Back to the norm

Finally I am feeling normal again (with regards to my jewellery anyway!). My mojo has returned and at last I am creating again. I am going to bed thinking about my jewellery and waking up thinking about my jewellery. Last weekend I completed 4 commission pieces and as soon as I had finished the last one I got straight on to making some new pieces. Then today (when I should have be packing for our family holiday!) I thought 'I'll just make a quick bracelet first'.

'Quick' was not really what happened as I fiddled around for a long while. I had wanted a 6 petal flower so thought I could follow my Wire Flower tutorial and just add in an extra petal. That didn't work out so I had to make do with a 5 petal flower.

I had difficulties again coiling around 2 pieces of wire which kept slipping over each other. I think next time I will use thinner wire for the coiling. The swirl glass beads and purple glass disc bead came from Jenn at Kanna Glass Studios.

We have a winner

After a very busy day today, I did the draw for my blog giveaway of a pair of Amethyst Shades Earrings just after midnight. The lucky winner drawn from my little pot was....

Silver Moss Jewellery - please can you contact me with your address and I will send your earrings a.s.a.p. Thank you everyone for entering. I shall be doing another blog giveaway next month.

Designer challenge - Tuscan Bead Coiled Bangle Bracelet

At the beginning of this month I blogged about the Tuscan Bead Set I won from Jenn at Kanna Glass. She challenged me and another lucky winner to design something from a similar set of beads. The beads said 'bracelet' to me and here is my Tuscan Bead Coiled Bangle Bracelet.

This is the first kind of coiled bangle I have ever made and I have to say my coiling is not perfect. This technique will certainly take practice. I did make a trial version with silver plated wire but with finer wire for the coiling. I used thicker sterling silver wire for the final piece which has certainly made it more sturdy (and more expensive!). The best thing about this kind of bangle bracelet is that it sits nicely on your wrist and doesn't swivel round.

Thank you to Jenn for the lovely beads and the challenge. It was great fun and certainly helped my inspiration to come back.

Blog giveaway

Today I saw that I have 100 followers of my blog (and 101 hearts of my Etsy shop). So to celebrate this, I have decided to have a giveaway of a pair of my Amethyst Shades Earrings (beautiful faceted rondelles of different shades of amethyst sitting together in pairs).

If you would like to win a pair of the above earrings just leave me a comment below with your details. I will draw the name of a winner on Monday 13th July so please check back to see you if you have won.

Good luck and thanks for reading.

You must check out Kanna Glass Studios

Ooo... it's been a while since I blogged. June/July are always very busy months for me with lots going on including many birthdays, family holidays and last weekend was Glastonbury Festival. My tenth year of going and this year was one of the best for me. We had the obligatory rain/mud but it soon dried out and I still managed to come home with a suntan having seen and done so much.

Anyway, I wanted to tell you about Jenn from Kanna Glass Studios and urge you to check her out. Back in April I won her blog giveaway of some beautiful green swirl beads from which I made teardrop earrings and a teardrop pendant. I loved these beads so much I immediately commissioned her to make me more in different colours and here's what arrived.

Her packaging and attention to detail is outstanding. It felt like my birthday as I opened up the beautiful little pillow boxes to find the lovely beads inside.

Then, very soon after that, I won another of her giveaways with a twist. To fit in with her Blooming in June theme, she sent me and another lucky winner a set of similar beads and has challenged us to create something with them and post our creation. I won this stunning Tuscan Bead Set with a fab swirly flower.


The colours are HOT, HOT, HOT (just like the weather here today) and the bead collection says 'bracelet' to me (might even manage a pair of earrings too). I have a few ideas swimming around in my head but I'm not sure whether they will work.

Thank you so much Jenn for all the goodies. I think you have helped me find my inspiration (it's been such a long time, I was thinking it had gone for good!). Watch this space...

SALE! 20% discount at K S Jewellery Designs on Etsy

Next week I shall be taking most of my stock to my friend's boutique, so I thought I would offer all my pieces and tutorial on Etsy to my blog readers at a sale discount of 20% off the marked price (shipping costs remain the same). Click on the picture to be taken to my Etsy shop or follow this link: http://www.ksjewellerydesigns.etsy.com/



To get your blog discount type 'blog 20% discount' in the message to seller box and I will send you an amended invoice or pay the original amount and I will refund you the discounted amount via PayPal.

SALE ENDS ON SUNDAY 14TH JUNE 2009

Thank you

I am really touched by all the comments I received on my last post 'Where is my inspiration?' . Thank you so much to everyone for your support and suggestions. I have certainly not been myself recently with regards to jewellery making but your comments have reassured me that losing one's inspiration or 'mojo' as some call it, is not uncommon.

Yesterday I finally made something (the first thing in over 2 weeks) - a bracelet as a 40th birthday present for a friend. This Blue Agate bracelet follows a very basic design (as suggested in some of the comments) and it was good to have a purpose for my work.

I have decided not to worry about this 'break from the norm' and have turned to other outlets for a while until I feel ready. Now my hands ache not from hammering and burnishing... but from a day weeding in the garden and putting in new plants I have grown from seed. This was a passion of mine from before I took up jewellery design and it has taken a back seat for a couple of years.

Where is my inspiration?

Last week I went on a lovely holiday with my family to the beautiful coast of Dorset. It was perfect and we were so lucky with the weather. I made a decision before I went not to take any of my jewellery making things, not even my sketch book. I decided that I would take a complete break from the norm... and I have to say it was exactly that. Half way through the week I realised I had not really thought about my jewellery at all and I felt totally relaxed. Before I went I had delisted all my items on eBay and Folksy and put my Etsy shop on 'vacation' mode. This meant I didn't need to worry about anything and I could concentrate on enjoying myself with my family.

That was last week. Now, nearly half way through this week, I have been sitting looking at my lovely beads and gemstones but I just can't find the inspiration to create anything. I also have a couple of future tutorials milling around in my head but I can't find the effort to sit down and write them. This is so unlike me.

Hopefully 'normal service will be resumed as soon as possible'..... until then I shall just have to enjoy the beautiful sunshine.