Laura Cameron

FSL Lipdub

2012-01-18T19:49:00.001Z

I just have to share this fabulous video created by students and staff at Friends' School Lisburn. My lovely old school in all its glory! Great job everyone!

January 2012 Part One

2012-01-15T18:07:00.002Z

Project 30 has many gaps during the festive period due to forgetting, using other people's cameras, photos being secret wedding matters etc. However, here's January so far . . .

Day 166 Marley relaxing under the Christmas tree

Day 168 new red shoes

Day 169 Shadow getting to grips with his Christmas gifts, he may be chomping away on a chew but in the mean time he's making sure Marley doesn't get the sheep!

Day 170 a little detail from the bedroom at Mum and Dad's which my sister had set up like a beautiful guest house, candles, flowers, the works!

Day 171 and the return to Scotland. Unpacking led to lots of "what smell is my new lip balm" games with R!

Day 172 the Christmas decoration box becomes the cat's play box, it's perfect with all the little slits to peer and swipe through.

Day 173

Day 174 back to running with a bit of flashy new hi vis. No excuses now.

Day 176 this week I started my new job as Education and Outreach Officer at Paxton House and so have a lot of reading to do.

Day 177 I have big plans for this little chap.

Day 178 Film night thanks to a very handy two months free dvd rental! The Troll Hunter was first up and it's Super 8 tonight!

Day 179 small Mol decided I was a worthy cushion. Forgive the appearance, it was cold and I'd been mainly cleaning!

My life of late has been dominated by lists for my jewellery job, my new job and the wedding. I'm so excited about all three and just hope the lists will keep me organised so I can do a decent job and enjoy the work along the way.

There's not much to report about my jewellery as I am getting on top of accounts and orders but I have ideas a plenty on the way!

Hope January is treating you well and thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Times

2012-01-04T16:44:00.000Z

Days 151 to 160, festive frolics in Scotland and Northern Ireland and art work by Rebecca Cameron.

2011

2012-01-01T17:08:00.000Z

January was a wintry affair, arriving back to Scotland from my Northern Irish Christmas to find snow still on the ground. After spending the first three weeks of our engagement apart it was fabulous to be back with R!

February brought a rather fine visitor to the garden, we went to see an Andy Goldsworthy exhibition and I made lots of silver bubbles for sea foam jewellery.

March and my working conditions were vastly improved thanks to raising my work desk with big blocks of wood and the purchase of a table vice. My wonderful siblings came to visit, R passed the big sister test and we got to see his work in print in New British Comics vol 3. March also brought one of the highlights of the year; seeing the Karine Polwart trio live.

April was blooming lovely as the garden burst forth with colour and we celebrated a year of living in the borders!

May was sunny and warm and led to plenty of walking; along rivers, up and down hills, by the sea, even up the road to watch a rally. I was delighted to finally find a UK based supplier of recycled sterling silver so now my sea glass range is made from about 90% recycled materials which was one of my aims for the year.

June was about beautiful blooms - more this year please - lots of jewellery making, visitors and exam marking.

July started with a green festival, I turned 30, started trying to take a photo every day and we had a holiday!

August was R's birthday, we had visits from friends, jaunts to Edinburgh, more flowers and many evening strolls in the setting sun.

October was the month of weddings! R and I photographed our first two weddings, had a great time, learned and improved loads. We were both nervous but really felt so privileged to be present and recording such important days. Just look at them all; such beautiful people!

Early November saw the arrival of Molly cat into our home, what can I say, I love that cat!

In December the 'in for a penny' necklaces got a bit of attention including this one which was a special commission. I love making them and will be listing them on my website soon.

Molly cat continued to make herself at home and I don't think I'm the only one to have fallen for her charms!

Just as 2010 ended with the news of our engagement the end of 2011 brings more good news; after a nervous interview I was delighted to be offered the role of Education Officer at Paxton House! The role is part time allowing a lovely balance with my jewellery work and I'm so excited about starting the job next week when I'm back in Scotland!

So, a good year and now it's 2012, Happy New Year to you all!

Still Working

2011-12-29T08:00:00.000Z

With all the focus on Molly cat you'd think I'd just been staring at a cat for weeks but I have still been working away!

Day 148

One custom order for a set of twin sea glass bangles was made and delivered to a very welcoming lady who showed me her collection of beautiful, atmospheric etchings by Norman Ackroyd. Really gorgeous.

Day 149

Delivery day was a bit wintery with fierce hail on the sea front as we pulled into buy some lunch. R was delighted with his burnt rolls, I know the label reads double baked or something but it's just burnt really isn't it?! Pleugh!

Day 150

And a bit more Molly!

Day 143 - 147 Molly meets the Christmas Decorations

2011-12-28T13:00:00.000Z

Day 135 - 142

2011-12-28T07:30:00.000Z

135 - Taking photos of R's paintings at Paxton to check if they are straight!

136 - Molly and me.

Day 137 - a frosty walk in the woods and some fabulous giant outdoor Christmas baubles!

Day 138 - Molly. Again.

Day 139 - a most splendid bird from Lynda Taylor, Crown Studio Gallery. A lovely gift which has been adorning our living room, well out of reach of the cat! I had a job interview on day 139 and this was a lovely parcel to come home to after being really rather nervous!

Day 140 - headless cat

Day 142 - blurry holly.

December Begins

2011-12-27T22:05:00.000Z

Before December ends I'll show you how it began. . .

Day 133 was the first of December and R and I went over to set up our work at the Crossing Borders Gallery in Paxton House, ready for the Christmas Cracker festive fair. It was very cool to have a whole display cabinet to display my work in and Paxton House looked so beautiful decorated for Christmas. I have news to do with Paxton but more of that in another post.

On the way home from Paxton we stopped to look over a few bridges; the water was high and like swirling chocolate after the heavy rains.

Day 134

Lighting the advent candle for the second time and watching Molly cat's contortions on the hearth. You can tell she's been on the pilates mat with me, just look at that stretch! Pity she has a determination to lie on the mat every time I work out, always at the exact point where she'd be most in the way!

Happy Christmas!

2011-12-27T16:59:00.001Z

Happy Christmas everyone!

Hope you are all having a lovely holiday time, I'm back in Northern Ireland and it's great catching up with family and friends here. Today has been a dedicated stay at home and chilling out day so I thought I'd share a few more photos of our life in the borders and try to catch up on project 30. Here is days 129 - 132. Day 131 is missing, ahem.

Trying to remember to take a photo every day sometimes results in photos like this - our dinner! Usually a favourite from Nigel Slater, using red cabbage turned our noodles purple and whether it was the colour or what, the noodles just didn't rock that night. If you ever want a giggle ask a Northern Irish person to talk about noodles; apparently we sound funny.

A rainbow in Coldstream en route to a beading lesson with the lovely Barbara from Coldstream Gallery.

The excitement of discovering, ordering and receiving an Annie Lennox Christmas album just as November ended ready for the advent period. Joy!

Day 124 - 128 More Molly and Festivities Begin

2011-12-22T09:10:00.003Z

My lovely sister came to stay for a few days which was fabulous. Lynne had to share a room with Molly cat and they got on very well. By tying a few lengths of wool onto the toy mouse Lynne encouraged Molly to polish her hiding in a box, behind a throw stalking tactics. Impressive.

A new person in the house meant new shoes to explore and the delight of discovering new laces. Even Rocket Dog is no match for Molly.

We had a lovely time pottering around, relaxing and visiting places. A jaunt up the road to Edinburgh was a must and we accidentally went on the day the Christmas lights were turned on. Beautiful and bizarre to watch a busy street of people stop walking and stare as a huge firework went off. It was the only one as it was too windy for the rest but that didn't detract from our festive joy.

Image from Lynne, ta!

In the midst of perusing potential bridesmaid dresses I took Lynne over to have a look at the Church where R and I will be getting married next year.

Just before setting off for the airport we went to Haddington, I found the bead shop to stock up for a lesson, we had some lunch and were treated to a pipe band. This was so nearly December and I was with my sister so it was awful hard to resist the festive feeling!

Day 121 - 123

2011-12-21T23:09:00.002Z

Day 121 took us over to St Abbs for a visit to Number Four Gallery's Christmas exhibition and, as always, there was a wonderful array of beautiful work.

Day 122 and a quick shot of the work bench in the midst of the busy pre-Christmas period.

Dy 123 started with my attempt to open a tub of wet wipes to clean down my work bench. Who knew this would end with me nearly and tears and R wielding a pair of mighty tin snips to cut my finger out of the lid. It's hard to take a photo of your own right hand when you are right handed but just look at the scraped nail and near serrated finger. It hurt. So dear reader, learn from me; never use your finger to push through the first wet wipe of a new tub.

Mysteries for Molly

2011-12-21T20:59:00.002Z

Since arriving, Molly has done a lot of snoozing on the hearth as shown above, however, on the morning of day 119 the warm had disappeared and there was much puzzlement.

The lack of heat coupled with the wind causing some spectacular howling down the chimney made for a very inquisitive cat who, without human intervention, may have climbed on up the chimney!

I've arrived back in Northern Ireland and am trying to catch up on project 30 so I'm not bringing you festive frolics in January! Hope you are enjoying the build up to Christmas.

New Tool

2011-12-15T15:13:00.000Z

Day 117

I ordered a new tool and when it arrived I got quite a shock to open the box and find what looked like a recently removed organ wrapped in layers of blood filled plastic. Many on facebook thought the same!

Day 118

Despite the grim appearance and red oiled hands which resulted from unwrapping it my new disc cutter is great. This is a fairly cheap model but I've been really impressed with it so far and had made cutting circles of metal so much swifter!

Day 120

The first in for a penny necklace featuring hand stamped faith, hope and love copper discs on sterling silver chain. I have loads of ideas for these and am really pleased customers are wanting personal stamps on their necklaces; initials or names of loved ones being the most popular. These will be available online in the new year.

Day 115 and 116 Molly and Mouse

2011-12-15T10:29:00.001Z

Day 115 and Molly receives her first visitors who were deemed acceptable as they were friendly, brought treats and a mouse.

Day 116 sees mouse get the first of many a hiding. As I'm typing this all I can see of Molly cat is her back legs protruding from underneath the futon accompanied by some frantic scrabbling noises. I think I know where mouse is.

Gymnasium Open Exhibition

2011-12-14T10:04:00.000Z

Day 114

We went over to Berwick to have a look round the annual Open Exhibition at the Gymnasium Gallery, where Rich, Mr J and our friend Caroline Underhill had pieces on show.

Somebody forgot to note the artist but I loved this piece.

Once again there was an interesting mix of work from local artists and I heard yesterday that Caroline was awarded 3rd place with her Highland Cow pastel painting! Many congratulations!

Lavinia takes a little sip of tea and, apologies again, I have forgotten the name of the artist

Detail from Self Portrait with Migraine by Gill Walton

Just while I'm making fleeting reference to Gill Walton's work you may be interested in her latest venture in conjunction with Oliver Reed - Allanbank Arts. Dubbed "the space to create" Allanbank Arts is a beautiful venue in the Scottish Borders, near Allanton, where Gill and Oliver will be running a range of creative courses and artist mentoring. Definitely worth checking out whether you are local to the Borders (Scottish Borders Council employees get 10% off!) or are planning a creative holiday in the area.

Lastly, R made us pasties for tea and they were splendid. Can you tell Hugh F-W has been on the tv?! Thyme, goats cheese and spinach, yum.

Florals and Fluff

2011-12-11T22:47:00.001Z

Day 110 and we finally put up some curtains in our bedroom! Another vital getting ready for chilly winter step and so pretty and floral - thanks Mrs J!

Day 112 and the cat just keeps looking fluffy

Day 113 suggests Molly cat has fully settled in and, despite having been to the vets for injections, had a thermometer up her bum and stuff squeezed in her eyes she seemed quite happy to just loll about in front of the fire when we got back.

Fluff.

First Frost and Fluffy Trousers

2011-11-29T18:10:00.001Z

Day 109 brought the first frost that I've seen so far this season. I'm sure there has been some earlier while I was fast asleep and dreaming but this was the first I've been up and out in it.

With the crisp air and low winter sun it was a lovely morning for Molly's first exploration of the garden. Under all that fluff she is quite slight and it really looks like she's donned a pair of furry trousers suitable for frosty striding.

Twenty minutes or so of sniffing and leaping out in the cold world brought Molly back inside for a lounge on the sunny windowsill. Such a contented little cat who is clearly used to living in a home and made our job of helping her settle in very easy indeed. It is so lovely having a wee beast around the house!

Meet Fluffy

2011-11-29T17:22:00.001Z

On day 106 R and I went over to B.A.R.K to have a look at some cats. We met the lady on duty who showed us up and down the kennels and we had the awful feeling of turning down lots of animals. Two little kittens came and played with us and we were just deciding which to have when we were told they had to be rehomed together so we had another walk up and down and went outside to see a cat called Muffy. A friendly, purring fluffball who had a good curious poke through the fence to see who we were.

We left the kennels to have a think and do the shopping and called in again on the way home to say we would visit again the following week and that we liked Muffy. Then, after a chorus of 'Muffy's lovely, have Muffy' we went home.

With Muffy.

Day 106 A cat once called Muffy.

Day 107 and the name debate continues; Daisy was a contender, 'cept I kept calling her Daisy Renton and, if you've read 'An Inspector Calls', you'll understand why we changed our minds.

Day 108 and the little raggy doll of a cat has settled in splendidly, adopted all cushions as her own and is now called . . .

Molly.

Number Four Gallery Christmas Show 2011

2011-11-18T19:15:00.001Z

Jewellery and a Big Damn Band

2011-11-17T21:33:00.001Z

Day 104 and the only photo I took was a badly underexposed shot of a wire wrapped pendant; I had a fiddle with some digital textures to make it look vaguley more presentable. This necklace is now available at Chirnside Gallery along with a new selection which I left in today.

Day 105 took us down to Newcastle to see Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band; This shot is technically the day after as I took the shot of our stamped hands when we got in! My first time to the Toon and what an introduction. There was bucket thumping, wide eyed staring, guitar magic, washboard playing, nose scrunching, teeth baring, beard shaking, floor stamping and it looked a bit like this . . .

Autumnal

2011-11-08T19:44:00.000Z

Day 103 - photographs taken from the side of the road on the way home from nipping out to get milk. We ended up taking about three hours as we drove over to take some pictures of a great clump of trees in autumnal hues. Sadly the sun just dipped too low to recreate the splendour we'd seen a few days previously but R is ruminating on Autumnal paintings. Hard not to with all this colour abounding. I'm sure last year we didn't get to see such a show with the wind and rain banishing Autumn into a few days before the snow tucked the land up in winter.

Red Cabbage

2011-11-07T05:00:00.000Z

Day 102 - Red Cabbage

Berwick, Boat and Baking

2011-11-06T18:52:00.000Z

Good evening!

I'm leaping ahead a little with project 30 leaving out the days over the long weekend down in the midlands for the second wedding we were photographing; another beautiful couple and I will show you soon. In the midst of processing two lots of wedding photographs there have been a few adventures.

Day 97 was clear and bright and we went down to the docks for the lifting of R's Dad's boat for winter. It's always somewhat nerve jangling watching a boat dangling mid air, but everything went well. That is until the crane lorry got stuck in the mud in the field after unloading the boat. If you are going to get a heavy vehicle stuck in the mud the Honey Farm isn't the worst place for it to happen; there were soon various heavy duty vintage vehicles heaving (and at one point pushing!) the lorry but to no avail. A farmer with a huge-mongous tractor saved the day in the end and R's Dad is happy for winter to begin now the boat is in and safe.

The surface of the water in the docks was really glassy and we may have spent a few minutes kicking stones in to make ripple patterns to photograph and they may be played with and posted later.

Day 98 was the day of fancying some Swiss Roll, however, due to complete lack of rolling finesse on my part we ended up with Swiss Fold. Giant Swiss Fold.

Day 100 seems to be a landmark number in this series and what do we have but a much better Swiss Roll - note the graceful rolls rather than folds. So I concede R is the King of Swiss Rolls in this house! I came home from an evening with friends and R greeted me with this splendid creation and it was the only option for photo of the day! Jo Simpson who hosted our get together is exhibiting her "Living the Dream and The Pearl of Great Price" multimedia and textiles work at The Borders Textile Towerhouse, Hawick until 27th November. Hopefully I'll be able to visit and bring you some photographs but for now I'm going to toast my toes in front of the fire with R and the newest addition to our family!

Rainbows and Lighthouse

2011-10-31T21:34:00.001Z

Day 88 offered us a beautiful orange evening glow and a rainbow. I love the breakthrough of light at this time of year, yes there are hours of dull grey but every now and then doesn't the world look stunning.

Day 89 - a little shot of the garden. We didn't plant a single sun flower this year so thanks to all the birds who deposited seeds for us!

Day 90 took us on a jaunt up to visit The Found Gallery and on the way home we went in search of a ship wreck near Barns Ness lighthouse . . .

. . . lots of rust and worn wood and even a weather faded picture drawn on a bit of plywood declaring some small person to be the owner of the ship.

Yoghurt, Toad and Chills

2011-10-29T02:30:00.000+01:00

Day 84 - Twekkelo Apple and Cinnamon Farmhouse Yogurt may just be the best yoghurt in the world and it comes in small buckets complete with handles and lids. Arty, painterly types may want to take note, gorgeous yoghurt, tubs with handles and lids. Oh yes.

R experimenting with some wintery head gear to keep George on the road over the coming months. Yes his bike is called George, it's a Dawes you see.

Day 86 - A little toad made me jump when I lifted a flower pot whilst out weeding and planting bulbs. Turns out he and his chums live in the wall opposite our neighbours' front door. On his advice I placed the pot by the hole and when I checked it a few minute later toady had gone home

Day 87 - Another fire shot. There will be a lot of this over the next few months I'd imagine.

Still editing wedding pictures, more interesting photos to come. I'll try and think of something other than the fireplace.

Fire and Mud

2011-10-28T20:28:00.000+01:00

Two weddings in two weeks makes for two tired photographers! We've thoroughly enjoyed our first two jobs as wedding photographers and have been working away on editing the images. It is fun to get up close into pictures you've only had a chance to quickly review on the camera screen; today I spotted a couple having a good old snog on the dance floor in the corner of one photo! Ha! Now to crop or not to crop? Weddings are a big celebration of love after all!

Over the last few weeks I know I've missed a few project 30 photos but having taken thousands of other photos I'm happy to forgive these omissions and hope you are too!

Day 80 - I couldn't tell you what we did as it seems like an age ago but I do remember being tired and enjoying toasting our toes by the fire!

Day 81 - This is the only photograph I have found dated the 10th October and yes, it is atrociously out of focus! Forshame! A yellow rose and the edges of some cornflowers from the garden.

Day 83 - Rain and the potato harvest makes for very muddy roads but a run and a bike ride had to happen. I seem to have got into my stride with running again but really am struggling to go beyond 3 miles so am going to try some interval training using podrunner as recommended by my sister. If any of you have any tips on interval training or getting beyond the 3 mile wall I'd love to hear from you. Years ago I built up to 10km and enjoyed it but it was on considerably flatter routes, am hoping interval training will help on the hills?

Day 79 Wedding

2011-10-12T20:33:00.002+01:00

Day 79 was the first wedding R and I photographed and it was a beautiful, nerve wracking, rain soaked, fun, flower and butterfly filled, moving, kilt swirling frolic of a day!

Many congratulations to the gorgeous Gillian and Nathan and thank you for welcoming us so warmly.

Day 73 - 78

2011-10-07T15:59:00.000+01:00

Day 73 - New copper earrings with very pale aqua sea glass beads. I started photographing a host of new pieces but a quick check on the first lot showed it was way too dull a day to get decent results. So I gave up and still haven't listed the new pieces.

Day 74 - I have to admit I didn't actually take this photo but I did make/ruin it; the addition of two little beasts really helped R photograph his painting! To make up for being annoying I better pimp his work so please go look at his blog!

Day 75 - We got our save the date cards back from the printers and most of them have been sent! Yay!

Day 76 is missing but on day 77 we went over to photographer Ian Oliver's Tweedside Gallery to leave a selection of my jewellery. His panoramic photography is so very beautiful and inspires early morning misty adventures.

Day 78 - took us to the Church where we will be photographing our first wedding tomorrow. It was great to have a good look round so our plan for the day can be much more informed. The couple are lovely and it is so exciting to be part of their day and provide them with a collection of photographs to treasure! Now I'm away to check, again, that everything is charged, formatted, set and packed properly!

Day 70 - 72

2011-10-05T18:00:00.000+01:00

Day 70 - The damson harvest! So far this lot have gone towards many litres of damson gin and the rest are bagged up in the freezer. I feel a crumble coming soon!

Day 71 - The last day of September and little Mog came to investigate why I was lying on the grass with my camera. I was going to post some sunny sky, bright flowers against autumn trees to document the record breaking temperatures but, well, Mog is just too cute not to share with you all!

Day 72 - New jewellery fresh out of the tumbler and nearly ready to go to photographer Ian Oliver's Tweedside Gallery.

Day 67 - 69

2011-10-04T11:30:00.000+01:00

Day 67 - Rich receives a very exciting parcel which may or may not be a result of us falling for a very clever marketing campaign and requiring cheap car insurance.

Day 68 - Scruffy! For the last few months I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the adventures of Scruffy the blackbird who has become very fond of Mrs J and her sultanas! He seems to know where she will be at any given moment, having even sat on her bedroom windowsill staring in when it was sultana time and she was not at the back door! He really is an adorably scruffy little fellow and I'm glad to have got a photo of him; shame it is through glass but I didn't want to scare him away.

Day 69 - A visit to Caroline Underhill's exhibition in the Hayloft Gallery, Paxton House. The exhibition runs until October 12th and Caroline will be there each day taking workshops and is available to discuss commissions. Her pet portraits are particularly popular so if you are thinking of an idea for a splendid Christmas gift now is the time to go and see her!

Day 64 - 66 A Visitor

2011-10-03T07:00:00.000+01:00

Lovely Kris from my university days came to visit en route to a conference in Aberdeen; it is a long way from Devon! We hadn't seen each other in eight years but soon caught up during the drive back from the train station.

Day 64 took us a jaunt up to Edinburgh for lunch, sight seeing, giggles at the bendy mirrors and even a nudey man . . .

. . . yes, really, look closely at the open window. We accidentally stumbled upon filming for Cloud Atlas and whilst straining to see over the heads of the crowd Kris spotted the topless chap clutching a satchel to his chest. Will we ever know what that was about?

Day 65 - a trip to the beach and some glass collecting, it was lovely to hang out with my old house mate and reminisce over Aberystwyth days.

Day 66 - using one of the pieces found the day before Kris made a sea glass swirl pendant. Despite her proclamations to the contrary Kris swiftly became adept with wire and pliers and made a really pretty pendant.

Before leaving for Aberdeen we had a stroll along the river, which was twinkling beautifully. A really fun weekend of catching up, chilling out, rugby, book perusing, wandering, eating, drinking, looking and making. Hopefully it won't be another eight years before we see each other again.

Day 61 - 63 Copper Jewellery and an Owl

2011-10-01T07:30:00.000+01:00

Day 61 - Three new pairs of earrings inspired by the onset of autumn with copper, green and frosty white sea glass.

Day 62 - More copper; chain maille bracelet and necklace in progress.

Day 63 - Twit, our little owl who is living in the pepper plant pot at the moment. He is a sweety and he's been catching my eye as my mind turns towards the end of the year as he was originally bought as a Christmas decoration but I believe an owl is for life, not just for Christmas. Well, that is unless he is wearing a Santa hat or something then he should definitely head to the roofspace in January!

Day 58 - 60 Cosmos, Rainbows, Damsons and Fords

2011-09-30T20:02:00.002+01:00

Day 58 - ended with some cosy lounging involving this cushion which still makes me giggle; not every sock bunny has her own cushion! Thanks Ma!

Day 59 - we went for a dander up the road which is quite usual after a day working, however what is rather unusual is the rainbow cladding our village! There was no other section of rainbow visible just the little whisp over the hill. On the same walk a huge stack of bales we noted on a distant hill seemed to have disappeared on the way home. Strange happenings indeed.

Day 60 - keeping an eye on the damsons and . . .

. . . changing my mind about going home over the ford in my little car. The water is much higher than normal and I'm sure I heard whimpering from the beast and the accelerator was very responsive after I turned around and headed in the other direction.

Day 55 - 57

2011-09-25T21:06:00.000+01:00

Day 55 - A new recycled sterling silver sea foam necklace featuring a beautiful white piece of Scottish sea glass. Oh, I do love the bubbles! I've started photographing new pieces for lauracameron.co.uk and will be adding new categories so you can look at all necklaces together, all bracelets together and so on. Hopefully I will be able to integrate this into the current display of jewellery by material and make it easier to browse. When looking at jewellery online do you prefer to look search by collection (eg sea glass and silver) or by type (eg. earring)? Would love to hear what you like!

Day 56 - A pile of freshly drilled and still wet sea glass. There is something so pleasing about having a big pot of glass drilled and ready to become some jewellery. There have been so many times when I have been delayed working on a piece because I need to go and drill a particular piece. Now I will be steaming ahead with the plans for this lot. There will be autumnal copper earrings on the way.

Day 57 - The newly christened twin bangle; a gift commission of which I shall say no more for now . . .

Day 51 - 54

2011-09-17T16:37:00.001+01:00

Day 51 - Moon! Taken from the front door when locking up for the evening.

Day 52 - With the tail end of the hurricane swirling around it was a very windy day! One minute the flowers would be swaying happily, the next they were almost horizontal! Was a mainly staying indoors kind of a day.

Day 53 - Big sock wearing huff over being sick. Turns out I don't react well to vitamin tablets with iron in them, bleugh. I've been tracking my diet on myfitnesspal.com to keep an eye on nutrition and calorie intake and noticed the iron was always low. Hence the vomit inducing supplements. Then on closer perusal I noticed hardly any foods listed on the site have iron information available and a quick look at labels in the kitchen proves iron is rarely listed. So it may be that I (and you if you are researching iron, hi!) have been eating enough iron rich foods and perhaps reacted to the supplements because I had quite enough already? Thanks to Helen Woodward, Louise Knight, Becki Button and Jo Celia Simmonds over on Twitter for their iron-for-vegetarians advice - this was particularly handy.

Day 54 - this is what happens when you live with a man working on a graphic novel and needing to visualise poses. The photograph was taken in the mirror so he could see what he looked like; always fun and frolics here!

Day 47 - 50 Frocks, Flowers and Birthday Feasts

2011-09-12T21:14:00.000+01:00

Day 47 - As R was out in the morning I frolicked about in weddingy frocks and took lots of photographs. This is all I am showing you though! It isn't as mad or bride-y as it sounds. Well maybe a bit, you see I made a few wedding related purchases on the bay of 'e' and some of the bits I wanted came in sets with things I didn't need so I will be listing them for sale soon. The shoes aren't for sale; these were bought to go with a white flapper dress for a friend's 30th birthday a few years ago! Said friend has just had a beautiful little girl - many congratulations to la boulangere family!

Day 48 - As I am typing this post the tail end of Hurricaine Katia is whipping around us and day 48 was a windy one too. Our sweet pea pyramid and tomatoes were sadly flattened but we managed to rescue this lot. The sweet peas gave us a deliciously scented living room and have only just wilted away.

Day 49 - Bangles and pendants in progress, ready to tumble and shine! I love the sea foam bubbles on the white glass pendant and have been making earrings and rings featuring this shape.

Day 50 - Lovely Mrs J's birthday! R made a fine meal and I was in charge of the sweet course which was meringue, cream and lots of strawberries. Yum! It's starting to feel more like crumble and custard weather but while there are still strawberries it seemed right to enjoy! I downloaded a trial of Lightroom 3 for a photo editing play and this photograph is a simple crop and use of a preset just to see how it works. Huge potential with the software and I may invest but will have to have a bit more exploration.

Day 46 On the Beach

2011-09-10T17:03:00.000+01:00

Day 46 - After a few days in wellies and woollies hosing out the radiators in the rain the sun came out and we had a picnic on the beach. It was warm enough for sandals though I am glad I brought a pair of leggings with me as it got a bit chilly.

Our lunch was tasty but it was a distressing hour watching an old black lab limping along the sand. We just assumed he was with a family who were paddling; but then they left. Watching his attempts to reach a couple and their two dogs raised our hopes that he was heading for his people. They spent a bit of time with him but it was clear from their looks around the beach that he wasn't theirs either. Our couscous munching was interspersed with discussion on what we should do, who should we contact about this poor dog. We never reached a conclusion as the dog followed the couple off the beach and we lost sight of them. They did stop to talk to a few people and we assumed they were inquiring about the dog. So we'll never know what action they took but really hope the dog is ok.

Day 42 - 45 Sunflowers to Central Heating

2011-09-09T16:11:00.001+01:00

Day 42 - A wee jaunt down to the Hirsel near Coldstream to deliver a selection of my jewellery to Julia Linstead who will be selling it in her studio. I pulled over to take a picture of a field of sunflowers. It would have been cool to get them from the other side to see their faces but still a fun sight. Julia's glass work is stunning and it's always fun to watch people's reactions to it at the Paxton House Gallery; lots of ooohs and ahhhs!

Tall Penguin Bowl by Julia Linstead

You can see why, isn't it beautiful?

Day 43 - The start of September and I was craving a jaunt to the sea side. Start of term time and I'm so glad to be checking tide clocks rather than timetables.

Day 44 - We've ordered coal and logs and Autumnal preparations continued with flushing out the central heating system. After looking into installing a multi fuel stove in place of the open fire and back boiler we have decided not to do it this year as it's rather a lot of money! So we are attempting to make our system as efficient as possible; a messy job but hopefully we'll be toasty when it gets cold outside.

Day 45 - An evening of pizza and squishy cushions, fully deserved after lifting, dragging, flushing, hosing, cleaning and rehanging radiators!

Day 40 and 41

2011-09-05T21:53:00.000+01:00

Two more last minute before sleep shots! I really must get my photo groove on, otherwise it will be slippers and bed socks through the winter months! Attractive, ya?

A Laura Cameron and a Richard Johnson on the landing; taken en route from bathroom to bedroom late in the evening hence the dodgy lighting and focus, I was practically already asleep. I am still ruminating on painting ideas and will get on and do. This lack of Laura painting is getting ridiculous! R on the other hand is cracking on!

Splendid sky from the front door as I was locking up. This wasn't particularly late but I think it was one of those evenings for bed with a book. I have no shame in admitting it to be one of my favourite times! Somebody recently asked me what I liked most about living in this area and big skies are surely on my list of loves. I mean this is just a front door lean view!

Crossing Borders Art Trail

2011-09-02T20:04:00.000+01:00

The Crossing Borders Art Trail kicked off today and will be running this weekend (2nd - 4th September) and next weekend (9th - 11th September).

Download your Art Trail brochure here

Two weekends – two routes - two countries!

Whether you are a previous visitor to the Crossing Borders Art Trail

or planning your first visit, you are sure to love early autumn in the Scottish Borders and North Northumberland. It’s a great time of year to enjoy our spectacular countryside, letting the art trail lead you over the rolling Cheviot Hills, through picturesque towns and villages. You can follow the River Tweed until you reach the dramatic castle-dotted coastline, with empty sandy beaches and the big North Sea! Leisurely visits to artist studios, spliced with stops for local fare at some of the charming tea rooms, restaurants and pubs along the way will offer you the perfect day out or three-day break.

We realise we are leading you literally across two countries and so – New for 2011 - we are splitting the Art Trail across two long weekends, offering more time and greater opportunities to visit the studios and workshops of the artist community that give this landscape its creative heart. A chance to see painters, potters, textile and glass artists at work, see wood turning and furniture being skillfully crafted – a chance to chat to artists and makers about their passion and products – and buy direct!

The trail is divided into two easily navigated areas and there’s something for everyone, even if you only have a half-day to spare. With over fifty artists waiting to welcome you, now is the time to start planning your route. Crossing Borders members look forward to opening their doors and showing you some unique and beautiful things!

Art Trail Press Release 2011

Days 34-39

2011-09-02T19:06:00.001+01:00

Day 34 Hanging out with the hounds, parents and R at lovely Paxton House.

We came back in the evening after work and had a right frolic on the slide! Not a flattering photo of me at all but we discovered if you sit on your jumper you go much faster than just on a denim clad bum!

Day 36 Marley beast looking all ginger and lovely. Day 35 is missing, ahem.

Day 37 Paxton Ted! Yes, I forgot to take a photo until the last minute! Mum bought Paxton Ted after we did the tour of the house; she'd been eyeing him up since they arrived and he now sits with bagpipe ted at the front of the motorhome! I've wanted to do a tour of the house for ages, especially having been sat in the gallery over the last few months listening to others going! It was great to see round the beautiful house and Val, our guide, was an excellent combination of facts and laughs!

Day 38 The Vintage Market. No, don't adjust your screens it really was that dark and sales were similarly dim.

Despite the near darkness I had good company and a splendid view over Berwick roofs and a very well kept and stylish catamaran moored in the Tweed.

Day 39 took us to Rothbury for a quick visit to lovely Linda Taylor at Crown Studio, a stroll around the town and river and a splendid lunch at Harleys Tea Room. I didn't take a photograph of the cake of wonder but fortunately somebody else did! My Dad had a slice and I'm afraid I had to step in, fork in hand, to offer my support! Twas yum! One of the photos I did take just makes me laugh showing little mad Shadow with his paw over his head and big Marley coming straight for the camera as usual!

Such fun to see the family and I hope my poor Dad has recovered from the cold which hit right at the start of his holiday! Boo!

Day 33 Vintage Market Flier

2011-08-26T09:20:00.001+01:00

This may seem like a bit of a cheat; taking a photograph of a flier! I had planned to scan the flier but day 33 took a surprise turn meaning I forgot to take a photo until the last minute!

I will be selling my jewellery at the Vintage Market in Berwick this Saturday and now to tell you of the surprise. R had to do a bit of painting rearranging so I went over to Paxton House on Monday morning with him planning to go to his folks' to do some drilling afterwards. Whilst pottering in the Crossing Borders gallery some people came in and when I turned round it was my parents! They live in Northern Ireland and decided to come on over to Scotland for a holiday and booked into the new caravan and camping club site at Paxton House. A great surprise and lovely to see them!

Day 31 and 32 Weekend Break

2011-08-26T09:01:00.001+01:00

At the weekend a friend came to stay and we had a day of beach frolics, ice cream and fish and chips followed by a say strolling around the festival madness in Edinburgh.

A splendid weekend catching up and relaxing ready for a week of preparing for the next fair for us and the start of the new teaching term for our guest. On the Saturday the three of us collected a great collection of sea glass, we were on my 'earring' beach after all!

Day 29 and 30 From the Workroom

2011-08-26T06:13:00.001+01:00

Day 29 some jewellery work on the go. One of the little copper squares on the earrings still has some lettering from its former life as a water pipe, which is rather cool. Am pleased with the sea foam bubbles ring and just creeping into shot is a pair of sea foam earrings like these. All will be polished and available at the Vintage Market, The Maltings, Berwick upon Tweed this Saturday 27th August from 10am - 4pm.

Day 30 is a detail of one of R's paintings in progress. I remember when he set up and photographed this still life and buying the squash back when it was autumnal and, yes, it's changing out there people! For those of you in the area R will be at the Wool Festival in Coldstream this Saturday with an array of prints and cards of loveliness!

I have just had to renumber the my photograph numbers as, a quick computer tidy has shown me I am missing three days of photographs. I am searching through to work out where they have gone and have a feeling I may have borrowed R's camera and said photos may be gone, meh, never mind, plenty more to come!

Day 27 and 28

2011-08-25T15:26:00.000+01:00

Day 27 - Time for a bit of a sea glass sort. With one thing and another I had not sorted the recently collected piles of glass and pottery and they really were starting to mount up!

Day 28 - strange crystallization after soldering a loop through a piece of blue willow sea pottery. I think it must be from the salt water, anybody know?

Day 26

2011-08-25T15:12:00.000+01:00

I found the lost photographs! They were on a different memory card which I'd put to one side when we went to Edinburgh. So today I can bring you day 26's gifts from the garden.

Such prettiness and just look at that cream ranunculus. We are gathering together jars and bottles and these little green bottles will very probably be making an appearance at our wedding. The smell of the sweet peas is just lovely and I am plotting where to grow even more of them next year.

Day 25 An Evening Stroll

2011-08-25T10:12:00.000+01:00

Day 24 A Big Birthday

2011-08-19T08:35:00.001+01:00

Day 24 was R's big birthday which took us to St Abbs for lunch and a stroll, Horncliffe for dinner and a giant moon moment on the way home. A lovely day and I could finally stop keeping secrets! R's Dad and I, with online assistance from my old tutor Paul Croft and a host of tutorials, transformed an old mangle into a printing press. Huge thanks to R's Dad as within a day or two of emailing the idea he had found a suitable mangle, stripped it down, worked out how to adapt it and used a ten tonne press to sleeve the rollers in stainless steel tubing! All I did was brush some white spirits around the dirty bits! Ha!

I love the progress photos on this mangle, we used a smaller one and have yet to decide over whether to set up a more permanent bed but will be fun to experiment further!

It was hilarious to watch R open his print making gifts with a confused we-can't-afford-a-press look on his face! It's a start and I can't wait to see what he produces. You can see his work on his website and blog; he's a bit talented!

Day 23 Chain Making

2011-08-18T20:12:00.000+01:00

Day 23

The most time consuming pieces I make at the minute are charm bracelets as every single link and clasp is made from scratch. On completing the last solder of many on a chain I thought I'd photograph it beside a completed bracelet; what a difference a lot of filing, sanding and polishing makes! It is so satisfying to turn a length of wire into a chain, even though it takes me ages!

I've also been working on my accounts and have evaluated my pricing. Since I started my recycled silver and sea glass range there have been two postal rises and many a hike in silver prices and reluctantly I must increase my prices to cover these costs. Over the next few weeks my website prices will be updated and by September the new prices will, hopefully, be in force at all my stockists.

Day 22 Dramatic Swoon

2011-08-17T08:26:00.000+01:00

Day 22
With all the heavy rain our big daisies have had a Jane Austen swoon moment. We got things a bit higgledy piggledy planting wise this year and will be moving the daisies in the autumn. You might be able to see the pink rose buds to the right of the bird bath which belong to the gorgeous rose bush my sister sent me for my birthday. Despite the rain there are now some buds opening and they are beautiful; no doubt there will be a photo soon!

via Peaceful Warrior

Day 19 - 21 Fresh Door

2011-08-16T20:12:00.000+01:00

Day 19 - the before shot taken just as R had started sanding down the front door

Day 21 - the after shot all fresh and duck egg blue! Apologies for the lighting but it was tipping it down outside, a job well done.

Day 17 and 18 Back to Work

2011-08-14T18:46:00.000+01:00

Day 17 and I returned to work with a big desk tidy. It needed it! I also added a new photograph I was sent of two marvellous small people to the wall. My but I do miss their Mummy!

Day 18 - new scales. I had the horrifying experience of going to put a favourite dress on and discovering it no longer zips up so the fitness regime has been upped and new scales purchased. On that note two very useful fitness websites I have been using over the last few months and highly recommend are:

www.myfitnesspal.com
to track your diet and exercise

Blogilates on Youtube
Pop pilates from Cassey Ho

Enjoy!

Day 13 - 16 Holiday!

2011-08-10T21:22:00.000+01:00

Those of you who follow me on twitter may have noticed my recent moaning about exam marking. It was hard to keep up with jewellery work during the marking period and if I get an examiner job next year I won't book any fairs during that time. Working solidly for weeks on end without a day off was not a great idea and, even though I had my birthday off, I still felt a bit tired out and so was very ready for the very generous wedding gift of a holiday!

Day 13 started with a jewellery making workshop with an ace group at Palace Green Pavilion. I was utterly exhausted by this point and the photo taken during the session shows me a very pale faced, drooping lady! After teaching Rich and I packed up and went to meet some lovely friends at their holiday lodge up north a bit. Luxurious and a most welcome break.

Day 14 started with breakfast on the balcony in blissfully warm sunshine. Rich was sleeping off his whiskey tasting, the Rogers' went out for the morning and I sat and read in the sun. It took me about half an hour of fidgeting and feeling I should be doing something before I relaxed and enjoyed a few more chapters of Anna Karenina. The afternoon was spent in the swimming pool, sauna and steam room and oh my it was splendid!

Day 15 found us osprey spotting at Loch of Lowes. Sadly, this year all the osprey's eggs failed and this may have been the reason we didn't see either birds on our visit. We'll go back next year to see what we can see.

Day 16 - the last day of our holiday and we made the most of it with an early morning swim, big breakfast and waterfall adventures as we took the long way home. Huge thanks to Mr, Mrs and Master Rogers for sharing their holiday with us; we had a great time and, as always it was lovely to spend time with you all!

Day 12 Palace Green Pavilion

2011-08-10T11:02:00.000+01:00

Laura Cameron Jewellery stall at the opening day of Palace Green Pavilion's Taster of the Arts and Crafts Week

On Monday the first August I joined some lovely people with some fabulous work at Palace Green Pavilion for a craft fair. Check out the websites of my fellow stall holders below:

Soapylicious handmade soaps

Amelee Jewellery

Rich Johnson Fine Art

Signature Jewellery

There was also beautiful woodwork and textiles from a couple who I can't yet find on the interwebs, I'll keep looking!

Day 11 Laura Ford Rose

2011-08-08T08:30:00.001+01:00

Day 11 - the first bloom on my birthday Laura ~~Ford~~ Cameron rose, isn't she a beauty! Thank you Mr and Mrs J!

Day 10 Allanbank Open Studios

2011-08-07T20:16:00.000+01:00

A visit to Allanbank Mill Steading Open Studios

Home of textile artist Pauline Burbridge

Drawing by Charles Poulsen and Quilt by Pauline Burbridge

and her sculptor husband Charles Poulsen

I actually visited twice, once with some artists from Church and then I really wanted R to see the work so I went back with him the day after! There was so much to look at I am glad I had the chance for a second visit. Charles Poulsen's growing sculptures grabbed most of my attention and have been lingering in my thoughts since discovering them. I feel there are comparisons to be made with Andy Goldsworthy's work; an interesting contrast between growing sculpture and, in a sense, dying sculpture as many of Goldsworthy's pieces use natural materials which are already dead, fallen leaves for example. Just a thought and not fully formulated as you can tell, I greatly admire the work of both men and am struck points of comparison. There may well be an evening watching the Andy Goldsworthy DVD again. Think on.

Day 9

2011-08-07T08:10:00.001+01:00

Day 9 and it was most definitely time to replace my flux brush.
Note to self: don't touch hot silver with plastic brush.

Day 8 Kindle of Joy

2011-08-06T19:21:00.001+01:00

Day 8's photo shows the very generous gift my lovely family gave me; a Kindle! It is very fabulous and I purchased a little purple coat for it to wear and keep it protected. I love it and am in book nerd heaven downloading a whole range of works from the free classics range. First up Anna Karenina which is living up to expectation so far.

I haven't posted much this week as we have been away for a few days on a much appreciated wedding gift holiday. My lovely kindle came with us and I spent a blissful morning on the balcony breakfasting and reading in the sunshine.

A splendid gift, thank you all!

Day 5, 6 and 7 Sea Glass Brooch

2011-08-05T17:32:00.000+01:00

Day 5 -soldering, forming and tidying brooch structure

Day 6 - Setting sea glass, attaching pin and . . .

. . . tumbling to get a shiny finish

Day 7 brooch ready to deliver

A delayed series of photographs for project 30 as they feature a custom order for a sea glass and recycled silver brooch which was for a birthday gift and I didn't want to risk ruining the surprise! I do hope the recipient liked it!

Palace Green Pavilion Arts and Crafts Week

2011-07-29T21:38:00.000+01:00

Monday the 1st August sees the start of the second Taster of the Arts and Crafts week at Palace Green Pavilion, Berwick upon Tweed. Following on from the success of last year's event the programme has been extended and kicks off with a craft fair and demonstrations on Monday followed by a host of workshops where you can learn to make robots, jewellery and even fancy knickers!

Hopefully see you there!

Day 4

2011-07-29T18:15:00.000+01:00

The first ranunculus in bloom! So exciting to watch them come from these beautiful buds, going to plant hundreds in the hope we can have some at our wedding.

Day 3

2011-07-28T16:56:00.001+01:00

Driving home from a Crossing Borders bbq, a proper Summer's evening.

Day 2

2011-07-27T11:19:00.000+01:00

When we moved I thought about taking a photo a day to document our first year in Scotland, however, with the chaos of moving it did not happen! So, inspired by Lee May Foster-Wilson's (of Bonbi Forest fame) Project 29 I am aiming to take at least one photograph a day during my year of being 30. My birthday photos (grr to not taking photos of R and I prettied up for dinner!) are day one so this post brings you day 2. . .

Detail from beautiful David Austin Rose box which we found sitting by the front door after the AA man dropped us off. Much cheer, thank you Lynne!

Farewell leggy lilac, thanks for flowering once! R entering stage left ready to pounce and rip it out!

There will be a range of photos from the mundane to the beautiful, carefully edited or fresh and blurry from a camera phone. I hope it will be an interesting record for me and insight into the goings on here for you. I doubt I will post each image daily but more likely in weekly posts and I'll create a flickr set to keep them all together. So far there is a distinct garden and flower focus to the photographs I've taken already, well I am learning!

Cutting out a new border by the garages, this is very much a 'before' shot!

Hope you enjoy the year! Stick around, there should be some good ones early June 2012, just saying!

My Thirtieth Birthday

2011-07-22T16:16:00.001+01:00

It looked a bit like this . . .

Ahem.

It started so well with cards, gifts, a wondrous frolic on the beach and some excellent pottery and glass finds. Then on the way home the Fiat beast broke down. Obviously feeling her age she wasn't in the mood for starting so we were rescued by a nice AA man. Have to say the AA people are brilliant, very calming on the phone and I was very impressed.

So our afternoon plans of cake making, Tour de France viewing, Johnson visiting didn't quite happen. R and I did make it out for a splendid curry and an evening stroll led us back to the beach for a mighty bit of driftwood we spotted earlier.

I'll bring you pictures of my gifts to see just how much I was spoiled, thank you everybody! xo

Ode to My Twenties

2011-07-20T23:15:00.001+01:00

Driving home earlier today a song came on which reminded me of great friends, dancing in flip flops and proper summer time. This got me thinking of all the tunes which rocked my twenties and thus I bring you a musical ode to the decade that was my twenties!

Girl from Mars - Ash. By the time I'd hit my twenties I was just about over the horrendous homesickness of leaving Northern Ireland and venturing into my second year at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. You can guarantee that pretty much anywhere in the world if you play Ash you will get people from Northern Ireland on the dance floor and my cord jacket twin and I were most definitely there.

Last Night - The Strokes. More Aberystwyth dancing. Downstairs at The Bay.

Hear You Me - Jimmy Eat World. "I never said thank you for that".

Fake Plastic Trees - Radiohead.

Last Goodbye - Jeff Buckley. I could select any Jeff Buckley song but have gone for this one as we had to leave university and I wasn't quite prepared for how sad that was. I still love you all!

Star, Star - The Frames. Went to see The Frames with my brother and fell massively in love with their music. Was so moved when my brother phoned me from a later gig so I could hear this. Yes, I cried! And black and white, vignetted video, yes please and thank you.

All My Life - Foo Fighters. Unfulfilling post university jobs, "done, done and I'm on to the next one".

Strange Religion - Mark Lanegan. Long, long hours on PGCE, "just keep driving".

Modern World - Wolf Parade. "I'm not in love with the modern world".

Maps - Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The fabulous Karen O helped me run many a mile around Lichfield! Maps is still one of my favourites.

The Blower's Daughter - Damien Rice.

Anthem for a Seventeen-Year-Old-Girl - Broken Social Scene. Again I could pick so many of their songs but watching my own classes change over the school year meant this song went round my head in a loop. For months.

River Man - Nick Drake. Beautiful man.

Gin Soaked Boy - The Divine Comedy. Another lot from Northern Ireland who have been in my life for years. This song has always been a favourite and now sticks out as being a track R and I played very loudly driving through Wales the summer after we had left full time teaching, very liberating!

Rivers Run - Karine Polwart, with Steven Polwart and Inge Thomson. Introduced to Karine Polwart's music by the wonderful man I will be marrying next year. In return I introduced him to . . .

People Have Names - Juliet Turner, who has accompanied me since those early Summer Madness days. Would love to hear more from Juliet but wish her every success with Speech Therapy work.

Amelie - La Valse D'Amelie - Yan Tierson and Orchestra. Deliberately not linked to moving image, you must watch the film, it is fully splendid.

Snow is Gone - Josh Ritter.

Charlie Darwin - The Low Anthem.

One Day Like This - Elbow.

To Go Home - M Ward. Discovered M Ward, again thanks to my brother, after we'd moved to Scotland and he is a constant in my ear when I'm working.
In the Wee Small Hours - Ben Webster and Oscar Peterson.

This soundtrack is getting huge! I am quite sure I'll be back to edit and add even more, am thinking Sigur Ros, REM, TV on the Radio, Tori Amos, Modest Mouse, Arcade Fire and The Killers, who inspired this retrospective!

It is difficult to select just one track, sigh! Hope you discover something new to enjoy.

DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal July 2011

2011-07-18T11:18:00.000+01:00

Please help the 10 million lives at risk in East Africa by donating to the Disasters Emergency Committee.

Thank you.

The Found Gallery, Dunbar

2011-07-14T10:20:00.001+01:00

Last weekend a beautiful new gallery opened on the High Street in Dunbar.

Look closely . . . left window, oh yes it's a Rich Johnson original!

I can assure you The Found Gallery is beautiful as we visited yesterday to replace one of R's paintings which sold on the opening day, yay!

There are so many splendid pieces within and owners Amy Christie and Simon Glover offer a warm welcome to a gallery of work they should be justly proud of. The vibrant paintings in the back corner shown above are by Siobhan O'Hehir whose work I first saw at the Crossing Borders Gallery, Paxton House. On my day working their last month I spent a lot of time looking up close at her work (fret not, my nose did not, at any point, make contact with canvas!) and the textures achieved with wax and paint are mesmerizing.

Lace textured porcelain jugs by Stephanie Earl.

Simon Glover and Rich Johnson, The Found Gallery, Dunbar

A marvelous mooch around Dunbar followed and, as you may tell by the fact that I have left the house on a non work related venture, I have finished the marking work at last! Free time is amazing, in the last day and a half I have weeded and planted in the garden, cycled and wandered, scraped, sanded and oiled the garden benches. Am I ever glad that's marking done for this year!

Green Festival

2011-07-05T20:01:00.000+01:00

Last weekend was the Borders Green Festival: hot, sunny, bright, chilled, cheerful and fun! Well the Sunday was, Saturday was a bit quieter and I was a bit grumpy, but on both days I had the company of my lovely holidaying parents and their nutty-terrified-of-people dogs!

Highlights of the weekend were the egg and onion rolls and picnic joy supplied by my Mum, watching little toddlers stare under my stall when the breeze lifted the table cloth to reveal the snoozing hounds, chatting with a load of people on Sunday and the mighty Dull Fudds!

They, along with a whole host of musical talent rocked and, even though most band members remained headless from the vantage point of my stall, it made for a very entertaining weekend!

Borders Green Festival 2011

2011-06-28T08:00:00.004+01:00

This weekend is the 7th annual Borders Green Festival starting on Saturday 2nd July from 12 noon until 11 pm and continuing Sunday 3rd July from 11 am until 5.30 pm at Five Arches Playing Fields, Tweedmouth, Berwick upon Tweed.

There will be music, workshops, archery and a whole host of green themed stalls! I'll be there selling my sea glass and recycled silver / copper jewellery and have a load of lovely new pieces nearly ready for their first public showing!

Hope to see you there! Do come and introduce yourself!

Five Arches Playing Fields

A698, Ord Road, Tweedmouth, Berwick upon Tweed.

Post code: TD15 2UT

Next to Berwick Fire Station and railway viaduct.

Limited parking near by in Allan Brothers and General Mills car parks - signed.

Mid June Garden

2011-06-27T17:17:00.000+01:00

Copper Star

2011-06-18T12:51:00.004+01:00

This morning I was sawing out a star shape from a piece of recycled copper tubing. A the tube has been flattened I end up with two shaped pieces from one sawing session, which makes earrings a tad easier! The copper is tarnished and dull on the surface open to the air, however, as you saw you get lots of sparkly copper dust appearing.

Once the shape has been cut out there is usually a small hinge where the pipe is still joined which lets you prise apart the two shapes and have a look at what's inside. . .
This piece has a beautiful range of greens and once I've filed and sanded the edges I may well wax one star to maintain the patina and pickle the other to get a lovely clean copper.

Workroom Wednesday

2011-06-15T12:26:00.000+01:00

This week's workroom photo brings you little copper hearts and dots sawn out of recycled copper water pipes being soldered onto sterling silver wire. These will form the base of two pairs of sea glass earrings, in fact, the dots have already been made up with dark cola brown coloured glass and they look rather autumnal. Must be all this rain we are having leading me towards thought of a cooler season!

Lily Lolo Mineral Make Up

2011-06-11T08:21:00.003+01:00

Music videos and now make up reviews?! Have I transformed my blog into some sort of style magazine?!

No, no, no but I have discovered a make up I dig so I'm sharing it with you lovely people as I know some of you are interested in environmentally friendly living and this stuff helps.

Lily Lola mineral cosmetics have "achieved cult status by beautifully harmonising natural, chemical free ingredients with the ultimate in mineral based technology", have BUAV approval and are made in the UK.

I started investigating mineral make up after reading about the giant list of nasties in most regular liquid foundations and thought I really don't need to be slapping that crap on my face. Initial investigations led me to expensive brands and I let it drop. Then, when R asked me to marry him I inevitably started thinking wedding thoughts and wanting to look decent on the day seemed a good excuse to research a little further.

A few months ago I discovered Lily Lola and ordered the sample set pictured above which gives you three different colours of foundation, allowing you to colour match to your own skin before ordering, a face powder and a mini kabuki brush for application. I was quite excited to recieve the pretty box and even photoraphed a before and after to see how the make up looked. The foundation feels much lighter than the liquid foundation I was using and gives a much more natural look, I don't wear heavy make up so I liked this aspect a lot.

All very pleasing and I thought I would order a full size foundation in my shade of choice. However, the best was yet to come. Those of you in the UK may remember a few weeks ago we had heat. The sun came out for a week and it was delightful. Well, usually at such times I have to slap on the factor 50 and no matter what type of face sun cream I use I end up feeling slimy and get spotty. Bleugh. Whilst not having an official SPF rating Lily Lola mineral cosmetics do have natural sun protection and, having tentatively put it to the test I can confirm I did not burn even slightly! I feel like I have to put this in context of just how good this is with an example from a few years ago when I was one of the teachers on a Duke of Edinburgh exhibition in the Peak District, in the rain wearing an SPF moisturiser; I got sun burned apart from the nice white stripe across my forehead where my head band had been. Forshame.

Anyway, so the make up is grand stuff and not very expensive. A large pot of foundation costs £12.49 plus p&P and judging by the small amounts required at a time this should last a fair while. I highly recommend a peruse around the Lily Lolo website for more information, including a stack of useful videos on how to apply mineral make up.

I was so impressed I bought my sister the trial kit for her birthday. To offer balance to this review I must add that she is slightly less convinced of the merits of the make up because of the transformation of her artfully arranged boudoir into something from a low budget junkie film due to the spatterings of powdery residue decorating her dressing table.

Feist

2011-06-10T12:57:00.004+01:00

I've had a bit of a Feist feast this week and she is splendid. This is the first Feist video I saw a number of years ago, it suited my mood at the time and the photography geek in me loved it instantly! I want to share all the videos with you at once - Sesame Street and toast with wings should be a part of life. However, I know we all have work to do, so just one for today, enjoy!

Workroom Wednesday

2011-06-08T18:24:00.004+01:00

This picture was taken yesterday before the bangles had their final polish and were packaged up to be sent to Crown Studio, Rothbury. I do love them and it was nice to see four worn at once, very jangly! There are four more on the bench at the moment nearing completion and a stack of pretty sea glass droplets awaiting the drill.

Tomorrow is the last day of the PTLLS course and so I'll be done with essay writing just in time to get ready for a month of essay marking! I am trying not to panic and am so thankful for new opportunities which have appeared in the last week, I just hope I can get it all done!

This is about me done for today as it's netball night, time to run and leap around for a bit,

Good evening to you all xo

Recycled Silver

2011-06-06T20:36:00.004+01:00

Hello!

I have been working away with my first delivery of recycled silver wire and am very happy with the supplier. If you are interested in using recycled silver you can order directly from Capella Ltd and I'm hoping to bring you further information on the company soon.

Arm Sculpture by Ute Decker

Last week Ute Decker's newsletter appeared in my inbox and included this little nugget:

Interested in Chain
in 100% Recycled Silver?

I have found a UK chain maker who would be willing to make chain in 100% recylced silver.

The more jewellers the cheaper the chain.

If you are interested, please send me an email with "Chain" in the subject line and roughly how many meters of chain you might need per quater or 6 month. Once I have more details I / the chain maker will get in touch with you.

Email: eco@utedecker.com
Subject: Chain

This would be an excellent step forward as fine chain is now the only part of my silver jewellery which is not made from recycled metal. If you are interested I hope you will email; offering ethical and environmentally friendly jewellery is not just a good thing for your business.

Workroom Wednesday

2011-06-01T17:14:00.003+01:00

Bangles, a ring, some copper sea weed inspire shapes and a bezel set pendant on the go today. My delayed silver arrived special delivery this morning, hooray! Looking at this picture shows a lot of fluxy mess on the slate and bench, it looks like bird poo, but it's not, I promise. I must have a clean once I'm caught up on making.

Made in the Shade

2011-05-31T17:56:00.002+01:00

The Made in the Shade girls have had a busy time of late fronting the new Nokia E7 Campaign and I love their pop up shop adventure! This video gives you brief overview but it is worth checking out each stop. The Chain Bridge Honey Farm isn't far from us and it's where you can see R's Dad's fabulous paintings, including a portrait of me! I must get a photo of that for you!

Jim Clark Rally 2011

2011-05-29T20:58:00.004+01:00

A few snapshots from the Jim Clark Rally 2011. We could hear the roars up the road and couldn't resist a nosey!

Rainbow and Sea Glass

2011-05-26T17:32:00.005+01:00

We've had a lot of rain and wind over the last week or so and even a few rainbows. Fortunately there has been no damage for us or our neighbours apart from a few flattened daisies and a timid little cat looking a uncertain of being outdoors.

Yesterday was finally a bit calmer and we went for a breath of fresh air and a poke around the beach. It is one of my favourite beaches nearby and even though we were only there about an hour we got a decent collection of glass and pottery and a pebble that looks like a thumb - look at the top left of the image below and use your imagination . . .
Some gorgeously smooth nuggets in green, aqua and white, a piece of pottery with the word 'SERVE' still visible and, if you look closely right in the centre of the photo, a tiny piece of purple glass. The purple is tiny and a bit rough around the edges but it is purple so I had to bring it home. I think it is the first piece of purple sea glass I have ever found and I'm going to have to find a use for it!

I am (still) waiting for my first delivery of recycled silver so it's all a bit slow at the workbench until it arrives. I have a number of pieces at various stages of completion which I can't do any more with until I've got the silver. I think my next order will be a year's supply to avoid these lengthy waits, ho hum, lesson learned.

National Vegetarian Week

2011-05-23T16:28:00.002+01:00

Loads of events and recipes over on the National Vegetarian Week's website. Am going to explore the recipes now!

Education and Fire Power

2011-05-22T17:56:00.004+01:00

It's been a week with an education focus with a trip down to the midlands for some training for a job I'm doing. It was great to catch up with some friends from the school I used to teach at who made up for having to sit on a train for ten hours just to attend a three hour meeting!

I've also been preparing assignments and a short lesson as part of the PTLLS course. I felt nervous teaching a small group of lovely people for twenty minutes which seems a bit daft given I've managed to teach large groups of teenagers I've never met before!

My workbench has been a bit quiet with all this other work and I am awaiting the first delivery of recycled silver before I can crack on with new pieces. I have been fiddling with my blog layout and did manage a bit of a play with the copper foil a kind lady from the PTLLS course brought in for me. I made an absolute shambles of it but I now get how it works and think, combined with jeweller's silver solder, this has huge potential. The photo shows the light coming through the glass and deliberately silhouettes my messy soldering!

I've also come to the realisation that I need a bit more fire power at the bench and will be investing in a new torch to speed up the soldering process. My current torch is perfect for small jobs, it is quick and precise, however, on larger pieces I am struggling to get the even heat required. A more powerful torch may mean a move to the garage for safety reasons so now I just have to work out how to make the garage a more usable space. No electricity or windows poses the main challenge!

Crossing Borders

2011-05-13T19:26:00.006+01:00

Last week both R and I were delighted to be accepted as members of Arts group Crossing Borders and now have a selection of our work on display in the Crossing Borders Gallery at Paxton House.

If you are visiting the Scottish Borders, North Northumberland area, and interested in the Arts, the Crossing Borders website is a great place to start with information on artists and galleries in the area.

Please excuse the poor photographs, they were a rush job and I had to use flash. At various times over the next few months we'll be working at Paxton House, I'll let you know when. If you come and visit do say hello, I'm the one who looks like this!

Weekend

2011-05-08T20:45:00.005+01:00

Last night's dander up the road treated us to a hazy sunset, frolicking hares and twittering birds. Today, the lovely Naomi of Amelee Jewellery took me up to the Edinburgh Bead Fair which was a fab day out. I treated myself to a few small purchases so expect to see a wee bit of moonstone with my sea glass! There were some impressive demonstrations by the folks who teach up at The Little Bead Shop in Edinburgh and I had a very helpful chat with Jared Sanders with tips to help me speed up and improve my sawing technique.

This evening our kitchen looks like the picture above: cultivating alien life forms or attempting to grow wedding flowers? It's up to you to decide.

Goatscrag Hill and Roughting Linn

2011-05-07T18:34:00.004+01:00

The Cheviots from Goatscrag; taken straight into the sun so do excuse the big sun spots in the sky. We went down to Roughting Linn last week on what turned out to be the last day of the lovely sunny weather. A bit of striding in the great outdoors was spirit liftingly splendid.

I didn't take any pictures of the markings in the rock as there was a man there informing us about the supposed connections with lady parts ('you'd know more about that than me, eh?') but you can see a variety of images here. Interesting to note the erosion in just the last thirty years and to wonder whether they are in any way protected?

Having a sit down and a drink at the top of Goatscrag and watching R taking photos I did think to myself that this beats the arse of being in school on a Wednesday morning.

Earrings

2011-05-06T15:46:00.003+01:00

Green and white sea glass earrings on sterling silver earwires. Simple, pretty and available here.

Hope you are all having a good week!

How to Remove Tarnish From Sterling Silver Chains

2011-04-30T09:35:00.002+01:00

Read this great tutorial this morning for removing tarnish from sterling silver chains without using toxic chemical dips. You only need a small dish, baking soda, tinfoil and boiling water.

Click on over to the Etsy Metal blog for full instructions and many thanks to them for sharing this useful technique.

New Recycled Jewellery

2011-04-29T14:51:00.006+01:00

A selection of new jewellery made using recycled glass, pottery and copper. Last week I finished the last of my silver wire which means my next silver order will be fulfilled with recycled silver!

All now available at lauracameron.co.uk

Now to have a tidy up in the work room and perhaps make myself a wee pair of copper heart studs as I'm sporting the 'one stud' look today having lost the other one of my fave pair. Something needs to be done to rectify this!

Have a great weekend all!

David Hay

2011-04-25T17:42:00.004+01:00

Well, the fair at the weekend was very poor on the sales front in that there were none. That's right - two days, no sales! I think many people were away holidaying as the turnout was very low considering how much effort had gone into advertising by the organisers. Still, I don't think I'll be booking another one.

Today has been a designated day off as we've been working hard on completing the PTLLS course, creating pieces for sale and attending fairs. This morning was the start of a much needed Spring clean and this afternoon we went over to an exhibition at Duns Castle.

River Walk David Hay
image courtesy of Art Amoria

There was some fine work on show and the stand out artist for me was David Hay. His layered glazes create atmospheric and absorbing landscapes and it was good to see a collection of his work together. I have only ever seen one painting of his before and was impressed that each piece on show today, from the very small to the very large, were all of great impact.

We paused down by the river when out on the bikes this morning and nattered about how much we love living here. Tomorrow marks a whole year since we moved and I can fully confirm it was a good move!

New Earrings

2011-04-22T09:29:00.002+01:00

Only one day left to get all jewellery, display and directions sorted for tomorrow's Easter Fair in Galashiels! Yesterday I did some last minute drilling over at R's parents' and was treated to lunch in the garden and a sit in the sunshine, it was lovely! A bit of time off in a busy week is an essential I have decided.

Having thought I was out of teeny tiny drill bits with only tiny ones left I was delighted to find I'd left the last teeny tiny one in the work shop so was able to drill some pieces for earrings. I paired up some aqua sea glass with copper this time and have a pair like the copper circle ones above with a heart shape on the workbench to finish this morning. Then there will be another big tumbling session to get the last lot shiny and pretty ready for tomorrow.

Wishing you all a happy and blessed Easter.

Workroom Wednesday

2011-04-16T17:19:00.005+01:00

Two pieces of sea pottery set in fine silver; they are finished now but the image shows them in a nearly finished state.

There are lots of new pieces on the go and they'll all be ready for this weekend's Easter Craft and Gift Fayre in Galashiels. If you are visiting make sure you come and say hello!

Gareth and John

2011-04-15T10:04:00.005+01:00

Last year I heard the sad news that John Erwin had died within a month of being diagnosed with Leukemia. John used to live round the corner from us and was a school mate of my brother and his next door neighbour Gareth Crockett.

Gareth and Jez, a university friend of John's, decided to go on an epic fundraising mission in memory of John and to raise money for Leukemia and Lymphoma Research. They set out last week starting off with a marathon around Moira, cycling to Dublin, the Dublin Marathon and then the ferry over to Wales. The plan was to cycle to Bristol and then London before completing the London Marathon on Saturday.

Tragically on Wednesday morning, about half way throught the challenge, Gareth was knocked down by a car and died at the scene. It is unbelievably poignant and sad and my love, thoughts and prayers are with Gareth's Mum and Dad, Emma, Jonny and Alison.

I don't know if Jez is continuing on the challenge but the appeal remains open and the boys have done it as the £10,000 target has already been surpassed. If you can do please offer your support by donating here.

I'll leave you with words from Gareth's sister Emma:

“He had been so delighted with all the donations to the challenge and raising awareness of leukaemia in memory of John,” she told the News Letter last night.

“We are all trying to get through this, but it has been great to see all the messages of support which have been left online for him and we know that he achieved what he set out to do, even though he didn’t get to finish the challenge,” said Emma.

She added: “We will never forget his intelligence, his dry wit and his great sense of humour.”

Newsletter

Workroom Wednesday

2011-04-13T15:42:00.004+01:00

Six slimline stacker rings ready for polishing; they are all a bit mucky from sanding in the photo but will come out lovely and shiny after they've been in the tumbler. On the 23rd and 24th April I will be at the Galashiels Easter Craft and Gift Fayre and there will be a whole host of new pieces ready for the weekend.

Bunting

2011-04-11T19:51:00.006+01:00

A couple of years ago I bought a sewing machine. It is a nice, basic machine, good range of stuff and things to make stuff and things happen when you do other things.

The thing is, believe it or not, I hadn't used it until about two weeks ago when I decided I had to learn! Apart from whipping up a few costumes out of brown pillow cases for the school play and before that some experimental free machine embroidery at university and school I am not hugely experienced in the world of stitchery.

Thanks to my darling friend and her beautiful family I had a reason to learn: I wanted to give her new baby a gift before he turned eighteen! So, I thought bunting for new baby and big sister's birthday would be a good place to start.

It was fun! However, due to the aforementioned looming eighteenth birthday baby boy has not had his name sewn on! There are several gaping whoopsies and when helping her children open their gifticles I believe Mummy will realise why her suggestion of a 'Cameron original' for my wedding dress is not such a hot idea!

Blooming Lovely

2011-04-08T18:13:00.006+01:00

It has been the warmest day of the year so far today, according to me anyway! Sunshiney delight and, after a fair bit of rain recently, the garden is actually dancing for joy.

Spring bulbs are blooming and new shoots are emerging, some expected and hoped for, others a complete mystery until we see a bit more emerging from the soil. It is a very exciting time!

This is our first time watching what comes up in the garden and, even though we've planted some bits, we weren't here this time last year so each day brings new and exciting discoveries.

At the end of this month we will be marking the first anniversary of living in the borders and my it's been a cracking year! Yesterday was the third session of the Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning course we've been doing which marks half way. It will be good to have the qualification and the people on the course are all really friendly but I'll be glad when it's finished as I'll not have to be working on assignments!

Last week I got an offer for a GCSE examiner position which I was delighted to accept as it brings a little financial boost and will be funding a new camera. After several 'camera not working at the wedding' nightmares I need to have a back up camera before photographing the lovely Kate and Andrew's wedding in October! So it's all go in a good way. Enjoying work with plenty of time to enjoy the sunny days in the garden. On this day when another friend has left full time teaching I wish him huge amounts of happiness in his next adventure!

Karine Polwart, David Tennant and Billie Piper

2011-04-04T19:11:00.003+01:00

Yes, really.

We were really fortunate to see Karine Polwart, her wee brother Steven Polwart and Inge Thomson play at Peter Potter Gallery a few weeks ago. It was amazing. Between the beautiful voices, instruments, lyrics, fairy lit swan flight and Church bells I don't think I was the only one mesmerised in the moment.

If you get the chance to see the trio on tour, go!

New British Comics Volume Three

2011-03-29T13:35:00.005+01:00

New British Comics volume 3 is available now and features a host of fabulous work including Here Comes the Neighbourhood which was created by Matthew Craig and Rich Johnson. I'm incredibly proud of Rich and his work and it is so exciting to see his illustrations in print not to mention his paintings in a gallery, his poetry in a magazine! Eeeeeee! I'm gushing, he is a talented man!

Earth Hour 2011

2011-03-28T13:42:00.004+01:00

8.30pm - 9.30pm Saturday 26th March 2011

Earth Hour 2011

On Saturday evening we joined many others in participating in the World Wildlife Fund's Earth Hour. We spent the hour cosied up on the sofa, staring at the candles and eating our dinner which was a good way to calm my mind after a week of gallivanting ready to start back to working full time this week. I've got a lot of unfinished jewellery waiting for me this afternoon having spent this morning on the first of two assignments due this Friday. Clearly saving the fun stuff for when the not so exciting stuff is done!

Workroom Wednesday

2011-03-16T20:49:00.003Z

The beginnings of a new charm bracelet chain lined up on a ruler. I must point out the super little blue gizmo on the left hand side of the picture; a tapered steel mandrel on a rest so I can shape wire into circles with ease. An ADJ original and one of the handiest tools on my newly elevated bench!

Work Bench Revolution

2011-03-15T12:25:00.003Z

Check out my new and improved work table!

I have highlighted the stylishly subtle changes to my working environment which have been designed with the utmost care to aid a shoulder friendly posture when making jewellery.

After a morning of accounts I'm ready to try it out and am hopeful it will prevent neck ache and allow me to work for longer periods without strain and pain.

Hope it works!