All I Want for Xmas

I'll be back at the Truman Brewery in Brick Lane this weekend for All I Want for Xmas.  I'll be there on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th December from 10am - 6pm, with lots of jewellery that isn't available on the website, including one-of-a-kind pieces and some little necklaces in the £35-£50 range that would make great gifts.

So come down and check out the jewellery in the flesh!  Blog readersget 20% off!

Ballet Russes

I'm taking a break and watching this on BBC iPlayer http://bbc.co.uk/i/p90nl/.  Includes little bit of Karl Lagerfeld talking about the costumes he did for Swan Lake, the influence of Coco Chanel and the design legacy of the Ballets Russes.

Fantasy Christmas List

3.1 Philip Lim dress, Chie Mihara shoes.  I have a pair of Chie Mihara shoes and they are so well made and comfortable.  If you're feeling generous, I'm a size 36.

Hidden Art Christmas Design Fair this weekend

I'm taking part in the Hidden Art Christmas Design Fair this weekend.  Once again it's taking place at the Old Truman Brewery in Brick Lane, London, which is a great venue as there's loads to see, do (and eat) in the area (including All I Want for Christmas, which starts this weekend and which I'm doing next month).  

I always enjoy doing Hidden Art events as there's a great range of makers and they always make the effort to make the stands look great.

It would be lovely to see you at the private view this Friday 27th November between 6 and 8pm - the invite is below.  Here are the details:

Late Night shopping: Friday 27th November 12am-6pm (Private View 6-8pm), Saturday 28th 10am-6pm, Sunday 29th 10am-6pm.

The Christmas Design Fair will also feature:
• an environmentally friendly wrapping service,
• Christmas café,
• Hidden Art E-Shop and Hidden Art Select stand, and
• Drop in workshops for children.

I'll have lots of pieces that aren't available on the website, including one-of-a-kind pieces and some little necklaces in the £35-£50 range that would make great gifts.


As an added incentive you get 20% off if you mention the blog!


By the way, I've set up a Facebook Fan Page for Glint (you might have spotted it over there on the sidebar), so if you're a Facebook addict, or just like to get your news that way, please be my 'fan'.  I'd love to see photos of you in your Glint finery too!

Hope to see some of you this weekend.

Walthamstow Tapestry

I went to the Victoria Miro today to catch the last day of the Grayson Perry exhibition (ETA it's just been extended til 14th November).  It was pretty fantastic.  You could devote a day to checking out all the details.  The gallery itself is a wonderful space and there's a lot of interesting work to see and hear including some Yayoi Kusama (the crazy spot lady if I'm being reductive) and an atmospheric sound piece in the garden.

Walford Mill Crafts

I've got some work in the 'Christmas Celebrations' selling exhibition at Walford Mill Crafts in Wimborne, Dorset.  The exhibition starts tomorrow and goes on until 3 January.

There, I said 'Christmas'.  It's started.  Although it started for me around August this year...

Moving on

I'm really excited to tell you that I'll be moving  into a studio space at Cockpit Arts in Holborn in the new year!  Exciting times!

I am more than ready to move away from working at home - oxidising solution in the bathroom, pieces of wire all over the living room floor.  Generally just never switcing off.  And I'm really excited to be joining an amazing community of makers at Cockpit.

If you've never visited their Open Studios I'd really recommend it too, there's some amazing work there (although I can't make it this year, as I'm selling the the UK Design Fair that weekend).

(Photo is from moleitau)

Islington Contemporary Art and Design Show - tomorrow!

Come along and say hi.

It's at Candid Galleries, behind Angel station, here.

(If you make it and decide to buy something, mention the blog and get 20% off!)

McQueen

Amaazing stuff from McQueen.  He has a formula with his cuts but it never gets boring.  Crazy shoes, fantastic hair, dresses for alien snake queens or upholstery enthusiasts.

Back home

I've been on holiday in Greece and I'm just getting back into the swing of things....been catching up on the important world of fashion I can't afford to buy.  Cheeringly  next Spring we can look forward to something other than all the Robert Palmer Addicted to Love type looks and aggression I've been getting so sick of lately...

I'm drawn to the more simple looks.  These are from Marios Schwab, Christopher Kane and Marc Jacobs (he's sick of black and studs too)...

Daily Routines

Still mulling over the subject of organisation, I've been thinking about changing my working routines lately - specifically renting a studio and going out to work in it, rather than working at home. There are pros and cons, but I'm ready for a change and I want to disentangle my home and work lives.

I'm quite fascinated by how creative people manage the work/life balance. I came upon this the Daily Routines blog through Lateral Action. Just like it says on the tin, it details famous people's routines. Flaubert had the right idea - 'A man of nocturnal habits, [he] usually awoke at 10 a.m. and announced the event with his bell cord. Only then did people dare speak above a whisper.'

Oh I need to get organised! I really do. I would love to be calm and serene with no last-minute panics and late-night working. I'm thinking this Little Otsu journal might help. It's dateless, so if I forget to write in it for a while I'm not wasting paper either (how's that for giving up before you start).

And it's pretty too.

New website goodies

Hi all! I sent out the newsletter but nearly forgot to tell my (slightly neglected) blog.

I've updated my website (and it feels good!). So good that I'm offeringI'm offering FREE POSTAGE until the end of August 2009. That includes international customers. You'll need to enter the code 'Freepost' when you check out.

See the new jewellery here.

Burgh House Art Fair on Monday

I'll be selling my jewellery at Burgh House Art Fair, Hampstead, this coming Mayday Bank Holiday Monday.

It would be lovely to see you there! As an added incentive, tell me you saw it here and get 15% off your jewellery purchase.

A little cinematic break from the jewellery show and tell...I borrowed the DVD of Ruokala Lokki (or Seagull Diner) from a friend thinking the description sounded not too promising - a Japanese woman opens a cafe in Finland...I thought it sounded scenic maybe but that's about it. Well, watch it is all I can say! It's life-affirming in a totally un-cheesy way, and very 'zen' - a real celebration of the simple things in life - food, friendship, living mindfully. On top of that it's great eye-candy (the cafe itself is a study in Scandinavian design and look out for all the Marimekko if you're a fan. In fact Marimekko, Iittala and Arabia are among the film's sponsor's). The food depicted in the film is all beyond tempting - if you can watch it without wanting to eat cinnamon buns and onigiri then you don't know what's good for you.

Spring Greens

A couple more pictures for you today....the uploading to the website will start this weekend...these are Tsavorite garnet with oxidised silver.

A necklace...


And a glamorous pair of earrings...one of my favourite pieces. These look intriguing peeking out from under your hair or can go full-on old-school glamour with an up-do.


Hope you're enjoying this lovely spring day (on this side of the equator at least). I was beading away on the balcony earlier this afternoon. It's a total sun-trap, I might have even got slightly sunburnt. Off to bake some bread now and do a spot of yoga (in a rare fit of virtuousness).

Nearly forgot to add, photos are by Ellie Laycock.

Sneaky peek

I've just had some new photos done for the website, so here's a little peek of what's going to be in store for the coming season...this one's made from sea bamboo and gold-plated silver. Sea bamboo is a type of kelp with a bamboo like structure. It looks very much like coral and is a more environmentally friendly alternative.

Happy first day of summertime! It's making me a bit grumpy though I must admit - I want my hour back!

I'm working of some jewellery pieces today. I like listening to the radio when I'm making things, it's nice to engage two different parts of the brain at once. And making is a rather solitary business, so it's nice to hear a human voice.

Lately I've been listening to This American Life, which has over ten years' worth of archives to listen to. I really enjoyed the last section of this show. It's Russell Banks reading an edited version of his short story "Sarah Cole: A Type of Love Story," which appears in its full version in his collection The Angel on the Roof. He has a wonderful reading voice.

Spprriing!

On my balcony microclimate a couple of weeks ago. Come back sunshine!

Something nice to wake up to.

Missoni

So much knitting inspiration from Missoni. I love the soft colours and the easy comfort of it all. I'm not usually a big Missoni fan (too slick, maybe), but this is making me hope for a cold Spring.

Brrrrr...

It's snowing in London. A lot. I can't remember snow settling like this since I was a little kid. London is full of festive, snowman-building, snowball-chucking people.

After marvelling at it all we repaired for some mulled wine.



In other cold-weather news, I finished knitting my long fingerless cashmere gloves. I love them.