May'26 Notes

Not going to lie... I'm glad April is over. Its the month where seemingly everyone in our family is born so we had event after event to celebrate, which yes is lovely, but also when you have a small social battery its very exhausting at the same time. We genuinely didn't have a free moment last month, and I did inevitably get very run down which unfortunately caused me to miss my first Lavenham market of the year as I'd got ill. This month is slightly less chaotic so hopefully I will actually make it to Lavenham this month! 

Whats Been Happening?

Between all the chaos and birthday parties, I have made more progress on my collection for the Art Trail having the first of the rings cast. I'm so happy with how they have come out, very "barnacley" indeed. I've got a bit of adjustments to make on a few of them to allow me to properly set the stones. Amongst the rings, I also have a couple of one of bangles and bracelets in process and some beautiful stones to set into some hoops. 

I had a little bit of bad news at the beginning of the month, in that my lovely Gold Plater that I've been using had decided it was time to shut down her business. Not going to lie this has pt a small spanner in the works, as I had planned to have the whole of the new collection plated. In a perfect world I would cast everything in solid gold, but alas, I do not have that much money. So the search is on for another equally lovely gold plater. But with that in mind, any gold plated stock I have, is all I have for the time being.

Along with market and art trail prep I have also been working on some more commissions, and feel very privileged again to have been commissioned to make another pair of wedding rings for a set of best friends. From the shop small market back in March I was also commissioned to make another one of my one-off abalone shell rings, to fit a mans finger. So just a reminder that any rings you see at a market or even posted on instagram can be made again in your size. I have space for a few bespoke pieces to be ready beginning of June.

What's Happening This Month?

Looking forward to the rest of the month now, we have two markets coming up towards the end of the month. Market at the Barn in Coggleshall and The Lavenham Farmers Market (Hopefully I make it this month). With me I will have some new Opal stud earrings, a large selection of rings and some last runs of select pieces. There a few pieces in my collection now that I'd like to discontinue and I've managed to run them down to the lasts which I will be offering at a discounted rate at these two markets. 

May is also the penultimate month that I have to get ready for the Art Trail at the end of June so I will be getting my head down finishing my new collection and getting workshop ready!