Website Updated

My website updates are now all done and I am really pleased with the result. joyfunnell.co.uk . I think that now completes my image re branding which has been fun.

Michael Ball at Beyond the North Wind has been great. He specialises in websites for artists and makers so if you are thinking of a new website you might want to check his website out. I highly recommend him :)

Patinated Rainbow Flower

Yep, that does it for me. I do love things better with a bit of patination. (still not a good photograph of the colours though - they just don't seem to want to come out well) I think it brings up the enamels more and really highlights the texture. Mind you I know lots of people that hate it and prefer their silver bright and shiny. Which do you prefer?

Rainbow Flower - Enamelled Accents

Here is another Enamelled Accents piece. The colours have not photographed as well as I would like but you get the idea. A bit bigger (34mm in diameter) and a bit more complicated than the last one. I can't quite make up my mind whether to patinate this so I thought I would photograph it first and then try to see which I like better. I'll post the patinated version tomorrow when I have got it done. It has a very light texture to the whole surface so I am thinking that will emphasise it more. We shall see...

Purple Heart - Enamelled Accents

I am currently working on some sample pieces to take to the Art Clay conference in Jersey showing my Enamelled Accents technique which I am teaching there. Here is a nice simple one.

Watch out for a larger piece coming later today....

Stamping Joy!

I have been trying to work out for a while what to put onto the back of my jewellery pieces. I have tried various options using stamps I have made myself with photo polymer plates but with small type they don't last long and I was never very happy with them. Over the last year or two I have tried

Handmade by Joy Funnell

Joy Funnell

Handmade by Joy

Joy

JF

For quite a while I have been using a small circle with JF in but since I make a lot of reversible jewellery I always feel this detracts from the reverse side because people don't necessarily want to have my initials on it. As I have redesigned my logo I decided it was the ideal time to settle on Joy, which hopefully people will like to wear, but now I could make it more distinctive as me by adding my squiggle (technical term!).

I ordered a proper stamp from Babette Cox in the USA. I wanted it to be quite small and Babette was really helpful with advice to make it work well. It only measures about 5mm across but is lovely as it is such a crisp clear image. It arrived last week so I used it on the simple piece I made at the workshop I taught at the weekend. So here is a photo of the front and back of the finished item which I fired yesterday after finishing off the decoration.

I'm really pleased with the result, hope you like it too.

Golden Flowers

Here is another set of earrings I made last week. I called then Golden Flowers, the leaf patterns are patinated and the stones are pretty little yellow CZs.

Ho Hum...

OK, so my last post was last Friday and what did I say - photos tomorrow!!!

SORRY - where does the time go. Rushed about getting ready for the craft fair - took lousy photos while I was there as I had forgotten on Saturday and am in the process of getting the website updated this week.

Anyway cut the drivel. Here is one set I made last week. Cherry Blossom. I really like these and am going to make myself a similar kind of thing.

More coming - I promise - yes, really!!!