I've added some bracelets to the site today. I think they'd go beautifully with all the summer clothes we'll soon be wearing! (I'm writing that with my fingers crossed  -  very hard to do let me tell you). I also recently added some Hill Tribe Silver pieces to the Etsy site www.imgjewellery.etsy.com . I used some beads that I bought at the Perth Bead Fair here in Scotland and I feel very reluctant to part with  them - I just wanted to look at them and feel them - very silly I know!  

Hill Tribe Silver pieces are made by a tribe of people living and working in the hills of Thailand. Everything is beautifully made by hand with the skills needed having been passed down from generation to generation. It is usually 95% - 99% pure silver which is a higher content of silver   than sterling silver (92.5%) making it relatively soft and easy to shape and to pattern the surface. They are very lovely to to look at and very touchable as well.

Please keep coming back to look at my sites as I shall continue to add more items as the weeks go by.

I've just posted new mother-of-pearl earrings on my Etsy website www.imgjewellery.etsy.com . For the metal element I used antiqued brass which is brass that has been coated in an oxidizing solution to give it an aged look and to make it more comfortable to wear.

Always eager to learn new techniques I'm having a go at making lampwork glass beads. The ones I've made are just about recognisable as beads but I shall get better!   I've managed to gather together most of the basic equipment needed but am still on the look out for an annealing kiln - that is,  one at the right price - that is,  a price I can afford! So you won't be seeing any of my own beads on my sites until that happens.

The right type of kiln is needed to anneal or strengthen the beads and to stop them cracking.   Then they can be sold individually or incorporated into a jewellery piece to be sold.

At last the wind seems to have died down here in Edinburgh. We're having a rather nice warm-ish day. Ahh perhaps Spring is on the way?  

I have just added a new category to the Online Shop and titled it Charms & Vintage .  In this category I shall be adding pieces with hanging charms. They could be necklaces, bracelets or earrings. The vintage pieces will have components that are genuinely pre 1982 which is what vintage is generally accepted to mean in this country. The vintage style pieces will have components that are in the style of vintage but were made more recently.  Having got that out of the way - I hope you like them, please feel free to contact me with any comments.

Oh well, Christmas has come and gone very quickly as it always does, and we're into 2008 already! We have snow at the the moment here in Edinburgh so it feels very wintry but looks very beautiful where the snow has settled in Holyrood Park and up on 'Arthur's Seat'.  

I have somewhat neglected my websites over the Christmas period - too busy - but am determined to get some more jewellery posted over the next few weeks. I have already added some earrings and a necklace to this site and a necklace with a beautiful etched shell pendant to my Etsy site imgjewellery.etsy.com . The pendant has a nice substantial (if I can use that word in connection with shell) feel to it and is very comfortable to wear. 

Finally I'd like to wish anybody reading this a very Happy New Year! May you get what you wish for and may you keep any resolutions you've made!    

Last night I attended a Silver Clay class here in Edinburgh. It was taken by tutor Emma Baird and really was great fun and I learned how to make a ring! The weather was so awful - it was the kind of night where the temptations of snuggling up in front of the telly were great - but I'm so glad I made the effort. Her classes have a very relaxed atmosphere and I think when you're relaxed, you are more likely to remember what you've learned.

For those who don't know - Silver Clay is pure silver mixed with a binder in clay form. So you can mould it to any shape you want. Then you fire it in a kiln or with a torch. This burns off the binder leaving you with a pure silver piece of jewellery. Sounds simple doesn't it? But it does take practice. I hope to go to some more classes next year - I look forward to that! 

If you're looking for Christmas gifts that are handmade, a site worth having a browse through is www.myowncreation.co.uk  where only handmade items are sold - paintings, soft toys, toiletries, jewellery etc. They really are worth supporting! I have a couple of my pieces on there but hope to add more. 

Right - no more procrastination, today will be my launch day. I may not yet have all my pieces on the site but I can hesitate no longer,  so here goes! 

It's getting colder here in Edinburgh now that Autumn is really underway but we're still getting plenty of sunshine so things aren't too bad. All those beautifully coloured leaves on the trees - and underfoot - are certainly inspiring. We've not had a full winter up here in Scotland yet so we'll see if we have become 'southern softies'

I hope everything is straightforward on this site but it being new, there might be teething problems so if you spot anything not quite right please let me know via the Contact Form.