Tag: About Me

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All About myself and HRJ!

Welcome!  Let me start by telling you a little bit about myself!


I’m Fallon, a thirty-something year old, living in Hertfordshire with my husband and daughter.  I’m an avid crafter, have been all my life, trying my hand at many different activities for fun and making numerous things for my daughter and as gifts.   I also love home baking and drinking copious cups of tea!  I have a degree in photography and shoot freelance baby and children photography (when global pandemics don’t get in the way!)

 

I’ve been using polymer clay since I was a child, initially making teeny tiny food for my dolls house.  My husband bought me a food themed polymer clay book many years ago, and after experimenting with cakes and sweets, decided to start selling the increasing number of makes I produced, mainly to clear some space!!  The rest is history, HRJ was born in May 2011!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I chose to continue the foodie theme as I love all things quirky and retro – I’m an eighties child, so the retro food you find at old school birthday parties is an absolute favourite at mine – plates of iced ring biscuits, fondant fancies, etc – whenever we have a birthday at home, we always have that kind of tea party to celebrate!  I think the theme brings a sense of nostalgia to childhood/good memories from the past (my allsorts sweetie bracelet was one of my very first makes, and is still so popular today, with the young and old!). I’ve now also started to branch out into homeware and decorations…but more on that in my next blog post!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inspiration strikes me at any time – I generally get distracted by anything cute and quirky, especially colourful eye catching things.  I love kawaii styles, and have incorporated it into some of my pieces.  Current trends inspire me, as well as actual foods; being a keen baker, I follow lots of baking accounts on social media, and sometimes try to recreate something edible into clay form!  I also have had many commissions and special requests over the years, and some I have felt would be really popular, so have then made these into pieces for my shop too.

I joined TBCH in early 2020 and love the unique community of makers here, they are all so helpful and friendly, with each and every one making beautiful high quality handcrafted items.

Oh and if you’re wondering…my favourite biscuit to dunk in my cup of tea is….a chocolate bourbon or Lotus Biscoff!

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How to photograph fused glass?

Ever since I started selling online I have struggled with photographing my fused glass pieces to show them at their best. As you can imagine the main issue is light reflection on the glass. I have tried reflecting the lights off white card, black card and silver backed card. Pointing the lights at the backdrop, directly at the glass, and at the reflective card. All have produced mixed results and I seem to try a different set up every time I have a new piece to photograph.

My most recent set up is featured in the picture above and involved using two clamps to attach the light that is hanging down to a handy shelf above my ‘photo studio’ corner. I got a nice new camera for my recent birthday which has lots of handy features which have made a big difference and I shall probably be retaking pictures over the next few weeks.

Wish me luck!

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A little bit about me!

Hi I’m Jo from Jo’s Little People also known as ClayFiguresUK

I live in North Cumbria (very close to the border of Scotland) with my husband, three daughters, dogs, cats and guinea pigs!

I’ve been making my unique little figures for over 20 years and have hundreds in my collection!

All my figures are designed then entirely handmade from polymer clay by me. I don’t use molds. Every figure starts life as a lump of clay, so they are slightly different and unique, the slightest change to facial expression creates a new little character each time.

I love making commissions too, it’s always nice to do something completely different and one of a kind.

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About Me

I have been making jewellery in precious metals since 1996. My small workshop is on the Isle of Wight and it is where I turn my passion for working with precious metals, stones and enamel into items of jewellery. 

My interest in working with metal started at school in the metal workshop particularly working on the forge – blacksmithing – quite different to working on small items of jewellery in silver and gold, but still working with metal!

Although my working life has been in packaging graphics I have always enjoyed making things, from hand engraving on glass to jewellery.

I took a two year part time C&G course in Fine Jewellery at Portsmouth University and gained my C&G Certificate in 1998.

I am proud to say that my makers mark is held at the London Assay Office and where legally required my pieces will be fully hallmarked.

For full information regarding the hallmarking act follow the links below.

Hallmarking – London Assay Office.

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Why Re-Energize You?

Hey, thanks for checking out my blog post! I’m Caroline, creator of Re-Energize You! I thought I would use this post as an opportunity to expand on all things ENERGY:)

What is energy? Why do we need to re-Energize?

Essentially, we are all energy- from our thoughts to the sound of our heartbeat. The vibration or frequency omitted denotes how well we are feeling. Maintaining a higher frequency keeps your mental, physical, emotional and spiritual body on point in order to achieve ‘optimum wellness’.  

So how do we raise our vibration?

Meditation, creativity, exercise, eating healthily, drinking water, being around positive people and keeping a positive mental attitude can all help us stay in the ‘wellness zone’ and keep us ‘high’on life. 

Of course this is easy to say but sometimes hard to do. We fall off the wagon, we stop looking after ourselves or get annoyed and irritated by life which can bring us down till we are so low in energy that we may bring others down with us. At worst we get run down and may be prone to physical illness.

Re-Energizing is about taking responsibility for our own wellbeing. When we reawaken and become aware of who we are in order to recognize our true life’s purpose.

How can Energy Stones help me?

Energy Stones are essentially from nature, chosen, hand painted and attuned by me to flow Reiki- a Japanese healing art meaning Universal (Rei) Life Force Energy (Ki) With the intention of receiving Reiki, holding the stone or consciously placing it in your room, nightstand or mediation space, you are connecting to the intention in that stone from when it was attuned. 

During this connection, you may feel more relaxed, or more focused or energized- whatever you intended to receive from the Reiki. Personally, I like to hold at points throughout the day so I keep a stone in my purse particularly useful when navigating emotionally challenging 2020!

So energy stones act as an anchor: a mindful tool that brings you back to a state of awareness of who you are and why you are here and what is truly important in this present moment.

A powerfully positive pebble for our times that will re-energize you, keep your vibration high and promote your overall wellbeing- oh and they are very pretty too!

Love and positivity,

Caroline xoxo

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Meet the Maker – Beverley from Bevart designs

Meet the maker blog

Beverley Chapelhow – Bevart designs.

I am Beverley, of ‘Bevart designs’ I live in the beautiful Ribble Valley in Lancashire. I will always be that artist that fell into making jewellery making and designing, many people have said that my artwork would make lovely jewellery pieces, this got me thinking and I started to create and work on this possibility. I made a few pieces and put them on display in my studio… to my delight I sold a few, 12 months on I was accepted for a great art and craft show called ‘Art in the Pen’. I took with me my framed artwork and my jewellery, I made more sales than I thought possible. Being encouraged by this I applied to sell on ‘The British Craft House’ and was thrilled to be accepted.

I have always taught art classes to adults sometimes with a crossover into craft making like flower arranging, printmaking, card making etc.

I am inspired to create any art work including my jewellery by nature, the Japanese way of Wabisabi, travel, and other artists, I love the work of Greyson Perry, Yayoi Kusama, there are lots more!

my art studio

I graduated from university in 2008 with a degree in fine art, with a friend and colleague we wanted to still try and work together in a studio environment, we wanted to find a place where we could provide affordable studio space for other artists. I am currently the proud owner of ‘Atelier Arts’ an art studio collective with gallery and teaching space in Clitheroe from here I sell my paintings, I teach art classes to adults including general art and life drawing , I also teach art in Spain with partners ‘Caves of Dreams’  we provide a full all-inclusive art holiday experience in Baza, the region of Andalucia.  

Teaching in Spain

What is the dream? The dream was always to own an art studio, the other is to be selling my work more regularly, whether that’s jewellery or my paintings to build a following and to become successful.

I am currently working from home and we have a workshop in the garage, so I can keep on creating and making.

My proudest moment business wise is owning my current business and that being a success. Forever proud of our two daughters growing into confident, successful, independent women.

My creative future looks like this, over the past year I have been experimenting with ice dyeing and eco printing on fabric. I love textiles and pattern, this is something I want to add to my shop in the future in the form of scarves as I believe this would enhance my jewellery range. I am also planning some Yoga and Art retreats, I want to provide creative relaxing workshops based around self care, using our mental and physical self in a creative way using clay and paint.

To relax and have fun I love to tap dance, I regularly take part in yoga, pilates and meditation. I also love photography and to travel sketch and paint.

I also enjoy a good night out with friends in the city of Manchester drinking cocktails!

I also adore cake, what is my favourite cake ….any cake!!! But very partial to a lemon drizzle

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Summer is coming ….maybe

Unprecedented times, furlough, words about 8 weeks ago we had never considered to be part of our everyday life, supermarket queues, the world taking up baking leading to an unnormally high demand for flour of all varieties.

It has amazed me the number of people who have decided to take up gardening, me included! I currently have various ? salad leaves, radish, basil, peppers, mustard, plus some forget-me-nots and pansies popping up … it is also great for home schooling (I am not good at being a teacher, I get too ratty far too quickly, but I think that is because my little darlings know how to annoy me in the hopes I give up and they can drift back to the various game machines they have) but at least one them has been very involved in preparing, planting, and watering so I will take that as a small win 🙂

Grey Metal Planted Planter
Grey Metal Planted Planter
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The Journey Continues!

Hello again! I have been meaning to do my third blog for a while, but it never seemed like the right time but now, it does.

If you have been following my little business, you may have noticed some changes to the kind of gifts I have been making? My gifts have changed as I feel like I have been on a bit of a journey with both my skills and my creativity. When I first started LouLou & Reg, I knew that I wanted to be able to create and sell gifts that I would buy, that had sentiment and that would bring a smile when gifted. I have always been an admirer of East of India and Sass & Belle and their products; I think it is both the simplicity of their beautiful items and the sentiments that were included with each one that I love. I am and always have been a big fan of dioramas and initially wanted to make these but had no idea where to start as I had no idea how to saw a piece of wood!

At the beginning, I decided I wanted to learn how to make wooden signs which I did after trying lots of techniques, I really do enjoy making them. Then as I started to size, shape, sand and paint the wood myself, my hunger for a little more knowledge and skill grew, so we bought a pillar drill – which I really need to use more; then came the belt sander and finally my husband bought me a scroll saw, that I love!  

Since I have started to use my scroll saw my creativity has grown and I am being taken down a different path now, one that I think I have always wanted to get to but didn’t quite know how to get to. I have started to use wire to make shapes and I also use balsa wood shapes to create different elements for each of my items.  I am hoping to start experimenting with other elements and using other techniques so that I can create and continue to make the kind of product that I would enjoy seeing in my kind of shop and a product that I would want to buy. 

I am so excited to see where this journey takes me, and I really hope that you can continue this journey with me, on a rather exciting path that I seem to be travelling.

(The picture is the first item I created using my scroll saw and I’m rather proud of it as it was a freehand sketch (and I can’t draw) and my first cut……..the product that made me find a different path)

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2 year old smile ….

Today, Easter Monday I received a message via the other side beginning with E and ending in Y … from a lovely customer who, 2 years ago ordered some bespoke planters, they took some time to make, I never heard back so wasn’t sure she was happy or not, however I wasn’t fazed as in my experience most people forget to leave good feedback, rarely do they forget to leave feedback for a negative experience, many tell the world so I assumed all was good. 

Fast forward 2 years, to a chilled Easter Monday, and this lovely lady, Sarah, messaged me simply to say, she tried to leave feedback but couldn’t see how to do it, the remainder of her message is below (I did ask permission to post) 

“They look really fantastic, we look like we have a wildly expensive landscaped garden at a fraction of the cost!” “2 years in and these still look new. Thank you so much we are really pleased” 

So there you have it, Sarah G 2 years on and still her planters look like new. 

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The sculpting & making of Harriet Hare

The little video above shows the various stages which my Harriet Hare Sculpture went through during the year it took to sculpt her. Obviously I was producing other work during that time as well because I needed money coming in before she went into production, but she took around 200 hours to sculpt… 

If Harriet has been a ‘one-off’ then all that sculpting time, backed up by my 30 years sculpting experience, would have had to have been reflected in the price of the ‘one’ Harriet, so instead…a mould was taken from her and I now make her in different metallic finishes. This way all that initial designing and sculpting time, as well as the production costs, are spread over the limited edition number making her more affordable for more people. 

Customers sometimes don’t realise the time, skill and cost which goes into producing handmade pieces like Harriet. I was recently asked if I’d sculpt and then produce in cold-cast iron a gentleman’s two pet dogs… I explained the process of producing these ‘one-offs’ and their likely cost. As is often the case, he unfortunately changed his mind when he realised they couldn’t be made cheaply! 

The purpose of this post then is to show you the many stages of a sculpture’s development from the initial 3D sketch (or maquette) which I make in wax through to the finished original with ALL its detail, and this is before it then goes off into production!  It is also to point out that art doesn’t just materialise. It takes skill, knowledge, practise, expertise, patience, attention to detail and … the love of it. ❤️