My Blog of Inspiration
Grand opening!
My beautiful re-vamped website www.blue-almonds.eu is now officially open and working :) It not only has new smarter design but most important: it has a cart so you can buy more than one item at a time! Tempting :)
Brand new
New, fresh and re-designed Blue Almonds website is coming very soon! Stay tuned next week :)
The Kiss
I fell in love with Topaz as a gemstone when I first saw it in one jewellery shop in Warsaw. It was a large honey-golden Imperial Topaz set in a very pretty gold ring. I wanted that ring so badly, it was almost like the stone was talking to me "buy me, you have to have me"! But... I couldn't afford it, it was extremly expensive and I don't think it would suit a teenager's look ;)Later on I discovered White or Silver Topaz - the colourless, transparent variety that is much more common and not so much expensive but still full of sparkles, charm and this very special Topaz magic. And one day a miracle happened: searching for gems for a commissioned piece I came accross Rutile (or Rutilated) Topaz. Why miracle, you ask? Because the inclusions, the golden needles, are almost of the same golden hue I loved so much that day years ago AND the stone price was within my budget! So I got the beautifully hand cut oval and for over a week I waited impatiently for my mail.When I saw the stone in a daylight, on my palm, I knew it deserved a very special design. Personally I don't like gold jewellery and to me Topaz looks very good when set just in in Silver but the golden needles were asking for gold... so I combined the metals together. On a Sterling Silver frame I wrapped 14K Goldfill wire and setting the stone I used the opposite technique: on a thin golden wire I wrapped the Sterling Silver. A added a few little Freshwater Pearls for more oldfashioned feel and to make the ring look like an old jewel.Please let me introduce Il Bacio (The Kiss)
One last commission...
...before I go on my maternity leave :) Inspiration behind the "Black Velvet" set is a rock song written by Canadian musicians and recorded by a Canadian singer Alannah Myles in 1989. According to Wikipedia the song refers to the soulful black sound of Elvis' voice and the many African American recording artists and singers he emulated to create his special brand of rock’n'roll. I weaved and wrapped the ring and hoops using only Sterling Silver in a design with little hearts – sweet and gentle like so many of Elvis’s songs. I oxidised the set heavily and only delicately polished to keep the soft black patina, to give the jewellery the romantic aged look.
the hoops are 4cm in diameter, the ring is UK size O 1/2
Ice cream...
This time the inspiration came from... food! And to be precise from a certain, very special type of ice cream: Straciatella. This Italian "gelato" with a white base and chocolate shavings is similar to the American chocolate chip ice. I love the snow white and coffee black colour combination - it's the most elegant yet simple you can imagine (well, maybe except just pure black!). In the newest Straciatella Ice necklace a large briolette of Black Rutile Quartz combines these two colours: natural white translucent Quartz with black needles of Rutile. The pendant shape was inspired by the Art Nouveau, Art Deco and also a little bit by the mysterious Inca jewellery.
Sleepless nights
Sometimes I can't sleep. I like then to get up in the middle of the night and watch the world from our livingroom window. Sometimes I see magic, like the orange Moon rising over Cromarty Firth on a perfectly cobalt blue sky. Other nights I would stay long in my studio designing or creating new piece of jewellery, like the last earrings. The shape was inspired by the Art Nouveau and the colour palette by that rising Moon and that night sky... I call them Sleepless Night :)
The power of stones
I've been asked many times already whether I draw or sketch my designs. The answer is... no and yes. "No" - because usually it's the stone who is the leader: its shape and texture, its colour and warmth that I feel in my hands when I touch it. Sometimes I prepare colour combinations that I like and think they will work well and then when I start working all the set up disappears if the main stone doesn't agree.It can be the wire that too leads my fingers - how it wants to serpent on the stone, how it curves to fit the shape. And nothing can be done by force. The stone breaks. The wire snatches. I get impatient.Sometimes, however, the answer is "Yes" - I do sketch and I do it with more and more details. The designs that are first created on paper tend to be more elaborate in the very specific and unique Art Nouveau style which requires certain shapes of curves, certain proportions and balance. Sometimes I follow the drawing to a single line, like in the French Baroque pendant.
Sometimes, though, even the sketch won't work when the stones don't agree. That was the case when I started working on The Dream Comes True, having already chosen one of my favourite Crystal Quartz focals: a big, clear and pure freeform Quartz... which didn't cooperate with the wires and with the design at all!
Eventually I gave up and soon found a perfect replacement: the square Silver Rutile Quartz cabochon. And I love the outcome!I try not to fight with the stones. Maybe they are my true Muse?
Early birthday treat
For some time now I had been dreaming to spend my birthday on the West Coast: drive to Ullapool, have the best fish&chips in the area, walk on the beach and treat myself to a silk shawl from a very special craft shop we discovered few years ago there. We had been talking about when would the best time be for my dream to come true as I wanted that day to be... well... maybe not perfect but at least not wet! But in Scotland you can never be sure what the weather would be in the next few hours so planning ahead is almost impossible. Today the weather was so summery, so sunny and warm that even though my birthday is still two weeks away we spontaneously decided to celebrate it NOW! At midday we set off for Ullapool and from then on the day was just perfect :)
We stopped at a car park to admire the view over Loch Broom... and for some sunbathing :)
We had the fish&chips and then took a lazy stroll in the village now flooded with flowers! (on the photo a little local bar). Then we drove few miles further North and had a walk on the beach in perfect sunshine:
And if you think I forgot about my last treat... well, how about a royal blue-and-purple Pashmina with cashmere and silk :D
Early Happy Birthday to me!
Little gift
A little gift for a friend: large Rhyolite flat drop adorned only with simple Art Nouveau style design and one tiny Freshwater Pearl. Heavily oxidised and delicately polished to keep the black and shiny patina.
NEW rings made to order
Little wild flowers are now covering our garden like a colourful carpet. I couldn't resist this inspiration and during the last few days I was creating like mad new delicate rings. Each ring features just one gemstone in a colour representing one of the litte gems of Nature - the meadow flowers I can see in the grass. There is yellow Citrine, blue Iolite (or Water Sapphire), snow white Freshwater Pearl, grass green Vesuvian. Every stone is measures about 2-3mm and is of exceptional quality. I wrapped the band in my now favourite basket weave and then oxidised and hand polished the ring to bring out the pattern. Simple, everyday adornment.
These rings will be made to order: you can pick the stone you want in your ring and let me know your ring size :) I will be listing the rings in the next few days so check my shop regularly! And there will be more gems too: I really want use my little orange Carnelians and smooth purple Garnets...
