Raising Mighty Girls

I an very pleased to welcome Karen from the blog Raising Mighty Girls, with a guest post today. Karen feels like I do about children's toys; they are for everyone, and whether your boy wants to play with a doll in a pushchair, or your girl asks Santa for an army tank, they should be allowed to play without labels or judgement. So, over to Karen.

Raising my mighty girls means creating play opportunities which encourage interaction with ALL sorts of toys.  With no boys in our house, this means that I need to be proactive about creating these experiences. I believe that doing this creates a balanced choice for them. 

It's up to me to provide the 'balance'.  After that, it's their decision about what they prefer to play with.  It doesn’t really matter to me whether it’s a pink baby doll or a blue monster truck. The important thing is that they're having fun!  And hopefully learning something useful in the process!

Give my youngest daughter a doll and she’ll love it.  Give her a sword and she’ll love it too. She just wants to play with ‘fun’ toys. 

#LetToysBeToys

I don’t vote against ‘pink’.  I don't vote for 'blue'.

I vote for ‘balance’.

A balanced ‘play experience’.

 Does it annoy me when we walk into a toy store and are forced to choose between walking down the ‘pink road’ or the ‘blue road’?  Hell yes! 

But it has to be said that most of the major toy stores are beginning to listen to consumers and groups like #LetToysBeToys and are making noticeable changes to the way products are manufactured, marketed and displayed. I could talk all day about gender marketing of toys.  But that's a post for another day.

Anyways, the youngest has adored Jake and The Neverland Pirates since last Autumn, so she received the Pirate Ship with Jake, Izzie and Cubby for her birthday. And Santa brought a few other items in his sack at Christmas.  Finally at the end of June, she emptied her money box and bought Skull Island.

#RaisingMightyGirls - Really?  

Yes, this blog IS about raising girls to be mighty!  So before, you get confused about why I would encourage play where the 'boy' is the leader, remember I encourage play with a balance of toys. 

Today, we had friends round to play and she insisted on being Jake and leaving Izzy for the little boy.  She doesn’t see the  characters as boys and girls.  She sees it as ‘Jake is the dude, the leader, the most fun. And I want to be him!'

The youngest Gribbon Girl doesn't see Jake as a 'boy', she seems him as the 'leader'.  I love that she's aspiring to be the leader. 

 I love this toy brand – it promotes creativity, imagination, friendship, sharing with others, problem solving and mathematics (perfect for the current drive to encourage girls into STEM areas),

But it's not perfect.  Definitely not.  Can you recommend one that is? Let me know.  I'd love to check it out.

Do you know how to 'Talk Like A Pirate'?

Just for a laugh...

Check out this link - How To Talk Like A Pirate - we had such a giggle with it!

 Live Long and Prosper Buckos!

Karen x

The Evolution of Modern Jewelery Making

Jewellery is a universal form of personal decoration that dates back to prehistoric times. It is said t o have originally been worn for protection or as a mark of status. One of the most important developments in the history of jewellery is the evolution of metalworking practices, which became more complex to allow for more intricate designs.

Gold was (and still is) one of the most valued metals – so cherished that it was often buried with its owner after death. Find out more about the history of gold here.  Nowadays, jewellery tends to be worn to represent religion, symbolise love and commitment or simply for ornamental fashion purposes. This article will concentrate on ornamental jewellery.

 Technology and use of materials

Although still popular materials, technology has allowed us toevolve past the use of just gold, silver or platinum in jewellery making. In the 1920s, new technology allowed machines to cut and polish gemstones and create sharp lines and edges, generating more complicated gemstone cuts – and in the 1930s injection-plastic moulding techniques were developed which meant glass jewellery became more affordable. In later decades, lost wax casting was introduced which made it possible to mass produce pieces of jewellery.

Contemporary technology now means that almost anymedium can be used to fabricate jewellery. This allows for more elaborate designs as creative jewellers evolve the trade to keep abreast of fashion trends. The result is eclectic fashion accessories and fascinating styles.

Tatty Devine, for example, burst onto the mainstream accessories scene in 2012. Producing handmade acrylic jewellery, the brand started in London's Portobello and Spitalfields markets making jewellery from found objects like guitar plectrums. Its designs are about expressing personality in a fun way, and the items are certainly unique with the most popular piece being their personalised perspex name necklaces. There are now two permanent Tatty Devine stores in London, a concession in the Oxford Street branch of Selfridges, numerous pop-up shops and over 300 stockists worldwide. They were even recently awarded MBEs for services to the fashion industry.
 

Photo from Liverpool Design Festival

We’ll also see creative uses of materials and unusual designs in this month’s London Fashion Week, where the world’s best fashion and accessories designers come together to present new collections of work – including the weird, wacky and wonderful.

Holly Fulton, winner of the Swarovski Emerging Talent Award for Accessories at the 2009 British Fashion Awards,combines unusual matters in her jewellery. Last season, for example, her accessories used burnt black petrified wood withagate attached to jewel encrusted tops. There’s much respect for her in both the jewellery and fashion markets, so much so that even home appliance manufacturer LG is capturing her designs on a new washing machine (find out more here).

2014 and beyond

So where is the future of jewellery design headed? Well further advancements in technology mean that 3D printing is now feasible. The technology, called laser sintering, is made possible by  companies such as German-based manufacturer EOS, and is already being employed by trade supplier Cookson Precious Metals.

This amazing video shows how a 3D printer works

The method means more personalised jewellery will soon be available on the high street as complex designs can be can be created more quickly, and can be more easily altered.

Moreover, a report from industry insiders suggests that 2014 jewellery trends will be focused on the unusual and surreal and will also take Asian and African influences. It looks like we have an exciting year ahead and we can’t wait to see what jewellery designers conjure up.