Monday, April 26, 2010

Fed up.

This will be a negative post. I don't have anything positive to write about....

I am as sick as a dog today. Allergies again. Only this time I don't fancy taking any antihistamines. So I am going to have to suffer it. I ordered silver supplies last Wednesday. I didn't hear from the supplier until this afternoon....only for them to tell me that the bezel/gallery wires I have ordered aren't available (what a surprise) and won't be available for another month. Well I am done with ordering from them then. I will stick with them only for silver sheet (until they can't supply me with that either).

Seriously, how hard would it have been to tell me that almost 1 week ago when I placed the order?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sigh.....on a small positive note, I have put in an order for some PMC clay & some sheet. I am going to do a fingerprint charm of my daughter. If it works out well enough, I will offer them in my store, obviously it would only be available for people who live near me. But I know many who have had babies recently, so you never know.

I must have sneezed over 100 times today and I am over it. At least I can do my grocery shopping online, so that's one boring/painful task dealt with.

I was featured in LuxeCoop's Treasury East today :)

Treasury East

And I also made my own! And have included some friends work here too :)

My Treasury East

Well that is all I can handle for now...going to go and eat my left overs from dinner last night....shephards pie! Yum!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

A little Bit Cool.

the weather that is. Which is great!

Sitting at the computer having a nice hot cup of tea :)

Seems many other bloggers are a little bit on the quiet side at the moment. So thought I would write a post tonight. Hubby is in bed....little one is in bed. It's just me and the t.v I have on in the corner of the computer screen. That suits me just fine right now.

Well I have finished a couple of pieces this week, but will leave those for last.

First I thought I would share a little trick I use when making jewelry with cabochons:

As I keep all my stones in bags with the measurements on them etc, I can use this to my advantage when making bezel settings for them, I keep the stone in the bag and once the setting is made I can sit the stone (whilst still in the bag) on top of the setting and push it in ever so slightly to make sure that it's still going to fit right and I can go ahead with my piece....here is a picture for an example of what I mean:


This means I can easily pull it back out and don't have to fiddle with floss or any other 'tool' to remove the stone once fitted. As it's easily removed again.

I would only suggest this with quality bags, not thin easily ruined ones as you could end up with the stone stuck in the setting :( It hasn't happened to me yet, but I'm sure it will one day!

Oh and it looks like I have finally chosen a new look for my shop and business cards too. More on that when I have it all happening.

So here are my latest pieces:

A very large Labradorite Ring for me and a Green Sea Jasper & tinted concrete pendant.

That's all for now folks :)

Monday, April 19, 2010

Creating.

I am just sipping the last of my mug of tea and then I'll go to bed.

I am working on 3 new pieces, 2 for the shop and 1 piece for me.

This is the last thing I made.

The flower is made from PMC+3. It's a pretty rough piece as I didn't spend ages primping and preening over it, but I like how it turned out, the flower stands out really well. I will probably make more things like this down the track, as there is no colour, you can wear it with anything.

I actually have my first 'solder' cut. Exactly like a paper cut, but done by a little piece of solder.

How?? Don't ask....I don't even know.

I am looking into getting a new Etsy Banner shop set & business card done up. I love my business card that I already have, but it isn't a very good quality one IMHO and it isn't cohesive with my shop banner (which I no longer really like). So I have found a couple that I like, but for me, sometimes too much choice is just that....too much. I can't make decisions as it is, without having so much choice. I don't want to end up with something that someone else has, but I also don't want to spend a bunch of moolah on something that I might want to change (cuz I'm like that) again and again.

I don't know what I will choose, but I just know that I need to get something that matches and flows and works in with what I sell.

Still looking at houses. Can't wait to move. Wish I could have a day all to myself to spend at the bench. Am over my allergies. Can't wait till the weather gets cold. Love my little girl. So happy I cut my hair off.

Well that is enough for now....feeling tired for once and it's nearly midnight....should go get that much needed sleep!

Goodnight all! :)

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Rain & Itchy Eyes.

It's been a little while since I posted, but honestly, not a whole lot has been going on. It's just after 8:30 in the morning and it's raining! It is slowly starting to get cooler in the mornings now. I can't wait till I can be back into snuggly jumpers and jackets again!

I have only made a couple of pieces since all my supplies arrived :( I just haven't had the chance to get out to the bench much. And my mojo has left the building! I would love to be able to go out there and spend a few hours uninterrupted, cuz I know I would get a lot done. But by the time night time rolls around and my little one is in bed, I just can't be bothered to go out there and play...I want to relax and enjoy the peace and quiet. Plus its usually when I catch up on everyone else's blog posts etc.

I have 2 of the 3 parcels of cabochons now, so I have plenty to work with.I am just waiting on an order of more Turquoise and Chrysocolla etc, can't wait to get those too!



I got all my hair cut off yesterday. We got a leaflet in our letterbox last week, for a mobile hairdresser, which is awesome cuz it means I don't have to wait until I have a babysitter for Summer and I don't have to go out. She did as good a job as I would have gotten in an actual salon, only you don't get to watch her cut your hair or sit in a comfy chair etc. But hey she charges half the price. So for the convenience/price, it's well worth it!!!

I have just listed this on Etsy: - Natural Kyanite Pendant


And I will probably list this tomorrow sometime: Natural Apatite & CZ Pendant (love this one!)

I wish I could have put my rings up in my shop, but I have sent them back with my mum (she stayed for 2 nights this week) to go into her shop, as people can try them on there, so it doesn't really matter about having to size them. They will either fit or not fit. Simple.

I think for now I will just make rings with the whole ring soldered together and not have an open band, that way I will know what size it is. At least until I have some spare cash floating round to buy a flat sided mandrel.

Well that's all folks!
Have a great day/night where ever you are! :)


Friday, April 9, 2010

Happiness Returns.

Over the hours of the morning, I started to receive my silver supplies. All except my boric acid, but the guy said he would send it out again to me, so hopefully I will get that eventually.

I got my posting boxes today too, the lady met me at the shops and brought them to me. Wasn't that nice of her! My gold bezel and silver sheet arrived this afternoon in the post, and my firescoff and bees wax arrived in the early hours of the morning. It made for a good mood for the day!
I have 2 necklaces on the go, one is almost finished and the other I have only just started work on today. No, I still haven't sorted the ring problem out. I tried to get help on Friday, but it didn't work out. So I am just going to have to buy one of those flat sided mandrels and go from there. I could attempt to list them, but I don't want to end up with a negative on Etsy because I got it very wrong.
All in all, I am happy now that I know I can go out to my bench and work on something if I fancy it!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Just a picture of my little sweets today



Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Down Day.

I am not having a particularly good day today. I played with some PMC last night and made a teeny tiny flower (torch fired), that perhaps I could use as decoration on my jewelry. I still haven't received my boric acid powder, which has got me very frustrated, as I ordered that ages ago. So I went ahead and ordered a small bottle of Firescoff this morning, to try until I can mix up my own stuff.

I did however finish this up last night, which I will probably list in my Etsy store over the weekend:

I want to put lots more small items in my store as I know women enjoy wearing the smaller, dainty stuff too.

I am expecting my silver sheet and gold bezel today....they called me and didn't have some of what I ordered again, but they said they would send out yesterday, which means I should have it today.....well I am still waiting.

Getting a bit fed up with online shopping......nothing ever turns up when it should.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Packing up.

Yes, I am packing already...premature as it is, I like to get things done asap! Both times that we have moved, I have been the only one to do the packing, the difference this time around, is that I have to take care of my 23 month old too....so it's going to make packing and moving a little more difficult.

Since I really am focusing on only 1 hobby right now, I am going to pack all my other things away. That way when it comes to really having to move, I don't have to stress big time, like I normally do :)

I am still waiting on a heap of parcels....I ordered some pure bees wax for my saw blades....I ordered boric acid to make my own firestain resist.....I am waiting on some findings......I am waiting on loads of cabochons.....and I am waiting on my first little try out pack of PMC3....and I am waiting on silver sheet and gold bezel etc.

Nothing is turning up...which is quite disappointing as I want to get on with making things for my shop.

And here are my little boxes ready for packaging things into. This was all I could find...so once I run out....


On a totally random note...I have an addiction to tea towels....this is my collection thus far, I am forever buying them...but then I won't use them, cuz they are too nice....




Monday, April 5, 2010

Night out at the movies.

It's got to be at least 2 or 3 years since hubby n I have been to a movie. We watch many of them at home as we have a pretty damn good home theater setup (thanks to hubby), so since having a child, we just haven't bothered going out to one. We used to go at least once a week, to see anything and everything. Since then, we have become much more fussy and hard to please when it comes to entertainment via movies.
So this afternoon/evening we went to see Avatar in 3d at the 'gold class' cinemas. They are the 'vip' type cinemas that have reclining armchairs and you can have hot food/coffee brought out to you and you get to sit together in a little nook...awww. Anywho, it was a great time out together....it's been soo long. The movie was very good (I can't stand wearing the glasses though) and we didn't have any stress, as Nanna was looking after our daughter.

To be honest, the beginning of the day was shite. Then we did the grocery shopping and went to the movies and it ended well.

Tomorrow I hope to put in my order for some new silver and some gold to try! I still haven't sorted the ring situation out...sigh...
I am going to order myself some PMC3. And I have a few ideas up my sleeve for other mediums to try.

In the meantime, I have these to post out tomorrow:



Saturday, April 3, 2010

Tired.

Yawn. . . . .

i am sooooo exhausted, physically, mentally, emotionally.

Spent yesterday and today house hunting and checking out new areas to see if we liked it there and where the shops are and what there is to do etc etc. Now we are back at square one and we don't know where we are going to go. I am very excited to move and get a great backyard, but you never know what a place is truly like till you go past it and see how the street is and blah blah blah....I have been on the internet and looked at sooo many houses that I am kinda deflated now.

1 house looks like it has it all inside....then the backyard is non existent or utter crapola. Or it won't have anywhere for me to do my hobby, or anywhere to park safely or.....well you get the idea. You can't have it all. That I already know. But it's easy to get fed up when you get so close to what you really want, but there is 1 thing that crosses it off the list and you are back to the start all over again.

I have no silver and prob won't get any till Wed or Thurs now due to the public holidays. Tomorrow we are going to look at a few more houses :S And who knows if/when I will get this ring business sorted out :(

Wow I'm tired....and I don't have any fun jewelry stuff to post about :(

So I'll say my buh byes now

*waves*

Friday, April 2, 2010

Great News To Start The Day.

Our daughter woke at 6am this morning and decided she would stay up. So we all had to get up. I was just lounging on the couch whilst hubby was playing on the net and he was checking emails and gave me the very exciting news that I had sold something!!

I couldn't believe it! I had only just opened the shop yesterday! And then later on in the day when we got home, I had an email that I'd sold the little studs too!

Needless to say, I was stoked.

I had been readily prepared not to sell a thing for a good while, till I at least built up my shop and got myself known a bit more etc. What a nice surprise to start the day on :)

I have totally run out of silver sheet, so right now I can't play around much. I do have a whole bunch of cabochons on their way....but apparently they are going to take longer than I thought...so I am not too thrilled about that. So I have to play around with what I have already, not that it's a bad thing :)

I am going to try some gold bezel this week, when I order my sheet and I am dead tempted to get some PMC+3 to try out, aaaaaaaaaand I am thinking about learning to make glass beads. I wanted to learn it many years ago when I went to a big bead/craft fair and saw them doing it and saw all the equipment and I think it would be a great compliment to silver work. It's gonna be something I will ponder for a while yet...I'm in no hurry.

I just want to thank all of you who are commenting and sending me your support, it is so appreciated. And a huge thank you to Kim from KSK designs
who has helped me out big time with my FB fans and trying to promote me and my work! Thanks soooooooooo much Kim!!!

Well it's time to go and have a yummy hot cup of tea :)

see ya.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

LITTLE CHERRY HILL - finally open on Etsy!!

Hooray!
I finally took the plunge and opened it this morning. Though I cannot list my rings just yet, I do have about 10 things or so I can list in the meantime. I feel like such a tool about the whole ring thing. I will get to the bottom of it though!
Next week I hope to dabble in a bit of gold work for the first time. I am looking forward to it, but I am also anxious as gold is way too expensive to make mistakes with...but I have to try one day.
And on top of that, we are looking to move from this house. Which now I have this hobby, has made it a little more difficult as I need somewhere that I can work, without any worry that I may damage/ruin anything. We mainly want to move so our daughter can have a big back garden to play in during the day though. I am scared to move as I am very comfortable where we are now and am kinda made uncomfortable by change of this kind, where I don't know the area or people etc. But it's exciting too!


Anyway, here are a couple of pictures of things I have made this last week and listed in my shop:


Now I just have to work on sorting those rings out as I love them and want to put them out there!

:)