Happy New Year! It's that time of year that when the urge to sit back and take stock is strong, so here goes! 2024 was a great year for my little business. Lots of my sea glass treasure found its forever home. I had fun creating one-off pieces for customers, sometimes with their own sea glass that had sentimental value to them. It was the year that I registered for my very own hallmark. It's so exciting to think that my symbol (a heart with the letters t, c inside) is now in the Edinburgh Assay Office's register, and in years to come you'll be able to trace pieces to me. Tuesday evenings would find me hot footing it to Aberdeen for evening classes in jewellery making with the very talented Megan Falconer. I dipped my toe into the Korean skill of Keum Boo, fusing very fine 24 ct gold onto silver. I also experimented with the Japanese art of Mitsuro Hikime, using a wax to create wonderfully organic shapes that were then cast in silver. You'll see much more of these two techniques in my work this year. For Christmas Santa brought me a long lusted after rolling mill. This is very much like a giant mangle that allows patterns to be pressed onto metal. I absolutely love the textures that I'm creating, so stand by for some very funky designs!
January is always a quiet month with markets few and far between, so I'm dedicating these mid winter weeks to playing in my workshop and exploring these new found techniques. So come the spring I'll be raring to go and have some new and exciting designs to show you.
I hope you're managing to take a little time to yourself during the winter to nourish your creative spirit. It won't be long until those first buds of regrowth appear.
Happy hunkering!
Cheryl x
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