My latest Etsy friend

Sorry for the long absence. Summer is always busy. So many people come to our village on holiday and so there are always parties and of course we are not on holiday so we find ourselves juggling work, visitors, parties...!

I am pleased to post today because I am bringing you work from Kerryn who has an etsy shop. She makes the most beautiful jewellery: necklaces, earrings, bracelets. She certainly has an eye for design and colour, choosing wonderful beads, some vintage. She lives in France, a bit further away from me than the shops I've previously featured, near Lyon. However, this is an area I know well as I used to live just south, in the lovely town of Vienne.

Kerryn says about her work:

"Hmmmm... when did my compulsiveness for handmade items start? When I was a child I remember fondly holding my grandmom's earrings that she had made herself in the 1940s. They were made from bread, rolled into tiny shapes to resemble flowers and then glazed into gorgeous colours. I spent many hours at her dressing table playing with her masterpieces made during war time. She also had a box full of 1940s Lucite Jewellery. I wish I still had that box....... the beads alone would be pure delight to play with now.

Then, I would sit for hours and watch my mom sew and draw, she would make all 30 costumes for the dance troupe! I guess that is where my patience comes from, and the love of watching something I make evolve from my own hands.

My own handmade journey started with paper mâché characters, painting wall murals in high school, I have attempted pottery, tile mosaic's, and even painted large hat boxes in folkart flowers. My latest artistic adventures have been making Lampwork Beads and dabbling with PMC/Art Silver Clay to make pendants and rings.

The jewellery designing started about 8 years ago when I was forced to sit still whilst pregnant (sitting still was easy, keeping my hands and mind still wasn't!!), and I haven't looked back since. I just love it, and the people I meet who start as customers / suppliers are now friends. I move globally every few years with hubby's job (like a nomad, but without the cattle!), and I am very fortunate to see this wonderful world we live in, and meet some amazing people who do have an effect on my jewellery designs... and of course my life!

My dear grandmom has recently had a stroke, she sometimes doesn't recognize me, but she always remembers those little gorgeous earrings she made from bread, all those years ago!

I am currently based in Lyon, France......... a very very beautiful part of the world."

So please take a look at this gorgeous shop. The pieces are very reasonably priced , so treat yourself or someone else today!

http://www.jewelsbykerryn.etsy.com

Helen x

Knit-a-square

I was recently looking for a charity project and I came across this website: http://www.knit-a-square.com/ It is a great idea. You knit a 20x 20cm / 8x8" square (or more than one) and send it off to South Africa where there are teams who sew them together into blankets for babies and children in need. Often these are orphans who have lost their parents to AIDS. The initiative was started by Sandy. She says on the website:

They [the children] live in terrible poverty. They need love, shelter, food, education and warmth. Many children's charities are working hard to provide the first four. Charity knitting and crocheting can provide the last.

The website has a wealth of information about the children who are helped, the charities involved, instructions for the knitting and crocheting (you can also make hats and jumpers), there is a blog, a forum, a list of those who have made squares so far and much more. So please check it out.

I have started knitting some squares as you will see from the photo. I have also got my mum knitting again after about 20 years! This is such a great project because even if you are beginner knitter or crocheter you can make a square. You can make squares in acrylic or wool, it's also a great way to use up those odds and ends of yarn which you have lying around!

They are aiming for 400 000 squares (10 000 blankets) this year so they need YOU! Please spread the word and support this great charity.