Currently in love with Dames & Divas

On my wish list at the moment are...every pair of Dames & Diva shoes! They are devine, individual pieces of art that are hand-made using vintage silk kimono material. Excuse me while I now go and drool...

And they also have bags... I feel faint...

Dames & Divas

Another day at the office...

And what an office it was! We had a fantastic time at the Manly designers markets - who wouldn't with this stunning view! I met a lot of interesting people and was thrilled to have so many people interested in my jewellery - including Natalie and Katie from Style Spy - look out for their very stylish reviews of markets and fashion trends in Sydney at www.stylespy.com.au

Tanya from Zefyr at our stall

The markets also provided a great opportunity to check out other designers' wares (in fact, I was rarely at my own stall as I was out and about checking out the other stalls!). A great find was the fabulous Betty Fox label. The designer, Marnie, reinvents op shop jackets into stunning pieces by sewing on Japanese fabric. As soon as I heard about her stall I raced over and picked up this amazing jacket! I wanted to keep in touch with Marnie and thought I had her email address but don't - so Marnie, if by chance you are reading this - please email me!

Getting ready for the Manly markets

I've been madly getting stock ready for the Manly designers market on Saturday and Sunday. The markets are attached to the Manly food and wine festival so it should be lots of fun! My fingers have never hurt so much before from all the filing that I have been doing though (more than when I was learning the guitar even!), but everything is looking lovely - I had a demo run of the stall in my lounge room to make sure it was going to look ok. I'm sharing the stall with a good friend of mine, Tanya, who creates the most amazing gold jewellery - her label is Zefyr. Her jewellery practices are all eco friendly - she recycles discarded brass (which she then has gold plated) and vintage glass stones. It really is eco glam jewellery! I now have one of her rings (I usually only wear silver but am happy to convert to gold for her jewellery!) and will be purchasing some more on the weekend I'm sure - can't resist!!

This is one of Tanya's (Zefyr) rings (note the state of my hands - no finger nails to be seen - all filed off accidentally!)

Hubbies, sewing machines, bras and coffee...

I have been overwhelmed by the responses that I received for my giveaway - thank you very much to everyone who wrote in a comment! I have been thoroughly entertained hearing who/what is your best friend from hubby, sewing machines, bras, coffee (what would we do without it), pets, beds, through to right hands and spare time to name but a few! I'm also so pleased to hear about so many happy marriages (prince charming featured the most in the comments) and families (of both the human and furry kind)!

I said in my giveaway post that I would be pick my favourite comment as the winner - but after reading all of your comments (and poems!) I couldn't possibly pick one as I loved them all - so I decided to draw a name randomly...

Congratulations to Kim (Halcyon Green blog) - I will be sending your necklace out to you very soon!

I haven't had a chance to visit everyone's blog yet - but am looking forward to stopping by and saying hello to everyone who commented in this giveaway! Thanks again for participating and thank you to Sew, Mama, Sew! for organising the Giveaway Day!

Diamonds are a girl's best friend - May 27 Give away day!!

Diamonds are a girl's best friend...dogs are man's best friend...

What (or who) is your best friend and why? It might be your coffee maker or your fluffy slippers or a good book... My favourite comment will be chosen as the winner of my give away present (I promise I will not be biased as to the actual 'best friend' item). I am in Sydney, but am happy to ship anywhere in the world!

I do love sparkly things, hence the diamond creations that I will be giving away (pictured)! The diamonds are flat, made from silver metal clay (99% silver) and dangle from a sparkly pink ball chain. I made the necklace quite long (32 cm [12.5"] from clasp to diamonds; 64 cm [25"] total length), but am happy to shorten if desired. The largest diamond is 4.5cm wide and 3cm high.

I also have more items on Etsy - so please pop by and visit my store! This giveaway will be open until May 31. Thank you for visiting and good luck!

Fancying felt

I've never really thought about it before, but I always seem to be drawn to all things felt! I love scouring op shops and found the fabulous grey felt bag below last week. When I bought it I had so many ideas of ways in which I could jazz it up (I was thinking of sewing some japanese fabric onto it), but when I got it home one of my silver cranes flew over and settled on it. I attached the crane with some cord to the side and now it comes everywhere with me. The crane is absolutely massive - it was the first one that I made in silver - with a wing span of 8cm (what was I thinking!).

Since buying my bag, I have been on the look out for other felt items. I adore Shagpile's felt finches on Etsy - in fact, I met the Shagpile maker, Andria, at the Finders Keepers markets on the weekend! Her work is fantastic (am also in love with her neckwarmers). Check out her store here!

Felt finch by Shagpile

Sneak Peak

Here is a sneak peak at my latest collection - well the molds of them anyway! I'm taking the wax pieces in to be cast today - I can't wait to see what they look like in silver. I've made rings and necklace pendants with kimono and Japanese family crest designs. My favourite design though surprisingly is my Godzilla ring! Well, I guess it's not so surprising - I really like lizards. When we went to Taronga Zoo last year, my favourite animal was the komodo dragon. I've been bitten by a blue-tongue lizard - but it was not its fault, I was trying to feed it at the time and my finger must have looked more tasty than the mince! Suki also likes lizards, but not in a good, friendly way...