Saturday, May 31, 2014

New in the Shop

Boardwalk Empire
Boardwalk Empire
Boardwalk Empire
'Boardwalk Empire' Drop Earrings

I couldn't resist sneaking down to the bench to finish these earrings on day three after Oscar's birth, when all three children were asleep. I knew I wouldn't be able to stay away from the workshop for long. Particularly with the arrival of a parcel of beautiful Onyx cabochons and drops. Though I am on light duties, I swear.

These handsome earrings were inspired by the lavish lifestyles depicted in the period drama 'Boardwalk Empire', which is set in an era of wealth, style and corruption, during prohibition days in Atlanta City. Add drama to any outfit with these dangling darlings.

One of a kind and in the shop now.

Friday, May 30, 2014

Introducing

My view right now, little baby moon face. Thank you for all your kind words. What a healing experience his birth has been for me. Still can't quite believe it. I went in to labour at 7pm after three days of Braxton Hicks contractions, labored at home unti
It's weepy day three for me, and these two inspire happy tears. There will be more tears this afternoon though, as my little one is having his tongue tie snipped, because it is interfering with breastfeeding. Any words of wisdom from Mamas that have been

Introducing Oscar Arlo Allan Lowry
Our 8 pound 7.5 ounce baby boy, who was born at 6.11 am on Tuesday the 27th May, after a beautiful, drug free, natural VBAC.

He is settling in wonderfully, and Cohen and Emerson are doting siblings. I am still on a high after the birth, which was everything I was hoping for. It proved to be a healing experience for me after Cohen's traumatic birth and Emerson's cesarean. I look forward to putting our story in to words and sharing it with you soon. 

This Moment

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. - Soule Mama


+

Monday, May 26, 2014

Notes From the Workshop

New tools in the workshop - a set of four 'spoon stakes', for forming spoons from metal. Can't wait to play with these and turn my sketches into objects. :) #instasmithy #instajewelrygroup #spoonstakes #jewelleryworkshop
New tools - spoon stakes for the project I mentioned.

Satisfying stacks of new postcards, fresh from the printer. Don't you love new stationary? :) #postcards #ilovestationary
New postcards - I love new stationary.

Stocking up on 'Beryl' pendants for Brisbane Finders Keepers. Six weeks to go, but one week until baby's due date. :) #sentimentalcollection #handmadejewellery #instajewelrygroup #instasmithy #finderskeepers
A production line of Silver 'Beryl' Necklaces in preparation for Finders Keepers.

From the bench - Carnelian and Onyx drop earring progress. Part of a collection of three sets of earrings and a necklace I designed last night. Love running with an idea! #handmadejewellery #instasmithy #instajewelrygroup
Working on a new collection of handmade drop earrings.

"Can I make Jewellery too, Mama?" I love that my five year old wants me to teach him bench skills, and tells me he has Jewellery orders to make. :) #juniorjeweller
My dear Cohen, who keeps asking if he can make jewellery too. How could I say no?

Packaging up sales with a few of my favourite things - washi tape, pinking shears, vintage sewing pattern tissue paper, red and white string, and vintage style jam labels for the bubble mailers. :) #whocanresistbrownpaperandstring
Packaging up orders with a few of my favourite things.

I'm still here, keeping myself occupied in the workshop and waiting for baby. 39 weeks and 3 days today. I really am ready whenever baby is! It's a strange sort of limbo, this waiting business. 

Should baby keep us in anticipation, you can expect to see a few new pairs of earrings in the shop soon. Either way, the shop will remain open, with my sister taking over posting out orders in my absence. Only custom orders will be put on hold until I am ready to pick up my tools again after the birth.

Thanks for all your support and lovely comments here and on instagram lately. I hope to be sharing good news with you all soon. 
xx

Friday, May 23, 2014

This Moment

Last antenatal appointment! #phew #38weeks5days



A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. - Soule Mama

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Ideas becoming things...

Experimenting with hand forging the bowl of a spoon in copper, for an idea I've been sitting with for awhile. I love having the opportunity to just play in the workshop. Happy Saturday! :) #handmadespoon #instasmithy
Experimenting with hand making the bowl of a spoon from copper.

A morning full of errands and an afternoon dedicated to knitting and catching up on 'Call the Midwife'. What are your plans this Monday? #babybump #38weeks3days #mondaymonday
Mama's little helper.

Sending out a gift with each purchase this week. :) #diyafternoonteabeads #handmadebeads #oneandahalfweekstilduedate
A free gift with each order in the shop this week as we wait for baby.

Does a creative idea ever take hold of you and then it's all you can think about? Even dream about? It grows like a seed, and eventually the first tentative steps are taken. The idea continues to grow, the steps gather momentum, and the many elements are brought in to play. This has been my experience lately. An idea to make a handmade spoon has evolved and grown in to a bigger idea for a solo exhibition, and a collaborative exhibition. There is a strong tradition of jewellers and silversmiths making spoons. Beautiful objects forged and beaten by hand, sawn and filed, cast and polished. Not only do I want to create a collection of unique pieces, I want to involve other makers in different mediums in order to explore the possibilities of a simple, yet endlessly beautiful, utilitarian object. From ceramic artists to embroiders, photographers to painters, I see an intersection of craft and fine art where beauty and practicality are blurred.

There has been a weaving of threads from my past - elements from my days spent working in an art gallery, forging spoons at the Goldsmiths school, lectures in curating and lessons in pottery from my Uni days - weaving together to form a picture of a collection of table ware that I can see so vividly in my head and feel so compelled to make. I have been sketching, researching, discussing, buying. I've sourced wood off cuts. I've ordered specialised tools from America and Australia. I've investigated techniques and tutorials and plans to further my skills with workshops. I've researched funding, gallery spaces, curatorial roles, artists call outs. 

The idea feels urgent, pressing, as I wait out the last week and a half until baby's due date. I feel so aware of the deadline, yet relaxed at the possibility of a long term project. I can't wait to start experimenting with new tools and materials, and start realising these ideas and sketches as objects. Just as I can't wait to hold our new baby in my arms.

Friday, May 16, 2014

This Moment

+



A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. - Soule Mama

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Market Here Interview

+

Pop over to the Market Here website - a directory and search engine for markets, for an interview with yours truly, about my business, my inspiration and my plans for the future. 

Thanks to the lovely Lucina for the invitation.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Yarn Along

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs.  I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? ~ Ginny
+
+

All's quiet on the blogging front, or so it feels. Quiet for lack of words, as my mind is occupied with waiting for baby. Quiet as I add things to my hospital bag, finish sorting and nesting. Quiet as I endeavor to keep the laundry and house work up to date, so when the time comes I can hand my home and children over to family and think only of the birth.

Life goes on and it feels that much is happening, though at the same time it feels as if these moments are just marking time until the birth. It's a strange feeling. It's hard to be completely present. These next two weeks will likely be long indeed! Thank goodness once more for books and knitting. Both of which have been chosen deliberately for their simple natures - to occupy and satisfy, without difficulty or frustration. Firstly, Family Album by Penelope Lively, a novel which has taken me the first third to warm to, with it's simple style, but which I am hoping to finish. Secondly the striped scarf I have been working on. So simple with it's blocks of colour and it's repetitive stitch pattern (K4, P4, repeat until end, repeat each row.)

I feel as if this baby is in no hurry. I went in to labour with Cohen on his due date and he was born the next day. Emerson was born by an 'elective' cesarean only three days before her due date. My guess is 40 weeks and 3 days for this baby. Though if the blog really goes quiet you may well know why!

When did you birth your babies? Before, after or on their due dates?

-

Joining in with Ginny.
Notes on Ravelry.

Monday, May 12, 2014

The best laid plans...

Gifts from my neglected garden. :) #roses #36weeks5dayspregnant

I woke up yesterday morning miserable with a cold. And with that my Mother's Day lunch and dinner plans were put aside and a prescription of rest, reading and knitting taken up instead. My dear Cohen has been suffering from the same cold, as were half his classmates when we Mama's visited the classroom Friday afternoon for our Mother's Day afternoon tea. But while it may not slow down a five year old too much, it certainly has quite the effect on a heavily pregnant Mama.

Still, there was the rare opportunity to read in bed all day, in an empty house. And rarer still, I started and finished a book in a single day. The wonderful Girl With A Pearl Earring by Tracey Chevalier. It was the kind of book I didn't want to put down. Fortuitous indeed.

Regardless of the broken plans, my little people showered me in love and kisses, helped their Dada cook for me, and presented me with gifts. 
What more could a mother ask for?

I hope your Mother's Day was wonderful.

Friday, May 9, 2014

11 - 37 Weeks

Three's the charm. #11weeks4days
11 Weeks
Third pregnancy bump at thirteen weeks. And the most beautiful maternity dress care of Sally @virtuallysally, handmade by Kylie @paravent. Thank you lovely ladies! #13weekspregnant #selfie #possiblyanotherninepoundbabyforme
13 Weeks
The little bump and I are having a day out in the City. GOMA Design Markets and Californian Design exhibition here we come. What are you doing this (rainy) Saturday? #widn #selfie #14weeks6days
15 Weeks
Half way! #20weekspregnant
20 Weeks
Bump progress - 22 weeks + 4 days. This little bubba gets hiccups a lot, just like Cohen did. Braxton hicks (practice contractions) started at 16 weeks and always manage to strike at the most uncomfortable times - like when I have the hiccups, or while cr
22 Weeks
25 week bump. Third time around and I haven't started preparing anything yet! I think around 35 weeks I'll be moving the bassinet in to our room and sorting through the baby clothes. :) #25weekspregnant #babybump
25 Weeks
A quick snap of the 26 week bump in the library lift this morning. Dropping Cohen to school this week I was chatting to another Mum with a baby. I mentioned that Emerson was really excited about my being pregnant. She replied, 'Oh! Are you pregnant?'...
26 Weeks
Almost 32 weeks now, and I'm still managing to fit my bump behind my bench. Despite sore ribs and constant indigestion, I think this has been my most enjoyable pregnancy yet. So looking forward to meeting this little one, yet still so much I want to do in
31 Weeks
Couldn't resist a 32 week bump shot. :) #baby3 #32weeks #twomonthstogo
32 Weeks
Hello bump! 35 weeks and 5 days. And the hair cut. :) @craftyrie #35weekspregnant #babythree
36 Weeks
37 weeks today. 11th Wedding anniversary tomorrow. Mother's Day the next day. So many reasons to be grateful. Xx #37weekspregnant
37 Weeks
Loving the portrait my five year old made of me at school. Melt. :)  #portrait #mamalove
'Cohen's Mum'

I was flicking back through the Instagram photos of my pregnancy today and wanted to pop them all in together in a post, along with the photos we have from two of the ultrasounds. I love seeing the progressive growth of my bump. I couldn't resist adding the portrait Cohen made of me at school too. So very cute.

Today I'm 37 weeks pregnant. Tomorrow I celebrate my 11th Wedding Anniversary. And the next day is Mother's Day. 

So very many reasons to be grateful and to celebrate.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Windy Weekend

+\
+
+
+
+

I spent as much time as possible this weekend indoors, out of the wild winds that whirled through Brisbane, only braving the breeze long enough to fight the flapping laundry. Instead I cleaned, baked, crafted, napped and nursed the sniffles. I finished the striped garter stitch blanket I've been working. After a wool wash it will be tucked in to my hospital bag. I also finished my first ever cross stitch, Alicia Paulson's Winterwoods ABC, which I am so pleased with. I do believe I will frame it and pop it on the picture ledge above my bed. I've pulled the half finished striped scarf out of my knitting basket now, and there's a few other projects still waiting in there once it is finished. 

I'm looking forward to a few more quiet, crafty weekends before the baby arrives.

-

PS.  I'm offering a free upgrade to Express Postage in Australia, on any purchase over $50 in my shop. Available until Thursday, 8 May 2014. Just leave the word 'EXPRESS' in the notes section to take advantage of this offer and ensure delivery in time for Mother's Day.

Saturday, May 3, 2014

New in the shop - Laser cut lovelies

Champagne and flowers
Champagne and Flowers Drop Earrings

Friday's Flower
Friday's Flower Brooch

Sketch
Initial sketches

I'm so pleased to share this collection of laser cut wooden jewellery pieces. Not only are they new additions to my shop, they signify a new direction for my work as I explore the exciting possibilities of realising my designs in wood.

Vintage meets modern in these beautiful laser cut pieces, which were inspired by my Grandmother's doilies. I love the contrast between the abstract lace patterns and the wood. Perfect for everyday wear, and especially lovely as a gift. These wooden beauties look just as wonderful with jeans and a cardigan, as they do with a floral frock.

The custom laser cutting and engraving is completed by a Queensland based small business, and all pieces are then lovingly finished and assembled by hand in my studio. Pop over to the shop for a peek at the whole collection.

-

For your chance to win a pair of my silver 'Lois' hoops, click over to the lovely blog, My Vintage Childhood, for an interview and giveaway with yours truly. Winner drawn Mother's Day, so quick sticks!

Friday, May 2, 2014

This Moment - 36 weeks

Hello bump! 35 weeks and 5 days. And the hair cut. :) @craftyrie #35weekspregnant #babythree

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. - Soule Mama
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...