Gemwaith Nia

Sunswept

2011-09-15T19:17:00.001+01:00

Sunswept, a photo by gemwaithnia on Flickr.

Lost In Space Necklace

2011-09-14T10:45:00.001+01:00

Lost In Space Necklace, a photo by gemwaithnia on Flickr.

Desert Sunset

2011-09-08T22:26:00.001+01:00

Desert Sunset, a photo by gemwaithnia on Flickr.

Opal Bouquet

2011-09-02T20:25:00.001+01:00

Opal Bouquet, a photo by gemwaithnia on Flickr.

Now on my website, as part of an early Autumn revamp.

Deja Vu

2011-05-31T19:34:00.000+01:00

I made an awful lot of these necklaces a few years ago! So much so that I eventually got very tired of them, even though I wear them myself every time I'm at a show or selling event.
I wore my orange ones (I wear two or three together) at the Smallholders and Gardens show last weekend, and so did another stallholder who had bought one from me a while back. Several people commented on them, and one lady asked if she could buy one! Now I'm not that desperate that I have to sell my jewellery from around my neck, so I rooted through my stock and found one left, in muted browns and greens. Result - one happy customer.
Anyway, I decided maybe it was time to make a few more, ready for the summer, so this little crop of Summer Silvers came to life over the weekend.
More about the Smallholders show next time.
Nia xx

Name And Shame...

2011-05-27T22:41:00.003+01:00

And I would indeed name and shame this particular eatery, if only I could remember the name of it! Unfortunately, today I have eaten (or not, to be accurate) the worst apology for a meal I have ever endured. Well, both of us did.
We took the car for a service, back to the dealership, just outside Abergavenny. The garage kindly lent us a car to get us into town to kill the couple of hours that the service was going to take, and after a wander around in the sunshine, we decided to have something quick to eat before heading back to collect our own car.
We spotted a cafe that didn't seem too busy (I wonder why!)and ordered Cheese & Potato Pie - mine, and Corned Beef Hash - himself, both with salad.
When the plates were put in front of us a few mintes later, I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing. Now I've been on this old earth long enough to know exactly what both these meals are meant to look and taste like, and this was not it!
The Corned Beef Hash was unbelievable. It consisted of a bowl of what looked like wallpaper paste with a few faint pinkish brown streaks. It tasted even worse. It was simply instant potato, and not even seasoned. Just disgusting. The husband will eat most things if hungry enough, but even he turned visibly grey after tasting it.
My apology for a Cheese & Potato Pie was just as miserable. The same slimy instant mash, with flakes of lurid bright yellow cheese, covered with a slab of warm soggy pastry.
It also got left pretty much untouched.
The waitress asked what the problem was. I politely explained. She said, "Oh this is how we always make them, our regulars love them".
We paid and left, glad to leave the sorry disgusting mush behind.
So if you are ever looking for a half decent lunch in Abergavenny, choose somewhere other than the cafe just up the road from the Angel Hotel (where we really should have eaten!).
Have a lovely bank holiday,
Nia xx

Black Bacarra

2011-05-23T13:28:00.001+01:00

Black Bacarra, a photo by gemwaithnia on Flickr.

Black Is Back!
I'm afraid I don't do "seasonal" colours when it comes to jewellery, so black and silver in May is just fine with me!
This necklace uses a set of Ray Skene's dramatic signature hollow glass beads, in combination with ornate sterling silver.

Up On The Roof...

2011-05-17T20:55:00.000+01:00

Finally...... the front dormers on the house have been renovated! They have been quietly rotting away for the last 25 years or so, and getting builders in to do the work was prohibitively expensive, so late last summer Wyn decided to do the job himself.
But of course, with it being the tail end of the summer, he only managed to complete one before we went on holiday in late September, and by the time we came home, the weather was bad, and carried on being bad all winter.
So when Wil came home for a visit last Tuesday, he happily agreed to help his Dad and get the other two dormers finished. They re-tiled the roofs, replaced the rotten timber, and clad the new wood in uPVC.
They finished last night, just in time for Wil to go back to Bristol today.
Finally, the scaffolding can come down, and we can sort out the garden!

It's pretty high up there!

I'm going to choose my moment carefully before mentioning that the three dormers at the back of the house also need renewing...
Nia xx

Lost...

2011-05-08T12:56:00.000+01:00

Lost - One Mojo, much used and loved over the years, so if found, please return to Nia. Thank you.

Self Assessment

2011-04-25T21:16:00.000+01:00

This is the time of year when I spend a couple of weeks going through my stock of made-up pieces of jewellery, and work out what, if anything, is looking a little jaded, and needs to be taken apart again. It used to really upset me to do this, after all, everything I make carries a substantial investment of both love and time. But in reality, if a piece hasn't found a new home either through my website or via a show or event, then I have to face up to the fact that taking it apart and using the focal beads in a new way, is the only sensible option.
And by doing this, I am confident in the knowledge that the customers who see me at various events over the summer, will be looking at fresh, bright, attractive jewellery, rather than pieces that might have been out on display last summer and have lost the newly-made gleam.
This process can be rather tedious, and it involves cleaning up a substantial quantity of silver in the tumbler, but with the shocking rise in silver prices over the last year or two, every tiny piece is very precious.
I'm also in the process of working out what new pieces I need to make, often to match up with existing necklaces. One design that proved very popular last year was a decorative necklace featuring high grade freshwater pearls combined with clusters of tiny gemstones and lots of silver. I've made this in three colours - creamy beige, peacock black, and silver grey. So yesterday I made a matching bracelet for the silver grey necklace - Belle Etoile - with the other two colours to follow shortly.

Green and Pleasant...

2011-04-20T21:03:00.000+01:00

Spring is a lot later here than in many parts of the UK, we are quite high up in the hills so the soil is much colder. There is never any point planting vegetables any earlier than now, they simply wouldn't grow.
So the veggie plot has now been rotovated, and hopefully by the weekend will be full of neat rows of edibles to see us through the year.

Have a lovely Easter weekend!
Nia xx

Arianwen

2011-04-19T17:06:00.003+01:00

Arianwen, a photo by gemwaithnia on Flickr.

I had one little leaf left over from my experiment with silver clay, which I incorporated into this pendant-style necklace with cream keishi pearls, amethyst and garnet rondelles.
Nia xx

Normal Service Has Resumed...

2011-04-15T21:33:00.000+01:00

Ok, now that I've got posh clay out of my system (for a little while), I've been playing around with some extraordinarily beautiful quartz - cornflower blue, and copper.
The quartz is heat-treated to bring out a range of stunning colours, then faceted in order to catch the light. I am always in awe of the skill of the lapidarists who undertake the painstaking task of faceting gemstones, and these particular stones have been beautifully cut.
I opted for bracelets eventually, mainly because I am still going through a bracelet phase. But also because the advantage of a bracelet over a necklace is that the wearer can actually see it and derive pleasure from looking at it on her wrist. Simple!

Have a lovely weekend!
Nia xx

First Forays...

2011-04-14T13:48:00.001+01:00

I was lucky enough to be able to get over to the Flame Off last weekend, a huge glassy gathering held annually at Towcester Racecourse, and organised by Tuffnells who are one of the main suppliers of glass and equipment to UK lampworkers.
More of the glass later, but while we were there, both Wyn and I fancied having a go at a couple of other things that were happening as part of the event.
I went along to an Art Clay taster session, being run by Lesley Messam, a senior Art Clay instructor from Chichester.
I've had a packet of Art Clay for years, but I've always been too terrified to open it. It's expensive material, and I was always worried that I would totally mess it up and therefore throw a lot of money down the drain. Or rather, in the bin.
But Lesley was a wonderful teacher, and I emerged a couple of hours later proudly clutching my first, dreadfully imperfect, pieces. I opted for simple little ivy leaves, which I have now tumble polished and turned into earrings. They are my babies and I love them!

And while I was happily playing with posh clay, Wyn was bashing the living daylights out of equally expensive silver. The aim was to come away with a pendant, but Wyn being Wyn, and a bit of a bolshie on the quiet, decided not to follow the others in the class, and instead of carefully cutting the silver with the help of templates, opted to do everything freehand.
The result was a really individual heart-shaped pendant, with a little brass heart applied on top. I call it a Happy Heart, because it has a carefree, casual look. He wants to finish it off properly, but I absolutely love it!

I definitely want to learn more about Silver Clay, and after I've bought a few more essential bits and pieces, and managed to fight my way to the kiln, I think I now have the confidence to try out some ideas ready for the summer.
Nia xx

It's Decision Time Again...

2011-04-13T21:09:00.001+01:00

It's Decision Time Again..., a photo by gemwaithnia on Flickr.

Astrid

2011-04-12T20:19:00.001+01:00

Astrid, a photo by gemwaithnia on Flickr.

Decisions, Decisions...

2011-04-05T14:48:00.002+01:00

Decisions, Decisions..., a photo by gemwaithnia on Flickr.

Bracelet? Necklace?
Possibly both?
I'll think about it for a while!
Nia xx

The Rough With The Smooth

2011-04-04T14:34:00.001+01:00

Over the last few months, I have been discovering the attractions of rough-cut gemstones. Unlike the tiny, immaculately faceted beauties I normally work with, these bolder, chunkier stones have a unique loveliness.
The best quality examples posess a distinctive irridescence, and can almost be said to glow in the light.
I was lucky enough to come across some fabulous rough-cut Watermelon Tourmaline a couple of months ago, along with Hessonite Garnet and Fluorite.
I already had prettily coloured Apatite and Iolite, so I've brought them all together in the blog today.

L'Epice now SOLD, thank you!

And finally the most delightful, and spring-like colours in these mixed stone cubes, mostly jade but with some fluorite thrown in for good measure.
(Now SOLD, thank you!)

I've just had my latest batch of new pieces back from the Assay Office in Birmingham, where they were being hallmarked, so I will be updating the website and the Etsy shop in the next few days, to include the newest jewellery.
Nia xx

The Bumper Bracelet Bonanza!

2011-03-28T15:15:00.001+01:00

Is there such a thing as a collective noun for bracelets? If not, then there should be, for at the moment, I seem to have one!
I'm really not sure why, but over the last few weeks, bracelets have been proving to be more popular than ever. From glass to gemstones, silver to pearls, with all possible combinations in between.
This is really handy because I adore making bracelets, although sizing them can often be challenging, especially if I'm making one to a customer's specifications. But we somehow work something out, and I tend to get the size right more often than not!
So today's eyecandy consists of bracelets - some new, some sold, some simple, some statement pieces, a few yet to be hallmarked, and one or two available for sale.

Right, I think that's enough bracelet eyecandy for one day.
Now I need to go and design more...... bracelets.
I hope it's still sunny where you are, it's another lovely day here again.
Nia xx

It's A Cat's Life

2011-03-25T14:57:00.000Z

Spring has sprung with a vengeance, but the cats are as lazy as ever.

Nia xx

Give Me The Simple Life

2011-03-16T02:21:00.020Z

The simple life - oh in so many ways! And compared to most people, I suppose my life is fairly simple. I mostly stay home and make jewellery.
I don't crave an exciting social life (been there, done that), or heaven forbid, spend empty hours "shopping", which in my opinion tends to mean just killing time and wasting money.
No. My simple life really does mean spending time here at home, making jewellery, promoting my work to the best of my abilities, and holding things together domestically - baking bread, cooking, trying to manage the clutter in this house that has accumulated during a hundred year's worth of occupancy by the same family - but some days, I feel completely defeated by such apparently simple chores.
The husband, bless him, has commented several times over the last few months, that he thinks I should get back to simpler jewellery styles and maybe put the fancy-nancy microfaceted gemstones on the back burner for a while. Maybe he's right, but when you are drawn to a certain style of jewellery design, then it's the devil's own job dragging yourself away from it.
So for me, a compromise seems just the right thing. Enough of my elaborate styles to keep me happy, while keeping the simpler styles on the agenda.

(Marine Life now SOLD - thank you!)
These two necklaces, which feature glass by Isabelle Anderson and Moon Stumpp, are just gorgeous! Sorry, not going to play them down, they really are gorgeous! And perfect for summer.
But. And right now it's a huge but. Simple jewellery, however gorgeous and exclusive the components, leaves many of us totally exposed to the copycats and plagiarists who rip off and exploit our efforts to make simple, elegant, and desirable jewellery. Let's be honest, some styles are just so easy to copy.
Today I stumbled upon a website that did just that. The first image I saw, quite honestly, caused me to do a double take. The necklace was pretty much identical to several of mine, from last year and the year before using the exact same glass beads and components, and photographed from an identical angle.
When I looked rather more closely at their website, I saw several more pieces that mirrored mine almost exactly.
Now before anyone thinks I'm being precious and picky here, I am well used to "influence" when it comes to jewellery making, and it's something I'll happily tolerate, and indeed encourage - we are all sponges when it comes to creativity - but when a piece has been copied practically bead for bead, then I'm sorry, but that is just not right.
There is absolutely nothing I can do about it. I've been in this situation many times before, which is why I always try to keep things moving in terms of styles, but I still like returning to older designs from time to time because not only did they prove popular with customers, I also enjoyed making them. Simple, clean lines using beautiful glass and gleaming silver are enduringly popular. And easy to copy.
So short of deleting any online presence for my work - doing away with my website, my Etsy shop, the Flickr album, this blog, and leaving a couple of jewellery forums - I just have to put up with the situation, and hope that the copycats will realise that ultimately, they are on a hiding to nothing by trying to shortcut their way to a reasonably successful venture.
It doesn't make me feel any better though...
Nia xx

Coming Full Circle

2011-03-11T11:14:00.001Z

This little china donkey was the first gift I remember buying as a child, with no help from my parents. We were on holiday in a little North Cornwall village called Trelights, and went on a visit to the pretty little village of Clovelly just over the border in Devon, famous for it's incredibly steep street, and the donkeys which were traditionally used to carry everything the villagers needed up and down the cobbled lane.
I must have been about seven years old at the time, and I remember feeling very proud as I chose, and paid for out of my own pocket money, the little donkey for my Grandmother, Aunty Val and Uncle Graham, who lived in the small village of Felindre, just outside Swansea.

My Grandmother died many years ago, but my Aunty Val and her husband Graham continued living in the family home, which is where my father was born and raised, until they too passed away, both, very sadly, from cancer.
They didn't have children of their own, so the task of sorting out the contents of the house has fallen to myself, and my cousin. She lives a lot closer to Felindre than I do, so she has undertaken much of the work, but I've been going there every week, and we have now reached the final stages of tackling several generations worth of posessions.
When we were sorting out a cabinet containing glassware and china trinkets, I found the donkey. I instantly remembered that summer's day in Clovelly, and how pleased my Grandmother looked when I presented them with the gift. So the donkey is now here with me, it's come full circle.

(With Val, Graham and the corgis, Cymro and Sian)

(On a family holiday in St. Agnes, Cornwall, with Mum, Val and Graham)

(Val with our William when he was a baby. He's now 22! I love this photo).
Enjoy your weekend,
Nia xx

Colouring In.

2011-03-06T15:28:00.004Z

I love a challenge, and colour matching jewellery is just my favourite thing.
A customer is interested in this necklace

But she would like matching earrings to go with it. Now I can't use lampwork, as the entire set of boro beads, made by the lovely Fiona Sands, went into the necklace.
So I colour matched the glass as closely as possible using a mix of gemstones and pearls, and created cluster style earrings, which not only blend in with the necklace, but would look great as wear-alone, summer jewellery.

That was my challenge for the weekend. I hope I've succeeded!
Nia xx

Settle Down With A Good Book

2011-03-05T21:13:00.004Z

My lovely friend Mary is participating in World Book Night, and as a result, she has a stack of books to distribute amongst us book-a-holics. I'm lucky enough to be one of the recipients, so next week I will take posession of a copy of David Mitchell's "Cloud Atlas", which has been on my Wants list of books for a while now.
To quote from the website:
"World Book Night represents the most ambitious and far-reaching celebration of adult books and reading ever attempted in the UK and Ireland.
On Saturday, 5 March 2011, two days after World Book Day, with the full support of the Publishers Association, the Booksellers Association, the Independent Publishers Guild, the Reading Agency with libraries, World Book Day, the BBC and RTE, one million books will be given away by an army of passionate readers to members of the public across the UK and Ireland.
The book give-away will comprise 40,000 copies of each of the 25 carefully selected titles, to be given away by 20,000 ‘givers’, who will each distribute 48 copies of their chosen title to whomever they choose on World Book Night. The remaining books will be distributed by World Book Night itself in places that might otherwise be difficult to reach, such as prisons and hospitals.
The twenty-five titles were selected by a wide-ranging editorial committee, chaired by James Naughtie."
Now, a lot of people, like myself, who are life-long avid readers, have been very much looking forward to this celebration of books and reading in general, which is wonderful, but I find myself increasingly concerned that "settling down with a good book" is a diminishing pastime, and even more sadly, has never figured in so many people's lives. Whenever I go to someone's house for the first time, I find myself scanning rooms for books. It isn't deliberate, really! I seem to do it instinctively, and when books are conspicuous by their absence, I invariably feel deeply sad. My father, who himself was an avid reader, used to tell me that his best friends were books, and that during the horrific years of the Second World War, he could forget what was going on around him, and what he had to participate in night after night, day after day, by losing himself in books.
And a good book really doesn't need to be "worthy", or "literary". I'm just as happy whiling away the hours with a blockbuster crime thriller from Stieg Larsson or Val McDermid as I am re-reading my beloved Thomas Hardy and Charlotte Bronte, with all stages of fiction in between.
While I've been typing this, I've been watching Book Night on BBC2, and I'm now desperate to get my hands on some of the titles mentioned tonight. Nothing, not even my favourite perfume or the aroma of bread just out of my oven, smells as good as a new book. I'm sure there are names for people like me!
Enjoy your weekend,
Nia xx

Coming Soon ..... To A Blog Near You!

2010-05-24T22:57:00.002+01:00

The blog WILL resume soon. I promise!

See you soon!
Nia xx

Where To Start???

2009-10-29T00:57:00.005Z

It's now been so long since my last blog entry that even I'm beginning to lose track!

Anyway, after a lovely holiday in France - the same place as last year, in the glorious Poitou Charente region, not far from Cognac, within days I was back to work, with a frantic rush to get ready for the first appearance - at the Malvern Autumn Show - of The Beads And The Birds, a coming together of lampwork glass artists and jewellery makers, in order to promote the cause of British artisan glass and jewellery.
The Birds consisted of myself, George Harper East, Julie Fountain and Vicky Prior, and while we didn't make a fortune in terms of sales, we had a lovely weekend, and the feedback from those people who called by our stand was incredibly positive - oh and a lot of customers went home with some lovely jewellery!
Apart from customers, some glass and jewellery friends called by to lend support, mainly Cath Throup and Lesley Gleeson, and by sheer good fortune, we found ourselves situated slap bang opposite the food hall. It would have been so rude not to sample the wonderful fare on offer, so Gloucester Old Spot pork pies, farm ciders, and Oggies really went down a treat!

(From left, Vicky, Julie, George, and me)

And since Malvern, I've barely had time to draw breath. It's been one endless round of Merched Y Wawr events - Drefach Felindre, Llandeilo and Clydach - along with a stream of customer orders, whilst trying desperately to build up my stock of jewellery ready for the run-up to Christmas.

Pearls are still very much in demand, but I'm also trying hard to concentrate on gemstones again, after an absence of quite a few months.

And now I'm off on my travels again, this time to Cheltenham, to the Ladies Association of British Barber Shop Singers Annual Convention, a three day event being held this year at Cheltenham Racecourse. I was approached by them earlier in the year to see if I would be interested in having a sales stand at the event, so I thought I'd try it out to see if it would be a good addition to my sales calendar.
I'll be back in a few days' time, so I'll tell you how it went!

Enjoy your weekend,

Nia xx

End Of Old Blog...

2009-03-11T00:08:00.006Z

This is just a very brief entry, to say goodbye to my old blog. I had fully intended to start 2009 with a renewed committment to maintaining the blog, but just as I was about to tackle it again, my lovely Mum died, very unexpectedly and suddenly, and since then, I've felt absolutely no entheusiasm whatsover about the blog, my Flickr album, or even my website.
But some weeks down the line, life is starting to fall back into place again, so maybe it's time to get my act together and try to carry on where I left off, before Christmas.
So as a transitionary entry, I'll leave you with a few, very personal pictures, before I revamp my blog, ready for a fresh start.

See you in my new blog very soon!
Nia xx