My 'Normandie' collection

When I knew that The Zone Creative in Sourdeval was interested in taking a range of my jewellery, I thought that a Normandy inspired line would be a good thing to do.  

The first thing that I made was a set of necklace and earrings called 'La Pluie Normande'  inspired by the constant rain that we'd been experiencing since spring.  The focal stone is a labradorite,  which is naturally a blue/ grey colour, perfect for the subject haha. For the raindrop effect, I used some tiny faceted labradorite beads, wirewrapped to be free falling.

Luckily, by the time I finished the first set and was looking for something different, the sun had appeared, so I was thinking about stones with warmth and sparkle when I fell upon these citrines that we've had for a lifetime.  I'd always loved them, but never been moved to make anything out of them....until now.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you 'Eclat Du Soleil'

Born from the Normandy sun with a hint of Etruscan.

'Libellules'  or dragonflies are not peculiar to Normandy, but I love to see them in the warmer months around water. Also, I really wanted to try my hand at a technique of enamelling called 'plique-a-jour'  which is enamelling without a backing, leaving the enamel suspended between the metal frames for a stained glass window effect.  Dragonflies seemed like a good choice of subject for this project.  

I am pleased with how they turned out.

The next photos are not from the Normandy collection, but were added to my general collection headed towards the Zone Creative.

These earrings are made from a pair of ultra sparkly, micro faceted amethyst cabs, hanging from a stylised heart, on a pair of my handmade ear-wires. 

This next set features a stone not seen too often, golden rutile quartz, which looks like threads of gold trapped inside ice crystals, they catch the light every time you move. Sadly, the camera has a hard time picking up the detail :(

This is a set with a leaf design, the silver lines of the leaves echo perfectly the flavour of the stones. Also, because the stones are predominantly colourless, they can be teamed up with your wildest colour combinations .

If you find yourself in Basse Normandie during the summer, maybe you would like to drop by The Zone Creative in Sourdeval and see their range of artisan made arts and crafts they stock, or treat yourself to a cup of tea and a slice of cake in their newly opened tea garden.
You can find them on the high street in Sourdeval,  at No. 5 Rue General Millet

Crunchy Underfoot

 Before I moved to this perfect part of the world, winter for me was always something awful to be endured. Something that lasted a terribly long time.  I used to feel so cold as I rushed outside wearing not enough clothing...but not realising that winter needed it's own special clothing.

 Yesterday came the first sprinkling of snow, barely covering the ground, looking like a light dusting oficing sugar. Mother Nature's own makeover,  now even the most mundane of articles appears to be a thing of beauty.

Here's my little girl with her first solo attempt at cake making, this one is a gateau au citron with a sugary crust on top, hopefully the first of many!!

Four seasons in one day...

The mornings here in Northern France have turned misty this last couple of weeks and there is quite the definite nip of Autumn in the air. I love these kind of mornings, I go outside in time to see the fading sunrise glowing pink over the trees, the pale sun trying hard to burst through the mist and then I see the most magical thing, a simple spiders web hanging heavy with the morning dew is transformed into a thing of beauty as it rests there on the fence, it's not fooling even the most short sighted of insects.

What to wear?

I am reasonably sure that each morning will develop into a beautifully sunshiny and hot day, but right now, the Autumnal chill is too much and I cannot resist my snuggly argyle jumper.
By midmorning, it's springtime, the sun is gently wiping away the morning dew and making me feel a little too snuggly in my winter woolly.

Mid-day brings a tremendous heat, summer is not over after all, she's just having a lazy morning.
The children come out of school for lunch, most of them wearing long sleeves and turtle necks, baking in the sudden heat.
The evenings are long, the kind of evenings which were made for barbecues and al fresco dining.
As the light fades and the sky becomes black, the air cools once more and I wonder where I discarded my warm jumper....and jacket.

Tonight will be a full moon in a dark, cloudless sky with millions of stars, the effect is amazing, it's as bright as day until the moon sets again, but the clear sky means that the temperature plummets, making an icy cold night, just how I like it. As I lie in my toasty warm bed, I can still see the stars and as I watch them, my nose becomes colder, I can hardly bear to close my eyes to sleep.
Winter.

It's been a busy time here in our little corner of Normandie, the building work is coming to a crescendo with the distinct nip in the air to remind us that winter is just around the corner. We intend moving into the main living area before winter is upon us.
To the untrained eye, it still looks like the building site it always was, but with the advent of an upstairs floor, our possessions are no longer scattered far and wide, it only needs a floor, walls and power and we will be good to go!!



Last month saw the completion of a bathroom....welcome to the 21st century family Lemur. From now, my long suffering hubby is spared the task of the twice weekly journeys into the neighbouring town to empty the toilet.



...and what have I been doing all this time? I have been in my studio, enamelling, hammering and creating to bring you this.


...and this


Florentyne is my latest design, at the moment I have the bracelet and pendant, ring and earrings will be arriving soon. What I love about this bracelet is the tapered link, it fits exactly to the contour of your wrist....and of course the colours, I love, love, love the colours that you get with kiln fired enamels, so bright, clear and juicy, they always remind me of the sweeties I used to like as a child.

I'm also working on another shape of linked bracelet, with enameled insets. This one is even brighter than Florentyne...photo's to follow.
Oh, while we're on the subject of sweeties, who want's some lemon rock?



that's the name of one of my latest rings...because the 'rock' is the colour of lemons

My other ring is called 'Waspie' which is a good name for two reasons:
1 It is a ring with a wasp-like waist
2 2010 has been the summer of the wasp, they have been everywhere, in your drinks, food, clothes. Unfortunately we are surrounded on all sides by ripening fruit trees, which is wasp heaven.
I risked life and limb to bring you a photo of the wasps devouring a rotting apple, but the pic is still in the camera, the lead is in the shed and it's 4.30 am....maybe it will wait for morning.

Three months in...

It only seems like yesterday when we arrived in France to start our new life in Normandie, but three and a half months have passed in the blink of an eye.

I imagined that I would be blogging every aspect of my new life, but living it seems to take up so much time!! I have inherited a vegetable plot for a season which is so theraputic to dig, listening to the birds in the trees and the gentle babble of the stream which flows at the end of the garden.
For a serial townie, moving to the countryside is new and exciting, finding exotic wildlife is such a treat. The lizard basking in the warm sun on the doorstep, or the fire salamander hiding in the soil as I was digging the garden.

Following the progress of nature as the seasons unfold and using the goodies found in the hedgerow to make jellies and salads is the best part.
Yesterday I started the first step in making Dandelion Jelly. This sounds so ordinary but looks like pure sunshine in a jar and tastes like golden honey. I picked 400 dandelion heads and separated out the petals to steep in 1.5 litres of water.
This was brought to the boil and then covered and left to cool, preferably overnight.
Then, strain the petals and discard, adding 1.5Kg of preserving sugar and the juice of a lemon.

Boil rapidly for around an hour until the liquid starts to thicken and coat the spoon, taking care not to let it get on your skin.
Fill sterilised jars and leave to cool, then enjoy the taste of summer.

This morning when we got up, it was lovely to see the brand new snowfall. Doesn't everywhere look beautiful after one of Mother Nature's make overs?
The best thing about it is that it's Wednesday.....no school!

So we took the sledge for it's first outing in the snow, the lanes were perfect being deserted and hilly.

Daddy was very obliging in pulling the sledge uphill with a little girl in it, a task which was made easier when Libby stopped applying the brakes.


Next are a few photos of the lanes around our house.

Back To Life

Just spent a glorious two week holiday in France, the weather was hot, the company was great and we travelled around the Normandy countryside discovering little pockets of perfection.

The one thing that really rings the changes for me between the town and the countryside is the wildlife that seems so abundant in the places that mankind leaves alone.

The 300 year old barn that has been our ongoing renovation project for the past four years is a veritable sanctuary.

Sitting quietly in the half light in the barn, you notice that you are no longer alone. You can hear the soft flapping of wings taking flight in the eaves above your head, then the bats move out from the shadows and you can see them against the squares of light that are fading fast from the windows.

Just a quick glimpse, tantalisingly close then disappearing as fast as it came.

This is the moment that I write a quick mental addition to my Christmas list for night vision goggles....so Santa, if you're reading this.....