Here’s a little look at things I’ve been doing to prepare:

Lots of exciting new plaster pieces

Working out how to display everything

Metal cut-outs and drawings for my new "Precious Metal" collection

Silver and Gold Flower Necklace from Precious Metal Collection

Silver Flower Necklace from Precious Metal Collection

Gold Flower Necklace from Precious Metal Collection

You can see all of my new Precious Metal Collection on the Facebook page for Miriam Rowe Jewellery. I’d love to know what you think of the new pieces!

I’ll write again after the show and I’m sure I’ll have lots of photos of the whole process to share when I’m back. In the meantime, it’s back to my VERY large To Do list…

I left around mid-morning (needed time to pop into the studio and print out a map of the city centre, just in case I got too hopelessly lost). It was a clear, sunny day, and since I’d never been over to that side of the country, it was perfect weather for viewing the scenery. I spent the whole 2 hours on the train listening to music and keeping my camera ready so I could snap photos of whatever interesting things I saw along the way [the Liverpudlian businessman sat across the aisle from me was obviously thinking, "What is wrong with this person?!"]

Abandoned factory outside Wolverhampton

Quirky mansion in the Midlands

Crewe Station

Giant rubbish heap outside Liverpool

Beatles moment, passing the stop for John Lennon Airport

Interesting railway wall: seemed to have been built in several stages

When I walked out of Lime Street Station, I saw the Walker Art Gallery, so of course I made a bit of a detour on my way to the Tate:

Even though these are gigantic paintings on a wall, the fact that they were hung on chains immediately made me think of them as giant pieces of jewellery

There’s a really excellent exhibition on at the gallery right now: glass artist  has made a collection of glass dresses. They’re absolutely beautiful as objects, and looking at the gorgeous light-catching colours and forms made me wish I was brave enough (and tiny enough!) to wear one of them [which her artist statement says is exactly the sentiment she is battling against!] They have a whimsical sort of “Cinderella” feel, and they’re fascinating to look at.

After an enjoyable late morning in the Walker Art Gallery, I made my way through town, enjoying the sights and sounds. The Scouse accent is absolutely fantastic: there aren’t many British accents that I have a hard time deciphering any more, but a thick Liverpool/Scouse accent is definitely one of the ones that’s very difficult! I made my way to Albert Dock, where Tate Liverpool is located.

Tate Liverpool: my destination!

After dropping my piece off and getting to take a look around the exhibition space, I wandered around the Docks a bit more:

View from Albert Dock

Albert Dock

It's not a city if there's not a "London Eye"

It's also not a real city unless there is a Duck Tour!

I had a great time wandering around, but there was a massively cold wind battering away:

It was windy.

It was VERY windy.

The wind got so strong that I decided to make my way back to the station to catch my train back to Birmingham. On the walk back, I overheard a woman exclaiming, “Aaaaagh! The wind is blowing my earrings off: it’s going to take my eyelashes next!”

I like Liverpool.

I woke up this morning to some exciting news: my William Morris Brooch has been shortlisted for Tate Liverpool’s “New Perspectives” Exhibition!

I’ll keep you updated on what happens next- in the meantime, it’s another day at the studio for me, getting ready for Handmade in Britain, Bath. Bye for now!

Standing at my section of the stand

I just got back from the British Craft Trade Fair (BCTF) in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Design Space, the studio collective I’m a part of this year, paid for us to do the show, so the eighteen of us who are on the program went up to take part in it.

I must admit that I was a bit skeptical about this show: I had spoken to a lot of different people about it, people who knew my jewellery and had been to the BCTF, and some seemed to think it would be a good venue for me, while others were convinced I shouldn’t even bother. I’ve never done a trade fair before, and if it hadn’t been for Design Space, I’m not sure I ever would have thought about doing one. I am so glad I got a chance to do it.

Empty Stalls

We got to the Yorkshire Events Centre on Saturday morning to set up our stand: with eighteen of us showing, our stand was by far the largest of the 300+ stands there!

It took ages to set everything up: we had to assemble all of the stands before putting out our pieces, postcards, price lists, and info.

Finished

Once we had everything out, it was absolutely stunning. It was so amazing to see eighteen completely different kinds of jewellery all on the same stand: there really was something for everyone!

My section

The trade fair opened Sunday morning at 10:00. It was so crazy to think that after months and months of preparation I was finally here and it was finally starting! I really had no idea what to expect, but as soon as buyers and galleries came to the stand and started chatting, it was so easy to get into the flow and enjoy talking about my favourite thing: jewellery!

I spoke to several galleries who are interested in what I’m doing, so I’ll be chatting with them and hopefully getting several new places where my work will be sold very soon: I’ll update you on that as things are finalised.

If you missed the last post and want to see which pieces I exhibited at the BCTF, you can see that here

New collection: made and photographed.
Customised boxes hand made to fit each piece: finally finished.
Brochures: printed.
Display: sorted, I think.
Suitcase: nearly packed.

British Craft Trade Fair in North Yorkshire this weekend: Go.

I’ve been toying with this idea for ages, but the Spring 2011 trend of clashing patterns spurred me on to design this series of pendants that can be worn on either side! The handmade silver bales can be easily taken off the chain and turned the other way, making it extremely easy to change the look of your jewellery whenever you feel like it.

Making double sided pendants ended up being way more complicated than I thought it would be: with all of the image transfers, there’s a certain margin of error I have to build in, because for reasons I still haven’t managed to figure out, the image transferring process doesn’t always work. So when you take the normal margin of error for a single side and double it, it takes several tries to get a plaster pendant with good transfers on both sides. Once I’ve managed to get both sides to transfer well, I then have to undertake the risky task of drilling a hole into this hard material: if the piece overheats while it’s drilled, it can flake off large sections or even shatter! If the piece manages to have good images on it AND make it through the drilling process, it then has to survive being lasered: I use the laser welder to weld a silver bar through the plaster piece for added strength and security.

Because these pieces are so complicated and have so many things that can go wrong during their production, I have decided to make a limited number of these, with each one being one-of-a-kind.

I’m taking these as part of a new collection of pieces that I am exhibiting at the British Craft Trade Fair in Harrogate next weekend (April 3-5)

Once the British Craft Trade Fair is finished, I’ll be making a few more double-sided pieces to add to this series, but I think I’ll stop at ten pieces. It’s a bit crazy to think that right now there are only three double-sided plaster pendants in the WORLD (at least as far as I know! I’ve done really extensive market research and can’t find anyone else who does image transfers on plaster).

Once I’m back from the BCTF I have another new collection to present that I’m really, really excited about (hint: I’ve gone back to my metalworking roots for this one!)

I’ll also do a blog about the British Craft Trade Fair, as I’ve never done a trade fair before. I’m really looking forward to seeing what it’s like, as I would never have done a trade fair if it weren’t for Design Space (<- guest article I wrote about the studio collective I’m a part of)

It’s a busy time for Miriam Rowe Jewellery, but I’m really excited about all the new things that I’ve made and I would love to hear what you think of these double sided pendants!

Irregular Choice Shoes

This is a great style to play around with, because you probably don’t have to buy any new clothing to make it work! Most of us have patterned scarves, blouses, and handbags sitting around, not being used because the color or pattern doesn’t go with our current wardrobe. It’s time to get them back out! If you’re one of those lucky ones who don’t have a bunch of unused patterned accessories lying around the house, charity shops/thrift stores are full of good finds.

I’ve put together a few suggestions for ways you could make this trend work for you, because, let’s face it, we probably don’t want to look like we just stepped off the catwalk!

http://labellease.com/blog/?p=66

1. Mix clashed patterns with a classic piece of clothing to give an edge without being crazy.

[Dress: JC Penneys, All accessories: Liberty of London]

2. Be subtle. Very few people can pull off an entire outfit of clashed patterns (and very few people would WANT to pull that off!)

3. Try clashing the patterns of your accessories, while keeping your main outfit in a solid color. If you can manage to have the main colour in your outfit match all of your accessories, it will give you a polished overall look that won’t hurt anyone’s eyes.

[Dress: Cath Kidston, Bag: Accessorize, Shoes: Irregular Choice, Umbrella: Cath Kidston, Scarf: House of Fraser]

4. Buy an outfit with the clashing patterns built in. If you don’t feel confident mixing your own patterns, let the clothing designer do all the work for you- that's their job!

[Dress and scarf: Dolce & Gabbana]

D&G Scarf at House of Fraser

5. To build your look around a patterned piece of clothing, remember to let the patterns clash and the colors mesh. This dress from Macy’s has a lot of possibilities: the pattern is subtle and the colors are present but not too bold, making it perfect for tying the accessories together without making you look like you’re in costume.

I had so much fun “shopping” for these outfits! I absolutely love this style trend and am currently working on making a collection of jewellery based on it- more on that in my next post :)
What do you think of wearing clashing patterns?
Do you have any more suggestions for making this trend work all of us who will never set foot on a catwalk? I’d love to know what you think.