Toucan Brooch (b.25 April 2010) and other jewellery

Toucan Brooch

6 October 2010
I have so many draft posts waiting to be written (72 at the last count) about what I've been making over the past six months, that I've decided to have a different approach. I'm now going to dip in and out of these draft posts and pick ones at random, rather than go in strict chronological order.

So I'd like to introduce you to a Toucan Brooch I made up back in April this year. I was at the Keighley Sheep Fair (very cute lambs were in evidence that day) and about 10 minutes before the end of the market, a lady come up to me and asked with a note of desperation in her voice whether I had any toucans for sale. At that time, I didn't, and in fact, I still don't have any toucans, but I said I could make up a brooch for her and drop it off to her when I was next in Skipton.

Santa Piglings and Robin Tree Decorations (b.28 November 2009)

After the success of Santa Cat Tree Decorations, I decided to make the rest of the range - so here are Santa Pigling and Robin Tree Decorations!

Tiny Owls, Tiny Rainbow Cats & Tiny Piglings (b.7 October 2009)

I seem to have set myself a challenge to make things as small as possible! After making a few more Roly Poly Cat Keyrings, I thought I would try making mobile phone charms as well. They are great fun to make, albeit a bit fiddly.

These range in size from 1cm (Tiny Owls) to 1.5cm (Tiny Rainbow Cats), and the Tiny Piglings are somewhere in between. The hardest thing was keeping the shape as round as possible for the Piglings and the Cats, and I managed this by placing the eyes first (which distorted the ball of clay), and then rolling it back into a sphere. And making the rest of the wee creatures was fine - everything was just on a much smaller scale!

These will be making their debut at the Ilkley Arts Market on Sunday 10 October.

Owls and Wee Owls (b.6 October 2009)

Finally got the Owls sussed! After making the Pumpkin Cats, I was on a roll, so I decided to have another crack at getting the Owls right.

My first Owl is the one in the right picture, shepherding the Wee Owls. Using more natural owl colours works best, I think, although I will try out some rainbow colours as well, just to see whether they work.I then tried out slightly contrasting colours (see left picture), and I think this works better.

I've changed the basic shape from the prototype Owls (see Owls (b.28 September 2009)), removing the 'ears', and I have instead incorporate 'eyebrows' (do owls have eyebrows? They certainly have quite a scowl!) I put a disc of darker clay into the eye sockets before imprinting them with a pen lid and inserting black onyx beads. I have kept the wing shape with marked feathers, as well as the breast features.

I love the Wee Owls! They are quite diminuitive - only 2cm wide by 1.5cm high (the Owls are 2.5cm wide and 3cm high). To make them distinctive from the Owls, I have not included the 'eyebrow', but the beaks, wings and markings are the same.

The Owls and Wee Owls will be featured this weekend's craft fairs in Ilkley and Pudsey, and are also on sale at Folksy.com.

Owls (b.28 September 2009)

So here was an interesting experiment. I've been thinking about owls for quite a while now, and so I ended up devoting the best part of a day seeing what worked, and more frequently, what didn't. I see these very much as a work in progress. I love the simple shape, and using a pen lid works well to define the eyes. This is a departure from my usual style, although I've kept the beads for eyes, and there's something about the simplicity of the shape which really appeals.

I used a cutter to make the breast markings, and you'll also see these markings on the contrasting wings. I had originally intended to have the beaks sticking out more perpendicularly, but at the last minute, I decided to smoothe them down. I'll play around with that some more later. The large owl is 2.5cm tall and 3cm wide. The smaller owls are 2cm x 2cm.

I had a go at some blue owls too (the rainbow theme is pretty strong with me - it you're going for stylised, why not go the whole hog?!) I mixed some pale blue clay, and used the dark blue clay to create the wings and beak to have a contrasting colour. And as I had a scrap of the dark blue clay left, I made a Wee Owl just to see how he would turn out. And do you know, I think he's my favourite one! He measures 1.5cm x 1.5cm, and instead of adding wings, I used a cutter to create feather-type markings. Again, it's the simplicity of the shape that appeals, but I don't think these wee fellow will be gracing the craft fairs any time soon! Would be interested to hear what people think of this new experiment.