Botanic Gardens

Hi guys,

Sorry I haven't written anything in two months but I was busy/procrastinating but I wanted to take the time to tell you about two great things going on at the Botanic Gardens in Sydney at the moment. Here's an extract from the website:

Cultivate: New Artisans

This exhibition celebrates emerging artisans, offering a rare opportunity to showcase their creativity and talent.  
When: 4th - 14th October, 10am - 4pm daily
Where: Palm House, Royal Botanic Garden
Cost: Free. All works are for sale

We went there today and they were both brilliant! So much stuff to see I'm sorry I'm only telling you last minute. There was so much to see in this little building and so many talented artists, sculptures, jewellers, and pottery makers and if you don't get to see them it will be such a shame but I should've said something earlier but I forgot to be honest. Anyway I'm kind of known for promoting my aunt, Mel, who is a lovely person and talented contemporary jeweller and her works were features in this exhibition too. So here are the pictures I took:

The beautiful Melinda Young with her works at Cultivate: Artisans

The next one was also beautiful and jam-packed with wonderful art, jewellery, pottery, sculpture from amazing artists.
Here's an extract from the website:

Artisans in the Gardens

This year’s exhibition showcases unique works by some of our best contemporary and traditional artisans. Including jewellery, ceramics, glass, textiles, and sculpture, the exhibition celebrates the beauty and complexity of nature.
When: 11th - 19th October, 10am - 4pm
Where: Lion Gate Lodge, Royal Botanic Garden
Cost: Free. All works are for sale

And here are the pictures I took:
(Sorry for the overload of pictures I'm not very good at choosing my favourites)

If you missed out, you should still head over to the Botanic Gardens because it's beautiful and it's right next to the Art Gallery of NSW so you can make two trips in one! Keep an eye out for upcoming exhibitions at both the Botanic Gardens and the Art Gallery and make a trip down there the next time you're in Sydney (if you don't already live there).

Jody

Melinda Young's Natural Material Jewellery Workshop

Hey guys,
I meant to post this last Saturday because last week I attended Mel's jewellery workshop with found natural materials at the Botanic Gardens. The reason I am only writing about it now is because I left my camera at my cousin's place and couldn't get it until this weekend which was a bit annoying.

Unfortunately the lighting was really bad in there so I didn't really get any photos. However you can see some of the fabulous jewellery made on the day on Mel's Instagram (@unnaturaljeweller). It was a wonderful day. I got a bit overwhelmed though as I always do. Even though we had the whole day to work, I still felt the pressure of what should I do? Should I try out some techniques? Use tools I'm not able to at home? What idea should I try out? What should I do first and will I be wasting time? Very stressful indeed but I did get like two pieces of jewellery out of it and started one. There's so much more I want to do though, I really want to make jewellery with chopped up pieces of wood. I realy want to make something like Mel's 'Aborescence' piece, with both natural and unnatural pieces. She has not made a blog post about the day as she has not really been blogging for a while. Bloggin is one of those things that you feel you should do but don't seem to have the time for it. Mel is quite busy and trying to keep in order blogs, Instagram, work and family can be quite tiring sometimes. I do try and encourage her to blog when I see her so maybe hopefully she will start blogging again sometime soon.

Although I didn't get any people pictures due to the poor lighting and me not asking to open the blinds (just one of those things you really regret not doing), I did still get some nature shots as we were in the beautiful Botanic Gardens which, if you don't know what I'm talking about, is in Sydney next to The Art Gallery of NSW.  My cousin and I walked around for a little bit but it's just so big that we only did a small loop because we wanted to get back to jewellery making and we couldn't really find any gum nut type trees if you know what I mean.

Anyway, it was a great day, the weather was nice and the jewellery making was fun. As always I wish I got more out of it. I was a little tired and so that made it hard to concentrate which made even more stressed out and gosh I am really stressed out. I don't think I can stand another week of school, I need a holiday, now.

Well I hope none of you are really anxious, conflicted, stressed or drained although you probably are feeling one or more of those things if you've been going to school or working. I must say Year 10 is harder than the previous years have been. I'm in all the top classes too which doesn't help because the teachers expect so much of us, move really fast in the topic and give us tonnes of extension work and homework. They're all trying to prepare you for senior years and what not. Anyway I should probably do some homework now I guess...

Jody

Melinda Young Jewellery Workshop

Book for Melinda Young's workshop at the Botanical Gardens!

Aborescence – neckpiece by Melinda Young

All the information is in the link but basically it's a full day workshop at the Botanical Gardens making lovely jewellery from natural materials i.e. gumnuts, wood etc. with the lovely contemporary jeweller, Melinda Young! Morning tea and lunch is included. Bookings are essential. It'll be a great day and even if you can't come, please spread the word around so it doesn't have to be cancelled because it would be a real shame if that were the case. By the way I'm pretty sure it is meant to be for adults.

You can visit Mel on her blog, website, facebook page or instagram. I'm not exactly sure where you can see her work right now but lots more information in the links!

Thank you!

Jody

Today's Accessories

Today my nails are "wanna be royal" from the Models Prefer 18 pack I got for Christmas (thank you Michelle).

And I'm also wearing my fox brooch I got for Christmas (thank you Mel) and my horoscope necklace I got from Diva yesterday

Jody

Shopping Again

Hi guys,

This afternoon I went shopping to get an iTunes gift card so I could buy

'Les Misérables (The Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Deluxe Edition]'

I watched the movie in 3D in 2012 and loved it and I've been wanting to get the CD for some time now so I finally got it, and I love it :)

And while I was wandering around Chatswood shopping centre I couldn't resist a peak into Diva and ended up spending $23.

So here are the items I bought

I already have one of these but it was on sale and the little charms are so cute and you can do almost anything with them

I found this cute little fox ring which is surprising because I haven't seen fox items in Diva before. I also don't usually buy rings because I have fat fingers and their rings don't fit but this one kind of fits my pinky although it's a little snug. Unfortuately the only other size they have is too big for my pinky and too small for the rest of my fingers but I just had to get this guy. He wasn't on sale though, I paid $6 for him.

I wanted to get this last time but I was deterred by the price I think so when I saw it was on sale I thought, perfect! It has my horoscope which is Libra (obviously).

This charm bracelet was so adorable I just had to get it as well...

And I love it!

If you have $7 on hand, I would recommend this cute charm bracelet (while it's still on sale). You can where it whether you have a skinny arm or a thick-ish one (like me) because you can adjust it. It's just such a sweet bracelet and the charms aren't too girly or too vintage or too cheesy or anything. And I love the way it kind of jingles as you move.

So cute!

So that's it today, sorry it took so long to put up but I hope you enjoy it none the less :)

Jody

Why doesn't blogger have a 'like' button?

Well this is embarrasing,
Is what you would see when Firefox keeps shutting down, but no, this is embarrassing because Danks street is not in Surrey Hills but in Waterloo which I've fixed relating to my last post.

Also I've put up a new poll...

Anyway I'm just babbling on here but I've also added two lists; one is my favourite blogs, the other is a list of sites you may want to look at that involve jewellery, designers and other stuff that you may find nice to look at. Unfortunately, my favourite blog list has only two blogs on it at the moment, this is because I don't "surf the web" for blogs much, and I haven't really got a list of favourites.

I can't wait.....I really want to be a contemporary jeweller like my aunt "when I grow up" but I want to do it now! I want to make my own jewellery and sell it and display it and make it and blog it and make it..........

Also, I am VERY annoyed that blogger does not have a 'like' widget. And I DO NOT mean a Facebook 'like' widget. I mean just a 'like' widget so you can see how many people like your post ect. I think wordpress has one like that but not blogger! What is going on here??
First of all, you can see how many people have visited your site but that doesn't mean they actually looked at it or liked it. They could've just accidentally pressed a link for all I know. It also shows you where they pressed the link from, but that still doesn't tell me whether they liked my blog.
Secondly, it would be really useful to have a 'like' button because that way you can tell which post they liked and if they liked it. A 'like' button for the whole site would also be useful. Why is there only a comment button? Not everyone has a comment to make, something to say, or something write. Some people don't really want other people to see what they think. A 'like' button is good because its easy and simple; they press 'like' and you can see that they like it.
If you were to have a 'like' button - which you should - it needs to be simple and easy like a Facebook like button. You also should not have to have a blogger account to 'like' something otherwise that limits it to the amount of people who can 'like' it. Just a simple 'like' widget for your blog or blog entries is not that hard.

Well that's all I had to say, you'll see another fox and quote next Thursday.

Jody

What I've been up to lately...

Here are some pics of what I've done recently

'Sturt desert pea' neclace I made

Cupcakes I decorated at a a cupcake decorating workshop

'Lavender' brooch I made at Melinda Young's (my aunt's)
workshop at Craft Punk, Powerhouse Museum, December 1st

Jody