Somethng different..

Handmade Monday.. http://www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk/blog/ please pop by Wendy's page and join in with Handmade Monday :)

I mentioned in my previous post that I applied for some local events.. GOOD NEWS.. I got a table at the big event in Chiswick. Chiswick summer Fair im really excited about it. There is so much happening at the fair that its guarenteed to be a great day for all, Raffles, auctions, stilt walkers, firemen, photgraphers, handbag and jewellery stalls, BBQ's and world food, circus workshops, story telling and so much more.... a fantastic day out for everyone. I cant wait :)

With the fair attracting around 3000 people I realise that I need to get busy.

So ive been working hard, working hard to complete custom orders and making a start on items just for the fair.

Ive woken up today with sacks under my eyes lol.. not a pretty sight, but I've made lots of one off items.. here's a few (ive made lots more, which im really happy with but I havent taken the pics yet).

 These rosary beads are a custom order, my customer is giving them to her hubby to be as a wedding gift. I made them using onyx beads for the aves and quartz crystals for the Paters.

 This set of rosary beads are for my customer to keep for herself, she wanted flower beads so I used these pretty millefliori beads as the aves and quartz crystals as the paters.

My customer was so happy with them that she said she nearly cried when she saw the piccy :) Thats what makes this all so worth while. :)

 At christmas I made the first of my male bracelet range, they were more ained at the children as they were customisable with names.  this one is aimed at the men. its big chunky and manly lol. Made in the same style as my previous ones with an adjustable strap.

 This is one of my one of designs for the Chiswick Summer Fair. I havent made hardly any big chunky statement jewellery so it was lots of fun making this (and lots of others which I need to post soon too)

 Another one off, this is a bracelet, but I will be making a necklace to match.

 This is made with hermatite round beads and squares and rose quartz chips and round beads and swarvoski crystals in the centre.

 Toe rings.. I started a range of these, in lots of different colours :)

SAMEE SUPERNATURAL

Im recommending this page for a few reasons.

1. Because her dolls are so unique and amazing.
2. Because she is very talented.
3. Because I think everyone should pop by her page on Facebook and have a look at her other dolls.

This little fella is a warewolf, her latest creation. her vampires are a hit aswell.

Such amazing detail in the clothes!

And here is one of the vampire dolls!

VOTES

My lovely customers have been nominating me for SITT Small Business award which has been oranised by Send in the Troops its a competition for the best facebook business page. The winner will receive a trophy and £50 for advertising.

So if you want to nominate yourself or someone else then please visit this link.

Votes start on 12th June and end on the 19th :)

Thank you everyone for taking your time to read.

I will be back again soon to post more pics :) xxx

Well last week wasnt the most productive. It didnt start off too well and most things were down hill from the off... But this week however, is the start of a new fresh week.. The fact that it is raining hasnt dampened my positive thoughts.. the rain can wash away last weeks problems. who knows, the sun may shine tomorrow :)

I decided to apply for some stalls at upcoming events, and although I hadnt heard back from anyone that I had previously emailed, I was pleased to receive an email from a local event for a pampering evening at a nursery being held at the end of this month, so I will be busy preparing for that. and.... Yesterday I had an email for a really big local event, which normally attracts 3000 people, so I am keeping my fingers tightly crossed that I get a stall there.. i'll find out sometime this week I think.

Ive never done any kind of event before.. all my jewellery is sold online so it will be a big thing for me. I will be working extremely hard every evening and weekend over the next 4-5 weeks to get as much jewellery made as possible. Hopefully I havent bitten off more than I can chew with potentially two events in the space of a week.

I just need to get myself organised!! plenty of coffee to be drank, a note pad to be filled, alot of beads to get creative with, and ALOT of work to be done. not to mention everything inbetween....arrrrgh, panic time.

How long do you give yourself to plan/prepare for an event? If I had the day hours to do it in I think a month wouldnt be a problem.. but as I only have evenings and weekends.... hmm.. i'll stay positive, im sure it can be done, and I do like a challenge :)

Handmade Monday.. http://www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk/blog/ please pop by Wendy's page and join in with Handmade Monday :)

Here are a few custom orders ive done recently:

This is for a very valued customer as a gift for her mother's ruby wedding anniversary. I had a play around with styles and this one was the winner. it looks amazing on.

This decoration has been made in loving memory of another customer's nan. Previous memorial decorations i've made have been made to hang by a ribbon or to place in the ground, and so this one was a challenge to make standing, as the decoration itself was shaped as hearts i decided to make it with 3 hearts intertwined together, which looks nicer then you can see by the picture (as does the sparkey crystals).

And this is a toe ring. I had a couple of requests for toe rings so I thought i'd give one a go, and this was the outcome. As soon as I get some times I will add some more to the range.

(famous last words lol.. ive got so many designs in my head for pieces of jewellery I want to make, just not enough time to make them).

Thank you for reading :) xxx

House arrest

Handmade Monday.. http://www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk/blog/ please pop by Wendy's page and join in with Handmade Monday :)

Since last week my son caught chickenpox.. I was in shock when I saw the rash on his back on Thursday morning and by the afternoon he was absolutely smothered in them, a quick trip to the doctors confirmed my obvious suspicisions. Me and my son said goodbye to the outside world, no nursery, no work, no outdoor trips for 4-5days... no sunshine!

Everyone seemed to be avoiding us last week, we were beginning to get complexes lol.

Whilst being at home for so long, I seemed to become clumsier than ever, in one day I managed to catch my toe on a piece of stationery furniture which really really hurt, and then a few hours later my son accidently knocked over a dining room chair (which is heavy) and that landed straight on my little toe (next to the one which i had hurt earlier) OUCH!! lol. and then prior to that I whacked my arm on the frame of the door!!

By the end of the week I looked pale, washed out, battered, ill, tired and sun deprived lol.

And needless to say, I was glad to get back to the office (out of harms way) lol and my son is back to nursery aswell so he will be glad for the fresh air and fun too :)

Whilst at home and inbetween nursing my poorly son and my battered toes, I did manage to work on some new designs.....

 Ive had these lovely hearts for a few weeks and wanted to do something different with them and this was the outcome.

 Doing the pink flower on the previous necklace inspired me to do something even more flowery/pink and different.. this necklace is stunning on. I need to try and get a decent picture of it, its pretty long so difficult to get a full length pic.

 These 2 bracelets are custom orders, the first one my customer knew exactly what she wanted and the second we just knew to add a cross and a daisy (this was my third design before showing my customer) :)

 Glass square earrings with crystal clusters

 Angel wing earrings

 Hermitite squares with swarovski cubes

 Quartz crystals with flower charms and flower spacers

Pandora style bracelet, I have lots of colours and lots of beads for these!

This week I am offering 20% off any purchase in my store, click here to visit my website, and enter FB20 on checkout for your 20% off. offer ends Friday.

I do have a few more designs which I have completed, but I dont have pics yet so I will share them with you next week :)

Thank you for reading xx

Clusters of crystals

Handmade Monday.. http://www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk/blog/ please pop by Wendy's page and join in with Handmade Monday :) I havent done handmade Monday for aaaaages, im looking forward to catching up on everyones work :)

I LOVE clusters and I LOVE crystals, so this weekend I was working on a few pairs of earrings and lots of cluster rings. My hands were sore after all that wire wrapping but I felt good after getting so much done so after that I made a bracelet which I also LOVE.

So here are some pics...

Lots of colours and styles to choose from, I will still be adding to my range soon though.

A close up of the black cluster

and the purple

 and this ring was made as a custom colour choice from a aqua one I had previously made.

Red cluster

 

The cluster earrings pink and smokey

 And here's the four strand bracelet which I love. I went for all pastle colours so it will suit lots of different outfits.

 This necklace took me a few hours to make.. its made in the style of rosary beads, (but not in the same formation) I will be adding rosary beads to my range shortly though.

 I made this pendant originally to be earrings but decided it was a bit oversized and would look much nicer on a leather cord. :)

WEEKEND OFFERS

I dont think I have mentioned before, but every weekend I have a special offer on over at my Facebook page. This week my rings were on offer for £5.00 each with free P&P, I have had lots of offers on over the past few weeks, 2 friendship bracelets for £10.00 with free P&P, heart cluster necklaces £5 each with free p&p and more.  I will be re-introducing these offers over the coming weeks to give people who missed out a chance to grab a bargain.

Thank you for reading, and if you havent already joined me over on my FB page then please pop over, Its the place to pick up the best bargains and see all of my new designs.

Lucie :) xx

WOW!! Has it really been that long?!

Its been such a long time since I last blogged!

Ive been so busy with work and with my son and with jewellery making that I havent had a chance to blog, but I have decided to make some time and update you all :)

Since the Auction, which raised a lovely £100 for Cancer research, I have been working on new designs and rebuiding my website. this has been a bit of a long process due to having internet problems at home and not being able to use the internet for more than 10minutes without it cutting out (thanks BT) hopefully this will be sorted soon.. its been a few month now so who knows!

Anyway :) what have I been making... well I wont show you everything, but here are a few items..

 Angel name bracelet

 Filigee locket on a silver beaded necklace with a choice of crystal

 Wire wrapped cross with pearls and crystals

 Coiled hoop earrings with crystals

 This was made in loving memory (a custom order) A red glass heart with lots of pearls and crystals and a small swarovski heart and angel wing on a belcher chain.

 This was also made in loving memory (to hand on a moseleum)

 Anklet. this is made using small seed beads and crystals with a wire wrapped pattern (it looks pretty on) as the summer is upon us I will be started a range of anklets

My new banner, which I had lots of fun getting right lol.

What else have I been upto?

Well I recently started driving lessons, I did a couple of lessons 6years ago but wasnt really that motivated and didnt do any more.

Its a shame i have left it so long to learn, but I have determination this time! i'm really enjoying it, ive been on A roads and all my lessons are during rush hour traffic (London rush hour traffic.. lots of big vehicles and buses to drive along side.. gulp) I seem to be doing well though :)

I did have a minor problem this week however, I was turning of a main road into a side road and a cyclist was waiting to turn out of the side road, I keep turning to soon, so this time I made a conscious effort not to turn too quickly.. I left it a little too late this time, I missed the shocked cyclist by an inch (thanks to my instructor grabbing hold of the wheel) lol. I couldnt help but laugh (it wasnt an evil laugh, im not the type of person to take pleasure in scaring cyclists half to death lol) I always laugh when im nervous .. which is sometimes really inappropriate.

On average it takes 40 hour lessons plus home learning to pass a driving test these days!?! Is that a bit extreme? how many did it take you?

I hope I am cut out for it, I dont want to be another maureen! lol

So now that I have finally got around to blogging again, I promise not to leave it so long now. (hopefully back to weekly).

Thanks for reading :)

Lucie xxx

Its all go..

Handmade Monday.. I love Monday's thanks to Wendy @ http://www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk/blog/ please pop by her page and join in with Handmade Monday :)

I've been slacking recently, ive made a few bits, but the only new item is this ring, made to match a bracelet I had previously made for a customer :) i've never put these rings up for sale in my stores, but i think its something that i will think about doing soon :)

LOGO.

I mentioned last week that I had found a lovely business the other week who took on the task of my logo..(http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Helen-Scott-Graphic-Designer/178067448897452 ) and here it is.. i really love it. Lots of work, thought and effort went into choosing the design. Its difficult to have an angel without looking too holy.. i wanted her to be elegant and to fit in to the image of the company, and the diamond was a must and Helen done an amazing job  :)

After receiving the final images I had to rethink my website and ofcourse my business cards!! So after a little work on my webpage i took on the task of deciding what the cards should look like... ofcourse Vistaprint was the way forward. After settling my little boy to bed for the night i sat down with a cuppa and went through the options.. 3 hours later after alot of messing around I had ordered cards, a cup, a banner and some postcards. :)

The next morning I thought i'd re-look at my cards and was devestated when i saw a major error!! i had been so careful, atleast i thought i had. Rather than promoting my website i had somehow entered the address of my facebook page and rather than the Angels and Diamonds, 'Handmade Jewellery by Lucie' it reads Angels and Diamonds 'handmade jewellery by Lucie on Facebook' :( I was using the postcards to promote facebook so maybe somehow the info had merged onto the cards too.

Oh well, luckily Vista is practically free so I wont cry over it lol.and I am used to my clumsy moments. I will still use the cards as atleast the facebook address is correct, and that is where alot of the action happens lol :)

Speaking of action, the auction kicked off at 9am Saturday morning, and it was lovely to see people were ready to make bids as soon as the doors opened. I have tried to pick a nice selection of jewellery which I make for the auction and also have had some lovely donations by some lovely pages :)

Please pop by my facebook page and have a look through the Cancer Research UK album and share the news with your friends. there are some lovely bits listed and who knows, there might be the perfect mothers day pressy waiting for your bid :)

www.facebook.com/angelsanddiamonds

FAMILY EMERGENCY

I had planned to work on some new designs this weekend, but a family emergency occured.  My lovely OH had been ill over the past week with an infected tonsil, he'd been to hospital midweek and they had kept in him over night and drained the fluid, they then let him home on the Thursday morning. So by the time I saw him on Friday evening i was shocked to see the swelling in his face and how ill he looked.

The following day he was getting iller and the swelling worse, and suddenly he was struggling to breath.. his tongue had swollen and so had his throat.

I have to say this has got to be one of the scariest moments i have experienced, thankfully my sister was with me, and mine and my OH's boys were playing in the bedroom with their toys so they didnt see any of it. 

I called 999 and the ambulance arrived after a few mins, gave him shots of adrenaline and we rushed to the hospital.

On inspection his tonsil was the size of a golf ball, so they extracted the fluid again and he has been kept for observation since.  He is alot better today though and the swelling of his face has reduced alot.

It just goes to show how serious an infection can be!

So that has been my week so far. I am looking forward to catching up with everyone elses with a lovely cuppa coffee later :) oh and what a lovely sunny day it is in London today.. could this be the beginning of Spring :)

Thank you for reading

Lucie

xxx

Handmade mOnday/Auction/Troops

HANDMADE MONDAY.

Its that time of week again!!! where does the time go.

Well what have I been upto this week.. Ive been so busy working on the auction, I havent had much time to make many new designs.

These earrings I made to represent my company name. Angels and Diamonds = Angels wings + Shiney faceted crystals,  not quite diamonds.. but who knows.. one day :)

And the ring i used with larger crystals and tiny metalic beads on memory wire.

Why dont you pop over to Wendy's @ http://www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk/blog  and see what everyone else has been working on :)

THE AUCTION

As I mentioned above, this has taken up alot of my evenings and my weekend. Im getting nervous as its less than a week away and I havent got loads of items up yet, and I have no idea what the turn out will be :( fingers are crossed and Im hoping I can do a bit more promoting before it kicks off.

For those who dont know the details, please see my previous blog http://angels-and-diamonds.blogspot.com/2011/02/cancer-research-uk-auction.html

and visit my facebook page, where it will all be happening. www.facebook.com/angelsanddiamonds

Ok.. so i mentioned that there will be a feature item.. where 100% will go to Cancer Research.. I thought long and hard about it and decided to go with my twist necklace and bracelet, I also made some earrings to go with the set

Some of the other items you will see in the auction are:

ALSO.. I have had these lovely donations....

A lovely wall hanging from Wendy at 1st Unique. http://www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk/blog 

And this beautiful bracelet from Stacey at Silver pebble http://silverpebble.blogspot.com

Thank you both so much both items are fantastic!!! I am sure they are going to do great :)

Anyone else that wanted to make a donation please contact me :) (donations are much appreciated)

My email address is lucie.simmons@live.com

Send me a pic and description of the item. and I will list them in the album with a link to your page :)

SEND IN THE TROOPS

Also, 2-3 weeks ago a new Business Page joined facebook.... SEND IN THE TROOPS. This group has made 1000 fans per week and I have to say are great fun. they do marches on Wednesday and Sunday evenings, (you can nominate your business in their notes) on the days other businesses (such as ourselves) wait for the lucky 20 selected businesses to be listed and then we march on down to their pages, click like and leave a link back to our page.

This has been so successful. If Facebook is a big part of your business then you really should join in the fun.

http://www.facebook.com/AngelsandDiamonds#!/pages/Send-In-The-Troops/112802695462906?sk=wall

I have come across some amazing pages through Send in the Troops. :)

So that is all I have for an update really... Although I will have an update mid week :) oh and maybe a new Company Logo to share with you all.. im very excited about that :D

Thank you for reading.

Love Lucie
xxx