So excited!

Today's the day when lots of hard work behind the scenes by me, my lovely friend Nicky and the equally lovely people at Big Front Door will finally pay off! Hopefully - I am keeping my fingers crossed as when I'm doing something like this I always have a last minute panic that some gremlins are going to get involved.

Anyway, what have we been doing? Only building a brand new fantastic completely new look website, that's what! I am so excited it's ridiculous! I've pressed the buttons to tell the web and google and any one else who needs to know that my website is moving, so sometime before tomorrow morning this front page....

will be replaced with this one..... (maybe with a different photo as I've got a loop of gorgeous photos in a carousel)

I'm having giveaways and competitions and lots of lovely things to celebrate over the weekend, so do come back for more information - or even better sign up for my newsletter or follow me on Facebook by following the links on the left to get the information as soon as I write it!

Artisan Whimsey

 
Today is the launch of a brand new beading and jewellery forum! Artisan Whimsey has been set up by Karen Totten, Marla James, Linda Younkman and Melinda Orr with the hope and aim that it will grow into a jewellery version of Ravelry with tutorials, patterns and masses of inspiration. There will be at least two blog posts every day posted by a variety of teams, including a team of UK designers - including me! I'll tell you more about us on Monday as that is when our first blog post is scheduled.

To celebrate the launch, all this weekend we're having giveaways and competitions, including a giveaway to win one of my oxidised copper lovebird clasps. All you have to do to be in with a chance to win is to leave a comment on the giveaway posts. One member will also win a fantastic prize of $150 worth of tools and jewellery supplies this weekend - all you need to do is join by Sunday 7th October 10pm EDT. To join in the fun visit Artisan Whimsey at artisanwhimsy.ning.com.

500th sale giveaway

Thank you to all of you who placed orders in my Daisychain Extra shop over the weekend of my 500th sale! I'm sorry it has taken me so long to post the winner of the two clasps, but at long last I have the results!

The two clasps I was offering in the giveaway were one of my little house clasps and a brand new design....that I can finally reveal below! It's a sweet copper butterfly with a soft texture, which has been highlighted with liver of sulphur. A hook has been soldered onto the back, and the wings have been gently bent to bring the butterfly to life. The butterflies will be listed in the etsy shop over the weekend, as will some new little house and lovebird clasps.

They are now flying off to Samantha Copestake - congratulations Samantha!

Let's get back on track

Let's get this blog back on track, shall we? It's taken me much longer than I thought it would to get back to feeling normal and on top of things after comings back from New Zealand. I think part of it is that I've actually felt quite homesick for Auckland! Hellie, my friend we stayed with, sent me a gorgeous photo of her daughter Eliza laughing with Ben in their sitting room - it's actually one of my favourite photos of the whole trip, but it actually made me feel a bit sad when I first opened up her email! It's framed on the sitting room wall now though.

I've also been wonderfully surprised by the number of orders I've had since coming home and opening up my various shops again - were some of you waiting for me to open up my Daisychain Extra shop again?! All the orders I've had, and the amount of teaching that I'm doing now have finally led me to taking on some regular paid help with the business. I will still be making all the clasps and jewellery, but Nicky is going to be helping me with the paperwork, with packing orders, and with some of the jobs like making jump rings and oxidising the finished pieces. I'm really excited about this as Nicky is a lovely friend who I haven't spent as much time with as I'd like recently, so I'm expecting her work sessions to be full of gossip and laughter and generally catching up and setting the world to rights!

I'm painfully aware that I haven't yet announced the winner of my 500 etsy sales giveaway, so that will be done tomorrow - and tomorrow there will also be the announcement of a great new online jewellery project that I've been asked to be part of, so I will be back then!

 

500 sales! Thank you!

Oh wow! I've just got to 500 sales in my Daisychain Extra shop! I'd been planning a giveaway as I knew I wasn't far off, but in the end it took me by surprise!

So, to celebrate and to say thank you to all of you who have helped to make my clasps a success, everyone who places an order before the end of Monday 17th will be entered into a draw to win two special clasps - a sterling silver Little House clasp and a new, as yet unseen design. Orders already placed this weekend are also in the draw as they're the ones who got me past 500 sales!

And don't forget to enter "NEWTERM" at checkout to get 15% off!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/daisychainextra

 

Giveaway Winner

Thank you so much to all of you who entered the voucher giveaway - I'm just sorry that there can only be one winner! Until the next time, anyway. It's been great to read through all the comments. I'm so relieved that I'm not the only one with a messay area under a desk or table full of things you keep meaning to put away! It seems as if we're all too busy creating to have time to tidy up - or at least, to keep things tidy when we're in full creative mode!

Anyway, the winner as chosen from the hat (well, bowl) by Ben before I took him to school is.......

Jean A. Wells

Sorry there's no picture of little pieces of paper today, but T took my camera to work for a project and left for work before Ben did the draw!

Congratulations Jean! Please contact me (email address is on the left!) so that I can sort out the voucher for you!

While you're waiting...

...for me to post the winner of the £20 voucher, there's another giveaway to tempt you here!

Lesley Watt from Thea Jewellery woke up to her 100th sale in her Esty shop this morning and is celebrating with a giveaway! She makes beautiful jewellery and makes a lot of her own components, and the giveaway is either a beady goody bag or something to tempt those of us who prefer to buy jewellery than to make it. You can find her blog here and her jewellery on Etsy here.

Special Giveaway

It's been a strange kind of day. I spent the first part of the morning finishing off my 2010/11 accounts and taxes - there's nothing like a deadline with a £100 penality for missing it to concentrate the mind! I then had an hour or so before I was due down at Ben's school to talk to his class  - more of that tomorrow - and I had planned to spend that working on a commission but then the electricity went off. Today is the second time in just over a week that we've had a power cut. The first one started while I was picking Ben up from school and lasted until gone 10pm, and the whole of our area of Southampton was out, not sure why. Thankfully our stove runs on gas so I was still able to cook the boys their tea by candle light, and Ben thought it was brilliant! Today's power cut was caused by workmen cutting through a cable. It didn't last for long, but it was long enough to stop me working before visiting the school. So, what's a girl to do in her workshed when she can't make jewellery? Why, rearrange and tidy up the shed of course, completely ignoring the fact that it's raining and she can't put things outside out of the way! I've been meaning to take a book shelf we don't need anymore out of the dining room and use it to house my ever-growing book collection. The original, smaller bookshelf has been turned on it's side and put under the table my photostudio set up is on to try and organise my "I'll just put it there for a little while" area properly. Everyone has one of those, don't they, a place where everything that you haven't quite organised a home for yet is put, just for a little while until you get round to it? Please tell me that it's not just me! I gave the rest of the shed a bit of a tidy too, and came back from school feeling organised and raring to go!

From chaos to some kind of organisation. Any bets on how long it will stay this tidy?!

Anyway, I promised a giveaway earlier in the week and meant to include it in my 500th post yesterday, but it's probably a good job I forgot as trying to run a challenge and a giveaway in one post would have only got me confused! I've been thinking about what to give away - jewellery or clasps? And if jewellery, earrings or pendant? Too many choices! In the end, I thought I'd let you decide, and so I'm giving away a voucher, and the winner can decide whether they would like to spend it on my Daisychain Jewellery website or in my Daisychain Extra shop.

So, does anyone fancy a chance to win a £20 voucher? 

To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post before the end of this Sunday, 22nd January. Tell me what you'd like to organise better in your work area, whether it's a separate room, a corner of the dining room table (that's where I started!) or a set of storage boxes piled up in the corner. What would you have in your ideal work space? To get a second chance at winning blog, facebook or tweet about my giveaway and leave me another comment telling me that you've done that. I'll post the winner next Monday!

I'm looking forward to hearing about your ideal workareas, and remember, you've only got until midnight GMT on Sunday! Good luck!

Anyone up for a challenge?

Do you remember this picture from a just over a week ago?

Well, they've now turned into these - cute little copper oak leaves with a hook on the back, a hook version of the oak leaf toggle clasps I sell in my daisychainextra etsy shop. I've hammered veins onto the leaves and oxidised them to highlight the texture, and then curved them slightly to give them a more natural look. Each leaf is slightly different as they are sawn out by hand and textured by hand, but they measure approximately 20mm by 13mm.

So the challenge - what do you think you could create with one of them? Each oak leaf is now wrapped up in one of my chocolate brown organza bags waiting to go to a new home and be made into a stunning piece of jewellery, and that new home could be yours! If you would like one of them then all you have to do is:

• leave me a comment on this post, complete with your email address
• grab the oak leaf button on the left to put on your blog with a link back to this post
• make something beautiful with it and post pictures of what you have made on your blog on the last day of November, Wednesday 30th November. 

You will also need to tell us a bit about your design process, what other ingredients you used etc, and link to the other people taking part. I'll be taking part in the challenge too as soon as I've made myself a leaf! You don't have to make jewellery - if you think of some other creative way of using your leaf, go for it!

The first five people to leave a comment asking for a leaf will get one, and this is open to those of you overseas too!

And the giveaway winners are....

Cilla for her comment on the giveaway blog post and

Lynda Taylor for signing up for the newsletter

I'll email you ladies!

Summer Giveaway

I have two sets of jewellery to giveaway this time, not just two pairs of earrings!

These pieces of jewellery were the "Winter Sparkles" project that I had published in Beads and Beyond at the beginning of the year. They were sent back to me, along with some of the other pieces I've had published in B&B issues, a couple of months ago and since then have been sitting in a basket in my workshed which seems like a shame -so they are now looking for lovely owners to care for them and to show them off!

This is a combination of July and August's giveaway as it's a larger giveaway than normal and because I'm planning to be busy with lots of family days out and lots of tuition during August.  There are a pair of earrings, a bracelet and a necklace in each set  - I think my favourites are the long necklace (long enough to go twice round your neck if you wish) in the first set and the long earrings in the second. So, what do you need to know to enter?

1. There are two jewellery sets available - one pair to one lucky person on my newsletter mailing list and one pair to someone leaving a comment on this post.
2. You can enter both draws by adding your details to the mailing list if you haven't already done so and leaving a comment.
3. You can get an extra entry into the blog comment draw by blogging/tweeting/facebooking about the giveaway, linking to this post, and leaving another comment telling me that you've done so with a link to what you've written.
4. Please please leave me a way of contacting you! If you have enabled emails to be sent to you through your blogger profile that's great, otherwise add your email or blog address to your comment.
5. The draws are open to international and UK readers.
6. The draw closes at midnight on Friday 22nd July, so you haven't got long!

I think that's all for now! Good luck!

Giveaway winner!

So much for getting Ben to pick the winners out of a hat on Saturday and taking pictures to show you! I tried explaining to him that pictures of him where far more interesting to look at than screen shots of the random number generator, but he was having none of it - lego models were, apparently, far more important. I have to admit that I then got seduced into helping him build a fleet of spaceships and airplanes that can also swim under water, and then took the boys out to play with friends and then did some gardening, which is why I'm only just now getting round to telling you who won - very sorry! I will do better with this month's draw, promise.

Anyway, here are, finally, those lovely screen shots....

The winner in the blog comments draw is Helen Bracey - I discounted the comment I made and a duplicate comment that snuck in there.

The winner in the newsletter mailing list draw is Sarah Rees

Congratulations ladies! Helen, I don't have your email address or any other way of contacting you, so please email me or use the "contact me" page on the website! You can choose either a shiny or oxidised finish to your earrings.

I'm afraid that I'm going to be a bit quieter than usual this week as I'm getting myself organised for a busy weekend. On Saturday it's the Bangles workshop, which I'm really looking forward to as it's my first workshop since November - and I love making bangles! On Sunday it's the Handmade Winchester show, our third summer show. Each year the show has got bigger and better. So, there won't be much chat from me this week, but I'm going to try to take some photos to show you as I finish off some pieces that have almost taken root on my workdesk. I've also got a couple of commissions to work on and a magazine article that I'd like to finish this week. Subject to Jamie's naps, of course!

Less than 12 hours left!

Yes, that's all! Less than 12 hours left to enter the draw to win one of these pairs of earrings - both pairs are up for grabs! To see more details have a look at this post. The giveaway is open to everyone, UK and international.

June giveaway at last!

A comment that Lynne made on my incy wincy hat post reminded me that although I had planned what this month's giveaway was going to be, I hadn't actually got round to sorting it out - oops! If only someone had given me a Tardis for my birthday (with or without David Tennant, I'm not greedy!) then all my not-enough-hours-in-the-day would have been solved!

Anyway, I have finally listed the pieces above on my website. I first made them before Christmas, and they've sold really well on craft stalls, but I'm still catching up on taking and editing photos etc of pieces to go on the website. The pendant and stud earrings above have been textured with my favourite hammer to match the Silver Birch bangles, and they are lovely to wear - and that's not just me saying that, honest! Katie (my tester and owner of the largest collection of Daisychain Jewellery (Mum and Hellie are very close seconds!)) sleeps in her Silver Birch studs as she finds them so comfortable to wear. They've become her "go-to" earrings. Both designs are made from 2mm square wire. The pendant is just over 2cm in diameter and the earrings are about 13mm long.

Both designs are available in a shiny or oxidised finish, and they can be found here and here. However, if you would like to be in with a chance to win your own pair of Silver Birch earrings then read on...

1. There are two pairs available - one pair to one lucky person on my newsletter mailing list and one pair to someone leaving a comment on this post.
2. You can enter both draws by adding your details to the mailing list if you haven't already done so and leaving a comment.
3. You can get an extra entry into the blog comment draw by blogging/tweeting/facebooking about the giveaway, linking to this post, and leaving another comment telling me that you've done so.
4. You can choose whichever finish you prefer.
5. The draws are open to international and UK readers.
6. The draw closes at midnight on Thursday 30th June, so you haven't got long!

I think that's all I need to tell you! Good luck!

Daisy Toggle Clasp winners

I had meant to write out people's names on coloured pieces of paper, put them in a basket and ask Ben to pick out the winners for each of the three toggle clasps, but, well, we went out for the day instead - so you'll have to make do with the good old random number generator again instead - sorry! We didn't go anywhere wildly exciting today, but we had fun. T is taking Ben camping for a couple of days starting tomorrow, and we had to run a few errands in town, one of which was to take back a set of waterproofs for Ben that T had bought yesterday as the shop had left the security tag on them. I hate it when they do that! Anyway, to make the trip a bit more exciting we took the train into town instead of driving. I'd love to show you photos of Jamie entranced with the scenes flying past the window on his first train journey, but I'm afraid that taking a five year old and a baby with a pram on a train doesn't leave hands free for taking photos!

So, the toggle giveaways....drum roll please....

The winner of the copper daisy toggle clasp is

Rachel

The winner of the silver daisy toggle clasps is

Lesley (Coburg Crafts)

And the winner of the oxidised silver toggle clasp is

Kat Boyd

The last winner was taken from my newsletter mailing list, and the first two from the comments left on the giveaway post. Ladies, if I have access to your email address I will be emailing you to ask for your address so I can send you your winnings - or you could beat me to it and email me! Thank you everyone for entering! There will be another giveaway later in month.

Oak Leaves now available!

Thank you so much for the feedback on my new clasps! It's one thing to be pleased yourself with what you've made, but it means so much more when other people like it too! This week's orders have been shipped :)

The oak leaf toggle clasps are now on etsy, and I've listed everything on my website too. You can find them here and here . My sketch book is becoming full of ideas for more charms, clasps and other goodies for you to use in your jewellery - next up, buttons! With matching toggle clasps of course.

Don't forget the three daisy toggle clasps I'm giving away - all you have to do is leave a comment on yesterday's post to be in with a chance of winning. Good luck!

BTW - and three giveaways!

Okay, so I know it's Thursday, but Wednesday was spent consoling and comforting a teething Jamie so I'm pretending that today is Wednesday instead! Poor Jamie - he's usually such a cheerful smiling baby that we know that he only makes a fuss when there is is something to make a fuss about.

Anyway......my task these last couple of days has been to photograph my new clasp designs and list them on etsy and on my website - the job tomorrow morning is to put the banner on my daisychainextra etsy shop as I just realised this evening that I haven't done this yet! Today's its been the turn of toggle clasps, and daisies and leaves been the themes again. The daisy toggle clasps are in the daisychainextra etsy shop and will be on my website by the weekend. The oak leaves will be listed in both shops by the weekend too. As with the hook clasps, each comes in polished silver, oxidised silver and oxidised copper.

The daisy clasp comes in two sizes - the small one measures approximately 15mm in diameter, and the medium 20mm. I say medium as I'm planning to make a larger size too.

The oak leaf is my favourite though. I made one to finish off the Autumn necklace on my website. I decided that it was too beautiful to hide at the back of the necklace though, so the chain fastens at the front with the leaf hanging over the pendant.

I've decided to have three giveaways this month - although having decided last month to have monthly giveaways again I've left it until the last week of May to organise this one! I have one oxidised copper, one oxidised silver and one polished silver small daisy toggle to giveaway, one to someone on my newsletter mailing list and the other two to two people leaving comments on this post. So, if you're on my newsletter mailing list and you leave a comment you're in with two chances. If you'd like another chance then blog, facebook or tweet about the giveaway and come back here to tell me that you've done so, with a link to your blog post etc! You have until the end of May (i.e. midnight on Tuesday 31st May) to enter, the names will be chosen at random, as will which winner gets which toggle clasp. As before, the giveaways are open to everyone, no matter where you live.

Good luck!

The cutest giveaway!

This really has to be the cutest giveaway ever! Lorelei Eurto is giving away a set of gorgeous ceramic charms made by Kylie Parry, who has even cuter (is that a word? well, it is now!) jewellery and beads in her etsy shop. I think my favourite is this lovely little bird.

The giveaway only runs until tomorrow morning so get over there (here!) and leave a comment!

The winners - at last!

Sorry for the silence last week - both I and our internet conection were feeling a bit under the weather. The internet problem seems to have been solved by a very efficient engineer who came out to see what he could do last Thursday, and some early nights seem to have sorted me out. It may sound strange but I sometimes forget that not only have I got a four month baby (I don't ever forget that part!), but I'm still recovering from major surgery. My stay in hospital is starting to feel like a bad dream sometimes, until I catch sight of the scars again - but at least they are fading too. I just have to remember to pace myself. A fair bit of last week was spent at various hospital appointments, but I won't have so many to go to in the future as the main clinic are so pleased with how I'm doing that I just need to go in for a check up every 6 weeks or so, and the speech therapist is so pleased with me that she's signed me off, although she says I can call or email if I need help in the future. Everyone involved in my care at the hospital has been wonderful!

Anyway...the winners of the earrings! Drum roll please.......

The winner of the "leave a comment" pair of earrings is comment 14, left by Pralinka -you have some great photos on your blog! The winner of the newsletter subscription pair of earrings is Louise Fullerton. Congratulations both of you - emails are on their way to you so that I can get your addresses and post your new earrings to you! Thank you for the lovely comments you left - I didn't leave any comments in return as I didn't want to confuse the count, but it was lovely to read about what you all had been making!

I've got a new earring design to show you later in the week, and a pair of them to give away too!

Smoky Quartz goodies! (and giveaway and special offer!)

I love smoky quartz. It's one of those stones that goes beautifully with anything, from rich reds like garnet to cool blues such as turquoise, and looks just as good on it's own with silver. The pieces below are ones that I made before Christmas, but it's taken me until now to put on the website as, well, I have been just a little bit busy! Anyway, here they are. I hope you like them as much as I enjoyed making them - although I can't decide whether the sweetness of the Dainty pendant is my favourite or the elegance of the long earwires on the Smoky Leaf earrings wins! What do you think?

Smoky Leaf pendant and earrings

Dainty Pendant - smoky quartx and garnet

Sorry this is such a short post but the boys and I have been out almost all day, first of all to our local park to feed the ducks, have a picnic and play in one of the three playgrounds (have I mentioned before how lucky we are to have such a great, large and beautiful park within easy walking distance? I really must take some more photos to show you), and then at a brilliant birthday party in the garden complete with magician and bbq - yes, the fantastic weather continues! I'm still getting very tired in the evenings, which is as much due to being a new mum as to recovering from surgery.

I'll finish by reminding you that these earrings:

can be won by one of the lovely people leaving a comment on this post, and that you still have until midnight on Monday 2nd May to use the code "Easter11" to get 10% off jewellery on my website!