-
More feather experimentation...
Last week I spent a lot of time experimenting with dyeing more feathers, see the results here...the bottom two pictures show the feathers still wet,...
-
Wrist Candy
I just made this cute coral silk bracelet with a tooth charm, which looks nice with my skull charm bracelet and hamsa glass bracelet. Yes, I liked...
-
Cairo
I've been a bit obsessed recently with symbols such as the Ankh, Hamsa and Eye of Horus (as you might have noticed...), all of which are ancient...
UPDATES AND MUSINGS
Check in with the Black Pearl blog for updates, news and anything else interesting I can think of! If you feel the urge, you can log in and leave a comment, or just say hi!
More feather experimentation...
Last week I spent a lot of time experimenting with dyeing more feathers, see the results here...the bottom two pictures show the feathers still wet, they look much better when dry!
Wrist Candy
I just made this cute coral silk bracelet with a tooth charm, which looks nice with my skull charm bracelet and hamsa glass bracelet. Yes, I liked how the coral colour looked with my tattoo, I'm a geek like that.
Cairo
I've been a bit obsessed recently with symbols such as the Ankh, Hamsa and Eye of Horus (as you might have noticed...), all of which are ancient symbols related to Egypt and north Africa. The ankh is also known as the 'key of life' and symbolises eternal life, the Hamsa (or 'Hand of Fatima') and Eye of Horus are both symbols of protection. It got me to thinking of a trip I took to Cairo in 2008, so I started looking back through the photos I took while I was there...
Finally...
I mentioned way back in October that I was experimenting with dyeing feathers, and now I have finally got them on the website in the form of earrings. I find that all of the feathers that you can buy pre-dyed are too garish, so I wanted to create some that were still bright but had a softness about them.
Beads, beads, beads
I was thinking recently that I needed some small pieces to add a bit of colour to necklaces and bracelets, so I made these 'bead charms' as I like to call them. Over the last however many years I have been making jewellery (I think it's nearing on 10 now!) I have bought things that catch my eye, sometimes not knowing what I'll do with them. In some cases I'll have them for years and suddenly decide to use them. Anyway, these charms are made of beads which I bought because I loved the colours, some a while ago and some more recently.
Christmas Reading
So there are two days until Christmas, last Sunday was my final day at the Sunday Upmarket this year (I’ll be back on January 8th), I have posted all of the web orders, and I’m going back to Glasgow tomorrow for a well earned Christmas break! So I thought I’d write a quick blog while I have some time (you may have noticed they are quite infrequent, but I do try!).
was amazing. I took A LOT of photos, here are some of my favourites...Feathers...
I have been experimenting with dyeing feathers recently, which has been a long process of trial and error, but I feel like I'm getting somewhere! These will be used in some jewellery soon (I'm thinking they will make amazing earrings and pendants) but for now here's a sneak preview...
All the Fun of the Fair
I watched an amazing documentary on BBC4 a few weeks ago called 'Timeshift: All the Fun of the Fair'. It charted the rise in popularity of travelling shows in Britain in the 20th century from Victorian times to the 1950s. It was really interesting for many reasons, but one lady in particular stood out for me, one 'Florence Shufflebottom'...
Treasures of Heaven
Yesterday I saw the 'Treasures of Heaven' Exhibition at The British Museum, which was amazing. It was about Christianity in medieval Europe (stay with me...) and how relics of Christ and the saints were seen as having great spiritual value and provided a bridge between earth and heaven. What attracted me were the incredibly ornate containers called reliquaries that were crafted to house the relics, from simple boxes to elaborate architectural structures.
BLACKPEARL TWITTER
ABOUT THE DESIGNER
Fiona Deffenbaugh is the designer behind Black Pearl. Obsessed with jewels and trinkets from an early age, she now sources an exciting array charms and pendants from all over the globe which she combines to make delicate pieces of jewellery. The beauty of the collection is that you can choose your own charm combination to make a piece that is personal to you.