Weekend Away

Today I am going to visit my parents on the Isle of Wight. They live on the west by the sea. I am going as it is Mother's Day on Sunday and also to have my bridesmaid dress fitted. In May I will be a bridesmaid for one of my best friends and my mum is making my dress. I will let you know after this weekend what it is like!
I have been busy this week, making the invites for Jo's Hen Weekend in April. She is having a Disney theme and she will be Snow White so I used yellow and blue ribbon down the side of the card with a small picture of Snow White. Then I wrote all the details in black with silver to highlight the important info. I was pleased with the final design, it took me a few evenings to do it all, as I ran out of ribbon on the first evening! Hopefully Jo will be pleased with them too.
Just got to get through today at work before having a relaxing weekend. I still have to get my mum a present for Sunday, will be searching the shops at lunchtime today. Sh did mention to me that the photo frame I decorated for her a few years ago has broken so I could give her that, but she would be expecting it; I will see what is in the shops.
Hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

Waste of time

I forgot to say yesterday that I took on board people's comments about my photos being scanned and took some photos of jewellery with my camera. It was a waste of time! I couldn't get close enough to get any detail and the background paper I used just reflected the light. I know I must have been doing something wrong but I much prefer the ease of scanning the jewellery and editing on the computer. I know I am not an expert at that but at least it doesn't blur!
Anyway I do like looking at pictures of jewellery that have been taken with a camera, it does look very impressive but I just couldn't get the hang of it. I may try again when it is sunnier, but I wont be spending so much time on it.

Butterfly Sparkle Necklace

Here it is, as promised.

The photo of the Butterfly choker I made yesterday and tried to describe! Maybe you can let me know how well I described it and if it was how you imagined.

I have been quite busy today, I had a day off from work and relaxed at home. I made a few new items of jewellery and updated my Etsy store http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=12340 with better descriptions, a new banner and avatar. Constructive criticism welcomed.

I have also put some earrings on Etsy to match a bracelet already listed. The daisy millefiore beads I used for the items are so pretty and summery. They really put some sunshine into a dull day. Definitely what's needed at the moment.

I am listening to my brother-in-law's radio show at the moment, good music and chat http://rarefm.co.uk/listen.php if you want to check it out - The Stefan Show. Every Friday evening at 8pm.

Now we are off to the pub to celebrate a friend's birthday, everyone seems to be born in February! This first part of the year has been very busy time for birthdays. It has been a great opportunity to catch up with everyone though, and enjoy some very good nights out.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

Butterfly Sparkle

I finally made another piece of jewellery last night! I actually sat down and got everything out and made something! I am very pleased with myself. Unfortunately I cant show you til tomorrow as I havent had a chance to take a picture yet. I will try and describe it for you - you can let me know how accurate my description was when you see the pic!
At first glance you see a pretty pink butterfly, this was adapted from a pair of earrings found in Dorothy Perkins of all places. I have put this butterfly onto a memory wire choker that fits perfectly around your neck. I have used pink seed beads to co-ordinate with the pink butterfly and accented this with small silver seed beads and black chakri discs. The black beads bring everything alive and bring your eye down towards the butterfly. The silver really adds extra sparkle to the necklace which could be worn either for daytime as a fun piece with jeans and t-shirt or to add something special to an evening dress. It would really light up and catch people's attention when worn with black. The colour pink in the necklace is vibant and warm.
I have been waiting to use this butterfly for a long time and am pleased with the result. You are just going to have to wait another day to see it!

Etsy Critique

I have put my store up for critique on Etsy and have had some helpful tips so far. I was quite worried about being criticised but everyone has been very kind. It has given me some things to think about, I will be putting these things into action over the next week or so.
Please feel free to take a look at my store http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=12340 and critique or leave helpful tips and suggestions in the forum http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5476096
Thank you for looking.

Manic Weekend

After a long week at work, this weekend is so far the longest weekend ever! On wednesday evening, my husband and I went out to a favourite restaurant - Rosie's Vineyard - for a Valentine's meal. The food there is amazing! We were so full afterwards, I fell asleep as soon as I sat down in front of the tv when we got home.
Valentine's evening consisted of us waiting a long time to cook dinner and eat it and then make home made waffles and eat them. We had planned to sit down and sort out our honeymoon scrap book but it got too late to start that (that will hopefully be a project to do tomorrow).
After work yesterday we both hurriedly tidied the flat and got started on cooking for our friends. We had quiche with asparagus wrapped in parma ham, served with salad and victoria sponge for afters. We then proceeded to play Lord of the Rings Risk whcich took a good few hours! We finished off with Scrabble. I was terrible at both games last night. I blame it on being tired!
Today we were both working at the Children's University. Putting on workshops for primary school children. It was a fun but tiring day and now I am just about ready for nothing else! I have had a cup of tea which has warmed me up. But still not put me in the right mood for jewellery making. I have seen a blog recently where the author has been doing a project a day, it is a great idea. I dont know if she works full time but never the less it is an achievement. She has been going for about two weeks I believe (correct me if I am wrong!). I just wish I could find the time in between working full time, cooking, cleaning, reading for two book groups and seeing friends. I am not complaining at all, I love being busy, it makes me appreciate the quiet days when I can relax and do as I please. I am taking the next hour or so to do just that.

Happy Valentine's Day

Hope everyone has a lovely Valentine's Day whether you are celebrating the day or not. It is after all a normal day with an excuse for the card and chocolate companies to make more money.... but I dont really mind as I love chocolate.

Home Time

It has been a long day at work today :( I will be very glad to get home and sit down to have dinner.
I did meet my friend for lunch, which was lovely, we had a nice walk around the shops getting our Valentine's presents for our partners. My friend was very excited about Valentine's day, more so about the giving of her presents to her partner. I should probably be more like that, but I do like getting gifts!
I am being a bit of a book worm at the moment so unfortunately there hasnt been much time for jewellery making. I am part of the local library reading group and the meeting is tonight. The book we are discussing tonight is The Sea by John Banvilles. It really hasnt appealed to me and I have only read about half of it. It just doesnt stimulate me enough to want to know what happens. It will be good to hear what everyone else thought of it. I have also recently organised a book club with some friends. The first book we read as a group was Life of Pie by Yann Martel. I very much enjoyed it, I think most people did too but surprised by the ending. It gives you a lot to think about. The next book for that group is Catch 22. AFter tonight's library book club I need to start Catch 22 and finish quickly, I have so many books on my shelf that are unreaad and I just bought another 3 today!
Still loving this gorgeous sunshine and the fact that is light when I leave work!

Sunshine

It has been a beautiful sunny weekend here in Portsmouth. Yesterday I took full advantage of the glorious weather and went down to the seafront with a few friends. We ate chips on the beach, walked along the promenade and played games in the arcade. It was great to catch up with old friends and do something with no worries.
We then celebrated out friend's birthday with lots of drinks and chocolate cake. After going to a few pubs we ended the night with a yummy curry. It was really tasty so I finished all mine and as a result sort of fell into bed with a very full tummy! It was a good evening and great to do something different.
As a result of all this, I have not done any of the things I had planned to do. Those things were pretty boring though so I am glad to not have done them! Today has been a relaxing day spent in my pyjamas watching tv and drinking tea. A lovely way to finish off the weekend.

Needing More Time

It would be perfect if I didn't have to work, I could spend all day making jewellery. By the time I have finished work and got home, had dinner and sat down, it is already too late to even start anything. Then the weekend...... the ideal time to sit down and create...... or so you would think. Even that free time I don't seem to do anything!

Never the less, I have made some things over the past week and am pleased with how they turned out.

You can see this latest necklace for sale on Etsy at http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9426367

As I was saying before, it is a replica of a past design with slightly different colours. The glass heart is really eye catching and people always comment when I wear a piece of jewellery with a glass heart like that.

At last it is Friday tomorrow. It feels like it has been a very long week, and I am looking forward to having no work over the weekend. I plan to make some more jewellery, but you know what they say about the best laid plans!

New Etsy listing

I have just added another item to my shop on www.shootingstar27.etsy.com Check it out, I need all the views I can get!
Have been making new jewellery this weekend will upload pics tomorrow, just off to relax before bed and then another week at work :(

Getting down to work

This week I have been desperately trying to find time to make some more jewellery. With both Valentine's Day and Mother's Day fast approaching I want to make some new items to put online and take into work. I would also like to have another Jewellery Party before Mother's Day but I will wait and see what happens for that one!

So I did make one item last night! Something similar to a very popular necklace I made last year. I made sure I wore it out a lot, as you can see it is an eye catching piece. People always comment on how nice it is, so I tell them I made it myself and they can buy it.......... that's it though, people dont seem to want to buy something I am wearing already! It is like they think I will be doing without if they buy it! Anyway I finally sold the one on the left, when I wasnt wearing it I might add, and I have made something similar. Hopefully it will be as popular.

I am going to get on with some more jewellery making now, I am in the mood to use my creativity.