Spring is in the air

Spring finally feels like it's here. The snow's stopped and it feels like it's finally beginning to warm up a bit. Yesterday, whilst I was out walking, the air was cool and crisp, but with the sun shining on me, it was quite warming. It was nice and refreshing. There are plenty of birds visiting my garden and soon the flowers will be coming out and blossom growing on the trees. I get a lot of my inspiration at this time of year from the plants and flowers (see photos).

Inspiration for Dandelion Pendant

Inspiration for Daisy Collection

As well as my Daisy Collection and Dandelion Pendant, I have made items inspired by blossom, leaves and trees. Below are examples of some of these items. I'm hoping to make some more nature inspired designs this spring too. In the pipeline are some daffodil earrings. Keep your eye out for more items!

Tree Pendant

Wire Leaf Pendant

Blossom Pendant

Another sign of spring being on the way is the approaching celebration of Mother's Day. This year it's on Sunday 10th March. It's a good day to celebrate our mothers and/or the women in our lives that have helped us and looked after us. Do you have any plans for Mother's Day? If you're looking for present inspiration, feel free to visit my Folksy shop for ideas.

Valentine's Day and Love Spoons

Yes, it's that time of year again when people start preparing for Valentine's Day. I'm sure you've already noticed the shift in the shops from Christmas cards and gifts to Valentine's Day cards and gifts being on sale. Do you like Valentine's Day or do you find it irritating? Are you planning on doing anything for it? Well to get you in the mood (and hopefully not annoy you if you don't like it) I thought I'd share my Reloved Spoon Collection.

 

 

 

My Reloved Spoon Collection is a collection of pendants inspired by Welsh love spoons. Welsh love spoons are a symbol of love, traditionally carved from wood. "The lovespoon was given to a young woman by her suitor. It was important for the girl's father to see that the young man was capable of providing for the family and woodworking."* There are a variety of things that were carved into the spoon, which symbolised specific meanings. Here are a few examples:




Bell - Weddings, anniversary or together in harmony
Chain - A wish to be together forever or a number of children
Heart - Love
Horseshoe - Good Luck
Lock - Security
Twisted Stem - Two lives become one, or togetherness

 

I wanted to take to make my love spoons designs a bit different, so I decided to incorporate the idea of recycling and upcycling. All of my love spoons are made from unwanted spoons, most of which I have bought from charity shop. As well as combining the design ideas, I decided to combine them for the name too, hence the name of the collection; Reloved Spoon Collection. I thought the name fitted quite well because they are spoons that are now wanted instead of unwanted, recycled and reused for something new. They are re-loved.

For those of you who already know about my collection you will see there is a new addition (the second picture in the blog). I'm hoping to get another new one out before Valentines Day, so keep your eye out.

Why not visit the Reloved section in my shop for more details of those on sale:
http://folksy.com/shops/SilverChestnut?shop_section=reloved_spoons

Research Links:
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovespoon
http://www.welsh-lovespoons.co.uk/meanings.html

4 sales in just over a week!

It's been such a good week since I got back from holiday that I just had to tell people. Within the first day of re-opening my shop on Folksy, I had a sale. I wonder if they had been waiting for me to re-open to buy it.

My first sale - Frosted Leaf

Two days later I had another sale on Folksy. It was one of my items that I have set as 'made to order', so I made it and sent it off.

My second sale - Daisy Studs

Then a friend of a friend wanted some jewellery as an anniversary present. They looked at my jewellery and wanted something making that was similar to some of the items with a few changes. I designed and made them a set of matching earrings and necklace. (If you'd like a design making for you feel free to contact me on jenny@silverchestnut.co.uk)

My third sale - Semi Textured Set

My final sale, and hopefully not the last, of the week was today on Folksy Some of my earrings this time. All these sales are really good. I hope it's a sign of more sales to come, although it does mean that I have to make a few more bits of jewellery to restock before the Christmas craft fairs.

My final sale - Dangly Textured Earrings

Welcome to Silver Chestnut's blog!

Wire Leaf Pendant

Welcome to Silver Chestnut's blog.

I'm new to all this blog stuff so I'm still working out what to write and how often, etc. I thought I would start by introducing myself and explaining a bit about what I do.

Blossom Necklace

I'm a designer-maker from West Yorkshire. I design and make jewellery, mainly using silver. I like creating different surfaces and setting stones. I get a lot of inspiration from nature. I have a range of daisy items and blossom items. I also get inspiration from Celtic designs. I've included a few examples of my work in this blog for you.

Twisted Ring

I sell my jewellery on-line, at craft fairs and in a shop (with the possibility of more!). The website I sell my items through is Folksy, a website that showcases UK designers and makers. Feel free to browse my shop: http://folksy.com/shops/SilverChestnut