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.

But what do you do all day?

It is a question I get asked rather a lot.

If I said that I swan about draping myself in silk, eating grapes and spending many hours in Paperchase, it'd only be half true.

 Much of the time I'm doing internet type things, plus making lists, painting, strategising, sourcing materials, doing hard things with numbers. Generally working towards launching my business [and my Etsy shop]in the late spring. But occassionally I get to create. And at the moment I'm in a glorious flurry of vintage jewellery assemblage. Well, a girl needs something to sell if she wants a real shop... 

These photos are taken looking up through the current chaos on my perspex desk- a 'knee's eye view' of my creative process, if you will.  Pliers in hand, I set about transforming broken heirlooms into, well, future heirlooms. It is actually 80% designing [fiddling with pretty stuff], 20% assembling. I've got 30 million projects on the go-they look like piles of beads and chains to anyone else-to me they are potential one-of-a-kind creations. Now and then I actually latch on to one and see it through to completion. And then my unique upcycled vintage triumph ends up in my Etsy shop. If I can bear to let it go, that is. And in goes another grape.

Sweet Spring

It was the Jewish spring festival of Purim on Sunday. Which I'm taking to mean that spring is officially here. That and crazy York birds (of the feathered variety) singing at stupid o' clock in the morning!

So, visions of pastel coloured macaroons, Japanese sakura blossom, evening sunshine, and the only time of year I will flirt with the idea of wearing mint green.

I've been tinkering around with some beautiful vintage lilac purple beads that I've just bought from Canada. They glow vaseline blue/purple when the light hits them, casting a sunset yellow pool of light, otherwise they are a cloudy moonstone blue. Love the way they change in the light.  They are actually from an old pearl necklace. Back then, to create an inner glow, they used coloured glass and even low grade real opal beads, which were then painted to resemble pearls. So next time you are about to ditch your great aunt's flakey pearl necklace, do see what lies beneath!! You'll easily be able to chip the paint off with your nail. 

My inspirations for this ring? Spring flowers, Gaudi, Monet's waterlilies series, Art Nouveau excess. It'd make a lush statement at a wedding or party, and if you are a red head or have a cool skintone, these colours are made for you. 

These earrings were made to match the ring, but are daintier, softer. The vintage purple curved shells somehow remind me of those oriental hats or parasols;  Geisha's crossing bridges in an idyllic scented garden. 

I'm not sure if I'll do more in this series. Who knows when inspiration will strike! I've popped them in my online shop, Moth and Magpie, so now I get to see if anyone else is searching for spring....