time. So at least thank goodness for small mercies.

My workroom just happens to be my conservatory - wonderful for light and air but when I come down in the morning to open the doors and windows and it's off the top of the thermometer - 50 degrees C - I know I'm not going to get anything done again till evening. So making the most of getting out on my bike and keeping the garden tidy - the shady part with lots of shrubbery being my favourite part! This weeks earrings echo that sentiment - cool and fresh.

 

 

The leafy porcelain buds are by French artist PerlaYo - I've had them for ages, wondering how to make them come alive. Playing around with copper leaf headpins from Cecilia Lawrence I turned them upside down, twisted around and threaded seed beads on. Hung on Lucy's copper earwires, they have just the fresh look I was after.

 

Just popped them in my Etsy shop if you'd like them.  See you again in a few weeks time - I'm off to Greece for my hols in 10 days, hoping to pick up some inspiration for my next show, which is sea-themed.  Have a lovely summer, and if you are going away, have a great time.

 

 

Lindsay xx

 

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Reading between the Lines.

Last weekend was my biannual visit to the Rock and Gem show at Harrogate - to stock upon my favourite gems and see what's new. It fit nicely with my plan for this weeks blog post - I took with me these polymer clay spikes from Jon Burgess to get some ideas of what to put with them.

Here's a selection of my top gemstone picks; ancient looking African turquoise, rough cut chrysocolla, labradorite, lapis chrysocolla, lapis cubes, leopardskin jasper, porcelain jasper, obsidian discs, shoushan, ocean jasper, and rainbow jasper. Lots of lovely colour and different shapes.

I'll be having some fun with these. For my first  pair with the pop of yellow, I used the black obsidian discs sandwiching yellow Picasso Czech glass. I like the bold mix, and vertical and horizontal lines.

The next pair uses some of Lucy Haslam's beaten copper washers and the marvellous rough cut chrysocolla - again, those horizontal strata lines in the stones really pick up the verticals in the spikes, as well as the soft green at their top end.  A much less strident pair. Simple blackened copper circular earwires (also Lucy's) finish them off nicely.

Clean and simple lines with pops of colour. Hope you like them - both are available in my  Etsy        shop.

                                                       See you again in two weeks!
                                                                  Lindsay x

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Stopping to Smell the Roses.

 

Hmmm.........today just happens to be my birthday. Not planned this way, it's just my regular posting day, but having reached the kind of age where my younger granddaughter Hazel asks me 'which birthday will you be dying on, Nannie?' I make a point of stopping to smell the roses - both real and metaphorical -  whenever I can.

This pretty Hellebore (aka Christmas Rose, Lenten Rose) was given to me by a good friend for my birthday exactly two years ago when our new garden was in it's infancy and is reaching a decent size now. When all is barren in the garden they can be relied on for weeks of colour to cheer you up and herald Spring. It's  a plant with history.

 

(19th C botanical image)

 

Co-incidentally, I received my order of several of  Kimberly Rogers lampwork criffles (which I love - and aren't they like the hellebores?) so last weekend I 'went pink' with several pairs of pink earrings. Some have already gone, and there a couple still in my Etsy shop, but I saved this pair for today as they're my favourites. 

 

 

                                  


The crustiness just takes the edge off the 'sickliness' of  pink. They have a  'threader ' element to them in that the lovely vintage soldered silver chain (given to me by an elderly lady - actually older than me - when I shortened a VERY trendy pendant for her) pulls through the criffles so you can adjust the balance of the dangles. They have some great bruised pink biwa stick pearls (also from Kim) wired on to the ends.

 

                                                So what do you think? Is pink for you?

                   See you on the other side of the birthday cake (assuming someone buys me one -       given the choice of baking or making earrings these days, the earrings get it every time!)

                                                                         Lindsay xx

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