a mere coincidence

I've now made these earrings in both 18ct yellow gold and oxidised sterling silver.  They are so incredibly comfortable and easy to wear, I have some of the gold ones and I wear them almost everyday. 

 

 

Upon making them for the first time I encountered a vague familiarity in the form - then it came to me.

Grug. 

Now any self respecting Aussie from Gen X or early Gen Y will know exactly what I'm referring to.  For those who can't quite remember or are indeed not from Australia, you'll be forgiven for needing this explanation:

(Excerpt from Wikipedia) Grug is a fictional character appearing in a series of Australian children's books by the author Ted Prior.  They were published between 1979 and 1992.
Grug began his life as the top of a Burrawang tree that looks more like a Grass tree.  Resembling a small, striped haystack with a face, he is fascinated by the world around him and solves everyday problems creatively and without fuss.  When dancing instructions are too difficult to understand, Grug invents his own dance and calls it "The Grug".

Brilliant piece of Australiana right there.  I think we can all use a little Grug in our lives, solving problems "creatively and without fuss".

long time between drinks

There are no excuses, I just simply do not have the time that I used to since my little bundle of cuteness came into my life.  However I have certainly been making lot of orders and commissions over the last few months, and have been rather prolific with my Instagram feed too. 
We're building up to that crazy time of year again and to kick off the present buying we're having another POP, BANG, SPARKLE Pop-up shop on November 30 for all you Melbourne peeps.

Here's a little progress of some stacking rings that I made for Arbor from one of their customer's old diamond ring and earrings:

Instagram

I've finally discovered the fabulous-ness that is Instagram.  Follow me @susan_ewington_jewellery

 

grain set granule ring

Here's a new addition to the collection at Arbor.  Rubies and 18ct yellow gold, what could be better?

fitted wedder

Here's the latest piece to roll off my bench - the fitted wedder to an engagement ring I made last year.  The emerald cut green sapphire is complimented beautifully with a princess cut parti sapphire in a light aqua-golden tone, the colours together reminiscent of the ocean.  Both are set in 18ct rose gold with 18ct white gold bands.

It was a pleasure making this set for my customer, she had such great taste in colours and was willing to go for something really outside the box - and I think it paid off!

finally getting back to it

Yep, it's definitely been a while.  But I've got a pretty good excuse... of the new baby variety!  He's been keeping me busy and away from the bench, but I'm happy to report that my longing for making (and orders I can no longer put off!) has returned and I'm slowly getting back into it when time allows.

To kick it off I've got some new beach glass pieces in great colours I've not had before!

These soft pink pieces are the more rare American Depression era type glass.  During the Depression glassware was produced in the cheapest colours and given as a bonus with food purchases.  Whole and not beachy pieces are now quite collectable, but this beautiful matte finish is only achievable after being tumbled around in the ocean for about 70 years!

And this UV milk glass (otherwise known as Jadeite in the glass world, but not be confused with the real gemstone of course) is just so awesome, but unfortunately I didn't have a UV bulb to show you how it glows in the dark!  Luckily it looks beautiful in natural light too.  These will be the first opaque pieces in my collection.

So I'm not sure when but I'll be sure to post some photos of the finished pieces!

old new

A Christmas make for a special recipient...

deco pendulum studs - antique steel nails, 18ct yellow and white gold