I'm not dead - just resting...

Well, despite my dreams of getting a jewellery business off the ground, it seems to be feast or famine in terms of getting the time to do so. Since leaving my full-time job last October, I've started working freelance as a translator and got a full-time contract in Germany from March - which means I'm not even in the same country as my beloved crystals, gemstones and silver!

But I'm back for a whirlwind resumption of business at the Kings Langley and Abbots Langley festival of the arts, with my own stand at the craft fair, kindly assisted by Wendy Beaumont (who is also appearing in the play! go and see it!).

If you're around Watford, take a detour out to the Abbots Langley church, which is worth seeing just for itself, and have a look at all the fantastic crafts that the village has to offer - patchwork quilting, card making, woodworking, lace making, stained glass and more!

No question, it's hand made

I went out to dinner with some friends, one of whom is a silversmith, and showed them what I'd done in class. I really liked it, as I do the 'damage' pendants, but wasn't sure why.

But I think my friend understood - as she handed the bangle back to me she said "there's no question it's hand made."

We sometimes go around craft fairs together and speculate on what is and isn't mass produced. And while I have great respect for a lot of the silver jewellery I see, there's something too polished about a lot of it. I like seeing the tool marks, evidence that a human hand worked on it.