Chelsea Flower Show started yesterday ~ it looked glorious and reminded me (yet again) that I must try and get there next year, especially as I'm in London.  As I looked out at my own small garden, there is nowhere as near the flowers in bloom, although one of my roses has now opened and looks lovely.

The rose was planted in memory of my late grandmother who was an avid gardener and my childhood memories of her always included a large rambling rose along the left and top of her wall ~ the rose was a Paul's Scarlet.  After she died, I came across one of these roses and planted it in my own garden, on the left hand wall.  Nothing happened for two years then it had its first flower opened on her birthday in early June...spooky stuff!

I belong to an online group of fellow jewellery designers ~ The End of the Rainbow.  A challenge was set for this month to design something that reminded us of May.  My design was based on my grandmother's roses ~ a sterling silver pendant with a cluster of gemstones in rhodolite garnet, pink and green tourmalines, prehnite and rubies.  I love the texture of the pendant, which I achieved using a dried leaf and a rolling mill. 

While I was designing this, I also made another sterling silver pendant, again with the leaf texture and bezel-set a cabochon of unakite off-centre.



        

I'm now registered with the London Assay Office for hallmarking my silver work that is required by law and I have received my "maker's mark" and metal punch:  


Under the UK Hallmarking Act 1973, it is illegal for an item to be sold as a precious metal without a hallmark, unless it is below a minimum weight (7.78g for silver).  Items over the minimum weight must be submitted for hallmarking and will be stamped with at least 3 marks ~ the maker's mark, the Assay Office stamp and the stamp that shows the purity of the metal.  Without the UK hallmark, sterling silver items over 7.78g cannot be described and sold as sterling silver, only as white metal.

Until now, everything that I have sold in sterling or fine silver has been below the minimum weight and I have kept those items above that weight for personal use or given as gifts.  But now, the world is my lobster...

I've been enjoying tinkering around with silver for the last couple of days, having fun with texturing and soldering.  I've been doing silver work for about 4 years, on and off, but for the last few months I've got back into the swing of it again.  I'd made a few pieces for christmas gifts and to sell on my stall at Greenwich Markets ~ these were well received and sold, so I've slowly added pieces to my collection on sale.

The latest work involves adding texture to sterling silver sheet by rolling the silver with textured items through a rolling mill. I've used dried leaves, nylon netting and wrapped wire to create chaotic patterns, added bezel-set stones, pebbles of silver or just left it alone to sparkle on its own. 

I've had my new gift boxes delivered today and how excited am I?  Well, a bit like a kid in a candy shop, all high on additives and zipping around.  Of course, the boxes are purple, with my name embossed in silver on the front:

What an exciting and inspiring afternoon!

I volunteered to work at the London Marathon, to carry out post-marathon massages to the runners for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.  I've never done this before, but friends who had volunteered in previous years have also reported very positive things about the occasion.  The post-marathon reception was held in a bar close to Charing Cross station ~ here the runners, along with their friends and family, could get a bite to eat and a drink and each runner had the opportunity to receive a leg massage.  There were 10 massage therapists, 3 couches and around 70 runners massaged during the afternoon.

It was a vibrant and buoyant atmosphere, the runners were exhausted and aching but rightly proud and happy with their achievement.  It was fabulous to meet everyone and hear their stories, work with fellow therapists in pairs and even though my arms and wrists are aching nicely this evening (and will be even more so in the morning) I am so pleased that I did it.

Off to bed for a good sleep now....

www.therapytreats.co.uk

It's been a busy week so far...I'd sold a number of designs at Greenwich Market over the weekend so I needed to fill in the gaps for my stock, and of course it was the end of the current tax year so getting some paperwork tidied up has been a priority.

I belong to an online group of fellow jewellers and lampwork artists called The End of the Rainbow, who set challenges and themes for designs.  One of this month's themes is Lapis Lazuli, so I got my thinking cap on and designed a lush pair of earrings with 14ct gold-filled metal, woven with lapis lazuli, freshwater pearls, swarovski crystals and turquoise, hung on hand-formed earwires.

I was continuing my spring clean in the office/workshop today and came across my photos from India.  There are 2 photos among the batch that just summed up the whole Kerala trip...

An everyday occurrence...if you are in Kerala:

We were just tootling down the road in Fort Cochin when we came across a traffic jam ~ the local Temple elephant at work.  You can even see a white Ambassador car in the scene, also known as a "Keralan bus".  Magical...

Mmm, this blogging malarky is all new to me but I've been persuaded it will be fun ~ I've a feeling it's going to take time for me to feel completely comfortable with "sharing".

Since my return from holiday to India, I've been in a creative wilderness, struggling to find inspiration for new ideas, or even for old ones.  Over the weekend, I thought it was time to do some spring cleaning in the workshop and I came across a stash of gorgeous handmade lampwork beads sitting in a box.  I'd had them for a while and they were poor little orphans, the remains of sets that I'd used in designs.  Well, it was time to clear them out and flog the orphans, or make something with them.  Well guess what I did on mother's day then?