Edinburgh jeweller

Apparently summer is here. Apparently. When summer comes we optimistically think we might be able to spend an extended period of time outside. Some years we’re right. Sometimes, well, summer is a bit more intermittent! Are you going to any festivals this summer? When I think of festivals I usually think of music festivals like Glastonbury or the Isle of Wight (I know it’s called Bestival now but I can’t quite get used to that!). However, there are now many more local festivals, literary festivals, arts festivals etc - as well as the more traditional open air music events; meaning whatever your age and interests there is probably a festival out there for you. As long as there’s glamping. And real bathrooms. Or at least a camper van. (How do you find your tent again in a sea of identical tents from Millets in the dark? Especially if you’ve enjoyed a glass of Pimms or two?). According to Glamour magazine , the festival fashion essentials for the UK are a warm jacket, slouchy ju...

I've been working on a new range of silver jewellery and it's nearly ready to launch (is anything ever really ready?!).  It comprises of three collections The be collection The bee range is a delightful play on words and is  perfect for those who like their jewellery to make them smile . A cute bee sits on a honeycomb textured front and on the reverse is your chosen word.  For example be loved, be free, be happy etc The totem collection I love that jewellery is personal and has a meaning to the person that wears it. With this in mind I have developed the totem collection. A totem is a symbol that you choose of your personal or spiritual identity. I currently have the following totems Bee - symbolic of achieving the impossible Hummingbird - symbolic of energy Owl - symbolic of wisdom and learning Butterfly - symbolic of transformation and change Shell - symbolic of affinity with the sea Flower - symbolic of growth and blossoming The pieces ca...

Last week I attended a two day wire wrapping class with Lisa Barth. She is an American metal clay and jewellery artist. I have attended a class with her before and really love her wire work style. The masterclass was hosted by Tracey Spurgin of Craftworx in her excellent teaching studio. On the first day we learnt how to do the wire wrap stitch and we made earrings. The trick with this is to make two the same! Not easy. Wire wrapped earrings On the second day we used the skills we'd learnt to make a wire wrapped pendant. I chose to use a boulder opal that my friend Kate had brought from her stone stash. You can't really see in the photo but it has some lovely neon flecks of blue. I also decided to stretch myself and add seed beads to the wire wrap. Wire wrapped boulder opal pendant It was difficult to get the wire to fit just right around the stone but Lisa was on hand to help and tell me what small adjustments were needed. I'm really pleased with the fin...

Dolly mixtures necklace I have been working on some new mouthwatering jewellery pieces that I have recently added to my etsy shop . Here are some photos Dolly mixtures necklace £26 Dolly mixtures bracelet Dolly mixtures bracelet £10 I love wearing this as it has such uplifting colours Dolly mixtures earrings Dolly mixtures earrings £4.50 Available in purple, mint green, brown, yellow and orange/yellow Licorice allsort necklace Licorice allsort necklace £26   I have been selling the multi-coloured licorice allsort necklaces for a while now. I was commissioned to make a necklace of all one colour and now offer this on etsy. You can choose between orange, pink, brown and yellow. Flumps marshmallow stretch bracelet Spring time charm bracelet   Flumps marshmallow stretch bracelet £10 Spring time charm bracelet £10 Foam banana sweetie earrings Foam banana sweetie earrings £4 ...

On Saturday I did my first We Make London  handmade market stall at  Spitalfields market , London. I have previously only been selling online via Etsy or to people I know but I thought it was a good chance to see how well I could do at a market this close to christmas. I decided to display my  sweetie shop jewellery  rather than make a lot of silver jewellery as I'd visited the market a few weeks earlier and found that cheaper items were more likely to sell. It was a cold day but Spitalfields is under cover so there's no worry about getting rained on! It was quite a busy day and We Make London ensure there is a diversity of different handmade products available to attract customers. I was really pleased with how it went and I was very happy with my takings at the end of the day.  It is an expensive market to have a stall at but I would do it again by sharing a stall with another crafter.

I have this in turquoise, from 7071 design  I have read some very interesting and thought-provoking blog posts recently about the benefits and joys of  buying handmade  items. I would recommend the  mindful spending  posts on the fantastic  Scoutie Girl  blog. Serotonin necklace from molecularmuse I particularly love the idea of  creative tithing , choosing to spend a percentage of your income each month on handmade and/or locally produced items. This idea really spoke to me because I can see the benefit to the artist and to me. The artist has the thrill of knowing that someone valued their design and work enough to invest in it which does wonders for self confidence; I know having perfect strangers buy my jewellery on  Etsy  has always made my day.  And of course, as a buyer, I love having beautiful things that have been hand made and not manufactured. Feather necklace from MijuandYou So I have made a point of buy...

I've been back to beading this weekend. I got a commission to make a licorice allsort necklace and some earrings which I needed to have done by Monday as they are for a birthday. I dug out all of my beads and got started and then found loads of beads that really needed to be used up! So, I now have this gorgeous pink sweetie bracelet, love hearts earrings and a jelly babies charm bracelet listed in my folksy shop!    http://www.folksy.com/shops/lightboat There wasn't a lot of sunlight when we did the photos so I may have to take them again, particularly the love hearts ones as the photos don't really do them justice. I found this great blog post on making your own light box so I will be having a go at this as soon as I get a good-sized box (I have been a bit over zealous with the recycling clearly!) http://www.afterninetofive.net/diy-light-box/ I'd better get some beading practice in again anyway as I am doing a trial to teach a beginners class in March! Shoul...

© Anna Campbell 2011 Shining star silver earrings I was ill this week with an ear infection that was quite disorientating. I couldn't walk straight and started veering to the right! Luckily I am better now and have been busy listing some silver jewellery that I hadn't got round to adding to Etsy. I love the making but the writing descriptions, deciding what to charge, getting goo enough photographs etc. seems to take a while! Oh well, I'm sure I'll get quicker! Here's the link to the shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/Lightboat