Romanov with Padparascha Crystals

Back to my normal features next week but this week is all about the Christmas markets!

Another piece of maille I have made for the markets is the ever popular Romanov weave. This weave includes Swarovski crystals, making it a very pretty weave with lots of sparkle! The colour of the Crystals is called Padparascha which is a gorgeous orangy pinky colour.

Festival Byz Ladder

Here is the first of my new pieces that I have been busy creating - it is a chainmaille bracelet in sterling silver that uses a variant of the popular Byzantine weave, turning it into a ladder design. The focal is a piece by Guru Creations entitled "Festival". It is Dichroic glass with a sterling silver link fused into each end.

Getting Ready for Christmas Markets!

With four markets coming up over the next two weeks I am very busy producing new stock, hence the reason for my lack of posts over the last couple of weeks.

I have completed some new chainmaille bracelets, am currently working on some new earrings, and hope to find the time to do a few more rings and pendants too!

I need to do some tumbling and photographing but hopefully I will be able to give you a few previews of my new pieces over the next few days.

In the meantime, pop on over to the BrisStyle blog to see what others are doing in preparation for the big BrisStyle Christmas market that's on next Saturday!

Here are some pics from some fellow team members to whet your appetite:

Friday Favourites

Baby Hare Kuro Soft Sculpture
by
Dragon House of Yuen

New - Amazonite Shapes Necklace

I have just completed my latest 'Geometric' design - this time a necklace, and decided to give you a preview before it gets uploaded into my store.

My previous geometric designs have been based around one shape, that of a square/rectangle. I wanted to expand on the idea of building up shapes around a central bead and so decided to try and make three different shapes, including one of each in a necklace. I started with a square shape since that was what I am familiar with. I then moved onto a circular shape. Finally I moved onto a triangle.

Once each shape was completed they were wire wrapped and Swarovski crystals were added to create some sparkle.

I used the same links to make up the necklace chain as I had in my previous geometric design necklace since these diamond shapes fit with the overall theme.

So there you have it - my Amazonite Shapes necklace!

Friday Favourites

Porcelain Nature Spirit/Fairy/Garden
by
Golden Light Ceramics

BrisStyle Market - Not long Now!

Everyone here in Brisbane is getting very excited about the next BrisStyle market which is now only just over two weeks away!

I'm planning a couple of new displays and will give you an advance preview when they're done. I have my new coloured maille bracelets ready to go and hope to add a few more pieces to my stock before the big day. I'm currently working on a special new "shapes" necklace with sterling silver, amazonite and swarovski crystals - watch this space!

In the meantime, pop on over to the BrisStyle Blog and see what other team members are up to in preparation for the big day!

Monday Feature

Having missed a week, and with the next BrisStyle market happening in under three weeks my feature this week had to a fellow Brisstylette, one who will have a stall at the upcoming market. So my feature this week is Marilyn of MJ Mosaics.

A self taught artist Marilyn loves to create beautiful things, loving the process of turning an idea into a reality.

Marilyn stumbled into mosaics over 5 years ago starting out with ceramics, a hammer and little know how, little did she know how this art form would capture her. Marilyn found herself hungry to learn more and became obsessed with buying beautiful glass. In the past year Marilyn has got more serious about her artform, and finds that she loses herself in each creation.

From artwork, to bags, to frames and even to bookmarks, Marilyn has created a lovely variety of items using her mosaics - check out her store and see for yourself!

Like No Place on Earth

Starting to think a lot about my family at this time of year, and these photos, taken on my last trip to see them, should easily identify the country that they live in!

Cabochon Rings

I made my first two cabochon rings last week, one with an adjustable band and the other with a fixed. I must have done something right because the one with the fixed band, made with an Onyx stone, sold before I even had chance to take a photo of it!

The adjustable ring was made using a Rhodocrosite cabochon. The cab was wire wrapped with the wire decorating the front of the cab, the wire was then wrapped to form the adjustable ring shank. The wrapping helps to make the ring sit very smoothly around the finger and because its adjustable you don't need to worry about swollen knuckles!

Friday Favourites

Oceanic Escape
by
Brandensams

Musical Quaver Pendant

If you have read some of my earlier posts you will know that as well as being a Jewellery Designer I am also a musician playing both the violin and piano.

As such, I have for a time now wanted to incorporate a "Musical Collection" into my jewellery designs. Well, I now have my first design in what will be my collection.

I have started simple with a pendant in the form of a "quaver". The base or 'note' of the quaver has been formed with a Swarovski Crystal Rivoli wrapped in sterling silver. The silver wire then continues to form the stem and the tail of the quaver.

So, here it is - my Musical Quaver Pendant.

Friday Favourites

Purple and Black Sketchbook/Journal Polymer
by
Mandarin Moon

Mailling in Colour

I am in the process of introducing a new range of chainmaille bracelets to my jewellery range. These bracelets are in nice bright colours and they are stretchy!

Each bracelet is made with brightly coloured aluminium rings and with either black or white rubber rings. With the rubber rings adding some stretching ability to the bracelets there is no clasp required

So far I have made a selection of bracelets in three different weaves - Euro 4 in 1, Byzantine and Box Chain.

Check these out!

DeWanda Shop

For customers in Europe who prefer to pay in Euros, I have a DeWanda shop as well as the other stores listed on my blog.

DeWanda is an online site started and based in Germany although there are also English and French versions of the site. Tapping into the European market, one of the benefits European clients have when shopping on DeWanda is that they don't need to use Pay Pal. DeWanda have a voucher system whereby customers can buy vouchers from DeWanda (paying by various methods) and then use the voucher in any DeWanda store. DeWanda then pays the seller direct.

I have just listed my Cloudy Day Bangle (the most picked up piece at my market last weekend) in my DeWanda store.

Monday Feature

My feature this week is a fellow Jet team member, Erika of Erika Price Designs.

Erika, living in a big old farmhouse in the English countryside with her husband and her dog, describes designing and making exclusive jewellery as her passion. Erika's work varies according to her mood and inspiration, though she especially love using artisan-made lampwork glass in her creations.

Incorporating her love of music into the naming of her designs and collections, Erika presents a Music Collection, contemporary designs in sterling silver and gold vermeil, a Virtuoso Collection, designs inspired by Victorian and vintage jewellery, a Fantasy Collection, a fun collection featuring fun glass critters, and finally a Sweet Candy Collection.

Erika is also inspired by her love of helping others and this is reflected in the fact that Erika donates all profits from the sale of her jewellery to charity.

So, if you not only want to browse a fantastic selection of jewellery, but want to help a good cause at the same time, then pay a visit to Erika Price Designs.

November Giveaway

Well, its the 1st of the month and so time for me to announce my next Giveaway.

But first - we need a winner for the October Giveaway. So, having generated a randon number on random.org I am delighted to announce that the winner of my Dragonfly Necklace is Bachuchay! Congratulations - your necklace will soon be on its way to you.

Now, for my November Giveaway. This month I will be giving away a $40 voucher to spend in my Etsy store. The voucher can either be used to purchase an item up to $40 in value or it can be put toward the cost of a higher valued item.


To Enter:

• Please visit my Etsy store and tell me how you would like to spend $40.

Extra Entries - 1 extra entry for each of the following:

• Become a follower of my blog (or let me know if you already are)
• Become a fan of my Facebook Page (again let me know if you already are)
• Blog about this Giveaway and give me the link
• Tweet about this giveaway and let me know

The Giveaway will run until the end of November with the winner announced on the 1st December. Good Luck!