Saturday 31 December 2011

Happy New Year

Happy New Years guys! Hope you have a fantastic, amazing, brilliant, deadly(in the good way) 2012!

I decided a few years ago that resolutions would not be to give up something but instead to do something proactive, so this year I am going to say that I aim to every week do something new; that might be something big, like make a dress, or go to travelling, and some weeks obviously I’ll get in a lot of new things, other weeks it might be to try a new metalwork technique or trying a recipe I haven’t cooked before. But it will be minimum one new thing a week.

Anyone else got any resolutions they want to share?

The New Year will also be go go go on my business and on my blog, there will be how to sections and lots of pictures and if you have anything you want to see, just let me know J

Anyway hope you guys are partying, I’m having a quiet night in, I’ve got a boy with man flu and some bunnies to look after.

Happy New Year! 

Saturday 24 December 2011

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

I'm covered in icing sugar from attempting to make ice cream cone cupcake thingies! I'll get pictures but they're not that impressive.

So just a quick post to say hope everyone has a great Christmas and an amazing 2012!

Thursday 15 December 2011

Last Orders!

Still busy in the workroom and I’m loving it!
Did take a short break today to go to Craft in the Bay for an evening of mulled wine, mince pies and demonstrations, it was a really good evening and if you are anywhere in the Cardiff area you should really check them out!
Otherwise I’ve been chugging away on commissions and getting ready for the Vintage Pretty craft fair in Ten Feet Tall in Cardiff on Saturday. If you’re about town between the nice reasonable hours of 12-5, you should drop by!
We’re quickly approaching Christmas and last postal dates so I’m going to be taking a bit of break, this means that the last day for buying from the shop is Sunday the 18th, orders placed then will be posted Monday morning. If it’s a personalized order you need to get it in by tomorrow to give me time to work on it. I will be leaving the shop open, but anything ordered from Monday onwards will not be received until after Christmas. So get shopping guys. Get in tonight and you can still take advantage of the free shipping!

Tuesday 13 December 2011

Catch up

Well I promised you a decent post over the weekend and I failed! I’m sorry, lump of coal for me this year! I’ve been manic! The workroom is go go go! I got a fair few commissions which are all to be done this week and a few ideas in my head demanding to be hammered out on metal! It’s great!
 So catch up!  
Working up to 850, fire extinguisher within reach!

I spent a good chunk of last week enamelling, made lots of rubbish and mistakes and several fires (eeek) and then proper decent stuff that I’m really proud of, especially the bunny brooch, as well as a few things that are nearly made that I think will be fab! So I am eager to get back to it.
For those that don’t know, enamelling involves powder, sometimes suspended in a liquid, glass which you place on a piece of metal and stick in a kiln for a little over a minute at 850 degrees Celsius, hence the few little fires! It’s great for heating the apartment, not sure I’ll be much of a fan of it in August, but on these horrible December days it’s pretty great! And I love the orange red glow of the metal when you take it out of the kiln! The whole process is fascinating!

The results and cause of the first incident; its the paper I
use to protect the kiln when I fuse glass, it usually goes up
to 800 degrees but takes a few hours to get there, apparently when
 you heat it fast it starts smoking at about 400 degrees!









On Saturday I had my second craft fair, it was good fun, not hugely lucrative but it is really good and helpful to see peoples opinions of my stuff, the stag pendant was a particular hit, which is not my favourite so that shows me!
Sunday was recovery day spent playing computer games and reading J Everyone needs a break! And yesterday and today were all about laying the basis of several of the commission pieces, I like to swap around between projects as I work, so I have multiple pieces on the go at the moment. Will be able to move on tomorrow when I get my Cookson delivery of my new weighing scales (note to self don’t leave these ones in the wet, damp, humid, bathroom!) and I can make up some fresh pickle (acid to clean the fire marks off metal), I’ve killed the last batch! Woohoo for Cookson and their amazing delivery times!
So busy Sarah! Lots to be doing! But now I am going to go and rot my brain a little by watching the train wreck that I know my Big Fat Gypsy Christmas will be! ...I can’t not look!

Saturday 10 December 2011

Craft fair tomorrow and the first pics of my enamelling :)

Well what a hectic day! Enamelling is soooooo much fun! And been rushing around like a headless chicken getting ready for tomorrow! Have to be up in about 6 hours gulp! So just a quick post!
I will be selling at Redland Green School tomorrow from 11am till 3pm. So if you are anywhere in the Bristol area, pop on over!
I had a lot of fun with the kiln today and my enamelling so here are a few pics of the finished products, waaaaaaaaay more to come! Especially of the rabbit brooches! I feel like a mad scientist playing with chemicals and fire mwhaaaaa!






I promise a proper post this weekend! Now bed!

Wednesday 7 December 2011

Don't forget, freepost, and last posting dates are nearly here!

I will do the enamelling tomorrow I swear! The kiln is on the kitchen table set up ready to go and the kitchen has been cleaned and tidy, so no food in my way, and I cut lots of copper blanks and bracelet shapes today so I’m all set to go! I will do it!
Most of today was spent sawing said Copper, I had great fun! Attacked a huge piece, and I definitely won! That is the great thing about Copper I can use such big bits and experiment cause it’s not as crazy expensive as the silver. Although the silver can do all sorts of stuff the copper can’t so I love both metals and really need to experiment with Brass more! Oh I Iove metals and my saw! It’s the little things!
So yep enamelling tomorrow and photos of process and products to follow!

Don’t forget
·        Free post on my ETSY shop until the 15th of December! Just enter the code “EARLYPRESENT” at the checkout to take advantage of that!
·        Last Christmas posting dates for North America and Eastern Europe coming up! Get ordering guys!
·        For anyone around the Bristol area I will be selling in Redland Green school this Saturday from 11am.
·        For anyone in the Cardiff area, check me out in Ten Feet Tall on Saturday the 17th J

Tuesday 6 December 2011

New listings, distracting bunnies and I love Plumbers!

Oh I’m busy! Craft fair in Redland Green school in Bristol this Saturday! Another the following week in Ten Feet Tall in Cardiff! And Christmas orders through etsy and folksy! Long may it last!
I also found time today to take photos and put up some new listings, despite Orla’s best attempts at distracting me and demanding attention! Silly bun!
Hmmm a box, what shall I do

Death to the box!

Hey you, pay more attention to me! I'm adorable!

Tomorrow is a day for making (between Yoga and Tai Chi!) I have a trip to the post office first thing and then to my bench and hopefully fingers crossed! Enamelling! We now have a fully functional kitchen sink, plus an all improved non leaking bathroom sink with tamps that fully turn off! Plumbers rock!  

Don’t forget last posting dates are coming up! Check out the last dates from the UK to you here!

Monday 5 December 2011

A good relaxed day

Ah what a strange ol day! I had the most amazing lie in! A nice long chat to my mammy. Went to see Breaking Dawn, surprisingly good compared to the rest (although that’s not saying THAT much, the scene where Jacob breaks from the pack was absolutely hilarious!) And watched lots and lots of community which I am completely addicted to! A good day!
Of course I couldn’t take a full day off! So I also arranged to do the vintage pretty craft fair on the 17th of December in 10 feet tall in Cardiff. And ordered supplies for making stuff this week J And spent some time researching some stuff and thinking of making cufflinks, more clip on earrings and brooches. Time to expand my horizons J
Still no enamelling, because still no sink! Hopefully that will move forward tomorrow!

Friday 2 December 2011

Earrings, fairs and blocked sinks.

It’s been a busy day! Got an order for made to order earrings and got them done, very happy with the result J Byzantine chain is always very soothing to make, after a while I get into the zone and lalalala ! They shall be posted first thing in the morning! My first order to Australia. Thats another country off the list, I quite want to get a map and just tick off countries and states as I get orders, I love that my jewellery is going places I probably never will!
Also went to the Made by Hand show, which was full of amazing things! At first I was really quite intimidated by the level of complexity of some of the jewellery on display and then I looked a little closer and thought hey I could do that, and I’m happy to say that no one was doing anything like my silhouettes or chainmail either! So yay!
It did again make me want to get going on the enamelling, which has still not happened on account of a blocked kitchen sink, which means mountains of dishes and no space for the kiln. We’re working on the sink, drain cleaner is in there as I type so hopefully I can FINALLY get cracking on that enamel soon!

Wednesday 30 November 2011

Free Shipping until December 15th!

All busy here! Working furiously away at my bench for a good chunk of today and online for another chunk! There really is no rest for the wicked! I’m updating the Folksy shop, they have a nice new layout and I’ve discovered that if I use Google Chrome instead of Internet Explorer, it doesn’t take all day! Halleluiah
In other news I shall be offering free postage on the Etsy shop from now until the 15th of December, and on Folksy if I can figure out how!  By which time really you should have bought all your Christmas prezzies, you don’t want stuff lost in the post and not under the tree on the big day! Not worth the risk! Sooo take advantage of the free shipping and make sure and get everything on time J Win win! To get your free shipping just enter "EARLYPRESENT" at the checkout.
I'm planning on finally starting enamelling tomorrow! Pictures will follow! 

Monday 28 November 2011

Newsflash! Surprise sale! Free Shipping!

Starting now there is free shipping on my shop for the rest of Cyber Monday, so go shopping people! Use the code "HAPPYCYBERMONDAY " at the checkout to claim your free shipping!

Happy Shopping!

Sunday 27 November 2011

Catch up.

Oh I’ve been a very bold blogger this week! I thought once I finished the day job I’d be better but apparently I very quickly found other stuff to fill my time with!
It was a pretty productive week though, I’ve spent a lot of time at my bench and quite a bit of that was playing so I should have some nice interesting new designs soon, I really hadn’t allowed myself to play very much recently. And I do like to play! I also got photo’s taken despite the bunnies best efforts and new listings up and got a lot of stuff organised. I could of course have been more productive but hey that’s always the way and I’m not going to beat myself up about it!
I’ve started to get more and more stuff up on my Folksy page but it is hard work, unfortunately takes much longer to upload listings, which is a pity cause I’d quite like to use it and it has gotten me some sales already. I’m going to keep trying, but it’s pretty slow going.
Been meaning to get myself some Treasuries done on etsy this week, along with some Christmas shopping! And even more inspired after waking up this morning to see I’m included in this lovely Penguin Treasury.
Really looking forward to getting to my bench this afternoon and seeing what pops out J hope everyone is having a lovely Sunday!
Don’t forget cyber Monday tomorrow so still offering free mistletoe ring with all orders, just specify ring size with your order, and free resin earrings with orders over £100, just specify your colour choice.

Monday 21 November 2011

Fantastic Black Friday & Cyber Monday deals!

Resin Earrings
Well this weekend is a special weekend with starting with Black Friday and ending with Cyber Monday and is THE internet shopping weekend! I’m hard at work prepping! Watch out for lots of listings popping up in the next day or two!  


Mistletoe ring
Anywho  in honour of this weekend I shall be giving away a mistletoe ring with every order made from now until midnight Monday the 28th, and for orders over £100 a pair of resin earrings too! I’m feeling generous and I’m loving my earrings!
So all you need to do, is tell me in the note with your sale what ring size you are, and if you’re spending over the £100, which colour earrings you want; choose from blue (my fav) green, gold, orange, red, and purple.


Mistletoe ring


If you don’t know what ring size you are, then wrap a piece of paper round your finger as tight as you want it and measure it as accurately as you can and send me that. 
 

Don’t forget every sale comes packaged in my beautiful 100% recycled boxes, ready to be given as a gift to someone special, or yourself J. And if you are being generous and buying a gift for someone else, I’m happy to ship directly to them including a note from you if requested.
Orla likes to help pack the presents


Sunday 20 November 2011

The Craft Fair

Well it’s official craft fairs are fun! I really enjoyed getting to talk to people all day, I’ve missed that, I used to do retail type work when I was younger and I always enjoyed it. So it was really good to be back face to face. Add to that the fact that the other sellers were really nice and that I had my boy with me too, and it was a really good day.
It was our first craft fair so the whole thing wasn’t as streamlined as I’d hoped, but we ironed out most of the kinks for the next time. First off we got lost, so we got there late, of course this was made worse by the fact that  we left late because we had last minute sign printing to do. We really left everything too late getting ready, but that was because with me still being in work I just didn’t have the time earlier in the week, but we know in future. Because of all this, it took us quite a while to get set up and we weren’t properly organised when the first few people came in, which was a pity cause the first rush was really the only one. It was a pretty quiet day, but the people who did come in did buy which was good and we definitely covered the cost which is really all a new business can ask for.

I also learnt quite a bit about what people like, and I was surprised that the majority I sold was copper, I’ll have to get cracking on the copper! Which suits me perfectly since there is no need to hallmark, and I can work with bigger pieces, just because of the price difference compared with silver.

I’ve been to a lot of craft fairs myself as a customer and I don’t like when the sellers are staring at you as you walk around or when they have their head in a book, so in the interest of being somewhere in between we had brought wire and beads to make stuff while we sat there and I was very glad we had. I now have a new mistletoe ring design that I’m going to put on etsy this week and some wire nests which I haven’t made in years but I really enjoyed making.  
My next fair is on the 10th of December in Redland School in Bristol and I will be there with bells on, ready to hit the ground running and making and showing people how to make my little bead rings. I’m looking forward to it J
 


Mistletoe ring with green wire and white pearl beads


Wednesday 16 November 2011

Nearly ready!

Frenzied getting ready for the craft fair on Saturday! Very excited! Got my Hallmarking back today lots of stuff the most I've ever sent. I have mixed and placed the resin just waiting for it to set now. I somehow got so involved with the ring making process that I seem to only have a few earrings which I’m not too pleased with, may make some more tomorrow after work. Got very little copper done either but purposely left that till the end since that doesn’t need hallmarking. A delivery arrived today with brass wire in it, very excited to play with that and try move into a new metal! Good times! Has anyone any experience of working with brass? or for that matter of craft fairs?
For now though after a busy day of resin and post and organising in between yoga and tai chi, I think I’ll just head to bed!
Ooooh craft fair! Really excited! Going to be a hectic few days!

Sunday 13 November 2011

Competition winner

Well results are in! The winner is .......Ella Goodwin from Norwich. Check out her pic!
She’s even a fellow etsy sellers so check out her shop and congrats, the bat will be flying your way later this week!
Thanks for all the entries guys, much appreciated!
Also had to include this one cause it's just amazing!

Pirate ship Pumpkin! -Rachel Thomas

I’ve got some new listings up on the site so check them out! And I’m currently mid glass painting so should have some fab stuff out of the kiln this time tomorrow, very exciting times!

Hope everyone is well, time to start getting ready for Christmas!....suppose we better take down the Halloween decorations! But I really don’t want to!


Saturday 12 November 2011

Craft Fair prep!

Well I was AMAZINGLY productive yesterday! And I got the Hallmarking sent off for the craft fair next week! Very happy with myself! Although should have gotten more done of course! But thats always the way! The biggest bunch of hallmarking I’ve sent and I got the speedy service so I have time to set resin so I’m terrified of how much it’s going to cost! But phew it’s done!
The rest of the week will be focused on Glass and playing with my enamel and making some fab stuff from copper, so the factory is by no means resting for the week, just for the day. After the herculean effort yesterday I need the break! I also need to decide on a winner for the Halloween competition! Winner to follow!
So for anyone in the Cardiff Penarth area, if you’re looking for unique Christmas presents or just for a nice day out and to maybe spoil yourself, come to the Penarth Community rooms 13-15 Tennyson Road, Penarth on Sat the 19th from 10.30 to 4.30.

Wednesday 9 November 2011

Crazy times!

I’ve been very bad with my blog this week, I’ve had a lot going on personally. I’ve also had a lot of making going on! I will be at a Craft Fair in Penarth Community Rooms on Tennyson road on the 19th of November so I’m trying to get everything ready in time! Lots of hallmarking to be sent and I think I’m at this stage going to have to pay for the quick service because just not got everything ready yet! Bold Sarah! But we’ll get there!
Only two more days till the closing date for my Halloween competition, easy peasy to enter! Send a Halloween or Bonfire night themed photo/picture to egan.sarahjane@gmail.com the best one as selected by myself and my trusty bunnies will win this lovely bat pendant worth £50!!!! Come on guys! Closing date is Friday!    

Monday 7 November 2011

Busy busy bumble bee!

Lots of stuff made today! Lots of stuff half made! A very productive day, I'll hopefully have a big bunch of stuff to go for hallmarking on Wed so I an get everything back in time for craft fair in Penarth on the 19th! So so so so much to do! I'm in a tissey...is that how you spell that?

Anywho pictures will follow soon and there will be lots! For now don't forget final closing date for competition is on Friday!

Email your Halloween and Bonfire night photos to egan.sarahjane@gmail.com the best picture wins, it's that easy!

The wonderful fabulous prize!

Friday 4 November 2011

New Listings, Bonfire Night and still time for competition entries!

It’s Friiiiiiiiday! Woohooo! And I have the house to myself this weekend so soooo much is going to get done! It has already started with a new listing up and more to follow over the weekend, here’s a sneak peak.




I am also going to leave the house a little, but only a little! Going to Caerphilly Castle for fireworks tomorrow for Bonfire night! Hopefully get some amazing pictures and guys remember the Halloween competition is still open untill next Friday to give you time to get Bonfire night pictures too and to wade through your photos and find the best ones!
This is going to be my first Bonfire night, I’ve been to bonfires of course, but they were on Halloween, me thinks I might do a little research into this Bonfire night thing and it’s history!
And finally I have to share this I think it’s priceless! A museum cleaner cleaned away some modern art worth a fortune, and she’s far from the first!
Enjoy the fireworks if you’re in the UK, if you’re anywhere else well nananananana! ;)

Sunday 30 October 2011

Halloween pics :)

Well it’s been a funny ol Halloween, and yes I know Halloween is actually tomorrow, but the UK has given me a damn good reason to miss Ireland! Halloween is not a bank holiday here! So like Paddys day, I have to go to work! Smelly Wales! And it’s not like you get a day off for Bonfire night or St Davids day! Cheated out of two days off work!
Anywho that’s why we did Halloween last night, initially the plan was zombie crawl, and then pub, but then our zombie friends bailed and it was raining so we pulled together these fantastic costumes




and went straight to the pub. Good night was had, but Simon was the only other person dressed up in the entire place! Poor show Cardiff! Although there were some fab costumes walking around town, including a hoarde of pirates that looked particularly fab!
So whether you did Halloween already, or you actually have tomorrow off, or bonfire night (I just don’t get it) is more your thing, don’t forget to send on your photos to egan.sarahjane@gmail.com for a chance to win J
Also got a fab new treasury up of all things red, check it out!  

Saturday 29 October 2011

Happy almost Halloween!

It's Halloween weekend and I'm about to get myself all zombiefied for a zombie crawl through the streets of Cardiff so just a quick reminder to send me your Halloween pics for a chance to win a fab prize!

Full details here
Have a fantastic Halloween guys!

Wednesday 26 October 2011

Smiley happy me!

Oh life is good! Had a fun day working in the museum today, just filling in for someone for the day since it is midterm, great fun! I was running a workshop and it left me wrecked and no good for anything else so nothing got done once I got home, but the kids were fun.
Also since I spent that day or two on my SEO (search Engine Optimisation) ie how to get Google to notice me it seems to have paid off, my etsy stats are up and I’ve had a couple of sales, on folksy as well as Etsy, really need to spend more time and effort on Folksy! I mostly feel relieved that something I did paid off! Hopefully (fingers, toes, arms, legs everything is crossed) it continues! I’m going to do my best to make sure it does by getting lots and lots made and done over the next few days!
I have stuff to do tomorrow morning but I should be home by 3 and let the hammering begin! Will try get my sales posted first thing in the morning! Oooooh I love the sound of that get my saleS posted!
Finally don’t forget the competition guys! Send me your Halloween pictures egan.sarahjane@gmail.com best one wins this J

Now lets round up some bunnies for bed!

Monday 24 October 2011

I've disappered into my computer!

A very productive few days! I came across this blog  post yesterday about how to increase your visibility on etsy and in google searches and I tried it on a few listings yesterday and got a sale within hours! So spent a good chunk of today putting it into action for the other items, not all done yet but getting there and my stats are much better for visits today! Woohoo! Feels good to be possibly making headway! Of course lots more work to be done.
No new creations to share today it was a computer day but did find some interesting things online that I want to share:
A documentary about how women are represented in media (don’t worry clip is only 7 mins long)
A cute and quirky etsy shop
And an article from the New York times about the poor ol Nautilus and how it’s shell is being used for jewellery amongst other things and it’s on the road to extinction  

Sunday 23 October 2011

How to: Make handrawn fused glass pendants.

Right I have been meaning to put up some how to sections so this is the first of hopefully many J

Basic tools, glass cutter, set quare,
running pliers and grozing pliers

Safety warning first! Glass is sharp! You will most likely cut yourself, don’t be silly! Be very very careful and always wear goggles when cutting glass! All glass should be the same coefficient of expansion COE for fusing.
Each of my glass pendants begins life as a sheet of glass about 30cm x 15cm. I’m working in my kitchen so to protect my table I place the glass inside a shallow cardboard box (actually the lid of an old get set kit) this also means that the majority of the little slivers of glass that will break off, end up in the box not all over my floor. I always wear shoes and goggles and Hoover the entire room straight after I finish glass cutting, and often several times during!
To cut glass use a glass cutter (obviously) in a standing position, it’s your shoulder that does most of the work, the score needs to be made in one movement, if cutting straight lines use the edge of a ruler and make a definite score. Practice with some cheap glass first till you get used to how much pressure to use. The pressure with different glasses will vary, but you get a feel for it, some glass is easy to cut some shatters nearly every time! For a great how to check out
Once you have scored it use the end of your cutter to tap (gently) the underside of the score mark, or use a running pliers for straight lines. With dichroic glass I always score on the black side not the shiny side so that I don’t damage the actual finish of the glass and I always use a a running pliers to snap the piece off.
Each pendant is going to need two pieces of glass at least, of the same size, at least one of which will be transparent. Remember that the cutting is done by the little wheel in the middle of the glass cutter not at the side, and it really is easier to cut the correct size the first time. Trying to slice off just a little piece will be very difficult and require a grozing pliers a lot of broken glass and probably cut fingers.
Once you have cut your glass into the desired shape and size, it needs to be cleaned. I use a mixture of water and vinegar, about 50/50, just the normal stuff you put on your chips, and clean it off with some kitchen towel making sure it’s dry. Be careful with any cuts on your hand and the vinegar, it’s very very easy to cut yourself with the glass, it is sharp! And the vinegar will sting like crazy!
Now it’s time to draw!
I design my pictures on my comp or a sketch on a piece of paper first, then place my transparent glass over the drawing, with as steady a hand as you can manage trace the image with glassline paints. You can use a paintbrush or the tips. Let it dry, don’t put it in the kiln wet and don’t smudge the picture with the other piece of glass.
Once the picture is dry place it with the image down on top of the base piece of glass, how exactly they line up will make a huge difference, make it symmetrical! Here are a few examples of different effects depending on if the two pieces were the same size or one was slightly bigger than the other. I quite often will wait until I have drawn the picture to cut the base glass, maybe the picture would better suit a silver of a green background, maybe it should have a dichroic border or not?
Then it’s kiln time! Very gently place the shelf into the kiln trying not to move the objects and use a full fuse schedule, I’m not going to try tell you what to do here, it really depends on your kiln. Don't forget to use shelf wash or thin fire paper.

About 800 degrees

In my case this takes about 7 hours before I can turn off the kiln and another 4-5 hours before I can actually touch anything! This is not a quick project!
 
Once it’s all cooled, have a look! This is my favourite part! Sometimes they are perfect, more often there will be rough edges and the pieces will require a second firing, if you have used a smaller top piece over a background dichroic piece you may have to use a corundum stone to file off rough edges.


Finished and ready to take out


These corners will need to be filed








You can see the dichroic border where the top glass was a
little smaller then the bottom, a nice effect I think.
Once you’re happy with the piece, it’s time to attach the bail. I only use sterling silver, but you can get cheaper silver plated or gold plated bails if you want, that’s really your call.
To attach the bail I first roughen the area to be attached on both the glass and the bail, I use a drill attachment for this I then clean them with nail varnish remover, and mix the epoxy, you have about 5mins to work with this stuff and by the way it stinks! Make sure to hold the pieces together well or they will pull apart after the glue sets.
Leave them for a few days, then clean them up with a craft knife and some nail varnish remover and finally you have a wonderful wearable piece of jewellery!




Thursday 20 October 2011

I am now registered self employed! Let the games begin!

Well I’ve just filled in and submitted the online self employed form Wonderfully easy compared to what I was expecting! Should have gotten around to it earlier, I was expecting it to take hours! But it’s fine anyway I only launched properly start of Sept and didn’t take any money in till a few weeks in so I’m still well within the 3 month register yourself window. I presume I will hear from them now to tell me what to do, I’ll give it a week or two and if not I’ll give them a bell. I feel better now I get to tick another thing off my GIANT to do list!
I also finished a silver bracelet which I’ve been nearly finished for a while now, and worked a little on another project. The day job is very much interfering with the business at the moment but joy of joys next week is midterm! This apt is going to be a factory all week long, I have so many plans I haven’t had time to put into action, oooooh!
I have a few pieces ready to photograph and list and just haven’t had the time to get them done either! Oh for a 30 hour day! Only one more day till midterm though! Nothings gonna bring me down tonight!

In honour of today being spirit day I put together a Treasury of all things purple, check it out, some fab stuff!
I have been spending a decent amount of time reading the newsletters I get from etsy and I really liked this one so thought I’d share it. It’s fab to hear someone took the chance and didn’t end up with egg on her face!
Don't forget to plan some fab Halloween pics!

Wednesday 19 October 2011

Enamel ordered! oooOOoOoh I'm excited!

OOOOOOOw! Very excited! I've ordered my enamels and tools! Next week this apartment will be transformed into a factory! Also ordered some more silver! Fun fun fun!

I have unfortunately been away from my bench the last while, mostly because of work but also because I've been putting a lot of energy into trying to market my shop without spending the little money I have! I've also been trying to set myself up with stalls at some upcoming craft markets, looks promising that I have one for November and one for December. Very very excited about that!

Really just can't wait for next week, or even just tomorrow, I get off work just a little bit early and I intend to hammer, burn, melt, forge and saw like there's no tomorrow, I need my fix!

Don't forget to get cracking on those Halloween pics for the competition guys!

Tuesday 18 October 2011

Ahhhh Tuesday!

Ah Tuesday evenings, a lovely time! Pottery class followed by some time with my girls (bunnies) just relaxing knowing that tomorrow is my wonderful wonderful day off work!
Oh there is plans for tomorrow! Mwhaaaaa so so so many plans and hopefully news of some upcoming craft fairs that I’ll be sharing with you soon J The bunnies are running around like lunatics climbing on window sills and the likes, tis a grrreat evening!
Hope you’ve all gotten to work on those Halloween costumes, pumpkins, whatever, I’m expecting some pretty fab entries for the competition, don’t forget this is up for grabs!
I’ll leave you with another silly Halloween picture J

Scare you later!

Monday 17 October 2011

Competition time!!!!!!!!!

Double, double toil and trouble;
    Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
    In the caldron boil and bake;
    Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
    Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
    Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
    Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,—
    For a charm of powerful trouble,
    Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
It’s almost that most (bah humbug to Christmas) magical time of year All Hallows Eve, and I for one will be dressing up, carving pumpkins and turnips (far more traditional for this part of the world) and celebrating everything gruesome and icky J I love Halloween!
So I’m looking for your best Halloween photo EVER, be it an amazing pumpkin, an outrageous costume, the scariest cake ever imagined, or any of a million other things you might think up!
What in it for you?
Well a prize of course! The winner, with the best photo, will get this gorgeous bat silhouette sterling silver pendant and chain, hallmarked and for sale on my shop at £50!!!! Perfect for both Halloween and all year round.

Sooooooo snap a pic and send it over! egan.sarahjane@gmail.com before the closing date of November 13th! ....to allow for Bonfire night pictures too.
I will be posting photos up for all to see from now to then starting with my amazing costume from last year! Oh ye zombie painter!?!

Double, double toil and trouble;
    Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
Cool it with a baboon's blood,
    Then the charm is firm and good.