'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.

Finally I did get the chance to have a bit of a look around the glorious gardens of Wisley - not because the fair wasn't busy, but because my friend Kathy was helping me (thanks Kathy!)

We had a good last day, making this one of the best fairs I've done. I was particularly pleased that people liked (and bought) my new 'nest' jewellery collection and my new hen prints. I've several commissions to work on now.

A number of people were interested in buying online, so it's just as well that getting this going properly is one of my goals for the next few months. In the meantime I can always email photos and use the credit card machine over the telephone, so do email me if you're after something!

Sometimes I feel a bit sad on packing up after a show and this was one of those times. I was pleased to remember my purchases from the Heyland and Whittle stand this morning - I'm sure the happy sunny buzz will be conjured up each time I smell the wonderful olive and fig perfume.

Back in Bird Cottage it's chaos in the garden (as well as the studio). The wood pigeons have decided they want to nest in the rose on the front of the house. Problem is the blackbirds have already claimed that spot, having shunted the previously resident sparrows to a nearby wall. I wonder who will win?

It's beautiful here...

... but pretty cold when we arrived. Getting a bit warmer now the sun's cutting through the mist.

Only just gone 10am but pretty busy already.

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!

I had great feedback on prototypes for my new collection at Desire, and have already taken some orders! I'm now working on bringing the collection into production in time for Wisley Craft Fair.

The images above show a pair of oxidised silver dangly nest earrings with beautiful lemon quartz stones: I love the way they're cut on a twist. The close up is of a slightly domed sterling silver nest pendant on a tanzanite necklace. I don't usually use a lot of stones in my work, but I couldn't resist the gentle, delicate colour of these beads.

It's all go at the moment: I've just posted work off to the Galanthus Gallery, I'm getting ready for the Craft in Focus 'Desire' show which starts next week too, and I'm working hard on a new jewellery collection.

The image shows a stage in the development of the necklace that I've just been soldering: the elements are in the polisher now prior to assembly. Like the rest of my new collection it's based on the concept of the nest. Nests are the in-thing here at the moment. The sparrows that live outside the bedroom window are busy gathering small planty scraps, and the great tits are inspecting the bird boxes. The hens are into nest making too: they've both come back into lay after their moults, and are augmenting their eglu nest with bits of leaf.

My new collection will have some three dimensional nesty pieces in it as well as my usual two dimensional pieces: a development from the sparrow sound experiment I blogged about recently (that piece has now become a pendant!)

I'll be showcasing some of my prototypes at Desire Jewellery and Silversmithing show next week (as well as a full range of my jewellery) and would welcome your feedback! It's in Richmond from Friday 5th - Sunday 7th March.

The 'Animals and Birds' exhibition in the Galanthus gallery, in Wormbridge, Hereford, features art and craft, and runs from Thursday 4th March until 10th April.

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!

It's the countdown now: the private view of Richmond Art and Contemporary Designer Craft Fair is tonight and the Fair runs from 10am - 5pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I've been making manically to make sure I've enough stock - both prints and jewellery. I'll put a panel on the right with a map until the show is over.