Camali Design Jewellery Blog

It’s been a while again! I have been really busy leading up to the Christmas events that I am doing down here in Cornwall. I have done Christmas markets at Falmouth, Fowey, Trelissick Gardens, Truro Late Night shopping and now remains only this weekend coming. On Saturday I will be at the Christmas Street Market in Truro and on Sunday at the Last Chance Event at Lemon Quay, also in Truro. After that I will have a lovely break over Christmas, which I am spending with the family in Sweden and then I will be in Austria for a week over New Year, also with family.

I wanted to show you some of my latest pieces that are made using only sterling silver, which is a bit unusual for me, being an avid fan of all the gorgeous gemstones available. It is always, however, nice to do something different every now and then and here is the result of this from the past month or so. I have had great feedback on these pieces and most of them are now sold, but I will be doing many more of these all silver designs in the New Year.

The Silver Petal earrings and pendant are simple and modern. They were made from silver sheet which was cut into petal shapes, then lightly domed using a dapping block and finally hung from hand made silver rings onto a modern ball chain. The silver has been oxidised and hand brushed and polished to obtain the gunmetal grey earthy patina that I love so much. I will be doing loads of new designs similar to these as soon as I get back in the New Year.

I have also been making some simple loops using thick silver wire that has been shaped, planished and hung simply on hand made earwires. These Loop Earrings are great everyday staples and again, more of the same will come soon!

Finally a pair of earrings that I absolutely love myself (would have kept these for myself had I not sold them before Christmas…). The Graffiti Earrings were made using tabs of silver sheet that I made holes in, textured with an interesting pattern and assembled together with hand made silver jump rings. They are hung on simple hand made earwires and have lovely movement when worn due to the “hinged” effect that the rings give. As usual the silver has been oxidised to bring out the  texture and add character.

Well, since I doubt I will have time to blog any more this year, I will take this opportunity of wishing you a Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year! See you in 2009!

It’s been quite a while since I last wrote a blog posting! I have been very busy in the past 3-4 months. We have finally relocated to Boscastle in Cornwall where we now live in an old Cornish cottage from 1750. It needs a lot of work and we will slowly make this 2 flat house back into a large family home again. So far we have met a few neighbours and are slowly getting to know the village, the people and the surrounding areas. We are thoroughly enjoying living here and I feel the stress of our “previous lives” lifting more and more each day. I know it’s not going to be an easy ride, but we are now both completely self employed and in charge of our own destiny, good and bad!

I have also done a few shows down here since we moved; Newlyn Fish Festival, Falmouth Tall Ships Regatta, and coming up are Boscastle Food and Craft Festival and the Falmouth Oyster Festival, to mention a few. I have really enjoyed meeting new people, seeing new places and have had good sales so far, which is very encouraging. Soon we are on to the Christmas events and if you want to check where I will be selling, have a look at my events page.

I am now busy making autumn and winter jewellery and while that’s in progress I thought I’d show you a few of the last of the summer earrings. Many of them I sold before I had a chance to photograph and upload, but the ones I will show you here are all listed in my online jewellery shop.

First up are a favourite of mine, Ruby Grunge. I love making stamped silver components and incorporate them quite a lot in my jewellery these days. There will be a lot of it in my autumn/winter collection. These little beauties feature sterling silver rectangles hand cut and stamped with a stamp that I call “grunge” which is quickly turning into my favourite stamp! The faceted hearts are ruby in zoisite and I think the grungy pattern of the silver complement them prefectly. I am not usually very keen on pink, but I love the shades of these stones and the pattern makes them “non-cute” which I really like. I will be offering a few new designs with this stone, in larger sizes for pendants.

I make a fair few of this next type of earrings. Simple wire wrapped stones on hand made earwires are very popular as they are so easy to wear and versatile. I have a few customers who have bought several pairs of this same style, to go with various outfits and colour schemes. These two pairs are called Just Peachy and Flashy Kites, made with heart shaped faceted Pink Moonstone and flashy Labradorite Kite shaped briolettes. I like really like these kinds of earrings, they are great staples and can be combined with all my jewellery. I don’t usually like matchy matchy jewellery and these earrings make it possible to have earrings that go well with other jewellery without being too much. Many more to come later in the year, so watch this space!

Lastly, the Silvery Blue earrings are made with gorgeous dagger shaped kyanites hung on tiny patinated disc chains. These earrings are just stunning, the stones are beautiful and they swing gently on ball and post style ear findings.

You will find many more styles of earrings in my online jewellery shop. Next time I write I will hopefully have autumn and winter goodies to show you! Until then…