Continue reading »]]> Nowadays more people want to know where materials come from and are interested in helping the environment. I am also keen to do what I can to be more “Green”.

So when a previous client who I made an Eco Gold engagement ring for (pictured below) told their friends to get in touch with me I was over the moon.

Their friends were also interested in getting their rings made in Eco or recycled gold.

The clients really liked the simplicity of my rollered rings with the unusual texture and decided to go ahead with wedding rings made in 18ct yellow eco gold. Each ring is totally unique as they are made by using handmade papers to create the texture on the metal. The clients both wanted matching bands so the man’s is 5mm wide and the ladies is 2.8mm wide. Here is what I made for the happy couple.

If you are getting married soon and would like an unusual set of handmade wedding rings made get in touch.

For another example of an eco gold ring that I also made recently check out my older blog post.

Continue reading »]]> I don’t normally exhibit a lot in Dundee as there are not many shows in the area. However times are changing for Dundee as it is becoming an exciting creative hub. With creative collectives such as WASPS Studios, Tin Roof, The V&A project, Ignite Festival, West Fest, Creative Dundee, the DCA and Generator, things are really buzzing in the creative industry.

There is a whole range of creative events coming up in the coming months in Dundee. Starting with Funk Fair, next Saturday 5th May

Come along to see and buy a lovely selection of vintage, retro and contemporary fashion, jewellery and other crafts.

Check out my website to see the whole list of events which I’m exhibiting at in Dundee and the surrounding area in the next few months.

Continue reading »]]> Are you sick of seeing the same jewellery in the Highstreet stores? Are you looking for an item of jewellery which is a wee bit different? Do you have your own idea of something you would like made? If so get in touch. I design and made bespoke handmade men’s jewellery including cufflinks.

Check out what is available from my online jewellery shop including these new cufflinks.

If you are wanting themed cufflinks I have made lion rampants, welsh dragons, thistle and golf themed sets in the past. Like these

I enjoy taking on bespoke commissions so if you would like something specific made get in touch. For instance if you are interested in music and wanted a bespoke guitar pendant made here is an example of a commission I made.

For more information about this commission and how to commission a piece check out this blog post

I also make bespoke wedding bands for same sex couples so get in touch to discuss what can be made.

What about this one off pendant that I made for another client.

Check out this blog post for more information.

Continue reading »]]> I am always looking for new outlets to stock my jewellery and for a while have wanted an outlet in Northern Ireland. I can now say that Genna Design Jewellery is stocked in a new outlet in LondonDerry, in Northern Ireland called David Thomas. They are a prestigious jewellery shop and am so pleased they have chosen to stock my fabulous jewellery.

They have a selection of one off pieces as well as a mixture of pieces from my various collections. Including

Gold Leaf Labyrinth and Frame Neckpiece

Textured Collection

textured bangle and cluster ring

textured & wire pendant and earrings with freshwater pearls

Component wire collection

3 component neckpiece, earrings and aquamarine ring

If you have a gallery or outlet who is looking for new designers to stock please get in touch.

Continue reading »]]> After exhibiting at the Caird Hall Wedding Show back in February I have expanded my wedding and bridal jewellery collection. If you are looking for elegant and classic jewellery for your special day then visit my online jewellery shop to see what is available.

I have been making new pieces including these hair pieces and tiaras

Freshwater pearl kirby hairpiece

pearl twist hairpiece

And this gorgeous silver and pearl necklace

Pearl twist necklace

So check out my online shop to see what wedding and bridal jewellery is available. Each piece is individually handmade so each piece is unique.

Continue reading »]]> Are you looking for something unique, simple and elegant to wear on your wedding day? Can you not find exactly what you want to match your fabulous dress? Are you looking for matching jewellery for your bridesmaids?

Then get in touch and get a lovely set of jewellery made for you and your bridesmaids. I have recently finished a gorgeous 9ct yellow gold with freshwater pearl pendant and earring set for a customer.

9ct yellow gold pearl pendant and earrings set

Kathryn commission

If you have bead detail or your dress I can make jewellery to match perfectly. So if you would like something bespoke made for your special day get in touch.

Continue reading »]]> I can’t believe how quickly this year is passing by already. I hope you are enjoying the sunshine and long may it last.

After a busy Christmas and weird start to 2012 I am finally in a motivated mood to push Genna Design forward. It’s been busy so far with exhibiting at Scotland’s Trade Fair at the SECC in January followed by the Wedding Show at the Caird Hall, Dundee in February. And being nominated for Best New Scottish Designer and double page spread in the Courier, 2012 is off to a good start!!!!!

You may already know that I was in a temporary studio space at Airlie Place, but after a quick 9 months of renovation, Meadow Mill is now ready for the artists of WASPS to move back in. As we all know moving takes time and is very stressful, however this is not stopping me do work.

When you are self employed it’s good to manage your time and as I can’t get into the studio to create work, I am focusing on other areas of my business. Such as sorting paperwork, organising stock, contacting new galleries and restocking current stockists.

Artifex

Has been restocked with more of my gold leaf frame collection

DCA

Has been restocked with more from my textured and rollered collections

Smokehouse

Has been restocked with some of my classic pieces, geometric rollered collection and textured collections

domed textured studs and pendant

Tayberry

Has a mixture of component, textured and green perspex pieces

Aviemore Gallery

Has been restocked with red perspex pieces, aquamarine geometric wire pieces and my rollered collection

Photographer - Ross Fraser McLean

Dancing Light Gallery

Has a mixture of my component, rollered and red perspex collections

 Argenteus

Has been stocked with my geometric wire and component collections

Aquamarine Geometric Wire Collection

I will now be spending the next few days photographing and sorting my current pieces which are in stock and add them onto my online shop.

So keep checking the website to see what is available to purchase direct from me.

To see what other galleries and places stock my work got to my stockists page on my website.

Continue reading »]]> Are you sick of seeing the same mass produced jewellery in the big brand stores? Are you wanting something totally unique to you which reflects your taste and style? But does the thought of getting a bespoke piece of jewellery made stress you out?

Getting a bespoke piece of jewellery shouldn’t be a stressful process. The simplest way of getting a piece made is to find a designer who’s style you like.

Even if you have no idea on the design you want, Genna Design can help with this. Whether you want something totally unique or something really simple and elegant, or chunky and statement, anything is possible.

How a commission works

If you would like to commission me to make an item of jewellery it is a simple process.

- Tell me what you would like made or discuss what designs are possible within your budget

(just because I am an independent designer it doesn’t mean that I charge a fortune as I don’t charge the massive mark ups that the big brand shops charge. You may be surprised that your special, own designed piece of jewellery won’t cost you an arm and a leg!!!!) So get in touch to start the process.

- Choose what metal, stones, etc you would like

- If you want me to design something for you there is a £50 design fee, but if you already have an idea in mind you don’t have to pay this.

- Use old pieces of jewellery, I can melt them down and revamp them into something you would wear.  This doesn’t need to be precious jewellery I can also give new life to beaded and costume jewellery

- Once you are happy with the design and price, you pay 50% up front (or we can set up a payment scheme which is suitable for you)

- It can take between 4-6 weeks for commissions to be made so please allow enough time. (Sometimes I can work around your deadline so get in touch to see what is possible.)

Here are some recent engagement ring commissions that I have made.

Silver and Peridot engagement ring

18ct eco white gold with Aquamarine

So get in touch by phone or email to get the ball rolling.

Continue reading »]]> With Mother’s Day just around the corner why don’t you treat your Mum to something unique and handmade. Check out my online jewellery shop to inspire you and buy a gorgeous piece of jewellery.

All my pieces are individually handmade in Scotland and no 2 pieces are the same. Isn’t it nice to get something that not many other people have?

What about these gorgeous freshwater pearl and silver earrings and pendant set?

Or a gorgeous silver bangle with pearl and bead charms

I am offering free postage and gift packing on orders over £50 from my online shop so it’s a great opportunity to save money.

If you are not sure what to get your Mum why not get a gift voucher and let her choose for herself.

Happy shopping!

Continue reading »]]> Yes we are in March already! I can’t believe how quickly this year is going.

The next fair I’m exhibiting at is the Vintage Funk Fair and Makers Market in Dundee at the Queen’s Hotel, from 10am-5pm on Saturday 10th March. For more information check out their facebook page.

Full of vintage chic, retro classics and contemporary designs.

I will have a selection of most of my collections including my funky silver and perspex pieces and vintage/classic pearl designs.

Pearl cluster earrings

perspex and silver pendant and earrings

Hope to see you there for a fun day out!

To see the full range of my jewellery visit my online shop.

Continue reading »]]> I was on a high yesterday after being featured in a double page spread in the Dundee Courier. I would like to thank Jennifer Cosgrove for writing this. Here it is!

When you get a feature like this it’s a great achievement and a real boost to your confidence. This piece is a kind of mini life story of how Genna Design has progressed over the past 9 years and makes me realise that I have achieved a lot in that space of time.

Thank you so much to my friends, family and fabulous customers for supporting me. Let’s hope 2012 is going to be another busy year ahead.

Remember to vote for me in the Scottish Variety Awards the deadline for votes is the 14th March. If you are getting married please visit the wedding show in Dundee this Sunday at the Caird Hall, from 11am where I will have a new selection of bridal jewellery.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Continue reading »]]> If you have recently got engaged and are thinking of planning your wedding, it may be worth a visit to Tayside’s Biggest Wedding Show this Sunday 26th February from 11am at the Caird Hall in Dundee.

I will be showcasing my wedding and engagement rings and my bridal jewellery. If you are looking for something elegant, stylish, timeless and contemporary then my jewellery is perfect for you.

Do you like to wear something unique that isn’t mass produced from the high street jewellers? If so discuss your ideas with me and visit my stand Genna Design this Sunday. I am offering free wedding jewellery consultations so get in touch if you would like to arrange an appointment.

I enjoy taking on bespoke commissions especially wedding and engagement rings. Even if you don’t have a massive budget it is still possible to get something unique made. I cater to all budgets and every piece is totally unique for each individual client.

Here are some examples of recent commissions that I have made.

For other examples of my wedding and engagement rings visit my online shop

Continue reading »]]> Do you still need to get your loved one a gift for Valentine’s Day? If so you still have time to order from my online jewellery shop.

Order by 4pm today you will still get it in time for Valentine’s Day*. I am offering free postage and gift packaging on orders over £50 so take a look at my fabulous handmade jewellery and get something unique.

If you still don’t know what to get them you could purchase a gift voucher so they can choose for themselves.

For him

For her

*(Royal mail Special Delivery guarantees next day delivery but Genna Design will not be held responsible if packages don’t get there on time.)

Continue reading »]]> I have been keeping busy designing new ranges of jewellery. For the theme of love, I thought I would go Red with my limited edition red chilli perspex and silver pieces for Valentine’s Day.

Check out my online shop to see what pieces are available. I am still offering free postage on orders over £50, so grab yourself a bargain!

Continue reading »]]> Ohmygod! I can’t believe it but my hard work is finally starting to pay off! I have been nominated for the Scottish Variety Awards under the category of Best New Scottish Artist or Designer!!! How totally amazing is that!?

I would greatly appreciate it if you could vote for me, please share and pass on to everyone you know! and I mean EVERYONE! It would be amazing if I could win this! So please go to the Clyde 1 website and click the link.

Vote for me here they have spelt my name wrong so it is Jenna Delaney you will be looking for. If you think I should win please take the time to vote.

Thank you so much!

Continue reading »]]> I will be exhibiting at the first Morningside Markets Market of 2012, this Saturday 4th February from 11-4pm at the Columcille Centre on Newbattle Terrace, Edinburgh.

If you are looking for something that wee bit different to get your loved one for Valentine’s Day then head over to the fair.

You will find a delightful mix of handmade products and original designs that you will simply not find on the high street. The unique range of items showcased at each market is brought to you by 30 talented artists, crafters & designers from all over Scotland. Each market is set to a chilled-out soundtrack where you can take your time to browse the beautiful work on display, in a friendly atmosphere, and talk to the makers direct.

Continue reading »]]> With Valentine’s Day not too far off I thought I would join in on the love theme and make some new jewellery.

Love is in the air with my red chilli perspex and silver pendant and earrings. Give your loved one a little bit of spice with these fabulous jewels. These can be purchased on my online shop

I have lots of colours of perspex to choose from so if you would like these made in another colour get in touch.

I will also be exhibiting at the Morningside Makers Market on Saturday 4th February from 11-4pm at the Columcille Centre, Edinburgh. So if you want to get something really unique for your special Valentine then come along to the show or visit my online shop to see what other pieces are available.

I will be adding more jewellery to my online shop in the next few weeks so check it out.

Continue reading »]]> 2012 is getting off to a flying start! I can’t believe we’re in the middle of January already. And to start the year in style I am launching new ranges at Scotland’s Spring Trade Fair, at the SECC, Glasgow, this Sunday 22nd-Tuesday 24th January.

It is the first time I will be exhibiting at the show, however I have exhibited at a number of trade shows already including the BCFT, Harrogate for the past 3 years. This year I decided to try a trade show in my own territory to gain more Scottish outlets who stock my jewellery.

If you are buyer, have a gallery or shop and are interested in unusual handmade Scottish craft visit my stand F53 to get a closer look at my ranges.

New Collections include

Red coral cube collection

red perspex with silver pendant and earrings

Blogpost about me on Scotland’s Trade Show site.

Continue reading »]]> You may have read my previous post about me doing a photography class. Well I enjoyed it so much and wanted to keep up the skills that I learned, so did the next course. It’s split into 8 weeks and we had to do projects each week.

Week 1 – Fifteen minutes, fifteen strangers.

I found this extremely difficult as I am a very shy person to people I don’t know and find it hard to just walk up to folk and start a conversation, never mind taking a photo of them. I wasn’t really happy with most of the images I took for this project, however this is my favourite picture and more can be seen on Picasa.

Week 2 – freezing movement.

The next weeks home work was focusing on freezing movement. I quickly realised that you need really good natural light as the first couple of images were really dark, even in a well lit room. I had to take images with a really fast shutter speed of 1/500 +. This is my favourite of my 6 finals and the others can be seen in Picasa.

Week 3 – Shlomo

This week there were 3 different aspects to the project by using slow shutter speeds.I experimented quite a lot with this one and took quite a few photos before I got the desired effect. Check out the others on Picasa.

1. We had to use slow shutter speeds to capture a sense of movement by utilising blur within the frame. Here is what I shot. It looks as if Alan doesn’t have arms and his face is ghost like because he was moving his arms and head while the image was being exposed.

2. Writing your name with lights.  This was another fun one to do and took a few shots before I realised that I had to write my name backwards! This was done using a small torch.

3. Turn night into day – This was my favourite part of this weeks project as I have found out that I love night photography. It was actually quite dark at this point and the scene was really mundane with not much colour. I was amazed with the outcome that the long 30 second shutter speed managed to capture. There’s so much colour. This is the natural way the image came out, I didn’t tweak it on photoshop, I don’t know how!

Week 4 – Shadows and Silhouettes

This was another fun project here are my two favourites and others can be seen in Picasa.

Shadow

Silhouette

Week 5 and 6 – Before and After

This week was quite difficult to grasp and get my head around. We had to show or document a real life happening or event without showing the actual event. Ie. Before and After it happens. We had to do 3 different scenarios with 2 images each.

Here’s my favourite. The other’s can be seen in Picasa.

Week 7-8 favourites and prints

Some people were catching up on other homework from previous weeks so the last two weeks were to select your favourite images taken during the 8 weeks of the class and put onto a disc or pen drive, then we were to print and frame our favourite image. The printing aspect was quite scary as I didn’t think my images were good enough to frame. We also had to consider what frame to use to compliment the image, what type of paper to use and what size to print it.

My favourite image from the class was my night into day image taken on week 3. It is printed in glossy paper, 8″ x6″, in a black frame approximately 12″ x 10″ and sits in my living room.

During the last week we had to bring in the framed prints and say why we chose it. It was really great to see everyone’s finished images and hear about what inspired them.

The next block of 8 week classes starts on Mon 16 Jan 6:30pm–9pm at the DCA, Dundee.

Continue reading »]]> I really enjoy taking on unusual commissions and am interested in doing what I can to help the environment.

More people nowadays want to know where materials and stones come from, in particular if they have been sourced in an ethical way. However, it is extremely difficult to trace the origins of what mine the metal came from as there are so many processes and different people involved in the chain of refining the metal to get it to the stage where the jeweller can use it. Sometimes suppliers can’t say where the stones have came from so I was very happy to find a new ethical supplier of Rubies, Spinel, Sapphires and Tanzanite gem stones who could tell me the exact source of the stones as they mined it themselves.

Ruby Fair  is a partnership between British Jewellers and Tanzanian Miners where both the miners welfare, the environment and ecology of the land and the final price of the gemstones to you the customer are all given careful consideration. You can buy your Ruby , Sapphire, Spinel and Tanzanite safe in the knowledge that both the miners and the land are given due care and reward.With our own Ruby mine in southern Tanzania we can supply untreated gemstones of the highest quality at a fair price to you.

So when a client got in touch, who was interested in commissioning an engagement ring made in 18ct white gold with an ethically sourced Ruby I knew to get the stone from Ruby Fair.

He had seen previous posts about my past commissions and had seen that had used clients old gold to make something new. Unfortunately he didn’t have his own gold and was doing this as a surprise so couldn’t ask his partner – but asked if I could get Eco gold. So I did some research and found out that my metal supplier Cookson, stocked Eco gold which is gold that has been recycled back via a traceable process into fine gold.

So now that I could get ethical rubies and recycled gold the client could choose a design. He spent quite a bit of time looking at rings online and at my own designs, then gave me some options that he liked. I did some designs combining the aspects and came up with these designs.

This is the completed ring made from 18ct white eco gold and ethical ruby.

So if you have your own gold or old jewellery you no longer wear and would like it transformed into something more contemporary…

Or if you would like something made in Eco gold get in touch.

Continue reading »]]> We all know that weddings are extremely expensive and in this unpredictable economic climate everyone is looking to save money. As soon as you say the word wedding some businesses put up their prices. However if you are looking for value for money and good quality it doesn’t need to cost a fortune.

If you would like an unusual engagement ring it doesn’t need to cost an arm and a leg. I have been designing and making bespoke engagement rings and wedding bands for a few years now and can cater to your budget.

Even if you don’t have a massive budget but would still like something a bit different from the mass produced rings found in the big brand chain store jewellers then get in touch with me. Who said that wedding and engagement rings have to be made in gold or platinum? Nowadays it is up to the taste of the wearer and not about about how expensive or how big the diamond is.

Here is a recent commission which I made for a client. The engagement ring is made in silver with aquamarine and was chosen from a selection of my own engagement ring designs.

So if you are looking for something a little different, but don’t know what you want, get in touch and discuss what options are available within your budget. You can choose from my own designs or if you have your own idea get in touch.

Check out my online shop to see what silver engagement rings are available

http://www.gennadelaney.com/shop/wedding-rings.html

Also have a look an other images of designs I have made here https://plus.google.com/photos/108255130137906773486/albums/5426672217102344305?banner=pwa

I am exhibiting at the Tayside Wedding Fair @ Caird Hall, Dundee on Sunday 26th February from 11am. So come and visit my stand or arrange an appointment at my studio.

Continue reading »]]> I really enjoy making bespoke commissions for clients and know that the process can take some time. Sometimes you meet people interested in your work when you do exhibitions, but for some reason they don’t purchase something then and there. They take your card and have a wee think about it. Some come back others do not, but it’s all part of the process of getting your work out there and meeting new potential clients.

Back in August, I met new customers at one of my shows in Edinburgh. They were really interested in my unusual stone set pieces and particularly liked my dendritic quartz ring on my old business card. Unfortunately for them the piece had sold but I showed them other stones that could be made into something similar.

I spent a lot of time with the clients discussing what could be made. She really liked one of my larger dendritic quartz stones and suggested getting it made into a ring. However she wanted to go away and think about it.

Now sometimes when dealing with people, they go away and don’t come back. But 4 months later, her partner got back in touch asking if that stone was still available. To his surprise it was and we know that it was meant for his partner. Originally his partner wanted a ring made from the stone but due to my expertise, I suggested that as the stone was so large. This was me, who loves making large statement rings saying a stone was too big! But I as the designer though it would work better as a necklace, the client agreed.

Here are the original designs

He decided the simpler of the two designs would be more suitable (second sketch). Here is the finished piece in silver with Dendritic Quartz stone and oxidised detail.

Back of the piece with steel pin and tubing for chain to go through. Can be worn as a brooch or pendant.

Front on chain, shows how it would look as a necklace.

So if you have seen my work at a show ages ago and would like something made into a nice piece of jewellery get in touch.

Continue reading »]]> You still have time to order online on my jewellery shop until Thursday 22nd December. I am still offering free postage and gift packaging on orders over £50.

So have a look at the shop and purchase some really unique pieces of jewellery. I also have pieces reduced in a sale so you can still get some fabulous bargains.

Thursday is the latest day for posting but I will be available some of Friday at the studio. If you are in the Dundee area you can arrange to pick up and pay in person at my studio too. Just give me a call to sort out a meeting.

If you saw something at one of the many shows over the past two months I exhibited at which is not online then contact me about it. Not all pieces are on the online shop and I’ve already had some returning customers who didn’t buy something then and there and it sold later in the day or at another show.

Continue reading »]]> With only 18 days till Christmas, there is not much time left to buy your gifts for family and friends. Jewellery is always a great gift to give.

Galleries and outlets

You can purchase my jewellery from 24 outlets throughout Scotland, England and Wales. If you are in Glasgow, Kalo and Nancy Smillie are worth a visit or if you are in Edinburgh, take a wonder to The Laurel Gallery, The Marchmont Gallery or Pebbles.

Craft Fairs

Or take a visit to my last craft fairs this Friday, Saturday and Sunday (9-11th December) from 11-6pm in St.John’s Church on the corner of Lothian Road and Princes Street followed by next Saturday 17th-Sunday 18th 10.30-5pm in Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall on Buchanan Street and purchase direct from my stall.

Online shop

If you can’t venture out the house because of the cold weather why don’t you order direct from your own home and purchase presents from my online shop. If you don’t know what to choose you can purchase a gift voucher, that way they can choose the perfect gift. I also offer free postage on orders over £50, and pieces come in gift box or organza bag with gift bag so no need to buy extra packaging.

Some gift ideas – for the kids

blue perspex heart charm bracelet was £45, now £30*.

For him

Chunky silver adjustable ring £100*

For her

Gorgeous red coral necklace £100 *

* Prices correct at time of blog post. Always refer to online shop for correct prices.

Continue reading »]]> Another new fair for me to take part in, is one of 3d2d Christmas events. This takes place in St.John’s Church on the corner of Princes Street and Lothian Road, Edinburgh during Friday 9th – Sunday 11th December between 11-5pm.

I will be in the marquee hall and this will be my second last fair of the year. So make sure you are early just in case I sell out!

Continue reading »]]> The weekend of Friday 2nd is a very busy time for me as I have two fairs on the same weekend. How am I going to manage this do you ask?

Well…myself and fellow WASPS artists are hosting our Winter Pop Up event on the Friday and Saturday. So I’ll be in Dundee on Friday. However I will also be making a flying visit to Edinburgh for a one day Christmas craft fair event on the Saturday 3rd. This is part of the Morningside Makers Markets hosted in the Columcille Centre, Newbattle Terrace between 11-4pm.

As well as being one of Edinburgh most desirable places to live, Morningside is one of Edinburgh’s most unique shopping destinations, offering a range of boutiques, art galleries, florists, jewellers & restaurants

The Morningside Makers Market adds to this shopping experience by bringing a vibrant eclectic mix of craft & design to this beautiful area of town.

All of this, and just a short bus journey from the centre of town…

So come and take a day out to Morningside and visit the craft fair to purchase some fabulous handmade Christmas gifts.

Continue reading »]]> As I’ve said before it’s good to keep in contact with your galleries even if you currently don’t have your work in them. The Laurel Gallery took on my jewellery a few years ago and had it for a while. I got back what was left of my pieces earlier on in the year and have now given them a total refresh of jewellery.

They have 17 pieces including mixed collections.

3 textured necklace and earrings

green quartz component pendant and earrings

rollered rectangle pendant and earrings with 9ct yellow gold detail

And a statement architectural pendant

So if you are in Stockbridge in Edinburgh, take a wee look into the Laurel Gallery to see what can inspire you to start your Christmas shopping.

Continue reading »]]> Most of the pieces that I get asked to make for clients are rings and I really enjoy taking on these challenges.

Recently I got contacted by a client to make a bespoke ring in her own design. We all have the piece or pieces of jewellery that we love to wear all the time. Whether it is a non expensive costume piece or that favourite pair of diamond earrings, jewellery makes us feel good about ourselves and is a great addition to finish off that fabulous outfit.

Jewellery also has that sentimental value which is unique to each individual’s experiences, so it is awful when you loose that special piece or it becomes broken over time. In this case my client had purchased a chunky costume jewellery ring made from base metals which had been rhodium plated. As she had had it for a number of years it had begun to discolour.

She had seen my jewellery at a craft fair and liked my work. She loved her chunky wrap around ring so much and had worn it many times but the plating had started to come off showing the copper underneath. So she decided that she wanted it to be made in silver. I already has a smaller, less chunky version of the ring which prompted her to think about her original ring.

my helix ring

the client’s original ring

finished piece in silver

So if you have lost your favourite piece of jewellery and would like something similar made,

or if it has become worn or broken,

or if you have a costume piece which is no longer wearable and you would like the “real thing” made in precious metals get in touch.

Continue reading »]]> As you know I am part of a collective of artists called WASPS. We are currently in a temporary studio space as Meadow Mill is getting renovated. But this isn’t stopping us working together to host our Christmas Open Studios.

Earlier on in October we decided to have our Open Studios spread over Meadow Mill, Douglas Court and Airlie Place and invited other artists from Dundee to take part, to make the event bigger. It was a great success and after speaking with the visitors we decided to host WASPS Winter Pop Up to give you another chance to meet the artists and buy some gorgeous gifts for Christmas. This time all the artists will be at 18 Airlie Place, Dundee

So I would like to invite you and your guests to our

WASPS WINTER POP UP
Friday 2nd December 12 pm – 7pm
and wine and mince pies from 5 – 7pm

Saturday 3rd December 12pm – 5pm – I will be exhibiting in Morningside, Edinburgh so won’t be in my studio but will have a wee selection of items for sale.

You will get the chance to hear live music, taste mulled wine and treats as well as an opportunity to blether with creative folks, see their spaces and support your local creative businesses by getting all your Christmas shopping done under one roof!

Unusual, original, one off and unique – you’ll find the best gifts here lovingly created by folk who LOVE what they do. Support local business and our craft community by coming along to our event.

Hope you can make it!!

THE WASPS EXHIBITORS ARE:

Cathrine Holtet,
Jennifer Robson,
Kirsty Doig,
Jonathan Hood,
Genna Delaney,
Nicola Morrison,
Two Dolls,
Jill Skulina,
Louise Kirby
Louise Ritchie
Paola McClure,

SPECIAL GUESTS

Patricia Griffin
Fiona Henzie
Christina Hirst
Emma MacDermott
Viktoria Begg
Patricia Griffin
Steven Higginson
Kate Pickering
Ashley McGregor
Cheryl McDermid
Michael Lambert
Cathrine Brunet

Continue reading »]]> The festive season is now upon us and it is a totally frantic for me. I’ve been busy making stock for my galleries, commissions for clients and trying to make sure I have enough of my own stock for all my shows.

Normally I don’t get the chance to exhibit at many fairs during Christmas due to working in my part time job, but now that I am working full time on my business I have the chance to exhibit my work  at a lot of the fairs.

The next of my Christmas shows is this weekend during Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th November between 10.30-5pm. It is run by 3d2d and is in Adam House on Chambers Street, Edinburgh

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=+EH1+1HR&sll=55.864801,-4.252589&sspn=0.008067,0.02826&ie=UTF8&z=16&iwloc=addr

The show will have a lovely selection of 90 exhibitors showing and selling their hand crafted goods, so this is an excellent opportunity get some fabulous Christmas gifts.

Continue reading »]]> I used to work in a wee jewellery shop in St.Andrews called Alchemia Studio. But as my business has taken off this year I decided to give it up to work for myself full time. I used to restock the shop all the time as I was always there so it has been needing a refresh for a little while. Now I have finally had the chance to restock the shop again, in time for the Christmas rush.

The shop has a selection of my funky perspex pieces to add a little colour in your life! I have created a special collection in red with oxidised detail for a Christmasy feel.

Alchemia also has a selection of my elegant wedding pieces. So if you don’t like bright coloured statement jewellery there’s always something for you to choose. Look at these elegant pearl and silver designs.

Happy shopping!

Continue reading »]]> I can’t believe it’s November already! I’ve been working like a trooper and have finally managed to restock more of my galleries.

Argenteus in Covent Garden and Oxford have been restocked with some fabulous new pieces and topped up with some more aquamarine component pieces.

The Tayberry Gallery in Perth has a selection of my glacier green perspex and my frame gold leaf collection. It has just been topped up with my aquamarine component pieces as well as a few other pieces.

And finally the DCA in Dundee has also been restocked with various collections, including my green quartz geometric wire pendant and earrings.

So if you are looking to get some exciting Christmas presents this year head to a gallery and purchase something unique and handmade.

Continue reading »]]> As well as galleries stocking my work on a regular basis I sometimes get chosen to exhibit in specially selected exhibitions. A new stockist for me, The Yorkshire Craft Centre is having it’s annual Christmas Bedazzled Jewellery exhibition which starts on the 11th November and continues until 16th December.

Our annual festive feast of desirable design for discerning gift givers returns.

With budgets squeezed and continuing economic gloom, it is time to spend less but purchase beautiful things that will lift the spirits and give lasting pleasure.

I have supplied the gallery with a nice selection of 20 pieces which include pieces in my frame, labyrinth, rollered, geometric wire with Green Quartz and Tourmalinated Quartz collections. They also have a few of my one off statement pieces to attract attention.

Continue reading »]]> This year I am taking part in a number of Christmas craft fairs. The first of which is this weekend during Saturday 12th -Sunday 13th November at the Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow between 10.30am-5pm.

I have spent a lot of time restocking my galleries which has allowed me to have a total refresh of my own stock. I have been designing new ranges and have managed to source nice red stones so expect to see lots of new pieces.

Here is a sneaky peak at some new work. Red and Christmassy…

make a statement…

add  a little elegance…

So get your Christmas shopping started before these pieces get snapped up. These are one of a kind so once they’re gone they’re gone!

Happy shopping!

Continue reading »]]> Another two galleries which have stocked my jewellery over the years are Pebbles Jewellery, Edinburgh and Cecilia Colman, London. They haven’t had my work for a least 6 months so I got back in touch with them to see if they wanted to stock my new range of perspex and silver jewellery. They both came to visit my stand at the BCTF, Harrogate in April and both took a liking to the glacier green collection.

They both have been restocked with the full range of the glacier green collection and Pebbles also has a small selection of my pale blue perspex and silver pieces which included these gorgeous cufflinks.

Why not treat your man to a nice pair of cufflinks for Christmas?

Or add a little colour in your life as the nights are getting darker and purchase a nice piece of glacier green perspex and silver jewellery. Classic, stylish and timeless designs.

Continue reading »]]> As I said before it’s good to keep a relationship with your galleries. This has definitely been the case with one of my longest stocking galleries The Marchmont Gallery, in Edinburgh.

They started stocking my jewellery shortly after I graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone back in June 2006. They started off with a selection of my statement degree show pieces. Then they tried my textured and pearl collection which  has been selling ever since. I decided that it was time to refresh the display completely and give them a whole new collection of work to stop my display becoming stale.

The Marchmont continue to stock a selection of my textured pieces as it sells well in their space and suits their clientèle.

They now also have a selection of my frame and labyrinth collection and some of my rollered pieces. These are simple elegant items of jewellery which would make great Christmas presents.

So if you are visiting Edinburgh take a look at the Marchmont Gallery to inspire the mind.

Continue reading »]]> Over the past 4 years of being in business I’ve realised that it’s good to keep in contact with your current galleries, let them know of new ranges and designs, build a relationship with them and refresh your stock regularly in order to increase sales and keep your work fresh.

So as I’ve had my jewellery in the Smokehouse Gallery, Eyemouth and Artifex Gallery, Sutton and Kalo Jewellery, Glasgow since last Christmas and my pieces have continued to sell well, I decided that it was about time to do a restock in time for Christmas to make the most of the sales.

The Smokehouse has been refreshed with my rollered collection

Artifex has a lovely selection of my popular frame with gold leaf collection

and Kalo has been topped up with my Tourmalinated quartz component and geometric wire with green quartz collections

It’s now a good time to start buying your Christmas presents and jewellery is a fantastic gift to give to your loved ones. So why not head over to these stunning galleries to see what’s on offer and to inspire you to start your shopping!

Continue reading »]]> During the past few months I’ve been busy sourcing new galleries to stock my work in time for Christmas. The first new gallery to stock my work is The Heart Gallery in Hebden Bridge.

This new gallery has a selection of 20 pieces which range from my frame and labyrinth collections

to my Tourmalinated Quartz geometric wire pieces

They also have some of my green quartz and aquamarine pieces as well as a few new pieces.

So if you are in the area take a visit to the Heart Gallery and purchase some gorgeous jewellery for Christmas presents.

Continue reading »]]> A client contacted me recently who was interested in getting a simple wedding and engagement ring set and didn’t want to spend too much money as we all know weddings can be very expensive.

She didn’t wear much jewellery and wanted it to be timeless, easy to wear and understated. She also preferred white metals to yellow gold so went for the option of 9ct white gold as that was also within her budget.

Here is the completed set

The natural colour of 9ct white gold has a slight yellow tinge. If you go to most high street/ big brand jewellers they will only give you the option of the 9ct white gold with rhodium plating. This comes off over time and will need re plated at least 1-2 times a year depending on wear. My client decided to go with the natural look as the colour is very subtle and it suited her complexion.

So if you don’t have a massive budget and would like a simple, timeless engagement or wedding ring please get in touch.

Continue reading »]]> When I studied jewellery at Cardonald College I realised that I enjoyed Black and White photography. The course was split into different modules and I enjoyed experimenting and developing my negatives in the dark room. It was like magic seeing the image appearing on the paper! This was back in 1999-2002 but unfortunately after leaving college I never had the time or access to a dark room to do more with black and white film photography.

Then while studying at DJCAD from 2003-2006 I began to realise that taking photos of my jewellery to archive my designs and commissions was really important and it also helped to bulk up my portfolio. So I got myself a wee digital camera and just took images with the auto mode. Over the years at art school technology was advancing and after graduating I decided to get a digital SLR camera to allow me to take more professional shots of my jewellery for my website and online shop.

My camera, the Nikon D5000 is a fantastic camera if you know how to get the best out of it. But again I was just using the auto mode as I didn’t know what all the functions meant. I kept on meaning to do a night class at Dundee college but never got around to it. Then a friend told me there was a photography class starting at the DCA, Dundee which showed you how to get the most of your digital SLR and helped you understand the functions. I decided to sign up.

So earlier on in the year I took part in the 8 week photography night class at the DCA, Dundee called the Blue Sky Photo Club. The classes were split up into different areas of how to use a digital camera and run by Ross Fraser McLean, (a self taught photographer based in Dundee) check out Ross McLeans site to see his work.

The class had a mixed level of photographers, some had already attended Ross’ classes before but others like me were complete beginners and wanted to get out of using the auto mode. Each week we had homework to do so it was a great way of making yourself learn as you had to go away and experiment with the camera.

The first weeks homework was to take photos which represent your own self portrait and to take pictures of objects or shapes that created the letters in your first name.

Here are the photos I took of the letters that represent my name GENNA. This was quite challenging but also fun to try and spot anything that looked like a letter.

My self portrait images were pictures of my work bench, my sketchbooks, some food, my computer with my phone and camera. My friend Jennifer Robson is a fine artist and had done a sketch of me so this also was a self portrait as literally it was! and I also used a photo of a reflection of me in a glass window. These images can be seen in Picasa in the Blue Sky folder.

Unfortunately I’m not sure how to create albums inside albums so the images aren’t split into separate folders for each weeks homework but should be in order.

The week 2 was taking photos which were over and underexposed by experimenting with the aperture compensation mode.

Week 3 and 4 was day and night photography. The aim was to take the same shot and same composition twice, one during the day and one at night. I focused on scenes which were quite mundane during the day but came to life at night.

Other images I took can be viewed in the Blue Sky Photo Club album in picasa.

In week 5 Ross had a load of words crumpled up in a bucket and were were to pick out a word and take 5 photos representing that word. My word was FAST. This allowed me to experiment with the shutter speed to capture movement and blur, and try panning. I think this one of the taxi has worked quite well.

Other images can be seen in picasa.

In week 6 we were to experiment with flash. There’s a really cool technique where you press the shutter butter down while zooming the lens back and forward. This creates some awesome effects. Flash is also good at saturating the colours making them brighter.

Some weeks were really busy with me running my business, exhibiting and working part time so I sometimes found the homework really hard to do in a week. During week 7 I was exhibiting away from home for 5 days so didn’t have much time to experiment with the homework which was Black and White photos. More can be viewed in Picasa as you can see from the photos there I was exhibiting at the Royal Highland Show, that is why I have photos of tractors.

And the final week, week 8, Ross wanted us to print out our favourite pictures which we had taken during the time of the photography class.

More can be seen on picasa.

During the time of the class I definitely learned a lot about using my camera and I now use the manual mode!

Continue reading »]]> I decided to register my names on Tumblr and Blogspot.

Genna Delaney on Tumbler

Genna Design on Tumblr

Genna Delaney on Blogspot

Genna Design on Blogspot

I will continue to blog here, but these sites have community features so if there is a blog I follow there I can do so publicly so that they know it’s me following them.

Continue reading »]]> I recently went to an interesting and unusual walk around Art exhibition & community event which documents the Past, Present and Future of Dundee’s Hilltown.

The exhibition shows artworks by Peter Mansfield in conjunction with Environment Arts Team (Dundee City Council) and is named We Reign Invisible which runs from 24th September- 27th November. The Multi’s in the Hilltown were recently demolished and Peter has used rubble from the demolition to create really interesting and detailed pieces of art which portray optical illusions and trick the eye. You really need to get up close to see the detail involved, for the images to come alive while others can be seen from a distance at a certain angle. Quite inspiring work!

I went along to the opening and was really intrigued to find out more about the community lead projects which relate to this event. There were performances from Dundee Poets Gary Robertson & Kevin McCabe; who gave an insight to how people lived in Dundee, Hilltown back in the day – some humorous but also brutal stories.

It was interesting to meet the other artists involved including Ross McLean a Dundee photographer who showed black and white images of the local people who live in and around the Hilltown. And Emma White who with Carrie Findlay have a fantastic little shop on the Hilltown. Emma kindly invited me to visit her space, Diaosu Limited. They have been working with the Hilltown community during the Past, Present and Future projects and have some interesting things on show.

This Friday Emma and Carrie launch the Bird’s Eye View exhibition in their space. They have been taking photos in and around the shops of the Hilltown, Dundee over the past 2 months and are celebrating with a showing on the 14th October 2011.

The exhibition will continue on the 15th October 1pm to 4pm and on 16th between 1pm and 3pm. They say,

We have really enjoyed meeting and chatting with the shopkeepers in our community. This work is provided as part of the Changing Faces of Hilltown project which we carry out in partnership with Pure Media UK.

For more information check out their facebook page

For more information about the We Reign Invisible exhibition check out

Continue reading »]]> The majority of my clients are women but I also make jewellery for men and occasionally a client contacts me to make something bespoke which isn’t like my own work.

For me this is great as I love a challenge and like to take a break from making my own ranges of jewellery. It’s also fun to experiment with different styles, techniques and materials.

Recently I client asked me to make a pendant in the style that Russell Brand wears in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I hadn’t seen the film so watched some clips on Youtube to try and get a closer look. The piece was really rugged and unique, so I told the client that I couldn’t make an exact replica but could use my own style and make something similar.

If the client already has an idea of what they would like made I encourage them to email me a picture or sketches of the design. This is the picture which my client provided,

Images of the finished piece made in silver with oxidised detail.

If you would like something made in the style that you’ve seen a celebrity wearing but don’t want an exact replica, get in touch to discuss what can be made in your budget. Or if you’ve got your own idea/design made into something you can wear get in touch.

Continue reading »]]> This morning I received a letter from 3D2D confirming some more craft fairs for the year.

My calender up until Christmas is now looking pretty packed with 12 more days of craft fairs.

• WASPS Open studios, at temporary space in 18 Airlie Place, Dundee, DD1 4HS – Saturday 1st October 12-5pm and Sunday 2nd October 12-5pm
• 3D2D at Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow – Saturday 12th, Sunday 13th November 2011.
• 3D2D at Adam House, Edinburgh – Saturday 26th, Sunday 27th November 2011.
• Morningside December Makers Market – Saturday 3rd December 2011
• 3D2D at St Johns Church, Edinburgh – Friday 9th December – Sunday 11th December 2011
• 3D2D at Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow – Saturday 17th, Sunday 18th December 2011

Continue reading »]]> Over the past few months I’ve been working on bespoke commissions for clients weddings.

A client wanted a wedding band to fit with her princes cut diamond and platinum engagement ring. She had been to a few high street jewellers but they didn’t have anything to fit as the setting wouldn’t allow a ring to fit under it. And none of their rings complemented her engagement ring. So the only option was to get a bespoke wedding band made which most chain, high street jewellers don’t do.

I had made a bespoke fitted band for a previous client who had passed my details onto this new customer, so my new client knew it was possible.

Originally the new client wanted a thin band but as her diamond was quite large the setting protruded over the shank right down to the bottom of the ring. This meant that the wedding ring had to be 3mm wide to allow for the cutting out of the shape to slide into the setting.

Platinum fitted wedding band

As well as engagement and wedding rings I make a selection of pearl and silver jewellery which is suitable for bridal wear. A client liked my designs and asked me to make a pair of Silver and Pearl chain earrings similar to a set which I already make but with different chain. Here is what I made.

Another client wanted something really simple and elegant for her daughter to wear who was getting married. As the dress is the main statement sometimes you don’t want to over do it with the jewellery so I made a pair of pearls studs and single pearl pendant with cluster twist hair piece.

So remember to search previous posts on my blog to see previous commissions I have had made. And if you have bought some bespoke jewellery, be sure to pass on the details to any friends who are looking to buy pieces!

Continue reading »]]> Saturday 1st October 12-5pm and Sunday 2nd October 12-5pm

It’s nearly that time of year again for the artists of WASPS to open their studios. As we are in a temporary studio space at 18 Airlie Place, Dundee, DD1 4HS (due to Meadow Mill getting renovated) it’s going to be a different type of event.

We at WASPS are having a mini Open studios in no less than 2 weeks. The space is amazing and has three floors of rooms that were originally student flats, there’s 11 of us at Airlie Place with 4 artists at Douglas Court/Meadow Mill so there is more than one venue this year.

We have also invited artists/makers from Dundee to take part and set up shop in the spare rooms at Airlie Place to make the event bigger.

So spread the word, come visit and support your local Creative folk of Dundee buy some gorgeous jewellery, paintings, scarves, sculpture, prints, textiles and ceramics.

Continue reading »]]> As a jewellery designer maker I spend quite a lot of my time making jewellery for galleries/shops, remaking my commercial pieces which sell well and taking on bespoke commissions. So sometimes it’s hard to take time out and design fun, statement pieces which I always did while at art school. Be really creative without thinking if a piece will sell and just experiment.

For two days I decided to take time out from making commissions and pieces for galleries to spend the time on making something really unique with my unusual stones. I recently read about this seasons trends from the Guild of Jewellery Designers Website. It looks like this trend will continue into next Spring too.

Characteristics across the Autumn/Winter themes are:

• Statement Everything! Jewellery is even bigger and more adventurous than before. Rings, chokers and cuffs are bolder, more colourful and more varied, with greater attention to colour blocking and mixed media.
• Gemstones are huge and not necessarily traditional faceted stones. Rough cuts and agate slices are a popular look.
• Layering and stacking of bracelets, rings and necklaces will still be a key trend – almost like building your own statement piece! It offers greater versatility and creativity for jewellery lovers; smaller, finer, lighter pieces can be layered in a variety of combinations allowing you a bespoke look every time. It’s also a style well suited to the capsule wardrobe, so great if you’re on a budget.
• Shoulder dusters – earrings so long that they literally ‘dust’ your shoulders.
• Metallic – large, heavy metal pieces, ergonomic designs and layered, woven chains; with shiny, textured, coloured and oxidised finishes.
• Personalised and kinetic jewellery is still in vogue. These pieces are great conversation pieces as well as being something unique and symbolic.

…and realised my own work actually fits into this seasons trends so I found it quite easy to design new work. I bought stones back in February at Inhorgenta, Munich which I kept on meaning to make into something, in particular statement rings. One of my favourite stones is dendritic quartz as I love the natural inclusions or ‘dendrils’ that form while the quartz is crystalising. Each piece is really unique and has character. I wanted to make something quite rough and rustic looking, here is what I made. Dendritic quartz and oxidised silver ring (approx size N-P, difficult to size due to thick square band).

I had some rough Tourmalinated quartz nuggets which I had had for ages and had been meaning to make into something. So I made them into this fabulous statement neckpiece.

I recently sold my Kyanite Wire Ring, which was one of a number of large statement rings which have sold in the last year. Sometimes I make a gorgeous ring and it is drooled over by dozens of women over a couple of years at shows. Once snapped up I hear comments like It sold, aww I loved that ring since I saw it 2 years ago, Where is the … ring, I had been admiring it for a while. So if you fall in love with a ring like the new dentritic quartz ring, it’s best to snap it up whilst you can.

If you would like to buy either of these pieces, please contact me for prices.

Continue reading »]]> Normally at craft fairs and so on I use business cards for promotion with contact details and pictures of work.

A couple of years ago I made up some leaflets with 2 statement pieces and some contact info. Some of these were hand distributed in some areas and left in a couple of shops (lots of which were taken and I topped up the supply a couple of times!). The rest were left gathering dust in my office.

Recently to promote my jewellery parties I made some more up with details of the parties I can run. These were intended for a few events I have had and have planned for the future in Dundee.

This afternoon Alan and I wandered round the city centre leaving the jewellery party flyer pinned up in loads of locations and the older leaflets and some business cards in others. It was really fun spotting which wee places had leaflets or flyers dotted around and almost everyone was happy to take them apart from a couple who said to check with a manager who wasn’t around at the time.

Through the week I will pop into a couple of other places which are closed on Sundays.

Hopefully these will get noticed by more people.

For extra credit post below if you spot these out and about, where you see them. Let’s see if people can find them all!

Continue reading »]]> After having another successful year at the West end Festival I am now busy with restocking my current outlets and gaining more galleries to stock my jewellery.

The first gallery restocked is the DCA, Dundee. They now have a selection of my textured silver with pearl collection, my geometric frame pieces with 22ct gold leaf detail and a few more of my component wire aquamarine collection. And it is spread across two half shelves!

Cynon Valley Art Gallery and Museum, Wales now has an expanded choice of my glacier green perspex and silver collection.

So add a little colour in your life and treat yourself to a nice piece of jewellery.

Continue reading »]]> I would like to invite you a special jewellery exhibition that I am taking part in and will be attending, the Opening this Friday from 7.30pm at the Tayberry Gallery in Perth.

The exhibition will run from the 26th August – 25th September and will start off with a ‘Jewellery Party’ evening on Friday evening 26th. Drinks and canopies will be served while guests can try on pieces and talk to the designer/makers. Timings for the jewellery party will be doors open at 7pm, party starts at 7.30, ends at 9pm.

It is a special exhibition as it only has jewellery from members of the ACJ Scotland (Association for Contemporary Jewellery) The designers will be there on the Opening night so it will be your exclusive chance to meet the makers, find out more about their work, try on and treat yourself to a gorgeous handmade piece of contemporary jewellery and support the local makers.

I have included a selection of my perspex and silver collection, my frame 22ct gold leaf collection, some one off pieces and a selection of men’s rings and cufflinks. So if you can make it on Friday night it would be great to see you and enjoy a drink.

The next event after this is a charity ladies night at G casino, Dundee – Be Gorgeous Event, on Wednesday 31st August from 7pm. I’ve donated a piece for the raffle and there will be other prizes to win. It’s also free entry and everyone gets a free glass of bubbly. There will also be a chance to pamper yourself as there will be a variety of businesses set up during the night. For more info visit the facebook event page

For the first time I will be exhibiting at The Dundee Flower and Food Festival during Friday 2nd-Sunday 4th September at Camperdown Park. I will be in the lifestyle marquee which is adjacent to the craft marquee. Hope you can make it for a fun day out with the family.

Remember to check out my online shop as I will be updating this with new pieces and images in the next few weeks. And get in touch if you would like to organise a jewellery party.

Continue reading »]]> After exhibiting at the wedding show in Dundee earlier on in the year I met with a couple who wanted me to make their wedding and engagement rings.

The female client already had an engagement ring which was purchased a while ago but was not to her taste any more. As it still had the sentimental value she wanted me to use the diamonds in the ring and set them into an 18ct white gold band which was to be her wedding ring. For the new engagement ring I was to source a princess cut (square) diamond which was to be set in 18ct white gold and the two rings were to fit together. And for him – he chose a simple classic silver wedding band, the bottom sketch.

Here are the sketches of the design

Here is the finished 18ct white gold engagement and wedding ring set

When I asked the client if she was happy with the design and how it turned out she said they had turned out even better than expected.

I’d like to thank all my customers who have commissioned a bespoke piece, it gives me a chance to experiment with designs I might not normally produce and challenges me skills. I really enjoy taking on commissions like these.

If you would like a bespoke wedding or engagement ring made from scratch or made using some of your old pieces of jewellery please get in touch.

Continue reading »]]> I’m back from exhibiting a 9 day stretch at the West End Fair, Edinburgh. After a successful show despite the awful rainy Scottish weather I’m getting organised for my next festival of the year. It’s non stop for me!

For the first time I will be exhibiting at the Dundee Flower and Food Festival which takes place during Friday 2 – Sunday 4 September. I will be exhibiting in the Lifestyle marquee which is linked to the craft tent so make sure you venture through to see my work.

The Festival itself has a packed weekend programme of free cookery and gardening demonstrations, inspirational ideas for your home and garden, plus a fabulous Food Festival Marquee with quality food and drink produce, offering you the chance to ‘try before you buy’ at many of the stands. This year’s celebrities are day-time TV chef Gino D’Acampo and gardening expert Monty Don. Gino will be demonstrating on Sunday 4 September. Monty will be with us on both Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 September.

So come along for a fun packed family day out, try good food, meet the celebrities, get some great tips on how to cook for yourself and see some amazing craft! Tickets are now on sale, entry prices remain the same as they have done for the last couple of years. Take advantage of the special Earlybird rates if you purchase tickets before 26 August!

Continue reading »]]> I have been invited to take part in a fabulous ladies night at the G Casino. I’m really excited as I’ve not been into the Casino before.

The Be Gorgeous event is the ultimate ladies night. An evening of Beauty, Fashion & much more – free entry PLUS a glass of bubbly! Come into G Casino, look round the stalls, have some treatments and have fun. What more can a woman ask for!

The event takes place on Wednesday 31st August between 7pm-10pm. As well as showing off my jewellery I will also be donating a nice piece of jewellery into the charity raffle. Proceeds are split between Marie Curie and the Small Steps for Ayley and Chloe Fund.

For more information visit the Be gorgeous Facebook page or sign up to the facebook event

Continue reading »]]> For the next week and a bit I will be exhibiting at the Edinburgh West End Fair at the corner of Princes Street and Lothian Road.

If you are in Edinburgh pop in to see my stall and the many other fantastic stalls.

I will hopefully be able to update my online shop stock levels at night but please contact me first before buying anything to make sure I still have pieces in stock.

Continue reading »]]> I have created a mailing list on mailchimp. You can sign up to my newsletter at the following link.

Subscribe to my mailing list

The number of subscribers in my email account was becoming unmanageable, so I will start to move people over to the proper list soon.

Integrated into the list is the ability to auto-subscribe and auto-unsubscribe rather than the manual process of emailing me and me doing it etc.

Continue reading »]]> The online shop software I use was recently upgraded and the version I was using had support dropped for it. After clearing through a number of other things I had to do in a hectic month, I tested the new version and then rolled it out at the end of July.

Some of the new features included, ability to edit item codes (this appears to have been available, but wasn’t originally when I first installed) and ability to hide out of stock items individually.

There’s a couple of minor teething troubles which I will add to the list to sort:

• Images with spaces or rounded braces in them () were renamed to use _ instead. Fixed
• Some items in stock appear to have lost their images Fixed
• Friendly links are broken, shows shop/productid=100 instead of shop/one-off/rings/silver-ring-with-diamond etc.
• Email template, said thanks, the Genna Design Team, now edited to say Genna Delaney.

Still to do, fix the teething list and

• Add facebook/tweet/google +1 link buttons etc, done
• Try and find out why you can access the site as gennadelaney.com/shop instead of only www.gennadelaney.com/shop
• Assign proper item codes to pieces instead of randomly generated ones

If you spot any problems, please let me know.

Continue reading »]]> I have just added buttons to Google +1 and Facebook Likes at the bottom of pages/posts. There are also buttons for social bookmark sites as well.

Let’s see if people use these!

Also added Google +1 and AddThis buttons to shop. On shop you can log in to Facebook to comment too.

And remember you can find the Genna Design Page on Facebook as Genna Design

I also have some other social networking sites set up on twitter (@GennaDesign), LinkedIn (Genna Delaney) and LinkedIn (Genna Design) and Google+, +Genna Delaney

Continue reading »]]> It’s nearly that time of year again for the Edinburgh Festival when there’s so much to do and see in the city. But one thing you shouldn’t miss is the chance to see the Westend Fair in the grounds of St.John’s Church on the corner of Lothian Road and Princes Street. It truly is a unique event which brings together some of the finest contemporary arts, crafts and design-work from across the UK in one glorious open air venue.

With over 100 makers, the fair is full of unique stalls selling products you won’t find on any high street. Enjoy a few hours browsing: you’ll find stunning jewellery, furniture, tempting fashion, accessories and homeware beautifully crafted in glass, wood, metal, textiles as well as art, photography and much more.

This will be my 4th year in a row exhibiting at the fair and as usual I will be there during the first week from Saturday 6th to Sunday 14th August. As I am now full time self employed I will have a selection of new pieces and expanded ranges as well as one off pieces. So come to the show, enjoy a fun day out and treat yourself to a unique piece of contemporary jewellery.

You can also see a profile of me on the west end fair site

Join the Facebook event for the fair too.

Continue reading »]]> During May I got the chance to visit the solo show of Jennifer Robson in the Outbye Gallery, by Pittenweem.

The gallery itself is in a unique location out in the country by Pittenweem which is in an estate – a relaxing, peaceful spot. So it was a nice venue for Jen to have her first solo show.

Jennifer started off as a fine artist combining painting for a number of years with managing The White Gallery which then changed owners and became Hannas Gallery. Jen is now set up as a full time artist and has expanded her art practice to include, sculpture, embroidery and costume jewellery.

Her recent solo show was a mixture of objects, story boxes, a dolls house, drawings and paintings, as well as playful toy sculptures and jewellery. The horse also plays in important part in Jen’s exhibition and the blue braids link everything together.

Each piece tells a story and has hidden meaning. When displayed as a complete exhibition the pieces create the life of Jen.

Dolls House

Detail in the dolls house

The one piece that first caught my eye when I walked in the gallery was her fantastic dolls house. It came from an original sketchbook idea that Jen had 3 years ago, she said that,

after I read in a symbolism book that the house is often used as a representative symbol of the psyche, with the levels representing depths of the consciousness. The roof is said to connect to a higher consciousness, like a transmitter as such. So immediately I thought about the house I shared with my beloved flatmates at Uni in Thomson street in Dundee. It’s a three-tiered old house with high ceilings, bay windows, cornices, and a twisting staircase. The attic rooms are fabulous with slanted ceilings and you could even sit out on the roof and enjoy sunny Dundee with a view of the Tay in the summer.

(taken from Jennifer Robson’s blog)

As you can see there are many layers and details in the house and each piece represents a part of Jen’s life. The closer you look the more you see the tiny details.

There are many more hidden meanings and stories to tell in her story boxes. I was pleased to see Jen included the gold glitter horse – cause we always need a bit of sparkle in our lives!

Jen’s work has really progressed over the years and her solo show is the beginning of her exploration as an expressive artist. Seeing the show gives me many memories as with most of the pieces, I saw them as objects sitting in Jen’s studio but now they are works of art. It’s amazing how the creative mind works!

Seeing the horse in so many expressive ways, fills me with emotion as horses were a large part of my life as a child. Jen draws, paints and sketches them as strong, powerful animals with so much life and movement.

To find out more about Jennifer Robson visit her blog

Continue reading »]]> Back in February I had the opportunity to visit Munich as a research trip and attended one of the worlds largest jewellery trade shows Inhorgenta, it’s basically the Crufts of jewellery shows!

The show itself was absolutely massive and totally overwhelming to begin with as there was so much to take in. Unfortunately cameras were forbidden in the hall so no photos I’m afraid.

With a hall devoted to tools, display, packaging and technology, one hall for large brand jewellers (like Thomas Sabo – who had a huge funky stand) and watches (Fossil – giant wooden cube). There was a hall for smaller designers which were separated into collectives/groups, universities. It was nice to see some British designers like Jane Adam and recognised some silversmiths who exhibit at goldsmiths. This hall also had the more established independent German designers. The range of work was mind blowing and the Germans really are the most talented jewellers! Their pieces were mostly made in 22ct yellow gold, most of which were very simple but chunky designs. The pieces were extremely well made and finished to a very high standard. It was really inspiring to see such innovative designs and it’s made me realise that I want to produce creative, one off statement pieces again.

Two huge halls were also devoted to precious, semi precious stones and beads, I was in heaven! It was an amazing experience and I could have quite easily spent an absolute fortune. But I went with a budget in mind and Alan helped me keep my sensible head on and stopped me spending too much! I could have spent my whole budget on the first stall I found as it was full of my favourite stones, including Kyanite, dendritic quartz, rutile quartz in the unusual cuts that I use.

Some stalls had open shell schemes with tables covered in loose stones to pick up. I learned quite quickly that some stalls were more expensive than others as stones were individually boxed and locked in cabinets. These stalls were set up as a retail outlet. They were also a lot quieter so you knew not to enter those ones unless you had mega bucks to spend!

Lots of stalls sold strands of different gems and beads, hanging from the top of the wall right down to the ground. Quite a lot of the bead stalls had the same or similar stock but charged different prices, so it was good to look and compare before you bought. Some gave discounts when you purchased a set amount, most had minimum spend in store. This was quite annoying as I saw some nice strands but only wanted a few things but their minimum spend was €500.

They all had different ways of pricing, some didn’t have prices. Most were in euros and had weird codes so you had to ask the staff for help. All the stalls had small baskets or trays for loose stones (these were priced per carat). Most stalls only took cash and you had to specifically ask for receipts. One of my friends visited last year so I was prepared with cash and ready to ask for receipts but some places wouldn’t write them so I had to make notes of what I spent and from whom.

As the show was so big we split it up into two days, one day for stones and one to look at the designers (though I did go back to one of the stone stalls to get some more). Here are two of my favourite type of quartz.

Dendritic Quartz

Tourmalinated Quartz

These are some of the stones I bought and can’t wait to make some new exciting pieces. Hopefully I’ll have some of these made into fantastic new pieces by the Westend Festival in August, so come visit my stand during 6th-14th to see what’s new.

If you would like something made with any of these stones please get in touch.

Over the years I have been collecting stones. I now have a large selection of stones which are ready to make into some gorgeous pieces of jewellery. Here are a set of green amethyst (purchased from my London supplier) and two topaz which I purchased in Mexico a few years ago. Now that I am a full time self employed jeweller I will have the time to make some exciting new pieces with these stones.

Continue reading »]]> Before my visit to Munich in February I did a little research on jewellery galleries. I also asked some people to advise places to visit so I got the most out of my research trip. I got there a day and half before Inhorgenta started so had the chance to get settled in my hotel and visit some galleries before the show.

In Germany – it is a little different from Britain with regards to how the jewellers work – the jewellers have their own small retail outlet/gallery/shop with their workshop in the back rather than have an artist studio and sell through galleries.

The display was very minimal with no busts or display blocks the jewellery was just displayed as it is.

I managed to visit a lot of small galleries, some of which we randomly found and others that I planned to see. These included:

Galerie Spektrum which had very conceptual jewellery made from non precious materials, interesting but mostly not wearable pieces.

I visited Galerie Biro as it is devoted to plastic jewellery and was really looking forward to seeing the pieces but it had weird opening times so was closed when I was there. It was also situated in a residential area, which was weird to see a gallery in-between lots of flats and houses.

Goldbraun was fantastic as it mixed home made chocolate with contemporary jewellery. There was some really nice jewellery here but I couldn’t resist buying some chocolate. Tastie good!

While wondering I also came across Gallie Jewels a very tiny shop that didn’t have much in it as she had just opened but had nice pieces in the window.

Hillmanns also had some amazing pieces and I nearly treated myself to a titanium, gold leaf and resin ring – stunning! But went for the cheaper option of a black and red wooden ring.

Inge Mayer Goldschmiede Galerie had a stunning mix of high end pieces – totally mind blowing work and a really nice lady.

Bayerischer Kunstgewerbe-Verein (BKV) is an organisation for the professional crafts sector with approximately 400 members working in jewellery, ceramics, textiles and sculpture. I managed to find their gallery and what a fantastic large space. It was like a trendy product design shop but with handmade pieces! Amazing work.

And finally Artefact was a mix of gorgeous contemporary jewellery with nice textiles and clothes. There was so many nice rings in here too. I nearly bought a square silver and felt ring from Michaela Binder who happened to be exhibiting at Inhorgenta so I got the chance to meet her and see her full range at the show. Artefact also stocked Esther Ackermann and Monika Jakubec rings which I also loved and they were also exhibiting at Inhorgenta. It’s really inspiring meeting other designers and see how they work.

On the last day we decided to visit some museums as they we all very close together and had found out it’s cheaper and some cases free on a Sunday. The Pinakothek Der Moderne was fantastic and mixed with modern art, design, architecture and also had a large selection of contemporary jewellery in the basement. The basement was very dark and only the cabinets were lit so some pictures are a bit poor. The jewellery pieces down here were more conceptual than wearable but interesting nonetheless.

There are some pictures of the basement and me looking in one of the desk cabinets. There were also standing cabinets built into the walls with really unusual large neckpieces and other conceptual bits.

They had a few pieces of one of my favourite jewellers Friedrich Becker who made fantastic kinetic jewellery.

Unusual rings

Neckpiece

Continue reading »]]> My studio has been decanted for around 6 months for renovation work to take place. If you send me anything by mail please contact me first to get the appropriate address to send things to.

I’ll let clients know as and when they make appointments as to where to meet me. Most people contact first before visiting my studio anyway.

Continue reading »]]> I will be exhibiting at the Royal Highland Show from Thursday until Sunday. I won’t be updating the stock levels on my shop whilst away so please contact me if you wish to buy something online during this time.

If you do go to the Highland Show, stop by my stand in the 3D2D marquee and say hello.

Continue reading »]]> My studio at Wasps, Meadow Mill, Dundee is finally getting a much needed refurbishment which is due to begin this July.

Artists and Designers from WASPS including Louise Kirby, Lindsay Gardiner, Jonathan Hood, Jennifer Robson are having a huge sale today (Saturday 18th) from 12-3pm.

This is extremely exclusive and will be your last chance to buy from the artists before they move.

Although I won’t be there personally, my partner Alan will open my studio. I’ve recently done a stock take and have found lots of pieces which I am selling for fantastic prices.

This will be your last chance to see Meadow Mill in it’s current state so come along for this exclusive opportunity and grab yourself a bargain between 12-3pm.

If you can’t make it today I am exhibiting my whole collection at Magdalen Green, Dundee tomorrow (Sunday 19th) from 1pm in the craft marquee.

Continue reading »]]> My first big show of the year for the general public to visit will be the Royal Highland Show, Ingliston. It will be the 3rd year in a row that I am exhibiting.

The show takes place in Ingliston show-ground during 23rd – 26th June and is a fun day out for all the family with Sheep sheering, horse trials and fantastic food and craft stalls. It is open from 9am – 7pm and you need to purchase a ticket to get in. buy now as it’s cheaper in advance.

I have booked a larger stand this year as I have lots of work to sell. I have recently done a stock take and found lots of pieces which I don’t normally display. Lots of my jewellery will be on special offer at the show. Including older perspex stock and chunky silver choker neckpieces. You will also be able to purchase one of a kind Genna Design pieces as well as some of the first pieces I made when I started out making jewellery.

So to get some fantastic bargains and see some exclusive pieces visit my stand at the 3D2D Craft and Design Marquee.

Continue reading »]]> Dundee is becoming a more cultural city with the DCA, the new jewellery gallery Neo and plans for the V&A Museum. The city is full of creative talent many of whom have graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design.

So instead of moving away from Dundee, these artists/designers have came together and formed creative groups within the city including Generator Projects, Yuck and Yum, the ACJ Dundee group, just to name a few. These individual groups create cultural events in the city. One of the first major creative events in Dundee is the WestFest which is a community lead initiative and is on during 13th – 19th June.

Last year was the first year of the Festival which hosted lots of activities and craft events. This year it is organised by Paola McClure and is to be bigger and better, packed full of fun things to do.

Art, Talks, Cabaret, Concerts, Dance, Debate, Drama, Exhibitions, History, Plays, Music, Literature

I will be exhibiting at the Big Sunday craft marquee on Magdalen Green during Sunday 19th June from 1pm-8pm on the last day of the festival. I’m donating a piece of jewellery to the WestFest raffle to help raise funds for future festivals, so please buy some tickets. Details will be on the WestFest website soon.

I’m also going to have a sale basket which includes perspex and some older silver pieces which I have never displayed at stalls before. If I get the chance I’ll also have some new jewellery made from some of the stones I bought at Inhorgenta.

I’ve been concentrating on making commissions for clients in the past few months so once the next few are complete, I will get the chance to design new pieces for the Edinburgh Festival.

As well as my jewellery there will be other craft stalls, music, bands, singing and food stalls. We’re trying to beat the world record for the most people to piggy back ride.

So grab your family, kids and dogs and join in in the festivities on the green and help Dundee break a world record!

Continue reading »]]> One thing I love the most about doing a commission is working closely with the client and seeing their reaction when a piece is complete.

I was contacted by a male client to make an unusual ring made in 18ct white gold using his partners own diamonds from old rings she didn’t wear any more.

He spent some time looking at designs on the internet, but they were quite traditional and he knew his partner would like something really unique. Originally he wanted to get it made as a surprise but in the end we included his partner in the design process.

These are the original designs which were selected as inspiration.

Out of the designs he had originally selected and some other ones which his partner chose, we discussed the elements which she wanted to be in her new ring. There was a lot happening in the designs. I asked my client to choose which rings she liked the best. This helped me to refine my own design for the ring.

So I went away and designed a variety of rings on paper for her to choose from and this was the final design that was chosen. My client really wanted a large statement / knuckle duster style ring with the 10 diamonds from her old rings set into it.

I was pleased that she ended up choosing a really unusual, chunky statement ring as I really enjoy making one off pieces and this design was a great challenge. Here is the final ring made in 18ct white gold with 10 diamonds.

The actual ring lies along the finger to the knuckle and is apporximately 3cm in length. My client was absolutely thrilled as it was exactly what she asked for getting something totally unique that no one else has and fitted perfectly.

This piece truely is a one of a kind Genna Design!

If you would like something totally one off made bespoke for you, please get in touch.

Continue reading »]]> I took part in a fantastic fun night of craft in Drouthys, Dundee organised by The Two Dolls.

They have recently set up shop on Meadow Side and organise sewing, knitting, embroidery classes as well as creative writing workshops. Check out their facebook page

The event the other week that I went to was Speed Crafting. There were different crafty projects to do including paper box making, corsage packs, fabric stuffed with smelly things and demonstrations on how to make one of Jill’s fabric bangles using the embroidery machine.

It was a fun relaxed atmosphere and was a great chance to meet new people interest in making things. Here’s what I made

square fabric bangle

corsage fabric brooch

This is totally me as it has stripes and polka dots and of course has red and black in it!

Looking forward to attending more events like this, well done Jill and Zoe!

Continue reading »]]> I spent the weekend working on a stock check. I found loads of old items which I have reduced in price.

Have a look at the fabulous sale items on my online jewellery shop.

Due to the outrageous price rises in silver over the last 18 month I have had to raise quite a few prices to make sure I don’t lose money on some ranges.

From the BBC you can see the trading price. What we jewellers pay from bullion suppliers for it is a lot more. What’s important is the % increase though!
Price May 2010: 18$ per ounce
Price May 2011: 45$ per ounce

Quite often someone will see an old piece and ask for another version of it made in their size. Recently I have noticed that my cost price to make was more than what the old piece was priced at. I of course honoured the old price but had to do something. Unfortunately this meant I really had no option but to review the prices of my pieces.

Old ranges and items reduced in price include both silver and perspex so grab a bargain whilst these last – when I made a sale basket of silver items at craft fairs last year they were snapped up very fast.

I haven’t completed going through my stock at home yet so still more to add later on so keep checking back.

Continue reading »]]> A client contacted me who had some old gold rings that she never wore and she also had a troy ounce gold ingot that was kept in her jewellery box. She wanted two rings made from the gold that fitted with her current engagement ring, one as a wedding band and one as an eternity ring.

Normally when I make commissions or other jewellery I buy in the materials and make the pieces from these. So this was a new challenge as I had not melted down gold before, never alone seen a real gold ingot so this was really exciting!

Clients gold rings and ingot

The rings themselves were a combination of 9ct and 18ct and the ingot was 999. As I had never worked with 999 before I wanted to use the ingot to make these rings and to get it hallmarked at the highest standard rather than mixing the golds together. The diamonds from the rings were also to be used and set into the new rings.

I decided to make silver sample rings before going ahead and making them in the gold, the ring in the centre is the clients own ring. I made one v shaped and the other curving round the engagement ring to create a different look. In the end we thought that the V shaped rings either side would be best. One of the rings would be thicker to fit the 3 larger diamonds and the other ring was to be thinner with the two tiny diamonds and the 2mm diamond taken out of my clients old rings and reused.

Silver sample rings with clients engagement ring

The process of melting the ingot proved to be difficult and time consuming, but was a great learning curve. I purchased a skillet to melt the gold into and cut the ingot into strips and laid them into the skillet. Unfortunately the skillet obtained most of the heat and my blowtorch couldn’t make the gold melt. So I tried laying the gold strips onto my honeycomb blocks and melted the strips together which worked!

Then by using my drawbench I drew the gold down into square wire and used my rolling mill to flatten the metal.

999 carat gold is such a soft metal to work with. It files, sands and forms very easily so it was very nice to work with but you have to be very gentle with it. The next stage was to create the V shape, form the ring and solder.

Ingot made into gold ring

I did this process twice but made one of the rings thinner than the other as the smaller diamonds were to be set into this ring. When wearing all rings together it would have been really chunky if both rings were the same thickness so I thought it would be best to make one thinner and the diamonds wouldn’t be lost with a thinner shank.

Next I smoothed the  edges by filing and sanding with soft grade files and paper. Then soldered the 18ct white gold tubing onto the rings, cleaned, polished and then finally set the stones.

Clients engagement ring in centre with the two new rings made from the ingot either side.

It was a great experience making these rings and I learned a lot from it. So if you have any gold jewellery that you no longer wear which is sentimental to you. Instead of leaving it in your jewellery box come to me to get it made into something that you can enjoy wearing again.

Continue reading »]]> I was kindly invited to visit Christopher Ness‘s studio workshop in Edinburgh last week. Chris was apprentice trained in London so has a vast amount of trade knowledge. He moved back to Scotland to work for himself specialising in repairs and complex stone setting rings.

So I was delighted to have the opportunity to visit his studio for the day to see how he makes pieces, learn stone setting tricks as well as brush up on my own skills.

The timing was right as I had been working on a few commissions one of which was ready to have stones set in it. I needed advice on the best way to flush set diamonds and do rub over settings. Although I had done these before it was great to get the opportunity to see how a trade stone setter does it.

He showed me all the different types of burrs you get for stone setting and which ones work best for the flush settings and rub over (tube settings). Then gave demonstrations of how to do these. It took him less than 20 minutes to flush set 2 stones and 1 rub over setting! It would have taken me most of a day! But hopefully it won’t take me that long how!

Then he went on to tube set 3 stones into another ring. But this one was tricky and it made me feel better that not everything goes right first time, even for an experienced trade jeweller! You need to keep at it and try again until it goes right.

Once this was done he planned to show me how to make one of his claw setting rings with 3 stones (2 pear shaped and 1 round) from start to finish and set the stones.

However when you have a shop you also need to deal with customers enquiries so he showed me partly how to do this throughout the day and dealt with customer enquiries in-between. It was a fun, inspiring day and I came away with a head full of knowledge and a few pages of notes and tips.

I was very grateful that he took the time out to show me demonstrations during trading hours. We discussed the fact that it’s better to pass on the knowledge, rather than keeping it to yourself and letting the trade die. He said that when he was an apprentice there were a few older folk in the trade who were bitter and didn’t want to pass on knowledge to the next generation.

The jewellery trade is a complex trade with many people who specialise in different areas. For instance the big boys (large brand jewellers who have everything mass produced abroad) have a kind of production line with specific people who make the jewellery (fabricating, soldering, etc) a different group of people to polish the pieces and setters to set the stones. There are also stone cutters, silversmiths, turners, enamellers…the list goes on.

But when you come to a small independent artisan jeweller it is a different process as the artisan tends to make the pieces from start to finish. In some cases they send pieces off to a full-time stone setter but in my case I do all the work myself. In some complex commission pieces – i.e. with lots of stone settings in one piece, I might send off to a setter.

So support the independent British jewellery designers and commission/purchase a piece from their collection.

Continue reading »]]> It seems every week the BBC report gold price hitting a new high price.

Today the price hit $1513.70 (£917.60) per ounce.. About a year ago it was trading at around $1150 per ounce. This is a pretty massive increase in a year.

Unfortunately this is filtering through to bullion dealers and every time I order more gold or silver the price has increased.

As a jeweller this is really frustrating. Not only does it mean I have to increase prices, but any time anyone enquires about a commission I need to check the latest prices. Quote a week old price for gold and I could end up losing money.

Continue reading »]]> I will try to gather all the coverage of the Jolomo Awards that I find online linked from this post.

The PSYBT covered the award online and will have an article in their next newspaper.

Guild of Jewellery Designers posted an article about the awards.

DJCAD covered me coming third and fellow DJCAD graduate Lauren Crawford, coming second

Continue reading »]]> I recently made the final of the Jolomo Arts & Crafts PSYBT Awards and today found out I won third prize!

With over 100 of Scotland’s best creative businesses entered it was some tough competition. I was delighted to be included in the final seven and over the moon to win the third prize of £750.

I’m so happy, I’ve worked so hard over the last three years and to be short-listed was an honour, never mind winning a prize. It’s great for my work to be recognised by one of Scotland’s leading artists.

First prize went to Judith Clark and second to Lauren Crawford (also of Dundee) for their respective textile businesses.

And last month I won a prize at the Dundee Craft Makers Awards ran by Dundee Council so it’s awards all round!

Continue reading »]]> A client recently contacted me to make an engagement ring for his soon to be fiance (now fiance). His partner is an architect so it seemed quite apt that he wanted to commission me as my work is inspired by architecture. He liked the simplicity of my designs and knew his partner would too.

He spent some time deciding which design would be perfect for her and knew he wanted a baguette or princess cut diamond. For the final design chose this 18ct white gold with 4mm princess cut diamond with satin finish.

Another client wanted a platinum wedding band to fit her engagement ring. Her ring had an unusual shaped setting but I managed to make the platinum band fit.

If you would like to commission some jewellery then don’t hesitate to contact me.

Continue reading »]]> March is springing past so quickly and I’ve been working hard to keep up with the pace. With the British Craft Trade Fair (BCTF) only in a few weeks preparations are well under way.

The show is a totally unique fair and takes place from Sunday 3rd – Tuesday 5th April at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate.

The fair represents 500 of the UK’s and Ireland’s top designer makers from a selection of disciplines including sculpture, textiles and jewellery.

BCTF is a well organised fair and an absolute delight to exhibit at. So fingers crossed this years show will be full of buyers wanting to purchase new work.

Many exhibitors launch new designs at BCTF and this is no different for me. As well as expanding current ranges I will have a selection of new one off pieces.

This year will be my third year exhibiting at the show so I have decided to refresh my stand with a new contemporary display. If you are a trade buyer who has a shop, gallery or outlet interested in purchasing exciting and fresh new jewellery visit my stand number 281.

Continue reading »]]> I can’t believe we’re in March already.

February really flew past with commissions and making stock for the wedding show. The wedding show was a great success this year. It was much busier, I was in a better position and got so much interest with a few clients going ahead with bespoke wedding ring commissions.

Then it was off to Munich to visit Inhorgenta, the massive jewellery trade show. I am writing a separate post about the show as there is so much to say.

Also just before I left for Munich I found out my hard work is starting to pay off. Back in December I applied for a local award scheme and I’ve been successful in gaining the Dundee Craft Award. The award helps artists research and develop new work or attend courses related to their practice.

This is fantastic news as it will allow me to take part in a 4 day short course in gem stone carving and cutting. I’m really excited about learning new jewellery skills and it’ll help launch my creative practice to a new level.

The course is later this year but I will also post about this and put up images of the stones I create so watch this space.

Continue reading »]]> This time of year is busy for the jeweller with the run up to Valentine’s Day and the Wedding/Engagement ring period, (lots of couples tend to get hitched in the new year). This year has been particularly busy for me.

As well as working on special commissions for individual clients (future posts will be put up once pieces are completed) I’ve also been restocking my galleries after a busy Christmas period.

These galleries include Primavera in Cambridge with more geometric wire pieces,

Artifex in Sutton with more frame gold leaf pieces

The Smokehouse Gallery in Eyemouth with more classic silver pieces.

So be romantic this year and treat your loved one to a fabulous piece of jewellery. If you can’t make it to the galleries (currently about 20 throughout Britain) that stock my work, you can still purchase pieces from my online shop.

Happy shopping! and have a fantastic Valentine’s Day!

Continue reading »]]> After having great sales during the Christmas period at my local gallery, the DCA, I have now restocked them with some fabulous new pieces in time for Valentine’s Day. These include my small silver component wire ring and earrings with aquamarine.

The DCA also have a special Valentine’s offer from 12th-14th February, customers with the Red Card (special loyality card for the DCA, sign up at DCA) will get 15% off jewellery in the DCA shop. So grab your loved one some beautiful handmade jewellery for Valentine’s Day.

Continue reading »]]> I was recently commissioned to make an unusual chain for a male client. He didn’t wear much jewellery but wanted one of my pieces to wear on special occasions.

He liked my work and wanted something simple and not too blingy or flashy. The design was basically left up to me and I didn’t have much to go with but he wanted it made in silver. I asked him what type of things he liked but he just said I like your work so have some fun, I’ll leave it up to you.

So I decided to make a simpler, less chunky version of my labyrinth neck-piece. Here is what I produced, it’s silver with oxidised detail, approximately 20″ in length.

So sometimes you may not have any ideas of your own but want something unusual made. I knew the client liked my work but he never gave me any ideas of what he wanted so I was worried that he wasn’t going to like it. Thankfully he did!  It’s a bit risky working like this but as the client wasn’t giving anything away it was totally left up to me.

If you would like an unusual piece of jewellery made, for men or women, I can design something in my style especially for you.

Continue reading »]]> Love is in the air! As valentine’s Day is just around the corner jewellery is the prefect gift for the special someone in your life.

I have lots of gorgeous pieces to choose from my online shop. I’m still offering free postage on orders over £50. For jewellery with the love theme, I have some heart jewellery to choose from including my red and blue perspex heart charm silver bracelets.

Silver and perspex heart neckpiece with chunky handmade silver chain, approximately 19″ in length. I also have red perspex cuffs, red pearl pendant and red perspex and silver rectangle pendant and studs. So check out my website to see what fabulous jewellery is available for valentines day.

As we’re on a romantic theme I thought I’d let you know about my first show of 2011 which will be The Wedding Show at Caird Hall, Dundee, on Sunday 20th February. Last year I launched my wedding jewellery ranges including engagement rings and bridal jewellery for the bride and bridesmaids including tiaras, pearl and silver jewellery with cufflinks and tie pins for grooms party.

crystal and pearl earrings

double textured bangle with pearls

Remember I’m available to make bespoke jewellery and wedding rings. So get in touch if you would like something made.

Continue reading »]]> Last year I launched my wedding jewellery collection which includes wedding and engagement rings for men and women, bridal jewellery including tiaras, pendants, earrings, bracelets, etc for the bride and bridesmaids and finally cufflinks, tie pins and kilt pins for the groom.

I also offer a bespoke service so if you have any ideas of your own or a wedding theme then get in touch to discuss what can be made.

Since exhibiting at the Wedding Fair, Dundee during February last year, I have been gaining more clients who want something different and special made for their wedding.

This year I will be exhibiting at the wedding show again but this time I will be in the Caird Hall, Dundee on Sunday 20th February 2011. (not 27th which I originally thought!)

On display will be silver samples of my wedding and engagement rings. All pieces can be made to order in your own specification. A selection of bridal jewellery in silver and pearls, including tiaras and cufflinks, will be available to purchase and take away on the day. I will also have pieces from my other jewellery collections available for sale.

If you can’t make it to the show then feel free to arrange an appointment at my studio in Dundee if you wish to discuss getting your rings made.

Continue reading »]]> The British Craft Trade Fair (BCTF) will be taking place during 3rd-5th April in the Great Yorkshire show ground, Harrogate. Its a great show to visit if you’re interested in purchasing exciting handmade work from British designers for your gallery or shop.

This will be my 3rd year of exhibiting at the BCTF and I hope to gain new outlets as well as my current galleries restocking my jewellery. Last year I had great feedback and good orders and am hoping to do well again this year as my jewellery really stands out from the crowd (Comments from last years show).

I am trying out a more contemporary display this year so hopefully my work will make a big statement. As well as showing off my expanded commercial ranges including my frame and labyrinth, geometric wire and component, perspex and silver collections, I will also have some statement gallery pieces on display to add some colour and wow factor (some of which are currently getting made so it’ll be your first chance to see some of my newest work).

If you’re a gallery owner or buyer interested in purchasing some exciting handmade jewellery then come visit me at my stand: Genna Design 281.

Looking forward to meeting you in April.

Continue reading »]]> I was recently contacted by a new client to commission a special ring for his girlfriend. He came across my website after searching for engagement rings.

The customer had a really unusual subtle pale pink morganite heart shaped stone and wanted it made into a ring. He really liked the simplicity and elegance of my engagement ring designs and wanted me to set the stone into one of my own designs. He chose a few designs which his partner would like and we discussed the design via phone and email. He then arranged to meet me at my stall in The Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh where I could take the stone and receive deposit. When making commissions I always take at least 50% up front to allow me to begin with the piece and to secure the deal.

Here is the design sketches, we decided on the straight heart

The result was this chunky but elegant silver and morganite ring.

If you have a stone which you would like set in a piece of contemporary jewellery then please get in touch to discuss possible commissions. Most orders take about 4 weeks but sometimes if you have a tight schedule it’s possible to have pieces made sooner. So get in touch to find out more.

Continue reading »]]> One of my best selling outlets has been restocked with a funky new perspex electric blue and silver collection. The colour is not quite blue and not quite purple, but inbetween. It’s a totally stunning colour and will brighten up your dark winter. So get to Argenteus jewellery in Covent Garden or Oxford and purchase some fabulous pieces.

Frame horizontal perspex and silver set

Long rectangle perspex and silver pendant and earrings – very elegant

Square perspex and silver pendant and studs – simple and classic

Make a statement with these chunky perspex and silver cuffs

So brighten up your wardrobe with this stylish and funky, limited edition Electric Blue perspex and silver collection.

Continue reading »]]> As a jewellery designer wanting to exhibit at trade fairs to gain more outlets and expand your client base, it is worthwhile visiting shows that you are interested in before you exhibit.

I had been told that Scotland’s Trade Show at the SECC was a good one to exhibit at so I decided to visit it to scope out the competition and also to see if I could get some exciting work for the shop I work in 3 days a week.

There are so many talented Scottish jewellery designers out there but I was shocked to see the amount of mass produced, bought in jewellery from abroad that was on display. There were only about 4-5 small independent jewellery designer makers, whose work was very nice, but I felt that contemporary handmade jewellery was really under represented.

I’m not sure if this is due to the lack of buyers attending the show who are looking to stock unique handmade work or if they are just interested in selling the cheaper, mass produced as that fits better with their client base.

I say be more exciting and try something new from an independent jewellery designer and refresh your outlet for 2011.

Continue reading »]]> I recently visited the new jewellery boutique called Neo Design on Whitehall Crescent in Dundee. The gallery is ran by one of my fellow classmates of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, Tracey McSporran.

Neo Design (picture by Neo Design)

The shop has two huge windows which let the light flow through the space. One of the things that caught my eye when I first walked in was the gorgeous ornate ceiling which is a great contrast to the space as it has been finished to a sleek and modern style.

Tracey has chosen a lovely selection of contemporary jewellery designers from throughout the UK to international artists from Poland. Most of the jewellery are statement pieces including precious metals from silver, gold and rough diamonds, to semi-precious stones, anodised aluminium, titanium, coloured stainless steel and fabulous coloured resin pieces by Kaz Robertson. There is much to choose from and it’s nice to see fresh and exciting new work in Dundee. It reminds me of a London jewellery boutique.

Neo Design recently opened in December, so Tracey has many ideas for the space. There is also a downstairs which she plans to make into her workshop space and gallery with fine art.

Good luck Tracey and wish you great success for the future.

Continue reading »]]> I spent my last day before Christmas in my freezing cold studio today and I am really looking forward to a nice break over the festive period. I’ve had some fantastic commissions to do in time for Christmas including:

Silver and 9ct gold wire ring

A revamp of an old engagement ring into a fantastic contemporary design using the gold, diamonds and sapphire from the original ring

And a fabulous Dendritic Quartz statement ring for a friend

You still have time to order before 22nd December from my online shop and receive pieces in time for Christmas. (Free post over £50). Royal Mail Special delivery can take up to 2 days to dispatch so order now! There’s also the 23 outlets that stock my jewellery throughout the UK so have a look at my stockists to see if there’s a gallery near you.

Thank you everyone for being such great customers and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

from Genna Delaney

Continue reading »]]> Hi everyone,

By now we are all sick of the snow and hopefully the forecast rain will wash some of it away. The temperature is to increase slightly tomorrow and over the weekend. So hopefully the trains will be running and I will get to my Christmas craft fair at the Assembly Rooms in George Street, Edinburgh, this Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th from 10.30-5pm.

I’ve doubled up this weekend as the WASPS Christmas extravaganza is on this Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th in my studio building, Meadow Mill in Dundee. The stalls will be set up on Level 2 and many artists from WASPS will be selling their handmade goods. From textiles and jewellery, to painting and prints it will be your last chance to purchase gifts from the artists at WASPS, Dundee this year. There will also be home-made soup, mulled wine and mince pies, to warm the heart and fill the belly, and to get you into the Christmas mood.

Due to both fairs being on a the same time I will be attending the Edinburgh fair but will have some pieces for sale at WASPS. If you would like to buy my work in Dundee, please speak to Jennifer Robson or Ruth Gordon who are selling my work for me.

If you can’t make it to the fairs this weekend you can still purchase direct from your own home by purchasing from my online shop. It’s free postage this month and I have added lots of new pieces, so click online to check out what’s on offer.

Continue reading »]]> As I’ve been stuck in the house due to the snow for a few days it’s given me a chance to photograph most of my new pieces and add them to my online shop. With the weather being so bad you can still do your Christmas shopping from home. So check out what’s available on my online shop

Purchase unique gifts for Christmas. I’m offering free postage on all items over £50 delivered within the UK. I will continue to add more pieces in the next few days. But remember most pieces are one off and are selling fast. If there’s something you like, order it now or hint to your partner, friends and family to buy it for you.

Continue reading »]]> I am delighted to announce that all my hard work is finally beginning to pay off! As I have been selected as one of the final seven candidates in the Jolomo/PSYBT art awards and have fought off competition from up to 100 other creative businesses. The other finalists are 3 other jewellers, 2 textile designers and a furniture designer so I face some tough competition. Keep your fingers crossed my business stands out and goes on to win one of the top 3 prizes as this is the last time I can enter the competition.

The final awards ceremony is held in Oban on 9th December. See the full press release for more details.

This is the small article that the Courier had in on Wednesday 1st December. It’s totally awesome as I know Lauren and her work is gorgeous.

So I’ll keep you posted with the results, hopefully the snow will clear up so we can get to Oban! It would be great for Dundee and Duncan of Jordanstone if we both bring back a prize.

Update: the final was delayed by a few months and when it was held I won third prize

Continue reading »]]> A client recently contacted me to make an engagement ring and matching wedding band but didn’t have a massive budget. He really liked the simplicity of my rollered ring and wanted a thicker version with a 3mm (10pts) clear diamond and thinner wedding band. Originally a smaller CZ (Cubic Zirconia) was set in the engagement ring. Then later in the year he asked me to set a larger diamond and commissioned the matching wedding band. Here are images of the finished pieces.

stacked together

So if you don’t have a massive budget but want something different from the traditional engagement ring contact me to see what’s possible. Your treasured item doesn’t have to cost a fortune!

Continue reading »]]> I was recently commissioned to make a set of 18ct white gold engagement and wedding rings. My client doesn’t wear much jewellery and didn’t want anything to blingy or showy. But wanted something simple in an art deco style with a contemporary twist. She liked the simplicity of my engagement ring designs and wanted something different from the norm. We discussed various options with different shapes and sizes of diamonds. Here is the original design inspiration

The client decided to go with a single baguette diamond off centre so that when the wedding band was worn with the engagement ring, the design was complete.

I really enjoyed making this set and handmade the setting to fit the stone, then finally set the diamond. It was exciting but scary and am so pleased I had the opportunity to tackle this challenge.

Work in progress at the bench, 18ct white gold bands and handmade box setting

The rings were also to be rhodium plated. The natural colour of 18ct white gold is a duller gun metal so it requires rhodium plating to give it a slightly whiter, brighter, silver look. This coating will come off over time and will require replating each year, depending on how rough you are with your hands. The finished egagement ring is matt finish with the wedding band being highly polished to create a nice contrast.

The customer was extremely happy with the rings, saying Wow! Super Wow! Genna knew exactly what we were hoping to achieve and did wonders, turning our very rough pencil sketch into my most-treasured possession!

If you would like to get a bespoke wedding ring made or have had an idea of a special piece of jewellery made please get in touch.

Continue reading »]]> Most people who study jewellery don’t go on to work in the industry. To keep going you need:

• Enough money to set up and buy the tools and materials for making jewellery
• Information from other jewellers on what to do and what not to do
• Original ideas to produce
• Customers to buy the work

Any gap in this and the whole thing crumbles down.

In this post I will detail some of the ways of getting the second – Information from other jewellers on what to do and what not to do.

Professional Jewellery Associations

First and foremost you will want to meet other jewellers near you. There are a number of jewellers organisations you can join to meet other professionals.

First and foremost would be the ACJ

The ACJ are an organisation dedicated to contemporary jewellery. If this is the style of jewellery you are interested in then they should be top of your list to join. They are also open to membership of those interested in jewellery so members also include galleries, curators and collectors.

They do everything from publish books on jewellers to holding annual conferences. There may even be a local group near you. With Islay Spalding I helped set up monthly meetings in Dundee and then in Edinburgh with occasional Scotland wide ones.

The BJA

The British Jewellers’ Association is an industry body which alongside jewellers contains bullion suppliers, galleries and equipment suppliers.

Jewellery Industry Publications

There are loads of newsletters and magazines for the jewellery trade. I’ll detail a couple which I find most useful.

Benchpeg

Benchpeg is a weekly e-mail newsletter which has been running for a few years. It contains information on craft fairs, awards, galleries and a buy/sell section for jewellers equipment.

Findings

Findings is the bi-yearly magazine of the ACJ. It has detailed articles, book reviews, regional round-ups (some of which I wrote for ACJ Scotland) and much more. Subscribe to the ACJ to receive it.

Jewellery Books

There are a huge variety of books on jewellery from beginners guides to showcases of individual jewellers work.

Some which I find myself looking at most are:

1000 Rings, Martha Le Van showcases 1000 different rings by jewellers in a variety of styles. If you think a ring is just a plain circular band this will show you the error of your ways!

Masters: Gemstones, this has some amazing jewellery in it and it’s where I first saw work by Daphne Krinos.

Contemporary Japanese Jewellery, this is really inspirational and I couldn’t help but see similarities to the winning V&A design in some of the work.

Messengers of Modernism is a history of American jewellery design. It has one of my favourite designers – Art Smith as well as Peter Macchiarini. The work is surprisingly contemporary for being made in the 1940s-1960s.

Visit Craft Fairs

There should be craft fairs near you on a semi-regular basis no matter where you are. Take the time to visit these and get a feel for them. See the quality and range of work. Find out which ones have judged entry and which are a first come first serve basis. Once you have decided which fairs you wish to attend you can contact the organisers to see when they take place and how much it costs. I have been to fairs which cost £10/day and others which are £100+ per day.

For your first fairs you will need some extra outlay – tablecloths, lights, display, jewellery busts etc. When you go round the fairs pay extra attention to what each jeweller is using to exhibit. Chat to some of them, most of them should be happy to talk about doing fairs. Also bear in mind how you would get to the fair – if by car you can take more, and heavier things, than if by bus etc. Most important things to bring after jewellery are business cards and packaging!

Continue reading »]]> A work colleague of Alan recently visited California.

He has written an interesting blog post on a visit to Coloma. This place was overrun with prospectors during the Gold Rush.

There’s also a photo of the Assay Office – although he doesn’t say if this is the original one or not. On a previous visit he had went to a different Gold Mine entirely.

Worth a read – especially for those ACJ members who travelled north recently to go gold panning.

Continue reading »]]> The Compass Gallery Christmas Show is a renowned exhibition and is no ordinary Christmas Show. The gallery has developed its strong reputation by making personal visits to the individual artist studios which enables that all important understanding of each artists practise. Through making this personal selection the Gerbers aim to present their audiences with the best and most creative Scottish contemporary art today. Their search is far reaching, extending beyond the borders of Scotland – the exhibition will also include some of today’s established British Contemporary artists. This year despite the current economic climate the gallery continues to build and cultivate relationships with the artists they present this year is to be the most creative and exciting exhibition the Gallery has had.

The Compass gallery has chosen a selection of my one off sculptural pieces. Including my candlestick, large Rutile Quartz neckpiece, my garnet arm bracelet, handcuff bangle, as well as other exciting statement pieces. So get down to the Compass Gallery in Glasgow to visit this exciting and inspirational exhibition.

Continue reading »]]> Yes it’s the time of year again for the Christmas craft fairs and this Saturday 13th November is the first of the festive exhibitions of this year. The show is in Hillhead Library in the heart of Glasgow’s fabulous Westend on Byres Road, and will be open from 11-4pm.

I’ve been busy making lots of new stock including some fabulous statement neckpieces for the festive parties. Here’s my new lavender amethyst geometric silver neckpiece and earrings.

I will also have plenty of bargains including my sale basket so you will still be able to purchase some unique handmade pieces at affordable prices. If you’re stuck on what to buy as gifts this Christmas the craft fair will really get you inspired So come visit the Glasgow Westend fair and start your Christmas shopping.

Continue reading »]]> Artifex Gallery in Sutton is a fantastic 3000 square foot gallery which is split into a variety of spaces including the furniture gallery, a gallery devoted to painting and of course a separate space for it’s contemporary jewellers.

My jewellery was stocked there last Christmas and was well received so they now have my work again in time for Christmas. They have a selection of my frame layered and rollered frame with gold leaf collections. Each piece is individually handmade and due to the technique involved no two pieces are the same.

Continue reading »]]> The Smokehouse Gallery in Eyemouth is a totally new gallery for my work. The gallery stocks lots of different styles of jewellery including cheaper colourful pieces.  So if you don’t have a massive budget this Christmas you can still purchase some of my handmade jewellery. This has given me the opportunity to provide the Smokehouse with a selection of my more commercial, affordable pieces including

Blue circle perspex collection

Aqua green perspex frame pendant and earrings

Or if you just want something classic and simple my tower collection would be ideal.

Continue reading »]]> Pebbles a fantastic jewellery shop with a wide selection of exciting pieces of jewellery, from the designer maker like me to the big brands. They have shops in Edinburgh and Bo’ness and have stocked my work since early in my jewellery business. They like to take on pieces which are a bit different from the norm. when they visited the BCTF in Harrogate they came to my stand and really liked my frame layered necklace and wanted a collection of these pieces.

This has given me the chance to design new pieces specific to them and allowed me to expand the range. Designing new pieces allows me to experiment and have fun making something new and in tourn spares off some other ideas. Some of these are one off statement pieces and this one off statment neckpiece would be fantastic to show at their Bo’ness Fashion show later on this month.

With these fabulous long statement earrings. Large statement earrings are in just now! and you will definitely wow! people wearing these.

Here’s new pieces in my expanded frame layered collection. These are one off statement frame layered oxidised silver drops.

Frame layered oxidised silver with a hint of 22ct gold leaf detail necklace and statement ring.

And this fabulous one off statment frame layered oxidised silver bracelet

If you like something less of a statement here is the elegant rollered silver with 22ct gold leaf earrings and pendant set.

Continue reading »]]> I visited Perth today to set up some pieces at a new outlet in Perth. Beyond Beauty is a different outlet to which I normally stock as it is a gorgeous salon and spa. What better chance to get yourself a fabulous piece of designer jewellery when you’re getting pampered.

They have a selection of my cheaper commercial ranges, so if you don’t have a large budget for Christmas presents you can still afford to buy my handmade jewellery.  Beyond Beauty have my funky perspex collections in red, aqua green and glacier green as well as pieces from my elegant textured and pearl collections.

3 textured drop necklace

Textured and wire with pearl pendant and earrings

Domed textured silver pendant and stud earrings

Fabulous textured cluster ring with pearls, Tourmalinated Quartz and a hint of colour with beryl

Treat your partner to something special and an affordable price and get on down to Beyond Beauty in Perth.

Continue reading »]]> The Tayberry Gallery in Perth had a successful exhibition during September and sold quite a few pieces. I have now restocked them with gorgeous new pieces including more from the aquamarine component range and pieces from my Tourmalinated quartz component collection.

Tourmalinated quartz component earrings

My fabulous statement rings are always popular, including my aquamarine large component ring

So if you want to make a statement this Christmas or want to treat your partner to a fabulous piece of handmade jewellery head to the Tayberry to see what other pieces are available!

Continue reading »]]> The run up to Christmas is a busy time of year for the jeweller and it is no different for me. I’ve been working like a trooper trying to get my work stocked in as many galleries as possible in time for the Christmas rush.

A totally new outlet for me is Kalo Jewellery, based in Glasgow and they have a fabulous selection of my aquamarine component wire collections. I have especially made new pieces for them including this fabulous neckpiece, it is a one off piece.

This bracelet is also a new piece. The component part moves!

Fabulous statement earrings to match the necklace

Aquamarine component pendant, earrings and ring collection

They have 25 pieces in this range so if you want to see more of this collection visit Kalo Jewellery

Continue reading »]]> It’s nearly that time of year again for the artists of WASPS to open their studios during Saturday 2nd (11-5pm) and Sunday 3rd (12-5pm) October 2010. It is a special time for WASPS Dundee as it will be the last time people will see the inside of Meadow Mill in its present state.

The Mill is due to get a refurb early next year. I have had a studio space since September 2006 and it is long awaited. Last year Dundee’s Open Studios got in a record amount of visitors through the door and this year we hope to have even more.

Open Studios is a fun day for all the family with some artists giving demonstrations. A variety of work will be on display and for sale including drawings, paintings, sculpture, printmaking, digital media, photography, textiles, ceramics, installation and of course my fabulous jewellery. Myself and Ruth Gordon will be having a clear out of old stock so it’ll be a good time to start buying your Christmas presents. I will be having special discount prices for this weekend only, so grab yourself a bargain or unique gift for someone special.

Here are some images from last years Dundee Open Studios:

Jennifer Robson

Jennifer Robson specialises in portraits and has recently been working on installations and sculpture.

Jill Skulina

Jill Skulina makes textile art about womanhood.

Paola McClure

Paola McClure makes soft sculptures and dolls.

Louise Kirby

Louise Kirby is a textile designer who makes gorgeous scarves.

Garry Brown

Garry Brown makes driftwood clocks and sculptures.

Jonathon Hood

Jonathon Hood is a well established painter.

Continue reading »]]> A customer contacted me about a potential commission. She had some old rings which included diamonds. These were just lying in a jewellery box not being used.

The client liked my work and was interested in my pieces with differing textures and which combined two different coloured metals – oxidised/shiny silver and yellow gold/silver etc.

The original rings

She supplied me with three white gold rings and a yellow gold ring, one of the white gold rings had diamonds set into it.

I examined the pieces and realised I could easily revamp these into a new piece. I cut the yellow gold ring and tapered it into two thin wires.

The design

I designed a piece in the style of my layered range. This could recycle all the materials from her rings in a new way. The only new additions were the chains and earring hooks.

The client was happy with the design and so I went ahead with the commission.

The final result

The final result was very striking. I had reused the old rings and stones and revamped them into a new design which is contemporary, striking and will now spend much more time being worn by the customer.

I have previously revamped jewellery for customers including the Revamped Chunky bead necklace. If you would like to commission a revamp of your old jewellery, please feel free to contact me or post in the comments section.

Continue reading »]]> A few months back a client approached me asking about commissions. Their son had a special birthday coming up and being a keen musician and huge Jimi Hendrix fan she thought a guitar pendant might make a great gift.

The original sketch

After doing some research into different types of guitars to get an idea of what different details make up a guitar. I was able to come up with a stylised guitar shape. I drew some sketches and the customer decided that she preferred the lower sketch.

Finished guitar pendant

After a few days of hard work in the studio this is the pendant I made. This was individually hand pierced out from silver sheet. Each individual detail was cut out by hand and then added to the main guitar piece. I am very pleased with how it turned out, looking very guitary. The final piece was about 4.5cm long and I am really pleased with the level of detail I got onto it.

I really enjoyed making this piece, it was a lot of fun.

The client was delighted with the result as was her son.

If you have any ideas for commissions then please remember I do both variations of my existing ranges and implementation of your own ideas too!

Continue reading »]]> As from next week The Rivers Gallery in Stoud will be stocking pieces from my Geometric Wire and Rollered collection.  This is the start of expanding my stockists for Christmas and is the first time exhibiting with this gallery.

Yes I did say Christmas, it will be here before we know it! As an artist designer you need to prepare outlets well in advance so start your shopping now and get some lovely gifts instead of buying things last minute.

The photos here are a selection of some pieces the Rivers Gallery will have.

Bracelets

Continue reading »]]> My next major event is the WASPS Open Studios on 2nd and 3rd of October. Most artists will be opening their studios so come along to see a diverse amount of work in the heart of Dundee’s art community.

There will be jewellers, painters, sculptors, textiles and those working in wood, illustrators, photography and much more.

Sometime after the show we will be shortly decanting to premises elsewhere for the studios to be renovated. This will mean another floor of studios, a gallery space and for those who have visited before, the most important addition – a lift!!

So come along and see us and the building before it is re-opened again.

Continue reading »]]> It’s now August and if you are a recent jewellery graduate and are still trying to make jewellery you are doing well.

Most people who study jewellery don’t go on to work in the industry. To keep going you need:

• Enough money to set up and buy the tools and materials for making jewellery
• Information from other jewellers on what to do and what not to do
• Original ideas to produce
• Customers to buy the work

Any gap in this and the whole thing crumbles down.

In this post I will detail some of the ways of getting the first – Enough money to set up and buy the tools and materials for making jewellery.

1. Goldsmiths Award

The Goldsmiths’ Company run loads of competitions. Some of these can be entered in your early years of university. Some of these are awarded to final year students and some are awarded at New Designers. You did go to New Designers didn’t you? These really helped me and gave me confidence in my work. In 2002 I won an award for the Wonder Cuff I made on my HND. In my degree show I won a Precious Metal Bursary Award for my Labyrinth Neckpiece.

Students of Duncan of Jordanstone have a great track record of winning these. This year 6 graduates won awards. In my year 12 of my class won these. Something like 80 were awarded nationwide. 15% of awards going to the jewellery students of Duncan of Jordanstone shows how strong my year was.

2. PSYBT

The PSYBT loaned me money when I started up which helped me buy tools and materials. Being at university you don’t realise the amount of different tools you need to have as they are all shared in a big studio. You make very few pieces over time in your course and the materials cost a lot less than when buying from suppliers yourself.

3. Local council business start up

Depending on where you live, are from or set up business the local council sometimes has grants to encourage people to start up. My local council has a project to help kickstart businesses. Look into your local council to see if anything is available.

4. Business Gateway

Business Gateway can award you a start-up grant. Remember for all these awards and schemes you are going to have to fill in application forms. You will have to already have an idea in your head of what you are going to be doing and what you are going to be making. Courses may be available from the Cultural Enterprise Office to help with this. The one I went on years ago was really useful. Your business plan will be needed to get any financial help for your business. Write it, get someone to read it and tell you where it sucks. Make it better and then start applying for things.

5. Savings and/or part time job

Ideally you will already have savings or have or have had a part time job to have some steady income. Experience in retail will help you sell your jewellery. During the early years most jewellers I know and that includes me work part time and make their jewellery part time. Having the part time job related to the arts would be really beneficial. Some people teach or assist lecturers, some work in galleries.

If you are a jeweller or other artists where have you found funding from?

Continue reading »]]> I have a new stockist in Perth – the Tayberry Gallery I have provided them with a mix of my one off pieces and some less expensive pieces.

Yesterday I popped through to visit it for the first time and it was really nice space and good size filled with lovely contemporary applied art. Including Jewellery, prints, glassworks, textiles and handmade gorgeous wooden tables.

You can see some of the other jewellers stocked in the gallery here.

Continue reading »]]> I will be exhibiting at the West End Fair in Edinburgh until Sunday 15th August. During this time my online shop stock levels will be out of date.

If you are in Edinburgh between 11am and 6pm any day until Sunday please pop along to the show at the corner of Lothian Road and Princes Street. I will have my jewellery there, one off pieces, everyday wear and my sale basket with some older stock.

Continue reading »]]> Visiting the show

I will be exhibiting with 3D2D at the Royal Highland Show from 24th to 27th June 2010.

For those travelling to the show I think I am in the same spot as last year. I’m really looking forward to the show again. Last year was my first year doing it and I got so much great feedback and met so many new people. It was also my first show with a credit card machine.

Buying Jewellery Online

I’ll try and check my email as much as possible but it is likely the stock levels on my online shop will go out of date whilst at the show.

If you are purchasing anything from me during this time then please contact me by phone before putting through payment. That way I can check I have not yet sold it and can keep aside for you.

Continue reading »]]> A customer has sent me the links to a profile on her wedding on a website.

What she says:

I then found some earrings which were really similar by Genna Delaney although I accidentally ordered the necklace instead of earrings! I’d left it a bit late & by the time I realised it was too late to get them sent to my house. Genna was so lovely & sent the earrings to the hotel for me to pick up on the morning of the wedding. Luckily it all turned out OK.

The customer had been looking at some jewellery but added the wrong item to her basket. When it arrived she realised her mistake and ordered the earrings. As it was Thursday night and the wedding was Saturday I knew we were pushing it for time. I contacted her to find out where the wedding was taking place and sent the package Special Delivery there so they would be waiting there for her.

I was so happy they made it on time – another happy customer.

Continue reading »]]> The next big show I am doing is the Royal Highland Show at Ingliston. Last year my stall was right at the entrance to the 3D2D Marquee. This year I am about 3/4 of the way up the tent.

Last year Alan and I were pretty overwhelmed by the number of people all day long every day – it was so much fun. I also started showcasing my wedding jewellery at the event. It was also the first time I got to use my credit card machine which arrived the week before! I have not yet decided all the pieces I will take, but I did get some work back from galleries to make sure I have loads to choose from.

Did you go last year and spot anything you really liked? Let me know and if I have it I will be sure to bring it along. Or if you bought a pendant last year let me know to bring suitable matching earrings.

Continue reading »]]> Finally finished my preparations for the British Craft Trade Fair at Harrogate.

I will be on Stand 255 from Sunday until Tuesday so if you are there pop along to say hi.

I will have trade catalogues for any galleries looking to take on ranges of my work. I have spent the last few weeks making loads of new pieces for some ranges – photos will be appearing here over the next wee while once I am back from the show.

Continue reading »]]> The new version of the website is now live!

Phase 1 was a re-jigging of the style and moving around content to hopefully be a lot easier to navigate and find information.

Next – audit the catalogue section
Fix Bracelets page to match others
Rename loads of stuff
Remove really old/nearly duplicated items from catalogue.
Add category sections.

Let me know what you think and if you find anything broken/not displaying properly.

Continue reading »]]> I have been slightly busy working on preparation for the British Craft Trade Fair at Harrogate. This is a Trade Fair aimed at galleries and shops rather than the general public so is slightly different from the usual halls and function rooms that Craft Fairs take place in.

I exhibited last year and managed to get a few new outlets from it so hopefully I should get a nice increase in interest for year two.

I assume that most of the readers of this blog are the public who buy jewellery rather than galleries so I haven’t really put much detail up about it.

In other news I have been working on a couple of commissions and Alan has today finished the first round of updates for the website so that should go live at some point soon.

Continue reading »]]> I exhibited at my first Wedding Show in the Caird Hall, Dundee. It was a different experience from the usual fairs that I do and it allowed me to exhibit my jewellery to a new market of clients.

I gained lots of feedback about my work with comments like “Your jewellery is unusual and unique, it’s great that you do bespoke wedding jewellery too.”

I also gave a few quotes to potential clients who want wedding jewellery made. Overall it was a good experience and will hopefully be doing more wedding shows in the future.

Here’s also images of my new bridal jewellery check out Picasa for my whole range of wedding jewellery

Continue reading »]]> I spent this morning finalising some new samples including a gold ring with a diamond in it. Later we moved a cabinet and stall to Caird Hall and set everything up ready for tomorrow.

Spent this afternoon taking some more photos and have some more paperwork to sort out and that should be it.

Also just spotted that the show has an entry fee of £3 which goes to Cash For Kids.

Continue reading »]]> I have now created a link between the blog the shop and the main site so it should be easier for you to navigate between them all. If you find any broken links over the next wee while please let me know so that I can sort it.

When I start moving around some pages I need to do some technical magic to make the old pages still work – if you go to site.com/page1 and that is now at site.com/page2 then you should automatically get sent to the right place. Or if I remove a page for a ring that sold 8 years ago it should send you to the rings page and so on.

Continue reading »]]> I have had my website for a number of years and Alan has been managing it since 2005. In that time lots has been added to it, or changed on it but not much has been removed.

We are currently looking at the site, blog and shop with the view to update it, replace old images, cut down the number of pages on the main site etc.

But before we come up with a big list of things to change we want to know about users experience of the site. Do you find it easy to use? Is it easy to find things? Is there anything confusing on it? Do you want to see hundreds of old items I have sold or just what is in stock with selected older pieces? Do you only visit the blog or do you go to the main site, the online shop, my Twitter page and Facebook page too?

We often get positive comments about the site so it would be good to collect some feedback before making changes. So if you have any comments, use the comments form below or e-mail me at hello@gennadelaney.com

Continue reading »]]> After writing the Cash for Gold article I realised it was aimed at customers and there was scope for a version aimed at Jewellers.

A quick rewrite later and it has been published at http://www.home-jewelry-business-success-tips.com.

I previously posted a link to an excellent article from there about why people should buy from jewellery designers and am really pleased to have an article there too.

If you are a jeweller I would recommend having a dig through their older articles and keeping up to date with new ones.

Continue reading »]]> I am Scottish joint-co-ordinator of the ACJ – Association for Contemporary Jewellery

Dundee Meeting

The next Dundee meeting is on Monday 15th February – contact me for details if you are a member and would like to attend.

Join the ACJ:

We welcome as members practising jewellers, associated designers and crafts people, educators, students, gallery owners and retailers, museum curators, critics and collectors – indeed, anyone with an interest in contemporary jewellery.

Student and Graduate memberships start at only £20 per year.

A new Edinburgh based group is starting up soon so contact me if you would like to get involved.

Update: After helping co-ordinate for a couple of years, I stood down to let someone else take it on.

Continue reading »]]> Please note, all figures given in this article are only an example in real life they will vary a lot.

You may have seen a bombardment of adverts on Television and in newspapers for companies buying gold. They may even be in your local shopping centre on a stall or small shop front.

The question is – is this a good deal?

A recent investigations by Which? was covered by London College of Communication, the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail among others concluded that no – it is not.

How do they work?

Well that silver or gold ring you are wearing goes through a series of people before it reaches you, all of whom add a bit of mark up along the way so they make money.

1. The mine where the ore comes from sell it to…
2. A refinery where the ore is smelted to become silver or gold and it is sold to..
3. Bullion dealer who sells it on to…
4. Jeweller who makes it into a ring which is…
5. Put in a shop where it is bought by a…
6. Customer who wears it.

To use crude figures the mine gets £10 of silver and sells it to a refinery for £20 who smelt it and turn into ingots to be sold to a bullion dealer for £40. The bullion dealer can then turn this into sheet or wire silver and sells it to a jeweller like me for £80. I then spend some time making it into a piece of jewellery I need to sell for at least £160 to not lose money. I go to a craft fair and sell it for £200 or put in a gallery where it may be £300.

The customer buys it

A customer really likes that silver ring and hands over the £200 to me and this covers the cost of the stall, travel and I have a wee bit left over for rent, materials for new pieces etc.

The customer is then needing money or doesn’t like the ring any more (you’ll need to pretend it was someone else’s work in this case as it makes no sense for it to to be mine!). She sees an advert on the TV for Leprachaun Gold Exchange or something. Where do they fit in the chain?

They are down at position 2 or 3. So they could buy the silver in that ring for £20-£40.

Customer bought the ring for £200 – what do you think they get offered for it? Probably £10-£30.

What other factors affect this?

Value

Well most of the people using these companies are doing it with old jewellery. You get offered £20 for a piece of jewellery that you remember paying £2 for or even £2 3s for! This seems like a sweet deal – it’s more than you paid for it. Except you have forgotten about inflation and that piece would cost £200 to buy new today.

Quality of the piece

The vast majority of jewellery sent to these places will be smelted down but it is possible it is a rare early piece by a famous designer or really high quality so it will be re-sold. If it has some nice stones these will be taken out and re-sold too.

What are the alternatives?

Well, a lot of people using these services probably do so as they need cash right now. For others who simply have loads of jewellery they don’t wear any more you can have it remade. I recently posted about a necklace of beads I refashioned into a new contemporary piece.

The same can be done for silver or gold jewellery!

Say you wanted a new ring that would normally cost £200. Remember when I explained my costs earlier? I buy the silver for £80, do lots of work and re-sell for £200.

Well what makes up that figure?

• Materials £80
• Time (labour) and costs (contribution towards studio rent, tools, hallmarking, running a website etc) £80
• Profit £40

In certain circumstances I can make a piece using your materials reducing the cost by a lot of that first amount.

Examples of commissions I have done in this way include:

• Reworking beads into a new piece
• Rollering down old gold rings into a pendant using the diamonds from the rings in the design
• Make a pendant to add someones beautiful 1 carat diamond to.

In each case the client managed to reduce the price of the piece by providing some or all of the materials needed.

The customer benefits by

• Reducing the cost of the piece.
• Re-using jewellery which may have sentimental value
• Feeling an even greater part of the design process.

I benefit by:

• Minimising the material outlay costs on the small chance a customer does not follow through wanting the piece.
• Reducing my outgoings before I get the final payment from the customer.
• Not having to spend time sourcing materials.

So next time you rummage through your jewellery box and find broken chains, odd earrings and old rings think jeweller not pawn-broker!

Continue reading »]]> I enjoy taking on commissions as it allows me to have a more personal relationship with the client. it also allows me the chance to find out more about them and learning what style of jewellery they enjoy wearing. This allows me to make that special bespoke piece for each individual client.

Revamping Old Jewellery

I have recently taken on a commission for a client who had her own set of chunky beads and she wanted me to revamp them in my own style by adding a bit of Genna Design glamour!

At that point I had just begun making some limited edition beaded necklaces with handmade silver pendants and catches. Designed around the style of beads this makes each necklace unique and incorporating silver makes them more precious and individual.

I was wearing my first necklace in this style and she totally loved it.

Remembering she had those old chunky beads lying in her jewellery box, she wanted me to work my magic on them.

I first began designing components which would fit in neatly with the shape of the beads then e-mailed my client designs. We both agreed straight away on our favourite. Then I got started on the silver component and catch. I added some button shape coral beads which I had in my box of goodies (I have built up quite a collection of stones and beads over the years which is an inevitable part of being a jeweller). I assembled the necklace and here’s the finished piece.

So if you like what you see and you have your own beads which you no longer wear, contact me and I can revamp them into something special.

Continue reading »]]> A client really liked my labyrinth style bracelet and wanted one made for her son. She wanted a long chunky main component in the centre and thicker wire links. Here’s what I came up with

This is silver with oxidised detail. I love the colour variations that sometimes occur when oxidising silver.

It is really effective on this piece.

Continue reading »]]> Central Station are hosting their first Tour of Dundee.

Description?
A tour of the creative world of Dundee, Central Station style. Private talks, tours and presentations. As well as lots of members meeting & discussing.

Where? Dundee

When? 11am – 8pm Saturday February 6th

Come and join us on the tour and visit lots of different art groups/artists within Dundee. I’m participating and will be in my WASPS Studio from 1pm-1.40pm. Come visit me and other artists in their studios at WASPS, Dundee.

My studio on map

After this I’m taking a sneak preview of McManus Galleries due to open on 28th February. I totally can’t wait!

Check out what’s happening during the rest of the Dundee Pop-Up Tour

Continue reading »]]> Today I found an excellent article which explains the benefits to customers of buying direct from a jewellery designer.

Why Buy Jewellery Directly from a Designer?

The main headings of reasons are:

• Price
• Quality
• Fit, Colour and Customization
• Exclusivity and Distinctiveness
• Individuality
• Customer Satisfaction
• Local, Handmade, Made in Your Own Country

I highly recommend reading it. If you have bought jewellery from me you hopefully already worked out some of these reasons already of course.

Continue reading »]]> If you are an artist, designer, musician, film-maker or interested in any of these subjects check out the new social network community

Central Station

It’s a great website for people who are involved within the creative industry. You can join for free and create your own account, you can put up images of your work and become friends with like minded folk. Basically it’s like Facebook for creative people!

Continue reading »]]> I ordered some Gold wire today to make some wedding ring samples for the Wedding Show that I will be exhibiting at the Marryat Hall in Dundee on February 28th.

Last year I made a lot of engagement ring samples in silver with different CZ stones in different settings. This gave people an idea of what they would look like with diamonds. It can be a bit harder to visualise something in a metal of a totally different colour though. Hopefully I can get some nice orders from it.

What was really fun was lots of the silver samples sold so people liked them and were happy to wear them as normal rings which was a bit of a compliment.

My silver and pearl stock has got low after selling so much and stocking a few galleries with it who also sold lots. I need to order some more pearls to make some more work that would be aimed at bridesmaids jewellery etc.

I also received a copy of Scene Magazine through the post with my advert in it for their wedding special and my new wedding business cards.

All systems are go to launch my new wedding collection!

Continue reading »]]> I love doing commissions – these are mainly when someone has an idea of the kind of thing they want but can’t see it in any shops. I work with the client to finalise a design then make it to their desired design. Happy client, unique jewellery made, experiences learned and a contribution towards those things artists and designers take for granted – food, rent, you know the non-essentials.

One area I have made a few commissions in is wedding jewellery. When it comes to commissions you can’t get more personal than that.

In the last few weeks I have taken photos of my wedding style jewellery that were not yet on the site and uploaded them to Picassa. I created a special Wedding page on my main site and I have booked into a wedding fair in Dundee on February 28th at the Marryat Hall, Dundee. Tonight I have put some ads on Gumtree Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow and some online forums with trading sub-forums.

Hopefully I will get some commissions for wedding rings, engagement rings, grooms cufflinks, bridal jewellery or similar from it!

Continue reading »]]> Come and Glisten! in the GrassMarket will be my last craft fair of the year.

Glisten! is a new 6-day market which will take place in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket from Thurs 17th to Tues 22nd December, all housed in a warm, sparkly lit marquee. Open each day 11am-6pm. Entrance free.

Quirky arts and crafts, unique cool collectibles, vintage and recycled clothing, eco-friendly goods, sitting alongside organic + home-grown food produce, and specialist second-hand vinyl and books – all will be welcome.

I will be exhibiting during the first 3 days of the event, Thursday 17th, Friday 18th and Saturday 19th. It will be your last chance to purchase my jewellery from a fair this year and there will be extra special Christmas discounts on offer. So grab a bargain in the last days before Christmas.

Hope to see you there!

Continue reading »]]> Thanks to all who came to the show that myself and Islay Spalding organised. It was a great success with many visitors and most exhibitors made great sales and contacts. Hopefully this will be the start of something great between the artists, designers and crafters of Dundee and local areas.

It was great to see such a mixed selection and diverse range of items on display. Here are some photos which were taken during the Friday night Opening and last day with my fabulous new Nikon D5000 DSLR camera, enjoy!

Continue reading »]]> Thanks to all who came along to the craft fair in Glasgow on Saturday. It was my first in Glasgow for a while and my stall was really busy at times. Apologies to all those who couldn’t get in to see things properly due to the crowd!

You can check my shop or visit one of the other events to see things closer again. Remember to buy early for Christmas. If you are wanting something made for Christmas, contact me ASAP!

Continue reading »]]> With Christmas just around the corner, it’s never too early to start looking for that exclusive gift. Myself and Islay Spalding with the members of  The Association for Contemporary Jewellery (ACJ) Scotland are organising a fabulous Christmas Exhibition.

It’s our first exhibition as a group in Dundee and will be held at WASPS Artists Studios, Meadow Mill, West Hendersons Wynd, DD1 5BY. The show is open on Saturday 28th November from 11 until 5, and Sunday 29 November from 12 until 5.  As well as jewellers from the ACJ we will be joined by artists and designers from the WASPS studios, Paola McClure, Jennifer Robson and Kirby Textiles plus many more.

It will be fantastic opportunity to purchase a diverse range of unique gifts including painting, sculpture, textiles and jewellery. So come along to the show. Prices start from £10.

Check out our blog for more info….