Where is my inspiration?

Last week I went on a lovely holiday with my family to the beautiful coast of Dorset. It was perfect and we were so lucky with the weather. I made a decision before I went not to take any of my jewellery making things, not even my sketch book. I decided that I would take a complete break from the norm... and I have to say it was exactly that. Half way through the week I realised I had not really thought about my jewellery at all and I felt totally relaxed. Before I went I had delisted all my items on eBay and Folksy and put my Etsy shop on 'vacation' mode. This meant I didn't need to worry about anything and I could concentrate on enjoying myself with my family.

That was last week. Now, nearly half way through this week, I have been sitting looking at my lovely beads and gemstones but I just can't find the inspiration to create anything. I also have a couple of future tutorials milling around in my head but I can't find the effort to sit down and write them. This is so unlike me.

Hopefully 'normal service will be resumed as soon as possible'..... until then I shall just have to enjoy the beautiful sunshine.

Hammered Circles

My 'Hammered Circles' range of earrings, pendants and bracelets have proved to be some of my best selling jewellery pieces and the design offers itself to so many different gemstones (a different colour for every different outfit!). Recently I made this set in amethyst (one of my all time favourite gemstones as I adore purple).

Then last night I made this bracelet and earrings set using the most beautiful kyanite beads I have seen for a long time. They are a blue/green colour with amazing lustre and colour changing inclusions.

I took the above pictures outside to maximise the colours shown in the beads and discovered a great texture background in my garden bench. I tried lots of areas in my garden to explore different types of natural background. It was pretty cold outside and I wonder what my neighbours must have thought seeing me lying on the damp grass - oh, what you have to do for a decent picture!

Finding the right angle

A while ago I wrote a post about how difficult it was to photograph bracelets and this morning I have had the same struggle with my latest necklace. It is made from beautiful fluorite nugget beads with a handmade spiral clasp. I wanted to make sure I was showing off the amazing range of colours found in the fluorite beads.

To take these photographs took ages to find the right angle and I've still got a lot of other jewellery to photograph (as well as a load of housework!). Oh well, tomorrow is another day!