Pube-licity

Very excitingly Pearls Before Swine has had a bit of a write up by fabulous journalist Ida Lamberton.

Please read it here and here.

Past work...

Etsy

My leather upholstery bangles have been added to Esty. Yay.

Hope Street Hangover

Well it's Monday morning after the hectic weekend of the Hope Street Markets and I'm bright eyed, bushy tailed and madly processing everything I learned over the last 2 days. It was a fantastic weekend, Saturday in particular was huge, Sunday was a bit of a sleeper, but overall the feedback was great, the people were into it, the setting was beautiful and nothing went horribly wrong! Here is a view of our humble stall, we had a nice position up near the front and were located right next to Marina Civiero with her funky collection of jewellery and very close to the lovely girls from Raspberry Beret. 

I had lots of visitors over the weekend who I would like to thank, and I hope that anyone who purchased something loves it for a long time. I will be putting some things on Etsy very soon, and I think it is worth trying to get some of the work into shops. To be honest I dont know if I will make the same sort of things for the next markets, people didn't seem to be keen to spend very much, so the challenge is to come up with a cheaper range specifically for that type of buyer. I understand, when I'm at the markets I'm looking for bargains, it's just tricky when you're handmaking items to keep the costs down. Mmmmm, it's all a learning experience!

Here is the delightful Safari Lee, fellow jewellery designer and spunk extraordinaire in her newly purchased Pearls Before Swine heart brooch. Notice the lady in the background enviously eyeing off her purchase? Lucky Safari for nabbling the last one! But don't worry folks, I might make some more of these, they were the hit of the weekend.

Probably the highlight for me over the weekend was meeting other designer/makers and hearing how they are making their way in their practices. I met a gorgeous and talented lady Jenny Vidler (the image above is from her website) who makes incredible jewellery and hats that would make you swoon. She is a graduate of Sydney College of the Arts and handmakes everything meticulously. Her product is unique, perfectly made and breathtakingly beautiful. I hope there are enough people in Australia to appreciate what she has to offer, sometimes I wonder.....I think it is a hundred times easier to find a market in Europe where people really do appreciate the value of one off handmade pieces and don't want to just follow the crowd and buy another charmy necklace made in China for $20. Oh, whoops, this is my usual rave, I'd better stop myself before I get too worked up! Anyway,  I will definitely be ordering a hat from Jen for my wedding day, hurry up and legalize gay marriage Mr Rudd! I need that hat! 

The handiwork

Probably the hardest part of the jewellery making process for me is photographing it all once it's finally been made. This is SOOOO frustrating! And despite learning all of the technical stuff in school I can't seem to get very amazing results with my digital point and shoot. My photographic studio consists of different coloured cardboard leant up against my workbench and about 3 lamps dragged in from all over the house. It's as precarious and dodgy as it sounds- hopefully you can get a bit of an idea from them! For what it's worth, here are some examples of what I'll be taking to the Hope Street Markets on the weekend. What doesn't end up selling will be put on my Etsy store sometime in the future.

The Foamy Hearts Club range.

Big and small pendants on either brass or perspex backs.

Some recycled materials used.

From the Jetsons Series: Juicer and below is Moonraker

both in sterling silver

The bangles pictured here are part of the Body Upholstery series, which was from my final year of school. The buttons are made from the lost wax technique, cast in bronze and then gold plated. There are 4 button designs: a nipple, vagina, a pimply one and a simple pointed dome. They are super comfy to wear, I have two that I wear nearly everyday and they really are like cushions for your arm.

These are part of the I Live On Zandra Road Series. 

They are made from some recycled materials (the wood and leather)

Some have brass backs and some are on perspex.

What's in a name?

I have had a really mixed bag response to my choice of label name, but I love it and it's definitely stuck. It comes from the new testament, from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. While the biblical meaning is relevant, my choice has more than a little to do with my love of Miss Piggy, a long time hero of mine. I can relate to her love of multiple costume changes, overuse of made-up french words, undying love for her frog and her extreme bossiness. 

One of my favourite pieces of jewellery is a hog ring by Vernon Bowden, called CAPITALIST PIG.  Oh and I'm year of the pig. And I love pork.

Hope Street Markets

The weekend coming (Sat 17th and Sun 18th May) will be my first foray into retailing Pearls Before Swine, a testing of the marketplace so to speak. I'll be sharing a stall with Sian Edwards another graduate of Enmore Design Centre and we're very excited to be involved with the first Hope Street Markets to be held at the Paddington Town Hall.

I am making jewellery like a crazy person, I hope to have about 50 pieces in total for sale.

Included will be bangles from my BODY UPHOLSTERY range, the I LIVE ON ZANDRA ROAD series of deco/egpytian inspired pendants made from leather, wood and either perspex and brass elements, and cushioned heart pendants and brooches from the FOAMY HEARTS CLUB series, all bright, bold and leathery. I have used recycled materials wherever possible in these pieces and will have some on Etsy for sale soon too.

I am also developing a sterling silver range and have two ring designs: the JETSON JUICER and the JETSON MOONWALKER which I will also have at Hope Street.

I promise to have photos of all of these up asap...