Time to move on ... Waiheke Island here I come!

Well, the car is packed, my jewellery work bench is folded away and my enamels are dried and stowed until next week.
Despite the challenges of looking after 8 goats, i.e. trying to keep then in their paddock and out of the garden, and, the additional challenges of walking 2 large dogs through muddy paddocks ... I've still managed to get some jewellery made.  My Garden Party Collection has blossomed.  And, at long last, it has stopped raining in Kaukapakapa.

      One very muddy dog......                                        And, one Betsy goat back behind bars

To see more of my Garden Party Collection go to www.figleafdesign.co.nz.

New Design on it's way

Garden Party Collection ... Spring is in the air ...

I had great fun making this sample for my new Garden Party jewellery collection.  I love the beautiful, fresh Spring colours I can make using kiln fired transparent enamels.  Each individual flower is fired three times ... once to counter enamel and twice to build colour.

Watch this space ... I have so many more ideas to come for this collection and they will be perfect jewellery accessories for Spring/Summer 2016 fashion.

www.figleafdesign.co.nz

When I first set up my Fig Leaf Design jewellery studio and began making jewellery back in 2006 gold was selling at around 500USD/oz. In the past 10 years it has more than tripled and then, again, dropped slightly. But, it is still nowhere near that original price.

I love wearing gold jewellery...I'm a redhead.

Some years ago in my training I was introduced to the ancient Korean technique of Keum Boo and have never looked back. Keum Boo is the combining of pure gold and fine silver through a process of heat and pressure.

As gold continued to increase in price and become more and more unaffordable, silver jewellery has become more popular. The wonderful thing about Keum Boo jewellery is that it allows you to combine your silver and gold jewellery without looking as if you have mismatched your pieces.

So, wearing either the pendant or the earrings above lets you co-ordinate them with either silver or gold accessories...a gold or silver chain with the earrings, and gold or silver earrings with the pendant.

The keum boo gold in these pieces gives a significant impact yet the cost of the pieces is still reasonable as the gold is a fine layer and so, inexpensive in comparison.

New Enamel earrings and pendant designs

Housesitting "down south" for two months also gave me the time to indulge in one of my favourite jewellery making activities ...enamels.  I never tire of watching the changing colours of the enamel as it comes out of the kiln at at around 780 degrees celsius and slowly cools to room temperature.  Often I wish I could freeze the colour halfway through the cooling process ... just another excuse to buy some of the beautiful Japanese transparent enamels available from Coral at Enamel Work Supply.  You can see from the photo below I had difficulty deciding which colour to use...

And, there are so many more colours I can try.  I loved these as an easy to wear earring design to complement fashion colours but had to experiment with another idea I've been mulling over and am very pleased with the end results...

And, just because I can't help myself, I then had to make some in silver and gold ...

While based in Richmond surrounded by the beautiful snow capped mountains I began designing and making with one of my favourite jewellery techniques: keum boo.  Keum boo is the ancient Asian technique of combining gold and silver.  To do this I use fine silver and 24k gold foil.  They two pure metals are joined with a combination of heat and pressure.  It is believed that wearing and using pure metals is good for us and I'm inclined to agree as I always feel wonderful when wearing something like this.

Take a look and tell me what you think.  You can see more on my website www.figleafdesign.co.nz.

Keum boo square earrings and pendant. These look stunning on together or on their own with simple silver or gold earrings or a chain.  The beauty of the combined metals is that you can match them with either silver or gold complementary jewellery.

The fine silver surround or the earrings and pendant is textured with a very fine stippled effect which looks almost like diamond dust.

Keum Boo and silver daisy earrings. I love these.  They are a design you can wear at any age and at any time of the day.  Great with a short haircut or peeping through long tresses.  Again, because of the combine silver and gold these will look great worn with either a silver or a gold chain.

As of October 2015 Fig Leaf Design Studio turned "mobile" as I am between houses and have had to set myself up so that I can still function from wherever I may be. 

Some of the time I am based at my apartment at Onetangi Beach on the beautiful island of Waiheke...just a 35 minute ferry trip from Auckland. When I'm here I like to start my day with

a walk on the beach with Charlie, my silky terrier.  It's a good time to clear my head and plan my day ahead. 

 

When I'm not here my apartment is available for rent through AirBnb. You can find my listing under The Sands Beachfront Apartment, Onetangi, Waiheke Island.

"Onetangi" meaning "weeping sands" is a beautiful beach, about 1.8 km long, great for walking, swimming and you even see horse riders.  Another popular sight at this beach are Sea Legs boats which are able to be driven down the road by their owners, on to the beach and straight out to sea where their wheels tuck neatly away.

On one of my earliest housesits in Kaukapakapa, north of Auckland, I was introduced to a local carpenter who kindly and very cleverly made my foldaway workbench which now travels with me in my car until the next stop when it is unpacked an set up again ready for work.

Early in June this year I load my car with my jewellery tools, foldaway bench and Charlie and made the long drive to one of the most beautiful spots in New Zealand.  I was based near Mapua, about halfway between Richmond and Motueka near the top of the South Island.  It was the first time in ages that I was able to set myself up properly and get back to work.  The view of snow capped mountains which surrounded me on my morning walks was a wonderful inspiration.