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

Woohoo......Nearly Christmas!

Im so excited about spending christmas at home this year. It will be so nice to hang about with my old friend again. Not got too many plans over the festive period except eat, sleep and be merry! Which im sure ill be able to achieve! I wont be updating this until after new year when im back in dundee so I hope everyone and a very merry christmas and prosperous new year!

Ho ho ho ..... x

A month already

How time flies when you’re having fun....Well not so much fun, more like work really. Things at uni have gotten pretty intense over the past few weeks, lots of written work for my Design, History, Theory and Practice lectures. And deadlines for practical work have crept up faster than I ever imagined. Our last project we had was based on the use of line and how to create line using metal. I really enjoyed this project and found that I work really well with wire. I like the way you can create 3 dimensional forms that can sit lightly against the body. We had two briefs to complete in our line project. The source I used to inspirer me for this project was nature, using things with simple lines in them. I also took inspiration from a book I recently bought called 'Into the Nature of Creatures and Wilderness'. It’s filled with interesting and unusual forms of nature from photography, illustrations, prints and computer designed images. The first was to create a brooch showing sample a brooch fitting and contemporary ways to wear it against the body. For this I created a pin out of Stainless steel, twisting the wire to form an intricate shape, which I then took sections of and stitched purple material into it with brass wire. For the second brief we were to create a piece that adorned the body. I liked the idea of a piece that was pinned to the cliché place you would wear a brooch, but then design it so it ran over the shoulder and down the back.

To create my piece I used brass wire which I rolled to give a flat shape. I also used very thin round brass wire which I twisted and knotted then ran through the rolling mills to create these delicate and intricate squiggle shapes. I held these shapes in place by wrapping them round the small frames to keep them in place.
I was really pleased with my final piece.


On the 30th of Dec I also had a Jewellery sale at Money Quest offices in Glasgow, my sister works there and she had been raving on to the colleges about my jewellery. So me and my friends Joanne, who is also at DOJ decided to sell some of our piece to make a bit of money, which was desperately need as us students are poor you know! It was a really good day and we both did really well.

So that’s me all finished up for the holidays now and ill be heading back down home soon to sunny Ayr to spend Christmas with my family and friends. Not that it will be a relaxing holiday since my sister has just bought a new house, which im sure ill be roped into help decorating! Good job I love her!