Lately, in the Studio

Lately, I've been having lots of fun playing with new work in the studio, tinkering around with bits of silver and dashes of colour, just the way I like things.

I've started playing with a new range inspired by the scales on Japanese Koinobori banners.  I want the pieces stackable with variations in colours that will blend together, these are some of my results so far....

I've also started extending my "Rock Pool" range.  My scarlet Rock Pool drop earrings are my go-to earrings, they go with most things in my wardrobe and I feel instantly more glamourous just by slipping them on.  I'm now working on some stacking rings to add to the range in a variety of different hues.

And of course, the main purpose of my recent trip to Japan was to source new fabric and handmade papers for the Kimono Reincarnate signature ranges.  I really love the treasures I found and how they're turning out.

And pssst... there are some new "Quilted" designs being added to my Kyoto Collection.

Recently I took an online drawing class with Lisa Congdon on Creativebug.  Even though I have a degree in Visual Arts, I realised that other than quick not-good-enough-to-show-anyone sketches of jewellery design ideas, I haven't done any pen sketching since my second year of university, which was a very long time ago.  While I'm still feeling rather rusty, it's been great to get pen back on paper and to doodle away.

I have plans for some of those doodles too.... and have been getting a few prototypes made which hopefully I can show you in the next couple of months...

This week the work in the studio is all about getting ready for the GoMA Winter Design Market.  It's on this Saturday, 19th July at the entrance to the Queensland GoMA gallery, South Brisbane.

Then, for a couple of weeks after the market I'll be working on a big update of my website to include the new designs.

Coming My Way

This is the story of a necklace. One that I fell in love with when I first saw it. A lovely shiny brushed sterling silver, simple, whimsical and elegant. It's a piece that I'm very pleased to say will soon be mine.

With a lucky voucher win to spend in Epheriell's gorgeous store, while I was tempted by some of her other beautiful pieces, I just couldn't go past the cloud that first won my heart.

Super tiny, Super rough, but I'm Super Excited!

For my birthday, hubby-dear bought me a Silver Metal Clay kit. It's something we've both been checking out for a while at the hand-craft department store (yes, a whole department store devoted to hand-crafts - can you tell why I'm having trouble leaving this country?). It looked too good to be true. A clay substance that once fired ends up being 0.99% silver.

To start me off, he bought me the PMC3 Silver Pot Starter Kit, which contained (a tiny bit) of the silver clay, a number of tools, the cutest little pot kiln and solid fuel. The instructions of course were all in Japanese so he ordered a book in English on-line as well.

Late last night I started playing with the clay, I fired it this afternoon and wore it out tonight. Being impatient as I was to begin playing, I didn't read all of the instructions, so I made a few mistakes along the way. This resulted in the piece being a bit rougher than I would have liked, but we'll just call it wabi-sabi shall we? Only 7 grams of clay was included in the kit, so that meant that the final piece is tiny.

Other than my little mistakes (mostly involving me trying to move bits and join bits while they were still to soft), this was so easy to use. Many years ago, I used to sculpt in clay, so it was really fun playing with this medium, knowing that in the end it was going to result in a silver piece of jewellery.

So, here's the result of my first attempt! The insert is a tiny piece of kimono fabric. It is actually much shinier than it appears in this photo.

I was too excited this time to take step-by-step photos but promise I'll try next time.. which hopefully won't be too far away. Now the biggest decision is after school tomorrow, do I go to the big city to buy more clay, do I get my butt back behind the sewing machine or do I go to the gym..... mmm.. I really do wish there was 3 of me!