New beginnings, fine silver, silk and hand embroidery

When I first started Love in Idleness I knew that I wanted to embroider wild flowers into jewellery, and that was about it. I knew nothing about starting an on line shop, nothing about advertising and nothing about pricing. I bought pewter frames which were nice and then looked at what I thought was similar work on line. I then came up with a ball park figure as to what I should charge. And so began what has turn out to be a nice little self funding hobby. However, I want this to be a successful business and since starting I have met other designers through Twitter who have made me realise that I am being unrealistic with my pricing. As http://poppysparkles.blogspot.co.uk/ has said "Don't compete on price- it won't make for a viable business". How some of the designers on Etsy ever make any money I will never know. I believe that if the price doesn't reflect the amount of work that has gone into a piece it makes the customer doubt the quality.

In the beginning I bought square pewter frames...lots of them, and after while of sewing miniature wild flowers into them I began to get bored of squares. I wanted to make each piece unique, make the entire pendant a Love in Idleness original. After being inspired by a book on metal clay I found at the library and then later discovering the beautiful work of  http://www.silverpebble-jewellery.blogspot.co.uk/ I thought I would try making my own frames using silver clay, which, when fired leaves fine silver (99%).

I read all I could and then finally took the plunge and bought all I needed to start out. I made my own mold to shape the frame around using fimo, rolled the clay and then sculpted the pendant shape. I have done a lot of work in clay in the past and was amazed how similar it felt. I pressed a blackberry leaf into the back of the frame and allowed it to dry for several days (just to be on the safe side).

Then came the nail biting moment of firing it, after two test strips I went for it. When silver clay is first fired it is still white so it was with some apprehension I took my wire brush and started cleaning, it felt like archaeology, brushing away the dust to find beautiful, shining silver. After further polishing I then used an antiquing solution to really bring out the definition of the leaf.

I am so pleased with the result, when you hold it in your hand it feels like a fossil discovered while out rambling.


Meanwhile, I had been working on a variation of my bramble design, the new oval shape opened up all sorts of opportunities:

I am working on a silk/cotton blend and using fine continuous filament floss silk thread. I use a combination of stem stitch, satin stitch, seed stitch and anything else that fits in. Once finished I mounted the embroidery on card and set it in the frame.

All in all, bearing in mind I am also a full time Mum, this piece has taken me about two weeks. To price this using my previous technique would be unrealistic and an insult to all the embroidery artists and jewellery designers I admire. I have taken a tried and tested pricing formula and priced it at £92.

I hope you would agree that this is a realistic price given the work and materials that have gone into creating this miniature work of art, and I hope that this is the start of a new and exciting chapter to Love in Idleness jewellery.

Thanks to Mother Eagle,  an artist I greatly admire and someone who appreciates the work that goes into creating these pieces.