Christmas Gift Guide

 

 

Christmas Gift Ideas

 

 

 

 

It's that time of year when you look at the calendar and think 'yikes', I need to start looking for gifts for everyone for Christmas. If your struggling with ideas, you can't go wrong in buying a handmade item this Christmas and in particular handmade jewellery and accessories

 

 I know how hard it can be deciding what gifts to choose, so I've rounded a selection of handmade jewellery and accessories that might be ideal Christmas gifts. 

 

 



 

 

 

 

Gifts for Her

 

 

Bracelets, Necklaces, Earrings, Wine Glass Charms

 

Accessories

 

 

 Bookmarks, Key Rings, Bag Charms, Kilt Pin Brooches

 

 

 

 

Gifts for Him

 

 

 One Shilling Coin Cufflinks, Unakite Gemstone Bracelet, Black and White Zebra Jasper Bracelet, Lucky Sixpence Coin Cufflinks.

 



 All the above and much more, are available to purchase from my website at www.michelleshandcraftedjewellery.com

Happy Christmas Shopping.  x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Diagonal Stitch Bracelet

In February of this year I tried a couple of jewellery projects that involved using seed beads. I made a cross weave bracelet and a pair of bead woven earrings.

Pearl Cross Weave Bracelet 

 

 

Bead Weave Earrings

 

Both of these creations were first attempts and I really enjoyed the time I spent making them. To be honest when I use to come across projects like these, I use to think 'yikes', there is now way I can make something soo complicated, involving thread, needles and tiny beads that look pretty, but are a nightmare to pick up if you drop them on the floor and I'm speaking from experience!

 

Last weekend I made another bracelet, this one was a diagonal stitch bracelet, using red crystals, white pearls and light grey seed beads.

 



 



 

 

 

 

 

 

Once I completed the bracelet, I felt such a sense of achievement that now I want to try some more new projects involving seed beads. At the moment I'm making some new jewellery for the Christmas season, so I think I'll wait till the new year before I try another bead weaving project.

 

Bye for now.

 

Michelle x

 

 

 

 

 

Jewellery of the Day!

 

 

 

I don't normally do two blog posts in one week, but I thought what is the best way in getting a message across,  I then had a light bulb moment and thought why don't I just put it on my blog!

 

I have decided to create a daily promotion called 'Jewellery of the Day' on my website. Each day will be picking an item of jewellery or accessory from my website, which I will be offering at a discount of upto 50% off,  for that day only!

 

Here is todays special offer, http://www.michelleshandcraftedjewellery.com/michelleshandcraftedjewellery/prod_1951474-Black-and-Gold-Bracelet-Jewellery-of-the-Day-50-Off.html

 

Don't forget to check out my website daily, to see which jewellery or accessory is on offer that day. I'll also mention it daily on my Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram pages. I'll pop my links down below.

 

www.michelleshandcraftedjewellery.com

www.twitter.com/bettyboo2u2

www.facebook.com/michelleshandcraftedjewellery

www.pinterest.com/michelleshand

www.instagram.com/michelleshandcraftedjewellery

 
 

Bye for now

Michelle  x

 

 

 

 

Autumn Jewellery



Which is your favourite season? I always look forward to the spring, because the evenings start to get lighter and I know that summer is not far behind. Last year our summer was a complete wash out, it literally did not stop raining the whole summer. This year we had a glorious summer, I hope we have the same next year.

Now that were easing out of summer and heading for the cool autumn/winter months, not only will we will be changing the type of clothes we will be wearing,  I like to wear big chunky jumpers, I always feel the cold, lol, some of us will switch to a different colour palette for our jewellery, like warm browns, reds, oranges and greens. To compliment the autumn colours,  I have created some new jewellery pieces and also incorporated some of my existing creations into a new section on my website called 'Autumn Inspired Jewellery'. You only have to look outside your window to see the changing colour of the leaves on the trees and on the ground, which signal that autumn is on it's way.

 

 

 

Autumn Jewellery





 

If you would like to see some more of my autumn jewellery, then please click the link below to my website.  

http://www.michelleshandcraftedjewellery.com/michelleshandcraftedjewellery/cat_779715-Autumn-Inspired-Jewellery-Collection.html

 

Before I forget, there is 50% off clearance sale on all the ankle bracelets on my website. If you would like to see the various designs and purchase one for next summer, please click here on this link.

http://www.michelleshandcraftedjewellery.com/michelleshandcraftedjewellery/cat_604023-Clearance-sale-50-off-all-ankle-bracelets.html

 

Bye for now.

 

Michelle. x

Wrapped up and loving it!

Back in October 2012, I posted a blog about my first attempt at wire wrapping. I wire wrapped a necklace, my efforts were very amateurish to say the least, but I still tried it and I enjoyed the freedom of using the wire.
Fast forward to August 2013, I decided to try wire wrapping again, this time I wanted to make a ring. I'd seen some beautiful wire wrapped rings on Pinterest and I wanted to see if I could make a ring myself. I love Pinterest, I can be over there for hours and hours, if you would like to see what I've been pinning, my Pinterest details are www.pinterest.com/michelleshand  

So I bought a ring mandrel and a reel of 20 gauge silver plated craft wire.  After several attempts, I came up with this ring.  

 



 



  As you can see here, I have not stopped making rings, using different designs and coloured beads.

  

 

 

I made these rings for myself,  but will be creating and adding similar designs to my website very soon, I'll most probably do another blog, letting you all have a sneek peak at them.

 

If you would like to see my handmade jewellery and accessories, head over to www.michelleshandcraftedjewellery.com

 

Bye for now.

x

Summer Sale

*SUMMER SALE*

 

I know it's half way through the month of August, but I forgot to mention that I'm having a summer sale in my Etsy shop, oops! The past couple of weeks have been hectic, the twins are off school for the summer holidays and we've had family and friends come to stay with us, for the past couple of weekends. I've also been busy running my Etsy shop and website and dare I say it, planning my new jewellery designs for Christmas.

 

 

If you enter coupon code SUMMERSALE20 at the checkout, you will receive 20% off your order and the sale lasts till the 31st August 2013.

Click on the link to my shop  www.etsy.com/shop/michelleshandcrafted If you've had your eye on something there, now is the time to get it, happy shopping!

Bye for now. x

 

 

 

  

Summer, Summer Time

 



I love the sun and here in England we've been having glorious sunshine, I just don't want it to end. My summer  jewellery usually includes ankle bracelets, which I love wearing with my summer outfits, for me, wearing an ankle bracelet, is just like wearing any other piece of jewellery.

Before I show you the new ones that I have made, I though I'd share with you my homemade body scrub treatment, that I like to use to get my skin in tip top condition for the summer.
When it comes to skin care products, I do try to use natural ingredients, I've been using this mixture for several years now and it always leaves my skin feeling amazing. My body scrub is simply made from extra virgin olive oil and sugar! I pour half a cup of sugar in a small bowl and add one table spoon of extra virgin olive oil, then mix it, then add another till the consistency is not too runny and not too thick.

I apply the scrub after a shower or bath, rubbing it gently into the skin, then rinsing it off and I have to say, it will leave your skin feeling soft and smooth

Ok, after a long introduction, lol,  here is a collage of the new ankle bracelets that I've added to my website, this year, one of which is not shown here, as it was sold within 30 minutes of me listing it on the site, after posting a picture of it on my Twitter account, yay!

 

Summer Ankle Bracelets 2013

 

 

 

 

To get a closer look at them and all my other handmade jewellery, visit my website at www.michelleshandcraftedjewellery.com

 

Enjoy your summer.

 

x

 



 





Men's Bracelet Collection 2013

One of my best sellers in my Etsy shop are my Vintage Coin Cufflinks.

I have sold these coin cufflinks, with dates from to 1947 to 1966, as birthday presents and also as wedding gifts for the ushers, in a wedding party. 



Until now, that was really how far I'd ventured into men's jewellery/accessories. But with the fantastic hot weather that we've been having lately and everyone out and about enjoying themselves in the sun, I've seen lots of men with rolled up shirt sleeves or wearing t-shirts, that have been wearing smart and masculine bracelets and that has been the approach I have gone for, with my men's bracelet collection for 2013.

First up, is a black and white zebra jasper bracelet. The beads have an unusual black and white pattern, that look will remind you of a zebra.

 

Black and White Zebra Jasper Bracelet

 

 

 

 



This is a rainbow jasper bracelet, the beads have  beautiful shades of green, red and brown.

 

Rainbow Jasper Bracelet 

 

 

 

I love the shine and glossy look of this hermatite bracelet. The beads have a dark grey/gun metal colour.

Silver and Hermatite Bracelet

 

 

 

 

I have used shiny wooden black beads for this bracelet, the gold beads have been added to the front,  to break up the continuity of the dark coloured beads.

 

Black and Gold Bracelet

 

 

 

 Last, but not least is a bracelet made with very unusual gemstone beads.  They are called Unakite beads and have a mottled green and pink colouring. This bead is also  a member of the Jasper gemstone family.

 

Unakite Bracelet

 

 

I hope to be adding some more bracelets to this collection, later on in the year. Since we've had glorious sunshine for the past couple of weeks, I've been making ankle bracelets, which for me is one of my favourite summer time jewellery to wear.

 

If you would like a closer look at the above bracelets and find out the useful properties of the gemstones that they have been made with, head over to my website at www.michelleshandcraftedjewellery.com

Also, while your there, don't forget to take a peek at the new ankle bracelets, listed this week.

 

Enjoy your weekend.

 

x   

 

Ladies Night!

I'll be doing my very first ladies night/craft show on Friday night, yikes!

I'm excited and scared at the same time. I've been meaning to do one for a while, but have been putting it off. This event is taking place in the evening from 6.30pm, till 9.30pm, so not a full blown show, more like a part-time show.

Since I decided to do it, I've been creating my table display, making parts of it and buying bits and pieces. I've been trawling through the craft show display pages on Pinterest, which have given me inspiration and ideas, I've then recreated them in my own special way. I finally finished it all on Sunday and laid it all out on a table at home, I've been tweaking and swopping bits around and now it's exactly how I want it to look.

My brand colours are lilac/purple and black and I've incorporated these colours in my display and packaging. I never realised how much work went into setting up a stall for an event, it's exhausting. To make sure I did not forget anything I drew up a 'To Do' , which is nothing new, I'm always making 'To Do' lists, I normally make one everyday. Also I came across on Pinterest, a craft show checklist, of all the bits and pieces you might need, like, scissors, tape, spare prices tags, e.t.c., this list has been really useful.

On Friday, everything will be packed up carefully and taken to the event, I'll make sure I'll take some pictures of my table and I'll tell you all, how it went. If you live near the Highwoods and St John's Community Centre in Colchester, in Essex, pop in on Friday and say hello.

Wish me luck! x

Get Spiky!

I must say I have missed not blogging on a weekly basis, but  at the moment,  time is in short supply, I've been busy getting ready for my first ladies night/craft fair on the 28th June 2013. It is taking place at the Highwoods and St John's Community Centre, in Colchester, Essex. I've been making extra stock and jewellery display materials, earrings cards e.t.c.  lots to do, but I'm enjoying every minute of it.

Whilst I've been busy preparing for my show, I've also created a new jewellery collection, called the 'Get Spiky' Collection , featuring bracelets, necklaces and earrings, adorned with silver spikes. Spike jewellery has become one of this years hottest jewellery trends. Spikes do add a gothic and punk edge, to any type of jewellery, I have mixed my spikes with crystals and pearls.

Get Spiky Collection

 

 

If you would like to see my new jewellery range up close, head over to www.michelleshandcraftedjewellery.com

 

Bridal Wedding Colours 2013 - The Colour Purple

I like making bridal jewellery, I think it's because I like pearls and pearls are one of the popular choices for brides, when choosing their bridal jewellery.

The days when brides only chose white, ivory or pink for their bridal colours, have well and truly gone. This year the most popular bridal colours are purple, mint green, gold, silver, red and navy blue.

My favourite colour is the colour purple, so I thought I'd show you the purple coloured wedding items in my shop.

Here is a purple bridal set, consisting of a bracelet and earrings, made using purple glass pearl beads and rhinestone beads.

 

Another design, this time, this time I used a ivory pearl to compliment the purple pearl and gold plated earwires

For the necklace, I've added a gold plated chain.

 

 

This is the bridal comb I made last week.

These wedding pieces don't have to be just worn for a wedding. I think with jewellery, there are no rules, I've worn pearls with a pair of jeans, you can mix and match, do what you want to do, find your own style.

If your still looking for ideas about your what colours to choose for your wedding jewellery, do take a look at my website at www.michelleshandcraftedjewellery.com, where  I have traditional bridal colours and the most popular bridal colours of 2013.

Which glass is mine?

Have you ever been out at a some sort of function, such as a party and you've put your glass down for a minute and then gone back to retrieve it and then you can't remember which one was yours, as the table is full of glasses? Well I've done that quite a few times and each time I've just shrugged my shoulders and gone off and got another glass. That is both time-consuming and a waste of a drink.

There is no need to do that anymore, the answer is a wine glass charm. I know some of you out there are saying, 'a wine glass what???' Wine glass charms make it easy to identify which glass is yours at a gathering. They usually have a charm, dangling from a silver ring and decorated with beautiful beads and all you do is unhook the loop and wrap it around the base of your wine glass. Each one is different, so you'll always remember, which glass is yours. I've been adding some new wine glass sets to my website.

This set, can be for an engagement party.

A couple of girlie themed wine glass charms, for a hen night or a girls night out.

Also a couple of sets of baby themed wine glass charms, for either a christening or a baby shower. 

I also have a range of wedding wine glass charms, that can also be used as wedding favours, for the bride and groom and the wedding party.

To see my range of wine glass charms, please visit my website at www.michelleshandcrafted.etsy.com

What else you can do with an avocado, apart from eat it?

I bought some avocados last week to make a healthy smoothie, like the one I saw in a magazine. I blended all the ingredients together, then sat down to drink it, it tasted better than I thought and I was looking forward to drinking the next one. Well that thought was short lived, I started to feel queasy and ill. It got to the point that I had to lie down and take some medication. After a couple of hours I started to feel better, don't get me wrong, I've eaten avocados before, these ones had ripened perfectly, but for some reason I felt so poorly, after drinking this smoothie, on that day.

I now had to decide what to do with the remaining three avocados. I hate wasting food, so I was not going to throw them away. I got onto the internet and had a look to see what else you can do with an avocado. Then I thought. what about a hair or beauty treatment? I do like using natural products and I was in luck. After browsing various websites, I decided to try and make a avocado and honey facemask, as I'd not done a facemask for goodness knows how long. Also there was recipe for a avocado, honey and olive oil hair mask.

First I made the hair mask, using the following ingredients:

One ripe avocado

2 tablespoons of honey

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Everything was placed in a bowl and mashed and mixed up with a fork, till it was a smooth consistency. I applied it to my washed hair, it did feel strange, a little voice in my head was saying 'what are you doing, your putting food on your hair'. Once I smeared it all over from root to tip, I covered my head with a plastic cap, it had to stay on for 30 minutes.

Now for the facemask, I used:

1/2 a ripe avocado

1 tablespoon of honey

I mixed it all together and smoothed it on to my face, this needed to stay on for 15 minutes, my face soon started to feel tight and sticky.  After I rinsed it all off, I noticed how soft and smooth my skin felt.

After 30 minutes, I washed out the hair mask mixture, must say it took a while to do this, but afterwards, wow, my hair had never felt softer and shiner, I was stunned. I'd done other hair treatments before, but never had such a result like this one. The ingredients totally rehydrated my hair, it was amazing.

I will continue to use these ingredients on my hair and face, the results speak for itself. All the ingredients are natural, with no harsh chemicals and are inexpensive. Avocados contain nearly 20 vitamins and minerals, including potassium and is rich in vitamin A, E and D.

Honey is gentle on the skin, a good choice if you have sensitive skin. It is also a natural humectant, which means it attracts and retains moisture. Both these ingredients are good for nourishing and moisturizing dry skin and hair.

Olive oil adds moisture to your scalp if you have a dry scalp, it also softens dry frizzy hair and helps to promote hair growth. I'm already use olive oil in my hair and I've noticed how it's improved the condition of my hair.

Right, I'm off to see what else I can conjure up in my kitchen.

It was worth the wait

At the beginning of each week, I usually start thinking about what I want to write about in my blog. Usually I'll be jotting down notes and drafting sections of it, then by Wednesday it's generally coming together, then on Thursday, I'll do any needed amendments, then if I'm happy, I'll publish it.

Well last week, I must say was a struggle for me, it's like I had 'bloggers block' or writer's block, or whatever you want to call it.  Nothing I did would give me any clues as to what I wanted to write about.

I've only been blogging for nearly a year now and initially I found it hard work to sit down write about a subject. Now it's easier, I try to blog once a week and I do enjoy it, my problem is that sometimes I 'overthink' things and I should really just relax about blogging and try not to stress out about it, if it's late, it's late, it's not as if  I'm giving in homework, is it?

At the end of last week, I was staring at my laptop trying to conjure something to blog about, so I thought, leave it and come back to it later on. I went off to look at my supplies to see if I needed to order any stock and I came across some lamp work beads that I'd bought back in 2011. I bought them because I thought  they were beautiful and unique and I've always admired jewellery makers who made lamp work beads, the designs are amazing. I did not have a project in mind for them, so I just put them away. I put them on the table and I played around with them and came up with a bracelet, that with simple, using bronze filigree beads, which complimented the green and gold colours, of the beads.

Here is the bracelet, just look at the detail on the beads.

 

 

 

 

I still had enough beads, also to make a pair of earrings.

 

So if your struggling for something to blog about, leave it and go off and do something else, an idea will come to you, when your not expecting it.  I ended up making some new jewellery, when I was not expecting to. Also if your blog is a few days late, nevermind, not everything always goes to plan, just take it's it comes, not worth stressing about .

 

To see some more of my handmade jewellery, please visit www.michelleshandcraftedjewellery.com 



Bird's Nest Necklace

Thought I'd do a short and sweet blog today and show you all the bird's nest necklace that I have made. I love wire work jewellery and I'd seen several of these necklaces around. I had some left over hot pink coloured 8 mm glass pearl beads, in my spare bead stash, then I picked out some 0.6mm silver plated wire. Threaded on the beads, then twisted the wire around the beads in a circular motion, I continued to do this, until I was happy with the fullness of the wrapping.

The end of the wire was tucked into the back, 2 jump rings were attached to the top of the wrapped wire, then a silver plated 18 inch chain was added and there you have it, my first bird's nest necklace.

 

 

 

Here is a close up of the wrapped beads.

 

 

Now I'm not sure whether to pop it into one of my shops, or keep it for myself, what do you think?

  

 



One size fits all.

Hi,
Hope you all had a lovely Easter, I stuck to my plan and only ate a couple of creme eggs, yes I know booooorrring,  but I just did not feel like munching my way through a mountain of eggs, like I seem to do year after year.   

I did however make a coupIe of bracelets over the weekend and thought I'd share some handy tips about them with you, especially if your looking to buy a bracelet for a gift. If you don't know the lucky persons wrist size, then maybe a memory wire bracelet, could solve your problem.

Memory wire bracelets are bracelets that are made with a strong wire that retains it's shape and is a 'one size fits all' type of bracelet. All you have to do is loop it around the wrist and it curls into bracelet sized coils and you can have any number of coils.

This is a silver crystal memory wire bracelet that I made at the weekend, this one has 4 coils and is made with silver czech glass pearl beads and purple and silver faceted crystal beads.

This one has 6 coils and has a vast selection of beads in different shapes sizes and colours, too many to mention. 

 

Another good point about memory wire bracelets, is that if the person your buying the gift for, has a problem with opening and closing clasps, there are no clasps to worry about on any of these bracelets.

 

 

If you would like to see the other memory wire bracelets that I have made, do pop over to my website at www.michelleshandcraftedjewellery.com

 

 

Quotes that inspire me.

There is a quote that I like to say to myself when I need to give myself a kick up the bum. You know how it, when you feel like your in a rut and you don't know how to get out of it. The quote is, 'If you keep doing the same thing, you will keep having the same results'. I can't remember where I came across this quote, but I have applied it to different sections of my life and I can say, by tweeking and changing the way I do certain things, it has resulted in different outcomes, it has often been useful in my personal and business life.

I have a Pinterest account and I've created a board, after coming across several inspirational quotes. My board is called 'Loving this Quote' and it contains several quotes that I have liked so much that I have repinned them.

This quote encourages you to make a decision and  not stand still.

 


This one encourages you to take control of your life and not let someone else do it for you.


This is one of my favorites, we are all special and we are all unique.



I like to refer to my quotes on days when I get a creative or writers block or feeling blah, after all we are all humans and we can all have off days.

If  you would like to see what else is on my Pinterest boards click on the link www.pinterest.com/michelleshand

Do you have a quote that inspires you?

Spring has Sprung.

I hate the snow. I mean I really hate it. It looks pretty through the window, but that's it. In this part of Essex, we did have snow but it melted quickly, thank goodness.

Seeing the growing miniture daffodils that I planted in the window box, is enough to put me in a happy mood, I'll be out in the garden in the next  couple of weeks, planting lots of colourful flowers.  The best thing about spring, is that summer is right behind. Fingers cross that we have a decent summer this year. 

Spring Jewellery and Accessories

 I thought I'd share with you the jewellery I have in my shop, inspired by the spring season.

If your like me and prefer to read a good old fashion book, here is a bookmark that will come in hand and stop you losing your page.

 

 

Colourful flower rings, that are easily adjustable, one to match each outfit.

 

 

Pretty pink flower earrings, that are floral and delicate, in beautiful soft shades of pink.

 

 

A green bag charm, in the same colour scheme as my daffs.

 

 

 What items have you made that remind you of spring?

 

If you woud like to see some more of my handmade jewellery and accessories, click the link below, which will take you to my website.

www.michelleshandcraftedjewellery.com