Its raining again .....

These little beauties are my best sellers by far, and very apt for all the stormy weather just now!

Snap a pair for yourself here in my Etsy shop.

x0x

Christmas Wreath Tutorials

wreath

: 

noun, plural wreaths 

noun

a circular band of flowers, foliage, or any ornamental work,for adorning the head or for any decorative purpose; agarland or chaplet.

a beautiful assortment of things in this wreath by thelittleappartment

a beautiful creation made from toilet roll tubes! by allthingspaper

paper doily wreath by martha

Competition time!

name that chain

this months competition was to help me decide on a name for this new silver charm necklace.

Entrants had to share this Facebook post on their page, then leave me a comment with their suggestions.

Thank you soooo much to everyone who joined in and gave me their fantastic names. All 50 of you!!!!

To keep it all above board I wrote out all suggestions, folded them up, and put them in my favourite bowl.

Drum roll please.......

........................

1st prize goes to Caroline McLaren

for "Come fly with me"

Congratulations Caroline, you'll get your very own 

"come fly with me" charm necklace in the post!

But with so many wonderful suggestions I just couldn't leave it there.......

 I love this suggestion by Melanie Smith. 

I think this is the perfect name for this necklace, don't you?

 This little bird charm necklace is now called "On the wings of love". Thank you Melanie! You win 50% off any item in my shop! I will send you a message on Facebook with your winning code.

But please do not be disheartened all of the rest of you who didn't win. I would like to offer you all  a 25% discount code, as a huge thank you for taking part in my competition. I will send you all messages via FB with your codes.

Thank you again to everyone who joined in, keep those creative juices flowing for next months competition! 

Where have you been?

• I have set up another business - Tails of Tranquility
• I adopted another pooch - Bailey
• I am splitting my time between walking dogs and making jewellery
• I am moving house in September

Things have been so busy and I have totally neglected my blog. But now that I have the business up and running, sold our flat, bought a new house, things are back to normal again. I have been spending so much time doing other things that I have such a yerning to get get back to making things. I have had to edit down all my crafting supplies to transform the studio back to a bedroom! A mamoth task. It has gone from this

to this

So I had to be creative and have filled a wardrobe with my jewellery supplies!

I apologise for disappearing and have so many new designs to share, inspiring websites I have found and new artists I have found. Please forgive my neglect xxx

:: day of diy :: Let me tell you a story

Let me tell you a story

"Anchor your dreams..."

:: day of diy :: paper garland tutorial

For todays ::day of diy:: I'm going to show you a little tutorial on how I made my Mum a paper garland for Mother's Day. My Mum has a cubby hole kind of room for her study that gets the sun all day. A couple of weeks ago she gutted it out, painted the walls and put in a lovely oaty coloured woven carpet. So I thought something jolly and bright for the room would be a great idea.

Materials you'll need:

::scissors

::ribbon or tafita (as long as you want your garland to be)

::different types of paper (I used 7 pieces of coloured paper A6 size for the 7 large triangles and 5 book pages for the 9 smaller triangles.) Again, you can use as many as you like depending on how long you would like your garland to be.

::buttons, sequins, little scarps of fabric. (You can use any embellishments you like, I worked with what I had handy.)

::a threaded sewing machine

::printing stamps and ink or a pen to write a message (optional)

:: PVA glue

1. Start off by cutting out your flag shapes. I went for large and small triangles. I had some lovely soft pastel coloured paper so I decided to use them for the big ones. I decided to use recycled book pages for the small ones because it gives the garland a bit of depth and the text gives the paper some texture.
2. Once you have all your triangles cut out, lay them out on your working surface. I then started to cut small triangle shapes from my fabric scrap bag and laying them onto the book page triangles. I decided these ones would be the ones I woule embellish, and keep the large pastel ones to stamp on.

3. Now pva glue the fabric squares to the book page triangles, the smaller of your 2 sizes of triangle.

4. Then start to add your little decorative bits and pieces. I put a small dollop of pva glue on this piece of fabric and added a soft pink button and a collection of purple seed beads. The glue dries and holds them in place very well.
5. Now get out your ribbon or raffia and cut the length you are looking for. I went for 3 metres. Set your sewing machine to a zig zag stitch. This will grip the ribbon/ raffia and the paper the best.
6. I started to sew just at the first triangle I wanted on my garland and then carried on right till I reached my last flag. I roughly measured the gaps in between each flag, mine were approx 10cm gaps. This is also down to you, depending on how many flags you have and how long you want your garland to be.

7. Now to the fun bit! Lay out your stamps and get stamping. I went for little daily-do's, have faith, dance, dig in the garden, sit in the sunshine, doodle your dinner.....

You can stamp or write any thing you like. It could be a long love letter, someone's name, lyrics from a song.

I'd love to see your versions of this so please let me know if, sorry when you get round to making yours!

xxx

:: work in progress ::

Gold Pearl Necklace

Layered Chain Necklace

I am keeping things simple and sweet with my new collections. Letting the materials, colour combinations and textures speak for them selves. I love how the layered chain necklace sits perfectly sometimes, but as you move around the layers begin to twist like rope.

I am working on ::my story:: a way for me to send a little note with each piece of my jewellery, so that I can share the inspiration, and meaning behind each jewel. And have it in a way that the new owner can keep it too.

Both necklaces available in my Etsy shop Laura Baillie Designs

:: weekend love::

This weekend I'm showing my etsy shop Laura Baillie Designs some love. I have loved photographing on the lovely piece of grey slate I was gifted by a friend, but now with spring in the air I felt that a change was needed. I have decided to go with the vintage, French, ephemera feel and I am so happy with how they have turned out.

I have used some decorated chopped tomatoe cans as props. Have a look tomorrow and see if you can spot them. And I'll give you a little :: day of diy :: on how to make your own later in the week.

I'm also thinking about what creations would be perfect for my Mum for Mother's Day this year. She shares my love of birds, so I'm thinking something sewn and bird like.

SALE

i am having a SALE
50% off everything in my shop Laura Baillie Designs

for 24 hour hours only!

(from 5.15pm today GMT)

type "LOVE2010" at the check out

shop till you drop!!!!!

A New Home

The last couple of weeks have flown by here in LBD land. I have had my nose down and been doing lots of planning, research and making. And the result of it all is.........

I have opened my very own store on Big Cartel and now have my own website

Laura Baillie Designs.

To celebrate all my lovely blog friends can get a 20% discount by entering the code LBD001 at the check out.

I am starting to get in the festive spirit by getting the glitter out for my Christmas cards and working on some stitched decorations (some snaps soon), and hunting down some new tutorials to share with you all.

What are your creative schemes and plans for the festive season?

xxx