June 2008

For sale: Six lovely necklaces

by Suw on June 21, 2008

You’ve probably noticed that I’ve been making jewellery, ever since the preparations for my wedding exposed me to the jewellery making bug. My friend Kate (who’s busy finishing up her degree and therefore hasn’t blogged in, oh, eight months) and I are off to Herstmonceux in August, and I promised to make 30 necklaces in a roughly renaissance style. I found a great gallery of portraits and have been basing my designs on some of the jewellery depicted in those paintings. Some of the necklace names reflect the portrait from which I drew inspiration. Some don’t.

I’ve now made more than 30 necklaces, and am starting to run out of raw materials, so it’s time to sell some to fund my habit! Rather than use Etsy, which is set up for American sellers, or eBay, which mostly lists stuff at such low prices that I wonder if they fell off the back of a lorry, I’m just going to list the necklaces here, with PayPal buttons. That’s the option that most of the people who have completed my survey so far have said they prefer. (Please do pop over and spend a minute or two filling my survey in, as its really useful for me to know what people like, rather than base everything on assumptions.)

Memling
I have two necklaces in this style, based on the painting, The Presentation in the Temple by Hans Memling c. 1463.

Memling

Dark grey 6mm glass pearls with silver fixings, roughly 16 inches (41 cm), with a toggle clasp (bar and hoop). £18.00.

SOLD

Memling

Ivory 4mm glass pearls with gold fixings, roughly 16.5 inches (42cm), with a toggle clasp. £16.50.

SOLD

I also have these available in silver/light grey & gold/champagne in different lengths. Email me if you want more details, or want me to custom make for you.

Isabel
This necklace is based on the painting of Isabel of Portugal by Rogier van der Weyden from the mid 1400s.

Isabel

Light grey 10mm glass pearls with silver fixings, roughly 16.5 inches (42cm), with a toggle clasp. £14.50.

SOLD

Also available in ivory and champagne.

Medici
Based on the portrait of Maria de ‘Medici by Agnolo Bronzino from 1551.

Medici

Ivory 6mm glass pearls with silver fixings, roughly 17 inches (43cm), with a toggle clasp. £15.00.

SOLD

Also available with smaller ivory pearls.

Half Anne
Based on the portrait of Queen Anne of Denmark by Marc Gheeraerts the younger, c. 1600, but with one string (the lower) of pearl instead of two. I also do the two-string version if you’re interested.

Half Anne

Ivory 6mm glass pearls with silver fixings, 17 inches (43cm), with a toggle clasp. £17.00.

Also available in other colours.

Bridgette
Inspired by a necklace I saw at the British Museum, this champagne 6mm glass pearl necklace features tiny metal beads between the pearls.

Bridgette

Champagne 6mm glass pearls with silver fixings, roughly 15″ (38 cm), with a toggle clasp. £14.50.

Also available in light grey, dark grey, ivory and white.

And lots more
I’ve got lots more up on Flickr, so if you fancy buying any of them, or if you want something made in a specific colour or to a custom length, please just email me.

Materials
All necklaces are made of the highest quality glass pearls I can find, but you must look after them carefully – they should be the last thing you put on and the first thing you take off. Do not ever spray perfume, hairspray or other solvents onto them, as you’ll take off the shine. Mum put her wedding pearls on and then liberally sprayed perfume all over them, which took off the pearl coating completely and covered her skin with pearly blobs, so don’t make that mistake! To clean them, polish with a soft cloth.

Fixings (clasps, wire, rings, etc.) are generally plated silver or gold. When necklaces are threaded, they use Beadalon stringing wire which is nigh on indestructible as far as I can see, and which won’t stretch. All necklaces will be sent out in simple packaging, i.e. no presentation boxes. If you want to make a gift of the necklace, please let me know and I will go out and get a presentation box for you.

If you ever have a problem with your necklace, email me and I’ll give you an address to send them back to. I will mend or replace them free of charge.

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More curiosity about your jewellery preferences

by Suw on June 20, 2008

I’m still sitting here of an evening, making jewellery, usually when my brain has turned itself off for the night. I’ve come up with a few new styles since my last post, and am going to put some of them up for sale this weekend. It’d be nice to earn back some of the money I’ve spent on making them, and be able to buy some more materials.

Meantime, I’m very interested in your opinions on things like colour, whether you like matching sets, etc. so that I know where to focus my efforts. I have put together a short survey of eight questions, and I would be very grateful if those of you who buy jewellery could spend just a few short moments filling it in. Just pop along to PollDaddy and get cracking.

If you’re curious, these are the questions:

Q.1 When buying jewellery, how important is it that you can buy matching set of earrings, necklace and bracelet?
Q.2 If you like matching sets, what is most important to you?
Q.3 When buying a period bracelet, do you have a preference for a clasp type?
Q.4 Your favourite colour for pearl jewellery is:
Q.5 What other colour pearl jewellery would you like to see me make?
Q.6 Your favourite colour for jewellery ‘fixings’ (the clasp, etc) is:
Q.7 When you buy stuff online you prefer [to buy from]:
Q.8 If you just answered “Another option”, what other option?

See! Really very easy.

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Fruitful Seminars: Making Social Tools Ubiquitous

by Suw on June 11, 2008

I blogged this on Strange Attractor before Kev and I went off on hols, but thought it was worth cross posting.

Lloyd Davis, Leisa Reichelt and I have been spending a lot of time plotting just lately, and the result of our machinations was the creation, at midnight in a semi-derelict Gothic mansion and with the help of a bolt of lightening, of Fruitful Seminars. The three of us will be putting on a number of day-long seminars on various Web 2.0 subjects over the next few months, starting on 27 June with my session, Making Social Tools Ubiquitous:

Many companies have heard that social tools, such as wikis and blogs, can help them improve communications, increase collaboration and nurture innovation. As the best of breed tools are often open source, it is easy and cheap to experiment with pilot projects. But what do you do if you don’t get the level of engagement you’d like? And how do you progress from a small-scale pilot to widespread adoption?

This seminar, run by social media expert Suw Charman-Anderson, will take a practical look at the adoption of social tools within enterprise. During the day you will be lead through each stage of Suw’s renowned social media adoption strategy and will have the opportunity to discuss your own specific issues with the group. You will have access to one of the UK’s best known social media consultants in an intimate setting – with no more than 9 people attending – that will allow you to get the very most out of the day. By the end of the seminar you will have a clear set of next steps to take apply to your own blogs or wikis.

Perfect for CXO executives, managers, and social media practitioners who want to know how to foster widespread adoption of social tools in the enterprise. Perhaps you have already installed some blogs or wikis for internal communications and collaboration, but aren’t getting the take-up you had hoped for; or have successfully completed a pilot and want to roll-out to the rest of the company.

We’re keeping the sessions very small, with a maximum of nine people attending each one, so that everyone has the opportunity to fully take part in discussions. Sessions will be quite practical and participants will be able to really get into the nitty gritty. I think that’s something that’s really missing from conferences and the bigger workshops – you don’t get the chance to really get down and dirty with what’s relevant to you. I want people to come away from my seminar with a really clear idea of what they are going to do next, and how they are going to do it.

Registration is already open – it’s very easy to sign up and payment can be made by PayPal or cheque/bank transfer. The fee includes lunch, tea and coffee.

We also now have a Fruitful Seminars mailing list on Google that is open to anyone to join, where we’ll keep you abreast of progress and you can let us know what you’re thinking.

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