Amore

When I was looking through my stash of beads there was really only one choice for this month's earrings - hearts of course! These are Karen Hill Tribe beads, handcrafted fairtrade beads from Nepal with a higher silver content than sterling silver, and I've dangled some garnets below. If you fancy trying to win them, all you have to do is sign up for my newsletter by clicking here or on the brown box on the left of the blog. And if you decide that you just have to have a pair in time for Valentine's Day, there is a pair on the website too!


The winner of January's earrings is Alicia Shepherd - congratulations Alicia! I'll email you to get your address and get the earrings posted off to you.

P.S. The silver heart studs arrived safely with Stephanie, and from the look of it she likes them - have a look at her blog She's got some great music playing on there too.

New Year, new winner

I've stopped using the internet random number generator to choose the winner of the monthly earrings draw as, well, it just didn't make for a very pretty picture! So, last night I printed out all the names from my mailing list, cut them into strips and put them into my new prize draw drawing machine. Introducing...........

my pink paper and little basket! T pulled a name out of the hat last night, and the winner is Zoe Monk! Congratulations Zoe. I'll email you to get your address. The earrings that Zoe has won are these ones, and the earrings for January are the ones below - lovely pink jade and sterling silver -I thought we needed some bright colours during this dull weather! All you need to do to be in with a chance of winning is to sign up for my newsletter by clicking on the brown box on the left. But I've also put a pair in on the website here if you can't wait!

A quick update

I've managed to get quite a bit of work done this weekend. T and I made a deal - he looked after B in the morning while I worked in my shed until lunch time, then we did family things - more of that later. I did manage to take some photos today but I haven't yet had time to smarten them up, so I'll post them tomorrow instead. In the meantime there's a couple of quick updates for you...


Firstly, the last day for orders of made-to-measure items that require hallmarking is this coming Tuesday, 9th December. This includes items such as cuffs and bangles (like the one above), although it is always worth double checking with me to see if I already have what you need in stock. The relevant products will have this information on their pages. The last date for all other items is still Wednesday 17th December.


Secondly, if you fancy a new pair of earrings for the New Year then have a look at the ones above! These are the pair for the December newsletter prize draw, gorgeous garnet briolettes wired onto sterling silver hoops. In case you haven't noticed, I'm enjoying using briolettes in earrings at the moment, and I was really pleased with these when they arrived from my supplier this week. If you'd like to try and win a pair then all you have to do is add your details to my mailing list by completing this form. If you can't wait until the New Year then you can also find them made to order on the website for as long as my supply of briolettes lasts!

Countdown

It's the same every year. Once the University craft show is finished I suddenly realise just how close Christmas is! In the last few years, though, I've also had a countdown to B's birthday as it's only a week before Christmas. This year is the first year that he's realised that his birthday is coming soon, and I'm really looking forward to seeing his reactions on the big day itself.

Anyway, the show last Sunday was a big success - thank you to those of you who dropped by to say hello. It was especially great to see some familar faces from previous years, and I had fun catching up with some of the other regular stall holders too. We did have one bit of disappointing news, though, as the Univeristy has decided that this is the last year that they will organise the show. I'm certain that this will be the main item on the agenda at the Wessex Guild of Craftsmen AGM in the New Year as we try to figure out whether it's possible for us to add it to the list of shows that we organise so that it can keep going.

I've been busy this week with orders from the show, including the luxurious earrings above - a warm mix of smoky quartz and delicate rubies! I think I'm going to make a couple more pairs of these for the website, so watch this space! I'll have some photos to show you tomorrow, including one of December's newsletter prize draw earrings. All the names for the November earrings were put in the hat (B's woolly Thomas the Tank Engine one) yesterday and he pulled out Nicola New's name, so Nicola, watch out for a little surprise winging your way!

Fancy some new earrings?

Just a quick post tonight to let you know that the random number thingy as come up with number 64 which counting down my newsletter mailing list means that the winner of the October earrings is.....

Veryan!

Congratulations Veryan, I'll email you for your address.

If you fancy trying to win the earrings for November then click on the brown box to the left to join my mailing list. This month's earrings are crystal and sterling silver, the type of earrings that go with everything!

P.S. Nearly forgot...

I will be sending out a newsletter with advanced warning of my new workshop dates tomorrow, as well as doing the draw for October's earrings. So, if you fancy trying to win a pair of earrings and would like to know the new dates before they go on the website, click on the big brown box on the left!

Post number 101 - competition time!

I've realised this morning the post yesterday was my 100th! Who would have thought that I could talk that much? Well, apart from T and the friends I spend ages on the phone with?

Well, I can't let this go unmarked. I logged on to the computer to tell you that the random number generator picked Gill Utting (I've emailed you, Gill, to get your address) to win last month's earrings (if you can't remember what they looked like, not that I really expect you to, look here) and to show you a picture of the earrings for this month's prize draw, but I think I will have to have two competitions now...

Competition number one - October's newsletter prize draw. If you would like a chance of winning these lovelies (oxidised sterling silver, pale green freshwater pearls, garnet and moonstone) then all you have to do is sign up to my monthly newsletter by clicking on the link to the left - the big brown one that says 'newsletter' on it.

Competition number two - to celebrate my 100 blog posts (and the fact that someone actually reads them!), leave me a comment to tell me what you're celebrating - it could be a special occasion, it could be that fact that it's not raining right now where you are (it's been sunny here today too - yippee!!). I will get either the random number generator or B to pick a winner for the earrings below. You have until midnight next Wednesday 15th October! Both competitions are open to those of you from abroad.

P.S. The second earrings are a preview of the new ideas/experiments that I've mentioned - more coming as soon as I've taken more photos!

Competitions

Just a quick reminder, the deadline for the Anniversary earrings is tomorrow at midnight - see here for details.

And I've realised that I haven't shown you the earrings for this month's newsletter prize draw....so here they are. They are pink jade and sterling silver, and all you have to do to be in with a chance of winning them is subscribe to my newsletter via the link to the left.

Good luck!