Tarboush

Had a lovely night out at Tarboush restaurant last night.

600 Facebook Fan Giveaway!

I finally made it! 600 fans on Facebook! And as promised, It's competition time.

And as this is an extra special competition for me, I'm offering anything in my etsy shop, including worldwide shipping as a prize. (excluding wholesale listings)

And I'm going to make it extra easy to enter with a rafflecopter widget.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Oops! Over Excited!

I got a bit excited and started too many brooches all at once!

Greehouse is a Go Go!

The Greenhouse is finally up! there was a few technical issues whcih were ironed out by G so it took a bit longer than we thought. I'm so pleased I have it!

My tomato plant and pumpkin are very happy too.

 

I took the risk and fnally planted my sweetcorn outside as well.

The Year of "Getting Things Done"

I have decided that this year is the year I "Get Things Done"

In November last year I joined Slimming World. I'm not a yo-yo dieter, or been on a diet for years, unless you could being a vegetarian for the last decade or two.

It's just when I got to a size 28 and even the "fat shops" are running out of options, I figured that maybe I should do something. So I did. 3 stone lost so far (42lbs)

The first photo is my in August and the other photo is my in May 3 stone lighter.

I hope you will follow me on my Journey of "Getting things Done"

Are you planning on "Getting Things Done" this year too?

LadyBrook Craft Fair - Photos!

Had a great time at the Ladybrook fair. Lots of different stalls. Pyrography, vintage jewellery, wedding photography, live caricaturist, cupcakes.... And the lady running the fair was kind enough to take a photo of my stall too.

Stapleford Steam Fair

I'll be here with my jewellery :)

Stapleford Park, near Melton Mowbray, Leics, England, LE14 2SF
(Note be warned, there is another Stapleford at Nottingham!!)

The private railway is only open to the general public on two occasions per year, in mid June and and August BH Sunday and Monday as part of special charity steam events featuring vintage vehicles and exhibits etc all supporting LOROS.

Also a craft marquee with a range of handcrafted items.

Stapleford Steam 2013

Saturday and Sunday 8th 9th June

Gates open 10-00 till 17-00 each day

Prices Adults £5 Children £3

(Note small additional charges for train rides)

Some photos from previous years are at http://www.sharpos-world.co.uk/cpg/thumbnails.php?album=287

And directions at http://www.fsmr.org.uk/directions2.html

More Brooches!

I seem to be on a roll with these brooches!

Craft Fair - LadyBrook Mansfield, Nottinghamshire

Spreading my wings a bit... All the way to Mansfield!

Black Butterfly

I tried something a bit more Victorian this time.

What do you think it should be?

A brooch or a pendant necklace? Or maybe a hair slide?

Seedlings a Go-go!

Still too worried to put the plants outside, and the flatpack greenhouse is putting up a bit of a fight, so the windowsill is getting a little bit cramped.

So I've expanded onto the little table in the kitchen. I've also run out of drip trays so have improvised with one of our kitchen trays!

Finished Item - Eyeball Brooch

And listed for sale here

Eye Brooch - Work in Progress

 

Handmade eye cabochon from the Crimson Moon on Etsy 

Scrabble Tile Rings

Making more scrabble tile rings which will mean I've got nearly the whole alphabet in stock.

And here we go! I'm not going to list them on etsy for sale as they are going straight in my market stock box, but shout if you want one. They are silver plated adjustable ring bases, and £4 each. 

Kitty Brooch Finished!

And for sale here

Kitty Cat - Work In Progress

Raised Beds

I've always loved gardening. When I was a Girl Guide I was the only person in my company to get the Gardeners badge. I've never really liked growing flowers though, apart from the forget-me-nots that I used to dig up from my grandma's garden and plant into yogurt pots and distribute around the garden and occasionally take home.

So in the spirit of "Getting Things Done" I inquired about getting an allotment. I found this was easy by just googling allotments and my council area. It gave me a form to fill in and email back to the council. Apparently the waiting time for me area is 2 years.

I decided more immediate action was required.

We are lucky to have a nice back garden at our house. Most of it laid to grass. So G and I started to make plans for some raised beds.

After research, we decided 12" was the right height to make the beds and decking wood was our material of choice as it had been treated to stop it rotting. The beds were also lined with plastic to stop them rotting even more.

G cut the wood and made them before putting them in place, but found that there was a patch of concrete under the grass so went to work with very noisy power tools to remove it. I ran off to the house as it was far too noisy, but he was having lots of fun destroying things with a power drill.

These are my very sad looking runner beans. I planted them a couple of days before we had a very windy storm. The wind and rain battered them so much. The top leaves are looking a bit more healthy now, but the bottom leaves have lots of marks on them.

I've also got radishes, spring onions, beetroot and carrots planted in the raised bed but no sign of life yet.

Tonights Beading

All ready for a beading session this evening.

Key Necklaces

So sorry I've been gone for so long. It's been very busy and I've got so much done lately, but not blogging!

I've been playing around with materials I have lieing around the house. Things I've been saving because "they will come in handy one day". Plus items which I've come across whilst other people have been decluttering.

First thing I've been playing with is keys. I've made a few different designs but first out into the world are pendants.

 

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/150845541/vintage-key-pendant-candy-pastels

Bead Soup April 6th - Reveal!

Reveal day is finally here!

Shalini sent me this lovely bowl of bead soup.

And this focal which she wirewrapped herself.

Gorgeous eh?

Now, they are really not a colour combination I would have chosen for myself. But that's the whole point! When someonee lse shooses your pallette and materials, you have to think outside of your normal design patterns.

So I did!

There were some lovely little tibetan silver spacers in a generous bag of "extras" which Shalini sent so i started by putting them to good use.

I don't usually make multistrand pieces with two hole spacers, so figured now was the time to start learning.

And it's all mine! Mwahahaha! Ahem. I'm keeping this one for myself :)

With the wire wrapped pendant, how could I not choose a bit of wire wrapping for the necklace itself?

Now pop over to Shalini to see what she made from the soup I sent her

And everyone else from todays blog hop is listed here.

Black and Silver Shell Pearl Necklace - Before and After

I thought I' might post some in progress shots.

Here's the beads all laid out ready to go. I've stopped using eyepins, preferring to use a reel of wire so i can make sire wrapped loops on either end of the beads. It's so much more secure, especially with heavier weight beads.

And here we are after.

Having the length of necklace so long means that it can be worn in three strands, or two or a really long length with a knot in it. So versatile.

And some of my ladies like them like this as it means that they don't have to fiddle around with clasps or need anyone to help them with putting their jewellery on.

For sale on Etsy here

Bead Soup Blog Hop - Soup is Cooking!

 Finally my long awaited blog entry showing what Shalini sent me. I've been lax with my posting as I have really fallen out of ove mwith photography. I don't think any of my photos give justice to the pretty things I like to photograph.

We've bought a white background, tried different buttons on the flashy camera (with no flash of course) but I'm still not happy. But as deadline is looming, these photos will have to do.

First of all the lovely hand wrapped focal and a clasp. I have to include these in my design. They don't have to be in the same item, but both have to be used for the blog hop.

 Then all the other beads that were sent as well. I have been spoiled by Shalini's generosity!

And the "money shot"  Everything mixed together to make a bead soup

Not a colour combination I've used before but that's the whole point. A suprise bead soup makes you think and design something that you wouldn't have ordinarily thought of.

Thanks Shalini! And onwards and upwards to our final blog pieces. Reveal date is April 8th.

MarshellSwaps Holiday Blog Hop - March 16th

This year I'm making a conscious effort to take part in blog hops and creative challenges. I find that they really make me think and I get some really good ideas from them which I can progress into new designs and working methods.

This one looked good.

"You and your partner will decide what holiday you want to create for, BUT it has to be celebrated in the months of February and March"

After a couple of emails back and forth with my partner Jen, we decided to go fora  fun holiday. "Tell a Fairy Tale Day" on February 26th.

There were so many ideas going back and forth in my head and eventually I plumped for Cinderella and bought some little silver pumpkin charms. Perfect I thought! I knew I must have some lovely gemstones rounds in my bead stash. Could I find anything. No I could not.

So I was stuck again with a deadline looming.

After getting my Rapunzel mixed up with my Rumplestiltskin, I thought about Sleeping Beauty. All those rose briars getting knotted up together. Then I remember the aluminium roses that I had sitting in my stash. but where exactly were they?

And finally the Sleeping Beauty's rose bracelet was born.

My lovely partner Jenny chose to make me a necklace based on the Princes and the Golden Ball. I remember this story from when I was little but it was called the Princess and the Frog. It's fun how the name of stories change and merge over time and areas. Look at the lovely froggie!

I think the choice of seed beads used are just inspired! The green with golden core are just perfect! I wouldn't have thought of using a colour combination to tie the piece together like that!

Sale!

I'm having a tidy up to get more streamlined before the craft fair season starts. So here's a sale in my etsy shop. Some items half price and lots at a fiver and under.

Bead Soup Blog Hop - The Soup I Sent

Here's what I sent to my swap partner Shalini

 

A handful of Swarovski disc crystals, 

Some metal glitterballs in various sizes, 

A length of silver plated chain which I seem to be obsessed about at the moment, 

Some Swarovski glass pearls 

and a magnetic glitterball clasp.

I decided glass was the way to go with this soup!

Shalini has received it, and has blogged about it

Just got to get photos made of the great soup she sent me when there is some decent light.

Love and light - Tanya's Blog Hop

I "met" Tanya through a couple of groups on facebook and started following her blog which is where I saw her "Beads for Blogging" feature.

The gist was that you applied to Tanya for some beads and then you blogged about them. I was one of the lucky people who was chosen to join in and got sent these lovelies.

And I made this necklace which I kept all for myself

I bought a few beads here and there from Tanya, as well as gorgeous semi precious bracelet which she made herself.

I'm not sure anyone needs to know the rest. hearing about her getting iller on facebook was so sad, and the shock of seeing the memo from her family that she had passed was more than words could say.

For this blog hop, I decided to make something from something I had bought from Tanya.A beautiful briolette. As with all my extra special purchases, I was saving this for something special and figured this was the perfect opportunity. And once again, I'm keeping this one for me.

I've had the faceted amethyst rounds in my bead stash for a while and though that it was time to use them. And I treated myself to a beautiful Trinity connector.

Other people taking part are here:-

Solange Colling Ahowin Handcrafted Jewelry
Liss Silverwing http://lisssilverwing.blogspot.com/
Cherry Obsidia http://cherryobsidia.blogspot.co.uk/
Rana Lea http://ranaleadesigns.blogspot.com/
Leah Curtis http://beadyeyedbunny.blogspot.co.uk/
Lori Anderson http://www.prettythingsblog.com/
Ingrid www.wrappedinsilver.com