Monday 27 February 2012

What A Week!

I hardly know where to start to tell you about my week!  Probably the beginning..

Well, it started with the Beach Hut Beads.  When I finished making the first one, I thought I had made something good, but I was amazed at the response.  The first four sold within 20 minutes of me listing them on Etsy and my Flickr photo was given so much love and loads of comments.  Then more sales followed and more comments...I was just blown away!  I was dancing around the living room with a very silly grin plastered on my face.  It is just the best feeling in the world when something that you have designed and made is greeted with such enthusiasm.

Tuesday and Wednesday had some more orders and I was busy, busy making more little beach huts and trying to stop smiling!

Then Thursday morning arrived and at about 11.00 I received a FB message from the lovely and talented Chris of Chris Pellow Designs to say that I was on Polymer Clay Daily!  Can you imagine the excitement?

Cloud 9 Here I Come!
It just doesn't get any better than this!  A huge thank you to everyone who messaged me, commented on PCD, Facebooked me, and left comments on Flickr.  I am overwhelmed and hugely thankful.

I have had so much traffic through this feature and have had comments from lots of new people.  It goes to show how small the world really is.  Here in my little corner of the UK I have suddenly been "meeting" people from all over the world.  Amazing!

Anyway, having finally calmed down a little, it was nose to the grindstone and time to get on with filling orders, posting them out and to make some new beads.

Lesley from Thea Jewellery asked me if I could make some Seagulls to go with the Beach Hut Beads, and she wasn't the only one!  So after a few hours of squishing and muttering (things were seriously not going right with the beaks!) I came up with these:
A Flock of Seagulls!
There are in the Etsy Shop now if you would like a closer look!

I also made the first couple of beads in a new series called Gold Leaf:
Gold Leaf in Teal Big Bead
Gold Leaf in Teal Accent Beads
I am planning on making these in lots of different colours and already have some pink ones in the Etsy Shop.  If you have a colour preference that you would like to see in these new beads, then just let me know!

Phew......as I said, What a Week!

I have had some lovely messages from a few people who have sent me photos of what they made with beads that they have got from me recently....just wait until you see the photos, so much talent and such beautiful designs!  I will be posting again later this week with those so keep an eye out!

It will be Katie's 16th Birthday on Friday,  I can hardly believe that my little girl will be 16!  That will be a whole other blog post as well - expect balloons, streamers and cupcakes!!!

And lastly.................just Thank You..........every one of you..........for making this an amazing and wonderful week. 

Hope your week is wonderful too.

Pippa

Monday 20 February 2012

Beach Hut Beads


Beach Hut Beads

Half Term is now over and the Children are back at School!  More time to clay!!!

We had a quiet week, maybe a little too quiet....Logan was excited to be going back to school today!  That has to be a first!

So, after a somewhat frustrating Sunday, one of those days when I have time to experiment, time to play.......nothing would happen.  I spent about 2 hours just staring into space waiting for my fickle muse to come up with something and then gave it up as a bad job and had a long hot soak in the tub instead (a chilled glass of white wine helped of course!).

And then today, just when I was getting no ideas yet again, lo and behold, muse decided to put in an appearance - I am so glad she did!!

Beach Hut Beads!  I had so much fun making these.  They are only tiny, but full of detail from the textured roofs, to the tiny, tiny windows made from slices of a cane.  There is even a little door knob!
Detail

I antiqued them with a mix of brown and white acrylic paint, sanded most of the paint off to give an aged look and feel and then sealed them with Renaissance Wax and gently buffed them. 

I hope you like them as much as I do.  They are up in my Etsy Shop now if you want a closer look.

A Hamlet of Beach Huts!
A Little Bit of Sunshine!
I was going to put up individual listings for each of the four colours, but thought that it might be better to do one listing and let people choose their colour when they order.  I would love some feedback on this.  Which way would you rather see?  Individual Listings or to choose your colour as you order?

Thanks so much!  Hope the start to your week is as good as mine as been!




Pippa

Wednesday 15 February 2012

This Made My Day!

Wisdom Bracetet by THEAjewellery
Wisdom Bracetet, a photo by THEAjewellery on Flickr.
I am sure that most of you are already fans of the Lovely Lesley of Thea Jewellery's work. If you aren't already, then you must check out her work. She creates some of the most beautiful pieces of Jewellery. Her designs are stunning. 

So browsing through her Flickr posts the other day, I was thrilled to see this bracelet featuring one of my Wise Little Owl Beads. I squealed! I was a little excited, it's true!

It is a new experience for me, seeing one of my beads in someone else's creation. And I feel so amazed by it. It is at times like this that I wish I was a little better at expressing myself, and how wonderful seeing this bracelet made me feel.

It is up in Lesley's Etsy Shop now, if you would like the link, here it is : Wisdom Bracelet

So Thank You Lesley! You have made my day!

Please check out Lesley's blog also at The Gossiping Goddess.

Friday 10 February 2012

A Little Ice and Randomness to End The Day!

I actually made some Jewellery today!  Couldn't resist making something to include one of the Jade Elephants. So quickly made some more jade textured beads for this sweet little bracelet.

Iced Jade Bracelet

Then I started looking through my stash of  "At Somepoint In The Future I Might Do Something With These Beads"!!  So a little bit of Randomness to finish the day!
Random Bracelet
Thats All Folks!!



A Few New Beads

Just Listed on Etsy today for you!


Written In Stone
 

I have been making some of my Pebble Beads and thought that this would be great for Valentines Day.  I will be taking quite a few of these to the Craft Fair on Saturday, just in time for the 14th. 




Faux Jade Little Elephant Charms
 
My Little Elephant Charms are always popular, but I wanted to make them in something else rather than Grey.  After a little thinking it suddenly occured to me that they would look brilliant in Jade!  Hope you like them!

In case you haven't seen them in my Etsy Store, here are my new connector beads to match the Petal / Flower Capped Beads. 


Snowdrop on Burnt Orange


Turquoise Waters


Azure Skies


Bronze Flower

Hope you all have a great and warm weekend!  (It's been snowing here Brrrr!)

Pippa

Monday 6 February 2012

WINNERS!




WOW!

I have been completely blown away by the amazing response to my Giveaway.

Over 60 wonderful people entered, then lots of you blogged about it, left comments on my Facebook Page and linked through on your Facebook Pages and Profiles too.


Thank you all. I am so thrilled. The comments that you posted have inspired and moved me so much.

In the face of such an incredible response I have decided that one winner is just not enough, so I am doing the drawing for two winners to spread the love a little further!

In total, including comments left on this blog, comments on my Facebook page, postings on your own blogs about the giveaway and postings on your Facebook profiles and pages the total number of entries comes to 92! Ninety Two!!!!

So, without further ado......... The Winners are...................


Number 40 is Jean A Wells from Jean A Wells Handcrafted Artisan Jewellery


Number 27 is Cilla from Tell Your Girlfriends


Congratulations to you both!


Please get in contact with me to let me know which beads you would like and I will send them winging their way to you!


A big, big thank you to everyone who entered and so kindly spread the word about this giveaway. It has been such fun and a wonderful experience for me, getting to meet you all and seeing your lovely blogs and your work.


Hope you all have a great week.


Pippa

Wednesday 1 February 2012

GIVEAWAY!!


Well, here it is! My first ever Giveaway on my blog!



I am so excited about my new Petal and Flower Capped Bead Series that I thought I should spread the love a little by having a Giveaway.



You can win one of my sets of beads shown here, you choose which you would like! This Giveaway is open to everyone where ever you are!



Choose from: Bronze Flower, Monochrome Kaleidoscope, Gerbera or Spring Time Blue on this Mosiac, or on the bottom Mosaic, Petal Capped (main picture), Azure Skies, Gerbera, or Clematis. They are all up on Etsy if you would like a closer look and to read the descriptions!



To enter, please leave a comment here on my blog, or on my Facebook page, the link is over there on the right. If you comment on both my blog and my Facebook Page then you will be entered twice! And if you would like to spread the word by putting something about the giveaway on your own blog then you will be entered again! Just let me know that you have blogged (a link would be great, to save me searching!!) and I will make sure you are entered!



Then all you have to do is let me know which of the sets you would like and leave a contact address for me to inform you if you have won! It's that easy!



I will be picking a winner on Monday 6th February.





Good Luck!!!!