Christmas Gifts

Time ran out and I never got round to writing my tool Christmas wish list but I did get some new tools for Christmas :)

Before Christmas I bought myself a little disk cutter and I got another one as a Christmas gift from my mum, it is this one found on Cooksons.  It makes discs and also these little conicle shapes.  I am yet to try it out but will post pics when I do.

Thank you to my sister I also received a ring stick, I have been trying to get ring making tools together for some time and I am now almost there! Just a few more bits to get.  This stick has both American and European sizes and also tells you the length of metal you need for each ring size, super useful.

I also received a £100 Amazon voucher so I purchased some jewellery making books. Can't wait to receive these.

Penland Book of Jewelry

Making Silver Chains

Mounting and Setting Stones

All I want for Christmas....

...is lots of tools and things from etsy:)

Silver Buds by Revonav

Flower coasters by decoylab

The Hermitage Chapel by Bewilderandpine

Vintage nick nack shelf by Myvintageobsessions

Soooo that's just a small part of my wishlist, next up will be my tool wishlist...ahhhh tools :)

A little tool

I have been wanting a disc cutter and doming set for aaaages so when i saw this one on sale at Cooksons I had to get it! It arrived today and it is so tiny it's quite funny.

I would say it is perfect for some of my little post earrings and I will be giving it a go soon, watch this space.
:)

Kitchen stuff

We are currently packing up our little apartment to move to a much bigger house (fingers crossed we get the keys on Monday!) which is why I have been a bit absent lately.  All of my jewellery tools are away and packed as well as my polymer clay for my cake toppers.

What I have been doing is getting slightly obsessed with baking and the kitchen.  I have been buying some new things for the kitchen and he is what I have bought.

I love this little coffee machine and the colour is awesome, I also got the matching kettle!

Finally my new mixer has arrived and I LOVE it!  I haven't tried it out yet as I only took it out of the box for a look and then it had to get packed away again for the move. 

I think like most people I had the Kitchenaid V Kenwood debate in my head over and over, I always wanted a Kitchenaid but then I found this beauty and it had so many good reviews.  I can't wait to get into the new place and start using it.  Notice that it is red and not blue, thought I would mix it (no pun intended) up a bit.

I have always loved cooking because quite frankly I love food!  I even went to college and studied it and although I don't do it as a profession I enjoy cooking at home.  I have always thought about starting a foody blog too as I think this one would get a little overcrowded if I started adding my baked goods as well.

Soooo watch this space and hopefully my tools will be back out again soon, just in time for the Christmas shopping :)

Something New!

I made these post earrings for a friend and I thought they were super cute, so I have now added them to my etsy shop.

They are all sterling silver and measure a tiny 6mm approx. I hope you like them and you can find them here :)

*Update, one pair sold today, yay!

My first RAW

I really to join in with RAW this year but the months past and I never got a ring made, partly because I kept putting it off having never made one before.

I then started taking a metalsmithing class every Friday night which I love, I have learnt a lot of fabricating techniques and my tool collection is growing fast, think I'm a bit of a tool addict!

I think I am starting to leave metal clay behind and work more with sheet metals, I love the piercing technique, cutting out intricate designs and filing to perfection.

So here is my first fabricated ring made in sterling silver, I couldn't decide if I wanted to oxidize it or not, maybe later.

RIP Bo

My sweet, old girl Bo was put to sleep on Saturday after having a stroke.  She was in the wars after having a tumor removed and then she got mites which gave her a bacterial infection.

Bo was my only rat who ever bit me on more than one occasion! :)  She definitely liked her own space and didn't like being moved.  She was always an explorer when she was younger, unlike Bella who would never come out of the cage until after about 3 months.

Towards the end we couldn't get Bo out of the cage very often, she loved to sleep and chill out in her hammock and looked after the other babies when they were born.  She was my grumpy old girl and I will miss her.

Rest in Peace Bo Bo.

                                                                      Bo as a baby

Wedding Cake toppers, a new set.

Wedding season is upon us again so I am working my way through the cake toppers.  I just finished this one this weekend.  I am happy how it turned out and looking forward to seeing it on the cake :)

Updated ratty pics

My baby ratties are now 4 weeks old and have totally changed, they are super cute but now look like ratties :)

Here are a couple of pics of the cuties:

Cuuuuute!

New Earrings

Something new I made over the weekend, first up are these cherry blossom dangle earrings.  Cut from copper sheet and they hang on my own handmade sterling silver ear wires.



Next are these post earrings, my first proper go at sawing sterling sheet, I quite like how they turned out too.

I hope you like them, they will be listed in etsy shop soon :)



Rat Babies!

As promised here are a couple of pics of the new babies, official head count is 10, so I now have 15 rats!  Let the fun begin!

 

All 10 babies

A Big Surprise!

If you read this blog regularly you will probably have figured out that I have a couple of pet rats, Bella and Bo.  Well we decided to buy them a new BIG cage and buy 2 more rats also, we went to get them on Saturday and Dom decided he wanted a 3rd one as he liked the look of this black baby.

We left the pet shop with 3 new ratties on Staurday and this morning I woke up to a lot of squeaking, I look in the cage and find a pile of rat babies! One of out new ratties was pregnant and had given birth :S
I think they are about 8 babies, so I go from having 2 to 13!

Here are a couple of pics of their new home and some pics of the new pups will come soon :)

Etsy Front Page

Last night my 'La petite maison' necklace made it to Etsy's front page, no sales but lots of views and hearts.  Here is the treasury and thanks to magalerie for creating it :)

Friday Favourites

I haven't made anything new this week to show so thought I would show some more of my etsy faves.  Oh how I think I need to win the lotto!

Abandoned and Haunted House By DaisyJaneDesigns 

Early Bloom By tmlCREATIONS

Handmade Shoes By fairysteps

I hope you like my picks, next post will be about what I have been up to in my metalsmithing class. :)

Featured Seller...

For this post I am featuring a friend and colleague of mine, Jennifer of SilkSpinnerDesigns. 

This is a brand new shop and Jennifer makes awesome beaded jewellery, here are some of her listings.

 

Rose & Gold Kinesis Necklace With Matching Earrings

Happy-Go-Lucky Double Helix Bracelet

Tigerstripe Necklace with Vintage Czech Glass Beads & Matching Earrings

To celebrate her one month anniversary on Etsy, jennifer is offering 10% off on some of her designs so go and check them out :)

Another Cherry Blossom Necklace

You can probably tell that cherry blossom is one of my favourite flowers, not sure why, I just love them!

I made this larger pendant at the weekend and next up I want to make some cherry blossom earrings.

I hope you like this one :D

Stuff I really, really want, part 2

I think I add things to my Etsy favourites everyday, there is just too many nice things out there!  I thought I would do my faves in jewellery this time around.

So this week first up are these super cute earrings from vickiorion.  I love the pink and green together, 2 of my favourite colours for sure.  Unfortunately they just sold :(

 

 Ruby & Zoisite Earrings by vickiorion

Next is this amazing charm bracelet from the etsy metal team.  The members who participated each made a charm for this piece which can also convert to a necklace.  Oh how I would love this :)

 Etsy Metal Charm Swap 6 Bracelet By the EtsyMetal Team

I love this quirky modern earrings by AntiGenre, very unique.

 Egg Earrings By AntiGenre

Finally, I LOVE this dog tag necklace by drakonaria and it's quote, how cute is the little chocolate and donut detail? love it!

Balanced Diet....By Drakonaria

More Birds in Copper

Here I have a couple more pieces I made over the weekend, in copper.
I used my jewellery saw to cut out the graphic then sanded and tumbled and gave it an oxidized, brushed finish.

Next is another bird and branch necklace, this one was made the same way and I hammered the edges for a bit more detail.

That's it so far, I hope you like them :)

On another note, I am very excited as I will be starting my first metalsmithing class on Friday night which runs for 7 weeks.  I hope to learn some more advanced techniques and brush up on the things I have already taught myself.  I have started to collect a few cabochons ready for stone setting, so watch this space and I will keep you updated on how it is going :D

The Winner is......

...Congratulations to Louise of Dearest Jackdaw!

Thanks so much to all who entered my little giveaway and more importantly for continuing to follow my blog.

I always love to do giveaways so keep a lookout for the next one! :D

GIVEAWAY TIME!

Hello all, I thought it was about time for another giveaway and to mark my celebration of getting over 200 followers, hurrah! (Thank you to all my followers :D)
As you have probably seen, I have really been practicing my piercing so I thought I would give away this cherry blossom necklace. 
Yours will be freshly made and lovely, all you need to do to enter is follow my blog if you are not already and leave me a message below.

I will randomly pick a winner this Sunday (27th) and I will post the necklace anywhere in the whole wide world! :D

Hand pierced copper necklace on a oxidized sterling silver chain.

Stuff I really, really want...

So today I was just admiring my favourites on etsy, as you do, and thought I would share.
First up is this uh-mazing scarf from TheFaerieMarket in fact I love her whole shop but this scarf is my fave, although now I am having trouble trying to decide which colors I like best.

Long and Leafy Scarf with Embroidered Leaves By TheFaerieMarket

Next up is this purse/wallet from MoxieandOliver the reason I love this so much is because it is big and has 2 zips!  I live in France and work in Switzerland so I always have 2 currencies on me and I would like to keep them seperate.  Makes life much easier when you are rooting around for change!  I think this will be my next purchase, this purse makes me happy :)

Belle Cadilac Purse Wallet By MoxieandOliver

Hello gorgeous piece of silver, I love this cuff. Rough and organic, just my style from CyndieSmithDesigns

Silver Leaf Statement Cuff By CyndieSmithDesigns

Last but not least for today, this French Maison Set by ARTISANIEEurope.  Who doesn't want little villages all over their house? I do and I think this one is perfect.

French Maison Set By ARTISANIEeurope

Finished Cake Toppers

I finally finished this set of toppers, just need to add some finishing touches and then they will be shipped.  The photo quality is a bit rubbish as I took it with no natural light and flash was used, when you work full time what can you do? :)
All polymer clay as usual, now onto the next set!