"Love Irish Crafts" - Meet Tiffany Budd

Above: Rowan Brooch

This week I'm running 2 posts for my "Love Irish Crafts" blog campaign because when I find a husband and wife that are both creative, I think it's fun to run them in the same week as a comparison.

Tiffany Budd, designs beautiful one of a kind jewelery pieces in silver and gold. While her interest and flare for making jewelery started when she was back in school at the age of fifteen, it wasn't until 2007 when her youngest child headed off to school that she officially launched her business.

Above: Strung pendant in silver and 18ct gold.

Above: Pod pendant in silver

Above: Oval Heart earrings

Tiffany told me, " I have always enjoyed art and making things since I was a child. When I found the medium of precious metals, it just seemed to grab me. Maybe because it is shiny (I remember playing with tinfoil a lot as a child). I get a lot of inspiration from nature but also from man made objects and geometric forms too. There is nothing like a long walk or a car journey for getting ideas."

Above: Tiffany at her work bench.

Above: Wave Ellipse pendant in silver and 24ct gold.

Above: Connections pendant in silver and 18ct gold

Above: Ellipse split pendant in silver with 24ct gold leaf.

Tiffany, like Michael, is a member of the Crafts Council of Ireland. Please head over to her website to see more of her exquisite work - I particularly love how her pieces are photographed, on leaves and even a pepper- it really highlights them beautifully. She can be contacted at :087-6113777 and do find her on Facebook as well.

As always, my "Love Irish Crafts" blog campaign is running to coordinate with the Year of the Craft 2011 a Crafts Council of Ireland and Craft Northern Ireland initiative - links to their pages are at the top of my blog.

Primula auricula - Primroses in Spring

Photo by Marion Brenner, Country Living.com.

I just love primula auricula or primroses - the common name we are all more familiar with. They seem to be ever present at nurseries and garden centres right now but I have a confession to make - I really only like the old fashioned ones - not the shorter, brighter more commercial versions. The ones pictured below would be my idea of heaven. They just conjure up this wonderful old fashioned sentiment for me.

Last weekend I set about filling my big blue pots outside the house with a mixture of both. I love the ones with longer stalks - which I bought at McGill's Garden Centre on the N7 between Birdhill and Limerick. Thankfully too they were Irish grown and I loved their colours. Mixed with the more commercial variety, however, I think works quite well.

With primulas on my mind I just thought I'd pull together a selection of images - the image above makes me want to create a special garden dedicated to them!

Photo by Juliette Wade, CountryLiving.com

In Victorian times they were treasured plants and were often put on display - they are definitely seeing a resurgence of late.

Photo by Marion Brenner, Country Living.com

Thought this was an interesting way of showing off different varieties.

Photo by Marion Brenner, Country Living.com

These, I believe, are wild primulas- they are so delicate and feel like they belong exactly where they are in a field.

This lovely colourful detail really caught my eye. You know me and colour!

Do you like primulas? What do you think about the more commercial versions versus the old fashioned breeds?

I'd love to hear of any breeders in Ireland that specialize in primulas too!

"Love Irish Crafts" - Meet Michael Budd

Meeting Michael Budd has significantly raised my appreciation for this ancient craft. About eight years ago, Michael heard that a local smith in Co. Sligo was looking for an apprentice. He headed off to the interview and returned six hours later....what happened during that interview changed his life. Michael told me..."When I set foot into the forge, I got this feeling I'd come home. It was very strange, but I still get that feeling when I'm in the forge. It was a few years later on that I found out my great, great Grandfather was a blacksmith along with five or six generations before him. Not that this has made me a better blacksmith but I do feel there is such a thing as genetic memory that we sometimes inherit."

This is a commissioned piece called Martin's Tree. It looks quite haunting here but absolutely beautiful.

Michael at work in his forge - he makes everything from sculptures to gates, railings to fire sets, pot racks to BBQ's but most importantly, he's able to do restoration work as well. He even makes his own tools which he feels is fundamental to improving as a blacksmith.

A fire set.

Michael has run his own forge in Rivertown since 2006. He told me, "I'm very passionate about my craft and feel I get so much out of it that it's my duty to encourage others to take it up. It gives me great joy that one of my former pupils has now graduated from Hereford College in the UK and is working as a blacksmith in the UK. It is sad that there is no formal training available to blacksmiths here in Ireland. Blacksmithing is one of the fundamental crafts both from a build heritage point but also from a history and Irish mythology point. It is also one of the world's oldest art forms and has been at the vanguard of every civilization for at least five thousand years. There is a wealth of heritage iron work in Ireland that is decaying or being badly restored and training in restoration is badly needed."

Harp of the Tuatha de Dannon.

Hot forged candle holders

River Gate

Wedding Altar Candles

Michael is obviously filled with his own inner passion and inspiration but he also draws inspiration from people, places, stories, nature, other artists and crafts people. He continued to explain, "It's one of the great things about doing something creative, you never really know where your next idea is going to come from. This is one of the reasons I work to commission rather than retail my work. I've been very lucky as well that my clients more often than not are happy to give me the freedom to use my inspiration. I hope this is a reflection of my work that people are confident to hand a project over to me. I strive to give the customer 100% and have always been rewarded with positive reactions to finished work."

Michael is based in Sligo Folk Park in Rivertown, Co. Sligo. I encourage you to go to his website to see more of his work. You can email him at info@michaelbudd.ie or ring him at 087-6688400. Michael is a member of the Crafts Council of Ireland.

As always, this "Love Irish Crafts" blog post is part of my year long campaign to highlight creative people throughout Ireland in conjunction with the Year of the Craft 2011 - a Crafts Council of Ireland and Craft Northern Ireland initiative. (see their links at the top of my blog page).

Obviously, we need to work hard to keep this art form alive - any suggestions?

Papel Picados - Colourful Mexican Folk Art

You may recall that when I featured Alljoy Design on Thursday - that I commented that her owl card looked similar to Papel Picados. So, I thought I'd do a little post on them to show you what I mean. Many years ago, on a trip to Mexico, I fell in love this wonderful form of Mexican folk art.

Thin delicate tissue paper is cut into intricate designs for all different celebrations from Dia del los Muertos (Day of the Dead) to Cinco de Mayo (the 5th of May, a national holiday in Mexico celebrating Mexico's victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla) and for weddings and other celebrations.

I'm such a fan of colourful decorations so it's probably no surprise that I love these.

Here in the Sheldon Museum of Art at the University of Nebraska campus (in the US)- they hung huge papel picados in the window for a Day of the Dead celebration - what an impact they make.

These are mini-papel picados or Bandaritas for sale on Mexican Sugar Skull.

This wedding is so beautiful - I love the bright tabletops and white papel picados strung through the trees - I found this on Daily Wedshare - check out their site for a Cinco de Mayo inspired wedding.

This Day of the Dead tableware has a border with Papel Picados, also from Mexican Sugar Skull.

I loved this Fiesta invitation I found on PartyCat.

Don't you love papel picados? Have you heard about them before?

"Love Irish Crafts" - Meet Alljoy Design

When up in Showcase in January, I discoverd Alljoy Design. Started by Lingxiao Ji, in 2009 as a graphic design company - she creates intricate and beautiful laser cut designs. This one, above and below, depicts Dublin city life and all it's detailed maze of activity.

Love Birds print.

Not only does Alljoy do prints but they also do these incredible notepads in the shape of fruit. I would actually never use this if I had it- it would become an object d'art in my sitting room or sitting lifelike on the kitchen window sill.

Just look at this packaging- just like fresh fruit cradled in a protective web. Beautiful.

I love their prints as well- framed beautifully and with simple colourful designs. This is Blooming Heart.

Her greeting cards are amazing as well - this owl card reminds me of the traditional Mexican Papel Picado's - a traditional folk art that involves cutting out intricate patterns on colourful tissue paper (I'll do a post on it soon).

Here the heart comes out of the card at you in all it's 3-D beauty.

Lingxiao told me that much of her inspiration comes from every day life in Ireland. She finds the beauty of life and translates it in an artistic way.

And of course, she also does designs in felt - another favourite material of mine. These laser cut coasters are a great contemporary accessory for your home (there are also placemats).

Alljoy Design is based in Dublin - do check out their website to see the entire range of their products.

Once again, this post is all part of my "Love Irish Crafts" blog campaign that will be running throughout 2011 as part of the Year of the Craft 2011 celebration. For more on the Crafts Council of Ireland or Craft Northern Ireland you can link to their sites above right.

It's another glorious day here in Nenagh- last night after work I was able to plant primulas in my front pots and give my buddleia a major pruning before it's annual spring growth. Happy Days - love being able to work in the garden after work.

What are you all up to today? and how are you enjoying this good spell of weather?