Of Clouds and Silver Linings

Hello folks, thanks for joining me this week - it's been a funny old week, with the weather echoing my mood. A bitter Siberian wind has been blowing across the UK precluding all but the hardiest individual from going out into the garden. 

IK Events, who were meant to be running the craft show last week ceased trading, leaving all of us in the lurch with a promise to return our money, requesting us to be patient - strangely, the director of the events management company, Isobel Newport, opened another company 'Solstice Commercial Limited' on the 1st of July, just the day before IK Events ceased trading. I understand that the new venture is a HR company from the spanking brand new website - I wish her the best of luck with the new venture.

I'm told that every cloud has a silver lining and while waiting for it to announce itself I plodded on with the day job and the usual hurly burly of day to day life.

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Dragonfly Dreams

I made a similar necklace last year, and loved it so much that I made this one with the beads that were left over. Since the last one has gone to a good home and I made this from memory, they are  similar but different. I usually find repetition to be very boring and unstimulating and I try never to do it. However, sometimes I love a design so much that a similar piece pops out of my consciousness before I can say 'Kalamazoo'.

While on a train to a neighbouring town, going to a meeting to do with the day job, I exchanged desultory emails with a lady in Mumbai. As a result of this conversation, which was conducted while I travelled across two counties, with a change of trains in between, I have a request to make earrings and necklaces in silver and bronze for her company. I am itching to get started and have dusted off my savvy with regards to my kiln, and researched ideas and methodology for this new and unexpected collaboration. This came as the result of a throwaway conversation stemming from me telling her how much I liked her new range of clothing. I shall tell you more, once it comes into being.

Design and Engineering

I took part in Nicole Hanna's July 2015 'Finish It!' tutorial contest. As usual she gave us the beginnings of a tutorial and we were asked to make a piece with the items in the 'recipe' using the list she gave us. This time, Nicole was even more Machiavellian than usual - she stopped the tutorial almost as soon as she got to a couple of three pages. 
As far as I am concerned, everyone's a winner, because she gives the tutorial gratis to all the participants. I made a pendant using all the ingredients, but got so carried away with the making of it, I forgot to allow for a place from which I could hang a bail. This is of course, completely against the principles of design, as the piece now has no function other than as a component for another, larger one.

Here it is, the useless article! It is pretty, though, so I will put it into something, sometime. Just now it is an irritating reminder of ineptitude!
There is, of course no place to hang it from and the little circle above the arch remains unfilled, because I had used up all the wire specified in the tutorial.

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Obviously, I wasn't about to give up, so after a couple of days, I tried again. This is the one I submitted from attempt No. 2, using all the ingredients in the recipe.

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Once I sent her my entry, Nicole sent me her tutorial and I can see that with my first attempt I was sort of going in the direction she had envisaged, until I failed to think about the engineering of the piece. However, I like the second one I made too - it has a lot of swirly movement - what do you think?? I would have shown the picture of Nicole's finished piece here, but the contest ends tonight at midnight, Nicole time, and it wouldn't be fair on the other contestants. 
If you want to enter into the spirit of it, follow the link to Nicole's blog - a Pinterest board has been set up and will be available to view and vote from midnight on the 31st July until the 7th of August - you can even vote for my piece if you like! 
I am satisfied with my tutorial as the prize; even though I may never actually make it, I like to know how things are done. I have quite a few tutorials that I am yet too inexperienced to use only because I feel the need to work out the mechanics of 'how did she do that?'. Curiosity killed the cat - or depleted its bank balance, as they say! (What bank balance??)

That's it for this week, folks. I have already started on my order - which shall be kept under wraps until it comes to pass. Have a lovely weekend, and I will catch you next Friday, same time, same place
xx