Summer Commissions...
Perfect summer day in the garden
Sitting here on a grey, drizzly, morning in early September, I don’t want to accept that summer may be over! The photo above, taken in our garden on a perfect summer day, reflects another new enterprise in my life as we have started offering our downstairs en-suite bedroom on Airbnb - check it out here!. So far we have really enjoyed doing it with delightful people passing through. Have been back in the workshop and new items coming on to the website in the next 24 hours so come back and have another look soon... I have also had some lovely commissions over the past few, sunnier, months and here are some examples:
“Mother’s wedding”
Firstly, I was thrilled to be asked to make some pieces by a daughter for her mother who was getting married. The daughter asked for a pendant with the date of the wedding, a disc with the initials of the two getting married, and a pair of earrings to match, set off with the wonderful deep purple glow of her mother’s favourite amethysts. I was really chuffed to receive a photo of her mother wearing the earrings and pendant on her wedding day!
“London Blue topaz ring”
During Artweeks, I received a request to re-make a ring in a different size that I had for sale there. I find ring-sizing tricky sometimes, and this one had a stone set on it so was slightly more difficult than a plain band.
I started off by cutting a strip of sterling silver to the correct length for the ring size – this has to be checked again a few times during making to ensure it is still correct. I then added the patterns and texture to the strip before forming the ring. What to choose today? Dots? Lines? Textures?
The stone is a “London Blue” topaz and is set in 9ct gold, placed down one side of the ring.
“First wedding anniversary”
Another lovely commission I was honoured to be given was to celebrate a first wedding anniversary. I was asked to create a pendant with “No 1” stamped on the inside and “I carry your heart” which is a quotation from e e cummings' beautiful poem i carry your heart with me (i carry it in) that can be found here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/49493/i-carry-your-heart-with-mei-carry-it-in, stamped on the outside, with highlighting ribs of 18ct gold going round.
This pendant has travelled far across the sea and I always love the thought of the things I have made being scattered around the world!
“Re-stringing an old favourite”
I was also asked to re-string an old favourite. Originally strung over 10 years ago, these exceptionally prettily cut pink quartz beads had been worn and worn and needed some serious tlc as the wire had become bent in several places and the clasp very tarnished. I hope they will now be enjoyed for another decade to come!
I am always happy to discuss possible commissions or personalising pieces of jewellery with initials or dates, for example. I am currently trying to drill holes in sea shells to fulfil someone's desire to carry their summer holiday around all year! And why not?
