Merry Christmas!!

Hello All!!

We've 'taken 5' from the hustle and bustle in the studio this week to bring you more news and updates from the Amethyst world. There has barely been time to breathe, de-brief and scratch our...noses, since the big event at Bletchley Park this summer and the holiday season is upon us once more.

As ever we will be taking our place among the stall holders at the Milton Keynes Museum's Victorian Christmas Fair this December. Starting this Friday, stall holders from around the area will be gathering there each weekend to tempt and delight you with their amazing wares!!

Be sure to come along and have a look; not just to see the magnificent artifacts and main museum delights, but also to meet some of their dedicated volunteer staff who will all be getting into the Christmas spirit. You never know who you might bump in to - Mr Scrooge perhaps? or even HM Queen Victoria, who has been know to grace us with her stern presence over the last few years!

The museum also offers traditional roast chestnuts from the working forge, where you can also try your hand at Blacksmithing, mulled wine and fabulous gifts for your children when they visit Santa in his grotto! You can find out more about that Here- https://www.facebook.com/pages/Milton-Keynes-Museum/101231029955872?fref=ts

This is also our opportunity to do some shameless, unadulterated pimping of the benefits of shopping for your Christmas gifts outside of the high street this Christmas. There are so many great and unique crafts and pieces being created by talented artisans nationwide, and all of them need your support to be able to keep going. The main reason our customers give when they return year after year is that they are able to buy one-off, bespoke, unique gifts for their friends and family, safe in the knowledge that their gift is not going to be duplicated, and that they don't have to compromise on getting what they want. Most of the stall holders take commissions, so will make items to order if they don't already have what you want.

If the Museum really isn't your scene, but you still want to find something special for your loved ones, come along to the Tecton Centre in Fenny Stratford - they are currently exhibiting and selling a wide variety of crafts including jewellery, furniture, sculpture and original paintings by some extremely talented local artists. Their Facebook page -
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tecton-Art-Centre/201580786688381?fref=ts -  has all the details you need to find them and shows just a few of the fabulous item they have on display and for sale.

Some of our pieces are now being exhibited and sold through the gallery at the Tecton Centre, these two original paintings by Paula Harris are available to buy there, and very soon limited edition, signed prints of these will be available too.

No Place Like Home. By Paula Harris - 2013. 

Daughter of Eve. By Paula Harris - 2011. 

Edwardian Style Necklace,
 Designed and Created by Sara Young 2013

Sara has also been very busy with her latest designs and has created some really beautiful pieces for our customers this year. The picture above is just one of her latest creations which, I'm sure you'll agree is among her best work yet and will grace any outfit throughout Christmas and beyond! More of her work is also available at the gallery and of course on our stall at the museum fair.







Also joining in the fun (or rather, crashing the party!) at the museum and the gallery are the inimitable Fidgets! - https://www.facebook.com/fidgetsfun?ref=hl - There are new arrivals at Fidgets Farm every day and they are all VERY excited about finding new homes with new families over the Christmas period. The latest gang to arrive are settling in nicely and Widget is showing them around. Fidget Santa is there too, making sure his naughty/nice list is fully up to date, so Widget is on his best behaviour!

Fidgets -  By Paula Harris - 2013

We hope you can all join us at some point over the festive season, and look forward to seeing all our customers, old and new, very soon!

Best Wishes

The Amethyst Team!

The Summer Collection.

Hello again dear readers!

Yes, it's true, there has been a little bit of  gap between posts from the Amethyst Studio's recently. Apologies to anyone who was waiting with baited breath for the latest instalment of the studio shenanigans!

So what have we been up to?

Well, as you know the Bletchley Park 'Summer on the Lawn' event is looming on the horizon and we are frantically preparing everything we need to for this. As usual the 'to do' list seems to grow daily rather than shrink, but we are edging ever closer to the finish line and extremely excited about all of the activities, stalls and acts that we have lined up for the weekend.

There is so much to see and do over the course of the event that it would be impossible to list everything here, but our sister company Cerulean Sky Ltd are handling things well and working closely alongside us and the events coordinator at Bletchley Park to ensure everything runs smoothly.

Among of the highlights of the weekend will be a vintage clothing fashion show, which will see a catwalk procession of models showcasing various designers work.

We are working along side one of our team at Cerulean Sky Ashly Ellis, who is not only a model, but also runs a small Pin-up girl agency of her own. You can find out more about her on our Cerulean Sky blog page

http;//www.blog.cerulean-sky.co.uk

Image supplied with kind permission
from Model Ashly Ellis.

The designers have been working hard and have created ensembles to represent fashions from varying era's right up to the 1950's. We have encouraged everyone taking part in the weekend to dress themselves and their stalls in keeping with the theme of Bletchley Park, although we are also all keen to highlight the pre war history of the park too so are including all fashion era's from Victorian times onwards.

We have also decided to set up a kissing booth, where people can have their photo taken with one of the models kissing them (just on the cheek, or a peck on the lips though; no tongues I'm afraid!) We think this will make the day just that little bit more attractive to those who aren't just coming for the great day out and ubiquitous retail therapy opportunities!

Along with the crafters and artists that will be joining us are local cake makers, brewers, fruit and vegetable producers, florists, meat producers, and much more, and a host of volunteers have kindly offered to assist us with some fairground sideshow attractions.

We will be having a silent auction, where people will be able to make sealed bids for various items which will be donated by those involved in the day. The proceeds of this will be shared among the charitable organisations who will be joining us over the weekend these include:

Bletchley Park Trust - http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/
Open Door - http://www.opendoormk.org.uk/
MK Arts Gateway - http://www.artsgatewaymk.org.uk/

 Among the lots being auctioned off is this absolutely stunning print, which has been donated by local fine artist Shelley Sapwell Wynnedebank, you can see more of her work and details of her upcoming gallery shows here: http://shellywyndebank.weebly.com/

We will also be joined by:

Inter-Action - www.interactionmk.org.uk
MK Play Association  - http://mkplayassociation.wordpress.com/
Woodchucks Recycling - http://www.woodchuck.org.uk/
Branch out - http://branchoutmkcic.wordpress.com/about/

all of whom will be raising awareness of their various causes and, hopefully, raising some cash for themselves with the sale of their wares and visitor participation in the activities on offer! Inter-Action and MK Play association will be providing family oriented fun with activities for kids and Woodchucks and Branch out will be showing off some of their skills and promoting their causes. (more on this in our next blog!)

If this wasn't enough, there will be demonstrations from a local chainsaw sculptor and from local smithy Nick Packham will be bringing along a portable forge to demonstrate some of his excellent skills - which the kids can also get involved in! There will be re-enactors, May pole dancing and musical acts, as well as involvement form local radio station MKFM.

So, what of our own work?

Well we have been developing the designs and construction of our new summer collection - we are looking into which colours and themes are hot this summer and creating a few new pieces which we are hoping everyone will love as much as we do! As ever, the temptation to keep them for ourselves is ever present, but alas, we have to let some of them go.

Sara has been perfecting her wire wrapping technique and has created this stunning piece which we don't think we are going to have for long.

I am proud to say that I designed this piece with a colour scheme which will complement any summer outfit:

This piece is part of a set which includes necklace (pictured)   charm bracelet and earrings.

 We hope you will enjoy both the event, and all of the stalls and activities on offer at Bletchley Park on the 3rd and 4th of August - we look forward to seeing you there!!