Latest topper in action

I received this pic of one of my toppers on the cake a couple of weeks again.  This one was quite an unusual request but it was fun to make.  I am happy it managed to arrive at its destination in one piece!
Made as usual with polymer clay.

Bid for Autism!

In April of this year, members of our group the Etsy Metal Clay team each made a charm to be assembled onto a bracelet.  We are now auctioning of this bracelet for the charity Autism Speaks.  100% of the proceeds will go to the charity, you can find the auction here.

Here is a bit about the bracelet from the ebay auction:

One of a kind, the bracelet consists of a 7 inch (178 mm) fused and hammered hand made sterling silver chain, adorned with 22 charms crafted of fine silver, bronze and copper. The charms were created by accomplished metal clay artisans and EMC Team members (in alphabetical order) Dina Alexander, Lorena Angulo, Carrie Benvenuti, Cherylyn Bredemann, Milica Bubanja, Nicola Callow, Christine Childress, Lis-el Crowley, Evelyn Pelati Dombkowski, Janice Doner, Kelly Fehr, Jane Font, Beverly Gallerani, Judy Gordon, Kristi Bowman Gruel, Lucia Gulino, Louise Hunter, Rachel Kranzberg Miller, Heidi Stinson, Kathy Voss, Catherine Witherell, and Tiffany Zadi. 

Hello World..

..Wow, I haven't seen this page in a while.  So I started working full time about 2 months ago and it is tiring!  I forgot what it was like to work full time, ha!  Since I started I haven't been very creative, mainly as I have been too tired after work and there is always too much too do at the weekend.
Also I have been quite addicted to reading, I got myself one of those new kindles from Amazon and I love it!

I have no more cake topper orders to make so now is the opportunity to make more jewellery, watch this space!

Work in Progress

Hello blog, I haven't seen you in a while....

So tomorrow is my last day of freedom! I start my new job on Monday, kinda excited and a little nervous but I am sure it will all turn out ok.

Other news I have started a diet, it's called the Dukan Diet! I am on day 3 so far but it is going well.  It is very strict and you can see more about it here

Before I start work I have 2 sets of cake toppers to make and then I caught up, finally!  Here is what I am currently working on.

Good News!

Originally uploaded by ✭Lou✭

So I have finally got a job! yay. Since I have moved to France last September I have been applying to lots of places and hadn't even got an interview but I finally got my interview and job as a lab/admin assistant at a Biotech company. I start on the 23rd, finally some spending money too!

Also here is a pic of my latest toppers :)

Another set down

Here is my latest set of toppers, just finished and on route to the U.K, I love how this one turned out :)

I only have a couple of more sets to make and then I have caught up, hurrah!  I might actually be able to fit some jewellery making in then!

My friend Mike singing Crazy, Gnarls Barkley :)

Finished topper

Just a quick post to show the toppers finished :)

Christmas in July

It is the 3rd annual Christmas in July on etsy where lots of shops offer a discount or free shipping to drive the sales in the slow month of July.

I am participating and currently have 'free worldwide shipping' on everything in my store. :)

Also here are 2 new pieces, some tiny sweet black post earrings and 'the missing piece' necklace in brushed silver.

Work in Progress

Wow, been busy with these toppers, here is what I am working on at the mo and should be finished this weekend ready for postage on Monday.

As usual I will post the final result! Have a good weekend all :D

My mums new westie puppy & kitten playing :)

More Cake Toppers

Been busy, busy. busy with the topper lately.  Can't complain I guess! Looking forward to getting this next lot finished so that I can make some more jewellery pieces.  I am having withdrawal symptoms! :)

Here are my latest 3.

Etsy Finds & Wedding Cake Toppers

Yesterday I made it into the etsy finds, yay! First time ever :)
I got 2 sales out of it and a ton of shop hearts and item hearts so it's all good.  It was my 'Tiny star necklace' that was featured.

I also have these 2 sets of cake toppers to show you.  I made the first set (at the top) but they got lost in the post, or so we thought.  So then I had to make a second lot and get them posted (the most expensive shipping ever! :S)  It turns out the first lot turned up on the wedding day, a whole 15 days after they were posted!  This is pretty unusual as I had posted another set the same day to the U.K and they arrived after 3 days, hmmm


 Anyway it turned out they had to use the first set anyway as the hotel lost the second set! Luckily they found them later on but it was the first set that ended up on the cake after all!


I do think I like the second lot better, just goes to show, handmade means nothing is ever identical!

Friday Favourites on etsy

I just love green!
Here are a few of my faves this week from my treasury, please click to enlarge :)
The bottom row got cut off during my screen capture, those shops are from left to right:
monpetitvolon
ellemardesigns
pursuingeden
Steinshmuckdesigns

oooh Shiny!

I finally got some new supplies in the post today, I had got the gemstones earlier but my wire only arrived today to I managed to get some new pieces listed in my shop, hurrah!

I got garnets, quartz tilak briolettes and some sky blue topaz onion briolettes.  I wrapped them all in oxidized sterling because I just love the dark colour!  They all hang from my own handmade ear wires too.  I think I will make some into necklaces too so there can be a matching set if required, lovely.

All can be found here :)

Friday Favourites

Just some cool stuff from some more talented etsy sellers :)
(click to enlarge)

Cows & Stamped

I thought I would kill 2 birds with one stone with this post and show what I have been making in both shops.

First up is a new little stamped custom necklace for my shop in copper. I think it is cute and great for everyday wear.  I got a set of letter stamps so looking forward to playing around with those a bit more.
I have also ordered some lovely gem stone briolettes so can't wait for those to arrive either.  I love getting new supllies delivered! :)

Next up are these cow cake toppers, more cows!  The dress was really big and princess like so it was quite a difficult one to make but I managed to get it right in the end.
Jewellery will be put on hold again as I have a last minute order to complete for 2 weeks time which I would like to get finished by midweek at the latest.

2nd Etsy metal clay charm swap

I received my charms the other week for our second swap. I love them all, so beautiful!
Thanks to Evelyn for lending me this pic of her finished charm bracelet, how awesome does it look!

Riveted

I made this new necklace, I think it is pretty cool! My first go at riveting too.
It is 2 copper pieces, the first with my pierced design and the second I have oxidized and attached underneath so the patina shows through the design.  It is quite a heavy piece so I think I need to experiment a bit more when my new supplies arrive.

Happy weekend all :)

Cake topper- work in progress

It's that time again, time to put down the jewellery and catch up on CT orders.  Here is a sneak peak of some cows I am making.  I have 2 sets on the go at the mo, you can't see the others though as the bride needs to keep the dress a secret from the groom, and he might be here...hiding:)

Also check out my new Etsy banner and Avatar made by WinchesterLambourne, it is freaking awesome if I say so myself.

That is all :)

First piercings

I have been busy trying out my new saw, gotta say it's pretty cool!  First of all I made the above, the flower was the first thing I cut out of copper and soldered to some sterling wire and added the copper leaf detail.

I then made this cherry blossom necklace,  I like how this one turned out:

Finally I made a little hammered heart, well just because I love hearts, cute and simple.

Even though I have never used a jewellers saw before, I highly recommend this one, changing the blades is a breeze.  Out of all 3 pieces I only broke one blade and I wasn't even sawing, I was trying to lubricate the blade, haha!

I hope you like my new pieces :)

Knew toy!

See what I did there,  Knew/new geddit?

Yay for new tools! I really want to try my hand at working with copper and silver sheet so I bought myself a snazzy new saw.  A Knew Concept saw to be exact.  I have never tried piercing before and I have read a couple of people say how amazing this saw is so I had to get it.

The frame is made from super lightweight aluminum making it the lightest saw on the market.  The unique tensioning system is built into the frame so you don't have to squish it against your sternum to tighten the blade.

It is even painted red which apparently improves accuracy, who knew?

I have it in 5 inches but you can get it in 3" and 8", I just need to wait for my bench peg now so that I can test it out.  It's arrived, yay, let the metal carnage begin!

More toppers & beads

I have been working like mad to get this set of cake toppers finished, the customer loves in the States and it was a last minute order so I was very conscious of the time. Finally finished today and in the post.  This set seems to include everything but the kitchen sink! :)

I also got around to turning these older beads into necklaces and have got them listed now.  They are polymer and all findings are sterling silver.  I think I may have blogged about these beads a while back when I made them.  Even though green is my favourite colour, the blue and brown necklace has to be my fave.

And the winner is!.......

CONGRATULATIONS to Glasmagie!  Thank you to all who entered, I wish I could send you all something, really I do! So I will definitely being doing more giveaways in the near future so come back again!

Lou :)

Some new bits

First of all thank you to everyone so far who have entered my giveaway below.  I will do the draw 10pm my time here in France on Friday and announce the winner straight away. Hopefully I will get a few more participants! :)

I made a couple of necklaces last night, I always love the look of the wire wrapped briolettes so I thought I would carve some myself from polymer clay.  I really like how they both turned out, they are very irregular and fun to wear.  I made 2 in similar colours, one is slightly lighter thank the other and both are wrapped in sterling silver and hang from sterling silver chains.  I have already made 3 more in different colours as they are quite addictive to make!  You can find these 2 in my Etsy shop now, I hope you like them both.

GIVEAWAY!!

I promised I said I would do a giveaway once my blog got over 100 followers so here it is peeps.
I am giving away one of my Moon & Stars necklaces above made from precious metal clay and strung on a sterling silver chain.

All you have to do to enter is follow my blog if you aren't already and leave a comment below, that's it!
I will use the random number generator to pick a winner next Friday 14th.

So get following and commenting! :)

Cake Toppers Done!

Yay, I got this set finished, I was starting to panic as I thought the wedding was on the 10th May but it isn't until the 24th, big sigh of relief!
I am happy as I am now back on track, on another note I got my Prismacolor pencils in the mail today so I can start experimenting with colour on my silver pieces, excited!

Cake Toppers- Work In Progress

I have another set on the go, I was ill for almost 3 weeks not long back which set me back a bit with the cake toppers so I am trying to get back up to date.

Here is the bride all ready to go and her policeman groom will be finished soon. :)

Charmed

I am taking part in a second Etsy Metal Clay charm swap, mine are all done and dusted and on there way to the States. I can't wait to see what everyone else has made!
My charms are cherry blossoms, coloured with pencils and little rhodonite beads attached.  I hope you like them. :)

Cake Toppers, Done!

Here is the finished set, all done and dusted and on there way to Ireland, now onto the next!

Cake Topper- Work in Progress 2

Here is the bride all finished, just need to make the groom, attach them to their base and post and then onto the next! :) Stay tuned for the final piece.

Cake Topper- Work in progress

Here is a work in progress shot of a set of cake toppers I am currently working on, I hope to get these finished and posted by tomorrow.  I'll post a pic of the finished toppers once they are complete :)

Just to show...

...my latest set, only a quick post as I am off to bed ready for a busy days of cake toppers tomorrow.  Hope you like them. :)

New Shops

Today I have been busy opening up some new online stores for my jewellery.  I now have a Zibbet shop and a Coriandr shop. Of course Etsy will always be my fave but it doesn't hurt to get your product out there into the world for more to see.  I only have a couple of listings in the new shops so far which will be made to order items so I will just see how it goes.

If anybody is thinking of opening up a Zibbet shop please use me as a referral and you can also get a 7 day free trial by entering FREETRIAL in the coupon section.  You just need to follow this link, My referral link.

As for new work I have a few design ideas floating about in my head right now I just need to get them in my sketchbook but tomorrow is all about the cake toppers as I am slightly behind from being ill, boo!

Lou x

Out of the Kiln

Here are some new pieces out of the kiln and in my Etsy shop already.  A little collection of cherry blossoms.  I love them we have lots of cherry blossom tree's here where we live, so pretty.

I carved a little stamp and made this, the branch I made ages ago and was wondering what to do with it:

I then made some post earrings from the same tiny stamp:

Finally I made a bigger stamp to sit on its own on a necklace and this is the one I am going to be using for my EMC charms in copper with an additional bead component.

I hope you like them all :)

Bleugh

So I haven't made anything new for well over a week now.  Since Tuesday I have been sick as a dawg! I have literally not moved from the sofa (apart from peeing, sleeping and bathing) since Tuesday and it sucks!  I have the worst head cold, bleugh.

I have however managed to catch up with all of my internet stuff, spent way to much time on Flickr and Facebook, all in the name of research :) I also re-joined PCAGOE (polymer clay artists guild of Etsy) a group of Etsy artists that sell there polymer clay work on Etsy.  Search "pcagoe" on Etsy to seem some amazing artists at work. I have ordered more supplies, always love to receive new materials in the post.

I have been overdosing on orange juice and fruit smoothies and here's lunch.

Happy Easter everyone. :)

Something new

While working on my cake toppers I have managed to squeeze in a little jewellery making too :)
I have made another guitar pick necklace made from precious metal clay and also a pair of earrings using my own handmade polymer beads and ear wires.  I like how the earrings turned out so I will definitely being making those again with some new colour combinations.

Both can be found in my Etsy shop now :)