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Blog problems

Hello there.....

As some of you will be aware there are some issues at present with those of us who publish our blogs via FTP - I'm not sure what it's all about but Techno Tim my computer guy says from 26th March I'll no longer be able to publish my existing blog & we'll have to copy it over & archive the old stuff?

As I have just tried to put some pictures on of my new card designs with no success I may well go a bit quiet on the blog front until it's all sorted??

I have just set up a Facebook account so will keep that up to date....there are the new cards on there plus lots of my Caribbean pics!

www.facebook.com

Felix & Tim the new arrivals

Yesterday we visited Danemere Animal Rescue near Droitwich 'just to have a look' at the cats available.....

We can home a couple of hours later with 2 more cats!!!!!

Both of them had been in the wars & are minus a leg each...they had been attacked by dogs in seperate incidents. The rescue centre wanted them to be homed together so we brought them home with us!

Felix - he's not too sure about it yet! He's 18 months - 2 yrs old a real softie but slightly freaked out at the moment

This is Tim - who we'll have to refer to as Timmy otherwise Tim (hubbie) will get confused! He's about 8 - 10 months old & very playful & affectionate.

Beautiful Taboo is sulking a little as she is not sure who these 2 new fellas are! We are hoping they will become friends eventually.....?

The Danemere Animal Rescue centre was great & they were so pleased we could give Felix & Tim a home. They have lots of dogs for rehoming to & sometimes rabbits. I think we need to stop now though as 3 cats & a large bunny is probably enough!!

http://www.danemerepetotel.co.uk/

Puffin brooch

I've had a few requests for a puffin brooch to go with the earrings I made last year...

So here is the little fella....made in oxidised silver he measures approx 35mm x 35mm

I hope he proves as popular as the earrings.

The other new jewellery designs I have been working on should be completed in the next couple of weeks. They will of course appear on here first! Hopefully doing some work on the shop part of my website during March as it is soooooooooooo out of date!!! Some of the items will be discontinued & lots of new things added to make it easier to add to your collections????

Commission pendant

I had a last minute commission to produce a 'pinky' colour pendant yesterday.

I've just varnished the pieces & the customer is coming in later today to select one.

The one pendant has an etched copper decorative surface & the other I've fused a silver wire onto the surface. The colour is then obtained by the heating process.

I hope the customer likes one of them?.....

Caribbean Colours!

Hello!

Well back in the studio today after my lovely sunny holiday cruising the Caribbean....

Thought some of these fabulous colours might brighten up a dull grey day???

Holidays!!!!

So tomorrow I'm off on a rather relaxing holiday with my mum.......to catch some sunshine, chill out & recharge the batteries.

Poor hubbie Tim is being left to look after the studio in my absence so normal opening hours over the next couple of weeks. I'll have to make sure I bring him back a good prezzie to make up for leaving him behind & missing Valentine's Day!

Mother's Day Designs

As Valentine's is nearly upon us I thought I'd plan ahead & get my Mother's Day designs prepared..... I'm printing these on the cream card like the Animal Alphabet etc. I might go back & introduce some pink or orange areas at a later date. At least I have some to put on the shelves after the weekend!

Meet Taboo our new friend!

We collected her from the Cats Protection on Monday afternoon. It's so lovely having feline company at home again - even at 4am when she decides she wants a cuddle!

We might change the name Taboo yet we're waiting to see what becomes appropriate?

We are hoping to adopt a second puss but she is not very well at the moment so it might not be for a while. Keeping fingers crossed x

New Etching Artwork Designs

I've just completed the artwork for some new etching. These will be photo-etched in brass & copper then used for my greetings cards. I thought it was about time I introduced some new designs to the range although the old favourites do still seem to be popular. I'm really looking forward to getting the first batch of metal versions delivered in the next few weeks.....

SALE ENDS SATURDAY

*******SALE*******

I have decided to continue my little 'sale' at the studio until this weekend. Although it feels like it's been going on too long....because of the awful start to the year with the ice & snow I thought I'd carry on for a few more days. I'm itching to have a move around and put out my Valentine display next week.

There are still some bargains to be had... £5 items of jewellery....cards @ £1....pictures @ £10 & £25...

*********************

Rowan leaf commission

I've just completed this metalwork plaque commission this morning. This piece is to celebrate the imminent birth of baby 'Rowan' for some very good customers.

I saw-pierced the leaf in brass & then textured the surface with a punch to impress 'veins'. This was then soldered onto a copper background & took several attempts to get the right colour as it was quite a large piece of metal.

I hope they will be pleased with the results.....

Torquil Ceramic workshop part 2

Last Saturday was the second part of the Torquil pottery workshop in Henley in Arden. This time we were decorating our creations with oxides & glazes before leaving them in the capable hands of Carey Moon & Jayne Lucas for firing. I can't wait to see the finished articles! I just hope they survive in the kiln OK?

It's been a lovely experience to work with the paper clay & meet some really interesting people. I also took the opportunity to purchase some more pieces from Jayne for the gallery. These will be on display very shortly.

Printing with Sue Brown

On Friday last week I went over to see my friend Sue Brown in her lovely garden studio in Cheltenham. Although I did not do any printing on this occasion, I've made a set of 4 'plates' to use next time. These were created using a combination of tile cement, wallpaper & pva glue! It was great just to see Sue as she is always so inspired which I hope rubs off a little on me.... I'm going back in March to have a go at printing them.

New jewellery patterns

Today I've been working on my new jewellery 'masters' in the bunny studio. Duke the rabbit was very happy as I had the heater in there so he probably thought it was spring!

This is the first stage of production so they are not finished yet - cleaning & filing to be done, then moulds made...

Watch this space to see more details in the next few weeks.

Sorry that the studio has been closed this week so far...

Tim will be opening tomorrow (friday) & Saturday then back to normal next week.

Source book inspiration

I'm trying to keep myself busy.........

So this evening I've finished off one of my 'source books'. I've produced these sort of scrap books since college so I have quite a library of them now! Unfortunately there never seems to be enough time to devote to doing them these days and the pile of cards, photos, magazine cut outs just seems to grow & grow......

This year I'm going to make a real effort to sort out some of the paper!

It's really amazing when you look back at things from years previously & then find inspiration from different elements.

What I really need is a whole room to devote to this project so I could spread all the stuff over a wide area & select the images which go together.....yes in an ideal world.....

These are just a few of my favourite pages from the most recent book: