Indie Smiles Down On Me

Well, who's been a busy girl then!! Despite the fact that my laptop has insisted on picking up a virus and coughing, sneezing and spluttering it's way through this week, an has had two overnight stays in the private clinic for sick machines, I have managed to get three ...yes, three... articles published in Indiesmiles.

The first article is my biography which helps you to get to know me, as a real and not so virtual human, a little better. Take a look at this piece and you'll see the inner me with the nasty bits taken out!

http://www.indiesmiles.com/gimmethatthing

The second is an informative tutorial on how to organise your own craft fair. This article gives a break down of the various steps needed to be taken, and holds your virtual hand all the way to the point where you count the money raised, do a happy dance and give yourself a hearty pat on the back!

http://www.indiesmiles.com/diy-for-charity


The third article takes a look at some of the shop names on Folksy and how they came about. This is such an interesting read that I plan to do a series of these pieces to find out more about this crafting community.

http://www.indiesmiles.com/the-name-game

Please go and read these articles and leave comments beneath them, because there is a comptetion for all the Indiesmiles columnists including little old me, to see who has the most comments at the end of each month. I'm counting on you guys!

While we are on the subject of Indiesmiles, these wonderful people are giving you the opportunity to buy advertising space at $1 a week.

http://www.indiesmiles.com/wp-content/plugins/oiopub-direct/purchase.php?do=banner&zone=4

It's a Wrap

I've always coveted those pretty wire wrapped rings and never thought I'd be capable of making them. So, I watched some informative You Tube footage on how to go about it and jumped right in.



Well, what a surprise. Usually I try something for the first time, make a pig's ear of it and give up, but even my first attempt was a success. I was now on a roll, and made six gorgeous pieces with the funkiest beads I could find in my ever increasing collection.



I plan to list them in my Folksy and Zibbet shops later this week, so keep checking if you like them too!

Crafty Old Bird Gets Lesson From Expert

My daughter and I found this old lady wandering aimlessly around our garden looking lost, so we brought her indoors, thawed her out with tea and cake, and decided to teach her a lesson. Daughter, aged 12, got all her beads and jewellery findings out and gave an impromptu lecture on making beaded earrings. Actually, the old lady turned out to be my Mum!

At the age of 88 Doris has never experienced the joys of making bling, and despite the fact that it took her over half an hour to get to grips with this simple technique, she's booked herself in for next week's class on beaded bracelets. God help us!

I suggested to my mother that she may like to have her nose pierced, but she was against that idea. So she's opting for the belly button piercing instead. Only joking ... I think!

Huddersfield Rocks!

Yesterday just kept getting better and better. In the morning I had notification that a tutorial I'd written on knitting with jewellery wire had gone live on Dispenseinfo. If you would like to write your own crafting tutorial for dispenseinfo you can contact Alison via www.dispenseinfo.com.
http://www.dispenseinfo.com/displayarticle.php/74/Knitting+with+jewellery+wire
A couple of hours later I was told it had also gone live in ibeadmag.
http://ibeadmag.com/learning-to-knit-with-jewellery-wire

As if that wasn't enough to make my day, Huddersfield seemed to want my jewellery. I sold the spotty black and white brooch, matching earrings and ring to someone in Huddersfield, then my sister-in-law ordered a blue glass necklace, and where does she live? You got it - rocking Huddersfield, West Yorkshire in case you're not familiar. How freaky is that?

So all those lovely sales have made a big hole in my Folksy shop and I just had to stick some new items in the space. Continuing in my spotty dotty phase I've added sage and moss green stud earrings, a ring and matching brooch. If you live in Huddersfield, respond to that urge to come and look!!

Where Does the Time Go?

As soon as my daughter has left for school at 8.15 I switch the computer on and get stuck in to the day's writing briefs, which usually take until lunchtime to do. Today I had the whole morning stretching out before me, with only one brief to write about Tampa Bay, Florida. So what have I done with my time? I made 2 pairs of steam punk Victoriana earrings, one pair in black, one in cream, and am really pleased with them.



And how come whenever I want to photograph my new creations, the daylight is dull and drab? This didn't stop me though and I've listed this black and white dotty brooch on Folksy to go with the dotty earrings and ring that are there too.

I've also spent some time adding new items to my fab new Zibbet shop, including some glass beaded necklaces with the most amazing large focal beads. I'm really pleased with the photos too, considering it hasn't stopped raining all day. Sun ... what sun?!

I don't suppose the fairies have done the washing up for me? No - Tuesday is their day off!

New Shop Now Open

I am absolutely exhausted, what with only 4 hours sleep last night (too much going on in my head with design ideas deciding to pop up at 3.30am), and I've been working on the banner and starting to list a few jewellery items in my new shop on Zibbet.It took me a couple of hours to work out how to adapt my banner for the new shop but I did it in the end. Zibbet is offering crafters up to 25 listings free with no commission fees and is so easy to use. You can upgrade to a Premium account with unlimited listings. If you are planning to do this, please use my link as the company also offer a free Premium account for life if you introduce 7 new Premium users. Here's the link, and I'll be adding more items daily until it is full.
http://www.zibbet.com/GimmeThatThing/sell

I've also discovered The Handmade Gift Gallery which gives crafters the opportunity to showcase their work, with links to their online shops. Take a look. http://www.thehandmadegiftgallery.com