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!

Tornado warning

One of the blogs I catch up with regularly is Jillian's The Life and Times of The Plume. I love the enthusiastic way she has with words, and it seems as if tackles everything in her life with the same energy and enthusiasm! Anyway, she described herself today as a tornado, twisting and turning from one direction to another, trying to decide which project to do first. That's exactly what I've been like the last couple of days. I've been so determined to be as productive as possible while T and B have been away that this morning I really didn't know whether I was coming or going! I have sawing wire for bangles, cutting discs and then doming then with my two latest toys tools for several different projects, cutting tube for even more projects, soldering etc etc etc. Put it this way, with the amount of work I've done in the shed today, I haven't needed to put the heater on at all, and it's been a miserable damp day here weather wise! The problem is, though, that if I don't give myself an evening off tonight I'll be worn out by the time my boys come home tomorrow!


So, I'm going to leave you with a picture of some of the work I've been doing over the last few days - lots of lovely shiny silver necklaces, bracelets, pendants and earrings, but they're not finished yet - I'll explain more tomorrow!



Umm...I guess I have had a busy long weekend. Oh look - if you look closely you can see upside down mini mes reflected in the cupped discs! I think that may be the closest you're going to get of a self-portrait!

I'm back!!

Okay, so I haven't actually been anywhere, but I haven't been posting either - sorry! This week has been another busy one, partly due to making jewellery, partly due to teaching jewellery, and of course, family stuff! So..

T had the day off on Monday so I went into town with a friend in the afternoon to try and find an outfit I could wear to a family wedding at the end of the month and also to the bigger craft shows I've got before Christmas. I had set my heart on a brown dress, something that had been in all the shops last year, but obviously not this year! I did, however, see lots of navy cardigans - something I had been looking for last year. Ummm....I don't do too well at clothes shopping. If I have no money to spend I see lots of things I like, if I have some spending money it's a different matter!

Tuesday morning was spent pottering about the house and then hammering etc in the shed while B was at preschool. I've been busy getting more items ready for hallmarking in time for the Sophie's Appeal fashion show in a couple of weeks time.

Wednesday turned into a sofa day with B as he had a slight temperature and was wanting lots of cuddles. I was pretty certain it was just his last teeth coming through and he was fine by bed time which was just as well as because.....

Thursday was spent teaching silversmithing while B was at his childminder's. I'm really enjoying this tuition. It's very different from teaching a class or small group as the whole day is tailored to whatever the student wants to learn. In this case Helen wanted to learn techniques she could use with her lovely dichroic glass pendants. I also had my weekly jewellery class at Spice Art Studios in the evening. All but one of the students on the course are new to jewellery making this time.

So, all in a fairly normal week - until Thursday evening. Since then I've been home alone, and it's a very strange feeling! We had been planning a trip to see friends in Wales, but as the time had been getting closer I had been getting more stressed about having 5 days (we were planning Thursday evening to Tuesday evening) without being able to do any work so close to the shows I've got coming up. So, T suggested that he take B and I stay here, get some work done and maybe have a bit of a break. B has stayed at my parents a couple of times, but I've never been apart from him for more than one night before, and it's very strange! I've got so much work to do that during the day I deliberately haven't given myself any time to miss them, but the evenings are very stange. It's not as bad as I thought it would be as, afterall, B is with his Dad. I did get a bit of a lump in my throat, though, when I read him a bedtime story over the phone tonight.

I've got lots of work done, some of which won't be finished until it gets back from hallmarking so I can't show you that yet. I'm planning to take photos of some of the rest of it tomorrow though, so it may be worth checking back then!

Pod Beads

I found a cool tutorial while browsing various blogs tonight - a tutorial that makes these lovely paper beads! All you need are a paper punch (the cardmaking/scrapbooking kind), some coloured paper and glue. They are such a simple effective idea, and I've got a dozen or so paperpunches, so I'm looking forward to seeing what shape beads I can make. For the instructions go and visit the Folding Tree's blog here. Have fun!

Last few days!

Nearly forgot to mention earlier - there are only 3 more days of my anniversary offer left! Order any jewellery or book workshop places before the end of September and I will send you a pair of daisy studs. I made some more on Friday to send out with the latest orders, so come and get 'em!

We're going to the zoo zoo zoo....

T is cycling in the New Forest today on a friend's stag do (I'm certain that at least one stop at a pub will be on the cards too!) so B and I decided to go to Marwell Zoo. We've got a season ticket so we've been several times this summer. I usually avoid the weekends, for obviously reasons, but this weekend Fifi and Bumble from the Flower Tots are there and as B enjoys that programme I decided to take him along. We got there at about 10.30am and joined the queue for the first 'meet and greet' at 11am as soon as we arrived, but even so we only just got to meet them and have our photo taken before they had their break at 11.30am! B enjoyed it, though, which is the main thing, and keeps talking about the fact that he gave Bumble a high five. We then had a lovely wander around the zoo, and I was pleasantly surprised at that fact that the site didn't seem at all crowded even though the car park was pretty much full. We took the road train up to the top of the site and walked down the other side so that we could see all the animals that we usually miss out by doing it the other way round. We had to go back and see the penguins at the end, though, as they are definitely B's favourites at the moment.

I think the walking, the sunshine, the excitement and the ice cream (which, as you can see, he enjoyed!) wore him out though, as he's had a lovely nap this afternoon. I've had time to tidy the house up and do some more work on the experiments I've mentioned before. They are almost ready to show you - hopefully I can show you the first by the end of next week! No work for me this evening though as I'm off on a rare night out - a hen night!

Chocolate Mug Cake

Yes, you did read that correctly - Mug, not Mud!

T sent me an email that was doing the rounds at work with a recipe that sounded perfect for trying with B, so this afternoon we had a go! It was a treat for him after he was so good letting me finish a very last minute commission (more of that at the weekend). I thought that I would write out the ingredients etc in case you'd like to make your own!

So....you will need:

4 Tablespoons cake flour
4 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons cocoa
1 Egg
3 Tablespoons milk
3 Tablespoons oil
3 Tablespoons chocolate drops (optional)
1 Mug

Add dry ingredients to the mug, and mix well. Add the egg, then the oil and the milk, mixing well to make sure that there aren't any pockets of flour left at the bottom, and try to make sure that not all of the mixture ends up on your child's face.

Add the chocolate drops - the trick here is to make sure that your child puts more in the mug than he does in his mouth!

Put the mug into the microwave and cook it - the recipe said 3 minutes in a 1000watt oven, but that was a bit too long in our 950watt oven, so you may neeed to experiment! Wait until the cake stops rising and sets in the mug. It had to be a cow mug - you'd understand if you knew our house - T used to collect cow things until all the family joined in. I lost count of the cows at 65!

Run a knife around the sides of the mug, and tip the still warm cake out of the mug on to a plate - you wouldn't believe how hard it was persuading B to let me take a photo before he started eating!!

And the verdict? Well, B loved it, but then it was chocolate! I prefer my cakes a bit lighter (maybe it was the oil?), so we'll just have to experiment and make it again!

Thank you Micki for sending T the recipe!