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Tuesday 7 December 2010

Custom Jewellery

This piece was designed as a present for a little girl's ballet exam:


I think the colours are lovely and I hope she does really well!

I'm beginning to put together some charm jewellery made from little anchors, humming birds, brass keys etc. All charms I've been slowly building up for a while. I think they're really pretty.






Tuesday 30 November 2010

Tea Party Tags - printable and UK protests

Hello! These beautiful tags are free to print from this blog. Very cute!


Lovely, lovely. I saw a very sweet teapot with robin's on the other day, I love teapots.


Today in the UK there were nation wide protests to protest against student fees and I attended one in Exeter. You can see up to date info about all the UK wide protests by typing #solidarity or #dayx2 or #demo2010   into the twitter search box.

Some tweets from the protests:
 @JackStargatt: Finally out of the kettle. Only illegally contained for two hours. #bristol #dayx2 #solidarity #nocuts

cryurchin: Exeter anti-cuts protest. More pictures here - http://bit.ly/hiU1t9 - #solidarity #dayx2 #demo2010 http://twitpic.com/3bmmkq

RT @leelapaul: So proud that students all over the UK are taking a stand for their education with peaceful protest! @UCLOccupation #solidarity

Saturday 27 November 2010

1920s advert pendant

I completely love this design. It comes from an advert in a 1920s British magazine 'Picturegoer'. I love the silhouette simplicity of it.  
The advert is actually for throat sweets! But it's very pretty all the same, I like how the umbrella is white on the outside and black underneath. The ladies cloche hat is very much in fashion at the moment! I know I want one...

Had a request to make a pendant out of one of the Cuban coins. I had a bigger 25c coin which suited and so I made the lady a pendant. I have one more coin of that size, so I think I'll make another one soon.
Below is the one I sent to her:

I usually take my photographs in natural light, but this one was taken in the evening, just to show the piece as she already knew what she was buying. I like the dramatic look of it.

Thursday 25 November 2010

Treasures

The little ballet pendant has made it into a treasury thanks to this seller:


And the very first one, the lovely black and white 1920s lady is in a treasury by this seller whose item I recently featured and appears in the treasury above:



Both really beautiful collections with some lovely items. The stand out item for me though are these earrings. The photograph is also so beautiful and the styling is excellent. Anyone looking to buy me a Christmas present you know where to look!

Feeling very christmassy at the moment, I made some salt dough ornaments that are waiting to be painted. Maybe when they're done I'll put some photos up.

Also hooray I broke the 1000 views mark today! Thanks!

Monday 22 November 2010

Ballerina

Time for some new jewellery! Slightly different from the 1920s cameos, I loved the pose and dress of this ballerina from the Graphics Fairy but there were some bits I wasn't sure about! So I had a think and a chat with L. Stead and she drew the ballerina into a beautiful form!  Now she's all lovely.




 She looks pretty as a picture swinging in her frame. Lets have a closer look at her pretty face.

So there we are! This is one of the earliest images I wanted to use and it's great to finally see it made! I have another design coming and some silver charm jewllery also.

Find her on Etsy

Wednesday 17 November 2010

Facebook Fan Page

After dithering for ages I have finally set up a Facebook fan page and there's a link box on the right of the blog to 'like' it.

It has an in built Etsy shop.

Other news. My Cuban coin ring was featured in a Treasury:


The lady with a parasol pedant was featured on this blog by ZiBagz! And one of my treasuries with a link to the shop on Etsy was featured on this blog by Jenny Benny Bears!

Phew! What a week so far!

Monday 15 November 2010

Featured in a Treasury

Well the blog has been made prettiful! And one the the 1920s pendants has been featured in a beautiful Treasury on Etsy thanks to Seams Victorian.


That makes for a good beginning of the week! And this treasury makes me feel very Christmassy!

Saturday 6 November 2010

Cuba and Espresso

Today, aside from research, I have been photographing the newest piece of jewellery - a ring made from a Cuban coin. I visted Cuba this summer and it's such a beautiful and friendly country that I wanted to make a memento project from it, so I brought back a few coins to make jewellery from. This is now listed: http://www.artfire.com/users/rosesandhello and http://www.zibbet.com/rosesandhello and the new European shop which I'll talk about more below

And some little thumbnails of photographs I took in Cuba just to give the ring some background, it's travelled half way around the world after all! Some rum from the rum museum, a beautifully restored square, one of the old buildings not yet restored and a tabacco leaf drying house.





I have also been drinking lots of espresso from my birthday espresso cups! Cute. Today I launched an EU based shop Same products, but I know some people are put off by using US online shops and this one focuses particularly on Europe, which I think is nice. It allows me a nice big banner and the whole system was really easy to use.

And the final thing I did today... make a little advert for the company to go on this blog which belongs to a very nice person who asked if I would like to advertise for free as I was just starting out! And here is my little advert:



I'm hoping to create a jewellery piece using the image of the people on the left.

Productive day! Now back to research...

Friday 5 November 2010

Coco Chanel

Coco Chanel: Fashion
-------------------------
In the throws of some 1920s research to contextualise the jewellery I've been making, I came often across the icon who is Coco Chanel. So I thought I would write a post about her, because a lot of the thing I came across surprised me.

What I associate with the brand 'Chanel' is elegance, luxury and expense. But that is only half the story. I should just add that I haven't seen the film 'Coco avant Chanel', but I'm guessing most people are familiar with the notion she is a rags to riches story. From orphanage taught to sew by nuns, to, arguably, one of the most recognisable fashion brands in the world. I was, however, her approach to fashion which surprised me.


She is credited with being one of the first to oppose the 19th century silhouette doing away with thing like corsets and creating garments that were practice and easy to wear... not exactly what I think of Chanel for! But that was her campaign – using boyish shapes (the flapper dropped waist) and free flowing garments, her first Little Black Dress was known as ‘Chanel’s Ford’ for it’s simple lines and easy wearability.  

She said that “Elegance is refusal” ie: simplicity is the best way and she carried this into her fashion design. She used embroidery and beads sewn on to create detail instead of the usual padding, lace and ruffles. She popularised costume jewellery and particularly the many strands of long pearls that are currently in fashion, apparently an odd number of strings was considered most elegant. And she counselled “Always take off the last accessory you put on” – less is more.

Her views on luxury are also in opposition to the hedonism we usually associate with the 1920s, particularly in France the Ballet Russe etc. She said: Some people think luxury is the opposite of poverty. It is not. It is the opposite of vulgarity”.
And finally, of designing dresses she said: look for the women in the dress, if there is no woman, there is no dress”. This is something for anyone designing things to keep in mind, if you can’t imagine a person wearing it then something has gone astray.

Thursday 28 October 2010

Etsy Treasury

Quick post. I put together some 1920s themed items in an etsy treasury - http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4cc854468fb86d916a42e059/zelda-fitzgerald-eat-your-heart-out?index=0

Love the Ballet Russe sketch and the slouhcy cloche hat. The smoking flapper doll is creepy but amazing.


Sunday 24 October 2010

Roaring Twenties!

So to the next set of jewellery based on the 'roaring twenties'! I loved going through and chosing the images from this set and I think L. Stead did an extraordinary job with them. These are really wonderful little framed pieces of art. I wont post too many pictures but you can see all of them (nearly all, there's 7 designs and 4 loaded at the moment) at these two sites - http://www.artfire.com/users/rosesandhello















 
“I think a woman gets more happiness out of being gay, light-hearted, unconventional, mistress of her own fate.... I want [my daughter] to be a flapper, because flappers are brave and gay and beautiful.” Author Zelda Fitzgerald. 1924


Wednesday 20 October 2010

Project 1010

Just a brief diversion from the jewellery (waiting for the prints to arrive), there was a project happening on 10.10.10 dedicated to celebrating the ordinary beautiful little things that happen everyday. 10 photographers took 10 photographs of their day, no special event was happening, just an extraordinary date marking an ordinary day. I think this is a lovely idea.

As the 1010 Project mission statement explains,
"The 1010 project was devised as an antidote to everything in modern life always having to be bigger, better, louder and brighter than what’s been before.
"It’s an opportunity to slow down and appreciate the simple, everyday things that make life beautiful."

The photographs are from all over the world, London, Brighton, New York, Tokyo, Berlin, Algarve, Amsterdam, Stellenbosch, Melbourne

I like this set from brighton - http://1010project.com/#710784/Kris-Atomic

Ha funny! --------------->

I like this one because it reminds me of the tiles that sit just under the front door step of nearly all the houses on a very long road I used to live on in Exeter. Really pretty little tiles that you hardly ever saw as you marched past, but once you looked, they were everywhere and each different. Though not quite as lovely as the ones in this photograph:


Here's the main page to see the other photographs - http://1010project.com/

Thursday 14 October 2010

Black and white miniature

Well as promised here is the next piece of jewellery:


Can be bought here: http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=2159187
And here: http://www.zibbet.com/rosesandhello/artwork?artworkId=138189

Drawing by Lisa Stead, taken from a vintage fashion postcard from The Graphics Fairy. the Graphics Fairy is a brilliant free resource and hopefully I'll soon be creating a post about some of the things you can find on the blog.

This is the final product after a fairly long process of putting it together. I always knew I wanted to do something like this, based on the tiny portraits in renaissance miniatures, but in the manner of film star glamour photographs and I think that effect was achieved.
It's photographed on a background of a vintage shirt that my lovely sister bought for me. The ruffles seemed to suit the Victoriana feel.

I would just like to put a word in for my sister and my two cousins who were endlessly helpful (and amusing) when trying to pick a name for all this and thinking up ideas. You lot are super cool and wonderful!

The next piece will be based on 1920s fashion illustrations from magazines. I found some brilliant pieces which are going to look amazing in the antique brass version of this frame.

Monday 11 October 2010

Jewellery

Finally I am going to post a photograph of my jewellery. I made this piece for my sister hence the initials 'KS' at the base of the bird cage. The artwork was drawn by Lisa Stead (copyright remains with the artist).



It's on a black ribbon instead of a chain because it creates a more striking piece, matches the artwork and adds to the paste-broach Victoriana style. This was my first foray into this kind of customised cameo/miniatures style jewellery.

The next piece I will post contains a beautiful drawing, again by my collaborator - artist Lisa Stead, taken from a vintage fashion postcard. The inspiration for moving in this direction was partly influenced by the tradition of renaissance miniatures - exquisite tiny little portraits in frames. They have many amazing examples in the National Portrait Gallery in London which I visited this weekend. But I wanted to combine this very old tradition with the black and white portraits of iconic film stars from the films I love so much. So! That's how the next piece came about which I will photograph and post soon.

R&H

Friday 8 October 2010

I think she would wait for me if I had to go far away...

As I was browsing the Sartorialist (http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/) - a guilty habit of mine- I stumbled across a beautiful picture of a women outside some sort of fashion event:
This photo is absolutely beautiful, for the shadow, the contrast, the clothes etc, but more for her expression which manages to remain forceful even with the heavy shadow. Also the absolute brilliance of wearing such an elegant piece. A couple of interesting comments on the photo which generally said that she looked like an old fashioned italian film star, one comment said "I think she would wait for me if I had to go far away". Sigh. What a photograph, it seems to inspire each commenter to try to create a story around it.
Turns out this lady is Valentina Ilardi Martin - she even has a romantic name! The editor in chief of Grey Magazine - http://grey-magazine.com/

I looked up the magazine and it has a really strong aesthetic. Perhaps not to everyone's taste but to me it seems at least to have a mind behind it and as I seem to remember reading that Valentina Ilardi Martin was also the artistic director perhaps she is the mind. Her personal style is certainly coveted in many circles. Here is a taste of some of the pictures from the site (copyright obviously remains with the author):









Mostly I love the way the photographers use light in each case carefully and strikingly. I also LOVE the way they juxtapose an image of a person and an object/abstract image - like the material blowing out of the window next to a beautifully clean and angular close up of the woman's face, with the aggressive 80's/mens tailoring framing her picture. The photograph of the window seems to layer emotion on to the photograph of the woman. It reminds me very much of an amateur photographer I used to follow on DeviantArt, whose name I will try to remember and put up some pictures of in the future. The photographer's photographs also had this dream like quality and used juxtaposed images.

Tuesday 5 October 2010

Insane but wonderful

Something ridiculously wonderful I have stumbled across today - http://www.thecarrotbox.com/news/index.asp

It is a website dedicated to plastic and glass rings (because the author is allergic to metal), however she does discuss metal rings on her blog and there are so many beautiful and bizarre things on there I don't even know where to begin! I suddenly want so many things that I didn't even know I wanted, or even that they existed at all!

A Runway ring - http://www.nonethericher.com.au/:
A water splash ring -http://www.luisabruni.com/LuisaBruni/firma.html :





Many of the rings are pretty much unwearable for your average person, partly because of price, but partly because many of them are just insane. Insane but wonderful - I'd like to hang them all over my flat. :)