A little bit about me

Me

I'm 29 years old and I'm studying psychology at university. I like to describe myself as having the head of a scientist and the heart of an artist - I definitely need to have an outlet for my creativity, and I also love to experiment and break the rules!

Being inquisitive, I'm naturally interested in almost everything (except I don't have any patience for politics), but I'm particularly fascinated by evolution, the natural world, and the brain.

I love my organic vegetable garden, and enjoy creating wildlife-friendly spaces - my garden's designed to attract a wide range of birds, insects and mammals, and I also rehabilitate (and release) sick and injured wild European hedgehogs. In my spare time I'm often to be found with a pair of binoculars and a field guide in my hand, watching birds.

I've been battling fibromyalgia since I was 16. Life's an uphill struggle at times (fibro causes exhaustion, sleep disturbance, muscle pain, lack of concentration and motivation, and depression), I have to try to find a balance between keeping busy and getting enough rest. The sense of satisfaction I get from creative activities can really help when I'm not feeling at my best.

I sing with three choirs - usually sacred choral pieces (although I'm not religious myself). Music is a great way to escape from any problems I may be having - concentrating on singing a piece I've never even seen before, let alone heard, is enough of a challenge that I can't think about anything else! One of the things I love most about the choirs is the friends I've made - we have such a great time together even if concerts can be a bit stressful at times.

Jewellery

I've been making jewellery since August 2008, so I'm pretty new to all this! I'd like to think I'm learning fast. I've recently started working with polymer clay - I had a gift set of Premo for Christmas when I was 10 or 11, and I've never forgotten how much fun it was! I love way you can create so many different colours and textures and shapes, and put them together to make a truly unique and personal piece of jewellery. I'm using Fimo Soft these days, mostly because it's the most easily available here.

At the moment I'm exploring inclusion of objects into translucent clay. I'm had good results with spices which produce fantastic earthy colours, glass seed beads, sand, eyeshadow and glitter. I'd also like to try dried flower petals and perhaps strands of yarn. These are seriously individual beads!

I make beads in very small batches, usually less than 30, because I want every piece I make to be truly unique. I know it isn't very time-efficient, but that's not the point - I'm not running a factory!

Basically I make jewellery that I'd like to wear myself. Not that I've got round to making anything for me yet...

Knitting

My mum taught me to knit when I was 9 or 10. I don't have the patience to knit big things, in fact I've never knitted anything bigger than a hat or scarf. I like to see results pretty soon, and as I don't knit very fast (fibro makes my hands ache), sweaters and blankets just take too long.

One of the first pattern books I got was one with animals that my mum bought me when I was a child. I must have made every animal in that book, and then moved onto creating my own simple patterns.

I started making hedgehogs as a fundraiser for hedgehog rescue charities, especially Epping Forest Hedgehog Rescue, who have given me so much help and support with my own hedgehog caring. I'd previously tried pattens which involved making loops for the spines, but soon realised that using chinchilla/eyelash yarn does a much better job and is so much easier! I have lots of different colours of yarn so I can make them in team colours or even to match your décor! It's a great way to help our prickly friends.

Well, I think that's about it! I'll be posting more soon. I'm intending to use this blog to show how each piece is made, the techniques and equipment I use, etc. Please let me know what you think!