Christmas giveaway

23 Nov 2016

Christmas 2016 leaf earring giveaway

One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day.
Don’t clean it up too quickly. Andy Rooney

I saw this quote and it made me feel all warm and fuzzy.  There really is something truly special about sitting amongst a pile of wrapping paper and tangles of curling ribbon, drawing straws as who should leave to the put the coffee on and contemplating that one of you really should hit the shower some time soon and what time does the turkey need to go in?  I think perhaps it’s my very favourite part of Christmas; being in my own home, in my nightdress, with my family beside me.

A very close friend of ours passed away a few years ago, having been bravely battling cancer for many years.  She went away somewhere fancy one Christmas and when I asked if she’d enjoyed it she said “don’t ever go away for Christmas, all it did was make me realise that the very best thing about Christmas – and what makes it Christmas – is being at home”.

Christmas gifts for my customers:

Air dry clay leaf earrings, varnished with a metallic shimmer and hung on bronze earwires.
Air dry clay leaf earrings, varnished with a metallic shimmer and hung on bronze earwires.

To thank my wonderful customers for their very valued support during 2016, I will be giving away a pair of entirely hand crafted shimmery leaf earrings with bronze earwires on all orders over £18.

I have individually sculpted the leaves from air dry clay, then sealed with several layers of varnish, with a little metallic shimmer. (This renders them splash proof, but I wouldn’t recommend showering or swimming in them).

They’re hanging from hand crafted scrolled bronze earwires and are incredibly light and comfortable to wear. They drop around 35mm (1.4″) and are around 15mm (0.6″) wide. Each leaf has been individually shaped and they’re put together in co-ordinated pairs.

They’re all gift wrapped in tiny Christmas pillow boxes ready for giving – or for keeping as a treat for yourself. Earrings will be sent whilst stocks last or until the last Christmas postings.

New Facebook page:

I decided recently that, as many technical discussion resources that I previously enjoyed had moved to using the Facebook platform, maybe it was finally time for me to give in and sign up too – having resisted for many years.  So I now have a Facebook page in my arsenal, so you’re welcome to visit me there too.

It does actually have a nice easy interface to make quick posts and add photos etc., so I think I may well use it as a supplement to longer articles posted here on the blog.  My page is linked to from the top of both the blog pages and my on-line shop.

Recent work:

A gold bronze pendant with little softly shaped reservoirs filled with coloured resin.
A gold bronze pendant with little softly shaped reservoirs filled with coloured resin.

I’ve been thinking lately about adding more colour to pieces. I’ve always fancied enamelling, but other than heat sources, I have no other equipment, so would need to start from scratch. And if I don’t like it, or am not very good at it, that’s wasted expenditure.

I saw an article recently on UV resin, which sounded very promising. As a trained illustrator, I already have a good assortment of pigments that sounded like they’d be suitable (just a little trial and error would be necessary, to select the best to use) and I already have a UV light source that I use for photopolymer plates, so outlay would be minimal to have a tinker. The long cure time for conventional 2 part resins has put me off before.

I did a few tests and selected the best pigments to try and used this piece I made in bronze especially to take colour in the raised cells. It was really enjoyable selecting and mixing colours and curing them under the UV light. They go under the light as a sticky coloured gel, about the consistency of nail polish and come out from under the light, looking exactly the same, glossy and liquid, except now they cell contents are absolutely rock hard. I was quite magical and now I can’t wait to try some more.

I’m in the process of photographing several new pieces to list in the shop in time for Christmas, but some of the latest pieces are shown in the gallery below and I’ll add to it shortly as I have more photos.

Newest pieces are always shown on the front page of the shop in the Latest Products section – newest at the top.

Recent work gallery:

 

2 Dec 2015

Christmas 2015 Swarovski giveaway

The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.

George Carlin.

For a change, I was on the case in addressing what I was going to wear this Christmas, largely because my catalogue sent me a good discount voucher, so I was able to get the items I’d already turned the page corner over for.  I’m almost always a last minute panic sort of girl, so this makes a refreshing change.  It’s actually the only Christmas matter that I’ve dealt with, so I don’t have grounds for getting even the slightest bit smug.  Although I have now ordered the turkey, so that’s the important stuff dealt with.

The reason for telling you this is that the purchase of festive garments necessitated appropriate accessories – obviously.   I normally make myself something quick and inexpensive with beads to match the outfit and one of my tops has a lower neckline than I’m usually seen sporting, so I thought I could stand something rather more bold.    Having got many ‘Black Friday’ emails from suppliers about the bargains to be had, I set off to see what goodies I could snag to make my festive shinies.

My own Christmas bling with mahoosive Swarovski Elements crystals in a gorgeous colour called Silvernight.
My own Christmas bling with mahoosive Swarovski Elements crystals in a gorgeous colour called Silvernight.

This led to the purchase of several rather large Swarovski crystals and a commercially made setting to take two, which will be just the ticket for some festive sparkle.  Looking at Swarovski items, I had several ideas for Christmas presents, allowing me to tick a few more things off my rather poorly progressing list and that set me to wondering about thank you gifts for my customers too.

So I added some more items to my baskets and have decided to make and give away some little items of Swarovski sparkle with all orders over £18 in December – I was going to set it at £20, but as I sell a lot of items at £18 and £19, it felt more appropriate to drop it accordingly.

Nothing beats the sparkle given off by the clear facets of Swarovski crystals.
Nothing beats the sparkle given off by the clear facets of Swarovski crystals.

I have some single crystal stud earrings with Swarovski Element crystals and surgical steel posts and some little heart crystal pendants that I’ll give sway with orders over £35.

There’s nothing beats the twinkle you get from Swarovski crystals; the pristine cuts and the clarity of the facets really do catch the light – and makes it almost impossible to do them justice in photographs.  Having been working with them over the weekend, they sparkle profusely as you move around them.  And a bit of sparkle seems perfect for the festive party season.

Please see the Christmas 2015 page on my web site for more details of the Swarovski giveaway and details of Christmas ordering deadlines and options for buying and giving gifts.

I hope that everyone will have a fantastic festive season and I wish you all the very, very best for 2016.  Thank you to all of my totally lovely customers in 2015, your support is much appreciated and it has truly been a pleasure.