Monday 17 November 2014

Elf time


I made a beaded pendant on Saturday, but the light on Sunday was dreadful – all overcast and dismal and I couldn’t make anything. Then it was Christmas shopping and grocery shopping and all the mundane things of life… 

Finding time to make is hard, especially at this time of year when there are so many other things to be doing as well.  


My shop theme for this week is ‘Christmas’. How about these cute fimo elf earrings?



Friday 14 November 2014

Six weeks


Did you know it is 6 weeks to Christmas today? With that in mind, and having ruined your day with that little bit of information, I have started adding Christmas cut-off dates to my Etsy listings. For your information, last ordering dates are:

28th November for oversees orders
15th December for UK orders

Tomorrow I am looking forward to doing some jewellery-making and I have an idea for a pendant I want to try out. For those of you wondering where I do my making, I’ll show you my little workstation.


 


Yes, its pink. I have no idea why I wanted it pink, I think I had a moment of girlie-ness…









The table was given to us, and I thought it was adorable. My husband offered to paint it for me while I was at work, and added my shop logo to the front, which was a lovely surprise! There is also a funny story connected with the painting…

Wanting good light to paint the logo, my husband sat himself on the floor of our living room in a lovely spot of sunshine. There he was, surrounded by newspaper (in case of drippage) and paint, and was so engrossed he didn’t notice the cat wandering up to say hello. And happily trailing through all the paint…

Poor puss! She couldn’t understand why she was being chased all round the room in a unsuccessful attempt to stop the spread of paint that went everywhere… I gather she wasn’t too happy at having her paws washed, either!  


Tuesday 11 November 2014

Blue Tuesday


I hope you aren’t feeling blue this week – especially as I’m using ‘blue’ as my theme for the shop this week! How about  these festive Christmas bauble earrings? 



Tried a new idea out for making a pendant, which sadly didn’t work. Oh well, back to the drawing board… however, I have finished another two necklaces - and the Steampunk one should give my husband a few problems when taking the pictures of it  - and a new pair of Czech glass earrings that came from a lovely stash of Czech glass beads purchased for me in Prague by a family member. I couldn’t wait to sort the glass beads to see what I had… aren’t they pretty?


Watch this space to see what I do with the rest!

Thursday 6 November 2014

About my ear wires


A friend asked about the ear wires that I use in my designs, and I thought an information post might also be helpful to you. (This info has now been added to its own page for future reference.)

Currently I use three types – Sterling silver, gold fill, and niobium.

Sterling Silver                        

These are the most common ones I use. In general these are roughly 18mm, but I do have a few longer ones that I would be happy to use if preferred. Some ‘sterling’ wires produced overseas do not meet the relevant UK standards and are not always proper sterling, in spite of having the 925 stamp on them. Mine, however, are purchased from reputable suppliers here in the United Kingdom.

Contrary to popular belief, sterling silver is not 100% silver, as it would be too soft to use in most cases. Instead it is made from a mix of 92.5% silver and 7.5% base metal, which is usually copper. This is why sterling silver jewellery is stamped 925 – 92.5 silver. 

Goldfill

Goldfill wires (roughly 19mm) are much better quality than standard gold plated, and are made from 14 karat gold layers on a base metal core.

Niobium

These measure approx 20mm and come in a good range of pretty colours. Niobium is a pure metal that has often been anodised to give them colour, and is hypoallergenic, so unlikely to cause skin problems.

In addition:

Surgical Steel

I do also have a few surgical steel wires, bought especially for a friend with other allergies. I do not use these normally, as sometimes they can contain small amounts of nickel. However, if you are interested in these, come and talk to me. 

Please note:

While the materials I use are generally regarded as ‘safer’, it isn’t possible for any material to be 100% allergy free. Since making jewellery I have spoken to so many people with quirky twists to their allergies and there really doesn’t seem to be any ‘one type suits all’. The only advice I can possibly give is to try different options and find out what works for you. Then stick to it!


Tuesday 4 November 2014

Tuesday quickie


Yesterday I did some Christmas shopping, which went quite well, although trudging around in the pouring rain was a trifle damp. Unfortunately it meant that I didn’t get much making done; Today I did finish a couple of necklaces – and another looks a bit plain so I’m going to have to think about how to improve it. Oh, and I picked up  my new glasses this afternoon so hopefully I can see those fiddly little connections better!

I had to laugh last week – on returning from the shops, the car coming from the other direction pulled up in the road, honking their horn. Why? There was a pheasant sitting obstinately in the road, looking really disgruntled and his attitude clearly said he was not moving…!

Hee… I love living in the country!

Sunday 2 November 2014

November already?




I don’t know what the weather is like where you are, but its cold and wintry here. And it's been so nice all week – kinda freaky for October but nice all the same. It’s been lovely just to stay in and work on my projects this weekend!

I try – with varying degrees of success - to spend some time on Saturday making things, trying things out, organising my supplies and generally involving myself in my craft. Yesterday I finished a new bracelet and a necklace, and played around with a couple of prototypes and some upcoming new lines. One of these is a beaded necklace that I’m trying to figure out, and when I do, I’ll share the result with you!

Every Sunday I change the featured items on my Etsy shop and I try to give the selection some kind of common theme. For this week, I’m focusing on ‘animals’ – how about these cutie earrings?