Nicola Louise Reed

2012

2012-01-24T04:55:00.000-08:00

Having known for a while that my website needed updating - we had discovered after getting a new laptop that the only computer my site didn't seem to show up as Comic Sans was our old one!! - especially with the inclusion of the new Salvaged Bijoux collection, I have decided to take the site down while it gets a small makeover. Not too much will be changing by way of style - it just needs a good clear out in the coding department and my boyfriend, who created the site, has learned a few more computing skills to make the site run better. It was just getting a little cluttered in my view so I think there will be more drop down menu options and a cleaner layout.

Secondly while looking at my site, I decided to de-list everything from my Etsy store to make way for some new pieces from the Salvaged Bijoux collection. However, I am not all that convinced about Etsy anymore as it seems chock a block with sellers and I am sick of constantly re-listing entries and not getting alerted via email of them becoming de-listed. So I am considering moving to BigCartel. I already have one of the free packages, allowing 5 items, but am considering taking the plunge and going for the $9.99 a month package. It seems like a nice clear layout and a bit more up to date than Etsy. Does anyone have any experience with the site? Which do users prefer? I'd love to here some opinions!

Last but not least, with the coming of 2012 I had decided to set myself a few jewellery New Years Resolutions! Just little things to set as small goals to make sure I am being pro-active! Has anyone else set any jewellery-resolutions? Here are mine...

1. Re-do my site & set up a new shop with good quality pictures.

2. Make myself some jewellery to wear to promote my skills. (I always make myself something, only for the next craft fair to come round and I think "I can sell these!")

3. Carry business cards around at all times.

4. Focus on building up more stockists.

Small Repairs

2012-01-13T07:27:00.000-08:00

Necklace changed from a leather cord to a snake chain.

Bracelet catch with stone -

the silver had snapped so a new catch was required.

I was given a couple of tiny jewellery tasks to do from friends and family - a swap of a chain and a small repair involving silver wire. At work at Magnolia Silver Jewellery, several people come up asking if we are able to do small repairs and a couple of times I have done this in store but usually if it is a bigger job - it is limited to the companies own jewellery and is sent away to the manufacturers. I like the challenge of repairs and you get to see different types of jewellery as well as needing to use a bit of problem solving! If anyone is needing any repairs to any silver jewellery I encourage you to get in touch as it is usually relatively simple to find a solution and I would be happy to take a look! :)

NicolaReedJewellery@googlemail.com

Sandra Dieckmann

2011-12-20T15:31:00.000-08:00

I am super chuffed to have just purchased some Sandra Dieckmann illustrations to adorn my rather empty walls! I have been wanting to start a collage of prints for a while now and was given the push today after sauntering on to Etsy for the first time in a while and chanced upon a 10% sale on Sandra's site. I loved her work the moment I saw it and was hard pushed to choose which print to go for. Her work is modern, funky, colourful but with a dreamy fantasy twist. I can't wait for them to arrive and am looking forward to finding some more art work. Does anyone have any suggestions?

So far I'm eyeing up work by:

Leah Duncan, Leigh Viner & Stephanie Cole.

Christmas Little Birds Market

2011-12-06T13:02:00.000-08:00

Nicola Reed Jewellery will be at the Dec 11th Little Birds Market at Sloans in Glasgow. This will be my 2nd Little Birds Market and I am thoroughly looking forward to my first Christmas Craft Fair! My selection of pieces will be a little less suspender themed and will include items from the Salvaged Bijoux range. I will also be using a lot of Amazonite which is fast becoming my favourite stone - such a gorgeous vintage look! As well as this upcoming event...

My work was also on sale at Arresting, a pop up boutique in my very own new home city of Aberdeen! Once again, I owe a huge thank you to Kate Pickering of Vanilla Ink who took my work as part of a collection of designers work. She has done me some huge jewellery favours in regards to getting my work on show (e.g MADE11) and saved me lots of leg work and stress! I wish her the best of luck with Vanilla Ink :)

#5 Missing Stones Pendant

2011-11-17T12:25:00.000-08:00

Sterling Silver, Green Amber & Vintage Thread.

#4 Damaged Antique Pendant

2011-11-16T11:13:00.000-08:00

Sterling Silver, Hematite & Hematine.

#3 Broken Fragments Necklace

2011-11-14T12:10:00.000-08:00

Sterling Silver & Amazonite.

#2 Curious Cameo

2011-11-13T10:20:00.000-08:00

Sterling Silver, Rose Quartz, Coral, Pink Opal,

Freshwater Pearl & Vintage Clasp.

#1 Clustered Bracelets

2011-11-11T05:16:00.000-08:00

Sterling Silver, Amazonite, Felt & Vintage Thread.

MADE 2011

2011-11-10T13:45:00.000-08:00

A promo shot for my Salvaged Bijoux collection for Made 2011. I will be uploading pics of each piece in separate posts in the lead up to Made, but if you simply can't wait, check out the full collection of images on my Facebook Page: Nicola Reed Jewellery not forgetting to click "Like" along the way of course!

MADE 2011

2011-11-03T13:17:00.000-07:00

Today I was through in Dundee visiting Sara Nevay (my Re-worked partner) and her very swish camera to get photos taken of my latest pieces for Made2011. taking place from the 17th - 20th November @ Corn Exchange, Brighton. I also visited Kate from Vanilla Ink to drop of my pieces afterwards and had a lovely jewellery filled gossip as well as getting sneaky peeks at all the jewellery she is taking to Made (work by Jane Gowans, Zoe Duthie & Myia Bonner.) Very exciting! Above is a little shot she took via Instagram to tantalise Twitter followers of my work! I will begin working on editing the photos I took with Sara tonight and hopefully have them up tomorrow!

Look, Like, Love, Shop!

2011-10-26T13:21:00.000-07:00

I am delighted to say that Look Like Love, the company that supports graduate design, has finally set up shop!

After being kind enough to feature my work not once but twice (once with Re-worked and again with Salvaged Bijoux) they decided to be even kinder and include my work in their shop - officially launching the Salvaged Bijoux collection.

Look Like Love features not only jewellery, but prints, home accessories, books and (important in chilly December!) scarves! Below are a pick of my faves that are ready for purchase NOW! So have a look and support graduate design and start Christmas shopping!

MADE 2011

2011-10-03T14:31:00.000-07:00

I am delighted to have been announced as one of six lucky makers who Vanilla Ink will be taking to MADE11. Kate Pickering of Vanilla Ink has teamed up with Contemporary Lab to bring a selection of jewellers to the Brighton fair which will run from the 17th - 20th of November in the Corn Exchange.

The five jewellers I will be exhibiting alongside are...

Katherine Seaman, Jane Gowans, Myia Bonner, Katie Lees & Zoe Duthie.

I just about had a panic attack when Kate told me who I'd be exhibiting beside as they're all such a talented, professional bunch so I'll have to work extra hard creating pieces worthy of accompanying their work!

As I have mentioned, I am working on a collection, Salvaged Bijoux, and I am going to be exhibiting some statement necklaces and bracelets from this series at MADE11. I will post some "progress" pictures up here very soon so you can get an idea of what I'm working on.

Sneak Peek

2011-09-16T03:19:00.000-07:00

A sneaky peek at some earrings I have made for an ongoing collection Salvaged Bijoux.

The lovely ladies from Look Like Love were kind enough to do a sneaky feature of the collection a little while ago and I am happy to report I have some exciting new ventures coming up with this collection - as usual, however, more details will be revealed at a more appropriate time!

I had been eager to start a new collection since the beginning of the year really and had a bit of a dip in confidence over which direction to go in. Vanity Series 2010 was a fantastic collection that I am really proud of but I sort of wanted to step away from it and leave it solely as my "Degree Show Collection" (despite some pieces being created after University!). I still love working with pearls and suspenders etc, but I felt I was going down the "craft fair route" far too much for my liking! I love doing fairs but didn't feel I was using my jewellery skills in some of the work I was producing.

Since Re-worked has come about, I've noticed a bit of a change in the type of jewellery that has been inspiring me and, in a lot of ways, I think Re-worked has been the starting point for Salvaged Bijoux. Actually, quite interestingly, a lot of the commercial jewellery made between collections has similar shapes, or can lend details to Salvaged Bijoux. I think I was fluttering around without a direction and I'm now on the right creative path so to speak!

My main inspiration for this collection is broken and vintage jewellery - the idea of salvaging items - replacing missing stones - jewellery scraps pieced together to make new pieces. One thing I discussed recently with my Re-worked partner in crime Sara Nevay was that, because 4th year was such an intense period of study with so much research into one collection, it feels a bit like another collection isn't as "worthy" if it doesn't have equal amount of time and research behind it: something that is simply not possible with a full time job! However, with Re-worked, I have been really enjoying making by instinct and doing more of a hands on/experiment based collection and I think this is, again, a big influence on this new collection. I am looking forward to a collection that can feature small, commercial pieces as well as large statement pieces, and a collection that can be on-going - ever evolving.

I'll round this off by saying, all in all, I am looking forward to getting some motivation back, creating some new work, getting some good photography done(!!!), and sharing a brand new collection with you all!

Twitter

2011-09-16T02:02:00.000-07:00

Just a small post to say that I am now on Twitter! I will be using Twitter mainly as a means to network with other jewellers and jewellery companies so follow me if that appeals to you!

@NicolaLReed

Magnolia Silver Jewellery

2011-08-23T07:15:00.000-07:00

A very quick post to tell you all that I have a new job as a Sales Assistant at Magnolia Silver Jewellery in Union Square Shopping Centre in Aberdeen. After a few months of being utterly bored and unhappy in my old job, I took a chance and applied for Magnolia after spotting the job advert online. Despite very limited sales experience, I applied for the job as I was eager to work with jewellery and figured that picking up a few tips on selling other peoples designs couldn't harm my chances for selling my own! Magnolia Silver Jewellery specialises (rather obviously!) on sterling silver pieces with semi-precious stones. I am also eager to increase my knowledge of stones (identifying them and their properties) which I think will come in time as their is a huge collection of stones despite such a small store. I am delighted to sell a product I actually love as the designs are gorgeous, as well as handmade. We have a website: www.magnolia-silver.com but if you are ever in Aberdeen, pop into Union Square to visit us and see the lovely collection of jewellery on offer.

Press

2011-08-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

Recently added to the "Press" sections of my site & blog is a lovely post from Look Like Love who have done a sneaky post showcasing some initial images from a new collection I am developing, Salvaged Bijoux, which takes inspiration from salvaged and broken vintage jewellery. The idea is that this will be an ongoing collection mainly featuring earrings and statement necklaces.

Craftscotland was also kind enough to include a blog post I wrote about Re-worked on their site, which will hopefully mean some more traffic, followers and opinions on the project from both the general public and other makers.

On another note, my jewellery page Nicola Reed Jewellery is nearly at 100 "likes" on Facebook! I would love it if you took the time to check out my page and like it, enabling you to keep up with my jewellery news.

Nicola Reed Jewellery

Promote your Page too

Primark / John Lewis

2011-08-09T10:11:00.000-07:00

I was strolling through Primark yesterday, on the hunt for some shoes suitable to wear to work, when I spotted a pair of earrings that immediately reminded me of the Aztec Earrings available from Nicole Ritchie's jewellery line, House of Harlow 1960, that I had previously blogged about in November 2010. It wasn't until I got home and had a look online that I realised that they are virtually identical - albeit with one important difference - the price! Primark's version came in at a bargainous £2.00! I'm afraid to say that I snapped them up immediately, as I've had my eye on House of Harlow's for ages now, but I can't help wondering how on earth Primark are able to get away with it!

House of Harlow's Aztec Earrings - Prices start at £46.

Primark's £2.00 version.

Following on with the subject of jewellery prices, when browsing in John Lewis recently (this post is making me sound like a shop-aholic!), I spotted a brooch in a jewellery cabinet marked "Vintage Collection" with matching earrings for £75.00. What was surprising about the brooch in particular was that, only a few weeks previously, I had purchased the same brooch on Ebay for £2.50 (pictured below)! Although I didn't have the earrings to match, I think they had definitely over-priced the brooch and, to be honest, were probably taking advantage of the popular vintage trend. I've noticed several places including the word "vintage" on ranges and collections or trying to tap into the trend too by stocking retro items so a word of warning to readers would have to be to think twice about paying out for so called "vintage" items, and having a scour on popular sites such as ebay before purchasing, to see if it is indeed the treasure you believe it to be.

Nicolas Cheng

2011-07-28T02:23:00.000-07:00

The Beauty of Nothingness

Whilst browsing the blog archive of Dezeen, I came across the work of Nicolas Cheng and his collection "The Beauty of

Nothingness". Upon seeing his work, I was immediately reminded of a post myself & Sara Nevay had planned for our collaborative project, Re-worked, on some rusty objects we had found while walking along the riverside in Dundee.

His range of brooches feature materials most commonly used in the process of bathing, bits of sponge and loofah combined with cottons to create small compositions that "exists in a gray zone somewhere between nothingness and purity. Each piece, challenging us through the beauty itself but also through the strangeness of the pieces."

I love the natural colours and hues, and much like the rusty experiments so far produced for Re-worked, the brilliant oranges that clash so beautifully. This collection has really got me inspired: tough and well worn looking combined with gorgeous feminine hues and materials.

2011-07-19T06:23:00.000-07:00

A small note to say that I have signed up to Pinterest: a highly addictive site that allows you to install a "pin it" option to your tool bar so, if you happen to come across a cute image, be it jewellery, or an item of clothing, etc (anything to be honest!), then you simply click "pin it" and it is added to a virtual pin board.

I love this idea as, so many times, I will come across something, even an idea, that I love online, but it's maybe not relevant to blog about, so I admire then forget. Now I can simply add it to a pin board to be re-discovered.

If you are on Pinterest: Follow me here!

Another note: I had a lovely day at Magpie Market again on Sunday, particularly speaking to the lovely girls from A Wooden Tree, Florence Box Jewellery and bY Mi who's stall I was beside at the last market too! Check out their sites as these are a very talented bunch! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so I don't have any pics of my display - which was looking rather lovely! - but the ladies from Magpie inform me they do so I'll hopefully get some up soon!

Magpie Market 17th July

2011-07-15T01:42:00.000-07:00

This Sunday (17th July) I will be joining Magpie for another market in Edinburgh at The Hub. This will be my 2nd Magpie Market & I'm looking forward to selling with them again. I met some lovely sellers last time & made some good sales, so try and get to Magpie this weekend to get some great handmade items from a very talented bunch of designer / makers.

Little Birds Market Review

2011-07-11T05:00:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in my previous post, yesterday was my first Little Birds Market at Sloans Ballroom in Glasgow. I must say the day did not start as planned: I only got 1 hours sleep beforehand, slept in, had to get a Megabus there, then was told my table had collapsed before I arrived!! However, ignoring the time before the market, the day went very well! Laura, of Love Me Again, the market's organiser, stepped in with two smaller round tables which actually suited my display very nicely! I was set up between I'm A Good Girl Designs - really cool reclaimed furniture, lovingly hand painted back to life - and Florence Box Jewellery, who will be joining me next Sunday at

Magpie Market @ The Hub in Edinburgh.

I got some really good feedback, especially for the display: "delicate", "feminine" & "gorgeous", and also for the unusualness of my jewellery with a lot of people saying they hadn't seen anything like it before (I'll take it as a compliment!). One thing that stuck with me is that a lot of people commented that they had seen my work online via my blog, Facebook page & press links which I was really chuffed about as you sometimes wonder who actually notices.

All in all a good day and I hope to join Little Birds Market again in the future.

Little Birds Market

2011-07-08T05:35:00.000-07:00

This Sunday (10th July) I will be selling my jewellery at

Little Birds Market @ Sloans, Argyle Street, Glasgow.

This is my first time selling at Little Birds so I am excited to see how it goes and, of course, see all the other vendors' work! The market has been very well promoted, including being featured on The Skinny's Top 10 Picks O' The Week where my business was mentioned. I have finally got some pearl wire in stock so I have been busy making for Little Birds as well as July's Magpie Market the following weekend (17th @ The Hub, Edinburgh).

Please pop by & visit my stall if you're able to make it to any of these dates!

Pictures of my display will be posted here soon!

Facebook / Folksy

2011-07-06T05:07:00.000-07:00

Nicola Reed Jewellery

Just a little reminder to "Like" my facebook page to keep up to date with what I am up to jewellery-wise. Thank you to everyone who has liked my page so far: I had been in two minds for ages as to whether or not to make one so the "Likes" have confirmed it was a good choice! I also just like having my personal page & business page as my homepage was beginning to get a bit cluttered!

As well as Facebook, I have recently signed up to Folksy.

Check out my shop,

which will act as a "best of" Etsy page.

www.folksy.com/NicolaReedJewellery

Emily Smith

2011-06-27T04:53:00.001-07:00

I finally managed to upload the newest version of Photoshop to my laptop meaning I am now able to make some simple adjustments to photo's. The photo on the left was one of my favourites of the set taken of the bracelet I created for Emily Smith but a few dirty marks in the background had made it previously unsuitable.

I am looking forward to having a play around with Photoshop (my skills are, at present, extremely limited!) especially as it can lend itself to the creation of a Blurb book I am making to take with me to fairs etc to showcase what I do and have done previously.

Photography by (l-r) Sara Nevay and Simon Lees.

Blow Me!

2011-06-22T03:40:00.000-07:00

I have just come across Rebecca Wilson's ceramics whilst leafing through some images from Craftscotland's Flickr photostream. I have seen an image of one of Rebecca's pieces before but never knew who had made it, so I was delighted to come across her work and discover her website and Facebook.

Rebecca's work is just completely up my street: fun, cute, kitsch & deliciously tacky..in a good way! My blog is usually full of contemporary jewellery (due to my being very biased!) but Rebecca's ceramics have me totally in awe: I especially love the Blow Me! collection complete with perfume atomizers. The cake (3rd image down) is so adorable it would be a shame to eat it!

The collection screams Marie Antoinette -

"Let Them Eat Cake!"

Rebecca describes her work as "Deliciously irreverent ceramics...the recurring theme that brings the disparate areas of my inspirations together is temptation - be it a naughty 50's pinup, a flouncy shiny porcelain figure, or a big fruity, creamy tart!"

A girl after my own heart!

Bracelet for Emily Smith

2011-06-19T13:56:00.000-07:00

Here are the first images of the bracelet I created for folk singer Emily Smith. Sara Nevay, my Re-worked partner in crime, was kind enough to lend me her photography skills to take the pictures and I am over the moon with them. There are more images to come - these were just the first images sent to me but I was too excited not to share them! Emily will be wearing the bracelet whilst performing at festivals etc so watch out for my bracelet if you are lucky enough to catch her perform! I love that this is a unique way of promoting my jewellery designs & hopefully an exciting new way to get images via press photography.

Check out Emily's website here for concert dates, appearances and for a sneaky listen to her album "Traiveller's Joy"

Craft Fair Props

2011-06-15T05:14:00.000-07:00

As I have a few craft fairs coming up in July, I have been on the hunt for items to improve my display - namely items that will lift my jewellery up, as my previous display at Magpie Market was rather flat. I stumbled upon this shabby-chic style "First Aid" box at TK Maxx which I thought would act well as a small plinth/shelf as well as a nice display for some materials I have collected that add to the theme of my stall: ribbons, suspenders, buttons etc. A bargain at £5.99 I say!

I also stocked up on some earring and pendant displays from Ebay - just simple clear & frosted acrylic. I'd always been a bit wary of acrylic earring stands as they can sometimes look quite cheap but I liked the modern shape of these ones (hard to see in the pics!) so I'm eager to try them out. Next on the shopping list is a mirror - I was completely unprepared for the last craft fair & the amount of people asking to try things on but thankfully we had a mirror as part of the display to use but had to keep disrupting the layout of our stall to let people use it! So tip for sellers: Bring a mirror!!

Re-worked / Facebook

2011-06-12T06:34:00.000-07:00

Here are some images from the latest series of posts by Sara Nevay on our blog for our collaborative project, Re-worked. I always look forward to seeing Sara's posts - mainly for her fabulous photography - to see how Re-worked is progressing and see a glimpse of the project through her eyes.

To keep up with the latest posts from Sara (& myself!) be sure to "follow" our blog. Alternatively you can "like" my facebook page Nicola Reed Jewellery as I will be regularly sharing links to the blog as well as this personal blog. I would also just like to say that Sara & myself would absolutely love for people to comment on our experiments & share ideas as we love the idea of people following and contributing to the project as it progresses. It is not just exclusively for us to swap ideas so please feel free to comment on any of the posts.

We would love to hear your opinions!

Facebook

2011-06-08T06:24:00.000-07:00

I have finally set up a Facebook page for my jewellery.

Please "Like" this page to help spread the word & stay up to date on the latest from Nicola Reed Jewellery

Facebook - Nicola Reed Jewellery

Earrings

2011-06-06T07:04:00.000-07:00

Rose Quartz Chain Drop Earrings

£18.00

Asymmetric Circle Chain Drop Earrings

£17.00

New earrings added to my Etsy shop

Click on the link below to see more:

Nicola Reed - Etsy Shop

June

2011-06-04T08:10:00.000-07:00

Today myself & one of my best friends went for a walk around in the lovely sunshine with the aim to visiting a small exhibition at Aberdeen Art Gallery: Metal Works. I was eager to see it as I still don't know Aberdeen all that well & wanted to get a little more culture than I get from my usual round-the-shops tour(!) and to marvel at all the lovely silver-smithing. It featured a range of different objects: spoons, boxes & teapots but unfortunately no jewellery. None the less the exhibition is on for a while (3rd March 2012) so if you get a chance to visit Aberdeen - take a peek.

Elsewhere in the gallery, an artist, who's name I have unfortunately forgotten despite attempting a mental note of it, had created a dress out of the metal springs used in pegs, with the wooden sides left over scattered around it as an instillation. The dress instantly reminded me of Re-worked, especially as the springs near the bottom of the dress were rusted. Re-worked has been getting a bit more publicity recently and was described by Like Boys in Dundee as "Inspiring work and investigations with a melancholy beauty all of its own."

Re-worked has also been lucky enough to be featured on a blog that is devoted to showcasing graduate art, Look Like Love. Check out their blog as they will no doubt be featuring some exciting new talent in the coming months following the Degree Shows. Follow this blog & support graduate talent :)

Apart from Re-worked I have been busy trying to finish off a bracelet for Scottish folk singer Emily Smith and working on some new pieces for the July Magpie Market. I also have some ideas for a new collection / range of pieces that I would like to create but unfortunately am unable to get my hands on some much-needed pearl wire until it is back in stock so, for the moment, I have been back to sketchbooking!

Hopefully I'll get some pics up soon.

Reworked / Washers / Branding

2011-05-26T07:51:00.000-07:00

Check out the latest results for Re-Worked, my collaboration with Sara Nevay.

Thank you to all that have followed us & to all those who haven't yet: click "Follow" & support our project made possible with the financial assistance of the Craft Maker Award: Dundee Scheme.

Thank you.

Degree Show 2011 - Jewellery

2011-05-25T02:47:00.000-07:00

The jewellery display was located in a different part of Duncan of Jordanstone this year - in the Matthew Building - and the space was excellent - very spacious with a well laid out display. In the past there has been some very unappealing displays (all hung on the walls so squished together that telling the collections apart was near impossible) so this has been addressed well with clear definition and spaces in the middle of the room as well as wall displays complete with interesting shelves & plinths to break up continuity.

As mentioned before, a few designers stuck out personally as "ones to visit" and these displays did not disappoint. Kerrianne Flett's work was simplistic and serene - an interesting body of work examining process & approach - and Filipa Oliveira's work was as gorgeous as expected with her necklace particularly catching my eye: delicate and beautiful yet very contemporary.

Emma McDermott's pieces are inspired by hummingbirds in Peru "who suffer the terrible effects of mining in their habitat." The damage is caused by the jewellery industry which encouraged Emma "to use all recycled materials in her work. This includes the paper which her illustrations are printed on. The handmade paper is the main material she uses for the making jewellery." I appreciate that Emma has used recycled products to highlight a good cause and although all the products are natural, the pieces look quite unusual but in a really interesting way, showing she has manipulated her materials well.

Also using natural products, this time as tools, was Merlin Planterose.

Merlin, inspired by the rugged Highland landscape and way of living, used stones to raise sterling silver bowls and create elements to be used in jewellery. The silver used actually begins to take on the appearance of a rock but each piece cleverly has a flash of polished silver to remind you that these are actually very precious pieces. I predict a lot of success for Merlin with her work.

Blowing the traditionally-themed jewellery out of the water with a focus on colour was the beautiful Indian inspired street scene-jewellery by Jessica Ruth Howard. A favourite for many reasons (unusual, fun, intricate and colourful to name but a few) I found it hard not to find it a favourite just for the interest it commanded from the room by standing out against the serious whites, greys & silvers. I loved that it worked as a piece of jewellery, a jewellery box and as a complete object,a tiny artwork.

DJCAD Degree Show 2011

2011-05-24T08:21:00.000-07:00

Today I finally had the time to get through to Dundee to visit the annual degree show & my day did not disappoint! As usual I was eager to rush off to the Jewellery dept (as I mentioned in my last post - there were a few I was eager to see) but was first of all distracted by all the talent in Textiles.

Caitlin Beaver's display was the 1st I came to & I instantly loved it - soft, feminine colours and adorable bird designs: the sort of prints that could lend themselves to any item: clothing or interior etc.

Gorgeous!

Leela Smith, my personal favourite, also produced very feminine works which actually evolved from anatomical drawings. I love when a piece not only looks fantastic, but has a great design process behind it - or a surprising inspiration - which was true of Josey McWilliam's work. Unfortunately I couldn't find a picture online but her pieces initially look very fun & playful but. upon reading her artist's statement, I was surprised to find her work was based around Lewy Bodie Dementia. This condition causes sufferers to "experience detailed and convincing visual hallucinations often of people or animals" which were featured on her fabrics.

Marion H A Lean also used her work to highlight an important health message: anti-smoking. Again, despite the provocative theme, beautiful, delicate work has been produced.

Another two designers who's work took my fancy were Nicola Keir & Lorri Smyth. While Lorri created interesting pieces from plywood, inspired by by the materials used within the hidden construction of modern buildings, Nicola produced work which I would happily (i.e. LOVE to) have in my living room - retro style crochet pouffes! Awesome!

Degree Show 2011

2011-05-19T08:18:00.000-07:00

As you can see from the poster, Duncan of Jordanstone's 2011 Degree Show is taking place & I cannot wait to get through to Dundee next week to have a look around! I thought I might feel a bit jealous that my degree show time has come & gone but I am really delighted to hear the 4th year jewellers have done so well - I will be heading straight to the jewellery section to do some "ooohing"&"aaahing" and a hell of a lot of postcard stealing! So far I've only seen 1 image of work per jeweller & judging on that I will post below the displays I'm most interested in having a snoop at! Get yourselves along to this event - it is really lovely seeing the results of a lot of hard work & makes for a great day out.

Filipa Oliveira

Audrey Reid

Kerrianne Flett

Alice Jee Chung

2011-05-17T07:10:00.000-07:00

I recently came across Alice Chung's work whilst researching designers for my collaborative project

Re-worked. I often think the most effective designs are those that strike you as being quite simple: working with a plain white t-shirt. However, you can see the detail that has gone into making these tiny construction. I love that she has deliberately gone against the rules of what a brooch "should" be. Her "Clothing Adornment" collection is simple yet powerful.

New Work Space

2011-05-16T07:21:00.000-07:00

A little peek at my workspace in my new home in Aberdeen. It's small but suits me fine. It's miles better than a spider-infested freezing shed that's for sure!!

Dundee Degree Show 2011

2011-05-15T08:15:00.000-07:00

New Etsy Items

2011-05-14T05:22:00.000-07:00

I have added lots of new items to my Etsy store!

Have a little peek here: Nicola Reed Jewellery

Magpie

2011-05-11T06:22:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, myself & Jenny Smith attended our 1st Magpie Market @ The Hub in Edinburgh. Above are some pictures of our display which, thanks to Jenny's hand illustrated cameo cards, flowed nicely and combined our work excellently despite the different use of colours.

The market wasn't quite what I had expected as the people attending the market were of all ages and even included some men, which was a shock! The day went well despite a very early train from Dundee and I enjoyed the experience even though I was very nervous and Jenny mentioned that I seemed surprised every time someone bought something - which I was!! I though that, as it was my first craft fair, that if I covered the cost of the train and the table then I should be extremely delighted if I made any profit and I managed to do that. I was trying to keep an eye on what people were mostly picking up or first interested in but there didn't seem to really be a pattern to what was selling. I enjoyed the delight of the older ladies towards my suspender pieces as they all recalled wearing suspenders themselves.

My favourite display was by Wooden Tree who's cute

forest-y foxes and stags were very popular! I personally had my eye on an extremely cool stuffed anchor brooch but had forced myself not to buy anything - a hard task given the amount of adorable things to buy! Also forcing me to reconsider this self-inflicted rule was Twiggd who also had a selection of hand-made wooden anchor and stag head brooches. I will be visiting their Etsy site very soon to treat myself.

Re-worked / Magpie / Aberdeen

2011-04-26T15:09:00.000-07:00

Go check out the latest activity on the Re-worked blog.

Sara's pictures are fantastic and the project is coming along nicely!

I wanted to post to say that tomorrow is an exciting day as all of my jewellery equipment is getting packed up ready for the big move to Aberdeen on Sunday! Can't believe it has crept up so quickly but I can't wait for a change of scenery and, most importantly,

an indoor workspace!!!

Today I was out in the shed completing a few more pieces for the May Magpie Market coming up on the 8th May @ The Hub in Edinburgh - an event I am very much looking forward too! I wanted to get a few more pieces completed in case I don't have much time next week to do some jewellery-making so I'm now happy with the amount I have made. I am waiting to see what sells at the market before adding more to my Etsy page.

Hopefully I will get a chance to post next week showing off my new jewellery space and letting you know how the Magpie Market goes! :)

Etsy

2011-04-19T13:44:00.000-07:00

I finally, finally, FINALLY got round to setting up my own Etsy shop today, something I have been meaning to do for ages but never had the time / motivation / stockpile of jewellery to take photos of! I was also (as usual) a bit hard on myself & wasn't sure if there was much point putting smaller, simpler pieces up. However as I have been busily making away for the up-coming Magpie Market (8th May, The Hub) and was super pleased with all the cute little items I had produced, I thought: why the hell not?! I had fun making them, want to keep up my skills by making regularly and hopefully might make a penny or two :)

Check out my Etsy store here: Nicola Reed - Etsy

Daisy Commission

2011-04-01T15:07:00.000-07:00

Above is a recently completed necklace that I created for
a personal commission.

I love the challenge of commissions as you never know
what you will be asked to do and I find that they test my
making skills - or rather "refresh" them! - as they take
me out of my comfort zone of sticking with similar
materials and techniques for making!

I was asked to make a necklace featuring a daisy and
I'd put forward the suggestion of using smokey quartz
beads - I think they're a very mature, classic stone and
I'd been looking for anexcuse to buy a string or 2 for a
while now. I'm very pleased with the outcome and managed
to getsome great pictures using my brother's new camera.

Armistead Child Development Centre

2011-03-31T15:50:00.000-07:00

I recently spotted a page on facebook via RaRa Vintage Clothing advertising a charity dance for Armistead Child Development Centre looking for artists to donate work. I thought that it was a great idea so got in touch to find out a little more about the cause and how I could help. I will be donating one of my suspender necklaces for the event and hopefully a lot of money will be raised for a great cause.

Erin Ward of Rara & Jude Magazine is the organiser of the event and is hoping to create a tombola of work to raise funds for equipment for the Armistead Child Development Centre which do not have any fund raising staff. If you would like to donate

any work to this event please contact Erin at the

following email address:

dresstothebeat@hotmail.co.uk

The Charity Dance will take place on

28th May @ Bonar Hall, Dundee

Magpie Market

2011-03-24T16:37:00.000-07:00

I was delighted to hear that I will be taking part in

Magpie's May Market.

I have been wanting to do a craft fair for ages now but have found it quite hard to get involved with them so when I saw the application, I jumped at the chance. Myself and Jenny Smith will have our own stall and I have already been busy stock-piling goods to sell and have gone a little bit mad ordering boxes, beads and Moo cards in preparation! I will post some pics of the goods that will be on sale soon!

Spread the word & come visit on the 8th May,
The Hub, Edinburgh!

Sung Young Huh

2011-03-16T04:38:00.000-07:00

Beautiful jewellery and objects by Sung Young Huh I happened to stumble upon on Crafthaus.
This reminds me a lot of Lin Cheung's work:
simple, clever and delicate.

I wish I could find a website for more images!

New Directions in Jewellery

2011-03-16T03:46:00.000-07:00

As part of my birthday present from Jenny Smith & Sara Nevay I received New Directions in Jewellery 2, a book I have been wanting to buy for ages now, so I was delighted as you can imagine! I will now need to invest in the first book to complete my collection. I really want to build up a good collection of jewellery/design books as they are the type of book that, even if you've read them over and over, each time you flick through you notice something interesting that never caught your eye before or something that inspires an idea. When I opened the book, I was reminded of a particular design (pictured below) I saw in 2nd or 3rd year of secondary school which completely amazed me at the time as I had no idea "jewellery" could be as creative. It is one of the realisations that led me to study jewellery at University. Funnily enough the designer of that piece, Ted Noten is featured in New Directions!

March

2011-03-11T07:25:00.000-08:00

As I will soon be moving to Aberdeen (8weeks!), I decided to use my birthday as an opportunity to get some much-needed tools to ensure I'm equipped to make jewellery there comfortably and not have to fret about affording equipment, so I decided to ask for a Dremel drill and Dremel Workstation as my main present from my parents. I'm delighted with it and can't wait to have it all set up as part of a proper working area in my own flat. My birthday is actually on Monday and I have asked for a bracelet mandrel from my boyfriend so I will post some pics when I get them!

Although I've been a bit busy with Re-worked, which is now a Crafthaus group after Brigitte Martin expressed his interest in the project being shared with Crafthaus members, I have been trying to keep up with making jewellery for craft fairs as well as working on a commission for a colleague's wife.

As well as the commission, I am going to be making some
jewellery for Emily Smith, a very talented folk singer,
to wear while performing the festival circuit this summer promoting her new album "Traivellers Joy".

I love commissions and creating pieces that I wouldn't normally make so I am excited for these opportunities and will hopefully have some pictures to show you all soon.

Auldearn Antiques

2011-02-28T12:23:00.000-08:00

I spent Thursday with my Grandparents up at one of my favourite places to rummage, Auldearn Antiques. I went with the view to look for, in no particular order, vintage textiles for Re-worked, cute items for craft fair displays and cute flat things/stuff for myself! There is always a range of different things to rummage through so its always good fun but it's sometimes a bit hit or miss - sometimes you find the perfect thing and sometimes you don't! I spotted a few items in the textile department that I may go back for for the project but there were plenty of them so I'm in no rush and there were also plenty of cute tea cups that could have made my collection a bit larger(!) but in the end I just plumped for a retro tile and a cute dish (50p!) that can do do for craft fairs as well as decorate my new flat!!

Tomorrow is the official start date for myself & Sara Nevay's project so please follow our blog and watch our project through the design process from start to finish.

http://re-workedproject.blogspot.com/

Dundee Craft Makers Award / Re-worked

2011-02-23T05:11:00.000-08:00

"Re-worked will highlight the notion of preciousness in modern materials by examining the process of re-adapting vintage materials in making marks (permanent and impermanent) with precious and non-precious metals and destructive processes."

Well as most of you are aware, for a while now I have been rabbiting on about a collaborative project with textile designer Sara Nevay, but have always said I couldn't say too much about it. The reason for the secretiveness was that we had applied for funding from the Dundee Craft Makers Scheme and didn't want to jeopardise our chances of getting funding. However I am happy to report we have recieved a Craft Makers Award and "Re-worked" is now a reality! Officially starting on the 1st March...

...please please please follow our project at the link below:

http://re-workedproject.blogspot.com/

Thank you.

Danni Schwaag

2011-02-17T14:31:00.000-08:00

Beautiful brooches by Danni Schwaag. I love their ethereal quality and the use of mother of pearl.

Me, Myself & I

2011-02-15T09:48:00.000-08:00

I was chosen to take part in Crafthaus' online exhibition "Me, Myself & I: Reflection, Vanity & Objects of Beautifictaion." which can be viewed here: Me, Myself & I. The picture above is featured, and also used as the thumbnail for the group, as is my postcard and blogger title picture.

Hopefully there will be a Youtube video to follow soon!

Hollie Paxton

2011-02-10T14:11:00.000-08:00

As I will soon be moving to Aberdeen to live with my boyfriend after he finally found a job, I have been going through some things, having a tidy and working out what's coming with me and I came across my collection of postcards - mainly picked up from Degree Shows. I love collecting them and always have a collage of my favourites up in my room. Hopefully I can persuade my boyfriend to let me have a big collage of them in the living room but if he's against it I'll just have them above my work space. Hopefully we'll get a flat with a desk already there or I'll just buy a desk and with a bit of DIY I'll transform it into a jewellery bench! Watch this space! Anyway I stumbled across a pile from New Designers and was reintroduced to the work of Hollie Paxton who stood out as one of my favourite exhibitors.

"By replicating fragments of discarded packaging, using precious materials and labour-intensive processes, this collection questions notions of what can be precious, and highlights the transition from useful to useless and vice-versa.

Sketches

2011-02-07T07:41:00.000-08:00

I recently returned to my old art college Duncan of Jordanstone to raid their brilliant little art shop of it's supplies! I picked up some very cheap little sketchbook and invested in a brilliant large brown paper sketchbook by Seawhite of Brighton to be my "main" book to work in. I've had a much clearer idea recently of the type of commercial jewellery I want to make to coincide with my main collections which are generally more exhibition pieces. The type of jewellery I love making and the type I feel I "have" to make (i.e. the type that sells!!) have always felt so separate to me so I've been trying to create a collection where I have a small sell-able collection that I'm actually proud to put my name on! I've come up with some great sketches and am in the process of putting these sketches to reality and experimenting with cold enamels. Hopefully I can put up some pics of work soon! I'm trying to squirrel away as much work as possible to then photograph all at once with my friend Sara Nevay's camera as mine is of pretty poor quality to be honest and I'm in dire need of some good quality pics!

Along with my new sketchbooks, I also purchased a new sketch pad as I have been inspired to get back into drawing by my friend Jenny Smith! Above is a cute sketch of my unsuspecting model, and faithful pet Bob!

Pearls

2011-02-01T09:11:00.000-08:00

I have recently been feeling very motivated on the jewellery-making front and have a clearer idea of what I am wanting to make and why so I purchased a few more tools, materials and beads. I noticed that Marcia Lanyon had a few rows of pearls in the sale. They were dirt cheap so I decided to purchase them for future use. I was delighted with most of my bargains except for 2 rows of pearls which had been dyed pink. Despite being a huge lover of all things pink, these were too pink even for me ("Barbie on acid pink" to be precise!!!). However, for a while I had been hoping to experiment with some pearls after discovering that they dissolve in vinegar so I decided to see if it would take out some of the colour. Above is the little sample of beads and the vinegar/dissolving process. It was quite successful as the pearls came out a much nicer shade of pink and I actually just like the idea that these are pearls with a difference!

Below you can see the change in shade after the pearls were left in the vinegar over night.

After a Google I discovered why: "A pearl is mostly calcium carbonate, which is susceptible to even a weak acid solution. The crystals of calcium carbonate are converted by acetic acid (vinegar) into calcium, which dissolves in the residual water, and carbonate that effervesces as bubbles of carbon dioxide, the formula for which is CaCO3 + CH3COOH --> Ca + H2O + CO2."

Check it out

2011-01-28T05:17:00.000-08:00

Just a small post to highlight one of my best friends, model of my jewellery and soon to be business partner(!), Jenny Smith's blogs! Jenny is a very talented textile designer using crystals and organic embellishments as inspiration. As well as being talented at all things textile-y, she also makes ridiculously pretty and delicious cakes! Check out her blogs in the links below!

Jenny E. Smith

Not Just Dundee Cake

Flickr

2011-01-26T04:17:00.000-08:00

As per usual it has taken me a while to get involved with Flickr properly - I signed up years ago, had an embarassingly immature group of photos all under the name of "SailorNoodle" and consequently couldn't access my profile to get rid of it!! The usual!!! Anyways I decided to persevere despite the massive headache sorting things like that usually brings on and after many clicks on "I've forgotten my user id" etc etc I managed to access it and delete! So introducing the new, mature jewellery-related photostream...

Flickr - Nicola Reed

If you are on Flickr too please add me as a contact!

A little peek

2011-01-20T15:16:00.000-08:00

I just thought I'd put up a few pics of my little workshop area! Hopefully I will soon be moving out of my parents house and into a flat with my boyfriend when he gets a job (2 interviews this week so fingers crossed!). I can't wait to have a proper INDOOR area to work where I can stick up pretty images and wont have the fear of spiders sneaking up on me every time I get making!

Me, Myself & I

2011-01-19T06:38:00.000-08:00

I have been chosen to take part in Crafthaus' next online exhibition "Me, Myself & I: Reflection, Vanity and Objects of Beautification.". Given the theme, I think it was a perfect match! The exhibition will run from 12th Feb - 12th March and will then be added to their "past exhibitons" section. Crafthaus are experimenting with putting the exhibitions onto YouTube so hopefully there will be a show reel to add to my blog! It's interesting to take part in an exhibition with a difference and it's nice not to have to worry about the safety of my jewellery (as I always do when it's at a gallery!). I will post links at the start of the exhibition.

Qype Interview

2011-01-16T03:20:00.000-08:00

I was recently contacted to see if I would take part in an interview with Qype website. At first I was a little sceptical as I looked up the site and found that it seemed to be more of a review style site so wasn't sure it was an ideal platform to show my work through. However I got in touch and asked a little more about it and asked to see a similar example of an artist interview. This paid off as they actually have a whole blog section that is very hidden and is currently being reviewed to make it more visible to the public. I am happy with the result and will give you a link below.

Nicola Reed - Qype Interview

And I'll paste the interview here as well.

Vintage, it seems is the new black.. it has been for awhile however, a talented new Scottish designer has taken vintage and put a completely different spin on it by recycling in a more cosmetically enhanced way shall we say. Intrigued?
Meet Nicola Reed – I suspect you are going to be hearing a lot more from her in the near future

Can you tell Qypers who you are and what you do?

My name is Nicola Louise Reed and I am a jewellery designer & maker based inInverness, I recently graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone, University of Dundee with 1st Class Honours in Jewellery & Metal Design. My focus is mainly on concept-driven collections with an interest in vintage materials and sentiments used in a contemporary context.

Your designs are so quirky with a distinct vintage feel, how did the idea come about?

For a university project, we were asked to design a piece of jewellery based on a theme chosen from a list provided. The word ‘Vanity’ immediately stood out as it conjured up the image of a 50’s boudoir filled with pearls and atomisers. One day a classmate was telling the story of opening her bag to discover her make up had burst, completely covering the contents. I’d played with the idea of make up spills and marks for a while before discovering the quote by Henri Bergson: ‘The only cure for vanity is laughter, and the only fault that is laughable is vanity.’ These factors all became the backbone for my degree show collection Vanity Series 2010.

Can you describe to Qypers your favourite places and perfect day in Edinburgh?

A perfect day would involve strolling around Princes Street Gardens on a sunny day and visiting Edinburgh College of Art’s annual degree show, which initially inspired me to study jewellery. I would then follow that with a spot of shopping in all the quirky boutiques the city has to offer, ending at a gig at the Cabaret Voltaire. I love that there are so many places to discover in Edinburgh, there’s always a small gallery or shop to stumble across.

Any tips for the best vintage and jewellery finds in Edinburgh?

Armstrongs is always a winner for unique vintage finds and it is always worth visiting the many charity shops of Morningside. New store ‘The Spider & The Fly’ in Barclay Terrace stocks many quirky designs and cute accessories, as well as some of my own jewellery, so it is worth going for a rummage.

Do you have any favourite Dundee haunts from your student days?

I have to recommend RaRa, vintage clothing store & showroom, to anyone visiting the city, but for a night out I enjoyed a trip to Templelane for their infamous ‘Pixie Juice’ or ‘Opal Fruit’ cocktails followed by a night at Underground, although I’m not ashamed to admit a cheesy night dancing at the Union was often the venue of choice! To help get inspired I liked to visit the DCA, McManus Galleries and take a trip to the Recycling Centre for endless course materials. Nothing would beat a day sunbathing at Magdalen Green with a few mates though!

Lastly, where can Qypers see and buy your designs?

At the moment I have jewellery stocked in The Spider & The Fly and at Glow Beauty Therapy in Inverness and have pieces for sale in various exhibitions highlighted on my website and blog. However I am currently in the process of deciding on an online site to sell my commercial work through which would be predominantly featured on my website. Anyone interested in purchasing or commissioning work can easily contact me through my site.

Goldenink

2011-01-12T04:07:00.000-08:00

I have gone a bit blogging mad recently but I have just stumbled across the collaborative Goldenink, via TheCarrotbox, a duo comprising of Abby Seymour and Katherine Wheeler (I am now their biggest fan!) and felt the need to share such a fantastic collection. I absolutely adore their hand illustrated porcelain jewellery especially the rings and bracelets. I noticed their website states that an online store is coming soon and it better hurry as I am dying to get my hands on their jewellery! I have contacted them to see if I can purchase some already or to keep me updated on when the site will have the online store created. Fingers crossed I will hear back soon and you will see me be-jewelled from head to toe in their range!

Jill Baker Gower

2011-01-11T06:53:00.000-08:00

Here is another maker who I came across on Crafthaus who also would have been a great artist to research before completing my degree show collection Vanity Series 2010 as we have some very similar themes!

www.JillBakerGower.com

Artist Statement "I create wearable objects, sculpture, and jewelry out of precious and non-precious materials. These works are influenced by elaborate jewelry and metalwork of the Renaissance, Baroque, and Victorian periods, specifically silver toiletry beautification objects, lockets, containers, and make-up items. Historical influences are then combined with contemporary ideas on glamour and beauty drawn from the media, advertisements, and various packaging and marketing strategies for make-ups, remedies, and other lotions and potions. The surfaces of these objects are often ornate and decorative, inspired by patterns found in wall papers, decorative ironwork, lace, and crochet."

Break a Nail - Fake a Nail #2

Pink Roller Necklace

Flesh Bracelet

"The work humorously and subtly addresses current beautification and body alteration obsessions as well as methods of material glamorization popular in society today. The use of mirrors references vanity and humankind’s obsession with appearance. The pairing of these mirrors with decorative patterns and flesh like rubber physically pulls the viewer into the piece, and the rubber acts as a patterned skin that mimics bodily transformation. Large gems, feathers, lace, and fur are materials that have been deemed glamorous and sexy for centuries. In order to signify that these pieces are valuable and precious I often work with materials such as silver, gold, jewels, pearls, and lustrous fabrics; which, throughout time have indicated social status and rank, and also reference traditional as well as historical jewelry and metalwork."

Social Network

2011-01-10T14:14:00.000-08:00

As I have had a week off from work I have had the time to catch up and update all my online portfolios and sites. As I mentioned in my previous post, I have recently signed up to Central Station and updated a few others such as Crafthaus and Noise and it occurred to me that I have discovered a lot of jewellers and artists that I would not have come across otherwise. So I thought that I would do a bit of promotion and show off some of my favourite work that I have discovered on these different networking sites.

Marta Miguel Martinez-Soria: "The Honeymoon"

Marta Miguel Martinez-Soria: Blog

Miriam Rowe: "Teacup Brooch 2" & "Love Letter Brooch"

www.MiriamRowe.com

Alicia Jane Boswell: "Strumphet" & "Snag"

www.AliciaJaneBoswell.com

Central Station

2011-01-05T06:38:00.000-08:00

Another quick post (Can you tell it's a rainy day outside?!) to say that I have recently signed up to the free portfolio site Central Station...I say "recently" but actually mean that I signed up about 2months - had no clue how to use it and somehow managed to add someone else's illustration as my profile pic...ahem...but anyways I'm up and running now (hopefully!) and was surprised to see lots of familiar names and faces which have now all been added as friends!

To see my profile or to add me as a friend here's my link:

Central Station - Nicola Reed

Snow

2011-01-05T06:03:00.000-08:00

Just a little note to say that due to the snow in December. two of the exhibitions I am taking part in have decided to extend their ending date to allow more time for people to view the work.

The Dates have been changed as follows:

Off The Shelf: 26th Nov - 16th Jan 10/11

Christmas Exhibition @ Number Four Gallery:

13th Nov - 31st Jan 10/11

New Year New Beginnings

2011-01-03T14:32:00.000-08:00

I am first of all posting this blog to wish everyone a belated Happy New year! As cheesy as it sounds I think this will be a good year for positive changes in my life and hopefully in my career...

Myself and my 2 best friends have been eager to start our own business literally since meeting in our 1st year of University and it looks like 2011 will be the year this happens. With an opportunity of a loan from a family member and certain funding situations we are eager to get started as soon as possible so will be visiting the brilliant Business Gateway on the 7th to get us started on the right route. Of course these things take a lot of time and as always I'm a little reluctant to give too much away but hopefully more will be revealed as further developments occur.

Other good news to start this year on a positive note is that after a successful Christmas period, Glow Beauty Therapy will be selling my jewellery throughout the year.

And being a Highlander...it was some what inevitable....but the opportunity has come up to create a range of kilt pins to be sold in a shop in Inverness! I have never made a kilt pin before but I am up for the challenge to create a contemporary range. I remembered that when I was very young I was rummaging in my Grampa's shed and came across an old tin full of buttons and, after rifling through, found an old silver kilt pin with a large jewel at the top. At the time I was pretty convinced I'd unearthed some valuable treasure so had kept it safe after being allowed to keep it. I dug it out of the cupboard and will use it as a starting point for my designs!

Jayne Wallace

2010-12-24T05:33:00.000-08:00

I'm not usually very interested in jewellery that has a strong digital or computer-aided element to it as I feel it can take over the meaning of jewellery that has always appealed to me, such as the sentimental side. It often leaves me with the impression that the piece is quite cold and I don't like the "perfection" of the pieces produced. However, Jayne Wallace's jewellery has completely blown away my pre-conceived notions of interactive jewellery.

I love that although she has used digital elements

some of the pieces still have a

vintage or traditional feel to them.

My favourite is the piece pictured above, seven cameo cabochons and gilt brooch frame, is part of the "Memory Loss" project. It physically describes the effects of memory loss very cleverly and subtly by showing the cameo slowly degrading until

the image is nearly in silhouette form.

"A locket than can forget" also explores fading memories as she describes...

"This piece empathises with the notion of forgetting. The locket contains an image that degrades a tiny amount each time it is opened. Although it attempts to hold onto what is precious in each image, over time this will fade until only the very tenacious aspects remain. Similar to our own memories, the image transforms and pales, ultimately leaving only fragments. Like a real photograph, the image fades and ages over time, bringing a more life-like and tangible quality to the digital."

Nathalie Perret

2010-12-15T04:26:00.000-08:00

Since completing my degree show collection, I have come across many jewellers and artists that I wish I had come across before and contemporary French artist, Nathalie Perret is one of them.

The use of powder to create marks on clothing was a huge part of my collection and this plaster and gauze necklace, "Paliceder", is clearly created for the same effect.

Vintage finds

2010-12-07T07:09:00.000-08:00

Above is a selection of vintage finds - 2 boxes from ebay and a necklace, medal and pendant from my Grandparent's house. My Grandparents seem to have a never ending supply of useful things for me to have for my jewellery making and general desire to collect random objects. They even saved the butterfly they found as they "thought I would like it"! I love the necklace and wear it with other small gold chains for a layered look and have plans to use the pendant for a necklace for myself. It's really cute and feminine but, along with the medal, I don't know a lot about them. The small green box will be used as part of a sample or maybe as part of a final piece in my future collaborative collection.

I finally managed to get my hands on some 1.5mm pearl wire so I will be returning to the freezing spider-infested shed to start making some more. I'm taking a bit of a break and will be just having some fun and creating some pieces for myself as I haven't actually got any jewellery for myself to advertise by wearing. I'm waiting to hear back from a few things jewellery-wise - things I've applied to etc in January and I also have a business plan with 2 friends that needs to be finalised so I will be busy without making! I'm looking forward to a few new changes and starts in the New Year already :)

Leah Piepgras

2010-12-02T15:23:00.000-08:00

I just spotted this in a link on Facebook and felt the need to share it! I love the play on words and the

images used for both necklaces.

"Pearl Necklace" is a seemingly amorphous cast silver shape on a chain that is actually an accurate representation of semen.

It is a visual marker of chaos turned perfection

through an act of beauty and lust.

Pearl Necklace is a physical

reminder of a fleeting moment of pleasure."

Leah Piepgras

Hi-Arts Craft Banner

2010-12-01T11:57:00.000-08:00

I received the good news today that an image of my work has been used in Hi-Arts' new banner which is used on the "Craft" section of their website and in their most recent newsletter - my image is the second on the left - and will hopefully be used on their new postcard which I am hoping to get my hands on!

On the subject of images, I recently had a comment from someone that their wife had been looking at my site and was wondering if I had any more images. Interestingly I had actually had a similar comment before that people were wanting to see more of what I did. To be honest, I had hoped to keep my website gallery exclusively for my big collections such as Vanity Series 2010, and hopefully my upcoming collection with Sara Nevay, but the comment led me to review my site. So I spoke to my boyfriend (who made and updates my website) and we have come up with a few solutions that will help promote my images more and direct people to more commercial work without cluttering up my gallery - by way of a new section in the tool bar - which will come in the future but hopefully some gallery changes will be happening in a few days.

Off The Shelf

2010-11-26T02:19:00.000-08:00

Today is the start of the annual "Off The Shelf" Exhibition at Saltburn Artists' Projects in which some pieces from "Vanity Series 2010" will be exhibited.

Described as "This dynamic exhibition changes on a regular basis by replacing works which have been sold and offering new pieces for sale, creating a

constantly transforming display."

I am also busy making some pieces for Marion Campbell's beauty salon "Glow" (a bit ironic considering my degree show collection was based on make up!) which I am excited about as it is a chance to have my work displayed in my home town for the 1st time. However, I must admit, I am getting a bit lazy with my jewellery making and finding it hard to stay motivated in my freezing cold - snow laden - workshop/shed!!! My boyfriend and I found out that some flats in his home town cost £190 a month for a good sized, modern, 2 bedroom flat & I must say I started fantasising about turning one whole bedroom into a workshop (complete with darts board..apparently!!). Hopefully the time will come soon for moving in together and getting a bit more comfortable and set up. I also have the horrible dilemma of Christmas - tools or Topshop???

A conundrum if ever there was one!

November

2010-11-16T04:18:00.000-08:00

November is proving to be quite a busy month - especially as jewellery still comes 2nd (not by choice)

to my 35-40 hour a week job waitressing!

My jewellery will be exhibited and sold at the following places...

Showcase

An talla solais

Ullapool Visual Arts

6th Nov

Christmas Exhibition

Number Four Gallery

St Abbs, Berwickshire

13th Nov

Off The Shelf

Saltburn Artists' Projects

26th Nov

Along with these exhibitions, I will also be creating some pieces for

Marion Campbell's beauty salon "Glow" in Inverness which will be on sale 1st Dec

Glow Beauty Treatments

Marion has worked extremely hard to build up her business as well as build up a large number of loyal clients so I am really pleased she has been supportive of my jewellery career by asking me to make some pieces for Christmas. One of the things that was mentioned in the Hi-Arts Business Start Up meeting was that it was important to get established in your local area so this will be a great opportunity. As usual I am struggling to find time to make many pieces but I shouldn't moan really as I have very nearly reached one of my yearly goals which is to be out of my overdraft by the end of the year. Hopefully I'll make a few sales to push me further towards the green!

My other 2 goals were to have my degree show pieces exhibited (Off The Shelf has kindly helped me achieve this!) and one I think I will unfortunately not achieve - to not be living in Inverness!! Unfortunately my boyfriend is still unemployed so finding a flat together has been put on hold - however it will be on my New Years resolution list!!! This small fact also hasn't stopped me buying things for the flat or making large wishlists!!

House of Harlow

2010-11-10T07:18:00.000-08:00

In some ways this is quite a controversial post for myself as over my 4 years at Duncan of Jordanstone I've found I've developed a bit of a snobbery towards some sorts of jewellery..."glass beads??!! Good grief".

One type of jewellery that is often viewed negatively by us jewellers is "celebrity" jewellery collections and they're not exactly rare. Lily Allen for New Look (horrendous) and recently Kimberley Walsh for Argos.

However there is one celebrity jewellery range I love (and am not ashamed to admit it!) and that is House of Harlow 1960 by Nicole Richie. Despite my own designs being very delicate and feminine - lots of pinks & silver - I actually love huge gold pieces. I was considering buying the 1960's Gold Plated Medallion Locket (above) recently...however, I am now in love with the "Tribal" necklace and, in particular, the earrings (both pictured below). Of course there's always speculation as to who actually designed the pieces and to be honest Nicole Richie probably turned up - saw them for the 1st time - and gave the go ahead but I think these are really stylish statement pieces. Stylish statement pieces that may just be on my Christmas list...:)

Maria Maclennan - Stolen Work

2010-11-08T05:58:00.000-08:00

Recently my friend, and fellow jeweller,
Maria Maclennan had 2 pieces stolen from the
"Alternative A4 Exhibition" at
The Athenaeum/Club Snafu in Aberdeen.

The 2 pieces (pictured above) are Ephemera Princess Box
& Lost Lyric Matchbox -
pieces from her degree show collection

Unfortunately it seems the venue and organisers have been quite unhelpful about the loss of the work (un-sympathetic emails and broken CCTV of all things) so if anyone has any information about these pieces please contact Maria at info@mariamaclennan.com

or alternatively through the facebook page - Stolen Work.

Unfortunately it seems situations like this are not that rare - jeweller Jane Gowans also had work stolen from Dundee's DCA - but they baffle me as if the thief had a genuine interest in contemporary jewellery, you would assume they would respect the work and artist enough not to steal it and it's also now sort of rendered unwearable as surely such distinctive pieces would attract a lot of attention?!

Who knows...
anyway if anyone has any information then please
get in touch - you might even get a £50 reward if
you contact the facebook page.

Maria Militsi

2010-11-07T13:17:00.000-08:00

"The power of absence that makes us look, the dimension of the lack and the space left by a missing object are ideas that signify in my work. In an attempt to absorb what already exists rather than adding to the world, I collect objects that have suffered a loss; the loss of their owner or the loss of their function triggers a desire within me to complete them, to reassess their function and to fill their empty space with precious metals."

After re-discovering a photo of Maria Militsi's work in my source book, I tried to find out a little more information and to scour Google for more images of her work. Unfortunately I don't know the name of the pieces featured but I was instantly drawn to her work that uses old jewellery boxes. I own a small Ciro of London brooch box similar to the one in the top image and have been searching on ebay for interesting ones to be used for my collaborative project with textiler Sara Nevay. Unfortunately for me they seem to be extremely popular but I recently managed to get my hands on a cute leather pendant case with an unusual shape. I will post some pictures of it soon when more details about the project can be divulged!

www.MariaMilitsi.com

Maria Militsi - RCA profile

I am also looking for some help naming a jeweller who's work I only have 1 image of - someone who's work I found at Inhorgenta, Munich about 3 years ago? The piece I remember and loved was a tiny silicone frame brooch - available in lots of different colours, which could be stretched over a metal frame which was worn underneath so that it highlighted small holes or marks on your top. (Sorry for the terrible description!) Basically it was a little frame brooch that showed off a mark on your top?! The picture I have is torn round the edge and I can only make out "ansteckschmuck" & "Fleckenrahmen" & "anhanger von gisa elm..." all of which mean nothing to me! If anyone has any ideas who the jeweller might be then please let me know!

Laura Potter

2010-11-03T15:07:00.000-07:00

I first came across Laura Potter's work when I was researching Lin Cheung for my 3rd year research project. My class were each assigned a jeweller to research, picked for similar attitudes to our work, where we had to create a slideshow presentation as well as create a piece inspired by our assigned jewellers work and style. As I was researching Lin Cheung, who has worked on several projects with Laura, I didn't get the chance to get a proper feel for Laura's work.

However, one proper look at Laura's website and I'm definitely paying attention now! Potter's website is jam-packed with ideas and concepts - it is literally idea after idea after idea, but, amazingly, each idea has a polished, beautiful piece at the end.

Interestingly, I actually had an image of "Lifetime medal" (top image) in my "favourite source" sketchbook but, again, never quite had the time to actually research some more of her work.

I thought that "Lifetime medal 280100507863" is one of the most interesting pieces as well as being one of the most appealing aesthetically for me. Laura bought this bundle of gold jewellery from ebay which bore the description "This is the contents of my late grandmothers jewellery box sold as scrap" which you can see stitched on the final piece (above). This definitely explores the sense of sentimentality in jewellery and personally I found it really sad that someone could sell something that, for me, would be so utterly treasured.

The piece below is also one of my favourites

- "Black Swan"

When I first noticed the link on her website I was intrigued and wondered what the little black swan's significance was..I'll let you have a look for yourself...

Laura Potter - "Black Swan"

Showcase

2010-11-01T10:45:00.000-07:00

I will be exhibiting some jewellery at "Showcase"

at An talla solais, Ullapool Visual Arts

from 6th November.

The offer to take part in this exhibition came at an awkward time as I have just completed a collection for Number Four, St Abbs for which pieces have to be sent off on the same date. However the staff have been great & very understanding with regards to time for getting work sent down :). To be honest I have been very naive for the demand for work around Christmas time so I will consider this a lesson learned and get to making early next year - especially stocking up on equipment: I'm struggling to find pearl wire!!

On another note, coming back to my thoughts on "commercial jewellery" - I have been struggling to come up with a range that has my "style". Most jewellers in my class seemed to have a high-end degree show collection that could be easily transformed into a commercial collection, but this is something I have really struggled with. However since working on pieces for the two galleries I'm starting to notice a few pieces emerge (such as the earrings featured) which I have loved and feel very "me"! I feel a bit like I'm starting from scratch again after my degree show collection so I think keeping up the sketchbook work and keeping making will help reveal and develop my style. I also have my 1st bottle of platinol to play with and have ordered 2 books for inspiration...

Mixed Media Jewellery: Methods and Techniques

Jewellery from Natural Materials

Slakje - Imme van der Haak

2010-10-31T07:46:00.000-07:00

"Slakje" by Imme van der Haak - not sure where this stands in terms of animal cruelty (I'm sure they're happy little bling-ed up snails!!!) but a cool video and project.

Imme van der Haak

2010-10-31T07:39:00.000-07:00

A selection of images from Imme van der Haak

"In my work I try to discuss in a playful way the ideas which seem obvious about what is “normal”.
In my photographs and films I transform the human body by using materials which lace up parts of the body,

change the silhouette or influence in a different way

the form of the body. It is all about changing forms and transformations, although it is not my intention

to shock, but to reveal the idea that every form

has its own beauty. In this way I comment in an

expressive way on the current ideas about beauty"