What's Hot!

My new Vintage Lace jewellery is featured in the latest edition of Craft and Design magazine! Rachael Chambers, contemporary craft editor, selected work for this feature at BCTF in Harrogate earlier this year

The jewellery featured is my Fiorenza earrings, made with old Irish crochet lace, extra fine silver wire, beads and a pearl drop.

Text by Rachael Chambers



www.judithbrownjewellery.co.uk



The British Museum, London

A selection of my Vintage collection jewellery is now on sale at the British Museum in London! Including some vintage button bracelets, each one different.

You'll find it in the Grenville Room shop. I caught up with the buyer at Handmade in Britain in Bath last week and she told me it is in a glass cabinet next to a display of handmade mother of pearl boxes and some pearl jewellery. Hope I can see it when I go down to London in August, well actually, I suppose I hope it sells before then!

Beautiful Bath, lovely new makers and Handmade in Britain

The Assembly Rooms, Bath



Reflections in the Octagon



Chandelier above my stand in the Ballroom



The stunning ceilings in the Ballroom

More ceiling!

My stand - Handmade in Britain

The Assembly Rooms, Bath

 

A mix of Vintage button and Vintage Lace jewellery displayed in my old embroidery hoops

 I've just noticed how my display really coordinates with the colours of the ballroom!

Detail from my Vintage Lace collection display

New maker friends

I was opposite Deryn Relph whose work could not be more different from mine! Vibrant, bold colours, geometric retro patterns. Deryn knits fabulous lampshades, cushions and fabrics which she uses to upholster old chairs to creat something really stunning. Also a fellow fan of carrot cake and observer of "cake o'clock" !

 

I also met Emma of bagladee a twitter friend that I finally met in person. She makes lovely purses, cluthes and bags from lovely fabric. She had a lovely stand - you can see pictures of it here on her blog http://www.emma-bagladee.blogspot.com/

Finally, the most important friend of the weekend, I stayed with Sarah Hardaker, a fellow embroidery graduate. We hadn't seen each other for quite a few years, but as is always the way with real friends, the time passed melted away and it was great to catch up over Sarah's lovely homecooked food and a glass or two of wine. Sarah runs her own fabric design and print business, and a post just about her will no doubt follow soon.

Sarah Hardaker - Vintage Paisley

The Art Market, Holmfirth

On Sunday I was lucky enough to take part in the lovely Art Market in Holmfirth. Lots of friendly makers, fantastic work - from jewellery to ceramics to home accessories to paintings and sculpture.The market took place in the indoor market hall right in the centre of Holmfirth. It was light and airy and decorated with lovely bunting, not your average market!

Upstairs at the Art Market - more downstairs!

 I made some good sales and had a chance to catch up with other makers I haven't seen for a while like Helen Ashworth of Rosie's Armoire who I met about 4 years ago at an event at the Chapel Gallery in Ormskirk. Great to see how her work has moved on. She uses vintage letters to handprint on fabric and then makes them into purses and cushions, as well as upcycling old things into new. I got a lovely "memory journal" from her. It's made from pages of an old book but lots of the pages are embellished in some way. A lovely present for a friend of mine. 

Memory book from Rosie's Armoire

Inside the book

The next market is next Sunday (12th June) with a different set of makers and artists, and it will happen again in November. See www.artmarkets.co.uk for the dates.

My stand at the Art Market

Workshop Creations and Flowerings Exhibition

This weekend I ran a workshop at Rural Arts, in the small Yorkshire market town of Thirsk. I had a bit of an early start and long a drive but somehow I got there on time even though Google sent me the wrong way down the M1!



Rural Arts in the Old Courthouse, Thirsk

 The workshop was great with a small group of friendly participants who were really rather nifty with their fingers. First they all had a go at mastering my stitching technique with wire, with great results, making pendants and earrings using wire and the rings and sliders that you find on bras.



Bra ring stitched with wires by Sarah at the workshop

 Then after we'd had a break for lunch I got out some more haberdashery, hooks, eyes, buttons, press studs and kilt pins and gave them a few more ideas and then everyone experimented with their own designs there were some lovely results.

Mixed haberdashery necklace by Amanda at the workshop

Everyone went home with several finished pieces of jewellery and in fact I saw one of them the next day wearing her handiwork with a matching top!

Alison made this bag charm combining stitched elements and old haberdashery

To top it all there were some lovely comments at the end.

"It was more than I was expecting - I'm so pleased with all the pieces I have made today"
"A new skill and a day of fun"

That's great because I enjoyed running the workshop too!

What a prolific lot and such a variety too.

Flowerings Exhibition at Rural Arts
My floral jewellery is also featured in the current exhibtion at Rural Arts, along with three other makers, Ruth Moore, Iona Calvert and Dionne Swift.

Looking down into the cabinet with my floral jewellery
The big piece is based on a passion flower.

Some Iona Calvert's ceramic birds displayed on a branch

Time travelling jewellery....?

My Vintage Noir and Vintage Mother of Pearl Button jewellery is on display as part of this unusual exhibition at The Harley Gallery Welbeck, Worksop, Nottinghamshire -  Craft Revolution

The shop has been taken over by Hannah Obee, curator at Chatsworth, from 9 May - 20 June. Taking inspiration from Welbeck’s Portland Collection and Chatsworth’s Devonshire Collection she is showing how contemporary craft complements the history of these stately homes, focusing on the Royalist and Baroque styles of the 17th Century.

 

Imagine my surprise when I looked carefully at Jane Cavendish (whose family lived at Welbeck) - she's wearing my Alessandra earrings from my Vintage Noir Collection! She's also wearing a pearl and silver necklace by Yvonne Gilhooly.

What a clever way to show what the project is all about!

The jewellery in close up

Alessandra earrings - Vintage Noir





 I'd love to be involved in other projects like this. The idea of being inspired by a collection of objects is really exciting.

So if anyone has any challenges for me let me know!



Find pictures of the exhibition on the Harley Gallery's page on Facebook

The Curated Craft Shop project at The Harley Gallery is part of museumaker, a prestigious national project involving sixteen museums across four participating regions. museumaker is supported by Arts Council England (ACE), Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) and its Renaissance Programme

Work in progress

Work in  progress



Last week I had a lot of jewellery to make, some for gallery orders, some for a bride and some to get ready for an exhibition! Friday was spent finishing off pieces by adding findings and packing up jewellery ready for the post office. Luckily they know me in my post office by now and are very friendly and don't bat an eyelid when I turn up at 5pm with 8 packages!



Vintage lace pieces ready to be made up.

These earrings are for the Courtyard Gallery in Cumbria, along with matching pendants, some Intricate jewellery in coloured wire and some Vintage Mother of Pearl button jewellery too.

And these pendants for Bellwood and Wright Fine Art in Lancaster.