Jungle Fever

Last weekend in our Facebook Group my friend Lucy Haslam organised an art challenge based on colour and texture. It was very popular, with many of our group members joining in and producing some very fine work. Seems that lockdown really did bring out the creativity in us.

I'd got quite hooked on using textiles in my designs for the challenge so I carried on with the theme for todays blog post.

 

 

 

 

 





I layered black and animal print recycled sari silks, secured with oxidised copper wire to lovely twisted copper rings by Louise Goodchild. Above lie small amber Czech glass beads and etched black lampwork barrels by Joanne Joyce. Very swishy!

You can find them in My Etsy shop.

 

                             Hope you are all keeping safe - see you again in two weeks. 

 

                                                                     Lindsay x 

 

                                                                    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flowers in the Snow

My earrings this week reflect what is going on outside; it's very odd weather, as it's been a reasonably warm winter so far and all the snowdrops, early daffodils and primulas are already out and tiny pale pink blossom is beginning to appear on our cherry tree. And yet this last couple of weeks we have had storms, a fluttering of snow and it is wetter than wet. So the need to wrap up warmly remains.

These began with my desire to use some of my new gorgeous soft pink organic banana yarn; I wrapped and secured it around two Faerystones black copper twisted sisters, added some beautiful creamy rustic pearls from The Curious Bead Shop and popped them on these lovely polymer clay floral beads that our own Janine Lucas made. Aren't they unusual? Pink and black - always an unbeatable combination.

So here you have - flowers with snow, and a scarf! They'll be in my Etsy shop, should you like them.

                                            See you again in a couple of weeks - keep well.

                                                                            Lindsay x

                                                                        My Etsy shop

                                                                    My facebook page

Buttoned Up

It's getting chillier out there! I was looking through some old photos this week, and found a picture from one of my blog posts this time last year. I had discovered Dorset buttons and now I had  a sudden urge to make another pair.
Traditionally made in Dorset, southern England from 1622 onwards, the buttons were a cottage industry where all the family - mum, kids, and dad when he returned home from the fields - would work on them, and sell to the local gentry. They're still a Heritage Craft and I got mine from Gilleoin of Woolrush on Etsy. Made in Scotland with hand spun and dyed wool, the frame is now plastic rather than the original ramshorn.    

They're a great blend of lilac and orange wools so I highlighted both colours - orange recycled sari silk to add even more texture, and the double lampwork headpins in lilac are from Kimberly Rogers at Numinosity. Those chunky copper ball end headpins and earwires are by Lucy Haslam, who's going to write a guest blog on here in a couple of weeks time. 

                                                   A little bit of cosy for your ears!

 

 

See you again  in a couple of weeks - in the meantime, keep warm and dry; stay buttoned up!

 

Lindsay x

 

My Etsy shop

 

My Facebook page

Wonderful Wool.

The clocks were turned back in the UK last weekend and the nights are drawing in - that's an old fashioned phrase! But old fashion is on my mind this week. 

I'm still hooked on textiles. Maybe it's the texture- they look so warm and cosy. Maybe the colours - such an array, from natural neutrals to bright primaries. Anyhow, in the search for something new to show you this week, I came across these Dorset Buttons.

Who knew? These buttons started their life in this country in 1622 (very precise!) and ceased hand production in the 1850's when machines began to take over. Made in Dorset, in the very south of England, they were a cottage industry that often the whole family took part in - mum, kids, and dad when he got home from the fields in the evening. The first ones used products of local sheep farming - rams horn for the circular frame and either wool or cloth scraps for the winding. Sold or traded, they were valuable items, for the clothes of the well-to-do.

I love the wheel pattern - they speak of cart wheels and spinning wheels. Pre-industrialisation.

The first pair in these fabulous neutrals I attached with a curled over piece of copper sheet and a ball end headpin - both made by Lucy Haslam, as are the earwires. The
stoneware spikes are from Petra Carpreau.

A second pair has darker neutrals, and ceramic connectors, again from Petra Carpreau, with little moving wheels, just like an old loom. Dark satanic mills, indeed.

 

 

 

Then I went for some serious colour! On the blue and yellow, more Petra spikes, dumortierite and Lucy's chartreuse earwires. On the blue and pink - Patricia Ritchie lampwork and sari silk, with copper rings and wine earwires (again, Lucy).  

 

 

 

The buttons? Still hand made, but in the Midlothian area of Scotland from local wool, hand spun and dyed by Gilleon Finley-Coull. Since early 2017 the buttons have been protected as a Heritage Craft.  

                                                              See you in two weeks

                                                                      Lindsay x

                                                                  My Etsy shop
                                                              My Facebook page

A Bit of Northern Soul.

Last Sunday but one Helen Backhouse and I popped over to Manchester to the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair. It's a week long shindig funded by The Arts Council and is a veritable hotbed for new talent. Although we have seen some of the exhibitors before, there are always lots of new Arts graduates fresh out of university, bringing their ground breaking ideas with them! Some of them are a bit whacky for my taste - but always worth a look.

Helen always heads for the ceramics (she's mad on pots and bowls) and the jewellery, of course, grabs our attention. Lots of it - and I mean lots. Seemed like every other exhibitor was a silversmith this year. Some very unusual work too - modern and edgy.  Lots of black. But I head for the textiles. They always spark my imagination and I like translating the colours and textures I see into jewellery.
I also bought some hand made buttons from one of the mixed media artists, Shirley Vauvelle.
My first pair of earrings this week uses Shirley's buttons; the inspiration was the colours from a piece of textile work by Sara Tommins.  Sarah is one of this years graduates. Always collect the business cards!

 

I really liked the effect of the grey shell layered over the links of elongated black chain with the ebony spikes, so while I was on a roll a couple more pairs took shape. Again, Shirley's buttons but this time in aqua. 

 

The third pair have baby enamels by Kimberly Rogers in yellow, with a tiny hint of pink. The lampwork is by Patricia Ritchie, with pink enamel earwires by Lucy Haslam. Normally, I hate pink and yellow together but with the black these work really well!

 

 

See how one business card sparks the flame? Next time you  are in a creative slump, bypass Pinterest (am I the only person who saves hundreds of pins only to never look at any of them ever again?) and look around you - buttons, cushions, woollies, fabric of all kinds can provide the spark you need. 

 

 

See you in two weeks time

 

Lindsay x

 

My Etsy shop

 

My facebook page