Only you can make it happen!

I have for several months been creating on a Monday morning and occasionally, 'shush' a Monday afternoon quote  that I like to share across my social media platforms, such as on my Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest accounts. I had a bit of a 'aha' moment this morning and thought why don't I share it on my blog and today is the first time I have done so. Monday morning motivation quotes are very popular on Twitter, they even have their own hashtags!

In one of my previous blogs, I mentioned that I really love reading motivation quotes and that I have even created a Pinterest board, called 'Positive Words', here is the link, https://uk.pinterest.com/michelleshand/positive-words/ where I collect and share all my favourite quotes and I know lots of other people like to do so as well.

They are especially great to read on a Monday, if you have a busy week ahead of you and you would like to read something that will get you thinking and focused on the coming week.

So here it is, I hope it inspires you and I hope you also have a good week. 

My latest jewellery designs.

I have been trying to write this blog post since last week and I have only just finished it today. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I wanted to get it exactly right, but the result is that my blog post is a week late and I'm annoyed at myself. I am going to from now on, stop tweaking my blog posts to death and just write them, proof read them and post them.

When I sit down to write, I spend ages weighing up what subject to write about, then a flurry of subjects start whizzing around my head at the same time and I quickly write them down before I forget them. I'm a major note maker, meaning that I have a note book with notes about what I'm going to be doing that day and what needs to be done that week. Well, on the top of my 'To Do' list, is to finish off three new christening bracelets that I have been working on.

The designs are simple, using just white pearls and silver plated crosses. I think jewellery made for a baby/toddler should be not flashy or over the top and as these were christening/baptism bracelets, I wanted to keep to that format. 

So here they are, they are nearly finished I just need to add on the extender chains, which are always a good idea, as babies and small children can grow fast and if it has been bought as a gift and the buyer is not sure of the wrist size, then an extender is needed incase the bracelet needs to be expanded.

The finished bracelets are now listed on my website at www.michelleshandcraftedjewellery.com and in my Etsy shop at www.michelleshandcrafted.etsy.com

Making a Glossy Accents Pendant

I bought a bottle of Glossy Accents the other day from my local craft shop, after coming across a picture of a bottle cap pendant necklace on Pinterest, that someone had made using Glossy Accents. You might be sitting there thinking, 'what is Glossy Accents, well Glossy Accents is a 3-dimensional clear gloss medium, used by crafters and it can be used to accent, brighten, magnify, dimensionalize, bond and protect embellishments and designs.  Phew, that was a mouthful and if you wondering yes, I did just copy that description off the back of the bottle. Basically, it's a type of resin that you pour straight from the bottle and you can add it to any paper project or embellishment. It dries to a clear hard shiny finish and also doubles a glue!

In some of the projects that I have seen using Glossy Accents, the makers have used bottle caps, but I did not have any, however I did have some pendant trays that I'd bought a while ago. I'd not used them, because I'd had trouble finding any clear glass domes to fit them, as they were not a common available size. So I'd given up in looking for the domes and just put them away in a draw. When I saw what could be done with a bottle of Glossy Accents, I straight away thought about my unused pendant trays and what I could do with them. 

I found a background image from a magazine, this was cut into an oval shape. I then sealed the front and back of the image with PVA white glue, I did this twice, each time waiting for the glue to be completely dry before I added the next coat. After the final coat, the image was ready to be glued to the back of the inside of pendant tray. For this I used E600 glue. I love this glue, it does not smell that great, make sure the room is well ventilated when you use it, but it is what I call jewellery cement, once you use it, nothing moves, it dries rock hard. 

I left this to dry overnight then, the next day I was ready to fill the tray with the Glossy Accents. I'd noticed in pictures of resin jewellery, the makers sometimes added a small object to their pendant tray, I had a small silver key on my desk, it was left over from a project and I decided to put the key in the tray before I poured in the Glossy Accents. 

I filled the tray to the edge, then left it to cure over night. The next morning, I noticed that it had set, but it looked a little sunken around the key. So I thought it could not do any harm to add some more Glossy Accents to fill up the tray, so that it looked more level. When I filled up the tray the first time, I remembered to leave it on a level surface, but this time don't ask me why, I decided to put it in another place. Little did I know, but this place was not as level as I thought it was and the tray ended up leaning slightly to one side. The Glossy Accents had spilt slightly over the edge and some of it had seeped underneath!

How could I have been so careless, I could have kicked myself for not paying more attention to what I was doing. I managed to scrape some of the Glossy Accents off, but you can still see some of it on the back of the pendant tray. I learnt a lesson that you should take your time and not change the way you perform certain tasks, unless you want the results to be different. If you don't want change, then don't change a thing and that's my quote for the day!

I still like the pendant, I popped it on a chain and have been wearing it and I've have had some lovely complements about it. I've still got a near full bottle of Glossy Accents and some more of those pendant trays, so I will be making some more pendants in the near future.

If you would like to see my other handmade jewellery, please visit my online store at www.michelleshandcraftedjewellery.com

Bye for now!

x

Aluminium Wirework Jewellery

Last year I spoke about wanting to work more with wire in my jewellery making and expanding into wire work jewellery. Well, I have being doing so, I've been experimenting over the past couple of months, when I've had a spare couple of hours, with a my tools and a roll of inexpensive wire. To make the most basic, to the most intricate designs, only requires confidence in the tools that you have and your imagination.

At first I started with a piece of shiny brown aluminium craft wire, that caught my eye in a local craft shop. Aluminium craft wire is a soft a malleable wire, that can easily bent with your fingers and is available in many colours. It also can be rigid enough to hold it's shape. At first I made into an oval shape, then I added some tiny turquoise blue seed beads, that I found in my bead stash, which I have wanted to use for a while, because they are soo pretty. I strung them onto a piece of thin silver wire and then started wrapping them around the oval frame.

This is what I ended up with, yes I know it looks strange, it reminds me of something you'd find in the ocean, some sort of sea creäture. The fringe bits at the bottom, were made from uneven strips of wire, that I just bent and curved around a round nose pliers. After I made this, I thought it would make an interesting pendant, but I've not got around to making it into a necklace. I'm not even sure I will make it into one, it's one of the most unusual pieces I've ever made. If there is anyone out there that can suggest a suitable stringing material, I would love to hear from them. 

After making this pendant, I wanted to make a pair of earrings, I did not have a design in my head, I just bent the wire around into a circle, then made a spiral shape and added some blue Czech glass nugget beads, that hung from the base and created some movement and these are the earrings I came up with!

Again, they are an unusual  design, but that's what I love about making jewellery with wire, the designs don't always turn out how you expect them to turn out, there are no hard and fast rules about jewellery making, just the freedom of creating whatever your tools, hands and imagination lets you create.

Most of my handmade jewellery is one-off pieces, if you would like to see my work, then head over to www.michelleshandcraftedjewellery.com

Christmas Bag Charms - Work in Progress

Summer is long gone and it's time to think of winter, in particular Christmas. In a jewellery designers calendar, Christmas is one of the most important times of the year, everyone is looking for gifts for friends or love ones, or they might be looking for something new to wear to an event over the Christmas season.

I've already started adding several new items to my websites, the earlier you make them available to potential customers, the sooner they can make their purchases and avoid disappointment if there is a delay in the post and it arrives after Christmas Day.

I've been working on a couple of new festive bag charms. I had a custom order last month for a Christmas style bag charm, so I thought I'd make a couple of them to add to my shops.

The first one is similar to the one I made for my customer, it's in traditional Christmas colours, with  snowflake, holly bush and flower charms.

The next one is, what I've called a Snowflake bag charm, this time I've used white, silver and pale blue glass pearl beads, crystals and silver charms.

I love making bag charms, I just grab my tools, chains and beads and let my imagination take over, all the bag charms I make are, one off pieces, making them unique and special.

Now I just need to take decent pictures of them both, so I can add them on my website and Etsy shop.

If you would like to see my other bag charms, head over to my websites, at
www.michelleshandcraftedjewellery.com
www.michelleshandcrafted.etsy.com

Clean Eating - A New Way of Eating

Since April I have been discovered a new way of eating and it's called clean eating.  I bet your wondering what is clean eating, well I thought the same thing when I came a across a Youtube video and the person was discussing what she was eating and why she was eating it. At first I thought what do you mean, I don't think anybody eats dirty food on purpose, I know that sounds silly, but  I was a bit confused, but I started watching more videos and reading about it online and then it all started to make sense.

Eating clean or clean eating, is eating food that has not been processed. The food has not been refined or tampered with and is kept to it's natural form, without any unnecessary extras added to it.

This means ready meals, takeaways, fast foods, e.t.c are all to be avoided. The food needs to be whole and be in it's original form, just how nature made it. So it would mean eating fresh fruit and vegetables, Lean proteins such as fish or chicken and whole grains like brown rice or wholemeal pasta.

I researched all the different types of foods that were allowed, some foods I was unsure about, I like an easy life, so I thought I'd share with you the food I would eat in a typical day.

Breakfast: 

Banana and Berry Smoothie
I never use to eat smoothies, but now I have one every day for breakfast and this is my favourite one, at the moment. It is made with bananas, summer fruit berries, a spoonful of fat free Greek yogurt , half a cup of Almond milk and some ice.  All of this is thrown into a blender, whizzed for a minute then poured into a tall glass. This makes a yummy breakfast, that keeps me full, so no diving into the biscuit tin. Speaking of biscuits, I have lost the taste for them and I don't really miss them.

Lunch

Greek Pasta Salad
For lunch I am loving my Greek Pasta Salad, I have it every day and I'm still not bored with it. It's made with green and black olives, chopped up cucumber, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, wholemeal fusilli pasta. I also make my own dressing, consisting of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and oregano.

Dinner

Baked Chicken with Rice and Vegetables

Dinner time is usually fish, or chicken, with a cup full of any vegetables and 1/2 cup of carbohydrates, this could brown rice, roasted sweet potato, quinoa, e.t.c. One thing I have learnt about, is to remember portion size, think of your plate as a clock, 1/2 of it should be vegetables, 1/4 your protein, i.e. chicken or fish and 1/4 your carbohydrates, such as brown rice.

I had this last night and it was yummy and very filling, before I started eating clean, I would want something sweet after dinner, but this has disappeared. I do remember being told by someone years ago, that it usually takes 2 weeks to lose your taste for sweet things, I think it's true, I no longer crave biscuits, cakes or chocolate bars, I do have the odd biscuit, but that's it really.

If I do want something sweet, I have found a healthy alternative them, but I will share that with you another time. I eat clean 99% of the time, rest of the time I might have the odd guilt free meal, don't judge me I'm human.

I don't see clean eating as a new diet fad, I really enjoy it., I just see it new way of eating. It's also spurred me to get fit, so every morning I do 30 mins of cadio or toning exercises. I use to go to the gym, but I would just get bored and find excuses why I couldn't go that day, but now I definitely prefer exercising at home, there are loads of great exercise videos on YouTube,  I even bought myself a set of dumbbells to use, I don't see exercise as a chore any more, I love doing it.

There you have it, my new way of eating healthy. In the forthcoming months, I'll share with you how I'm getting on and maybe a couple of recipes, I'll surprise you.

Bye for now.

M.  x

Flower Girl Bracelets

I'm back! It's been a few months since I posted a blog, the reason being is that I've been busy with my websites, designing new jewellery, getting orders made for customers and enjoying family life. I'm going try and get back into blogging, I have to say I have missed it and I'm going to try and blog weekly and not beat myself up about it if I miss a week or two. If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you might have noticed that I've been posting a few 'work in progress' pictures of my flower girl bracelets, they have been proving quite popular with customers.

They have been on my website and in my Etsy shop for several months now,  I already have a range of bridal jewellery available to purchase on these venues, but I did not want to leave out the flower girls. They deserve an extra special gift to say thank you for taking part in the happy couple's wedding and also they would make a nice memento of the day. They all can be made in petite sizes from the ages of 3 - 13 years of age and are available in a range of colours.

This pink flower bracelet is made with 6 mm pink glass pearl beads and 6 mm pink crystal beads. There is a 1.5-inch long extender chain a silver heart shaped charm, with the words ' Flower Girl' engraved on it.

Another popular bracelet chosen by many brides this year is this one, made with white and blue 6 mm glass pearl beads. To give my customers more of a choice, I now offer the option of choosing up to 17 other pearl colours, which can be matched to a bride's wedding colour scheme. 

Now, this bracelet is a little bit different from the others, instead of a flower girl charm, there is an initial charm. Initial jewellery is more personalised, so if your flower girl is called Sophie, you would choose the letter S and also you can pick from 9 crystal colours to add to the bracelet. 

This bracelet has a simple design, it's made with ivory pearls, a smoky grey crystal bead, small silver beads, a flower girl charm and a singular pearl dangle.  

I know brides sometimes struggle to think of a thoughtful gift for members of their wedding party, just to say thank you for making their big day so special. These bracelets would be ideal, they are made with pearls and pearls never go out of style and the flower girls can treasure their own bracelet as a keepsake gift, forever.

If you would like a closer look at these bracelets, you can see them on my website at www.michelleshandcraftedjewellery.com

Also if you like to see what I'm up to on Instagram and feel to follow me on instagram.com/michelleshandcraftedjewellery 

Bye for now

x

My Top 5 Gemstones

I had a lovely surprise a couple of weeks ago, when I checked my emails during a break while taking pictures of some new jewellery. It was an email from Frances from the company JewelleryMaker. JewelleryMaker is a family owned company that specialises in jewellery making supplies, especially gemstones from all around the world. Frances had seen my blog and my wire wrapped rings on my website and she wanted to know whether I'd like to write a blog post and share my top 5 gemstones. I've never done a top 5 of anything on my blog, so I was happy to do so. Gemstones beads fascinate me, because each type of gemstone is unique, with their own qualities, colourings, properties and meanings.


Well here goes!

1. Labradorite

This is a stunning gemstone, it was first discovered  in 1770 in Labrador in Canada. It's usually a dark grey colour, with flecks of green and black, that show iridescent flashes of blue, blue-green and silver.
I like this gemstone a lot, to me it looks expensive and luxurious. I did buy some coin Labradorite beads and made a pair of earrings and a bracelet out of them.

Labradorite Bracelet

There is a vast selection of Labradorite beads on the JewelleryMaker website http://www.jewellerymaker.com/en-gb/search.aspx?parentcategory=gems-and-beads&gemstone=labradorite

2. Rose Quartz

I like pink. Rose Quartz is pale pink in colour and can range from very light to medium pink, in colour. Sometimes they can almost be transparent, but his is very rare. I've made a wire wrap ring with a Rose Quartz bead and brass wire.  

Rose Quartz Wire Wrapped Ring

Rose Quartz  is considered to be the gemstone of love, so they would be the perfect gemstone to choose, when making something special for a customer, for Valentine's Day. http://www.jewellerymaker.com/en-gb/product.aspx?c=pmkz36&d=80cts-pink-quartz-faceted-rounds-approx-6mm

3. Haematite

The word Haematite comes from the Greek word meaning blood. It's colour can range from steel grey to almost black. I like this bead, because it always looks super glossy, sleek and elegant. I think it also looks slightly masculine, so that's why I chose to use Haematite beads to make one of my gent's bracelets.

Haematite Bracelet

You can see here that you can get Haematite beads in other colours and finishes.  http://www.jewellerymaker.com/en-gb/search.aspx?parentcategory=gems-and-beads&gemstone=haematite

4. Unakite

Before I bought these Unakite beads, I wanted to know where Unakite came from and I found out that it was first discovered in the United States, in the Unakas mountains of North Carolina. It's a form of granite and it comes in various shades of salmon pink and green, all mottled and blending into each other. Unakite is a hard material, so it is resistant to abrasions, so I used some Unakite beads to make another one of my gent's bracelets. I think I like this gemstone because the two colours seem to clash with each other, but side by side, they work so well together. 

Unakite Bracelet

5. Rainbow Fluorite

Rainbow Fluorite beads are mostly translucent, with shades of purple, green, yellow and some with a hint of blue. You can even get more than one colour in as single stone, giving a rainbow like effect. I bought these rainbow fluorite chips last year in the hope of making them into a piece of jewellery for the summer, but I never got round to using them. I like the soft transulcent shading, I can imagine making them into a necklace, they would add just a hint of colour, against the skin. You can also get rainbow fluorite beads in other shapes such as tubes, barrels, rounds and cubes. As well as rainbow fluorite, there is also multi-coloured, green, blue, purple and yellow fluorite beads, for a closer look.  http://www.jewellerymaker.com/en-gb/search.aspx?parentcategory=gems-and-beads&gemstone=fluorite&page=1

Rainbow Fluorite

That's it for my top five gemstones, let me know what are your favourite gemstones are and what is it about them, that you like when working with them.

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

Bye

x

My love for Pinterest!

Out of all the social media platforms out there, I think Pinterest is my favourite. I joined it in 2012, after hearing about it and I can hold my hand up and say I can be found browsing on there for hours, it is so addictive, it just absorbs your time, you have to learn to ration it. A day does not go by without me visiting it and before you know it, 1 hour has gone by, shush... not good if you should be working.

Pinterest has been one of the fastest growing social media platforms ever, it's basically a online virtual pin board, where you can share your interests. This could be anything from recipes, to how to make you own make-up remover! It allows you to connect with others, so if someone likes something that you have pinned, they can re pin it onto one of their boards, repining your items can expose your business to a wider audience. I first started off pinning my own handmade jewellery and accessories, because I knew Pinterest was a great way to get your business or service seen by others, but I also knew you could still have fun with it.

So, after starting out with one board, I now have as of today, a total of 71 boards. One of my boards is called Amazing Pictures, it shows beautiful and spectacular pictures, from around the world. Another one is called 'You never can have too many shoes' which you can guess, is about my love of shoes. I've even dedicated one of my boards to my favourite show on TV, called Scandal. 

It has been very popular with other pinners, lots of the photos have been re pinned many times and it has a growing number of followers, http://www.pinterest.com/michelleshand/scandal/

Another well liked board, is a board that features everything related to weddings. I've seen some amazing wedding dresses, cakes and scenery for weddings on Pinterest and as I make handmade wedding jewellery and accessories, I thought it would be of interest to my followers, who have repined my bridal items, to create a board that might be of interest to them. So if your getting married, take a look at my 'Wedding' board, there are so many tips and ideas for you, if your not sure about what type of wedding you would like to have.   http://www.pinterest.com/michelleshand/weddings/ 

Last but not least, is my 'Cute' board, which is a personal favourite of mine. You'll see lots of cute and cuddly adorable animals, they will make you laugh and smile. Some of them are really funny to look at, so if your in need cheering up, take a look.  http://www.pinterest.com/michelleshand/cute/ 



If you would like to have a closer look at my boards, you can click on the link here  www.pinterest.com/michelleshand

If you've never tried Pinterest, give it a go, it's an excellent way to promote your business and also to just have fun, pinning stuff that you like and are interested in. Leave a comment and let me know what you like to pin, if you are on Pinterest.  

Bye for now!

x

About Time.....

I'm back!

I've not done a blog since the New Year, oops, sorry, I keep meaning to do one, but you know how it is....  Last  year, I made an effort to blog once a week, but then it become fortnightly and now monthly, not good, I'm going to give myself a kick up the bum and get back to doing it weekly, but don't hold me to it, my days and weeks can be unpredictable, so lets see what happens.

Last year I blogged about my love of making wire wrapped rings, here is the link if you would like to read it, http://michelleshandcraftedjewellery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/wrapped-up-and-loving-it.html
After posting this blog, I was supposed to make some new rings and list them on my website, but yes, I never got around to doing it.
The one thing I've noticed about when making jewellery, or in fact any type of crafting, you always want to try and make something different, something new, once you've finished your project. I'm thinking about trying my hand at polymer clay and resin, but maybe later on in the year.

Well, I finally added my wire wrapped rings to my website. Here are some of my new designs, which all be customised. I've got some more new designs in the pipeline, these will be online soon, I promise!

 

 

To see my new wire wrapped ring range, please click on the link here. http://www.michelleshandcraftedjewellery.com/michelleshandcraftedjewellery/cat_599585-Rings.html

 

Right I'm off to take some pictures and hopefully I'll be back next week with another blog.

 

Bye. x

A new year, a new start, a new project!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year, I had a brilliant time, but cannot believe it's 2014, time does fly when your having fun. But I do look back to the past year and reflect what I did and how I did it and in what way I can improve and do better in my business and personal life.  

A new year always inspires me to set new goals and try new projects that I've been meaning to start,  but have had to put to the side, so that I can carry on with my existing projects, namely Christmas gifts. I've always made lists, every morning I write down what I'm doing that day and I try to follow it, but I'm not perfect, I do stray sometimes when comes to popping into my Twitter/Facebook or Pinterest accounts. But this year I'm going to find a balance, I love social media, but I love creating much more.

I've always been interested in wire work, I have an shop on Etsy, www.michelleshandcrafted.etsy.com and I just love browsing the other shops that have wire work jewellery pieces, the designs can be simple or intricate, but they are stunning and I'm eager to try my hand at making a piece of jewellery incorporating some sort of wire, so  I've bought  steel bench block and Nylon Jaw hammer. I've already got a chasing hammer and a ball pein hammer, both which were birthday gifts from my partner.

 

I cannot wait to start using them, I'll do another blog when I've made some items, I might start off with earrings and see how it goes. A think when your a crafter, you always want to try something new, I've got other things that I want to try, but there are just not enough hours in the day, but that will not put me off, I know I'll have lots of projects on the go. 

 

Right I'm off, let me know what new projects you are trying this year, love to know how you get on.

 

Bye

 

x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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