It is hard to believe that it has been a whole year since I had my screen test at Jewellery Maker. What a year it has been! Working with such a wide range of gemstones has often pushed me right out of my comfort zone and forced me to develop new techniques. It has been a two-way process. I would not have been able to develop those new techniques without the solid grounding and experience from glass beads, but I find that when I return to the safe and regular world of glass beads I am using them in a far more experimental and creative way. I hope that I come across on screen as more relaxed and confident than I did on that first show. I certainly feel that I have settled down. The first few shows were pretty nerve-wracking, but the presenters and the whole team go out of their way to look after the Guest Designers and I now really enjoy taking part in the shows. I really appreciate the support from viewers and I know that really makes a difference to all the designers. When I started I was worried that I would use up all my good ideas in the first few shows, but so far that hasn’t happened, so let’s hope I can keep up the supply of designs for the next year.
I have always loved the swirling patterns and lustrous colours of abalone, so when I opened my last kit and found a fabulous graduated fan of abalone I could not believe my luck! I decided to keep the design simple in appearance, but wanted it to be complex enough in construction to give viewers something new. The comments I have received suggest that it was a bit of a hit and Presenter Vicky loved it enough to wear it for the rest of the show!
For a totally over-the-top look I put them all together. You would certainly get noticed wearing that!
I have now put instructions for the designs on the site and they can be found here.
The link to the show is here.