Forward motion!

So it seems that losing your job does wonders for your creativity!  I have been churning out new designs, painting and designing my dream wedding.  I feel liberated and positive most days (we all have our down moments) and have started to embrace the situation I am in at the moment.  It's so easy to feel guilty spending time doing something you enjoy, but believe me, you cannot and indeed should not job hunt 24/7.  It's no good for morale or your health in general.

As usual check out my new items using the link to my folksy shop above and let me know if you have any comments as I love to hear good news, as well as, what you would like to see more of :)

So here is to a fruitful summer of craft fairs, folksy, good friends, days away and a wedding! :)

D x

Reversible Moon Necklace Sad

Reversible Moon Necklace Happy

Oval Cab Rings with help from my wee guy ;)

Mermaid's Clam Necklace

The land of the living...

Hello Sweeties n Sailors!

I have been extremely lax in the blogging department for too long now and here are some reasons why (not excuses!):

I started a new job and unlike my old job this one demands ALL my time when I'm physically at work.   No updating blogger or editing photos on lunch anymore. Then...

I got engaged in April! He took me on a romantic trip to Applecross (near the Isle of Skye without crossing the bridge) and proposed in the freezing sea!  Wedding planning started the day after but, as usual, something else came up...

We bought a house! Wedding planning stopped the day we decided we had found a house we needed to live in.  I'm happy to say that after almost 3 months of torturous waiting, wondering and jumping through hoops, I am blogging 'live' from our new home :) And then....

I got picked for the formidable Team Scotland Roller Derby band of misfits!  As some of you know I play Roller Derby with the Auld Reekie Roller Girls in Edinburgh and this is a huge deal to me.  We travel to Canada in December to play in the worlds first Roller Derby World Cup!  Roller Derby in general this month has been keeping me particularly busy and I think the training and cross training will ramp up in September until December when we fly over. 

However, the house parties, moving furniture, organising rooms and settling in has almost stopped, so I have a lot more free time than I did before.  I have been concentrating a lot on commissioned necklaces and Roller Derby Vendor Villages rather than online selling.  A popular choice, which I hope no one will be too offended by, is included in the pictures below.  It would be nice if I could get my stuff out there a bit more but at the moment I'm happy plodding along and making something when I'm asked or creating a little stockpile of things I think are cool and hope someone else will in the near future.

Man that was a long post but I guess that's what happens when you don't blog as regularly as you should!

Have a very relaxing Sunday

Danger x

Spring has sprung!

OK, so I know I'm maybe getting ahead of myself a bit but I need to remain sane!  The spate of bad weather is enough to get the cheeriest of individuals a bit down in the dumps and sunshine is just the cure we all need!  I have seen the first few lambs bouncing around fields, snowdrops and daffodils are cropping up all over the shop and the mornings are getting lighter and lighter -  a certain kitty makes us both aware of this each morning as he yowls us awake to let him out to explore.

We've been trying to get away at weekends - either walking or canoeing which has been lovely to be able to do.  When we went canoeing last month though, part of the loch was still completely frozen, which was pretty cool to see up close.  We've also been training on and off to walk the West Highland Way later this year and was pleased to find out it wasn't as hard walking with weight on my back than I thought.

On the jewellery front, I have been busy making but not so busy selling, as most of my items are tied up in an exhibition at a local arts centre.  However, I have just received a big order and have another on the way so I will be able to offer more of a selection of fine treasures and not just an item here and there. 

I am also in the final few weeks of finishing a course in Jewellery Design at Edinburgh College of Art.  the teacher is amazing at explaining different techniques and I surely have learnt a thing or two, especially about ring design which is something I've been wanting to get to grips with for an age!  I'll be sure to upload photos of all my finished pieces after the course is over.  There is a little exhibition of finished work at the end of the course and we have all be asked to submit a few pieces for this, which is very exciting!

I hope you all are still enjoying the New Year and here's hoping my next update is a little quicker in coming.

Danger x 

Canoing in Feb

Wood carving in Feb

Little Donkey in Jan

Happy New Year..!

Wow, it's actually 2011.  I can't believe how quickly the year came and went, but I think I managed to achieve enough to not feel guilty about the close of 2010.  I don't really believe whole heartedly in New Years Resolutions, but I do always set out some goals in my diary and attempt to tick them all off.  This year, amongst other things, I want to get the tattoo my Sister and I have been talking about for ages and save some money for a deposit for a house.  Here's hoping I can make it happen.

The year hasn't been off to the kind of start I would have hoped, as I caught some kind of bug, which I thought was leaving my body but unfortunately has come back in waves.  Luckily the I have managed to make an appointment for tomorrow and am really hoping a course of antibiotics will be offered, allowing me to get better and really kick the butt out of this year!

I am really going to try and make more challenging pieces this year, including rings, which I am super excited about.  I also hope to increase the amount of people who read this blog, so I would appreciate any recommendations to your friends! It's not just to get 'Clockwork Curves' out there a bit more, it is so that I can feel a little less silly each time I blog :)  I do appreciate everyone reading what I write so far though!

So I wish you all the luck, health and happiness for this New Year and hope you all have some adventures along the way.

Love Dee x

Nautical but Nice...

A 'new' range of jewellery and accessories I am trying on for size.  I have always loved the relationship between the seaside and pin-up culture and hope to be able to flaunt more delicious designs in the weeks to come.  Think pirate treasures, old rusty anchors and ancient sea creatures fused together and placed on a lovely piece of jewellery that you can wear with anything at all!

Love

Dee x

  

No Chocolate November. Stressed...?

For the last 2 years I have had a self imposed Chocolate ban in the month and a bit before Christmas, otherwise I have the tendancy to go crazy and buy 'presents' for people and consume them all and have to buy more!  Also, here in the office, people tend to bring in sweetie's by the bucket load in the run up to the big day and it's extremely easy to just eat whatever is in front of you, in turn piling on the pounds.  I've always struggled with my weight so I think this is one of my better ideas.

I also used to smoke, which I know is a dirty silly habit, but I have stopped for a wee while now and hopefully will never be tempted to start again. 

But in times of stress I've always turned to these things to help me through it and calm me, however, they are things no longer available to me so I have to de-stress some other ways.  I wonder if any of you readers out there in the world wide web would have any advice about this?  It's not like I don't know how to de-stress but I'm genuinely interested to know how others do it :)

I find hot baths helpful, riding my motorbike, playing roller derby, chilling with DVD's and wine or doing something crafty to wind down.  Another great one is stroking Jagger, my kitty.  As soon as he starts purring it calms me right down!

Dee x

Tattoo Flash!

I have been busy making clay necklaces for the Roller Girls.  I'm quite happy with them but a tad nervous that they look very similar to a friends design.  Because of this I am going to attempt to steer away from 'Hearts' and try out a few new designs.  I actually really enjoy making them!  It was very frustrating at first trying to get the shrink plastic to shrink flat but watching it like a hawk then slamming a meaty (oven mit clad) paw over it seems to do the trick.  See what you think of them (below)

Besides this the fact I have been looking at tattoo flash has basically re-ignited the need for more ink.  Last night I had a brain wave and will now be attempting to design a second ray gun to go with the first.  I want it more victorian and gothic than the western steam gun I currently have.  Excited?  Yes, very :)

Off to Derby now and then a very busy day of crafting tomorrow before going to see 'Due Date' with my man and best bud.

Have a lovely weekend :)

Dee x