Kate Selene

What a weekend!!

Im sitting down on my sofa, watching TV! not long ago I came back from Shell Island where Myself and Jon spent the whole weekend camping and fishing! It was just what I needed to be honest. The last few days I have had a lot to do, and I just needed a break, so thre days of just eating, sleeping and fishing was brilliant!! And the most important question is . . . .. . . . .did I catch anything? Yes I did, I caught one of these! (not this exect one though!)

I didn't manage to get a picture of the one I caught as it was pitch black, wet and cold, not perfect picture taking weather, plus my hands were covered in fish!! So It was great, and I feel ready for the week at hand! tomorrow is going to be long, after a whole day teaching I need to sand down all of my resin pieces so that they can be polished and drilled on tuesday, so that they can be photographed for Not on the High Street. My new packaging should be on its way to me very soon, so I can show you photo's of it! wooohoo! Its going to be a very very busy couple of weeks. . . . . . . my PDA and my brain are already starting to feel the pressure!! toodle pip for now, I hope you all enjoy your Sunday evening.

Jenny Barker jewellery

Jennifer Barker is a brilliant friend of mine who is a glass artist. We have been working together in NEWI since September and it had never occoured to us that we should combine forces and make stuff together!! So, when my online shop will be up and running, I will be selling an exclusive range of work that has been produced by both of us! Jenny making the glass, and me making them wearable. There is an altenative reason for this collaboration too, if in the event that we are not working together in the future, our work will ensure that we keep in touch!! She really is going to kill me for posting this picture of her!

Little flower rings!!

Today . . .. . . . at 6.45, I had and an hour to myself in the workshop! It was bliss! Im surprised really, I spend all day talking about and teaching jewellery, and I still can't wait to grab my tools, head down the workshop and make myself some jewellery! I am developing a range of pieces that I am going to sell through NOTHS. they probably think I have died as I haven't listed one thing yet (note to self, must at least get the cufflinks up before I go to bed!!), but I really don't want to rush into it because I want a really decent range of work that reflects me.

So, today I made a set of rings that will be sold through Not on the High Street, they are stackable in a set of 3 but can be worn seperate or just two!! I love the idea of being able to mix and match my jewellery, so there will be a few pieces of jewellery that are intended for the wearer to customise.

I have chosen some of my favourite flower pieces to create the range, and I will also be producing a few Special pieces, along with cufflinks for both men and women.

Also, I have decided to not use the P2 jelly for the confrence. I am going to be using the other resin which I have tested (the really stretchy one!) instead. It's a two part mixture but it will definately set. . . . every time!!!! And the UV nail glue on my nails. . . . . .. came off shortly after! I did skip the primer stage so the test hasn't been properly conducted. Im just going to try not to trash my hands!!!

Whilst im talkng about nail bars...............

............. I would like to just say how important it is to look after your hands! as a crafter, jeweller are anyone that works with materials, its really important to keep your hands moisturised. I have spent the best part of 7 years dipping my hands in and out of chemical soulutions, burning and generally ruining them, and the one thing I do know is that no one likes manky hands!! I know im not alone and there are many of you who have the same problem, my advise is to buy two different types of hand cream and grab yourself a pack of nail whitening tablets from superdrug and a good barrier cream. I have two types of cream .one that I put on at night and is insensive (and often very greasy) and the other which I wear every day. The daytime one absorbes almost immediately so it doesn't feel like im wearing any. I need this type of cream becuause i need to be able to hold and grip tools properly, and I can't even cut solder of my hands are slippery. I hate wearing gloves, so this cream is the next best thing. If you are in the workshop, a good barrier cream is essential, again, many of them absorbe compleatly and leave no reside.

Remeber, your hands provide you a trade, if you can't use them, or they are too sore and painful, you can't work. . . .. . . and they won't look nice!!

My creams always change as I am always trying to find new and better ones, so try some, and use it.

At the moment I am using 'NEVO dead sea spa' which is the best hand cream I have EVER used, and dries in seconds, and smells amazing! you can buy it at www.nevo-spa.com , its £15, its amazing and last quite a while as a little goes a long way.

Night cream, 'Vaseline intensive rescue' hand cream £3.99. it really does sooth dry and painful hands, and left on all night and your hands will be better by morning. Its even better if you slip your hands into a pair of cotton gloves.

Nail whitening tables I buy from Superdrug. Im sure it about £3.99, you get 12 tablets per pack, and even though it says use one per hand, i would suggest just using one for both hands. grab and bowl big enough to fit both hands in, fill it with warm water a put the tablet it. take your jewellery off, place you hands in the bowl, wait, and then notice how there is no more stains to be found anywhere! make sure you apply cream after washing your hands, as the chemicals in these will dry your skin.

Since I also now have a nail bar, whith all the stuff . . . .. . . . I thought I would apply a layer of the UV resin over my natural nail (it's OK, the leaflet said so) to see if it would give my nails that little bit exptra staying power, however, I don't think there is anything out there that prevent's me from sanding my nails off is there? Il let you know how that works out!

I am SERIOUSLY excited!!!!!

Seriously, I can't contain myself! As you may already know I am testing a product called P2 jelly, and its not going well. Im not a big fan of it and it really DOESN't do what it says on the package. I am getting a little bit concerned about using it as I am finding it inconsistent, and I cannot possible endorse a product which I don't belive works. It stays tacky and has to be built up in layers of about 0.5 of a millimiter!! So, in my impatience, I thought that maybe it was the light that I was using, so i had a look on ARGOS (its accross the road and I wasn't in the mood to go far!!) and found a nail bar! with UV nail resin!!

That's right, UV NAIL RESIN!!!! I thought that this might be the answer to my prayers! I needed a fallback plan incase this P2 jellly is really pants! so. . . . . .. . . . . . . It worked! I cast it in two layers, and it would have cast in one, and the piece was 7mm deep!! no gooey resin, and as promised, there was a tacky layer on the surface but true to the manual, the alcahol wipe removed it entirely, and I was impressed, and the piece I cast was VERY textured!

Im soooooooooo excited!! I can't believe that I have been faffing around with a product that comes no where near to a UV Resin that is used for nails! i haven't tried it with any pigment yet but I am optomistic, and lets be honest, I don't think it could be worse than the results Im getting from the P2 jelly. Im confident I will be able to use it for embedding. Im going to take it al to work with me on Monday and give it a real go!

The Breakdown!In comparison to the jelly, the nail resin is thicker, but it can be applied either by tooth picks or a soft brush (which also came with the pack!), you get almost twice as much and it only costs £15 as apposed to the £15-22 which retailers are selling the P2 at.other than that, no difference! I have't given up hope on the jelly yet, Im going to use the alcohol wipe with it to see if that removes any of the sticky residue, im not really that bothered if it does, because if I can add pigment to the nail resin, this will be the product I will use for the confrence.

Im going to sand it down and see how it goes, and then spend the rest of the afternoon sewing!!!!

sorry it has been a while!!

It has been a while since the last post. I have been making new work, making soft toys teaching and in the last few days, helping some of my second year students finish their work for an exhibition in the World of Glass in St Helen's. Today, I spent the whole day at The World of Glass tweeking, hanging and generally helping everyone display all of their work! It was a brilliant day, and I was the only one worried about where the work was going! I was anticipating a day of shambles, squabbles and mayhem, but I was plesantly surprised when I turned up and EVERYONE was as calm as a cucumber!!! once we got the larger pieces in the cabinets, everything else just slotted in, and everyone was happy with where their work was! The potograph above is of Emily's work, she is a ceramic student and it has a realy wonderful, vintage feel!!

The only bad thing is, the open night for this exhibition is tomorow, the same night that I am teaching!! Pants! But, I feel very proud of all of the students who have made the biggest effort to get their work done for the exhibition!

I have ordered all of my materials for my work, and the last part which is ordering and organising the packaging is also done! wooohooo! I just need time to put it all together! I have also finalised dates for the PMC classes in Morcombe, I will be kicking off the first class with a pendant and a pair of earrings, and the second one will take place on the run up to christmas, just in time to get your gifts in. I shall be posting the correct dates and class details and prices within the week. If you are interested in the meentime, just drop me an email.

I thought you may also want a laugh at my expense, so here is a picture of me which some of my students stumbled upon whilst buying their tools, I was being shown how to use the electric stone setter/engraver on the Sutton's stand whilst I was demonstrating. I was even worse when i found out because I seemed to be wearing exactly the same jumper as in the photo!!