'Make Jewellery': well making jewellery is certainly something I do, and I'm very happy to be featured in the 'Make Jewellery' magazine (out today) as their 'blog of the month'! Can't help feeling a bit of a fraud though, as I've been so busy recently I've let my normal weekly blogging schedule slip!

I guess the thing is that life as a jewellery designer / maker is a very seasonal thing: much more so than I realised before I became one. Of course you'd expect Christmas to be the main sales time, and it is, but that's just a part of the picture. Once the Christmas rush is over I find I need to turn my attention to a bit of admin, especially in order to meet the tax return deadline at the end of January. After this I have to get straight back into designing new jewellery because most of the application deadlines for the big autumn / winter shows are in March, and that means I need fresh images.

My collection this season is based largely on the imprints in my mind of the end of our garden: the bantam hens that visit from next door and line up on the bench, the view of the valley and hills, the silhouette of the holly tree and the often amazing skies. I knew I wanted to add to my series of 'bird brooches', using primarily silver and wood. Limiting my pallet is key for me: otherwise I easily end up with a horrible miss-mash.

I often think things through in the shower and sketch ideas on the steamy glass. Luckily no trace of most them remains, but a few make it on to the next design stage. I start playing with pieces of cardboard, and sketching on my iPad. I find this a terrific new tool as I can play around with the images, moving elements around in a way I can't do with a sketchbook.

Next I start cutting up pieces of wood and soldering together bits of silver, playing with all the separate elements and swapping them around in different formations. 

Deciding which formation to go with is the hard part, and I always put off the final riveting / soldering / gluing bit for as long as possible. Many seedling ideas get discarded along the way, and I accumulate a pile of unused 'elements', most of which will eventually get used somewhere, but maybe in something quite different!

These are some of the brand new finished brooches! 

I'll be exhibiting them along with the rest of my jewellery in 'Desire' Jewellery and Silversmithing Fair next week, so do come along if you can. Email me for a free private view invitation for Thursday evening (3rd March, 4.30 - 8pm). The show continues from 10am - 5pm on 4th - 6th March, in London SW15. Full details on the Craft in Focus website.

In print again but this time it's me rather than my jewellery that's featured!

Ashley English is writing a series of books on 'homemade living' and I believe this is one of the first in the series. It's not yet published in the UK but I've been sent a copy by Lark Books and it's lovely! Lots of information about keeping hens. Obviously written in America, but some of the recipes (Sweet Potato Souffle, Berry Delicious Curd, and Pumkin Creme Brulee) definitely sound worth 'translating' and trying. Lots of information for people new to hen keeping, and little pen portraits of hen keepers (including me!)

Been busy getting ready for the craft and design fair at Wisley gardens in Surrey. The fair opens at 10am on Thursday and closes at 6pm on Sunday.

I've been working hard to get a good selection of pieces from my new 'nest' range ready, as well as some new drypoint prints of my hens. The image above is my favourite one!

Do come along - it'd be great to see you there!

Three pieces of good news: firstly after 2 years as an associate member, I've now been elected as a full member of the Designer Jewellers Group. It's great because this gives me a continuing peer group to collaborate and network with, and also because the Barbican pop-up shops we run twice a year are one of my favourite outlets.

The second good thing is that I've been successful with my application to exhibit at the Wisley craft fair in April. The RHS gardens at Wisley are one of my favourites, especially the kitchen garden, where I took these photographs.

And the other good thing is that Lily's moult is over and she has started laying again. This means that the nest is now a rather busy spot, but more about that later!

Thought I'd add a couple more images from my display at Origin.

The first is my chine colle bird etchings: two of my pet chickens, and the middle one of birds in London zoo.

The second is a new 'wattle' pendant that was much admired! I made it by using an adaptation of the technique of tatting, working silk thread on to a silver pendant. Tatting was never meant to look like this!

I was really sad to have to take Molly and Milly back to the city farm today. Unfortunately 'Molly' turned out to be 'Morris', and we just can't keep a cockerel in inner London.

As they really were a very close couple it seemed kindest to send Milly back too, so now we're back down to just the two chickens. Sad.

I was picking some flowers in the garden today when I noticed a secret stash of eggs at my feet! I always try to make sure the hens have done their eggs before I let them out free-range, but I've obviously misjudged it sometimes!

There's one egg from Lottie (the paler egg) and one from Lily. Interesting that they'd chosen to share the same makeshift nest. I wonder if there are more hoards elsewhere too! Unfortunately I don't know how old the eggs are, and as they might date from after the anti-biotics that treated Lottie's chest infection, I'll have to throw them away.

I've been making more silver stud earrings this week. They're based on my quick sketches of our chickens and other birds.

I'm trying to make some really little ones because the small ones sell really quickly, and I've come to recognise that not everyone likes big earrings like me! Unfortunately they're harder to make when they're really small as it's easier to accidentally melt them!

This photo shows the chicken filter I've made for the eglu. It divides the run in half: the little hens can get though the gateways, but in theory at least the big ones can't!

On hearing a major commotion the other day I discovered that Lily had managed to squeeze her way through, and on discovering that the grass was no greener on the other side had decided to vent her irritation on the little ones.

I'm having to give far larger portions of salad to the larger hens now in the hope that Lily won't get tempted across again!

Note to eglu owners: in case it's not clear, I've inserted a sheet of metal grid between the two halves of the run, then re-clipped it all together. After this was in place for a week I made the two doorways by cutting and bending back some of the grid (those jewellery pliers came in handy!) and then covering up all the wire ends with gaffer tape.

Having been referred to as 'the little ones' or 'the cheepsters' for the past week, we've finally decided on names for our two new chickens: the timid ginger mongrel is Milly, and Molly's the much bolder speckled grey Maran. They're starting to free range now and loving it, though they're choosing to stay pretty close to the eglu.

Unfortunately Lily and Lottie are still not pleased about having new eglu mates. It's a bit easier when they're out and about though, as Milly and Molly are so light they can take off and escape their pursuers with the greatest of ease, leaving heavy Lottie in particular looking on in amazement!

Well it's not been an easy week. Lily and Lottie are still not pleased to have new little 'sisters', and Lottie has got a chest infection with the stress of it all. She's always been a highly strung bird.

I've spent all week juggling hens in different spaces, trying to get them a bit closer all the time, whilst still protecting the little ones.

Lottie's a lot better than she was, but is still wheezy, and on antibiotics following a trip to the vet. This will also mean we won't be able to eat her eggs for a while.

I'm really looking forward to letting the little ones free-range for the first time. It's a bit scary though because they' be very hard to catch if they decided not to return to the run of their own accord! They'll love being out and about: they're so curious!

It's been a bad day for Lily (Silver Nick = white hen) and Lottie (Bluebelle = grey hen).

On impulse yesterday we got two new chickens from Freightliners Farm. They're both 14 weeks old, one's a cuckoo maran (speckled greys), and the other's a mongrel (ginger etc).

We've kept the two factions separated for most of the day, but both are definitely quite disturbed by the other. Lottie, who's by far the biggest - and top of the pecking order - actually seems quite scared of the little peepy (and very sweet) chickens!