Tag: blog

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Spring/Summer Jewellery

Spring is definitely in the air, birds are singing madly the flowers are coming into bloom, and the Sun is getting warmer, I can’t wait for life to start returning to normal, so I thought I would share with you some of my Spring Necklaces, ready to wear with those Spring outfits or giving them as a gift.  Come and have a browse in my shop, their are many more to choose from to welcome the Spring/Summer months in.  I’m always bursting with ideas to capture colour combinations.


Kumihimo Coral Beaded Necklace

Kumihimo Coral Beaded Necklace

Kumihimo Flower Beaded Necklace

Kumihimo Flower Beaded Necklace

Kumihimo Pink Beaded Necklace

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More Squashed Glass!

I’ve had another go at the squashed glass technique and this time I used opalescent glass which reflects light as opposed to transparent glass that transmits light.

I love the effect that has been produced where the various coloured pieces have met and merged. There has been some reaction where some different coloured pieces have overlapped and merged caused by the chemical make up of the glass colours I have used in this piece. Various colours have Lead, Copper or Sulphur in them and when they meet you can get some special effects ranging from subtle to dramatic. 

This piece has some subtle reactions where the sulphur bearing red has overlapped the copper bearing greens and blues.

In addition a particular colour called Steel Blue has a tendency to dramatically change to a matt steel colour on the surface exposed to the air in the heat of the kiln. This hasn’t happened to a great degree because it was covered by the kiln shelf except for some subtle areas on the edges of the Steel Blue bits in the piece.

I shall square off the edges and slump this in a gently curved mould to make a lovely platter to be listed in my shop.

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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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Take up a challenge and a little dollop of cement….

Blimey, no blogs for months then two together a bit like buses lol! You may (or may not) recall this time last year I joined a ‘set a cabachon a month’ challenge and surprisingly I managed to finish the challenge (I must write a blog post about that lol!) well this year I have joined the same challange again but instead of using bought cabachons I am going to try and make all 12 of the cabachons myself!

Okay so here we go with the first cabachon. I made this one from cement (yes really! it’s cement for jewellery making, I didn’t raid Mr P’s garage).  So I set the cement in a puffed heart mould then marked up with tape to create some lines for glue.  Then added a line of 24ct gold leaf and one in silver leaf. Over the top of this I added a thick coat of resin to seal the concrete and protect the gold and silver leaf. I wanted to add some texture so ‘fluffed up’ a bit of gold and silver leaf at the top and bottom and embedded it in the resin and then across the middle added some dots of silver.

The bezel is made from sterling silver and designed to fit the cement heart perfectly. I actually made two, this one and an oval one but decided to keep the oval one for myself, well, we all deserve a little treat now and then don’t we ;).

I hope you enjoyed learning about how I made my cement cabachon and pop back again next month to see what I come up with next. Stay safe everyone xx

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The Heart Challenge – Mold Making with a Potatoe

Happy New Year, probably a bit late for that but here’s hoping 2021 is brighter, safer and happier for us all. Todays blog is all about how I got from a potatoe to a sparkly resin heart….

Dottie who owns The British Craft House, set us makers a challenge to create something different as long as it had a heart included. I’m always up for a challenge and I just got a new formbox. What’s a formbox you might ask, well, it’s basically a tool that helps you to create your own molds, so what better way to test it than a challenge!. I wanted my heart to be faceted so that when I cast it in resin you would be able to look at it from different angles and see the patterns. After a bit of research on how to create a template for the mold I settled on a humble spud.  I first cut it into a deep heart shape then cut facets and then into the formbox and 2 minutes later voila! my potatoe heart mold was created.

I used a resin that’s non toxic and uses 50% bio materials, some ink to colour and a few crushed gemstones and silver leaf for some sparkle.  Once poured into the mold I had to leave it for 2 days, it normally takes 24 hours but it was too flippin cold for it to set any quicker lol! so finally a day later than expected I got to turn out my heart and aside from a bit of cleaning up I think it turned out rather well considering it started out with a potatoe shape.  I also made some cement cabachons which will become jewellery soon, so I may do another blog for those.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed reading about my challenge.

Take care and stay safe

Max

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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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12 days of Christmas ….

A lovely message popped in via WhatsApp, from a lady called Clare from Wales providing me with her name and address telling me she had won the Advent Competition, so I immediately gave her the option of planter in the competition or if she would prefer an alternative to perhaps match a colour scheme. Do I have a blue one?, she asked, instead of feeling happy this single comment made me sad, as it confirmed what I was seeing, that not one person had visited my shop, as per the stats on the dashboard, not even the winner of the competition. 

Anyway, today, I made a planter  just for her in Ocean Blue. I really do hope she likes it, I checked tomorrow was ok for delivery, but haven’t heard back, anyway I am sure the courier can rearrange delivery if its not convenient. 

On a more positive note, the herbs on my kitchen window sill are positively blooming. There is nothing like picking fresh herbs, the Mint is thriving, the parsley lovely and full, sadly the Basil is dying off slowly but gives off such an amazing aroma in the kitchen I am so pleased I picked it up. 

I am still in love with my fence display of planters, the twinkling lights bounce the light off the plain metal ones, and the colours one just look so pretty with the lights, am pleased my brackets have worked as well. 

White Metal Herb Planter
White Metal Herb Planter
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Do you still send Christmas cards?!

As thoughts turn towards the festive season and I start adding Christmas items to my British Craft House shop, I had a question for you – do you still send Christmas cards?!

As a card maker, I don’t really have an excuse not to! And if you have read any of my previous blogs you’ll know I’m a big fan of sending cards just because!  But over recent years I’ve had more and more conversations with people who have moved away from sending Christmas cards, whether it’s because it’s too time consuming at an already extra busy time of year, they prefer the ease and efficiency of sending an email to stay in touch or because they are trying to be more green.

Crofts Crafts stocking Christmas card

So, if you’re sitting on the fence this year debating whether to make the effort, let me tell you why I think you should consider keeping the Christmas card tradition alive!  Christmas cards are a great way to stay connected, and this year that’s probably going to be needed even more than ever.  And it’s not just about reaching out to close friends and family – we all have friends and acquaintances who we wished we had more time to stay in touch with, and Christmas serves as the perfect opportunity to touch base with people and let them know you are thinking of them and what you have been up to over the last year.  Admit it, who doesn’t look forward to that one family Christmas card every year that comes with a full on annual letter for you to have a good old nose at what certain friends have been up to?!

Everyone knows how busy the festive season can (usually!) be.  In ‘normal’ times, it’s pretty impossible to attend every holiday party, dinner and festive drinks as you find your social calendar inundated with ‘pre-Christmas catch ups’ so for those you can’t fit in, sending a card is a great way to send best wishes for the holiday season without running yourself into the ground! In fact, the first Christmas card commissioned in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole came about because of this (you can read more about this here) and featured three generations of the Cole family raising a toast with the central
messages of the festive season being celebration and charity.

Crofts Crafts pack of Christmas cardsStudies have proven that receiving a card can spark an emotional connection and generate positive feelings, increase self-esteem and help to stave off feelings of loneliness and isolation.  As the year draws to a close and it seems unlikely that we will get to celebrate Christmas as usual this year, it seems an even more important time than ever to think about sending a card.  And lucky for you, you are spoilt for choice with a massive range of cards available for all tastes!  If you are looking for something handmade I have a selection of mini Christmas cards available, or take a browse through the wide selection from my fellow card makers on The British Craft House here.  Charity cards are a great option if you want to use the opportunity to donate to your favourite charity at the same time as sending some happy mail or if you want to send cards whilst keeping the planet in mind, check out somewhere like the Thoughtful Human and their range of plantable cards!  There are also some great ideas on how to recycle and up cycle your own Christmas cards once the holiday festivities are over here.

So there you go, hopefully some incentives to have you reaching for the pen and stamps this festive season – let me know below if you still send Christmas cards and I’ll leave you with this fun Christmas card fact: do you know why robins appear so frequently on Christmas cards?  Because during the mid-1800’s, Royal Mail post men were nick named “robin redbreasts” because of the red waistcoats they wore as part of their uniforms, so robins began appearing on cards as symbols of the men who delivered them!

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Thinking of You Week

Established in 2014, every year the Greeting Card Association runs Thinking of You Week, usually around mid September.  Its aim is to “harness the emotional power of cards” and to “create a wave of love, caring and happiness around the world” which is something I think all of us can get on board with!  It encourages people to send cards to different people throughout the week, for no other reason than to let someone know you are thinking about them.

If you follow me on social media or have checked out my online shop, you’ll know this is something I am a big believer in and try to encourage people to stay connected through sending some good old fashioned snail mail – I even have a range of cards perfect for sending just because!

As I mentioned in my last blog post, there are many great reasons to still send greeting cards – it’s the perfect way to let someone know you care, is an easy way to make someone smile and according to the GCA, “science has shown that receiving a handwritten card creates a lovely warm positive boost!”  So there are plenty of reasons to get involved and it’s the perfect excuse to keep in touch with loved ones.

There are usually various events taking place throughout the week in schools and local shops, and many of the big card retailers also get on board to show their support – find out more ways you can get involved here, including using the Thinking of You Week toolkit to help spread the word.

But the easiest way by far to get involved is to just send a card!  And to help you do that I have plenty of just because cards available in my British Craft House shop,so go on, why not #sendacarddeliverasmile?!