Tripoli and Rouge

My new shop is open, Tripoli and Rouge. Need to get busy and make some items to put in it!

By the way, my friend Stephanie loved her necklace  and cried when she opened it. Meant a lot as she is SO talented in her own field as an artist and printmaker

This is me (on the right) and her when we young and silly.......we are still silly, but not so young now...

I need to start making presents for Christmas. Needless to say, everyone - well nearly everyone - will be getting silver jewellery as a present. I have lots of family heirloom pieces, mostly damaged with missing stones etc, but they are so sentimental that I cannot part with them. None are worth repairing, but I think it would be nice to make new jewellery from them for family. There are gold rings, a solid silver cigarette case of my grandads, a solid silver matchbox with really old matches in, christening bracelets and more.......

I made a new ring yesterday with silver wire, with a little nest of silver and in the middle I soldered a small gold nugget with the left over piece from Pauls wedding ring.

I love the fact that I can wear a ring with a special piece of gold in. I will make my daughters, neices and sisters a similar ring with gold nuggets from our very beloved Nanas mothers old rings.

This is Nana, I love this picture, she looks so in the moment, with the beret and buttoned coat, and the small contented smile. I am guessing my Grandad took the picture - that smile would have been for him. They were very much in love but sadly he died in middle age, and Nana missed him so much. She lived to 90 but would not have entertained the idea of finding someone else. 

Pouring with rain today, lovely, because it means I can spend the whole day in my workshop and not worry that I should be out and about or gardening...........