Class of 2010 Charm Bracelet!

Finally the pics of the charm bracelet are here for everyone to drool over!! This is the top prize from the raffle that was mentioned in the Christmas sale post so get moving if you want a chance to snap it up! It's absolutely gorgeous (if I do say so myself!!) and none of us want to see it go! Maria Maclennan was very kind and took all the photo's and photoshopped them beautifully and was good enough not to take off with it never to be seen again! As was Holly Wilcox who took the time to put it all together and do all the fiddly jump rings!! Come along to the Christmas sale 10th-15th in Duncan of Jordanstone and buy some tickets for your chance to win the
Class of 2010 Charm Bracelet!

Shhhhhh....!

Just a fabulous little taster of a night soon to come, full of splendorous Bling so..Bling-tastic you shant believe your eyes!!! (and will therefore not notice us pinching your pennies for fundraising!! :D)

Modelled by Maria, Holly and Kim and a whole lotta crystals!!

My 1st proper commission...

Well the other week the jewellery office got a phone call from someone enquiring about finding someone to make a piece of jewellery featuring...a horse's tooth!! As there weren't many people in the workshop and it was mentioned that I'd worked with antler before, I somehow found myself being dragged to the phone protesting all the way that I was crap and could never do it! And so a week later I find myself with a gas mask strapped on my face trying to ignore the smell of recently sawn horses teeth!! I have been, very kindly(!), commissioned to make a pendant for someones 40th featuring their recently deceased horse's tooth! A very interesting commission I must say but I'm going to really enjoy the challenge and I also think that by doing this it will hopefully have me jumping at the chance at the next offer I get rather than
un-confidently stating "I can't do that!" Here are some pics of the tooth and
experimenting with creating a "stone" out of it!

5 Things I love about jewellery!

5 things I love about making jewellery....

Copy and paste into your own blog!!

It's an odd life is bein a jeweller...!!!

1. Doming!! Feck knows why! I just like seeing the cute little domes at the end of it!

2. Beads and stones! Not even using them - just sitting them out and looking at them and feeling like a little girl who's found a treasure chest!

3. Satinising! Ooh pretty easy to use texture maker - how I love thee!

4. Polishing! From yucky metal to pretty shiney happiness! Magpie instinct alerted!!

5. The finished pieces... it's worth all the cuts/burns (from sawing and melting stuff) to see something I'm really proud of! (Stolen from Holly Wilcox!!)

:D

Jewellery Christmas Sale!

The 4th year jewellers have decided to hold a Christmas Sale this year in order to raise money for our degree show and also New Designers next year. The night runs from 10th to the 15th of December and we will be having a little opening night celebration on the 10th that I would like to invite you all to! There will be free wine and nibbles but I think most people will be excited about the raffle which gives you the chance to win a charm bracelet with each charm designed and crafted by a 4th year jeweller!

There will be a sale of jewellery made by the 4th years which is an excellent chance to get some last minute unique Christmas presents! (ideal for thise guys out there who don't have a clue what to get their female relatives/friends/partners!!)

Please come along and support the 4th year jewellery students at Duncan of Jordanstone! :D

Bellore, studio unbound and vanilla ink...

"Designers should be story tellers. Don't just show the shiny object."

We had a visit from Bellore today which I actually had no idea about and I was supposed to be saving all my pennies for Walsh's visit tomorrow! I bought some chain for the Christmas sale - more info will be posted nearer the time about that! - and some ball wire and a nice silver trim (dont actually know the proper names of these things but meh!) and then saw some MORE pink beads which were actually exactly what I've been looking for and only £3! Was faffing around so much I actually forgot to see what they were but think they're agate judging by the price! Very pretty! Think I will be purchasing a raw hide mallet and a rivetting hammer tomorrow and am looking at doming blocks but I'll have to watch my bank balance on that front! We also had an interesting lecture with Studio Unbound which spoke about Vanilla Ink - a new initiative set up to help jewellers make the transition from Uni into a job! Can't think of anything more relevent as a fearful jeweller so check them out!

http://vanillaink.wordpress.com/whats-vanilla-ink/

Kaytee Rose..

I have been very uninspired as of late - think it may have to do with my first piece for 4th year being a refined version of the compact I made in 3rd year - I don't feel like I'm progressing! Will hopefull get it made and out of my system so I can move forward! Thankfully, as I was sitting in front of my sketchbook feeling very down, I went over to pester Anne Sutherland and was looking at her postcards on her desk and saw she had one by Kaytee Rose, a recent ECA Graduate! Was very pleased to find out about her and will be adding her to my source and her work got my creative thinking moving and I went on to do lots of potential piece-doodling! Her work is quite similar to Hannah Louise Lamb's I think - which is probably why I love it :D

Goldsmiths' Boards!

Aaaah thank the lord - the Goldsmiths' boards are done!! Hoora! I wasn't actually too bad making the boards etc but I just felt it really clogged up my mind and was in the way of all the other work we were doing! Pretty much got 0% chance of winning as I would't class my jewellery or the type I hope to make as anything near what Goldsmiths' seem to like! Few excellent boards on the go! Was superly impressed with Kim Mitchells and I liked Maria Maclennans photos and her boards' personality! Also had a dream that our tutor had put up the winner on little bits of paper and Maria was on a bit of paper and then mine was on a mini piece of paper that said "pal for london" or something - which meant I got to go with her to London to accept her award!! Haha no idea why I was dreaming this!! Anyways will attempt to put up pics of my boards - not sure if it'll work..but worth a try! :D

Dissertation - word count is now my friend. :D

I'm taking a break from my Dissertation to announce I have FINALLY managed to get over 7000 words on my word count!!! Although I am by no means nearly finished (you're recommended to have between 7000-7700) I feel a little bit of relief! Want to write lots more and then edit down - but not long to go now!!

My Dissertation is called Individual and Group Identity: Clothing as Social Language in Adolescence and mainly focusses on social groups, particularly Emo's, status within social groups and in adolescence and how we use clothing to communicate our identity. I've gone through phases of being quite interested, particularly when researching Emo's and finding out some basic psychology(!!), but I am sick to death of it now!!! Haha!

Been feeling very low and stressed at the moment (I blame the weather!!) and my heads not really in it at the moment even though it very much needs to be! I just cant wait to get this Dissertation out of the way and can then plonk my head into sketchbooking and making!! It's trying to concentrate fully on the two that's making my head mince!!

I shall be posting a post full of joy and splendour when it's done...well..that or panic that I've ruined my chances of a good degree!!! Can't wait to post pictures of jewellery Ive actually MADE!!! :P

Following blogs...

I'm just wondering how the hell you follow blogs that don't have a "follow" button?! I've seen so many blogs I like and have seen people "joining" blogs but I don't know how to do it!! :(
Blogger still confuses me...Help!!! xxx

Latest source!

Yet again hiding from my dissertation and inspired to put lots of effort into my blog - before crunch time starts for degree show and I wont be on this for months!! Just still working on everything in bits and bobs and am still trying to gather source inspirations! Very difficult as theres not a lot I feel I can draw - like those who are doing nature are obviously presented with a whole array of natural wonders to take inspiration from (!!!) whereas I feel that I'm relying a lot on others work and what I like about it! I'm looking at a lot of quotes on vanity (i.e. Vanity is my favourite sin) to seek inspiration and will also have to start looking at cosmetic packaging. But here is a few of my latest favourites from some very talented designers! Marta Mattsson, Hannah Louise Lamb and more from Helena Lindholm.

Source and sketchbook pages..

Just as a little distraction from my dissertation I thought I'd post some pics of my source book and sketchbook pages. I am also currently working on 5 boards to present a final degree show peice design to apply for the Goldsmiths Company Precious Metal Bursary. My first piece is going to be a refined verion of my vainty compact as I did really love it but as it had to be made in a week it was poorly made and also only made of brass. The refined version will have a hinge and intricate saw piercing inside to allow the powder to spill out - a lot better than my mock up as it basically had huge big holes drilled into the middle! Very unrefined you see!! Ideally I would like to make two - one gold plated and one silver with blush inside - maybe just to play with the colour schemes. After that is very scary as I'm really struggling to design at the moment! I have a few brooch ideas at the moment but nothing fully worked out yet! A series of deadlines are coming up so I really need to get working! Something like 6 weeks for dissertation, 1 week for the Goldsmiths boards and 4 weeks for our first finished piece!! Eek!

Flocking samples!

Also while I was taking pics of my beads I remembered that I hadn't put my flocking samples up either! My photography skills and camera aren't exactly up to scratch so try not to judge my poor blog!!

Beads!

As promised here are some pics of the lovely beads I bought from Marcia Lanyon! Look at the prettiness...aaaaah.....!!!

Stones make me happy and guilty!!

Oh deary...Marcia Lanyon, the stone dealer, was visiting Duncan of Jordanstone today and after initially forgetting (we're on a reading week this week so don't have to go in!) I had a panic 10min shower and ran up to get some stones!! Was quite good and only bought what I felt I would need for my degree show but spent £50 on 9 strands of beads! Some were double stranded! I got some Agate and Opal but mainly lots of pearls - all pinks and creams! Very happy but feel a bit guilty! Taking my camera in to Uni tomorrow so will get some pics of them and my flocking samples up here soon! :D

Helena Lindholm..so so so cute!!!!

Oooh sooo happy - found someone new who's work I love!!!! Very rare occurance!! Especially if they have more than 1 or 2 things I like! Link at the side. Very excited about this as Source was getting a little bit stale!!! :D This is her "Leftovers Collection" but she also has a collection called "My Little Pony" which is equally gorgeous!! I do love pink and girly.

Boyfriend + camera = me - camera!

Its been ages since I posted anything and this can be blamed on my boyfriend as he borrowed my camera weeks ago to take pics of some PS3 games he wanted to sell and is yet to take any pics at all!! I'm def going to steal it back soon as I like posting pictures with my posts as frankly they're pretty boring without them and I'm terrible at explaining things! Had a strangely calm start to 4th year as I thought we'd basically have a whip cracked behind us at all times but lots of staff are off at the moment (1's ill, 1 has conveniently(?!) gone on maternity leave the day we got back(!!!) and 2 others have gone off to show their jewellery at Goldsmiths and couldn't give a hoot about us!!) so basically we've been getting up to ...well bugger all really! I was feeling very unproductive until I decided to do some flocking samples - inspired by Rachelle Varney's amazing work (pictured)!! They were just very basic on brass as I wasn't sure what to expect or how they would work but I was amazed at how quickly flocking is done! Absolutely in love with it now and am guessing I will be using it in my final degree show pieces. This week I plan to crack on with some photo etching so I can try out my cold enamels and create some more samples. Other than that I've been cracking on with dissertation - finally over 5000 words(!)-just under 2000 to go - :s!!! and also doing some doodles so I can think a bit clearer- just simply sitting with a sketchbook trying to come up with final pieces was just not working and giving me design block!! Seriously need to get going though! I have a degree show to plan!! and a final piece must be done by half-way through November!! Argh!! p.s pics of flocking samples will be up soon!!

Antique rummaging!

Finalllly getting a chance to put up a new post!!! Been stuck up in Inverness with no internet for months and any time I have been on I've been trying to get some dissertation done! Well because I've been doing dissertation, source has taken a bit of abandoning..but I've been trying to keep steady with it and start some new sketchbooks etc! While up in Inverness I went to Auldern Antiques to have a rummage to find some bits and bobs for source and samples and came across this lot! Will be honest the earrings and locket are just for me to wear :D! However I've finally settled more on my theme which I think will be a sort of combined effort of memories and vanity. Mainly exploring marks made through make up and how they create memories of loved ones. Thinking along the lines of powder on fabric, lipstick marks on shirt collars and foundation on silk make up bags!

The locket is so cool-it's got some old-lady hair in it which just adds to the appeal for me! I can't work out what it's made of though? It sort of looks like copper thats fading into brass?! Any ideas? Auldern Antiques is also amazing! Well worth a visit! Got some amazing old outfits and loads of jewellery and crockery! I always find some old trinkets there! And the lady who runs it usually gives me money off! Woot! Glad I'm adding to my giant 80's earrings collection too! Will have to put a pic of some I found in Munich! Have yet to find an occasion to wear them!

Degree show!

Well last night was the official Duncan of Jordanstone Degree Show night and it was fantastic! I had a brilliant night (especially with my free wine and gin and lemonades!!! note to self: stop mixing drinks...) and of course the jewellery section was my favourite!!! (Not even just being biased!) There was so much amazing pieces on show and this year felt different that previous years because at the back of my mind was always "This is you next year!!! *cue large lottery hand pointing accusingly!!!*. I'll admit I'm absolutely terrible with 4th years names and didn't even know what half of them were up to so it was nice to finally see everything! There was lots to be inspired from too. It must have been an amazing group as they got very high results and the show was ridiculously professional and definately set an extremely high bar for us to aim for!

The degree show has recieved a lot of attention from press due to Erin O' Connor's presence as she opened the show and she has also given 1 textile student, Hayley Scanlan, an amazing start to her fashion career by snapping up one of her jackets. There was a lot of people crowded around "The Jacket", as it is now known :P and i felt a little sorry for the other textiles so wanted to not like it but her stuff was awesome!! Honestly was my fave textile section! Just before coming across her stuff, I said to my friend Sara who is about to go into her 4th year in Textiles "Ooh you should wear 1 of your own dresses at your degree show-that would be a good way to sell yourself!" and came to Hayley's section to see her wearing one of her own dresses and it was ridiculously cool and induced lots of jealousy!!! Mostly, she had an amazing catsuit that was reeking of 80's awesomeness and if I was famous...or cool...I'd be snapping up and wearing everyday!!! I wants me a 80's catsuit!!!! I do have to rant however that it was the jewellery department who origionally booked Erin to model their stuff and textiles (by what I've heard) just muscled their way in and it's a shame that a piece of jewellery wasn't snapped up and given the same amount of attention! But nevermind the pieces will get amazing attention anyway as they honestly were ridiculously well made and amazing designs...

A sad note to my night was that I recieved a very sad late night phone call from my boyf Tocher who lost his wallet in Glasgow!! :( Poor babes...

One more thing...VISIT THE DEGREE SHOW! :D ...Mum and Granny are getting forced to go on Sun hopefully!! :P

Degree show night!!!! :D

Tonight is the Duncan of Jordanstone Degree show opening night and I'm very excited to see everyones stuff (the jewellers especially of course!)! It runs from the 23rd May to 6th June (9.30-8.30 or 4.30 at weekends) and I think it is definately worth a visit. I remember going to the degree show at Edinburgh College of Art when I was in 3rd year of school (wasn't really aware of D.O.J at that point!) and absolutely loved it and knew then that I wanted to make jewellery! Of course at the time...and even now actually(!!!!) I remember thinking "There's no way I could ever do this!!!"! I actually looked up 1 jeweller, Cecillia Stamp, who's postcard I stole from an E.C.A degree show a few years ago (keep an eye on ur postcards tonight 4th years! Mwooohahaha!) because I loved her stuff so much and was a little dismayed to only find them on a site about that very degree show! Hopefully they are doing well on a non internet level! I will post some pics of her stuff that I did find! Visit the Degree Show everyone!!!! :D