Christmas is nearly here......

I can finally feel the festive season in the air! The Christmas street lights are on and are lighting up our living room, the snow has been falling and the crappy Christmas song have been playing on the radio in the workshop :). And to really set off the Christmas mood......its the Jewellery Christmas night out tonight :D..... which will consist of lots of party dresses, cocktails and dancing to Christmas songs!

All the picture of my jewellery are up on the Hannah Zakari website now! And are all looking very professional!

So the end of the first half of 3rd year is nearly over....but for a quick 2 week project before we all head home we are learning to photo etch with Sally Pattrick. Iv been looking forward to doing this technique for so long.... There is so much you can achieve with it! Very excited indeed :D

I'm really looking forward to this Saturday.....my friend Tony is having an Animal themed fancy dress party. I'm going to make a start on my costume tomorrow which is a panda he he

Enjoy your weekend

:D x

Its All Go!

Exciting times....



For the last couple of months if been in contact with Rachael Lamb, who i met through a friend at work. Rachael is the creator and owner of the scrummy website Hannah Zakari.co.uk ... which i must say tempts me every time I'm on it (not good for purse). And I'm so please to say that i will now be supplying Rachael with a few collections of my newest designs. This is the first time i have been able to sell my jewellery online and its going to be a huge learning curve for me. Buying and selling online is now one of the best way to promote yourself and your designs and as a contemporary designer i felt i needed to have a go at it. I am usually stuck in the dark ages when it comes to selling my jewellery as i normally only do craft fares but this is a fantastic opportunity for me! So please have a little nosey on the website....as well as my jewellery you will find lots of other designers and beautiful pieces.

Happy shopping :D

ta ta for now :)

Design..Design..Design!

The lack of updating just proves what a hard working student I really am! Its so good to be back at uni and back into the workshop...even tho so far it has been pretty limited. With our first project a design competition for the V&A in London there hasn't been any work shop time but with all my extra work for the Hannah Zakari website coming up its worked out quite well.

I'm now 2 weeks into our new project which is called 'The Ring Project'. Its a very interesting one as this time we design a ring based on our year long source collection project. The twist is that after the two weeks of designing, me and the rest of the 3rd year, pop our names in a hat and we design the piece of whoever we pull out! I'm hoping I don't get anything too complicated :S. With our year long project ongoing, I'm finding it a very helpful source of design. I'm collecting everything from my own photo of natural subjects, textiles, wallpaper designs and graffiti.




I have also started thinking a lot more about my dissertation subject area. Nothing is set in stone as yet but I'm thinking of going down the route of sustainability in craft. After having a lot of lecture that are based on the future of oil and the oil peak, i think that as a designer who in a few years time will be working in the craft environment, it is important to understand that we cannot keep living in this way as a consumable culture instead of reusing what we own.

So in the next week or so you will find my new collections on the Hannah Zakari website....I'm soooooo excited about this. Its the first time that my jewellery will be able to be bought by the public. I hope you all go and have a wee peek at it and if you could, please let me know what you think...ill put up the link as soon as it on :D
For now here is a sneak look at what you are likely to see...







ta ta for now :)

x

Rainy Days and Reminiscing.

View From My Window

Its been raining none stop here in Dundee for the last Three days. And I'm sick of leaving the flat and coming back home looking like a drenched rat! Where has the summer gone.....and the more important question....when is it coming Back??? Anyone?
Jo and Me Back In The Day

Since its been miserable outside its giving me a good excuse to get start on a very belated spring clean! I was very harsh too and was able to fill 3 black bags full of junk! And for a hoarder like me .....that's not bad! It also been a year since i moved to Dundee and into my pretty flat with my little Jem of a best friend Jo! Cant believe we made it a year and going for another one haha. As Jo always says we work, eat and live together so in the end we will either hate the sight of each of each other or our friendship will be unbreakable.....it think it will be option two :)

Anyway i found some little blasts from the past when cleaning out my room, like one of my old diaries that hadn't been unlocked since i was 17 so..... 5 years Wow. Was really lovely to read it again. Its been making me think about all the very wonderful people iv had in my life, especially one very special person:D


Its also inspired me to do a little research for some designs. I knew this cleaning marlarky would come in handy for something haha.

Here's hoping the sun comes out soon :)

x

Mega Bus Junky!

Over the past month or so iv been spending a lot of my time on the handy old Mega Bus! Apart from the smelly windy lickers and rather stinky old people who sit beside you and like to talk to themselves.... the Mega bus does have some very good up-sides to it.
1. I never seem to have time sit and daydream these days. My mega bus journeys have brought me back to the world of day dreaming and im loving it! Just the other day while on my way back to Glasgow i started to plan where i want to go traveling! What i would do and what i would love to see if money was no object! Im so in need of an adventure! (only two more years of uni then im off!)
2. I download sooooo much music and since im not making my daliy trek back and forth to uni the mega bus allows me to sit back and enjoy my good taste in music! Download some classics recently like some Journey, Lamb Stereolab and my current fav Plastic Bertrand. Have a listen! :D



Also becoming a bit of a culinary genius in the kitchen! No more pot noodles for me!!! Been knocking up so masterpieces like, Stuffed peppers with hot thai style rice and Lentil bake!

Other big news is that things are looking up in the Jewellery section. I finally have my piece selling in a shop!!!! The company is called Foxy Woo and its based in Inereray. Also got some good contacts from my manager at work whos friends with Racheal who owns and runs the well known website called Hannah Zakari. Showed her a couple of my collections and should hopefully have piece on the site in Sept! :).

Westend Festival Antics!

So iv been run off my feet the last week leading up to the 1st date of the Westend Festival which was Sunday the 15th.... but it all went pretty smoothly :). above is a few pieces iv been selling. It was the perfect day, the sun was shining all day, the streets were packed and the atmosphere was amazing! Had some lovely customers and a few that remembered us ( me and my flatmate Jo, who is also a jeweller) from last year. Im so glad everything went smoothly as it was a very emotional day for me, as my grandpa passed away in Feb this year and his birthday and fathers day both fell on the same day as the festival. Iv been very positive about my life and career recently and if i have learnt anything over my loses the past year is to make the most of every day, every moment with family and friends and embrace everything that comes my way, the good and the bad!

I have another date at the Westend Festival which is this Sunday the 22nd, so no rest for the wicked! But to ease the pain of working so hard i treated myself to a few new books. Iv just started reading ' ma, he sold me for a few cigarettes' by Martha Long.

Anyways if anyone is free on Sunday pop on by Gibson street where you will find lots of nice craft stalls!

Enjoy the rest of your week and lets hope the sun comes back out :)

To Glasgow, Ayr and Back again

So iv had a pretty busy few weeks! On the work front... iv finished 9 canvases for the Westend Festival, once i start painting i just cant help myself. I find it so relaxing and once i start i just cant stop, but i must as i have abandoned my jewellery and need to get back on track. I did find time in between my painting to order my new funky business cards. I used Moo.com as these little jems are just what i was looking for!






On Sunday i took a wee trip on down to my home town of sunny Ayr for my Dads birthday... it was also an excuse to get home and spend some time with my family, especially my big sister who i miss so much!! I love the smell of the sea breeze, its the little things like that remind me of the summer and the many days i spent as a kid playing by the beach. I also used this opportunity to collect some source of my home town which i will hopefully be able to use in 3rd year. A little road trip with my friend and jewellery pal Lisa (who is also an Ayrshire Lass) where we visited Dunuen Castle, The Brig O Doon and The Auld Kirk. unfortunally the weather was pretty rotten and by the time we finished i was rather damp lol.

On my journey to Ayr i decided to stop off at my friends Claire and Jamie in Glasgow as they just moved into there first flat together in Shawlands and i must say i was rather jealous... its so cute and cozy. The prefect first home!

So now that I'm home its full speed ahead with my work, if got everything i need now after stopping off in Glasgow to visit Bairds for material, so no more excuses!

Dundee Sunshine

Hey ho campers! And its another beautiful day today, i cant believe how nice the weather has been over the past few day, fingers crossed it stay that way. So since my material havent arrived and i cant start making any of my new designs for the Westend Festiavl. I decided to start painting some canvases. I used inspiration for my paintings from these beautiful Laura Ashley card that i bought when in Glasgow with fellow jewellery Lisa Murphy on our day out at the Dazzle exhibition.



Well since its such a lovely day im off out to taking in some of the Dundee sunshine before its too late.

Bye for now x

So hand in for all this years semesters work was due in for marking today and needless to say iv been crapping it for the past few days. My appointment was at 10am this morning and i felt it went really well with some really good criticism and some constructive points about how to get better marks for presentation...not that it was bad but i know i could have done better. My tutor Teena is also going to mark me with special circumstances due to my accidence (my fractured arm) which cause me to nearly 4 weeks where i couldnt do any practical work! From the meeting i think i have realise that i work a lot better with small tight piece of jewellery that the larger body adornment jewellery and fashion pieces. I do enjoy the challenge of them...but in the end my small wearable piece always look far more professional.

So thats me finished second year :)! And it feels great but still got lots of work head with the Westend Festival starting in just over 6 weeks. Ill post some picture as soon as i start making. Its also a busy week for socialising as i turn 23 on May the 4th... God i feel old lol. Looking forward to our night out in Broughty Ferry tho on the 7th! I can tell its going to be a good one :)

And to all those 4th year Jews ..aka Jewellery students .. out there getting ready for the Degree show... Good luck girlies :)

Im back!

Well i cant believe my last post was at Christmas! Times have been busy busy...as always. So a quick catch up on the past few months - Pasts all my jewellery projects and was really chuffed with my grades :). In February all of the student in the jewellery department got the chance to go to Munich to visit the Massive jewellery exhibition called Inhorgenta. It was completely mind blowing! So many nice things, I just had to treat myself and bought this funky little brooch By blabla blue.

Another exciting thing that happened the day i came home for Germany was to find out that i got a job in the new Jane Norman in the Overgate. Its just part time but i need money to get me by over the summer. Iv been in the job over a month now and loving it..all the girls are really nice.

Ok so im nearly finished my 2nd year at Duncan of Jordanstone...the time has truly flew in, before i know it im going to be finish! Im loving my time up here in Dundee but missing home loads too. The girls in my class are the best tho and keep my head up in the good, bad and stressful time lol!



Exciting times are on the horizon with the Westend Festival fast approaching! Got so many ideas and new designs for this year. I want to incorporate fabric into some of my pieces this year, and these beautiful little numbers By Tina Givens on Etsy are just some of what i might be using. So all you people in and around the Glasgow area, pop on down to Byres Road on the 15th and Gibson St on the 22nd of June. Its a great day out with lots of lovely stalls as well as the spectactical street parade! So got a very busy schedual ahead but i promise to keep on top of my blog from now on :D

x