I went to go shopping this morning...

and look what I bumped into!

Not a lot of flag waving (there is no Red Dragon on the Union Jack - so they don't really sell well here!)

But the Olympic Torch - with the Flame just visible!!

It was a bit depressing to see the Sponsorship Machine in action twenty minutes before this - there's been a lot of fuss about how much money the Government has had to spend on the Olympics here, during this double-dip recession we're all going through - and it's felt fairly hard in these small ex-mining Valleys...

However, the sun was shining and the Torch did not blow out!

It made me feel excited for the athletes, but it was hard to see how it was benefiting us.

My sister owns a small shop in the run down town, and no-one was shopping this morning.

BUT

To get in to the celebratory mood I am going to host my very first giveaway!

Leave a comment on this post - Olympic related or not - to enter.

(Don't forget to leave your email)

The free gift will be these pretty Moonstone and Peridot Earrings.

I hope you are lucky!

Have a great weekend guys.

xx

New Life From Old....

I'm  a self taught Silversmith, (I use that word very free and easy I know).

Which means that I hold down a job, keep house, cook and clean after a small family, work with young women in my Church twice a week (often more), try to fit in a good Yoga session,  and then, if I'm lucky, get time to sit at the bench and work out how to make something I'm proud of!

I'm lucky though, I have the whole Summer off work (not everything else) to practise, the wire wrapping beads, how to get a smooth bezel setting, and how to form the perfect French wires.....

I thought I would show you how last years efforts have been transformed - thanks to a little more confidence and self belief, AND the loan of my son's camera - which is soooo much better than a doddery old Pentax 1000D that literally eats batteries!

This Pendant was a little overloaded with goodies....and the chain was too chunky for the delicate little gems and primitive bird (she is the first thing I ever cut out of silver by the way)

so

I very bravely - 'cause it's always a brave thing to tear things up and start again - 

dismantled the heavy weight ...

The leather strap is much  better; it's wrapped with sterling wire at intervals, and threaded with a sterling bead, every so often...I lost the turquoise, it was too distracting, and now my little leaf and primitive chick can swing happily knowing that they have all the attention.

I'm smiling at that thought.

I know I'm not the only one that finds it hard to let go of something you've poured your heart and soul in to, but I also think, that when something (or someone) is ready to fly away and make it's own nest, it can be just as satisfying to know that it is loved just as well (if not more) somewhere else.

I would love to be able to make the rent making and selling the things I make.

BUT

I have to be a little lot more confident and let these babies fly!

preserved beauty...

Can you see the petals?

Are they Iris or some extinct species of Orchid.

I've had this very special fossil for a very long time.

It belonged to my Grandmother.

Every time I see it, I see her wondrous smile as she looked at the preserved beauty.

I often wonder what she had been thinking.

What does anyone think, when they look at something that to them is beautiful.

I am an August birthday, and  Peridot is my birthstone.  

I never loved it very much, until I bought some tiny Peridot beads, and saw how pretty they were!

I do adore Moonstones though- especially if I can glimpse their inner blue light!

It's my son's birthday today!

27 

A perfect age.

xx

accidental over-exposure..

due to me confusing sea fog with cloud on the white balance....

but

these are my favourite photographs, from one of my favourite days so far - for several reasons.

congratulations A&N 

xx

make a wish...

it may come true!

(the sun is finally shining from a blue blue sky!)

bluebells and snowflake...

The harvesting of these bluebells from my garden are first to say "thank you" to my sister, these await her return from work - and to make "ice-flowers" India Flint style.  Harvesting flowers for their colour is not an original idea, but freezing them for their colour is!  

Thanks to India Flint we realise now that heating the flowers destroys their colour potential, whereas, freezing then thawing is the best way to encourage the delicate petals to release their colour.  I have not tried it out for real yet, but this harvest is the beginning of something new, the next stage of dying experiments.

  

The beautiful kitten, Snowflake, arrived at my sister's house last month - a belated Christmas present for her son.  She is adorable, and sweet and so gentle - she was such a little lady, that even her collar coordinated perfectly with the flowers...

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

xx

old fossil...

This found shell fossil is a treasured part of my little rock and fossil collection - did I ever mention that I have been picking up and collecting rocks in pockets, tins, jars, shoe boxes, since I was a little girl - and that I wanted for a brief time to be a geologist?  I had my little hammer and friendly reference book...of course I did not become a geologist - sadly - but still retain my curiosity for rocks and stones...which is in part why I enjoy working with gemstones and metals....the school term is over for me, which happily means more making time in the studio for painting, sewing, metal-smithing and playing with shiny stones! 

I will be keeping myself busy at the work bench this Summer and keeping a beady eye out for the sun.  

What will you be doing?

Any plans?

Miniature Portraits...

I began making these for the "craft-it-forward" project.

I have become addicted.

I love the process, and now want to share them with you!

A few are in my Etsy Shop now.