Northern Dawn

Pet Portraits

2009-10-07T06:51:00.000-07:00

I have been producing custom Pet Portraits for quite a while now and currently have 3 that I am working on, the progress of which is on the blog: Laura's Pet Portraits Blog

I produce Pet Portraits in coloured pencil and graphite portrait. My portraits are traditional, highly detailed portraits of any pet, though most of my portraits are of dogs. My website has a gallery plus details of prices and sizes as well as a secure order form: Laura's Pet Portraits.

This is one of my past graphite pet portraits

I have more examples of my portraits on my Flickr photostream:

Decorating

2009-10-03T14:13:00.001-07:00

We moved into our current house in January this year and it's a bit of a 'project' as it needs quite a bit of updating and cosmetic work. We are slowly working our way through it and are currently decorating our spare bedroom which will then become our main bedroom. We have now finished the decorating, we just need to get the carpet in before the new furniture arrives a week Tuesday. I thought I would share some pics:

Before: This wasn't actually what it looked like, this was after we peeled off the many layers og wallpaper and paint to find bright blue glossed walls!!

Intermediate: First we sanded and painted the woodwork then did a basecoat of pale cream all over to hide the blue!

And after: 2 walls papered and 2 painted. We're really pleased with it.

A Black Cat for luck?

2009-10-01T12:05:00.000-07:00

Yes, i'm back with the Etsy favourites. This week I have picked a semi-topical theme - Black Cats, which are of course related to Halloween which is all over Etsy at the moment. The other reason for choosing Black Cats was for some ideas for my Mum's Christmas present as she has a mental little black cat. So here they are, my favourite Etsy shops for the week:

glass4mankind

Gorgeous handmade stained glass items in as many different shapes as you can think of. Most of the items in the shop are pendants and all have a lovely whimsy look to them - perfect for creating personalised Jewellery for loved ones. The featured pendant is Spooky, a cute black cat. The body is black glass and the wire is copper tinned wire that then makes the legs, ears, whiskers and face. The items are so cute in this shop and very unique as well as being very reasonably priced.

A. N. Original Jewelry

One of my favourite materials for Jewellery is silver and this lovely shop is full of handcrafted silver items. All items are hand pierced, sawed or filed and are so delicate. The little cat featured is only half an inch across and so pretty. The shop also features oxidised silver items and earrings to go with the pendants. This shop also has a regularly updated blog: http://www.anoriginaljewelry.blogspot.com/

Dwayne Bulla

"One man's junk is another man's treasure" is the slogan for this shop and it is truly amazing what gorgeous items Dwayne produces from 'rubbish'. This black cat is created from horseshoes, discarded bits of tools and nails! Other items in the shop are things like a saw blade flower and a drill bit dragonfly. This shop is the place to shop for something entirely unique and different to decorate your home or garden with.

Riricreations

This shop features handmade items such as cards, lunchbox notes, personalised gifts and blessing blocks. I have to admit to not knowing what a blessing block was when I discovered the lovely BOO blessing blocks in the photograph. They appear to be decorative blocks that are given to celebrate a blessed event, eg: birth of a child, wedding, anniversary or even halloween. I think they are lovely. The set featured are 2 and half inch square, handmade and hand decorated with lots of halloween inspired ghosts, spiders, cats etc and can be customised pretty much any way you like.

Susan Faye

You will notice my favourites often feature art and jewellery. These are two of my favourite things and the artwork in this shop is brilliant. I really like the bright, whimsical style of Susan's portraits. The featured artwork is an original ACEO, obviously with a Halloween theme, hand painted in watercolour. However I think my favourite things in this shop are the 'Custom cat lady' portraits - if you know anyone who loves cats (and I know several!) this is the perfect gift, an original portrait featuring the cat lover and their cat(s) all at a very reasonable price. Susan has a blog featuring her cat ladies at: http://www.365catladies.blogspot.com/

I hope you enjoyed these (slightly spooky) favourites as much as I enjoyed finding them and happy shopping!!

Book Review

2009-09-30T13:48:00.000-07:00

Recently I had someone comment on this post: Pan Chang Knot and they asked if i learned how to tie the knot from a book. Yes, I did. I am self-taught with my Jewellery making and have learnt it all from books and magazines. I am a self confessed book addict so thought I could do some reviews of some of the Jewellery and craft making books I own. So, the first one:

Chinese Knots for Beaded Jewellery by Suzen Millodot

Paperback
Published by Search press (2003)
80 pages
£7.49 off Amazon

This book was the first one I bought as a guide for tying knots and it is probably my most used one! It features instructions on how to tie 14 different knots and then 16 projects, mainly necklaces with a couple of bracelets. The instructions to tie the knots and the project using that particular knot all come together so you don't have to keep flicking backwards and forwards from the knot instructions to the project instructions.

Each knot shows step by step instructions on how it is tied, either with very clear diagrams or photographically or both. The written instructons are also very clear.

As well as the instrcutions provided for the projects there are also a number of other Jewellery items photographed for each type of knot that provides inspiration for attempting your own knotted jewellery projects.

At the beginning there is a comprehensive section on different cords, beads, findings, equipment and calculating cord lengths. All of this information helps when you have the confidence to develop your own pieces.

It is a really good book, particularly for beginners and one I would definitely recommend.

Relisted Necklaces

2009-09-29T12:11:00.000-07:00

I have just relisted 3 items on Northern Dawn on Etsy. These were three items that went in the shop right at the beginning and have just expired, so I thought I would try them again. Re-listing items on Etsy put them back at the top of the search results and is a technique that is nearly always mentioned when talking about improving sales.

So, my three items:

Button Knot Necklace with a glass pendant: FOR SALE: $23.00 (approx. £14.00)

Glass bead cluster necklace: FOR SALE: $23.00 (approx. £14.00)

Fabric bead cluster necklace & earring set: FOR SALE: £29.00 (approx. £18.00)

Labrador Rescue

2009-09-28T12:34:00.000-07:00

I was out on Saturday helping raise money for a Scottish charity - Labrador Retriever Rescue Caithness and Scotland. My 'day job' had a stall so I was one of the volunteers on that. In between doing a little bit of raffle ticket selling I snuck off outside to watch the displays, which were a Gundog display and the Northern Constabulary Police Dog team.

I had a lovely day and as usual loved watching the dogs working. I think a dog with a job to do is so lucky, they just love the mental and physical stimulation. All the working dogs I've ever met have been so fit and healthy and the ones on Saturday were no exception:

Police Dog:

And this beautiful Newfoundland was helping with the fundraising:

Some bracelets & a Camera

2009-09-15T12:24:00.000-07:00

Well 2 things done off the To Do list so far.

I actually completed 2 bracelets today. Both feature the very versatile button knot and beads I picked up from the Scottish Bead fair at Perth.

I have not worked out costings for them yet, but they will be For Sale tomorrow in my Etsy & Folksy shops.

I have also listed my Nikon 35mm SLR camera for sale on Ebay. As well as the camera the listing includes 2 Nikon zoom lenses, a Lowepro camera bag, an autofocus flash & a battery grip plus extras such as filters. It's not been used for over 3 years so I decided it was time to sell it and put the money towards a new digital camera as my little point & shoot digital really needs upgrading. It is all in working order though and I even have instructions and original boxes for some items! here is the listing: Nikon F80 SLR plus accessories. Happy Bidding!!

To Do on Tuesday

2009-09-14T14:17:00.001-07:00

Yes I am still alive. So what have I been doing? Well working hard on something I don't want to say too much about untill the end of the year when it's either definitely happening or definitely not happening!

But now, I'm back to do a bit for Northern Dawn. Today I went out for lunch with a work colleague and pretended to do some work for my 'day job' but in spent a very pleasant 2 and half hours sat on a sofa in the pub eating, drinking & chatting. I also did some housework (this doesn't happen often). So tomorrow I must do at least a few useful things. Here is a list that may or may not be completed!

Finish a knotted bracelet I'm working on
List my camera on Ebay
Put some photographs on Flickr
Take some photos of my Boxes for my Etsy & Folksy listings

So, there's a start. I'll let you know tomorrow what happens.

Etsy Favourites - Autumn

2009-09-07T12:25:00.000-07:00

Decided on a seasonal theme for this week's Etsy Favourites feature, now it's September already and it's starting to get dark by 8 o' Clock. I find it such a depressing time of year, but these beautiful items are enough to get a smile on anybody's face!

Blue Heron

This shop features hand made Jewellery, Pottery and fused glass items, such as the lovely item featured which is a glass sculpture, which can either hang in a window to catch the light or be displayed on a stand.

Little b Bunny.

This lovely shop is the place to shop for some gorgeous handmade cards. I liked the cat on this Halloween themed card. The seller named her shop after her daughter's nicknames, which I think is soo cute. It's little personal details like this that make shopping somewhere like Etsy so nice. The shop features a wide selection of cards for all occasions and in a wide range of styles. Little b Bubby also has a blog: http://littlebbunny.blogspot.com/

Radiant Mind Designs

I love this shop. It is full of absoloutely gorgeous beads and also has stunning photographs. Definitely on my list of Etsy shops I will be purchasing from! This shop features handmade lampwork glass beads in small co-ordinated sets or larger focals. Some are one-offs to purchase before they're gone, others are from the custom line that are re-made when sold. They also sell lampwork recipe e-book tutorials for those who fancy trying their hand at making their own beads. Radiant Minds also have a blog: http://www.glassmuse.blogspot.com/

Humblebeads Gaden Party

Another lovely handmade bead shop. Humblebeads is owned by Heather whose beads are inspired by textures and colours in nature. Her beads are made from polymer clay and hand buffed to a matte finish. The shop contains smaller disk beads and really nice focals and pendants, including things like hedgehogs and owls! Another shop to add to my shopping list! Heather also has a blog: http://www.humblebeads.blogspot.com/

Lavender Cottage

This shop features handmade metal Jewellery, using fine silver, sterling silver, copper, brass and occassionally gold. The findings are even handmade as well! The pendant i've featured is hand drawn and cut from sterling silver, resting on a background of hammered copper. The stone is a carnelian. It measures an inch across, so is a pretty delicate little piece. Lavender Cottage is a blogger: http://lavendercottageoriginals.blogspot.com/ and also a Twitterer: http://twitter.com/lavendercottage.

I hope you enjoyed this week's autumnal favourites and have been inspired to do a bit of seasonal shopping.

The Scottish Bead Fair

2009-09-04T09:46:00.000-07:00

Well I got as far as the Bead Fair on Sunday in Perth and had a really good afternoon. It was a long way to go and I managed to get there late so missed one of the demonstrations I wanted to see, then was so busy shopping that I missed the second one! I could have spent a fortune particularly on some really beautiful glass focal beads, but I resisted and restricted myself to a £30 cash budget and got a nice selection of smaller beads, both for using with knots and cords and with wire.

I also picked up some cards and leaflets and discovered one of the companies is coming to a local glass studio to teach next year so i will definitely be getting involved in that!

It was a very busy day, I was amazed at the queue to get in but it was worth it and next time I will get organised and actually get to the demonstrations. It was very easy to get to and I had a nice wander round perth as well. It's a nice town, with a real variation of architecture, from the very old....

to the very new.....

(The Concert Hall where the Bead fair was held.)

Not on the High Street

2009-09-03T07:44:00.000-07:00

I have been away on a training course for my day job. We left on Tuesday night, flying from Inverness to Manchester with the lovely Flybe, then returned last night after the course, eventually getting home about 11pm last night!

Whilst on the flight I read their inflight magazine, Flybe Uncovered. In this magazine, they have a 'business' section and the feature in the current one is businesses starting up in a recession. It was a very encouraging and inspiring read, particularly for those, like me, that are attempting to do just that!

One of the businesses featured created hand-stitched personalised baby mementos and was selling them on a website called NotOnTheHighStreet.com. I'd never heard of this website, but thought it warranted investigation, so had a look today and it's got some really lovely stuff on it, and an impressive list of press exposure. You need to apply to be a seller and they only agree to partner with 5% of those that apply, so I imagine they have strict criteria, and is probably fairly expensive compared to the likes of Etsy or Folksy, but still, there's no harm in asking for information, which you can do via their website. I may well do in the future but not until I've got a bit more organised about what i'm doing!!

They also have a blog: Not on the High Street Blog and are on Twitter: nothsdotcom

Back on Tuesday

2009-08-28T13:03:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed i've not been here much since being back off holiday. I have decided to extend my holiday a little and will be back on Tuesday. Tuesday is the day our visitors go home and I finding it hard work to devote time to them and Northern Dawn.

I am working tomorrow at my 'day job' and am off to the Bead Fair on Sunday. I am so looking forward to it. I am going to allow myself a very small spending budget but I'm sure I will be quite inspired by what I find there. Even if I can't spend a lot of money, I can still collect information and ideas!

So I will be back Tuesday and you can look forward to more holiday photos, artwork & Jewellery over the coming weeks.

Day 1 - Applecross

2009-08-25T02:36:00.000-07:00

We started our holiday at Applecross camp site. Applecross is located in Wester Ross on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands. It is accessible by only 2 roads. The original road is called the Pass of the Cattle, or Bealach nam Bo in Gaelic, which is the highest pass in Scotland and until 1976 when the coastal road was completed, the only way of getting to Applecross without a boat! For more information have a look at this website: The Applecross Peninsula

A view from the pass getting to Applecross

Just before it rained! Taken in Applecross village

Sand Bay, round the corner from Applecross. This is where the bothy in the TV show Monty Hall's Great Escape is. You might be able to see it on the right hand side of the bay in the photo.

Seals!

A place call Toscaig. The end of the road, if you head South out of Applecross village.

The view from the campsite. It more than made up for the hideous weather!

In need of renovation!!

2009-08-23T11:55:00.000-07:00

Hi all. I'm back from my holiday. I was actually back Friday evening but up until today the poor PC was so busy updating my antivirus scans and whatnots it had a fit & crashed whenever I tried to do anything. So now I am back blogging & tweeting.

I have just uploaded 305 photographs to the computer from the holiday. I will sort through them and put some up here and on Flickr as well. Had an absoloutely time touring up the west coast of the Highlands from Applecross to Durness, via the Isle of Lewis, where the photograph was taken. Not sure what happened to this little house, but the aga's still intact, even if the walls aren't.

Visited loads of lovely little villages and coves, ate far too much chocolate cake, had a trip in a glass bottomed boat, survived camping and a smelly B&B and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Am more determined than ever to get myself a croft on the west coast and leave the world of '9-5 normality' far behind. Just need to convince hubby it's a feasible idea!

I am at work all day tomorrow, so not a lot will be done, but hopefully I will have some photos to show you and then it'll be back to making on Tuesday.

Scottish Bead Fair

2009-08-12T07:08:00.000-07:00

Have just found this advertised in my Make Jewellery Magazine: The Scottish Bead Fair. I need to find a way to amass a fortune before 30th August! It is hosted by Precious Sparkle Beads and as well as loads of trade stands it has classes and demonstrations as well, including Knots & Knotting by Dorothy Wood and Precious Metal Clay with Emma from the Little Bead Shop in Edinburgh, both of which are seriously tempting me! Tickets are only £4 and most exciting it's in Perth which is actually a feasible distance for me to travel in a day without leaving at 4am and not getting home till midnight!

I'm not sure yet if I can go as hubby is away that weekend, but the in-laws might still be here to keep an eye on the doggies for the day. If they are, i'm going. Now, better get making so I might actually sell something on either Etsy or Folksy and get some money to spend at the fair!

Going Green

2009-08-11T07:05:00.000-07:00

It would seem that being 'green' goes hand in hand with being creative. Perhaps because creative people see colour and texture where others see rubbish? Who knows. I decided this week's Folksy Favourites would showcase sellers creating from recycled materials. Here's my 5 favourites from the many I found.

Kerli
This shop features lovely handmade, recycled earrings and embroidered brooches amongst other bits and bobs. The earrings pictured are made from paper beads, coated with PVA glue to make them watertight and hard. They are really pretty and certainly will make a statement, then you can tell everyone that asks about them that they are created from recycled paper! In her profile, Kerli says: "I do like mad jewellery, corduroy, colourful things and board games. And recycling. And sometimes I have little animals in my head that need to come out... " Kerli also has a blog: http://kerliandanimals.blogspot.com/

Cat Loves Bear

This shop deserves a mention just for the gorgeous photo in her shop header! This shop features lots of lovely textile work, including shopping bags made from discarded shop curtains, which is what the photograph is of. You can help save the environment twice, not only by not using plastic bags for your shopping but by putting your shopping in a bag that's already using recycled materials. The shop features a fantastic range of a huge variety of bags in many different colours. A shop I feel I may well be shopping at myself.

British Cream Tea
Ooh, I love cream teas, you can't come from the West Country (which I do originally) and not be exposed to the yumminess of Cream Teas. And this shop is just as yummy. It is full of felt food. I have to admit I didn't know what I might do with felt food but that didn't stop this shop making me want to buy some! Some ideas of uses are pin cushions, holiday decorations or party favours. The featured item is obviously a French Fancy Set. They are all original designs, handmade and stuffed and use recycled felt. Absoloutely gorgeous.

Handmade by Tigerlily
This shop features a range of items from paper goods to bags, all created using ethically sourced materials. The item featured is from Made by Tigerlily's range of note books. It is 5" x 7" and made from 100% recycled card and paper. Ethical as well as being very pretty.

Faye Wilson

Stuff made from things. Sounds interesting, hey. This is Faye Wilson's subtitle to her shop. Faye says this about her shop: "I love mixing materials and textures to create different and unusual pieces. I try to recycle as much as possible and LOVE bashing old copper water pipes and hot water cylinders into delicate earrings and brooches." As well as gorgeous earrings made from bashing hot water cyclinders, there is the lovely pair of Earrings in the photograph, made from an old painting that was damaged. As she said, they are totally unique. What a fantastic idea.

I hope you enjoyed this week's shops. I think recycling is so important and I love it when people have the creativity and imagination to create something gorgeous out of some old rubbish.

Monday To Do List

2009-08-09T14:19:00.000-07:00

I've been working all weekend so have had no time for blogging, tweeting or making things :( We also have my parents-in-law staying, who are lovely, but any visitors deserve a bit of attention so I can't spend all my time they're hear locked away in my little studio! However, I do need to get on and do some Northern Dawn work because we're off on holiday for a week on Friday, so tomorrow's To Do List:

Do a Folksy Favourites blog post
Add some more pictures to my Flickr photostream
List some items from last week in Etsy shop & Folksy shop
Make a Chinese knotted Necklace & Bracelet

So, quite a lot to fit in before heading off to work at 4. I do have the rest of the week off but have plenty of things to fill that time. Hopefully I will have lots to show you in the coming days.

Waiting for the postie - Etsy Favourites

2009-08-07T03:28:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love it when the postman arrives with a mystery letter or an eagerly awaited parcel. The best bit about online shopping is the arrival of parcels, like Christmas whenever you want it!

Today's Etsy favourites theme is therefore based around the excitement of the postman arriving.

Weaver Copper Designs

What better place to receive your letters than in a fantastic handmade mailbox. This gorgeous mailbox is made of steel then covered with a sheet of antique copper, which is embossed, hand coloured and then lacquered. It is approved by the United States Postal Service. As well as gorgeous copper mail boxes, this shop also features bird feeders and rubbish bins.

Gwynstone

When you've collected your letters, you need a beautiful letter opener to open that seal. And Gwynstone is the place to shop for one. The item featured is a letter opener and magnifier set, made with recycled glass beads. The shop also features lovely items of Jewellery and Bookmarks featuring semi precious stones.

La Rea Rose

When you've opening your letters you need somewhere to store them. Why not use this pretty cottage style mail holder. It is a vintage mail holder that has been rescued and painted by this very talented Etsy seller. This seller specialises in romantic, shabby and chic decor and the items in the well stocked shop includes bird house, plates, trays and keepsake boxes. If you like traditional cottage style items this shop is the place for you. This seller also has a blog at: http://larearose.blogspot.com/

Petite Maison

Perhaps you want something a bit more more modern to store your letters. How about a Wall Pocket from this seller. The Wall Pocket featured has a French Kitchen theme and would look lovely hung in a kitchen or office space to store your bits and bobs. It is lined and contains a webbing tab for hanging it up. The seller, Julia, says she loves to create pretty things and she certainly does. She also has a blog: http://simbiosis-lifeinasmalltown.blogspot.com/

Mesquite Woodworks

Would you prefer something to put on your desk to keep your correspondance in order. Then how about a Mesquite & Maple Inbox. What a gorgeous, unique way of keeping a desk tidy! This shop is quite new and only contains a few items but the ones it contains are lovely. They are handmade from Mesquite logs and the Mesquite used in the Inbox featured comes from a tree in the seller's own backyard.

So there you go, now you can collect, open and store your post in style. I hope you enjoyed today's favourites, I certainly enjoyed finding them.

A work in progress

2009-08-06T14:55:00.001-07:00

I thought I would show you a work in progress this evening, a Macrame Necklace using one of my Rune Pendants. It's only half finished, but it should get done tomorrow, ready to go in a shop.

It's the Rune for Self Confidence and the knots used are traditional macrame knots, the Josephine knot (close up above), double half hitches and the square knot which is one of my favourite knots.

I used some waxed linen cord for this project, it's the first time i've used it. It's slightly sticky which doens't make it great to work with, but does mean it holds the knots' shape nicely. I think it creates a good, slightly distressed look, which I think suits the pendant.

I also really like the background for this necklace. I took the photographs on an ancient railway sleeper that we have as steps in our garden and I think the sunbleached old wood really suits the rustic look of the necklace.

Persistance

2009-08-05T12:08:00.001-07:00

I found these lovely Rune Pendants on an internet site when buying some other Jewellery making bits and thought they were lovely. I like old symbols and whatnot and love the rustic look of these pendants so bought several with different symbols on. This particular one is for me and is the symbol for Persistance. I wear it as inspiration not to give in, to remind me that one day that first Etsy sale will actually happen!

I do think that I'm getting somewhere. My page views are going up on Etsy, i'm gaining more followers on both Twitter and the blog and featuring other Etsy & Folksy sellers has really helped me spread the word around and a few of the lovely people I've featured have then put links to the blog on their blogs. I do really feel it's helping. I now have 16 hearts, compared to 3 at the end of June, if i carry on collecting them at the rate I am now, I'll have 84 by the end of August!! Unlikely, but nice if I did.

I still need to join Flickr and I also need to make a Facebook fan page, they may well be jobs for tomorrow. I think the main thing is just to stay focused and carry on making. I am also planning on making a couple of Etsy purchases, so at least then I'll have some feedback as well.

Tomorrow I will have some Jewellery to list, some Rune pendants definitely and maybe some knots as well.

Drunk & Disorderly

2009-08-04T15:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the last day of my NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month), and what did I do? Miss a blog post!

This was entirely because we have two friends staying at the moment that have cycled from Lands End to John O Groats. They arrived yesterday so we stayed up late celebrating, hence the blog post title! So by the time I remembered I had to do the blog it was actually today already and I was far to drunk to do anything, let alone type a complete sentence suitable for my readers to read. I have spent today suffering and never want to drink wine again as long as I live.

Tomorrow I am getting up early to say goodbye to our friends when hubby takes them off down to the airport and as it's my day off my 'day job' the rest of the day will be spent tying knots, so I should have plenty to show you tomorrow.

Flickr

2009-08-02T15:12:00.001-07:00

Flickr is a photo hosting website. I have known about it for many years and have used it to look for reference photographs for my drawings. However, I have never used it to host my photographs, mainly because I have my own web space and i've never been a great one for putting my photos out in cyber space.

Since joining Etsy, Flickr has come up many times as a useful promotional tool and I have looked at photographs on other Etsy sellers accounts. In the Etsy Success email I received on Thursday one of the useful forum posts it pointed us in the direction of was this one: How to use Flickr to get exposure for your Etsy shop, posted by dottyral, who makes very cool pin cushions. She discusses rules, Flickr groups, contacts and tags.

So, one task for tomorrow, join Flickr and start uploading some photos.

Saturday Shopping List - Ceramics

2009-08-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

Well Ceramics wasn't actually the theme I had been planning my shopping list around but I was a bit disappointed with the offerings on Folksy for my original theme so after some rummaging I discovered the following lovely shops, all based around the theme of ceramics.

Lauren Ceramics

Lauren Ceramics is a shop containing all manner of ceramic items from brooches to pen pots. She describes her items as modern and delicate. They are all handmade and designed in Lauren's studio in Reading using a method called slip casting. Lauren has her own website and a blog at http://laurenceramics.blogspot.com/

Blacklyne Ceramics

This shop contains some very pretty handmade ceramic buttons created using a technique called Raku firing. These buttons are truly individual and would look lovely on some chunky handknitted clothing or maybe even incorporated somehow in jewellery. I'm thinking of a way to do it!!

Sea Urchin

This shop contains some really striking and different ceramic jewellery. Lisa, the owner of the shop says she is obsessed with texture, colour and new materials and loves to experiment. Many items, like the pendant featured incorporate fused glass and precious metal lustres.

Much In A Little

Isn't this nodding dog gorgeous. I just couldn't resist him. As well as the nodding dogs this shop contains quirky cuff links, plaques and ceramic eggs. The shop owner describes her shop as Poignant, humorous work in porcelain and mixed media inspired by classic toys and curios. This is definitely a shop to visit for something a bit different.

Jude Allman

This is another store that creates items using the Raku technique but this one contains pendants and brooches as well as buttons. Jude is based on the Isle of Wight and creates her gorgeous items in a tiny studio in her house by the sea. Sound absolutely gorgeous. The pendant featured has been glazed with crackle glaze and is a totally unique piece.

So there you go, the Folksy shopping list. I keep forgetting that Folksy doesn't feature nearly as many sellers as Etsy and therefore I will have to remember to create wider searches when doing my favourites feature. As you can see though, from this week's sellers that it is quality not quantity that really counts.

Designer Saturday

2009-07-31T14:12:00.000-07:00

Not really sure exactly what I want to do tomorrow. I need to work on a handful of new designs of Knotted Jewellery. I got a couple of very nice books last week, which have given me some ideas and one has some fantastic knots that I am going to practice and see how I can incorporate them into Jewellery.

My hubby is off early in the morning to work so I'm planning on getting up nice and early to so I can spend all day designing and making. As well as a few new designs I also want to make at least a couple of things to sell as I need to get more of the knotted designs in the shops. I may also at least start a new design for some cards and I really should do my Thank You Cards. I will be in deep trouble with my Mum if i don't!!

On the non creative side of things I need to clean out my rats and post my Dad's Birthday present.

I will also have a Saturday Shopping List from Folksy and I've already got a theme decided. You'll have to take a look tomorrow to see what it is though!

Etsy Favourites - Get Knotted!

2009-07-30T05:55:00.000-07:00

No I haven't suddenly lost all my manners. Today's theme is based around one of my favourite things - knots. Today specifically Macrame. This fantastic craft is based around 4 or 5 main knots than can be combined in as many fantastic combinations as you can think of. Here are 5 sellers that show how creatively it can be used.

Melanie Miljan

Melanie makes Jewellery & Accessories, including this fab Belt tied with hemp and featuring green Aventurine nuggets and a Bamboo buckle. She uses natural materials and her shop mostly features Jewellery, made with either Fine Silver or Sterling Silver. Melanie also has a blog at http://macramewithmelaniemiljan.blogspot.com/

Intrinsic Imagination

This shop is full of amazing items that are works of a very creative imagination. The Barefoot Sandals caught my eye mainly because I'd never heard of them before! They are made with hemp and glass beads and can be worn in bare feet at the beach or a summer party or to brighten up plain flip flops or sandals. I think they're lovely. The shop also features handmade jewellery, hair falls and some very funky feather eyelashes.

My Imperfections

This is only a new shop but already has some really nice items in it. The knotted cord necklace pictured is made with silver rattail, shells and rings. This shop features big, bold Jewellery that are real dramatic, statement pieces combining so many different elements into pieces that just shout gorgeous at you!

Freedom Market

Freedom Market features lots of lovely Hemp and Beaded Macrame Jewellery. The Necklace featured contains Hemp with fire agate, antique brass, wood and hand carved bone beads. Hemp creates a lovely natural look especially when combined with natural material beads and the items listed in this shop are very wearable.

Katie's Basement

Handmade & Custom Jewellery from a modern day hippy. This is what Katie says about her shop. Being a bit of a modern day hippy myself I fell in love with it. It's a fairly new store, only opening at the end of May this year but already features many items that are all beautifully photographed. The bracelet featured is a Jasper Hemp bracelet, tied with hemp with a Jasper centrepiece and smaller wooden beads. Katie also has a blog: http://katiesbasementblog.blogspot.com/

Two new listings

2009-07-29T13:18:00.000-07:00

I have listed two new items today, both Chain Maille Jewellery, one in each Northern Dawn Shop.

Mobius Link Bracelet

This Bracelet has 25 Mobius balls linked together with bright aluminium jump rings. The mobius balls are made up with one each of a purple, violet & pink anodised aluminium jump ring. It is 19cm long and is fastened with a silver plated Lobster Clasp.

I think it is really pretty. It is also comfortable to wear, moves nicely as you move your hands and arms and catches the light as well!

FOR SALE: £12.00

Japanes 4-1 Earrings

These Earrings are made using a delicate, fiddly weave called a Japanese 4-1. The purple anodised aluminium jump rings are approx 7mm in size and are linked together with 3mm silver plated jump rings. They dangle to a fantastic 7cm.

These Earrings make a real statement with both their length and colour.

FOR SALE: $21.00 (approx. £13.00)

New Photos & Descriptions

2009-07-28T14:58:00.000-07:00

I didn't get any new makes done today but did have a very productive day working on what may be a big project for next year.

I did take some new photographs of my Jewellery in my Etsy shop, though. All the new photographs were taken outside with a nice natural backdrop of stone from the garden and I found a post that my earrings hung nicely off of and the wood created a lovely coloured and texture background. I also amended some of my descriptions on the pieces I listed when I first opened the shop. I had planned on listing two new items this evening but ran out of time. They will go on tomorrow and the shop will be all updated and shiny for any new visitors the new items may generate. A huge thanks to Sparklerama for providing this fantastic forum post on item descriptions.

Tomorrow I am also going to make some labels for my new Jewellery Boxes and wrap one up as I would to post to a customer, then add the photograph of this to my listings so people know what to expect. I got this tip from this very interesting Storque article: Packaging and Shipping.

Google Friend Connect

2009-07-27T07:25:00.000-07:00

If I have any more widgets added to the sidebar of this blog, it'll be amazing! It's getting longer every day. Today i eventually worked out how to add a Google Friend Connect widget, so people can now follow the blog using that. I already follow a few this way:

So, add yourself to my followers and I'll check you out too. I love reading people's blogs.

It's Raining Cats & Dogs

2009-07-26T12:55:00.000-07:00

An Etsy Favourites theme for a typical British Summer!

Spiraln

Spiraln is Steven Leary's shop, selling Limited Edition Prints, T-shirts and notecards all featuring his original artwork. His style is cartoony with lovely bright, friendly characters. I loved the bright colours in this cute print, called Puss In Boots.

Shaggy Creations

Valerie of Shaggy Creations describes her art as 'a little bit of whimsy and a touch of class'. Her shop contains bright and fun art prints featuring dogs and cats in many different guises. This wonderful print of a Valentine's Welsh Corgi caught my eye for this week's favourites.

Hayward Prints

This is David Hayward's art print shop on Etsy. He says, " There is something mystical, contemplative and minimal in my art", and I would agree with this. The ACEO print that caught my eye, called Shelter of Another is very simple, but tells a great story. It made me smile and I think it is truly gorgeous.

Paint All Night Studios

This shop features the work of two artists, Robert David and Marie Bretz. It contains original artwork, prints and other products such as notecards. The painting that caught my eye is called Silver Lining and is a Limited Edition 8" x 10" print. It is lovely and bright and reminded me of me, walking my own dogs in the rain!

Sheona Hamilton Grant

Last but definitely not least is this shop featuring some absoloutely brilliant pencil drawings. As an artist who draws in graphite myself, I love looking at other pencil artist's work. Sheona's is highly detailed and realistic. If you are a Horse lover, this is the place to visit. The drawing that caught my eye though, was this ever so cute Labrador Puppy, peering round a pair of wellies.

I hope you have enjoyed this week's favourites, even though they were so late. I had great fun finding them, I love looking at other artists' work. The great thing about all the featured art is they are available as prints or notecards, so are a very affordable way of owning some great pieces of art.

Storage

2009-07-25T14:52:00.000-07:00

I have been at my 'day job' all day today so haven't had any time to do anything even remotely creative. I have found my sellers to feature on this week's Etsy favourites, but I will add them to the blog tomorrow.

Today I risked Argos on the day of the New Catalogue and bought myself a plastic tower with draws storage thingy. I have spent this evening filling it with art, card making and jewellery making stuff. I have loads of stuff, particularly for the card making. I went through a mad phase of buying paper so I managed to fill a whole draw just with paper! That doesn't include the vast quantities of pre-made card blanks and envelopes. I will definitely have to dedicate some time to make a whole load of one off cards for whichever occasion the paper & embelishments suggest!

I know have all my beads neatly in a draw, with the findings all in one tub, rather than it all muddled together in vast numbers of envelopes.

I am off to bed now and I will see you tomorrow with a seasonal British Summertime themed Etsy Favourites.

Folksy Fairies on Friday

2009-07-24T06:42:00.000-07:00

My first Folksy favourites list, based on the magic of fairies at the bottom of the garden...

Heartfelt

There are lot of Tooth Fairy cushions listed on Folksy, but I just loved these because they are so different. They contain a little pocket for placing the tooth in and it is here that the Tooth Fairy leaves her payment. They are made with felt & fabric and the Tooth Fairy Monsters are made to order. Heartfelt is owned by a busy Mum of two who makes personalised felt creations such as padded names as well as Tooth Fairy Monsters.

Soaps by Laura

This Handmade Sugar Plum Fairy Soap is just one of many very sweet, pretty handmade soaps in Laura's shop. Her soaps have been certified and comply with EU regulations and are not tested on animals. Soaps are made fresh to order and Laura also sells bath salts, gift sets and bath bombs.

Cherryloco

Cherryloco is Lauren's shop. She sells handmade jewellery created in her home and she describes her pieces as unique, colourful & somewhat naive, laced with a quirky sense of fun. This pretty fairy pendant is hand pierced entirly from Sterling Silver.

Golcar House

This fairy image is a Limited Edition Hand Printed Screenprint. It's called 'Eat my dust'. Golcar House is an independant design studio that produces silk screen prints, printed textiles, eco friendly bags and hand made accessories, all handmade. Many of the designs in this shop are Limited Edition or originals so the perfect place to visit for something truly different.

Mirabilis

I thought the fairy on this charm bracelet was so cute. This bracelet is very girly and would make a perfect gift for a real 'girly girl'! The Mirabilis shop is run by Vicki who handmakes the Jewellery on offer, which includes earrings and bag charms amongst other items.

So, whether you believe in Fairies or not, i'm sure you'll agree there's some magical items for sale in these shops. Happy Shopping!

Friday To Do List

2009-07-23T14:16:00.000-07:00

I know, it's Thursday and I've not done my favourites. Again. I ended up having to go in to work 4 hours earlier than I was meant to so didn't get a lot done today and had no time to compile my favourites. I did, however, compile a pretty impressive list of articles about sales and related issues on Etsy. I will put them in some sort of resources blog post at some point. One good thing about going in early today means I get tomorrow off. Woohoo! So I have compiled a To Do List for tomorrow:

Start on my Thank You cards
Make a cross knot & seed bead bracelet
Do some more chain maille experimenting
Do an Etsy Favourites & Folksy favourites blog posts
Put my resource list into a sensible blog post
Start a new ACEO for cards

I also have some bits coming through the post for my exciting new project so will get a look at those, and my lovely hubby has bought a load of craft stuff worth £100 for £20 off of someone advertising on a local website, so it'll be like Christmas when he comes home!

See you tomorrow.

Etsy & Folksy Selling Action Plan

2009-07-22T13:41:00.000-07:00

I have just added my new items to my Etsy and Folksy Shops. Follow the links below to have a look:

Pink & Black Tartan & Chain Necklace
Pink and Black Chain Maille Earrings
Blank Golden Retriever Greetings Card

I have also been busy updating my profiles on both Etsy and Folksy. Both now have blog links on as well my Twitter username and Etsy has the details of the McEtsy team as well, so people know that i'm 'joining in'.

I've been reading a lot of bits on Etsy about successful selling and listing techniques and today's Etsy Success article was on 'tags' so I read through that and hopefully implemented some of the useful pointers. The Etsy blog, Storque and the forums are a fantastic source of information, but it is so huge it takes time to go through it all. I have stolen a little idea from another UK seller and put a note on the bottom of my Etsy listings of the price in UK pounds and on the bottom of my profile that i'm based in the UK and all items are despatched from here.

I don't know how successful either Etsy or Folksy will be for me, but I don't see why they can't be. One thing I have learnt is they need to be worked at. Both sites are so big, you can't just sit there or no-one will ever notice you! I wonder which one is better but can't decide. Etsy is bigger and more well known, but because of this it is easier to get lost amongst the millions of other sellers and products on there. Folksy is less well known and smaller but there is less competition. I do know I need to do the same things for each site so I can measure my success (if there is any) of one against the other. There is a general action plan for this, which basically consists of:

Regular updates - I need to list at least one thing a day on both sites, preferably 2 or 3 but this does cost money so I need to be sensible

Join In - get on the forums on both sites, do 'treasuries' on Etsy. All these things will hopefully make my name known to other site users and I think a lot of them are buyers as well as sellers.

Favourites - Add sellers to my favourites and also items. I do my Favourites list on here for Etsy and always let people know they've been added. Each person is another one that has been exposed to my name. It may not result in sales but it has definitely resulted in reciprocal favouriting. I have decided to do a Favourites list on here for Folksy once a week as I do for Etsy.

The Blog and Twitter - need to be updated regularly, but not just with updates to the shop. I need to try and make twitter updates a bit interesting and add some informative articles to the blog. More people will follow me if I write something worth reading!!

Amend my listings - I need to amend my listsings that I posted at the beginning with better photographs and update the descriptions and tags after reading the articles i've been reading.

So, that's the general idea of where i'm going and what i'm up to. I also need to do some off-line marketing and sort out my own website, but that's a blog post for another day!

I will update the blog with any interesting news on any of the above points and let you know what (if anything) proves succesful.

Productive Day

2009-07-22T09:56:00.000-07:00

Wow, if only every day was like today! I finished a Pet Portrait commission, just waiting for final approval from the customer and then it'll go in the post.

I also turned my Golden Retriever Puppy drawing into a card:

And made a pair of Byzantine Weave Chain Maille Pink & Black earrings which will be a perfect match with my necklace I created yesterday:

The Earrings will be listed on Etsy later along with the necklace and a card will be listed on both Etsy and Folksy.

I also had a very exciting phone call about a project that may be happening later in the year. I don't to say too much about it now but to say it's exciting is an understatement!

Pink & Black Tartan Bead & Chain Necklace

2009-07-21T13:45:00.000-07:00

I didn't get an awful lot of anything productive today but I did design and make this necklace. It was designed as I went along so the whole process took about 2 hours but I am very pleased with it and think it looks very funky.

It uses Pink & Plack Tartain/Plaid fabric beads, pale pink anodized aluminium chain and Pink & Black 10mm anodized aluminium jump rings attached to form a chain. These components are all combined to make a 2 strand necklace with a cascade with an on-trend chunky, modern look. I love the mix of textures and the colour combination is brilliant. I haven't worked out the costing yet, but it will go on Etsy at some point so I will notify you when it does. I also need to get a decent picture of it being worn so buyers can fully appreciate it's look.

Earrings - Purple Byzantine weave chain maille

2009-07-20T14:12:00.000-07:00

I managed to complete 3 of the 4 things on my To Do List and by far the most fun thing was making two pairs of Earrings:

Chain Maille Purple & Silver Dangly Earrings, Byzantine Weave:

These Earrings are created using a Chain Maille technique called a Byzantine Weave. It is actually fairly easy once you get used to it but it creates a fantastic effect. The Earrings are merely jump rings attached together in a specific order. The jump rings are purple Anodized Aluminium and the Fish Hook ear wires are silver plated. They are approximately 2cm long from the bottom of the Earring wire. These will be added to my Folksy Shop.

FOR SALE: £5.50

Purple Dangly Earrings, Chain Maille Byzantine weave.

These Earrings are made using the same technique as the Silver & Purple pair, but using only Purple jump rings. They are 3cm long. These will also be added to the Folksy Shop.

FOR SALE: £6.00

Monday's To Do List

2009-07-19T13:29:00.000-07:00

Our visitors are going tomorrow and whilst i'll be sad to see them go and have had a lovely time while they've been here it will nice to get back to work on Northern Dawn bits, especially seeing as I am on holiday from my 'day job' until Thursday.

So I have already written my To Do List for tomorrow so thought I would share:

Order some packaging boxes
Make the Golden Retriever Puppy ACEO card and put one up on my Folksy Shop and one in my Etsy Shop
Make something with my new goodies (don't know what yet but think it may feature pink chain and plaid beads)
Order some wooden beads and some suede thong

I ordered some very nice natural wooden pendants but didn't order anything to go with them, hence the need for wooden beads. Beads Unlimited also do some cool coloured wooden beads which I think will go well with my fabric tartan ones. The Suede Thong is to go with some of the new pendants I've ordered. I want something rustic looking and think Suede will be a good look.

As always, I may not get all these items done but at least I will start tomorrow with an aim. Tomorrow I should have something new and funky to show you.

In the Pink

2009-07-18T12:55:00.000-07:00

Just a little teaser from my new stash of beads and bits that arrived yesterday. These cool Pink Plain / tartan fabric covered beads are from Jilly Beads, which is also where the anodised aluminium chain is from. Not sure yet what exactly to do with them but they're going to be turned into some pretty cool punky Jewellery. Watch this space.....!!

Etsy Favourites - Tartan/Plaid

2009-07-17T13:40:00.000-07:00

I stayed on a bit of a Scottish theme this week for my Favourites, but mainly I was inspired by the tartan textile beads purchased from Jilly Beads on Tuesday.

Salt Of The Earth:

This is a Fairy Door. It is placed in your home and is the way that the fairy folk pass to this world from theirs! Apparently, the door only opens from their side. How cute is this! I just thought it was gorgeous. There are many different themed ones in this seller's lovely shop. This one stands 7" tall and they are made from Salt Dough.

Elylow

These lovely, highly practical and very pretty backpacks are made from reused and upcycled material. All are handmade and designed by the shop owner. Pretty, practical and ethical, what more could you ask for?

Marjji

I fell in love with this cat's gorgeous expression. He is 8" tall and made from upcycled, prewashed wool. He is weighted so will sit up nicely. He is handmade from an original pattern of the sellers, inspired by cats her Grandmother used to make. I like shops that include a story about where their creations come from. He would make the perfect gift for a cat lover - I am likely to be shopping here for my own Grandnother!

Thistle Cottage Studio

Do you want a cool, handmade hat? Then visit this shop. It contains a multitide of hats in different styles and colours. This hat is part of the seller's new Scotland collection. If you have a love of hats, Scotland or both, definitely check out this seller.

Leaping Lizards

This is another shop I will probably be shopping at. This seller has porduced some gorgeous, handmade, ceramic pendants. This particular one measures 1.25" in diameter and comes strung simply on a ribbon. This shop contains pendants in a variety of shapes and designs and also some cool slogans and phrases. If you individual Jewellery, this is definitely one to check out.

I hope you have enjoyed this weeks favourites and I have inspired you to check out at least one of these shops. There will be more next Thursday. See you tomorrow.

Raising the roof!

2009-07-16T13:29:00.000-07:00

We currently have visitors so unfortunately I don't have a lot of time for blogging, tweeting and certainly not creating, which is a shame as I am very focussed and inspired at the moment. However there will still be a daily blog post and everything will be back to normal Tuesday. I have had two dispatch notices from my shopping yesterday, so cannot wait for my goodies to arrive! Maybe I will be able to sneak in an hours making when our visitors are busy.

Today my hubby and his brother took the grass roof off of our old barn. At the base of the roof there were enormous slates led against the roofing timbers and when they came to do the second side, they discovered if they removed the slates the rest of the grass was then fairly easily dislodged by pushing a ladder through from the inside! There were some entertaining moments when, sat outside, all we could see was two ladders coming randomly through the roof, or, even funnier, a great lump of roof would move, then flop back down again, looking like the barn had come alive and had a giant grassy mouth it was opening and closing!!

The first half all removed:
Second side with the grass still on:
The highly technical push-a-ladder-through-the-roof technique!

But it works!

Roof all gone. Just got to tidy up now!

You may have noticed it's Thursday and there is no favourites. I have a theme ready but Etsy appears to be having maintenance, so i've given up for the evening. Fear not, there will be favourites for you to peruse tomorrow.

Shopping!

2009-07-15T08:41:00.001-07:00

I have been busy this afternoon credit card bashing and purchasing a whole load of Jewellery Findings, beads and card making bits.

The original shopping list read:

toggle clasps
earring wires
chunky chain
memory wire
split rings
headpins
1mm black rattail
shrink plastic
ACEO toploaders
coloured cardstock
5" x 7" envelopes
packaging boxes
ribbon

Currently there are 4 items not purchased: memory wire, toploaders, 1mm rattail and packaging boxes. The toploaders I shall get off ebay, the 1mm rattail only seems to be available from 1 supplier, who I didn't shop with today and i've not gone shopping for the boxes yet.

I went to my usual two suppliers, Jilly Beads and Handy Hippo and also discovered 3 new suppliers: Bead Sisters, Just Beads and Beads Unlimited. Hopefully, they'll be as efficient as Handy Hippo and Jilly Beads are.

I have discovered some fantastic charms, wooden beads & pendants which were purchased as well as the shopping list items. I was also introduced to coloured jump rings by Bead Sisters and the fantastic art of Chain Maille weaving, so I purchased vast quantities of pretty coloured jump rings and will have a go at the project ideas on their site when they arrive. I got really excited about it and can't wait to try out this new skill.

Google Analytics & Site Feed

2009-07-14T08:21:00.000-07:00

I have today installed Etsy Web Analaytics on the Northern Dawn shop. It is provided by Google Analytics and allows you to track things such as site visits, popular content, referrers etc. Hopefully it will give me an idea of what is working and what isn't in terms of promotion, products etc. I won't get any results for 24 hours but I'm looking foward to having a look and learning something from them. For more details, have a look at the Etsy Google Analytics articles.

I have also updated my settings for my blog RSS feed, so I think it now works. So if you want to follow my posts you can simply click on the subscribe to posts link. Thanks to Jennifer of Fuzzy Dragons.

Cross Knot Bracelet

2009-07-13T01:06:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are the photographs of the bracelet I told you about yesterday. The knots are Chinese Cross Knots, which mean Ten in Chinese. The beads are translucent rocailles in two different shades of blue. It is tied with black leather cord and will probably be closed with a toggle clasp.

Bracelet prototype

2009-07-12T14:13:00.000-07:00

I was inspired by an idea after looking at my Chinese knot book to create a criss-cross knotted bracelet with rocailles (large seed beads) between the knots. I sat down this afternoon with a length of leather cord and a pile of blue translucent seed beads and made one. However, it turned out the cord wasn't long enough, so I only made half of one! It also turned out quite wide, so i'm not sure if it classes as a cuff or not. It was, however, very pretty so I will definitely be making a couple more to go in the Northern Dawn shop.

Tomorrow, I am working from 11am to 8pm, so will not have a lot of time for Northern Dawn work. I will add some photographs of my bracelet prototype though. I also have written myself a shopping list, which I may get on and purchase tomorrow and I will also get started on reading the Etsy Seller Handbook, which I discovered after reading about it on the Laura Baillie Designs blog. If I have time I may also start on my blogroll on the blog too.

Original Art - Golden Retriever

2009-07-11T13:49:00.000-07:00

I did a little coloured pencil painting today of a Golden Retriever Puppy. All puppies are irresistable and who could not melt at a Golden Retriever Puppy:

Isn't he just gorgeous. It's in coloured pencil and is ACEO sized at 3.5" x 2.5". I am not going to sell it as an ACEO though, I am going to add to the collection and do a selection of popular dog breeds and use the images on cards to sell in the shop.

This one took me about 3 hours to do, so if I get off my bum and knuckle down I should be able to do at least a couple a week, so should have built up a decent selection in a few weeks time.

Twitter

2009-07-11T03:20:00.000-07:00

Well I have given in and just joined Twitter. I have read so many posts on the Etsy forums about how useful it can be for promotion and they keep on about it on the radio, so I have joined the masses!

I have just added a widget thing in my sidebar so you can click on it and follow me on Twitter. I am at Northern Dawn Twitter. Someone had already taken Northern Dawn, so my username is RaggraCrafts, which is name of where I live and as it is pretty different, I figured no-one else would have it, and they didn't! So I now need to work out how to work it efficiently and not just spam it or put exactly the same on it as the blog!

You may also have noticed my other Widget from Etsy. It displays the latest additions to my shop with a link to it.

The McEtsy Team

2009-07-10T14:49:00.000-07:00

Another of the many features of Etsy is the ability to join Etsy teams. When making my favourites post yesterday I came across a link to Team McEtsy. Team McEtsy was specially created to promote the work of Scottish crafters. So, of course, I applied to join. I received an email today and will be added to the list shortly. It is a really great opportunity to connect with other Scottish crafters, even if it is only virtually. Maybe in the future, 'real life' meetings may also be organised that I can get to and participate in. There is also a McEtsy blog, which features work from fellow scottish crafters.

Etsy Favourites - Scotland

2009-07-09T10:58:00.000-07:00

Today I followed the Shop Local link on Etsy's Buy page and searched for Scotland. The Shop Local feature lists the latest 100 shops to update at that particular location. So here are my 5 favourite Scottish shops:

Ali Bali Jewellery

Handmade and designed Silver Jewellery, made in Edinburgh. Most items are made from eco friendly recycled silver. This shops contains all types of Jewellery including Wedding Jewellery and this seller takes customer orders. One of my favourite items is her silver crocheted cuffs. You can visit her blog at Ali Bali Jewellery Blog.

Starry Blue Sky

Fantastic Photographic Prints, again from an Edinburgh seller. The shop features gorgeous images with a dreamy quality that makes them look more like a painting than photographs. She has some fantastic collage prints. I just love the dreamy affects and fantastic colours. They create a lovely, modern look that would complement any home. You can also visit the Starry Blue Sky Blog.

The Dog House

This shop features hand printed bags, t-shirts and bandanas with the seller's own greyhounds as the subject. I love dogs and the products in this shop are just perfect for any dog lover, particularly the Greyhound owner. I am seriously tempted by a canvas bag. As an extra bonus 5% from the sales goes to a Greyhound rescue charity, Gracehounds. The Dog House also has a blog: Max & Molly Designs.

Numpty

This shop features modern, funky cufflinks, earrings and hair barettes. The subjects are things such as aliens, lego and minis. Very cool and different. Perfect for anybody that loves something modern and different.

Fuzzy Dragons

Fantastic fantasy and animal art prints and ACEOs. Her preferred medium is coloured pencil which is a medium I also use so am always interested in coloured pencil artists work. The art is lovely and bright and features some lovely subjects such as dragons, horse and flowers. You can also visit the Fuzzy Dragons Blog.

I hope you will take time to visit at least a couple of these shops as they really do feature some superb stuff.

Sooner or later I will work out how to add photos to go with these favourites as photographs are so much more descriptive than my lame descriptions! - ETA: I did it, just saved them off Etsy and added them here, I will of course, notify the sellers and if anyone isn't happy, i'll remove them.

Thank you Card

2009-07-08T08:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't done particularly well with the to do list! I blame my husband, who only had a half day and I never get much done when he's about, calling me to do this and that or look at this etc.

I did make two prototypes for my Thank you Cards as I wasn't sure what design I wanted.

I went for this one in the end, mainly because I don't have enough ribbon to do all of them with the ribbon wrapped around the card!

They're made with Ivory Linen card, Frosted Gold Pearlescent Card and embossed in Gold. The ribbon is Ivory Organza. They have Ivory paper inserts. They are 5" x 7" cards.

To Do List

2009-07-07T13:31:00.000-07:00

I have finally got my Wedding photographs through from the official photographers and they have put them online and issued us with a username and password and printed them on little cards. I am planning on putting them in my Thank you Cards in case some of my guests want to look. My hot air gun has also been repaired so tomorrow will see a start in on Thank you Cards. It's unlikely I will get them all finished (I have 22 to do) but a start is better than nothing.

Tomorrow I am working from 7am to 11am so have plenty of time for working on Northern Dawn bits. Seeing as I am adding to the blog every day I thought it might be interesting to put my To Do Lists on it (and it also gives me something to write!). So, anyway, tomorrow's list:

Hour or two on Pet Portrait commision
Start the Thank you Cards
Start writing the HTML & CSS code for the Northern Dawn website
Create a necklace from my Pan Chang knot.

Hopefully by tomorrow evening I'll be able to cross these items off. It's going to be a busy day!

Pan Chang knot

2009-07-06T14:45:00.000-07:00

I was practising a new Chinese knot today called a Pan Chang knot:

A Pan Chang knot represents birth and death due to its endless pattern and indicates that life can exist forever. It is also known as the Mystic Knot, representing the mysteries of the Universe. The Chinese word for the knot shares the same sound as the word for happiness so this knot also represents happiness without end. It is thought to bring great good fortune to the wearer and beholder.

It was quite a complicated knot to tie and had to be pinned to a corkboard during its formation to get the shape and overs and unders of the cord correct. It can be tied using one cord or two, though it is easier to use two different colours when practising to help with tightening it, hence the gold and red cord. This knot was tied using 1mm silk cord and i'm not sure what to do with it yet. Its not very big, I think a Pan Chang knot tied with 2mm cord would make more of a statement, though I will definitely do something with this one. I will of course put it on the blog when I have.

NaBloPoMo

2009-07-05T13:36:00.000-07:00

No I haven't gone bonkers and started writing in a foreign language!

NoBloPoMo stands for National Blog Posting Month. All it means is I have signed up for adding to my blog everyday for the next month. Because the month can start whenever you like, mine started on 4th July, so will end on the 3rd August. Really every month should be NaBloPoMo, but it is sometimes hard to find time to blog, or to find something to blog about. Hopefully I'll manage and not bore all my readers to death.

Anyway, that's it for today - see you tomorrow.

An early morning beach walk.

2009-07-04T13:56:00.000-07:00

This morning I got up ridiculously early so my husband could drop me off at the pub to pick up my car on his way to work, so I decided to take the dogs for a trip to the beach. We got there about 6am and left about half 7 and didn't see anyone until we left the beach!

It was a bit misty when we arrived

But Jerry still wanted to play in the sea
Leave nothing but footprints......
.... is a hole or two ok?
We found a bit of shipwreck
And Jerry did his bit for the Earth and recycled someone's rubbish as a dog toy
Resting after climbing up the dunes
Even I took my boots off for a paddle!
And whenever I stopped, Jerry tried to dig around my feet. Ouch!
Tom thought if he went out far enough he might get those seagulls
And by the time we left, the fog had started to clear a bit
There's something very special about splashing through the shallows of the sea on a deserted beach accompanied only by the dogs. If you ever get a chance, give it a go.

Thursday Favourites - Handbags

2009-07-02T06:43:00.000-07:00

Its Thursday again, so its also Favourites day. Today I had a look at the hundreds of categories listed on Etsy and chose Handbags. I need a new handbag, so who knows, maybe I'll be shopping at one of these shops soon:

Timberlineltd - This shop creates gorgeous handsewn bags, pillows and purses. They are created from Pendleton Mill Wools and western tapestry fabrics. The items all have a fantastic Western / American Indian feel about them and are truly gorgeous. Really quite different.

AllyBu - Handmade fabric handbags, hobos and totes. Most of the fabrics are lovely floral pieces in fantastic vivid colours. The hobo bags are lined and contain pockets so are very practical as well as pretty.

Fabrichandbags - The bags in this shop are totally up my street and this shop is very likely to have me spending some money in it! It sells fantastic Boho / Hippy style fabric slouch bags in a gorgeous mixture of bright colours. I also liked these bags as they have a zipped closure.

StudioOneDesigns - This shop sells more traditionally designed leather and suede handmade and designed bags. I fell in love with a very pretty pink suede one. This shop is based in the lower Himalayas.

Peace4you - Peace4you makes very cool bags from recycled materials such as tent canvas! They call this upcycling and have some very nice bags in their shop. Due to the nature of the materials that are 'upcycled' the bags have a practical feel to them. All the bags are handmade and definitely for you if you want something different that is also ethical.

A work in progress

2009-07-01T06:23:00.000-07:00

The weather here has been absoloutely fantastic today so I put my shorts on for the first time since we moved here nearly three years ago, and sat in the sun. Of course I couldn't just sit there so I took my cords and beads with me and got started on a Knotted Necklace.

This Necklace uses one of my favourite sort of knots, one that is so simple to make, yet creates such a fantastic effect. The knot is called a macrame knot and half of the knot tied over and over makes a lovely twist effect. This is one of the reasons I love knotted Jewellery, it is peaceful and easy to make (well sometimes its not, but normally!) but so pretty to look at.

Its not finished yet, it will have a pendant added to it, between the beads, but it's getting there.

The knot creates such a lovely effect I am already planning a bracelet I can make, just using the knot and maybe a couple of beads.

Nature's backdrop

2009-07-01T05:54:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago I had an inspired moment and went outside to take some photographs of my Jewellery.

Rat Earrings hanging in our Sycamore Tree
Aqua Berry Charm Bracelet on a lichen on the dry stone wall:

One of the most important aspects of selling Jewellery is the photographs. The photographs are all you have to convince buyers it's your Jewellery they want.

One of the things I have problems with is finding a nice backdrop to photograph my Jewellery against. I don't have a lot of room in my house to set up an area specifically for photography and I need to photograph my pieces on a windowsill to get the benefit of natural light. I have, until recently, been simply photographing my creations on a plain, white piece of board.

On a gorgeous day the beads just look glorious, really vivid and shining, when photographed outside and the background colours of muted blues and greens are a fantastic complement and are bright, but not overpowering. I am really pleased with some of the results of my outside photography so will spend a little time re-photographing the items and amending the listings of my etsy shop.

Recycled Jewellery Boxes

2009-06-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

After finding an advert in the current Make Jewellery Magazine, I have been looking at the website of the Tiny Box Company, which sell gift packaging and Jewellery Boxes. They use recycled materials as well, which is a bonus, not only from my own point of view but as an additional selling point. The range is huge, so I am going to have a good look through the site and order myself a few boxes, but it looks very promising.

Thursday Favourites - Polymer Clay Beads

2009-06-25T13:46:00.000-07:00

As promised yesterday after discovering fellow sellers on Etsy had 'favourited' me I went on a search this morning for something special. After quickly realising I could quite easily spend 3 whole weeks solidly searching and always finding something different, I decided to narrow the search slightly. I decided first I would search for 'beads', as these are an essential part of my own jewellery making and great fun to look at, then I narrowed the choice down to Polymer Clay Beads. I am fascinated by Polymer Clay and it is definitely something I would love to learn how to use and I was not dissapointed today in my search - the variety of beads and jewellery produced with this medium is astounding.

So, here they are, my Five Thursday favourites:

Fimo Flora - The creations in this shop are just fantastic. All are handmade. The little characters are all very cute and very original. The choices range from elephants to peanuts and my favourite (for all those Winnie the Pooh fans) is the Heffalump. The prices are very reasonable as well. This shop is definitely one I shall be purchasing from in the future.

Jelly Beads Designs - This shop is full of handmade polymer beads in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. These include animals and characters, but also food and shapes. A lot of the beads are flatback but can also be purchased with holes and can also be glazed or left natural. They are also very reasonably priced and all beautifully photographed.

Tiny Ark - I found this shop by looking for rat beads and found some little mouse buttons instead. I liked this shop because it was a bit different, as it sells lovely, original buttons as opposed to beads. I have seen buttons used on jewellery though so felt it warranted inclusion. There are buttons of all shapes and sizes as well as animals such as some very cool bees. They are also machine washable so very useable.

Creative Spirit Too - I always thought of polymer clay being used to create beads in the shapes of animals, flowers, food etc. This fantastic shop showed me that it can also be used to create fantastic focal pendants and 'normal' round beads. The creations in this shop are just beautiful and I will definitely be shopping here for some beads to complement my knotted jewellery.

New Forest Beading - This is another seller who uses polymer create to create beads and pendants instead of objects. The pendants in this shop are highly detailed pieces in fantastic colours and would be perfect for one of a kind jewellery for someone very special.

So that's my five for today. I had great fun with this and hope anyone reading will find something useful. I have tried to find five shops that show the amazing range of things that can be done with polymer clay. Etsy is not just about buying handmade items, its also a fantiastic place to buy supplies for creating your own special pieces.

There will be five more on a different theme next Thursday.

Aqua Berry Charm Bracelet & Earrings

2009-06-25T03:44:00.000-07:00

I have had the idea in my head for a while now to make a charm bracelet using some of the lovely round beads I purchased recently, so on Tuesday I got down to making it:

The random shaped beads are glass pressed and the rounds are 8mm and 4mm, all in various lovely shades of Aqua, Blues and White. They are all hung on silver plated head pins on an antique silver curb chain. The clasp is a bolt clasp.

This braclet is about 18cm long and is lovely and heavy when worn. It's the perfect complement to bright summer clothing or to brighten up more formal wear.

It is currently For Sale at Northern Dawn on Etsy for $24.00.

I made these Dangle Earrings using the same materials and beads as the Charm Bracelet, however have listed them separately as I don't feel they make a set, but would of course be perfect worn together.

The Earrings have four 8mm rounds in Aqua, White and two shades of Blue with twin 3 - 3.5cm tails of antique silver curb chain falling from the middle. The curb chain falls straight and neatly due to the addition of the 4mm White and Aqua beads at the ends.

The Fish Hook ear wires are stirling silver.

They are For Sale at Northern Dawn on Etsy for $19.00

Both of these pieces are perfect for Summer, a fantastic reminder of Sunny Skies and Blue Seas.

Sharing Hearts

2009-06-24T10:26:00.000-07:00

One of the sections on Etsy is somewhere you can 'heart' favourite shops. I checked mine today for the first time for a couple of weeks and was delighted to find that three people heart me. So I thought I would say thank you publicly to those three people:

JJM Jewelry - This shop sells jewellery supplies, clasps, beads, findings as well as handmade jewellery. They also have a sale on at the moment. I will definitely have to have a good look through this shop as some of the beads look brilliant.

Blue Girl Jewelry - Hand crafted and wire wrapped Jewellery at a very reasonable price.

Sassa Lynne - This Etsy seller is another British seller and sells hand dyed yarns and threads as well as hand dyed scarves and other fiber art supplies. The items in this shop are truly unique, being created from random dye pots, so would be a perfect investment for someone making individual textile based art & crafts.

I have had a look on some of the other shops on Etsy, but will pick 5 tomorrow to add to my favourites and then 5 next week and so on...

Packaging revisited

2009-06-22T06:35:00.000-07:00

I have been looking into my packaging a little further and as you can see, have taken some photos. The boxes arrived in the white outer boxes so I though these would look nice with the ribbon wrapped round them as pretty gift boxes. I have however found a problem in that they are not big enough to hold my necklaces with large cascades and round beads as the boxes aren't deep enough and the lids won't shut!

Back to the drawing board on that one then!

I'm back!

2009-06-16T12:30:00.000-07:00

Well i'm back and now a married woman! We had an absoloutely lovely day - the sun shone, the food was superb, we had a fantastic suite booked at the hotel we were married in and neither of us cocked up our words.

It doesn't feel any different to be married to be honest, though it is strange to think I am now Mrs Williams and not Miss Young! And now have a husband and am someone's wife. The next job is to make a list and notify all the people I need to about the name change.

Here's a couple of photographs from the day:

Back to work tomorrow!

Packaging

2009-06-03T07:11:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to June at Northern Dawn! Can't believe its here already. Things will be a bit quiet on here over the next 2 weeks. I am getting married on the 13th so there is a lot going on at the moment. This weekend I am having a dress fitting so Northen Dawn is closed from Thursday 4th June to Sunday 7th, and then again from Wednesday 10th to Monday 15th inclusive. Of course, you can still place an order, they just won't be processed while i'm away.

I have recently been looking into suitable ways of packaging my Jewellery and have invested in some lovely black flocked velvet boxes, which come in a variety of sizes and will be perfect for my earrings, bracelets and cascade and pendant necklaces. I am unsure of how to package my necklaces that are beaded all the way along their length though. I have ordered some black velvet drawstring pouches which are very cute, so they might be used for those necklaces.

I am also thinking of a way to make my packaging a little bit special. Rather than it just arriving in an envelope, something different to make it stand out. One of my bead suppliers, Jilly Beads, always includes a little packet of complementary beads and I think this is a really nice touch. There are so many people out there creating and selling handmade Jewellery something different is certainly required to stand out, so this is my current challenge!

Land of the Midnight Sun!

2009-05-31T05:10:00.000-07:00

Well ok, not exactly, but nearly.

I had a rare night out last night (my Hen Party, I'm getting married in a fortnight) and we left town to head home at about 3.30am and the sun was coming up! Was a very strange thing, wish i'd taken a photo. It meant it didn't feel late when we got in and It was so hard to go bed - I felt raring to go and like it was morning again!

Just wanted to share as it felt relevant somehow to my shop name. Being up here in the far North means the Winters are grim, but the Summer more than makes up for it!

Future Website Planning

2009-05-29T02:49:00.000-07:00

Because Northern Dawn is a new venture for me a lot of its development and progress will be documented on this blog. It will be interesting for me to look back on and also may help others, who can (hopefully) get some ideas on how to start and develop a small craft business and (more likely) learn from my mistakes!

I make lists quite regularly. I have a small notepad by my bed that I will randomly write in whatever pops in my head - ideas for designs, a page for the website etc.

The most recent list involves plans for my websites. I currently have www.lauraspetportraits.co.uk which is for my Pet Portraits and has been running now for about 3 years. I also have my Pet Portraits blog at this URL. I'm not doing a lot with this as it ranks highly on Google and I don't want to muck about with it. I have recently got rid of many surplus pages so there's very little that needs done with it, other than the usual updating. The Pet Portraits blog will remain here as the work in progress blog and for any additional original Animal related art. Any other non-Animal artwork will be put on the Northern Dawn blog.

I also have www.laura-young.co.uk, which curently points at this blog and I have also just bought www.northerndawn.co.uk, which points at the moment to the Pet Portraits website, because I haven't done anything with it yet!

The Laura Young website is going to be turned into a 'gallery' site, containing simple galleries of my various creations - pet portraits, other art, jewellery, cards, maybe some photography. The won't be anything for sale on this site, though there will obviously be contact details if anyone's interested and links to where the items can be purchased from. This blog will be moved from this site to the Northern Dawn one, but there will be 'latest post' links from both this blog and the Pet Portraits blog on the homepage.

The Northern Dawn website is going to be my shop for everything I want to sell other than the Pet Portraits. It will be made with shopping cart software, so I can have recomendations for customers and maybe wishlists etc. Until I have set this up though, it will be a similar gallery style site to the Laura Young website with links to my Etsy shop and my Folksy shop for people who want to purchase. As well as finished products I am planning on providing kits for some items and also a project page and information pages about Jewellery & Card Making. This site will also be home to this blog, which will be updated with news and new makes.

All three websites will be designed to look similar so if people move from one to the other, they will know they're all connected. I am planning on a very simple, natural look using neutral colours, the same fonts and similar headers.

As well as my own websites I need to update my Facebook page and use that as a bit of an advertising tool and I am also going to look into Twitter, as this seems to be the 'thing' at the moment and is highly recomended on Etsy.

So, there you go. I will of course add updates to the blog as I go along. I will start working on all this towards the end of June.

Necklace design revision

2009-05-29T02:31:00.000-07:00

I have just made a small change to the fuschia bead necklace from my last post. I just tried it on to see what it looked like and decided it was too long (I guess I should have done this when I made it!) so have knocked 10cm off the length. I also took a photo of me wearing it, which was fun. I had to crop it to cut out the double chin!! I have amended the folksy listing and added the additional photo to the listing as well.

This has certainly taught me to try any creations I make just to make sure they sit right when worn and not just assume what's a good length for one necklace is a good length for another.

My Folksy Shop

2009-05-26T01:29:00.000-07:00

Just a small post to say I have now opened my account on Folksy and Northern Dawn now has a web prescence there as well! There are only two items in the shop, but more will be added:

Northern Dawn on Folksy

New Jewellery Pieces

2009-05-25T12:59:00.000-07:00

I have made a new necklace today and a pair of earrings:

Necklace:

It is a 3 strand necklace, made with wire. It has a trigger clasp and is about 60cm long. The beads are pink and fushcia glass chips and some gorgeous Indian glass beads as the centre pieces. The connectors are from a local craft shop and I just fell in love with them and they matched perfectly with the Indian beads I had in my stash, they made a perfect combination for a daring necklace with a bit of girliness about it!

FOR SALE: - £20.00

And a pair of Ratty earrings:

I have pet rats of my own and show them in my spare time. Next year I am going to start breeding them, so when I found these Chinese Zodiac Rat beads on the Jilly Beads website, I had to have them. It took me a while to decide what to do with them but as they are quite small they seemed perfect for earrings. They are simply hung on beading wire and the pink and white glass chips complement them perfectly, hanging off of an antique silver curb chain.

FOR SALE:- £13.00

Both of these items will be going on Folksy, when I have set up my account.

Etsy Shop

2009-05-18T08:56:00.000-07:00

I finally got an account set up on Etsy today. I found two other sites to sell handmade crafts, which I will also set up accounts with, Misi and Folksy. The two later ones are both UK based sites, which perhaps would be better than Etsy, which is American and has everything priced in dollars, but I thought I'd stick with Etsy as it is the bigger, better known site and has a wider, international audience. I will eventually try them all out and see which one I get on best with.

You may have also noticed that the name of the blog has changed. I had to think of a username and also a shop name for my Etsy account and spent most of yesterday afternoon inspriring myself using an online thesaurus. In the end I went for Northern Dawn. I think it sounds a bit mystical and wanted to have a sort of 'natural' sounding name. I have changed the name of the blog to fit in with this and will also eventually set up a personal website to showcase the Handmade Jewellery and other crafts, which will all go under the Northern Dawn name.

Anyway, my shop on Etsy is: Northern Dawn Jewellery.

Jewellery

2009-05-08T14:25:00.001-07:00

I was ever so excited last week by the arrival of two parcles, one from Handy Hippo and one from Jilly Beads full of loads of yummy beads and findings. I got started as soon as they arrived and made two necklaces, both adapted from designs in Make Jewellery Magazine and a pair of earrings.

I have since decided that I ordered too many large 'feature' beads and not nearly enough jump rings or headpins so have been ordering yet more beads and other bits. I can spend hours looking at beads and still not make up my mind what I want, but I have more parcels arriving in the next couple of days so I am looking forward to getting making.

I have also ordered these two books off of Amazon, Chinese Knots for Beaded Jewellery, and Ornamental Knots for Beaded Jewellery, both by Suzen Millodot. I love knots so have also ordered a load of cord and can't wait to get started with the knotted jewellery.

Anyway, here are some photos of the jewellery I have made so far:

Wedding Invites

2009-05-08T02:46:00.000-07:00

Well the wedding invites are all done now and sent off and the vast majority of the evening invites are off too, just a few left to check addresses for.

Wedding Invites:

Pocket insert cards made with Ivory linen card, containing the Evening Invite, the Menu and a Reply Card with stamped, addressed envelope included.

The inserts are mounted on Bazzill Basics Textured card and Frosted Gold Pearlescent card. The printing is done on an Epson inkjet printer.

They are held together with Organza ribbon in Purple and Ivory.

The heart motif on the front is embossed in gold from a Wedding Wishes stamp.

They took me a long time to make, but I thoroughly enjoyed doing it and responses from those that have received the invite has been really good, after them getting over the surprise that they are actually all hand made, so that's got to be good!

Evening Invites:

These are simply pockets with the Evening Invites as an insert. They also contain a Reply Card with an addressed envelope, but these weren't stamped.

Specifications are the same as the Wedding Invites.

The were all posted out in Ivory Envelopes.

Wedding Invites

2009-04-01T07:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, i'm back again, after 6 months of not adding anything to the blog!! So what's been going on? well, loads actually......

I got my results for my Open University course, Discovering Science, so have also got myself a Certificate in Natural Sciences. I've finished Understanding Cancers, should get results in June I think. I'm more than halfway through my other course Introducing Health Sciences and am doing pretty well with it so far.

I'm getting married in June so am in the middle of organising all that. We moved house back in January.

I have recently changed the title of the blog and will use it to showcase my craft work. I have plans to begin selling some cards this year, so will use the blog to keep everyone informed of what's happening. I haven't been making a lot of cards as I don't have a lot of space here to spread my stuff about but I have a lot of plans for my art and card making. I have also subscribed to a new jewellery magazine that's very good, so there will be jewellery soon as well.

I just looked back at my resolutions for the beginning of 2008 and have to admit to failing dismally with all of them, so 2009 has the same ones! The dog grooming one failed to the point they have recently been to a professional groomer and look absoloutely beautiful. I am getting a bit better at getting up on the mornings though, and just love the feeling of looking back at the day and feeling i've achieved something.

Anyway, the current crafty project is my wedding invites. They are cards with a pocket to hold the evening invite, menu and RSVP card. The photograph is just the one I made to make sure it all worked correctly, so its not printed. Today I have cut out the card I need so I can get started putting them together at the weekend. Here is the sample:

Invite all tied up

Showing the pockets containing the inserts

And showing the individual inserts.

Cards, OU and moving house

2008-09-13T07:21:00.000-07:00

As per usual there's loads going on here at the moment. The most exciting is probably that our house is up for sale. We've found a house we really like, but we need to sell ours before the owner will accept an offer on it. So, fingers crossed we can sell ours sooner rather than later.

I am currently working on my End of Course Assignment (ECA) for my OU course, which is fairly complicated and requires a lot of though. It needs to be posted off by the end of next week. I've registered for two level 1 courses, 'Introduction to Health Sciences' and 'Understanding Cancers'. I'm hoping to do 'Practising Science' in the the summer and may do another 10-point course after Chrsitmas, when I will hopefully have some more money! That will either be 'Human Genetics and Health Issues', 'Understanding Human Nutrition', or 'Challenging Obesity'. My course materials have arrived for Intro to Health Sciences so it's hard at the moment to finish my ECA instead of delving into the new coursework.

I have had to miss a couple of card making classes due to me now doing late shifts at work, but have managed to find time to make some at home. Here are two i've done, the first for Aunty Kate, and the second for Grandma. Both were done using stickers, so were cheating a bit, but I was pretty chuffed with them both!

Vapour Trail

2008-06-26T04:32:00.000-07:00

How cool is this vapour trail?! Unfortunately I missed the plane making it. Enjoy.......

And also photographic evidence that you do get blue skies in the Far North of Scotland!

Creativity

2008-06-18T12:16:00.000-07:00

I have a desire at the moment to make stuff. There is even a small desire to draw, which I haven't had in ages!

However, the current thing taking my fancy is jewellery. In fact, i've fancied jewellery making since I started peering at the beads in the craft shop. I've bought a couple of books, but they are aimed more at metalwork, which would be great to do but seems to involve massive amounts of tools! I bought a couple of bead work magazines which the projects involve little more than a couple of pairs of pliers and some wire cutters so I think I can stretch to that. They also have space at the craft shop on a jewellery making class. It's on Thursdays so I have to decide whether to do card-making and jewellery making, or just the jewellery making. Think I will do both for a while.

I also really want to be card making and scrap booking, so when the in-laws go home I'm planning on spending some of my free time, at least once a week, on making cards and having a play at the scrap booking. I think I may try and sell a couple of cards on ebay and see how that goes.

It's quite strange, it's like there is a goal - I feel as if i'm looking forward to something but i'm not sure what - like something's about to happen. I can see time in my days to be making cards and jewellery and I can see designs, especially for the cards, forming in my head all the time! It's great and of course I will show anything i['m up to on here.

Feeling intelligent

2008-06-13T10:05:00.000-07:00

Feeling rather pleased with myself at the moment. Passed the TMA for book 4 (chemistry) of the OU course with 97% and just completed my latest iCMA with a mark of 100% and all correct on the first go (you get three trys).

Current book is on biology which i'm also really enjoying but finding it hard to get on top of time wise as we have several activities that we needed to put on the forum which we've only just had instructions regarding, so i've had to back track a bit. But I will have a bit more time to myself soon when the in-laws go home and will be able to catch up.

Have spent a large amount of time deciding what to do next and can't decide between social science, life sciences / health sciences or possibly environment or even computers! Arghh decisions decisions. Think I will probably do a 30 point course in September and a few 10-point 'taster' courses in a range of subjects to get a better idea.

It's been a month...

2008-04-28T08:41:00.000-07:00

I am so bad at keeping this updated aren't I?

So, what have I been doing? Well, i've been back home to Wiltshire to visit my family for 8 days, i've spoken to the area manager about the assistant manager job, I'm working on book four on my OU course and i'm still working on three pet portraits.

My trip back to Wiltshire simply confirmed what i already knew - I don't want to go back. I want to be able to look out my window and see fields not the neighbours and drive 20 miles without getting in a traffic jam (driving half a mile in my home town without a jam would be a miracle!). Even sleepy little Warminster felt busy and over-crowded. Needless to say I was glad to be back, though of course it was great to see the family again.

I have to finish my Step 3 training at work then it's likely I will be promoted to part-time Assistant manager. I'm really pleased about the part time bit. I now have to get motivated about completing the training which is really not exciting and to be honest the more time i've had to think about being a manager the more i've been thinking perhaps I don't want to be! Oh well, the money will be nice and I don't have to do it forever. I also think it will look good on my CV if I ever attempt to get a job relating to whatever OU stuff I end up doing.

The OU stuff is back on track. It hit a low somewhere in the middle of the Physics module as I felt I was banging my head against a brick wall. There was so much Maths and equations and symbols and I could do the Math but found it soooo hard to work out what equation I was meant to be using!! I managed to get a TMA result of 89% though which is my best so far. I'm not sure how I managed that seeing as I bluffed my way through the last question without having done the relevant course work! The current book is Chemistry which makes sense and i'm on track for the study timetable and i'm really enjoying the work and understanding it!

So, there's a quick update. There is other stuff to talk about but I will come back to that at another time.

Easter Cards

2008-03-22T04:31:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of the Easter cards I made:

All 5 of them together

And individual photographs. The first two were made using iris folding, using a pattern we were given in card making class and changing the colour ways:

This one is based on a card in a book I have. The purple flowers are brads and it is ribbon wrapped around the Easter egg.

These two are obviously more iris folding. The first one is the one I made in class, hence why it has Happy Easter stamped on it.

I really like iris folding, it's so simple to do and all it requires is paper, sellotape, cardstock and a pattern to follow. It's also fairly quick. These cards took me about half an hour each to make.

Happy Easter

2008-03-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter! Especially to those lucky people who have a long weekend off work! I'm not that lucky, but never mind.

I've been fairly tired most of the time over the last two weeks, i've just been doing so many extra hours at work - my pay packet should be nice though.

I made the decision to stop taking commissions and am really pleased, have already had one person email me about one though - why can't people read? I feel like it's a weight off my mind and am really looking forward to not having any more to do - i've got four to finish at the moment.

I am feeling good about mu OU course too. I got 88% in my first TMA and did a second iCMA two nights ago and got all the questions right, only one took two go's, so that is so much better than my first iCMA score of 43%! I'm also on track with the studying too and actually looking forward to starting book 3 - which is a physics subject and i'm not good at physics. I've been spending hours on the OU website deciding what to do next and still don't know.....

I have also been making Easter cards using the iris folding technique. Will take some photos and put them up soon.

Changes on the horizon

2008-02-29T08:57:00.000-08:00

I have my fingers crossed that life will be changing shortly. Our Area Manager has been discussing the possibility of creating a Deputy Manager post at out store, which will mean one of our Assistant Managers will be promoted, meaning an AM post becoming empty. Neil, one of our current AM's asked me if I was interested so I said I was and he's passed my name on to the Area mnager. Another good thing is Pets at Home only employ AM's from current staff, so I just have to cross my fingers that no-one from another store fancies it.

If I do get promoted it will likely mean going back to full time hours, which means something has to give - which will be the piccies. I may well give them up, at least temporarily if this doesn't happen. I am finding it hard to fit everything in and it would be nice to come in from work and do what I want, rather than draw other people's pets. As I have been so busy with them, it's become a bit tedious over the last few months, so some time spent drawing what i want would be good. The more I think about it, the more it seems a good idea....

Just means I have to control my finances better - as the piccies are a valuable source of extra income.

The OU stuff needs more time too though and I do feel that is very important - possibly another future changing thing at a later date. I've submitted two assesements, both at the last minute and I'm about a week behind on the study, so less time drawing means more time studying. I'm enjoying the study and not finding the science concepts too difficult but still struggling on the Maths.

My budget hasn't been going well at all - it's only February and i've already failed. This month I must try harder, though it's going to be tough due to the state I got in last month!!

Not enough hours in the day

2008-02-04T05:00:00.000-08:00

Oh my god, my life is manic! I do like being busy but at the moment it is a little too busy. I went ahead and signed up for an Open University course, S104: Exploring Science. It's only just started, the first book is on Global warming which is reasonably interesting but I was nearly floored at the first hurdle by Maths. I had to buy a Scientific calculator which was fine until I had to use it. I was there working out the mean average of a list of temperatures and it kept giving me the answers in fractions! Arrrgh. Eventually, after reading the instructions about 5 times and pressing all the buttons I found one that changed fractions to decimal places so that's ok now. I have also had to re-learn 'significant figures', 'units with prefixes' and 'numbers to the power of 10'. I haven't done any of this since GCSE's which I did the exams for 10 years ago this Summer. And realising that made me feel ancient as well. Oh, woe is me, lol.

I also have been working all day 3 out of 5 days at work for the last few weeks when my standard hours are only 2 out of 5. I could say no to the extras but I know what will happen - I'll say no, then when I do need the money they won't give me any extras. Normally this would be ok, but the pet portraits have gone mental and I am now booked up till the end of March which is unheard of for me in January.

All of this plus card-making, shopping, eating, cooking, dog walking, playing with & cleaning out rats and sleeping are keeping me very busy. When I'm very busy I write lists. I love lists. Well, actually, I love crossing items off of lists. I find I feel less panicky about getting everything done if I write a list then cross off what i've done - I then feel like I'm getting somewhere. I've not got to the writing lists stage yet though, so I'm still just about in control.

This is me!

2008-01-17T04:01:00.000-08:00

I had great fun yesterday. I followed a link on a forum and took a Jung Typology Test and discovered my type is Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging (INTJ). There were two descriptions linked to from the test result and both sounded really quite like me! Here's one: The portrait of the Mastermind which just sounds impressive doesn't it! and the other is here: INTJ profile.

There were a couple of specific things that really yelled at me that they were significant:

When it comes to their own areas of expertise -- and INTJs can have several
-- they will be able to tell you almost immediately whether or not they can help
you, and if so, how. INTJs know what they know, and perhaps still more
importantly, they know what they don't know. INTJs are perfectionists, with a seemingly endless capacity for improving upon anything that takes their interest.

I am obsessed about knowing everything about a certain subject - if it takes my fancy I will read and read all sorts of stuff and I am always willing (probably too willing some may say!!) to share what I've found.

Whatever system an INTJ happens to be working on is for them the equivalent of a
moral cause to an INFJ; both perfectionism and disregard for authority may come
into play, as INTJs can be unsparing of both themselves and the others on the
project. Anyone considered to be "slacking," including superiors, will lose
their respect -- and will generally be made aware of this; INTJs have also been
known to take it upon themselves to implement critical decisions without
consulting their supervisors or co-workers.

Natural leaders, Masterminds are not at all eager to take command of projects or
groups, preferring to stay in the background until others demonstrate their
inability to lead. Once in charge, however, Masterminds are the supreme
pragmatists, seeing reality as a crucible for refining their strategies for
goal-directed action

This is me too! My way of dealing with things I've been told to do is simply ignore what I've been told and do my own thing anyway. I'm really quite bad for taking over a situation and getting quite bossy. Often if i'm in a small group and someone asks a question, I will jump in and answer before anyone else gets the chance!

Personal relationships, particularly romantic ones, can be the INTJ's Achilles
heel. While they are capable of caring deeply for others (usually a select few),
and are willing to spend a great deal of time and effort on a relationship, the
knowledge and self-confidence that make them so successful in other areas can
suddenly abandon or mislead them in interpersonal situations.
This happens in part because many INTJs do not readily grasp the social rituals; for
instance, they tend to have little patience and less understanding of such
things as small talk and flirtation (which most types consider half the fun of a
relationship). To complicate matters, INTJs are usually extremely private
people, and can often be naturally impassive as well, which makes them easy to
misread and misunderstand. Perhaps the most fundamental problem, however, is
that INTJs really want people to make sense.

This bit really struck home too. I have very few friends but those i have are very good ones that I would do anything for. My OH will talk to anyone and everyone, being friendly with people he doesn't even particularly like but I just can't be bothered. Why waste my precious time on people who don't appreciate it! And I am definitely private and impassive. I like that word - impassive. It's me, down to a T! I always say I have a lazy personality, I find it really hard to get enthusiastic about something that I couldn't care less about and I am very laid back - I really, genuinely don't mind what I eat, where we go when we go out, what time we walk the dogs! I know my OH thought that I was just saying 'I don't mind' when we first got together, but most of the time I really don't!

And this is the best bit:

They are rather rare, comprising no more than, say, one percent of the
population

I always knew I was a bit weird - now it's official! It is nice to be different though :)

The Budget begins...

2008-01-03T09:48:00.000-08:00

Not sure if going shopping in the New Look sale was good for it though! But I did get a cardigan, pair of jeans and a top for £16! I bought a new mobile yesterday too. A Sony Erricson Walkman phone - was £80 in the Tesco sale. My Christmas money is paying for that though.

I thought of two new resolutions:

Groom my dogs more often: I have two Springer Spaniels which have long hair and like to swim in the sea and crash about in the undergrowth and generally get filthy. I gave them both a brush on Tuesday and ended up having to trim Jerry's ears - they looked such a mess after i'd cut all the knots out. I am ashamed of myself.

Get to work on time: I start work at 7am and live 5 minutes away. I also hate getting out of bed - I am bad! I have been bad lately for getting to work either bang on 7 or a minute or two after and I just really feel that I should make the effort to get their a little bit early. I used to manage it, i've just got lazy recently.

I've already broke the second one - got to work at 7:02am this morning. Must try harder!

Happy New Year!

2007-12-30T02:25:00.000-08:00

Ok, I know it's a bit early, but who cares! I've been fairly busy of late hence why I haven't been updating this regularly but now my life is my own again I can start 2008 the way I mean to go on!

I could write a list of resolutions as long as my arm (involving doing more housework and boring rubbish like that!) but I know I won't keep them so I'm going to stick to a few that are either

really important, or
things I want to do

So... in the really important category we have:

Sort out my Finances (*shudder*). I am fairly bad at managing my money and have managed to have a rather large overdraft and a largeish credit card bill. None of it's really horrendous compared to the debts you hear about on the telly, but it's a lot when you work part time for not much more than the minimum wage!!

So, to overcome this I have made a budget. Every 4 weeks when I get paid I'm going to take out my money for the month in cash so I can see the actual money going down and how much i'm spending, rather than randomly using my debit card for everything. I am going to stop ordering books I don't need from the book club and Amazon (*sob*) and make lunch rather than buy it on the days I work all day. I have also applied for a new Credit Card with 6 months 0% interest on balance transfers so I won't have to pay interest for a while on the the credit card balance.

The Big Plan is, if I can pay all my outgoings out of my wages (which I should be able to) any extra I get from the pet portraits can go in the Savings account, which is looking Very Sad at the moment. Wish me luck!!

And now on to the fun ones:

Learn to knit. I have been wanting to do this for several months now but haven't had the time. I have been inspired by several blogs and websites and have decided I would love to be able to knit some things for myself and other people. As of yet, there is no definite plan on how i'm giong to do this but it is likely going to be self taught from books. (I love books.)

Make more cards. I'm not really sure if this counts as a resolution but I'll add it anyway. I've really been enjoying the card making and am planning on making all my cards from now on. I am also planning on making some for sale using my own dog drawings. I need to get some more money coming in from the drawing front and this seems like a good way to do it - handmade cards, but totally original as they'll have my own artwork. And i've seen some great paper with doggy paw prints down the craft shop!

Do more crafty stuff. How marvelously vague that is! I spend a lot of time wasting time on the internet. This year I'm going to put my time to good use and make some stuff. When my card making course has finished, I'm planning on doing something else - either scrap-booking or jewellery making probably. By next Christmas I want to be able to make all of my Christmas presents!

So, there you have it - my plans for next year. I also have a training course for work to do and would love to find the finances to do an Open University course, but that's definitely only a maybe - depending on time and money. Hope you all have a fantastic start to 2008 and long may it continue!

Cards

2007-11-27T08:17:00.000-08:00

As it's card making day today, I thought i'd better get on and show you what I did last week. We made oriental style cards, which aren't really my 'thing' but they were good fun to make and didn't look too bad!

Card #1

This was made with a metal stencil. We used black ink on a little finger stamp pad to do the black bits. We then drew around the clothing and cut it out, then used another stamp to create the pattern. This was then glued on the card. The gold bits are stickers.

Card #2

This card was made using the same techniques as the other one, except the clothing is patterned paper. The purple colour is chalk as I made a mess with the ink and smudged it everywhere! The little rivets holding the card on are great!

This evening we are making Chrsitmas cards.

Cross stitch completed

2007-11-23T04:32:00.000-08:00

I have now finished my cat cross stitch. I've stitched as a Christmas present, but i'm not sure who to give it to yet. I've started another one in the same series, but i've only done two lines of white stitching, so there's not much to show off yet!!!

Here's the finished one:

Project details are in this cross stitch post.

Card making

2007-11-17T09:49:00.000-08:00

I chose a rather stupid time of year to start a blog - I have so much going on I don't have a lot of time to update it!

However, on Tuesday, i'm going to a card making class. I've been thinking about doing card making for a while - i've got a few ideas on incorporating my pet pics into handmade cards but I have to admit feeling a little bit lost when it comes to the huge array of paper and stencils and embossing tools that are available. It was on a whim that I went into the new craft shop in town last Thursday and got offered a cup of tea, so sat down with the cuppa and looked through some cross stitch catalogues and got chatting to the shop owner. She mentioned they were doing classes so I put down my name for a beginners card making one.

I'm really looking forward to it, not just for the card making but also the social side of things, other than work and our friends round the corner I don't really know many people so it will be great to meet some people who are in to crafty things like me. I will let you know how I get on!

Cross stitch

2007-11-08T14:37:00.000-08:00

Cross stitching has to be one of my most long-standing hobbies. I was taught by my Grandma when me and my sister were little, along with embroidery, quilting, knitting and crochet. Cross stitch is the only one I stuck at, though i'm planning on re-learning to knit in the new year.

I love cross-stitch, it's so easy and such stunning pictures can be created from just a blank piece of aida and some threads. I think it's brilliant that a series of crosses in varying colours, sometimes with a bit of backstitch for definition can create pictures of absoloutely anything. I tend to go for animal designs, generally enormous, complicated ones involving loads of colour changes so I have about four unfinished ones on the go at the same time then some smaller ones in between times as well!

Here is a work in progress photo of my current project:

Project Details:

Manufacturer: Heritage Stitchcraft
Designer: Margaret Sherry
Kit: Cattitudes: 'Get a Dog!' MSGD719. Available as a kit, containing either Zweigart 14 count Aida or 28 count Evenweave, with pre-sorted DMC threads, chart, needle and instructions.
Size: approx. 14cm x 14cm

Saturday....

2007-11-03T16:32:00.000-07:00

Weather - changeable (it pissed down really hard when the sun wasn't shining)

Today I spent the morning cleaning out the animals. After walking the dogs, I cleaned out the bunnies, then cleaned out all three rat cages whilst letting them out and spending at leat 15 minutes with each group. I had lunch about 3.30 (scrambled egg on toast) when i'd finished.

I am proud of myself today though - I built a chair this evening. No, not a wooden one - an office chair, flatpacked from Argos. And it works and hasn't fallen apart yet.......

I also watched the film 'Titanic' today. I got a DVD out of co-op for £7 that has 'Titanic', 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'The Beach' on it. As I really like both Titanic and Romeo and Juliet I thought it was a bargain. Anyway - Titanic still makes me cry, not quite as much as the first time I saw it (I think I cried solidly for about an hour that time) but I still blubbed at the end. I am a wuss when it comes to films but I don't care! It's the thought of all those people that died and just so needlessly. I find it's the kind of film I get really into and I think it shows what a human tragedy the disaster was.

It's stopped raning now - i've just been out to let the dogs out for a late-night pee and it's lovely out. Pitch black sky with a tiny sprinkling of stars and no noise except for the wind in the trees, a few geese and the distant murmur of a car on the road to John O' Groats. Even though it's cold and I don't stay out for long, it's a great time of day to just be still and just concentrate on being alive!

Welcome to my blog

2007-11-03T16:22:00.000-07:00

I already have three other blogs - one is for my pet portraits so is work related, I have one specifically aimed at pets and my other one is for my rats. However, I often feel like talking about other stuff - random things about stuff I hear on the radio or the weather or what i've been doing, so this is it - my 'random stuff' blog. Enjoy!!