Dior pop up shop

Call in to Harrods to see Dior's London window display and pop up shop - shoes travelling on red buses, handbags bobbing around in the Thames under Tower Bridge:)

Clerkenwell Show this weekend

The Private View last night was fun and if you missed it, you can call this evening after work - 4-8pm - or over the weekend. 

You'll love the incredible range of talent and stunning creations at Craft Central Gets Hitched 

(whether getting married or not!)

Claire Hart Design New Collection

Claire Hart Design is launching a new Collection at Craft Central Gets Hitched next week.  
Be one of the first to see her stunning new China-inspired designs.  Click here for your invitation to the show.

New Rose Branch Necklace

 Craft Central Gets Hitched returns for 2013! Give your wedding some character with unique, handmade products by 60 designer makers. Fed up of sprawling soulless commercial wedding fairs? Get personal at Craft Central 21-24 March 2013! All you need to add a handmade touch to the big day. From the bride herself to guests looking for the ideal gift, there’s something for everyone… and, what’s more, IT’S FREE! 

Browse ready to buy products, commission your own piece or discover a bespoke service. Our designers are as excited as you are about your big day (well, almost!) so come and meet them!

Two stalls at Southbank

Spark Productions

Claire Hart Design

Here they are at the Women of the World Festival, my silver jewellery on the stall I shared with Flux  jeweller Alex Yule, and the glorious technicolour products my students made for the Mulberry stall!

Huge thanks to all the colleagues who helped set up the students' stall and brought them on the trip to Southbank. Thanks also to Tim Scott and Gillian Arnold for printing the mugs - they sold really well!

The students can't wait to count their earnings tomorrow........they'll discover that they did fantastically well:)

WoW Festival at Southbank

I saw Jesse Norman introducing some speed mentoring - from a distance! 

Sea Bamboo Bracelet with Butterflies

The Women of the World Festival at the Royal Festival Hall today was packed, with inspiring speakers and lots of info for women in business and in charity work.

Lovely chatting to people at the stall I'm sharing with Alex Yule Jewellery.10% of my sales this weekend goes towards Eden Ministries, a charity I've seen in action in Kunming. They successfully rescue women from trafficking, using a holistic approach, which includes providing them with safe accomodation and teaching them jewellery-making skills in workshops.

My students made fantastic sales today on their stall 'Spark Productions' - and came to help sell! They had a great time.

Looking forward to two more busy days at Southbank this weekend!

Ming Crown at the British Museum

I had a morning (booked four months ago as yesterday was the first Wednesday I had free!) to study this late Ming Dynasty crown at the British Museum. Such a luxury to spend a morning in a quiet library, drawing an antique. It had to be set on crumpled tissue paper to raise the level so that the down-turned beaks of the birds in the front were not touching the table. 

I am fascinated by  the incredible detail of the whole crown - phoenixes, flaming pearls, flower heads, dragons - but it was the leaves that caught my attention, plus a few tiny clouds which I discovered hidden amongst all the gilt silver openwork:)

Flowing movement in the leaves

I first saw Chinese crowns in Dali, Yunnan, in 2008  but at last I have seen an original close-up. It is an amazing decorative object. I've made lots of drawings and will probably need to book a return visit the next time I have a Wednesday free - hopefully less than four months away!

Wedding Show in central London

Call in to 'Craft Central Gets Hitched' - central London's premier Handmade Wedding Fair 21-24th March - where I'll be launching my new silver branch necklace with blossom, alongside my classic red, white and butterfly collections. 

Free entry for lots of  inspiration for your wedding from 60 selected designers:)

.....is this the most beautiful paper in the world?

Hand-made Chiyogami paper from Japan which I buy from Shepherds Falkiners, book-binding specialists  newly re-located to Victoria, central London.

Temptation is now much closer to home - it's going to be hard to resist buying more of this totally gorgeous paper!

London Street Art

We dropped in to Cargoes last night for a drink just so we could sit outside in winter, under the heat lamps:) Looking at the graffiti and talking about art, I realised that the plastic covering over one of the graffitied walls could only mean one thing.  We'd randomly picked a seat with a good view and were sitting in front of a Banksy original.

Apparently this was one of his first in London (2001), but the details of the dog are not as defined now.


 

Banksy at Shoreditch

Earlier, we had come out of the Courtyard Theatre, having seen an interesting play 'Episodes'. Walking along Pitfield Street I recognised this Stik 'Thief' . Love this one!

I pass this Banksy 'Hoodie and Keith Haring dog' every week,  just off the Old Kent Road

Perfect Roses

...just having the claw settings perfected for the spring batch of roses. They will be ready in 10 days, just in time for Valentine's Day

London Art Fair 2013

I'm inspired right at the start of the year, having been at the Private View of the London Art Fair in Islington. Highlights were many, but I was drawn in by the landscape prints by Jason Hicklin, represented by the Beardsmore Gallery. Tempted to buy one.

I loved seeing the Glasgow Print Studio and enjoyed seeing the work of Fiona Watson - whimsical forests and creatures, some with oriental content and compositions.

 Gray Modern and Contemporary Art, from Somerset, was my favourite space with its sophisticated muted colours and some wonderfully naive art that captures the essence of a place, such as 'Coral Cottage'  by David Pearce.

Camberwell Snow Days

The three minute 'commute' to my studio is easy on a snowy winter's day

Flux Studios in Vanguard Court