I am really pleased to be able to let you all in on something that has been being planned for a while - I'm going to be teaching a workshop at the NEC Birmingham as part of Prima magazine's Make and Take Theatre! We will be making the festive bracelet that I wrote about a while back, just in time for Christmas. If you come along, you will get the full kit, with a choice of bead colours and I will guide you through the whole process.
These are two of the colours that will be available on the day, there will also be an option for a glass pearl bracelet, made to the same pattern, but which looks very different.
The Christmas Craft fair runs from Thursday, 6 November 2014 at 10:00 - Sunday, 9 November 2014 at 16:00, with a full programme of workshops, which may be booked in advance.
My workshop is on Friday 7th November, from 10:00 to 11:00. Tickets cost £10, plus booking fee. They are limited, but you can book in advance through this link:
Book Workshop
It should be a fantastic day, as there are lots of great workshops lined up, plus the rest of the Christmas Crafts fair to enjoy. I look forward to seeing you there!
Tomorrow is the day. My youngest child and only daughter is off to Uni. We are surrounded by boxes, packing materials and lists. Apparently she has done one-third of today's list. We have sorted out what time we all need to get up tomorrow. I am cooking her favourite meal tonight in a sort of "condemned man's last meal" kind of a way. Now there is nothing much left for me to do except think about how strange it will be without her. We will still have the two cats, of course, who will no doubt be confused. Sammy has clearly spotted that something is going on, as he's been sleeping in her room (mostly on the most uncomfortable box of packed things that he can find) for the past few nights. He has now disappeared, so we don't know if this is in disgust, or if he will be back in the middle of the night to check if she's gone yet. Meanwhile, the washing machine is in constant use ("it will cost me £4 a load at Uni") and we are in danger of running out of newspaper. Oh, if anyone wants to know the best way to pack cacti, you need a mug, newspaper, a yogurt pot and lots of packing tape. I am not looking forward to tomorrow.
I've been working on some new ideas today. I'm creating a kit (possibly more than one) for Christmas jewellery making. Today it got one step closer - my daughter followed the instructions and made a bracelet! She found 2 mistakes for me (which was the whole idea) and the only thing I had to help her with was threading the needles at the start. Next week: my mum and some of her friends are going to give it a try.
This is the bracelet:
Then all I have to do is source the right size plastic bags, get lots of copies of the instructions printed, price it up (it will be less than £12 as that's what the completed article goes for), and start counting beads into little packages. Makes me quite exhausted just thinking about it!
I've also been practicing wire wrapping - something that I've only ever done on a very small scale with earrings - because I have some amazing pieces of druzy that are just crying out to be wire wrapped. I want to be able to do them justice, but I think I'm going to have to use some quite heavy duty wire to get the look I want.
OK, I'm beginning to get this social media malarkey all joined up! I have managed to set up a Pinterest board (well several in fact). There is a whole board just devoted to my cats, one for promoting my shop, and a couple of others. I'm hoping to add a board about the different materials and semi-precious gemstones that I use, because people are always asking about those. When I've got my workspace sorted better, I'm also hoping to get some pictures up of the different stages of creating a piece of jewellery - I think that might be quite interesting!
Meanwhile, if you fancy having a quick look, click on the big red pinterest logo, and it'll take you to my boards. Feel free to share the love and repin! Any ideas about what you'd like to see, feel free to contact me: comment on the blog, message me via pinterest, via ETSY (shop link above), whatever!
I've had my eye on my own workspace for a while. Up to now, I've been working out of my bedroom, which is not very convenient, and things were all getting stacked on top of each other. My second son had just finished uni, and we weren't sure where he would be living. Anyway, he accepted a job up in Leeds (starts next week) and has moved out. So, naturally, I moved into his room. I'm still in the process of removing all the stuff he left behind (you would not believe how many clothes he has!) and moving my stuff in, but it's going to work well, I think. One of the cats started sleeping on the bed the day I moved (they both used to sleep in with me while I was working. The other one waited until today. He didn't like the bed. He didn't like the box that he'd previously slept on, but was sleeping on it , on the bed when I went off for lunch. When I came back from lunch, he'd moved and I couldn't see him anywhere. I went into the bedroom in case he'd moved back there. No Sammy. Quick look round upstairs, couldn't find him. Went to sit down at my desk, and this is what I saw:
He's still there now as I type this.
I have not been keeping up to date with my blog at all. I'm trying to keep on top of my life: running my shop on Etsy, getting my children sorted into university/into post-uni life, sourcing new supplies, and generally just trying to keep going. I've started a pinterest board (but I haven't a clue what to do with it), joined something called craftori (ditto) and don't even get me started on wanelo!
All this social media is a bit overwhelming - I know that it could all help me get my shop to the next level, but I'm just not sure how. I'm also trying to get the precious metal clay ideas sorted. About the only thing I have managed recently is to get myself (half) moved into my new office (ie my son's former bedroom), and to crack the concept of bib necklaces.
Meanwhile, look at the gorgeous little kitten on the left. Sweet, isn't he? Adorable? Pretty? He is also a serial killer. In the last 7 days, we have had 3 pigeons (one headless) and 1 live mouse placed under our dining table. (The mouse disappeared but we did find a kidney later, so I guess it didn't have a happy ending.
I wouldn't mind, but I can't cope with live mice. Body parts, yes, no problem, but when they're moving, I want to stand on a chair!
Apart from that, Winston is the cutest cat ever. He's 2 and a half now, and shares his birthday with our daughter and his brother Sammy, who is ginger and the most adorable cat ever. Hang on, that's Winston. Actually they are both lovely, and you couldn't choose between them. Apart from the dead things, that is.
