commencer à terminer | beginning to end...

Well, I guess that's almost it - March I mean...almost over. This month seems like a lost one to me....my being off in Paris at the beginning and then in cloud-cookoo land for the rest of it. The image above is where I began....exploring the beautiful backstreets of a wonderful city, and where I finish....sitting working at my bench in another.

Thanks so much to all of you for such kind comments in my posters :) - and thanks to the lovely Joy for the kind mention today!....

Some flickr faves from this week [what a lot there were!!..but I will stick to five..or so ;)]...

:: untitled from haeshu
:: I miss from rebeccamissing
:: shelter from Shari
:: freefall from rivoluzione
:: sabina from kasio
:: riverside from wiiri
:: oh my stars from meg

..love, love them all! - hope you do too.

*** A little reminder!!! ***

- The March photo competition that I am guest judging over on The Year of Living Gorgeously blog is almost drawing to a close!! To enter - just submit your 'March' photo into the flickr group pool and I will judge the winner at the weekend....and remember , you can win some scrummy french soaps, so it is well worth a go!!! Hope to see your photo's there :)

Have a lovely weekend all!!
xx

affiche | poster...

One of those weeks right?...speeding by for me at least, not much accomplished yet. I have quite a lot to do actually, so that combo is not a great one....haha.

I have been working with some images on photo-shop and creating 'posters' printed on brown paper [Kraft if you are American] in A4 size, layering and fragmenting imagery.....and I've been quite enjoying that. It has been a while since I have done any drawing, but doing this opens up all sorts of ideas as to how I could transform things I would like draw on {thinking some of the carvings from buildings in Paris!} into prints and such. It is nice to have a break from what I do every day with jewellery....so this is great fun and gets my creative juices flowing!

I'd love to know what you think....I'm not sure if this is something that I could market at all {although I know I for one LOVE finding posters printed on brown paper ... love!! I say! ;) ....mmmm?

More tomorrow! Good day everyone :)

EDIT:: - I have listed the posters on etsy....each for 13 dollars [or 6 pounds -ish] plus p+p....

for the West George Street Print - Click HERE

for the Rose Print - Click HERE

:)
xx

observer | observe...

Yes - it looks busy, doesn't it?....I seem to be looking and observing all the things I need to do, need to sort. Not quite getting there, but almost. At least I am seeing them - which I guess is encouraging. A book shelf needs tidying, a box o' jewels assessing and stocktaking, and old flowers cleared to make room for the new [I found ranunculus btw!] :)

Quite a bit to do over the next few weeks /months...there is a Dazzle coming up in Glasgow so I have work to do for that [I am also going to be working the show too - which will be fun], I have a good few orders to fill just now, and I have just had some of my pearl ring sets in larger sizes come back into stock so have listed them on etsy today...I am also going to be contributing to a new online magazine which is due to launch at some point in the summer [I will be doing the silversmithing and jewellery section]....check out Cre8 Magazine !! I am very excited about that!!

Some linky goodness....

Some girls from the Silversmithing and Jewellery dept at Dundee Art School have set up a blog documenting their work...from the research into an artist jeweller, to their response in the form of jewellery. Looking forward to seeing how their blog Twee Three progresses!!

Really liking the shadow wallpaper from Anna Dove...especially the morning light design....I saw it in Elle Decoration and loved it!

Happy Tuesday everyone - hope your week is off to a good start!?
xx

Bracelet de Ginkgo | Ginkgo Bracelet...

Hello everyone - having a nice weekend I trust? It's lovely and sunny here as you can see from my snaps above...but still cold. Where is spring again? ;)

A new piece, {which I will pop in the shop asap} a Ginkgo Bracelet with pink pearls...[modelled by my lovely Mum!!]....it's all silver, which has been oxidised and lightly polished to a gunmetal gleam...and the linen textured ginkgo charm is clustered together with some pink freshwater pearls.

Some stunning shots from flickr that have delighted me this week...

:: 공책 from cheida

:: envelope from mistubako

:: What, what can you offer me? from rebeccamissing

:: Octobre et décembre from rebeccamissing

:: good good sun from rebeccamissing

..guess I am loving rebeccamissing's shots this week huh? ;)

.....in other news, I am delighted to have been invited aboard the Ship...where On Beauty by Zadie Smith is being discussed this time round....check it out, Shari has just posted too! :).....I have also been asked to guest judge the March photo competition being run over on the blog The Year of Living Gorgeously {thanks so much Paola!!}...and you can get all the details about joining in {and what you might win if you do!!} by clicking over now :)

Lastly, I want to congratulate my friend Marianne Anderson, who just launched her new website last week....it looks truly stunning!! Be sure to check it out {click here}!!! :)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone - I am off to prepare for a friends arrival this evening {antipasti, good bread and wine....plus some movies with Paris as the guest star!! - what could be better?}...see you next week!!

xox

marques et moments | marks and moments...

Thinking a lot just now about all the little moments in life that add up to leave 'marks' on your consciousness, on your memory. Not the little dents and dings, but the larger stains and marks that you can't get out....the ones that corrode somehow and somewhere, making you look at them often. The one's that tend to linger in my mind are the ones that even in their stubbornness can be quite lovely....

On my mind just now, something I am reading....

- The Tent by Margaret Atwood....so unusual and creative, little parts of it keep coming into focus..

From Life Stories, The Tent....

" I'm working on my own life story...........If you'd wanted the narrative line you should have asked earlier, when I still knew everything and was more than willing to tell. That was before I discovered the virtues of scissors, the virtues of matches."


...what's leaving a mark with you right now?
Happy Wednesday :)
xx

Et le centre était Noir | And the centre was Black...

Just this for today really...having a busy one - lot's going on, lot's of decisions to make! It's very crisp and cold with great white light...so I could not resist stopping to see the black centres, the black hearts......

Thanks for all the support on taking the step to learn French - hope you will find the French English titles as fun as I am.....!!

have a good day everyone!

xx

Oh yes - and it is fair to say I am *loving* browsing through HEL LOOKS, isn't it just great!?

Anémone | Anemone...

My first anémone of the season - and don't they just scream 'here I am!!!'?? - beautiful and cheerful this bright day, opening up nicely in the warm[ish] air. I figured I would pair them with my new little group of letter A's...that I shared a glimpse of the other day....picked up in Paris. A is for Anemone after all.

On Saturday I enrolled in French classes, so already feel one step closer [to what, I don't know yet - but lets just say I have stepped onto the yellow brick road...] - I was a little late to join in with this semesters classes as I have missed too much already {and although I can speak a good bit already - I want to start at the beginning as I didn't study it at school}....so I will be doing a summer school in June to fast-track me and then beginning the weekly lessons in September. It feels an age away, but I know it will arrive before I know it!! I am going to try and learn as much as I can off my own back .... so you will, from now on, begin to see a lot more bi-lingual titles on the blog. ;)

Much to do today - am working on some Anemone jewellery {having just completed a little necklace for Mothers day this past weekend...will show tomorrow!}....so am off to saw out some little leaves, and perhaps press some fresh ones {from the bunches} too.

Happy Monday everyone!
xox

PS - I forgot to add this earlier....I scanned in an lovely article I found in April French Elle Decoration about Glasgow....thought you may like to have a little glimpse of my city! ..enjoy :)

Sacré Cœur | Sacred Heart...

I wanted to share with you all something very special I found at the antique market when in Paris last week.
This beautiful gilded and inscribed heart - that opens like a locket tin - comes, I was told, from a small church congregation in the Reine region of France...'Congres Marial Boulogne s/mer'...they were founded first in 636 till 1478, and re-formed again in their 'current' location is 1638. Inside are two beautiful heart shaped pieces of paper, printed with information about the church in French....hand-written on the paper are wishes and prayers for the safe return of loved ones from the second world war. I am so happy and honored to be able to keep these safe and I will always wonder about them and hope that the men so prayed for were indeed delivered home safely. Sacré Cœur indeed...

Flickr faves from this week...

untitled by Lucinda Pearl
untitled by letsnotgiveup
untitled by gufan
untitled by gufan

I will be adding my last few photos to my Paris set this weekend so stop by any time if you want a French fix.

Speaking of French fixes - I am going here tomorrow morning to be assessed for and enroll in French classes. Now is the time I think.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.
xox

ps - I have given my ever growing list of links their own page...you can access this now via my sidebar as normal...or by clicking here :) {sorry if I have missed anyone out so far..there is only so much html I can tap out in one evening !;))}...more soon!

Ranunculus love...

Yes - I am a HUGE ranunculus fan. So much so that when after three days of walking past a beautiful florist packed with them in Paris {open till after ten every night...oohlala!} - I could resist no more, relented, and bought a little tiny pressed glass vase from the Conran shop in St. Germain {along with the cute teak tray!} and went for a bunch of the pink sort.....oh how cheerful they were! I am trying to find some here - but no luck yet. I guess spring comes much later to Scotland than it does to France. The little metal 'A''s came from the antique market....I'll show more of the group soon....

I am really disappointed - that book I ordered was cancelled right at the last minute this evening. Apparently they sell elsewhere too {ie..have the same thing listed in two places!!} and someone beat me to it. I was so, so looking forward to it as well. :(

Popped up a little exhibition review over on whip-up ...

Can't believe it's Thursday already. Sheesh. Roll on le weekend, I say.

xox

Paris loved me back....

For the first time, I visited the two islands in the heart of Paris {Ile de la Cité and Ile St - Louis}...which you access near Notre Dame by crossing the river by bridge - naturally accompanied by the sound of an amazing sax player - both islands were stacked full of little streets, with amazing architecture and wonderful little shops, brasseries and restaurants....Ile St. Louis is the most exclusive address in Paris, so there was some seriously beautiful apartments there {see the doors above in the most perfect shade of eau de nile}....a lot of time was just spend wandering, exploring and drinking in the atmosphere. I loved being at the Seine...there was so much going on {and at the same time was still quiet and tranquil}..people lunching, fishing [!], relaxing....

I also saw an amazing exhibition at the Musee du Luxembourg on Rene Laliques' jewellery....it really was one of the best 'historical' exhibitions I have ever been to. It had hundreds of his original drawings, jewellery paint-ups, metal samples and pieces of jewellery galore - stunning enough to make your jaw hit the floor several times in close succession. It is amazing to look at something where the skill levels are so utterly absolute {as the appreciation of painting can be subjective}, where whilst one may not like the style of the work, no-one could quibble with the supreme mastery of material the jewellers had back then...I got the catalogue, so will scan in some pages to show soon.

I am off to make a coffee, to dream of Paris and to plough on with work...more soon!

xox

ps - I am delighted and so excited to see the launch of Sew Green...and I have also treated myself today to this book of Keiko Minami's work after seeing it featured on the new blog Book by it's Cover which I am enjoying immensely. I have always loved Keiko's work...so was delighted to be reminded of it!! Hoping it's arrival will help shift the post holiday blues. :)

Paris has my heart...

I arrived back from Paris late Saturday night after a really wonderful week....walking around the city every day till we dropped, taking the bus everywhere so as not to miss a thing. I wish I was back there now - and the usual 'glad to be home' feeling is not with me...just the gap that Paris has left. I want to learn French fluently so I can tell it how much I love it...

I am slowly uploading all the photo's from the trip to flickr....you can see the set as it progresses here - above is a beautiful carved cartouche that was above a doorway just around the corner from my hotel in the 17th e...and the mural was on the wall of a small park, not far from Le Bon Marche in St. Germain {4th e}....lovely how even in Winter it makes it look luscious and graphic....

Just catching up with emails and work today, but will share more from the most amazing city {including delights from the antique markets}, very soon.

Hope everyone is well and glad to be seeing the first signs of spring...

xox

[won't see me for] Silver dust...

Well, at the end of a very long week the crazy rush to get everything done for heading off on the trip is over. Collection of jewellery made - check, stringing like a mad thing - check, post it all away - check. Now all I have to do is pack ;))

The necklace above is the piece I was making for myself....I already had the pearl and the chain done, so it was the olive leaf bit I was working on. As I have mentioned before, I don't wear much jewellery...but I do always like to have something that can work for low key as well as dressed up wear when I am away. This hits the mark perfectly, it is an enormous stunning pearl {love the ridge in it, almost like hand thrown porcelain}...and the gold, oxidised silver and white colour scheme works with everything!!

Dashed into town last night for some late night shopping, as I 'needed' some new things. It is always nice to treat yourself every now and again when you have been working hard - so I thought this was the perfect opportunity! I also heard it has been raining in Paris - so was delighted to find a beautiful French navy Mac, with structured funnel neck and belt....it almost has a fifties silhouette with a really great kick from the belt, which I love. I also really splurged on an *amazing* leather bag from Jigsaw which I am just in love with.....anyone who knows me will tell you I am a bag {leather, mind you} junkie...so it is always so so lovely to get a new fix ;)) Also picked up some new books - so will let you know what I think about them when I get back too - they all look really good.

So, see you back here in a wee while...Wishing everyone a good weekend!!

I will return with images of Paris galore...:)

xox