cornucopia

There are some things I just don't want to part with. I've spent years collecting the bits needed to make it, and ages working on the finished piece, and its all turned out beautifully. I know I'll never make anything quite like it again, as I have used unique antique and vintage parts to create it. Its sad to let go but brilliant that someone else is now enjoying it-like Pinochhios wooden boy it only gets to livw if you let it go. 

I feel this way about' Cornucopia', a pendant necklace made from the skeleton of a 1950's brooch:  all  in gold coloured metal, with an array of bright colours bursting out of every available nook and cranny of the leaf like frame.  The oldest material I've used is Victorian branch coral-lobster hot in colour and from Italy. There are vintage glass beads, semi precious stones, flowers and a general riot of the kind of colour that just can't help but brighten things up. I've used a mix of bold primaries and slightly more muted tones to keep it tasteful and complex, and to ensure it goes with absolutely everything. 

Want it? Go to the etsy shop Moth and Magpie by clicking on the etsy badge to the right. Or we could talk about tailoring something especially to your taste and colour preference, maybe even using your own old jewellery. Then, as well as it being something precious in itself, it will be extra-special to you right from the start, plus you get a bespoke jewel that you have helped to dream to life. 

Email ruth@mothandmagpie.com or call 07882509493 to discuss making something from scratch.

interactive painting commission

I'm currently working on a commission-long distance. To keep my client involved, I'm posting up-to-the-minute photos as I paint, so they can chip in with how they want the work to progress. Do join the journey...
simply click on the link below

www.portraitofapainting.blogspot.co.uk



the painting so far....3 hours in



anything but pink

Have you noticed how mums sometimes start colouring their entire life in pastels, the colours of the newborn? Their baby's wardrobe hues spill over into their homes, their fashion choices, even the colours of their makeup! It is a powerful testament to how strongly were are affected by the colours that we look at every day. 

I am able to report that two friends who have recently become mums have rebelled against this norm. They have cried, in unison 'anything but pink'. Both are doting mums of adorable little girls. They are both tasteful, intelligent and thoughtful.  Incidentally, they have never met each other. 

Sarah, one of these rebellious ladies, asked me to create a card in honour of a newborn [you guessed it, another girl]. The plea was, of course, 'anything but pink'. There were also mentions of somehow making it relevant to a belly-dancing Turkish mother and an Egyptologist father. I imagined that the mother, fresh from childbirth, would not want to think about belly buttons for a while, so I focussed on creating a child friendly but slightly exotic card out of vintage papers with the little girl's name on the front and collage hieroglyphics spelling 'congratulations' inside. Either the sleep deprived new dad will love it, or he will cry 'anything but pyramids'.

A Purple Pride and Prejudice Vintage tea party....Papers For Kate

Kate, a wonderful American friend of mine, had a little New Year  splurge at Moth&Magpie, my Etsy shop, and she has kindly let me share our little collaboration. We decided to brainstorm using a blog, www.paperforkate.blogspot.com if you fancy seeing the design process!

Kate wanted a Pride and Prejudice theme, plus a vintage tea party vibe, with little purple highlights. In the end it sort of all blurred together!

Here are the finished papers....

'My dear Miss Bennett,
you must allow me to tell you
how ardently I admire and love you'

   

Vintage crochet, purple suede
and freshwater pearls...

The vintage tea party pages,
back-lit so the designs on both sides can be seen

Classical cameos

Mr Darcy's hat

Butterflies from victorian french love letters

The personal touch

Hand cut birds

More tea, Mr Collins?

  

Flowers, bows, butterflies,
pearls, lace and gems...

Purple prettiness

A personalised greeting

A cake is a cake,
but a cake on a cakestand...well!

Yours Sincerely

Grizzly Bear Collage

I'm having a bit of a bear moment. 

Consider yourselves fortunate that I'm fighting a temporary fascination with gorillas! 

The great thing is that my dear auntie was 

after a bear card so I got to indulge my whim.

First I ripped up
'The World of Adventures',
an Edwardian boy's annual type book with thrilling accounts
 of battles and travels, and some very fine illustrations.
 Which made perfect bear fur.
The soldier who was nobly 'hunting an american boar' 
is now suspended upside down in the belly of the bear.
 Branches now hint at claws.
Leaves are fur.
Its almost like the thick dark forest has come alive, is the spirit of the bear.
Very Grimm's Fairy Tales, with a little Cherokee thrown in.

Aunt and I spent a happy evening
making a custom card for her beloved.
It went like this....
how shall we make the bear into a card?
...Lets give him a prarie background
from the book from which he came
....and we'll layer the pages,
which have gaps where the forms were cut,
to add some texture. 

Open it up and...
'inside every man is a bear waiting to get out'.
 Grrrr, rugged!

p.s. I happen to know that one of my dear readers

 has EATEN bear - best to beat them to it isn't it?

Tattered tartan: A necklace upcycled from coat lining

New Year's resolutions? I think its healthier to aim to dream big instead of do big. Less punishing, more potential. One of my dreams is to work out how to do what I love for a living: taking things that are precious[because of memories, age, association, rarity] but broken and making them into items and jewels that are functional and wearable. The hip word for it is upcycling, but that sounds too much like exercise! I already do this with my own bits and bobs, and sell the results in my Etsy shop, but I'd like the challenge of custom designing for others too.  I'd run classes and do a craft session at parties to inspire women to transform their own worn-out treasures, as well as rejuvenating damaged or unwanted stuff on behalf of customers. 

My darling, oh-so-supportive mother spearheads the revolution.....



For years, my mum had a Jaeger coat she loved...sadly it swamped her tiny frame. It was just her colour, being a dark khaki, and her very favourite thing about it was the gorgeous smokey blue/ grey tartan lining. She asked me to make something just for her from this most beautiful of materials, and l spent hours obsessing over the lay-out of the buttons, card and bottletops that l covered with the fabric. I then backed these 'flat beads' with leather reused from jumble sale shoes I cut up.



These fabric covered, jewel encrusted disks l sewed to a rope section from a jumblesale hippy necklace;  its faded green colour perfectly blended with all those seafoam, moss and washed teal tones. All the colours of the Emerald Isle, a fitting compliment to mama's Irish roots and complexion.



Arranging precious antique turquoise cabouchons alongside vintage glass beads felt a touch irreverent. Mixing it up made it zing!



Displayed on an antique screen, the orchids painted by a female ancestor. I think she'd be pleased to know the family crafting tradition continues...

The vintage round iridescent lime green cabouchon in the middle of this shot is known as Dragon's Breath. Its a highly sought after type of glass that really does look like its come straight from The Hobbit.

Moss, agate, viridian, emerald, peridot, turquoise, avocado, teal, mint, forest, sap, chartreuse, duck egg, pistachio, sea foam...there must be getting on for 42 shades of green here. 

Green with envy? We could talk about tailoring something especially for you. I've got some of this fabric left. And you get to help me make my dreams come true! Contact me through Etsy or email ruthclaydonart@yahoo.co.uk

A Meadow for Marie

 Marie, like the rest of us, probably needs a little bit of summer sunshine right now. This'll make the perfect present for a January birthday. I've created a meadow of butterflies and tiny flowers, so she can write fanciful poems about poppies and whatnot.

Betty and Eleanor-Two Letterheads Are Better Than One

Sometimes two letterheads are better than one-especially when it comes to family. I've created separate ones for when they need to write angry letters to eachother about who ate the last of the cheese.

Cinnamon and Espana- custom paper for Miss E

Another post, another commission. A bit of warmth on a foggy winters day. When I made this out of vintage papers especially for Miss E, I was thinking about letters from far off lands, spices in the air, dust on your feet, a straw sun hat, hot colours like cinnamon bark and coconut shells.