Update

I don't know where the last 10 days have gone, it doesn't seem like 10 days since I blogged - well thats my excuse for being lax anyway ;)

I've been very busy today, I have used my day off work well and created lots of great stuff for the shop - very much aided by a lot of the supplies I ordered arriving at once today! All in my Etsy shop right now.



xxx

Red

I was pleased to be featured in this brilliant red Treasury which made it to the front page of Etsy this morning. My cherry frost bracelet was part of this lovely selection. Always a good start to the day!
*click on the photo to see a larger version

xx

far away..

I've been admiring this Etsy shop for a while, whimsyandspice, and I don't know why I keep torturing myself by returning to it. Their products look fabulous and I am marvelling at their beautiful photography. I want to fly to the US just so I can have a parcel of their chocolatey brownies and fluffy marshmallows (it would also be an excellent excuse to go on holiday too of course).

I like their website too, a great example of perfect marketing which is something you don't see very often I think. And their products are just a little bit different too but without trying too hard, a black pepper cookie or a hazlenut chocolate whisky cookie sandwich anyone?

I urge you to order if you live in the US and relish in the fact that you can buy something, but just don't tell me about it because I will be jealous. ;)

and relax....

We took delivery of our new sofa yesterday, and oh my its comfortable. I recommend that everyone buys a corner sofa, they are really really really comfy.

cushion by quiltification

Now we have a nice new sofa in the living room I have been thinking about the rest of the living room, I love interiors and I think these would be great for our cosy space.

Fallen by teaforbini

Autumn Maple Leaf luminary by paperplanet (I love that it is called a luminary!)

xx

all new

Happily I've recently had a creative spurt and I've been creating new things for the last week or so, which is brilliant as I had a funny little 'jewellers block' before that, which was very frustrating.

I'm really enjoying getting stuck into the autumn and winter seasons now, and its even better now that its looking a lot more seasonal outside.

First of all I have a new website, here.
I'm really pleased with how it has turned out, thank you to my other half for designing it - please have a look at his website, sensesstudios.

New pieces are in my Etsy shop, among my favourite are these Coal Earrings made with dark oxidized silver and soft grey lucite beads. I have recently received some beautiful new earring wires from Metamorph on Etsy and they look just great with my vintage beads, I love handmade findings.

front pages!

I have been lucky enough to be featured on the Etsy front page TWICE this week!
I am so pleased, thank you to marieflyfly and karenfaulknerart for putting my jewellery in their gorgeous treasuries.



I have been suffering from a lack of inspiration/time/energy this week which has delayed new pieces in the shop, I am hoping to rectify things over the weekend (aided by tea, music and chocolate) and put more autumn winter items in my shop. The etsy front pages have been a welcome boost to my confidence and I just need some ideas now!

leaves under your feet...

This weekend I finally managed to begin work on some truly autumnal pieces, I received some beautiful beads last week, perfect for this time of year. My bead box is full of rusty ambers, deep purples, dark browns and delicate snowy pinks and whites.

I have been trying to concentrate more on matching sets, to make my jewellery look more co-ordinated and also to offer my customers more choice. My two newest items are practically edible! A beautiful Roasted Pumpkin necklace and earrings and Damson necklace and earrings set. See the stack widget below to see (click on the picture to move to the next photograph), or my etsy shop.

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I have also been happily carrying my newest handmade handbag by Florigander on Etsy. It too is autumnal, in a nice thick tweed fabric which is a repurposed skirt! As always it is big enough to fit all my things in, which I need!


I think it will be time to resume my search for a winter coat soon!

Many shiny things..

So we bought a Wii. I am now feeling extremely torn between our new shiny Wii and a big order of beads I have just received.

At the moment I'm torn between the amazingness of Mario Kart (with a steering wheel!!!) and getting stuck into my autumn and winter jewellery. Its a hard life you know ;)

I have created my first proper autumnal piece, using the previously made 'Nectar Earrings' design with more a summery hue. Just in time for the forecast to say its going to be 23 degrees tomorrow!

handmade of the month - september

wow, is it really september already?

Its feeling distinctly autumnal here, and I am itching to light the first fire in our fireplace - although I feel it might still be a little too early.

I have found my pick for this month, these lovely gold disc earrings from Bloom Studios - I adore the simplicity of them and they have a nice warm feel which is great for this time of year.
I have also set my sights on this beautiful chocolate diamond ring (I've never heard of a chocolate diamond before!).

All wrapped up..

I have been doing some research and investing some money in new packaging lately and I am really pleased with my gift boxes. At the moment I have some smart looking black boxes but I also have some nice organic Kraft brown coloured boxes in the post.

I am even more pleased with my stickers from Zoopri, they look so great! They personalise my boxes so well.

All my jewellery will be going out in these boxes (with the exception of my hair pins as they are a bit too big) and I am also working on some nice extra gift wrapping options for Christmas. This may the ardous task of looking at pretty ribbon but its something I am willing to go through for you, my lovely customers. Its a hard life being a crafter!

In particular, I have had my eye on this beautiful jade ribbon from BigFish's shop. I am very tempted although I may have trouble parting with it!

Bleurgh....

Hot water bottle by industrialpoppy on Etsy.

What a way to spend a weekend! I have been ill, the sofa has become my best friend and my hot water bottle too.

I have however been able to relax in front of the sofa and do some jewellery making, it was actually quite relaxing. New things in the shop soon, once I can face the smell of the oxidizing solution again (it smells like rotten eggs). One of them are these lovely copper earrings made with beautiful vintage chandelier pieces, they are so sparkly and just a bit of gentle bling!

Treasures!

I've been a busy bee on the Etsy Treasuries lately, after a long break from them. I love creating treasuries, browsing through Etsy is great although it does make my wish list a lot longer.

This treasury was last week and was selected for the front page of Etsy, yay! One of the last summery ones I think I am going to do, I'm thinking of autumn more and more now.The inspiration for this Treasury came from the beautiful Cecily Ombre dress by Greygoat, such wonderful colours and a great shape.

My next two are on the site now, both quite autumnal, one a dark maroony brown and another a mossy forest green. Enjoy!


Please visit my treasuries:
here
and
here

happy shopping! ;)

Catching up.

I love popcorn, proper homemade rather than the bags you put in the microwave (which always end up in you burning your hand on a jet of steam when you take it out).

We often used to make it with my Mum when we were small . I've not had it for a while so I looked in the cupboard and found a bottle of maple syrup - perfect combo! Its lovely this way as the syrup easily coats most of the popcorn and of course it tastes unbelievable.

There are many other ways of making it requiring melting chocolate and baking in the oven with nuts, it is something I am researching heavily!

In other news (I shouldn't dedicate a whole blog post to popcorn really) I've recently opened a shop on Folksy - a new UK site for handmade goods, which is in its early stages but is looking great already. For my UK customers, you can pay in GBP here rather than USD over on Etsy. Please take a look at my shop here

I also have a great new website, and a banner to match, I hope you like it!

handmade of the month - august

I am here in a timely manner this month, with my newest pick!
It would seem I am taking on the theme of bags, not on purpose although I think I do have a natural love for bags, purses, clutches and totes.

This month I am featuring Notes - designer of handmade bags and little coin purses. I shared a stall with her at the recent We Make fair in Covent Garden, her creations are so beautiful and very well made, and she was great company at the fair too!

Her brown tree bag will be featured in my blog for the whole of this month, its perfect for fitting everything in, and if you are like me you need to fit everything in!

Never to be repeated...

I was hoping that whilst sorting through my button stash (yes I'm still doing it) that I would find something totally amazing to use in one of my jewellery pieces, and I have and I am so pleased.

This beautiful clear circle of faceted glass was sitting in the second box I opened yesterday, its gorgeous. A perfect vintage find, its in such good condition and the facets are lovely.

The necklace is in my shop now, hung on a long vintage brass chain. I will only ever have one of these glass circles so this is the only one of its kind, completely unique.

I've snaffled some buttons to use in necklaces so I shall be adding those to my shop soon too.

Progress

Since I've been back from my holiday I've been struggling to get inspiration for new stock (which is odd considering all the countryside and beautiful places we saw) but I managed to find a few hours today to make some new items for my shop - it was also a good way of getting out of the sweltering heat. I like a bit of sun but I'm not used to a week of it being boiling hot all day.

We are now having a thunderstorm so I am cooling off after a hard days work (the cat is hiding under the bed looking annoyed).

I'm glad that I have some new things to show you!

Bridal Necklace - featured!

I have recently made my first bridal item, this lovely Serene Pearl Necklace, so I am really pleased that it has been featured on The Crafty Bride blog along with other very gorgeous bridal necklaces.

It is written by paperandcloth, who has just set up a brand new shop on Etsy - fast filling up with gorgeous items.


I am really enjoying working with pearls, silver and delicate colours so I will be making more bridal items in the new few weeks.

Sweeties

Anyone who knows me knows that I love sweets and anything sweet, which is probably why I like beads and jewellery making, as so many beads look a lot like sweets!

These new cherry red beads were no exception, they are so glossy and such a striking shade of red, they look just like bubblegum. I couldn’t wait to use them and I found some lovely frosty green flat discs to make them into a lovely bracelet – not a classic colour to match with red but when I put them together with some sterling silver the combination was so summery, the green lifts the red so nicely.

I can see this bracelet looking just lovely with a floaty summer dress (or if all else fails weather wise, this would look lovely with a nice black jumper too!).

Spuds..

So we’ve had our first crop of potatoes! I love proper homegrown potatoes, apart from tasting about a hundred times better than anything you can buy in the shops, they are so very easy to grow, we’ve never failed at potatoes (same can’t be said for other things we have grown before). We got 4lbs from our plants this year, so that will last us quite a long time. Check back for more progress, our salads are coming along nicely as is the tomato plant –which seems to be yielding one very huge tomato rather than lots of them.

My First Handmade Handbag

Many people know me as being a bit of a handbag fiend, at one point I had about 30 handbags in my wardrobe, in various shapes and sizes. Generally I am an accessory fiend too, so its no wonder I went into jewellery making (I’m not good enough at sewing to make handbags!).

All of the handbags I have ever bought have been mass produced high street bags, so I am very much in love with my first handmade bag as it is mine and no one else has one the same. I even got to pick how big it was and what material it was made from, and even the button on the front!
So I’d like to thank Abi Bansal Design for creating my first handmade handbag. Long may it carry lots of my junk around (and believe me its already full up).


I think I may even be able to attach a bag charm to it, I’ve been making them recently so it would be a nice way to advertise my bag chams and also Abi’s lovely bags.