Tag Archives: news

2023 highlights of a jewellery artist

14/02/2024 jewellery artist

Hurray! What a relief that 2023 was a better year for me and I’m able to begin 2024 on a bit of a high…
Scroll down to see my photo gallery of highlights

My highlights of 2023:

Creating a range of new wirework jewellery designs inspired by the art of the ancient Anglo-Saxons, Celts, and Byzantines, then teaching these designs on a jewellery making weekend masterclass at the British Library in London.
Whilst in London, visiting the British Library treasures gallery to see their Illuminated Manuscripts and spending many hours being fascinated by ancient artworks at the British Museum.
Further developing my new jewellery collections; including vine and byzantine scroll style wirework, and celestial charm earring collections and adding them to my elfin alchemy web shop.
Creating a new darker look, updating my elfin alchemy website with better photographs, and revamping my stall display with many new upcycled pieces.
Being interviewed and featured in a 2-page spread in the Ribble Valley Live magazine
Enjoying great talks and buying many interesting books whilst at the Mysterious Earth Conference, my 5^th year of being there!
Taking part in some new super Lancashire events and my work getting lots of love, with many of my latest pieces heading off to new homes

I feel very thankful that I was blessed with a much better year in 2023, after all the health difficulties I faced in 2021-22. In one of my upcoming blogs, I’ll share some of the things that helped me through this difficult time.

There still wasn’t enough time to fit everything I wanted to do into 2023, so some things were postponed and became part of my 2024 tasks. These I’ll share with you in my next blog post…

Thank you for being part of my journey, wishing you sparkles and hugs my lovelies, Rowena xx

Some photos of my 2023 highlights:

spiral examples for the British Library masterclass

Mysterious Earth talk by Peter Yankowski

making at the British Library masterclass

Magical ancient sculptures on display at the British Museum

elfin alchemy vine scroll crescent moon earrings

darker style photos for the elfin alchemy website

blog, news

a downside of working with glass

09/09/2018 jewellery artist 2 Comments

Relieved that August is behind me… so many things breaking down, more accidents than usual, followed by getting an infected finger. Argh!

I don’t even know how I did it?

4 weeks ago I’d got a cut on my index finger, so the following day I was using my middle finger instead when doing some glass work at my studio. It’s not as hardy (as used to working) and I think I must have got a tiny glass splinter inside my fingernail.

Who would have thought that something like that would cause me all this trouble!

Not good. At first, I tried applying an antiseptic cream, then some essential oils (lavender, tea tree, and vitamin E) and bathing my hand in warm water with Himalayan salt as recommended after googling it. But after a few days – my symptoms were getting worse and my fingernail started turning black – I decided I needed to go to A and E to get it checked out by a doctor. Thankfully after a week on penicillin, I and my fingertip slowly began to recover…

As a designer-maker my hands are so precious – they’re my main tools – and working for the first 2 weeks was out I could hardly bend my finger it was so swollen. I’m so happy that this past 2 weeks my finger has gradually been getting better and I’ve been able to use it again to do short bursts of wirework, gluing and other work, although it looks like it’s going to take a bit longer before its fully back to normal.

I’m also glad to be back to ‘me’ and my upbeat self again!

Perhaps this and my ongoing eye problem are helping me take stock of all the positives; the progress I’m making with my new designs this year and all that I’ve learned along my creative and spiritual journey. It’s helping me enjoy the ‘now’, be grateful and kind to myself, rather than beat myself up for not managing to do all that’s on my long to-do list. Instead, I will give myself the time it needs to get it done…

Wishing you sparkles of light!

Thank you for joining me on my creative journey,
Sam Rowena, jewellery artist x

blog, news

eyesight is precious

03/08/2018 jewellery artist 2 Comments

Its been nearly 3 months since the floaters and flashes in my right eye began and thankfully my brain is getting used to them and most of the time isn’t taking as much notice of them!

But at the beginning of May when they started I was quite worried, especially after looking up more info about them online and finding that they might be symptoms of a detached or torn retina – I’d also managed to hit myself in the eye the previous week – and I should go to A&E to get them checked out. Argh, not my favourite place, but after a few hours wait, I got an emergency appointment to see an eye specialist the following day. I had some further eye tests at my opticians and felt reassured that it looks like they are caused by something less serious (the gel around the eye) I was able to head off on holiday and continue with my life… although I still have to keep ‘an eye’ on it, should it change.

The ‘tadpole’ and black dots that are swimming around my vision and the flashes of light were initially hard to ignore and caused headaches, so I’ve needed to regularly rest my eyes and am doing mini-meditations/eye exercises too.

The other problem is that I’ve had to limit my screen time. Computer work and watching the tv puts too much strain on my eyes and gives me headaches. Luckily though with working for myself, I’ve been able to spend more time on other tasks that I can do.

I am so glad that I hadn’t booked many events over the Summer and that I’ve been able to take life at a slower pace.

It’s given me a deeper appreciation of my eyesight and there have been other benefits too from all the meditating…

Thanks for joining me on my creative journey,
Sam Rowena, jewellery artist x

elfin alchemy bewitching beautiful jewellery