My name is Anne Arkle I was born on Anglesey and have always appreciated the island’s history, scenery and nature. My interests generally revolve around history, I am very keen on metal detecting and I’m quite often seen bleeping around various farms on the island with my machine. I have always worn silver jewellery, much preferring it to gold and decided to make some jewellery for myself, using solid silver teaspoons!!, it began as a hobby, I gradually gained the skills required and an understanding of how to work with silver. I only work with high graded silver, I loved the fact that each piece has a history of its own, the hallmarks giving the assay office stamp, date letter stamp, lion passant stamp and older pieces the duty mark which was the monarch of the time. I shape each piece by hand using only hand tools, nylon and rawhide hammers, the only machine that I do use is my polishing/buffing machine. For example Georgian spoons make amazing inverted finger rings, the hallmarks are so prominent and pretty that they make a wonderful feature of the ring, I sell many of these especially to people who love history, quirkiness and uniqueness. After making some rings for myself, friends became interested so I made some more and it has gone from there really, Jaspersparkle was born!, the name comes from Jasper a cat we loved and sadly lost and Sparkle which was my nickname in school as my surname is Arkle!! hence Jaspersparkle. The origin of the spoon ring dates back to the seventeenth century! Servants could not afford to have wedding rings made of precious metals so they would steal the silverware from the manor house and have them turned into wedding rings!, for a time you could tell who the servants worked for by the crest on their rings. No doubt convicts transported from England to Tasmania in the early 1800’s were convicted of such offences as Stealing a Silver Spoon or Larceny by a Servant. A gesture of love, earned 7 years transportation beyond the seas. Like all wedding rings, a spoon ring denotes love, commitment and responsibility.
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Hand decorated textiles and glass – all fully washable, with designs from nature – florals and Celtic knots. Philomena is found at nearly all the WCC events, and especially the Eisteddfodau – Urdd, National and International – plus the three seasonal events at The Royal Welsh Showground in Builth wells. See the WCC events list
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An inspirational range of tees and hoodies from Cowbois, Bala based outfit. All made and designed in Wales by Appointment to “The Manic Street Preachers” amongst many others. Prepare to be surprised and delighted by the range of creative designs available. Mainly welsh language text and motifs
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