Emile Heirloom Tiara

This is my latest Heirloom Tiara, caled Emile. I used a 1950's cold painted enamel and diamante brooch and earrings, silvertone tiara base, Swarovski crystal, glass rocailles, freshwater pearls and silver plated wire to make this piece.

10th September 2009 - The Saddest News

Today I had to have my beautiful pussycat Cleo put to sleep. For weeks Mark and I have been trying to keep her alive by wrapping her in a towel and feeding her with a spoon, but today I lost her - despite only being 11, she had some terrible tumours in her tummy which meant she was in pain and was dying...she had an ultrasound and the vet rang me with the news, I went up there to be with her for one last terrible, hideous, heart-rending, touching hour - she sat on my lap wrapped in a blanket, pushed her face into the crook of my elbow and purred constantly - I sang her her song 'You Are My Sunshine' and too soon, the vet helped her slip away...this lovely little cat whom I loved as my child, who would sit with me in my studio whilst I worked, who comforted me every time my arthritis hurt, who purred me to sleep each night, my funny little black and white cat who followed me everywhere, is gone.

Studio Pics

Some new pictures from my studio - excuse the mess!! I love this space - its really why I went for the house - some people love a big kitchen, mine is tiny - but the studio is in the loft space where I have lots of light and air and space. Though most of the space is taken to be honest....maybe I'll have to move again....

Currently Reading....

Books I am currently reading...

Amelia Earhart; The Mystery Solved - chronicles the life up to and during the ill-fated flight that resulted in the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and her co-pilot.  This is a fascinating subject which could have made a wonderful book but the author went into some minutiae which really made it a bit tedious in the end...sadly the result of the flight is that she went missing and really no-one will know what happened so all the technical detail was for me superflous, though perhaps if you fly planes for a living it might be interesting.  I was more interested in the person and what drove her and I found the book lightweight in this.     Living the Creative Life: Ideas and Inspiration from Working Artists by Rice Freeman-Zachery - I subscribe to Rice's blog (see my blog list) and her books are wildly entertaining, wonderfully and beautifully writtten and presented and offer a wealth of support and inspiration for any artist in any medium...this is one of those books that I read constantly on and off, if only to remind myself I am not the only nut in the world.    Abundance, a Novel of Marie Antoinette by Sena Jeter Naslund; this got off to a shaky start and I put it down and picked it up a few times before settling to it.  Its historical fiction, but actually in the end I picked up some more interesting stuff about Marie Antoinette and enjoyed it. 
Tiaras: Past and Present by Geoffrey Munn; I read this book on and off all the time - with beautiful photography, this is an informative refrence work about the history and culture of tiara wearing - even if you have never worn one (they're perfect for shopping at Tesco), this is a fascinating book that chronicles society, history and the wearing of hair jewellery.

My Pussycat Cleo is Very Ill

It seems that it is 'Pet Trials and Tribulations' year because my lovely little pussycat Cleo is very ill - current thinking is that she has a heart problem and she has given up eating and is very unwell indeed - she is on a regular drug regime and we are having to force feed her several times a day which sounds dreadful but I guess its better than her starving to death - Cleo is the nearest I will ever get to having a child of my own, and this little cat is my constant companion, she sleeps on her own chair to keep me company in the studio when I work, wherever I am, she is, we snuggle up at night together and she always gives me love and cuddles when I am not well so seeing her this way - and she is only 11, is very very upsetting...its breaking my heart that I cannot seem to do anything for her and she seems to be so sick - she has been coming to me recently and making a special point of sitting on my knee and giving me a lot of love.  I sort of deep down know what she is saying, and I just don't want to hear it, I just want to make her better so we can have another 11 years together.  

New Bracelets

Latest bracelets I've made for SLC Designs - these have yet to go on the site, so this is a bit of a preview - if you are interested in any of these, please just get in touch at stephanie@slcdesigns.co.uk

Above - first of a series of 'Upcycled' vintage pieces - 1950's brooch and mother of pearl bracelet link, acrylic silvertone flower, Swarovski crystal and Swarovski crystal pearls.

My Friend Lisa's husband in a tv advert!

My friend Lisa married Paul in August...and it seems he's 'famous'!!  He stars in this RAF advertisment...