Editorial Team's Blog

We are currently looking for readers who would like to have their work featured on the pages of our monthly Readers' Showcase. We have so many talented readers and this is our way of sharing the jewellery you make with the world!

This is a fantastic opportunity to see your work in print and share your website or contact details with others, so to submit your pictures please send us the following:

- High res images of four pieces of your work, these must be clear and completely in focus!

- A short description (10 words maximum) and a price for each piece

- Any contact details you would like included (website, email, telephone etc.)

It's as simple as that, so why not take part today! To submit your work or for further informtion simply email mj.readersshowcase@googlemail.com.

A big hello from all of us at Making Jewellery! Firstly I must apologise that we have been a little quiet on the blog front lately, things have been very busy. As you will now know we have a new editor, the lovely Sian Hamilton, and a new designer, the equally lovely Kendra Grey! We're all busy working on plenty of new ideas that will make your favourite magazine even better value for money.

Now for a bit of news, the results for the July web competition are in....

This time we provided you with the image below and asked you to take any aspect of the picture as inspiration to create a new design.



And the winner is........ Ashlynn!!

Ashlynn's design was a favourite with the judges due to the original way in which she used elements of colour, shape and texture from the photo to create this beautiful piece.



And the runner up is.... Skyblue!

We loved the original way that Skyblue used each bead to represent a different piece of the image (the flowers, leaves, wall etc.). A fantastic, wearable  design!



Congratulations ladies, prizes will be on the way soon, and thank you to everyone who entered.

You've waited long enough so I'll get straight to the point, the results of last month's forum competition are in!

We gave you the following image and asked you to use it as inspiration for a new design and we have chosen two winners who we think used it best as a starting point for a unique piece.



And the winner is.......

Tobeadornottobead!

Congratulations on a fantastic piece of jewellery, a lovely interpretation of the colours and shapes in our photograph. We also loved the styling of your final image, a fab touch!



And the runner up is..........

Skeblue!

Congratulations. You captured the colours and textures of our image well with your polymer beads. Thank you also for sharing your work in progress photographs!



Lastly a big thank you to everybody who took part. As always it is great to see so many entries in such a diverse range of styles and mediums.

Well, having spent almost a month as Editor I thought it was about time that I wrote my first ed's blog. I'm loving the new position and have been working very hard learning all the processes that go into publishing a magazine (quite a steep learning curve!) Luckily for me the team already established are amazing and I have all the support I need. Issue 17 has just gone on sale and is Joan's last issue, she has made a great effort with it and I think it's amazing. With beautiful luscious colours in purples and a stunning front cover necklace (well worth a make!) this issue is really fabulous.

Here at the MJ office we are working hard on Issue 18 and sweating a little or as we ladies say perspiring slightly! Though I have no complaints about the beautiful weather we are having as we sure have waited long enough for it. The amazing weather is a great excuse to get outdoors and start looking around at all the incredible inspiration that nature provides for us as designers and jewellery makers. It's a good time to go walking, in the country or on the beach (if you are near enough!) and to collect some interesting pieces to making into jewellery or as props when taking photos. I'm always on the look out for great textures to mould for metal clay or polymer use, it's wonderful the amount of different textures you see when you stop to look, even just at the pavement you walk down daily. Whether it's bright green leaves or clear blue skies the colour inspiration is there for the taking too.

So if you have been inspired to make something new and would like to show your like minded Making Jewellery friends why not log on and post it in the forum gallery or email us with your pictures for the readers showcase in the magazine. The forum is accessed from the same drop down bar as this blog or send emails for the readers showcase to mj.readersshowcase@googlemail.com remember when sending images for the magazine that they need to be sharply in focus and at least 300 dpi.

That's all for now folks, I look forward to seeing your summer makes!

Sian