Dalesman Weekend

This was an annual event that took place in Bedale, in conjunction with the Wensleydale Railway. There is a steam train running and there are events at each station. There are reenactors brought in and shops are encouraged to decorate in a wartime fashion. As my workshop is right at the station I decided to decorate the out side of my shop (see picture), it was great with old vehicles driving past and soldiers marching back and forth. It was a little surreal that a lot of those dressed in period clothes were happy to come do a little shopping! Looking forward to next year already.

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NYOS

Well this years North Yorkshire Open Studios was a real success, this is a great event and I really enjoy taking part. It took place over two weekends which this year were June 20/21 and 26/27/28.

Open Studios events take place all over the country and different areas organise their own events, its worth keeping an eye out. With this years North Yorkshire Open Studios just over 100 artists and makers were chosen to open up their studios to the public. For me it was a really positive year I did really well. The Saturdays where my busiest days and consisted of a variety of visitors from those following the NYOS art trail and just those passing. The nicest thing for me was those following the route are taking time to specifically visit you and its great being able to talk to people that want to see how things are made and have a passion for arts and crafts.

I had more visitiors than last year so it was a real sucess and hope I'll be able to take part again next year.

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'Holiday'

In this blog entry I'll just tell you a little about my trip away, went on a bit of a road trip across the Uk which was great and has helped boost inspiration towards my work.

The trip started with my first camping experience at the Lake District! It was beautiful and thankfully the weather was on our side. Well there was plenty of scenery to take in and I was particularly taken by the Beatrix Potter experience. I went round the gallery which had a variety of her peter rabbit drawings on display, then up to the hill top cottage it was amazing. (I even managed my own snapshot of nature in the Potter garden with this little Robin that decided to say hello.)

At the end of the week I headed to visit a friend in somerset and whilst there decided to take the opportunity to visit the contemporary craft fair at Bovey Tracey which happened to be taking place that weekend.

I wasn't sure what to expect, when we approached I was surprised to find that the fair was under a variety of marquees in a large field. However it was great there was a real festival atmosphere.

There were 3 main marquees which housed a variety of contemporary crafts including works by Lesley Strickland (bangle picture), Becky Crow, Penny Warren, Jane Cummins (handbag picture) and many many more it was hard to resist spending, but I was sure to get my Christmas wish list started!

In the central area was more traditional crafts on show and being demonstrated such as ceramics and blacksmithing. The rest of the marquees were dedicated to children with a Punch and Judy show and craft tents where kids can use their imagination and create till their hearts content.

I would love to take part next year so watch this space and I'll keep you posted on my progress.

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Still here....

I'm still here..... Sorry for lack of blog updates but the good news is that I have been really busy so can't complain!! Well where to start.... I took part in a second Henshaw Arts Centre Craft fair in Knaresborough at the end of may, which I decided to take part in due to the success of April. Its was a fantastic day very hot hot hot, I had a great outdoor pitch... however the weather seemed to work against us and sadly there were hardly any people out and about, well looking round a craft fairs and shops anyhow. We heard that the whole population of Knaresborough had taken themselves down to the River...... admittedly the only place to be on such a hot, sunny, beautiful day. I treated myself this time to the irresistible crumble which was peach and pear with ice cream......YUMMMM..... It was still fun to take part and I will possibly take part in another in the future. I would recommend any one passing or visiting the area the last Sunday of the month just to go have a look and treat yourself to some lunch.

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Busy Times.....

Well I have been very busy over that last couple of weeks. On Sunday the 26th of April I took part I the craft fair at Henshaws Arts Centre in Knaresborough. It was only a very small craft fair with about 7 stall holders. The craft fair is to the back of the Heshaws cafe which offer some lovely treats. I was told by other stall holders that it was particularily quiet, however I didn't do too bad so I have signed up to take part in another fair taking place on the 31st May, I think I will also have to give the apple crumble a try!

I am also very excited to say that i have now set up and Etsy shop page. I plan to sell more unusual and one off items on this, so far I have included some pink and lilac jewellery and some peach sunset pieces , please take a look at http://www.jessicasherriff.etsy.com/ (be aware that all items are priced in dollars but will be converted to pounds when purchased so will cost a little less in £.) You can also have a sneak preview via my mini etsy to the left hand side.

New gallery..... I am taking part in the Rarefind exhibition at the New Ashgate Gallery please follow link to their website and and pdf programme is availiable to download (please contact me for details).

Work continues with the orders from the Harrogate Trade Fair. A couple of my brand new stockists are Bianco Nero in Stokesly and The Nancy Smillie Shop in Glasgow the work will be ready for sale over the next week or so.

I also have the North Yorkshire Open Studios coming up. I think its a great scheme run by art connections. A variety of artists and makers will be taking part across Yorkshire. The project means over two weekends artists and makers open their studios to the public so people can see arists and work and purchase unique items direct. The days that the studios are open will be sat 20 sun 21 June and fri 26 sat 27 sun 28 June. They have set up a great website which gives all the information about the artists and makers taking part, NYOS09. I have also added the link to the left under my link bar. Also my Dahlia bangle image (above) has been used on the front cover of the booklet and catalogue as well as promotional posters. I have also just found out a photo of 'me at work' will be featured somewhere in the June issue of Living North so keep an eye out!

Also I am now on twitter so just follow the link from my link bar if you want to follow.

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Happy Easter..... BCTF update

Well a happy Easter to you all and I hope you are all managing to enjoy a bit of a break. I have managed to take a couple of days off to recover from the show, which thankfully went really well. There was apprehension from everyone I think as no one knew what to expect from the three day event. The worst case scenario would have been no or very few buyers. But thankfully many buyers came, I really felt there was a positive vibe in amongst all the doom and gloom we have heard in the press. I managed to receive a good few orders which is great and have some new stockists to add to my list. There was lots of positive feedback about my work and display and about the overall show. So it was a real success. So I'm busy getting on with my orders as well as work for the up and coming exhibitions.

My 2009 display

The next event is the Henshaws craft fair. This is only a small event and I plan to sell a variety of items as well as my jewellery. I will be selling a small range of work on show on my website as well as a selection of thin rainbow colour bangles. I will also take a range of my handmade cards, painted glasses and tea lights, hand painted silk scarves and knitted scarves, the work is about ready for this, just need to sort how I'm going to put the display together.

I have also signed up with Etsy, its a great website which allows makers to sell their work, I'm just in the process of getting the details ready to up load my items. I plan to sell more limited edition items of my work that are just one offs now and are probably not going to be repeated again. I will keep my blog posted with progress.

Well I think that's all my news for now, enjoy the rest of the bank holiday.

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One day to go!

Well its the British Craft Trade Fair setting up day tomorrow which always proves to be a bit hectic. I think all preparations are in place, I put a final coat of paint on my stands last night so fingers crossed they should be all dry today ready to head off in the van sat. All the work is ready and I'm really excited to be showing 3 brand new ranges (see blog images), Alliums, East Coast and B&W Drawings which are available to preview on my website. I am also taking a few other popular ranges as well that I'm sure buyers will be interested in. I've had a few late nights preparing for this what with printer problems whilst trying to print price lists and running out of paper, trying to get press information together etc. However after tomorrow I'm sure it will have all come together nicely and I can just enjoy speaking to customers about my work!

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What I've been up to......

I have a few events coming up over the next few weeks which I am also preparing for alongside the run up to the BCTF which is now only about a week and a half away! I hope the weather continues as it is at the moment as i remember the BCTF at the beginning of april last year was heavy snow forecast which i think made a lot of buyers shy away from the sunday..... but fingers crossed spring is now here to stay.

Anyhow the few things coming up are a small craft fair in Knaresborough which I'm going to try out and she how it goes. I went to see it at Valentines weekend and it seemed a nice place I
would recommend a visit.

I am also taking part in an exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park throughout the summer. A great place for my work to be sold surrounded by the sculptural structures and countryside.

I'm also working towards a May exhibition which is being held at the Zillah Bell Gallery in Thirsk. They hold various exhibitions throughout the year and the May exhibition is interpretations of the White Horse of Kilburn by invited artists. This is interesting as it is locally topical, I spent the other day taking pictures of anything that inspired me around Kilburn and the White Horse. I think I'll be able to use some of them to create some interesting jewellery. I have added a couple of pictures so you can see the beautiful surroundings.

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Jessica at Work - Part 2

As i said in one of my previous blogs i wanted to give you an in sight into how i create my work. The acrylic does have to go through a variety of processes to become jewellery. All my work starts with a flat sheet of acrylic. The bangles for example first get cut into the correct size, then i print my image onto the surface of the acrylic, this will become the inside surface. I then bend the flat piece. At this point the bangles don't look much so the next step is to cut the ends off which also gives me flexibility with sizing. I then have to take the surfaces through a variety of sanding stages. Once this is complete i then have to polish the surfaces (see image from Jessica at Work blog). After these processes you have a finished bangle - see image. It is very time consuming but enjoy working with acrylic and feel going from a flat sheet to a wearable unique pieces of jewellery is very satisfying.

Progress with BCTF continues, all the invites have been sent and I am getting all the work finalised. The website now has a catalogue showing a good selection of my work that will be shown for all those that would like a preview or can't attend due to not having a trade connection.

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"News"

Just a quick blog with some good news I received a couple of days ago. I went to a local business meeting and one of the ladies said "congratulatons..... on the article..." I didn't have a clue, until she pulled out Wednesdays copy of the Yorkshire Post. There was a supplement which feaured the 100 Bright Young Things (the regions top 100 people under 30 most likely to suceed.) I was one of them! So there was a little piece written about me. (I have attached a copy of the article to this blog just click on image to enlarge it.)

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Jessica at Work

I thought some of you might be interested in getting a little glimpse into how I actually make my jewellery. I am a jeweller but people are always surprised how i make my work. Acrylic jewellery requires more machines than small tools. So my workshop i think looks a little different from the 'jewellers workbench' that people have in their minds. In these pictures you can see me working on one of my vital machines, the polisher (left) and on my mini drill, which I need for my earrings and pendants (below) . I still have a small metal working area for making earring wires and for any soldering work required, but a lot of my time is spent working on the acrylic. I have to work through a variety processes to achieve my final pieces (which i will discuss further in my next blog).

Work for the BCTF continues and a large stack of trade invites have now arrived on my desk so its full steam ahead stuffing envelopes to get the invites out. Work is making good progress and some new designs are ready to be launched in April.

An update of current exhibitions and stockists

I have been taking part in a Valentines exhibition at the Fg2 Gallery in Leicestershire; my work is currently still showing and the exhibition runs from 14th Jan and runs till the 14th Mar:- http://www.fgtwo.co.uk/ (see invite right, centre image featured shows a variety of my pendants.)

I also have two new stockists one in Ripon at the Hornseys Gallery:- http://www.hornseys.com/ and also the Mercer Gallery in Harrogate:- http://www.artguide.org/museums.php?id=1515553M. (See links for information and directions.)

Also thanks to all those who have voted for me in the Craft and Design Magazine Select awards so far, but there is still time so i hope everyone will continue to vote, please go to previous post for details.

Thanks again!
Jessica

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Jessica Jewellery Design

Let me introduce myself....my name is Jessica Sherriff, company Jessica Jewellery Design and I create an individual range of contemporary Acrylic Jewellery. Capturing and drawing inspiration from the colours and views of the Yorkshire countryside, I use a unique printing technique which allows me to use my own photographic images to create my jewellery. Colours and designs are both subtle and vivid, suiting a wide variety of tastes.

See my website http://www.jessicasherriffjewellery.co.uk/

At the moment i am working on a variety of projects. The main focus is my forthcoming British Craft Trade Fair show which takes place April 5th, 6th, 7th 2009 at the Great Yorkshire Showground. I'm taking plenty of time to create new designs to feature in the show as well as combining it with my more popular pieces. There is still lots to organise with what work to show, the display, press releases, invites etc etc. I really enjoy the shows though and hope this year will again be a success.

Another note in my diary are the Craft and Design Magazine Select awards; I would really appreciate everyone reading this blog to vote for me within the Craft and Design Select awards. To explain......I am part of the Craft and Design magazine 'selected' section listed on their website which lists a variety of craft makers. The prizes would be of great benefit to help my business and obviously something else to add to the CV, to be in with a chance of winning I need votes, so i would be grateful if everyone could vote for me

Its pretty easy follow this link www.craftanddesign.net/awards (or cut and paste into browser) then scroll down to 'how to vote' and follow instructions.

The easiest way to find me is to click on the 'makers listings' link, then go to 's' and scroll down to find sherriff, jessica. Then that will take you to my page
http://www.craftmaker.co.uk/jessicasherriff and if you scroll to the bottom you can just click to vote.

I hope you will take a few minutes to do this.

MANY THANKS Jessica

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Coming Soon

This Blog is a work in progress.

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