Spoonished!

Well, here's the spoon. There were a couple of small changes along the way as usual. I haven't really made anything other than jewellery for a few years now. It was quite refreshing to work on something that isn't to be worn for a change. No pin, no catch, nothing! A practical object, maybe not, but it is still only the beginning of an idea. A testpiece really. I like the fact that it looks like two different pieces. Maybe there will be more spoons to come. Who knows....maybe when I have a bit more spare time on my hands.
My spoon is on it's way to join all the other spoons as we speak :)

Above the spoon pics is our gallery poster for the festival. This is the last weekend that we will be open. Tomorrow and Sunday 11-6. Since this is the last weekend, we have made a special effort to bring in some more jewellery, bags, prints and wood and silver work. So if you haven't been down yet, come take a look. It's all very beautiful :)

You Spoon!

Getting up late this morning after another night shift at Dazzle, I made it to the studio for the first time in a week! It was a slow start but quite productive in the end.
I was asked last week to come up with a spoon for an exhibition at the Scottish Gallery which opens next week! www.scottish-gallery.co.uk The exhibition will include spoons designed and made by a number of established contemporary jewellers and silversmiths.
I've had to come up with something quite quickly so I've already pierced the shape (bottom drawing) in it's flat form. It is a double ended spoon and each end will be formed so that when you hold the spoon in your hand, the opposite end will curve into your hand. The next step will be to fuse the ovals on top. There will be a gold oval involved somewhere but haven't decided where yet. At the moment the spoon is not strong enough on it's own as the silver sheet is too thin, but I'm hoping that once it's all fused together the over lapping will make it less delicate. Will let you know how it turns out :)

Grace Girvan, another fabulous fellow jeweller at Coburg House (check links) made me aware of the term 'You Spoon!" today. I think it's maybe a scottish thing! Still not quite sure how you would define the word, but Grace says it's like saying 'You Tube!'. Another scottish term! I suspect it just means 'silly'.

Better stop the silly talk now x

Dazed & confused!

Haven't managed to get much done at the studio this week as I've been working at the flower shop and Dazzle. We had a post Open studio meeting last night which was followed by a few bottles of wine, and some rather drunken chat at Sopi's! Today started off in a bit of a daze, but we managed to make quite a few sales in the end!
Apart from that, what time I have spent in the studio this week has been spent thinking about what to do next. I am feeling in need of a change and perhaps creating a new range.
This has meant going back to the drawing board literally. This new collection may or may not happen, depending on time scale, as I do have a few deadlines to work towards now.

For those of you who still haven't seen our new gallery space, our summer exhibition is still running and open for business on the weekends, Saturday & Sunday 11-6 during the festival.
www.coburghousestudios.blogspot.com

Dazzling it!

This week has been yet another busy one! There hasn't been much of a chance to recover from the Open Studios. The past three nights I have been working at the Dazzle exhibition at the Traverse Theatre (check links for details).
Myself and coburg jewellers, Kaz, Hannah Louise Lamb and Sally Grant (check links) all had our work featured in the Edinburgh evening news on Monday, advertising Dazzle. Our work was modeled by the gorgeous fellow coburg jeweller Erin Daly. I don't have a link for Erin, but you can view an image of her work on the coburg blog.
The 'Corolla' earrings above are one of the pieces that were modeled for the paper and are on sale at Dazzle now for £95.
The Neckpiece is a special one off that is also at Dazzle just now. Last year, I sold the bracelet version of this at Edinburgh Dazzle, so fingers crossed this will go to a good home too :)

On the right (below blog archives), I have added some more images of work I have sitting in the studio. I just have to work out where I will be sending them next!

Thank god it's friday! Sophi's for a glass of vino is the way to go. Roll on 6 o' clock! x x

Last night at the studios.......

After a long stressful week, the Open studios weekend finally kicked off yesterday and with great success! Doors opened for the private view at 6pm and very quickly all three floors were full of curious people! Regulars and newcomers were both loving our new gallery space! Plenty of sales, wine, and hangovers have been had by all! There's still tomorrow to go so fingers crossed for some sales :) If you haven't been down yet, do so. The studio doors will be closing at 6pm tomorrow.
Above are some photos of the opening and buzzing atmosphere at Coburg House last night!

The Big Clean Up Day!

The Big Clean Up happened today! This happens twice a year, usually on the Tuesay before we open up our studios to the public for the weekend! A big list of jobs is drawn up by our very own Coburg Queen, Kaz Roberston! (See links)
After getting the communal spaces cleaned and presentable, it was time to tackle the mess in mine and Kaz's studio! The picture above is just a small 'before' example of just how messy and disorganised the whole studio was this morning! I will post some 'after' shots when the open weedend is in action. For details of the open studio weekend check the studios blog www.coburghousestudios.blogspot.com Next I will need to set up my work. This isn't going to happen until Thursday! Leaving it till the last minute as usual, but Dazzle duties are calling! I will be spending the next couple of days at The Traverse Theatre setting up the Dazzle Exhibition.
For those of you who haven't heard of Dazzle, check out www.dazzle-exhibitions.com The Edinburgh Dazzle exhibition starts on the 7th Aug and will be on throughout the festival ending on the 31st Aug.

Preparing or NOT preparing for the week ahead!

Today has not been very productive. But then I guess it is Sunday! I was meant to start gutting the studio so there wasn't much work to do in the week (as there is little time as there is!). However, I did pop into the studio to hand in my work for the Coburg Gallery in preparation for the Open Studio exhibition. Here are the three pieces I will be displaying in our new gallery!
None of them are new pieces but I thought they would sit nicely as a group.

The Daisy wrist corsage (first photo above) was made a couple of years ago as part of a limited addition. There are about 6 or 7 in total. The idea came from making up buttonholes, bag corsages and wrist corsages for wedding parties and guests at the flower shop.
I thought it would be great if you could have a wrist corsage that wasn't made for just one day and then disposed off. The precious flower has two flat loops on the back where the ribbon threads through. It can be worn tied around the wrist a number of times, or just once with the rest of the ribbon flowing. The ribbon is interchangeable, so you can wear any colour to suit your outfit for your special occasion.

Tomorrow I will be in the flower shop and then down to the studio to tackle the mess! The joy :)