The Facebook Ring Experiment

I was recently approached by London jewellery designer Andrew Geoghegan to spread the word about a very interesting experiment that he is running at the moment. I had a look at his fantastic work and decided it was definitely worth sharing.

He is designing a ring in partnership with his facebook likers. Each week, Andrew asks a question regarding a different aspect of the ring design. A series of options are presented, allowing the audience to vote on the decision.

http://www.facebook.com/andrewgeogheganjewellery/app_197602066931325

Follow the link above for a funny little video about the "Facebook Ring Competition". The experiment is about one third of the way through, but it's never too late to join in. Oh I can't wait to see what the people choose!

Love from The Jeweller. xx

The Jeweller in Arabia Part Three- Being a Tourist

In my earlier blog post "The Jeweller in Arabia", I shared with you the experience of the Dubai Gold Souk and seeing the world's largest gold ring. Then in "The Jeweller in Arabia Part Two- Pattern Inspiration" I showed you some of the inspiring Islamic patterns that I discovered in the UAE, which are bound to influence my future work. Everything I do seems to somehow relate back to my profession as a jeweller and whilst I did spend a lot of my holiday gawping at the scenery and contemplating how it may influence my work in some way, it was a holiday and I did do my fair share of touristy stuff. Today's post is a rather non-jewellery one, with some pretty tourist pictures of my holiday in the United Arab Emirates.

So, other than thinking jewellery, what did I get up to during my time in Arabia? Well, I lazed by the pool with a book, walked along the beach, and shopped 'til I dropped, of course! I ate in fine restaurants and street side cafes, discovering a new obsession with fresh hummus and chocolate covered dates. I toured Abu Dhabi's Grand Mosque and learnt about the Emirati culture and religion. I shopped in the souks and world famous malls with their indoor ski slopes and giant aquariums. I scaled Burj Khalifa, the world's highest building, and had a drink at the Atlantis Hotel on a giant man-made island in the shape of a palm tree. I explored the desert, rode a camel and had a close encounter with a peregrine falcon. I watched the musical fountains and marvelled at the city lights by night with a drink in hand and a smile a mile wide. All in the company of my fabulous friend and personal tour guide Mike who is living and working in Dubai. I'm sure I could go on, but I'll let my pictures do the talking. Here is a selection of some of my favourite snaps from Arabia.

Yes, it truly was an amazing holiday. Enough bragging from me today. More adventures, and plenty of jewellery stories from me soon.
Thanks for reading!

Love from The Jeweller. xx

The Jeweller in Arabia Part Two- Pattern Inspiration

So, as previously mentioned, I have recently returned from a trip to the United Arab Emirates. As a child I loved the Disney film 'Aladdin', watching the video over and over again. So you can imagine how thrilled I was to find myself amongst a real life Arabian paradise. Apart from being safe, immaculately clean and loads of fun, everything in Dubai is just BEAUTIFUL! The attention to detail is beyond anything I have ever seen. Artworks of geometric patterns adorn the facades of buildings, bridges and street lamps. Everywhere I looked there was something to be admired, photographs waiting to be taken. Here is a montage that I have created to show you some of these beautiful embellishments.

My new found love for Islamic art is the perfect inspiration for a new jewellery range. The ideas are flowing in thick and fast. But first, I need to catch up on all the work I put off over the last couple of months! So off to the workbench I go. More tales soon. :-)

Love from The Jeweller. xx

The Confession

It has been almost two weeks since my last blog post; a far cry from my commitment of telling a tale every third day. The Kidson Jewellery and Japonicity facebook pages have been unusually quiet too. I'm starting to receive some of those "Where have you gone?" and "Why so quiet, are you ok?" kind of messages. So here is my confession- I have been sick, tired, sulky and yes, I'm not afraid to admit it, even just a bit lazy!

At first it was jet lag and an unhappy belly from airsickness on a long flight. Then a virus (probably picked up on the airplane) kicked in a few days later. Just as I thought I was getting better, round two hit and the body aches, fever and mucus *cringe* started all over again. Combine that with an excruciatingly sore back (newly diagnosed scoliosis and bulged disc, yep, I've been in a world of pain!) and post-holiday-blues. Well, I'm sure you get the point; I have been one miserable jeweller for the past few weeks.

But enough of the whingeing and excuses, I am picking myself up off the floor and jumping back into life. I have spent the last week travelling around visiting some of my fabulous friends and family and am feeling back on top of the world. I have lots of exciting things to make for my beautiful clients and stories aplenty to tell you of my recent adventures.

Here's to getting out of the rut and back into the swing of things!

Love from The Jeweller. xx

The Left Overs

Before getting on with my stories of recent travels and jewellery adventures, I want to complete a tale which I began to tell you last month; Katrina's stories.

After creating "The Ring With a Hinge", there were four emeralds and one diamond left over from Katrina's original eternity ring, that I had not been able to utilise within her new ring. As the stones were from her precious bridal jewellery, she wanted to use them all up in new pieces that she could love and wear again. Admiring my Encased Designs, Katrina suggested a pendant with one of her favourite Japanese fabrics in shades of green, rimmed with the left over emeralds and diamond. I re-designed the smaller sized Encased Designs pendant to have a nice thick rim in which to set the stones. The result was lovely; a really nice new take on my production range.

Katrina's pendant in sterling silver with Japanese fabric encased behind acrylic and set with emeralds and a diamond.

Then, after making "The Second Ring For Katrina" there was a very small amount of gold left over. With an idea in my mind of some earrings that I wanted to test out, I suggested a pair of stud earrings. Katrina was happy to let me create anything I wanted her for and so I went to work on these little dome and ball earrings that had been on my mind for a while.


Katrina's earrings 9ct white gold domes with 18ct yellow gold balls.

Katrina always brightens my day whenever I see her. She has such a positive attitude in life and spreads that positivity with her wherever she goes. It has been an absolute pleasure making her jewellery and I do enjoy the fact that she is always wearing my work every time I see her.

Love from The Jeweller. xx

The Wrap-Up of March 2012

March is gone and with a busy April on the horizon, I am home in Australia and ready to get back into my studio. Before I get back to writing my promised stories of jewellery and travel, here is my wrap-up of the month that was March 2012.

With flights booked to leave on an overseas trip on March 7th, the month started in absolute chaos. I always seem to bite off more than I can chew, and that week was no exception. I had a large volume of work to complete, that three jewellers working full time would have struggled with. So I worked day and night running on an average of three hours sleep a night like a crazed jewellery making machine. My poor assistant Tania was working ten hour days in the studio, a big change from her usual ten hours per week. At the end of it all she promptly said to me, "You and I should not work together tired and cranky, that really sucked!" I couldn't agree more. The first week of March did really suck. But by the time March 7th came around I had somehow managed to finish all the important jobs and this very tired jeweller was winging her way across the globe.

The rest of the month was filled with adventures around the United Arab Emirates and Bangladesh, returning to Australia just in time to be at the wedding of one of my closest friends, textiles designer Amy Kerr from "Moyou". I won't go into the details of my trip or Amy's wedding today; there is so much to tell you that I will have to spread it over several blog posts in the coming month.

So how am I going with all those new year's resolutions? House isn't bad, a little messy but nothing that a good day of cleaning and tidying won't fix. The studio is coming along too (*little happy dance*). I spent a big two days working my way through some of the mess as soon as I arrived home from my trip. On the weight loss front, well, you all know how hard it is to diet whilst on holidays. I am quite proud to say that I only put on half a kilo during my trip. Not a bad effort really! I do admit that I totally ruined my no-stress-new-year hopes during that first week of March. But if I only have one or two weeks of that hair-pulling stress in 2012, life will be much improved on previous years. Oh, and for those waiting on further bathroom reno info, there is none. Still no word on an arrival date for my vanity, and until that happens progress is at a standstill.

Last but not least, I am still enjoying my photo-a-day challenge. Those with an iPhone or iPad are most welcome to follow my images from day to day by downloading the free "instagram" app and searching for me under the user name the_jeweller. Here is my March in photographs.

Sorry again for my lack of blogging over the last month. I couldn't bear to spend too much time in front of the computer writing when there were so many exciting things to see and explore on my trip. All the stories of my March adventures and plenty more jewellery tales are coming soon, I promise!

Love from The Jeweller. xx