Christmas is coming!

Wow, it's been ages since I updated my Blog, been so busy!

I had a flash of inspiration the other day whilst tidying through an old box of craft supplies and started playing around with some wire and beads.  This is what I came up with....

I posted some pics on my SC Jewellery page on Facebook and was amazed with the response I got!  So far I've had 2 definite orders (one for 3 decs and one for 12 decs!) and a possible order for another 5 decs.  I've ordered some more supplies and should have snowflakes and icicles available very soon, along with some decs with Christmas charms hanging from them.

I have quite a few events coming up soon as well....a Christmas Fayre down on Douglas Quay (11th December), an open evening at the hair salon I go to (I was invited to attend with some of my jewellery), a charity event at a local hotel in November, a Christmas Fayre at our local Town Hall and hopefully I'll have a table at Jamie's school Christmas Fayre.  I'm working on lots more Christmas decs so that I can offer them for sale at some of these events.  Busy, busy, busy!

I absolutely love Christmas and I'm already getting into the spirit of it with making these decorations!

Hope everyone is well! x

Taking a break for the day.

Well, the weather's lovely here today so I'm taking a break from jewellery making for the afternoon and me and J, my youngest boy, are off out to the park.

Will be back at work this evening though....trying out some elasticated bracelets.  They're not something I would usually buy or make myself but lots of people have been asking about them.  I made a sample one last night using some old beads and I've been wearing it myself today.  I like to wear some of my designs around the house just to trial-run them.  Two fans from my SC Jewellery Facebook page have volunteered as guinea pigs so I'm going to make them both a bracelet for them to wear for the next couple of weeks and see how they are.  My main worry with stretchy bracelets is that they'll lose their stretch after a few wears.  I've got different types of elastic to try out to see which is the best.

Anyway, we have swings to play on and slides to whizz down.  Catch you all later x

Some more new makes....

Here's a few more of my newest creations.....

New designs for July

My newest designs.  I particularly like the bracelet with the Turquoise beads....Turquoise looks so striking with red beads.

My first post in a while.....

....as I've been a busy little bee!

I've done a few craft events recently and I'm adding more strings to my bow by setting up a new little business....Princess Sparkles Jewellery & Jewellery Making Parties.  I've done a lot of research and there appears to be a real gap in the market for children's jewellery making parties.  My Little Princess jewellery range proved to be very popular so I thought I'd take it a step further and dedicate a whole website to children's jewellery and then another step even further and set up jewellery making parties.  I'm spending a lot of time searching the net for suitable beads etc but I'm hoping to have the parties up and running by October.  I'm very excited about it!

I moved house at the end of May so that's kept me pretty busy as well.

School hols have started and so far so good....although we're only into the 4th day!  I have a day off so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for good weather so me and my youngest boy can get out and about.

That's all for now as I have beads to find!

Hope everyone's well x

The prize chosen by the winner of the first prize draw I did on Facebook.

The winner chose a Rose Quartz pendant, bracelet and earrings set.  Here it is.....

Race For Life.

A while ago I signed up to do the Race for Life in Lancaster on July 11th.  I've been posting on Facebook to get my "friends" to sponsor me.  A lot of them know what I've been through with my eldest boy, he is a leukaemia survivor :o), yet they still choose to ignore my sponsorship plea!  The minimum donation is only £2.00 so it's a sorry state of affairs when your so called friends can't even give £2.00 to such a worthy cause.  What is the world coming to?!  I know times are hard but, please, it's just £2.00!  Rant over....and breathe!  I think a Facebook friend cull is in order!

Another lovely day.

Well, it's been another lovely day here on the Isle of Man so me and my youngest boy, Jamie, went to Ramsey for a little trip so I could stock up on some more beads.  Couldn't wait to get home and make something with them....pics are posted below.  They're such cheery colours for Summer.  As you can see I'm in a bit of a peahy orange mood at the minute.

Not sure how long this gorgeous weather will last as some people are saying there's another cold spell to hit us early next week.

Had a really good day today and have sold 4 bracelets!  I also sold one of my designs which I had on display at the hair salon I go to....that's the 5th item they've sold for me.

Have a great weekend everyone :o)

A couple more pics of new designs.

Craft Market.

I'm very excited as I got the booking form and details about the local craft market being held during the Summer.  I'm hoping it'll do well and will bring me lots more business and get my products known.  It'll be the first time I put my new designs on sale so hopefully they'll be well received.  I've had lots of positive comments about them when I posted them on my SC Jewellery fan page on Facebook so fingers crossed!

Spring is definitely here.....glorious day here on the Isle of Man, sunshine and warmth really makes you smile :o)

I'm still working on my website but I've got so much on at the minute I just haven't had time to get it all finished.

http://scjewellerydesigns.co.uk/

A few more new designs.....

New designs

Here are my latest designs.  As I mentioned in my last post I've been working on some pieces which are less expensive than my usual designs.  They still have sterling silver components but the beads are sourced locally and are cheaper than the Swarovski crystal and handmade lampwork beads I usually work with.  I'm not putting these for sale just yet but keeping them for the events I have coming up.....a shopping night which I'm organising at my youngest boy's school in May and a weekly craft market I'm hoping to hire a table at during the Summer months.  All comments are welcome!

Looks like Spring is finally here!

Well, I've woken up to another lovely day here on the Isle of Man so maybe Spring is here....at last.  We had a terrible Easter weekend, pouring with rain and blowing a gale.

I'm working on a few new designs at the minute that are less expensive than my usual pieces.  They'll still have the quality of sterling silver components but the beads will be cheaper than the Swarovski crystals and lampwork beads I normally use.  I'll post a few pics later today.

New designs with polymer clay beads.

Here are 2 new designs which incorporate some of the beads I bought yesterday.

Easter weekend.

I found the most fab little shop when me and J were out and about today, I never even knew it existed until today!  It's full of beads, great beads!!  I spent an hour in there picking a mixture of beads of all shapes, colours and sizes. 

The lady who runs the shop also makes her own polymer clay beads and pendants.  I bought a heart shaped pendant which has swirls of purple and pink with a small pink flower with a diamante centre on the front of it....I've just sat tonight and make a necklace.  I also bought some cerise pink polymer beads with silver swirls....they've been made into a bracelet tonight.  I'm so pleased with how they've both turned out.  I'll post pics tomorrow.

The lady runs polymer clay workshops so I'm hoping to sign up for the next one so I can properly start on making my own beads.

Happy Easter everyone, have a great weekend x

A couple more new designs.  This is just a sneaky preview, they won't be on sale until May.

Excited!

I'm pretty excited at the minute.  There was an ad in our local paper looking for crafty people who'd be interested in hiring a stall at a weekly craft fair during the Summer.  It's something that the local Government are organising and it's being held in a prime position on Douglas Promenade (Douglas is our capital town).  It'll be great for passing trade and tourists looking for holiday presents.  I emailed the contact and she's sending me some more info once the fine details have been finalised.  We never get the chance to do anything like this on the island so I'm hoping this will be a chance to get my name known and bring me lots of business.  Can't wait!

Wonderful wire!

I'm loving working with wire at the moment.....although my poor stabbed fingers aren't!  It's amazing what you can come up with just by bending and twisting a little piece of wire.  I've just finished a couple of bracelets which incorporate beads and wrapped loops (will post pics tomorrow) and I'm real pleased with them.  Using wire instead of Beadalon/crimps/calottes seems to make designs so much more secure.

I'm doing my second prize draw on Facebook next week....going to give away a bracelet.

I've had a couple more orders directly through my site this week, that's very heartening as you know then that people are finding you out there!

Thank Crunchie it's Friday tomorrow :o)

Edited to add a pic of one of the bracelets.

Here's another charm style bracelet.  I sat up until midnight making this last night but I'm pleased with how it's turned out.  The pretty dragonfly charm makes a nice finishing touch.

Nice weather for ducks!

Bah, was going to take some pics of my new designs....my Pink Blush necklace, bracelet and earrings....but the weather is rubbish on the Isle of Man today, pouring with rain, dark and gloomy :o(

Will see if it clears up after lunchtime and try and get some pics posted.

On a positive note I've sold my Spring Blossom bracelet pictured below.  Sold it to a lovely lady based here on the island.  She also bought 3 pairs of earrings.  Doesn't it make you feel great when people appreciate your designs so much that they buy them :o)

Well, here are my latest creations.

I've not had chance to update my blog for a while, been so busy!  I've got lots of orders to do and I'm organising an event at my youngest boys school on Friday 21st May....it's a Mums/Ladies Night.  I'll be there with my jewellery along with lots of other traders/businesses like Phoenix Trading, The Body Shop At Home, The Pampered Chef etc.  It's a lot of hard work doing all the organising and getting my jewellery all ready for it but I'm really looking forward to it, it should be a great night. 

I'm working on some new designs but I'm not putting them for sale on Facebook or my website yet, I'll be keeping them until the Mums Night event.  Might put some pics up on here though to give you all a sneaky preview.

Hello new followers!

OOooo, I now have 15 followers.....thanks!

Not having a great day today!  Do you ever have one of those days when you have so much to do that you just can't get round to starting any of it, if that makes sense?!  Well, that's how I am today.  I've got orders to do, new designs to make, paperwork to do and packing for my house move to get done!  My head's whirling!

Spring is on it's way.

I'm on a roll with these charm style bracelets.  This is my Spring Blossom bracelet.  The green of the cat's eye beads and glass leaf beads is quite vibrant and bright but, suprisingly, it goes really well alongside the delicate pink of the other beads and crystals.  It's finished with a pretty sterling flower charm by the clasp.

All of my designs can be viewed and purchased on my website or my Facebook fan page.

Charming.

Despite my sore fingers I'm loving making these charm style bracelets and working with sterling silver wire. They're very time consuming but the finished product is just so sparkly. I'm really chuffed cos my Amethyst Dream bracelet sold more or less as soon as I showcased it on my Facebook page. Anyway, I've been working on another today....this time made with black, ruby red and garnet Czech glass beads, sterling silver oval twist beads and dainty little sterling silver coil drops (which I made myself as well).

I bought a fab book on wire and beading techniques yesterday in Waterstones so I've got lots of new ideas floating around in my head....so much so that I couldn't sleep properly last night!

Feel free to comment on my designs. I'm a member of a craft forum and have some really lovely, heartening comments on my Amethyst Dream bracelet. I've also had an offer to display some of my designs from someone opening a shop over in England. Things are looking positive and exciting :o)

Happy Mother's Day.

Happy Mother's Day to all the "mummy followers" of my Blog. I'd made a few designs for customers to give as Mother's Day pressies and, I'm happy to say, they were all very well recieved.

I've been researching some new wire and beading techniques so am very excited to be getting started on them. Hopefully after my disaster with FIMO yesterday I'll also get the knack of that well and have some fab new beads to incorporate into my designs. I'll post pics of my progress so feel free to comment.

Busy, busy times ahead not just with my jewellery because I'm also moving house! Dreading the thought of packing though cos you seem to collate so much junk and belongings over the years. As well as busy I'm hoping there'll be exciting and happy times ahead :o)

FIMO!

I've just been out on a little shopping trip with my youngest boy and he wanted to take a look in a model crafts shop. He picked a model tank kit and while we were there I got chatting to the lady who owns the shop. I ended up buying a slab of FIMO clay so I'm now going to attempt to make my own beads! I'm sure it'll take a few attampts to get it right but I'll post pics of my progress on here. It'll be great if I can acquire this skill cos then my beads and jewellery will be completely unique :0)

She also has a display of the cutest little animals made from polymer clay.....might try my hand at that as well. All I need now is an extra 5 hours in the day!

Amethyst Dream bracelet

This is the first time I've made a piece which involves such a lot of work with wires, wrapped loops and attaching crystals/beads by hand.....my hands are now like pin cushions but I'm really pleased with this design! This is the first piece in my Spring/Summer collection and as promised yesterday I've attached a pic. Gorgeous colours for the Summer. Please feel free to comment or buy if you like it! :o) Items can be purchased from my website or my Facebook fan page.

I'm working on my Spring/Summer stock at the minute.....almost finished a charm bracelet I've been working on this afternoon, it's called Amethyst Dream. I'll post a pic tomorrow when the light's better. It's a sterling silver cable chain with drops of Swarovski crystals, sterling silver beads and Amethyst beads.

Keep a look out on here and on my website as very soon I'm doing a "One Day Only" sale to make way for my Summer designs. All selected bracelets will be £8.00, selected earrings will be £4.00 and selected necklaces will be £10.00! As an extra special bonus for my loyal Blog followers I'll reduce the prices by an extra £1....you need to quote "loyalty discount" if you purchase any items on the day.

No treadmill today.....far too busy wire wrapping beads and things!

Busy, busy, busy!

At the minute I'm working on some new designs and making some improvements to my website....www.scjewellerydesigns.co.uk. I'll give followers a sneaky preview before I add them to the site and my Facebook page (SC Jewellery if anyone wants to become a fan!). I'm going to be adding lots more earring designs, fabric covered beads and long lariat style necklaces.

I've also been contemplating brooches....they seem to be coming back into fashion so I'm maybe gonna make a couple and see what reaction I get to them.

And, although I was going to stay away from tiaras I've had a few enquiries from people asking if I'll be doing them again.....looks like I'm going to give in!

Managed to get back on the treadmill yesterday for the first time in a week! Bit sore today but not too bad.

My Special Occasion Range

Been real busy the last week or so with lots of orders and creating my Special Occasion Jewellery range.....my range of handmade Swarovski crystal and pearl jewellery designed specifically with proms, weddings and other special occasions in mind. I have four designs so far and, if I do it right, pics are attached with this post! Feel free to comment on the designs....positive and negative comments are welcome as it all helps me to improve my work.

My eldest boy celebrated his 16th birthday yesterday!

My eldest boy was flown over to Alder Hey by air ambulance this morning, he's still very unwell so hope they make him better soon. His dad is with him and I'm staying at home with my youngest boy.

The upside to this is that I've managed to get back into making some more jewellery now that I'm not spending all day at the hospital with Dale. I've made some bracelets and necklaces today with some gorgeous beads I bought on Folksy. Haven't put them on my website yet as I'm keeping them to show off at my "open house" event next Friday.....have invited people round to view my designs, kind of like a jewellery party hosted in my house. I'm really chuffed with them so hope everyone else likes them as much!

Got lots to organise for next Friday so off I go.

PS....no treadmill for a couple of days cos think I've pulled a muscle. That's what I get for not stretching after a running session! :(

:o(

Didn't get much jewellery made yesterday after all.....my eldest boy went back into hospital last night. Jewellery on hold for now til he's better.

It's so unfair that children get sick while the nasty pieces of work breeze through life without a care in the world.

So much to do, so little time to do it!

As the title says! Although I shouldn't complain when my business is doing so well. I can go for a few days without so much as an enquiry about my jewellery then all of a sudden I get 6 orders in one day! Good job I have some time off from my regular job this week. I work as a childminder and also as a part-time blood donor clinic attendant by the way.

Like I said, 6 orders to complete by the weekend. It's great too as some of the orders are for returning clients, it's fab to know people like the designs so much that they come back for more.

I'm trying a new method today for attaching a bracelet/necklace to the clasp. I can be a bit set in my ways with my jewellery making so this is a big step for me! I've never had any disasters with the method I use (maybe just really lucky?!) but I've been reading more and more on craft forums that lots of people are having problems with this method and bracelets and necklaces are snapping. I'll post pics of my results later.

Day 5 of the treadmill.....I'm going for 1.7 miles today despite my legs being more sore than you could ever imagine.

Pancake Day

Pancake Day 2010 will now affectionately be remembered as the day I popped my blogging cherry! Me and the kids made pancakes, from scratch not a packet, and they turned out to be a great success.....no tossed pancakes on the floor or stuck to the ceiling!

It was also day 4 of the treadmill.....I've hired one for 10 weeks. 1.6 miles ran, without stopping or slowing the speed, in about 17 minutes. Size 0 here I come :o)

I added a couple of new pieces to my website today (www.scjewellerydesigns.co.uk), one of which I'm particularly proud of and you can see as my blog profile pic. It was a complete change from the norm for me as I don't usually make such bold statement pieces. I've had lots of admiring comments so hopefully someone will give it a new home, wear it with pride and treat it with care.

Anyway, dinner to cook and things to do.

My first ever blog :o)

Well, although I'm not completely computer illiterate I am totally new to blogging but I'll give it a try. Apparently when you start up a new online business stuff like this can help get you noticed.

I've started this blog mainly to "showcase" my jewellery designs and give everyone a little insight into the way I work. It's also a great way to store memories.....writing about everyday events that happen in my life and with my 2 boys.

I started making jewellery about 5 years ago but then due to work/family commitments I had to give up my hobby. I've recently found the time to start it up again and make it into a little business.....which I did on 15th January 2010 and I'm happy to say it's going very well so far.