Sterling Silver Headpins

After a few requests recently I've now started selling sterling silver headpins. Up to now I've only done earwires in sterling thinking the price for headpins would make people think twice but it seems people are prepared to pay a bit extra for something handmade.

So I've now added bright and oxidised 2 inch sterling silver ball and hammered headpins in 20g/0.8mm, 22g/0.6mm and 24g/0.5mm.

I've now finished adding them to my Folksy, Etsy and eBay shops!

Soldering Book Giveaway at Pretty Things Blog!

Mastered cold connections and wanting to go the way of the torch? Pop over to Lori Anderson's blog Pretty Things for a great review on Hot Connections Jewelry by Jennifer Chin. Plus there's a chance you could win yourself a copy of the book!  Leave a comment and increase your chances of being the winner by blogging and facebooking it!
The winner will be drawn on Tuesday 26 July

Silver-Filled Wire ~ An Affordable Alternative To Sterling

Browsing through the latest edition of Step By Step Wire Jewelry the other night I saw an article that mentioned silver-filled wire. I'd heard of gold-filled wire but not silver. I read a bit more and discovered silver-filled wire is pretty new and sounds like a great alternative to the much more expensive sterling silver wire.

So how is it different to silver plated wire I thought? Silver-filled has a thicker coating of sterling silver bonded to a copper or brass base. It can be hammered, oxidised and tumbled just like sterling and I should imagine it's less likely to wear off like plated wire can. I'm liking it more and more! Another plus is if you can wear sterling silver jewellery you'll be fine with silver-filled too.

I've just ordered some 20g from Etsy shop Cigarbox Supplies and at £4.36 for 19.5 ft it works out a hell of a lot less than sterling. I contacted another Etsy seller who uses it and asked her opinion - she loves it and said it behaves just like pure sterling wire. I'm not sure if it's available in the UK yet (probably not, maybe in a year or two!)

I can't wait for it to arrive so I can experiment and see for myself! Watch this space for an update in a week or two!

*Photo courtesy of Cigarbox Supplies

Enamel Bead Giveaway!

Check out Eve's blog Jems Direct for a chance to win one set of these beautiful torch-fired enamel beads.

To enter the giveaway become a follower of Eve's blog, leave a comment and post on your own blog about this lovely giveaway!

The winner will be chosen tomorrow - 8 August.

 Good Luck!

Sterling Silver Headpin Destash!

Just a quickie to say I've just listed some 2" Sterling Silver 24g headpins in my Folksy Shop for a bargain 30p a pair.

I had a mini destash yesterday and found them looking all sad and rejected in my bead box. I tend to use thicker gauge wire these days so I've decided to offer them up to good beading homes.

Available in 10 and 20 pairs so ideal if you just need a few or fancy a change from silver plated headpins and at 30p a pair they are cheaper than lots of places I checked out on the internet!

~♥Available here ♥~

New Beads!

The beads I ordered from Lima Beads last Sunday arrived today ~ not bad going, less than a week from the States!

Lima Beads are currently running an Easter Egg Hunt on their site. They've hidden 100 eggs all over the place (and I mean all over the place!) The first 10 people that find all 100 are entered into a draw for a $250 Gift Certificate. The competition closes today (4 April).
However, there are bonuses along the way ~ 15% off your next order when you find 10 eggs, free beads when you find 25 eggs and more free beads when you find 50 eggs. I managed to find 52 eggs then realized I was becoming a bit obssessed so stopped there and made use of my 15% discount!

Here's what I ordered

10mm Mystic Blue Feldspath rounds

10mm Synthetic Aquamarine rounds (I think that means glass!)

The Mystic Blue Feldspath drop was a freebie!

10mm Red Coral Rounds

6mm Green Impression Jasper Rounds

3mm Red Coral Rounds ~ another freebie!

I also bought some Lepidolite coins ~ deep purple with sparkles but forgot to photograph them.

I'm going to start making some earrings with them later today I hope, some fairly simple designs to start with which I will post on here when they're done!

*Note to self ~ Do NOT leave steel shot from my tumbler on a teatowel to dry on the floor as Eddie my cat WILL think what a fantastic game is it to flick said teatowel and almost every single piece of shot as far as he possibly can. I knew it would happen but I still did it!

Sunshine And Earrings

It's such a lovely bright day today that I thought I'd make the most of it and take some photos of my new jewellery and redo some of the photos of my Folksy shop jewellery.
Anyway.........several hours later.........  It always take me ages to do the photos, I must take at least 8 of each item. After transferring them to my computer and editing them and thinking of inspiring names for them, I've finished! I think I lost my inspiration for names when it came to the Carnelian earrings, I couldn't think of anything so called them "Three" as they have three silver dangles!

Here's some of my new stuff ~

Ooh! Nice earrings! I had a nice suprise through the post today. A Giveaway prize I won recently arrived from America. I received not one but two pairs of vintage style earrings from Tara Henderson and they are lovely. Tara has a shop on Etsy and will soon be opening a second shop there too.

I'm wearing the green pair as I write this!

Chocolate cake update : Surprisingly there is still some of the chocolate cake left although I did have an enormous piece at lunchtime. Just the cake, nothing else and it was my breakfast and lunch combined so I don't feel as guilty as I should!

New Jewels!

I spent most of Friday making them, Saturday morning oxidising and polishing them and this morning, as it was a lovely bright day, photographing and editing them.

And here they are ...........................

MelonHeart Twist

Pacific Drops

PassionFlower

My Blue Heart

WaterMelon Heart

Frosted Copper

And

they'll all be listed on Folksy in the next couple of weeks

Any Colour As Long As It's Not White!

Here's my latest Folksy pick and it's an antidote to all that white stuff we're all seeing everytime we look out of the window..................

The Folksy sellers featured this time are : Lupin Handmade, Asking For Trouble, Tias Glass, Sew Christine, Adorn Moi, Karen Hilton Designs, Zoe Woods, RachelCreative and Emily Pickle

Bring on the Pinks and Oranges!

1. Prints Of bunny feet RachelCreative, 2. Happy Orange Notebook by Asking For Trouble, 3. Pink And Orange Entwined Heart Copper Necklace by Adorn Moi, 4. Park Slope basket style bag by SewChristine, 5. Origami Ring by Tias Glass, 6. Pink Ring ZoeWoods, 7. Cushions by Karen Hilton Designs, 8. Retro Patterned Pink Purse Emily Pickle, 9. Pink Poppy hairband Lupin Handmade

I particularly like the Origami ring by Tias Glass, just looking at it makes me feel warmer!

Happy Giveaways On IndieSmiles!

Looking for beautifully crafted handmade items for FREE?!  IndieSmiles now has a Happy Giveaways page dedicated to sellers giving away one of their items or holding give aways on their blogs!

Items up for grabs include ~

Coffee Cup Cozy Giveaway from Sew Sweet Stitches

Red Loopy Brooch Corsage Giveaway from SeventySeventyOne Design (a Folksy seller!)

Gift Certificate Giveaway from Artisan Clay

Win a yard of custom fabric from Eye Candey

Family Keepsake Print Giveaway from Amazing Mae

Other giveaway items include a Nautical Necklace, a bright and colourful Resin

Bangle and the chance to win one of 5 pairs of earrings from Tara Henderson

Pop over to IndieSmiles for the full list and the chance to win something beautiful (and FREE!)

New Wirework book by Sharilyn Miller

One of my favourite Wirework artists, Sharilyn Miller http://www.sharilynmiller.com/ has a new book out this week!

It's called "Wire Art Jewelry" & is priced at $24.95 (about £15) She's published it herself therefore the photos inside are in black & white, which is a shame but I'm sure if the book is anything as good as her others it won't matter that much!

The link from her website to order the book doesn't appear to be working unfortunately but I shall find a way to get hold of it so I can write a review!

Here are some of the projects in the book ~

Double Spiral Bangle

Angels Earrings

Dancing Man Necklace

ALL JEWELRY BY SHARILYN MILLER

That's all for this time!

Tracy x

Folksy Delights ~ Orange Zing!

I don't know about you but I'm fed up with all this rain and wind so......... to cheer myself up I've found these bright, zingy lovelies on Folksy : ~

Click any image to zoom

1. Oxidised Amber pendant by NRjewellerydesign, 2. Orange Brown Felt Handbag by Created And Felted, 3. Orange Bird by mishmish, 4. Orange bead Necklace by Laura Cameron, 5. Orange & Calendula Soap by Saffronbarr, 6. Lucy Tote Bag by Nicknots, 7. Little Orange Ninja Earrings by Lilley's, 8. Flora ~ Autumn Treasure Haircomb by hairbowswonderworld, 9. Acrylic Loopy wall light by Jane Blease Design

I feel warmer already!

Hello!

Welcome to my blog!


I'm a UK based jewellery designer living in Eastbourne, on the South East coast. Eastbourne is a busy seaside town, situated on the edge of the beautiful South Downs. It's also famous for the cliffs at Beachy Head ~ a notorious suicide spot!


Browsing the internet looking for earrings one day five years ago is how my jewellery making adventure started. I found lots of handmade earrings & thought to myself ~ I could do that! Armed with a book & the internet I bought the tools & beads I needed & started making basic glass bead & Sterling Silver earrings. I discovered a whole new world of beautiful beads & findings via the internet ~ Lampwork, Semi~Precious, Swarovski, Freshwater Pearls......... I became addicted! I taught myself new techniques & started stringing bracelets as well. I decided to start selling, mainly to justify buying more beads!

Three years ago I was given Sharilyn Miller's book Bead On A Wire & that was it ~ I was hooked on wirework!

I love the freedom working with wire allows, and the fact that you are only limited by your imagination. My favourite metal has always been Sterling Silver but I've recently discovered the beauty of oxidised Copper ~ previously only used as my "practise" wire.


Making jewellery is a kind of therapy for me. I get out my bead boxes, tools & wire, become totally engrossed & completely forget about everything else ~ lunch is forgotten, endless cups of tea are left to go cold & before I know it the day has gone & it's dark outside! I take a lot of time & care over my jewellery, making mostly one~off pieces that I would be happy to buy myself. I'm always looking at new techniques to learn in order to progress my skills & designs ~ there's so much more I want to do!

When I'm not letting cups of tea go cold I also enjoy reading crime novels, swimming, horse~riding, visting family on the Northumberland coast (where I picked up the pebbles I use in my photos) & checking out beautiful beads on the internet

I sold my jewellery on eBay for 4 years before taking a break for about a year. I now sell on Folksy & Etsy which I prefer as they are aimed more for the handmade market .

I love my family, my cats & chocolate (not always in that order!)

I hate rude people & parsnips