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! 

Work in progress

I haven't been around because I have been really busy lately, surrounded by little birdies making their way to icle birdy cards for an order I am working on.

Drumroll........

The winner of the "Wardrobe" dancer print is Wendy!

Congratulations, if you email me your address I'll send it on it's way to you.

Thanks to all who entered, you have given me lots of great artists to discover. I have booked in a day to play on Saturday so I'll check them out then.

I have lived on my street for 6 years now and have such wonderful neighbours, but recently we have getting to know the folks a lot better. Partly because of the pup and my bo's handiness at changing a tap, either or, we have made some great new friends. But the more I am getting to know them the more I am realising this street is a little artists den.

In the flats on my left as I sit here typing away there is an painter (Lorna), a glass artist, and a furniture restorer, plus a reiki master (which I consider an art too!) And on my right is another artist Jo! She has just opened her online shop and has listed her first art for sale tonight. Amn't I lucky to be surrounded by such talented and inspiring people, and it reaffirms my belief that the people you need to meet come into your life in unexpected ways!

Inspire me Thursday

Wardrobe

This is another piece from my Dancers collecion, and I have been brave and started to list them as prints in my shop. I have also been using them for cards which a going down really well, even getting me a whole sale order from a very special shop.

I am really enjoying this way of working, and they are a subtle contrast to my playful birdie cards, which are the child in me, he he he.

Well I am going to be busy for the next week so I have decided to run a little competition!

I am looking for new artists to discover, so leave me a comment with an artist that inspires you and one of my dancer prints will be heading for a wall near you!

I'll draw a winner on Sunday 23rd August 2008.

Good luck x

Update:Mon 18th August

"Doorway, Old Aberdeen" by lornasmithstudio

Something strange but delightful happened the other day.

I got chatting to one of my neighbours the other day, and you will never guess what, she has an Etsy shop! Her name is Lorna and her shop is lornasmithstudio, where she sells her beautiful art work. She studied Craft and Design at Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen and also has a MA (hons) in History of Art. What a talented girl! And how lovely it is to have found a kindered spirit on my doorstep. Plus she is a mean cook too, we went round for tea the other night with her, Mr LSS and their little poppet and we laughed and chatted into the wee small hours. She is in the beginnings of making a nest in blogland too, so I want to wish her lots of blog love, and I'll be keeping an eye on her blog too!

Let me eat cake!

I have just popped in to announce the winner of my "Takin a break" competition and the winner selected from a jar by my bo is .......... Flossie Teacakes! Congratulations!!! Email me your address and I'll pop them in the post to you. Thank you all so much for joining in and sharing your relaxation techniques. I am pleased to say I am feeling so much better now, it took a bit longer than expected but I rested up, ate lovely soup and homemade bread and watched lots of Murder She Wrote. The reason I was late announcing the winner is that it is my 30th birthday today and some little surprises popped up and I decided to extend my break. So I'm off now to eat some of this beautiful cake made by two of our friends J & S. That's one of my favourite things about birthdays, it's ok to eat cake for breakfast! I'll be back very soon to share with you all what I have been up to and creating........

Taking a break- competition

I have decided to take a little break. I am having a weeks holiday to relax, regroup and revitalise. I am currently sporting coldsores, black circles under my eyes and a thumping head ache which I have had for the last 2 days. So when I get run down like this I know it is time for a break. So in honour of my holiday and rest I have decided to run a little competition.

Just leave a comment telling me what you like to do to "take a break" and I'll get my Bo to select a winner next Friday when I return, and one lucky reader will receive these lovely earrings.

If you blog about my competition I'll add your name into the draw twice!

I hope you all have a lovely weekend and week!

10 things to do today - Day 1

I have decided that since I have made nothing over the last week that I am going to publish my first blog list and see if that gets me in the mood for some making. As you seasoned visitors here will know by now I love a list and it seems to be a great way for me to stay orginised, motivated and focused. So here goes:

1. Tidy desk, (an absolute must, and need space for all these creations to take place!) DONE

2. Do at least one image in Photoshop with Yibbles KIND OF

3. Find a new blog of interest/ inspiration DONE

4. Find a new artist of interest/ inspiration DONE

5. Make a card to list on Etsy DONE

6. Pick a word to journal about this week DONE

7. List a new item on in the shop DONE

8. Decide on idea for a new competition and prizes KIND OF

9. Hunt down a new crafty tutorial to make this week and share with you all DONE

10. Add some new jewellery photos to Flickr and add tags to some old ones DONE

Do you write lists? What do you write them on? What kinds of things do you have on your lists?

Wish me luck, I'm going to have a busy night!

Long Awaited Competition Results

Firstly I would like to thank you all, my new blog friends for taking the time to answer my questions about why you blog and your top tips! Also I would like to thank you for your patience, this would have to be the longest running competition in blogland. I promise I will not do that again, I know myself I would be like... come on......

So here goes the winner of their very own custom made bloggin bracelet is mushroommeadows (I used RANDOM.ORG to generate the winning number). Just send me an email with your postal address and we can discuss what you would like your bracelet to look like :)

Nothing creative of my own to show you all today, I have tummy ache and am a bit of a grump, (Bo has gone out for the evening to get out of the firing line!) I have cleaned the fridge, the oven and blitzed the rest of the kitchen, so now I'm off to sit on the sofa and surf the net. Happy Tuesday to you all and I'll hopefully have an exciting post tomorrow night ..........

blogging barcelet competition

Don't forget, 15 days left to enter my competition. Just leave a comment telling my why you blog and your top tips to enter. Closing date 11.59pm 31st March GMT

I have arrived!

I would like you to meet Annelise, she was born last night at 9.56pm and isn't she cute? She is the first real, live Yibble! I have been wanted to do some more sewing for a while now and keep looking at the beautiful pile of fabric and decided I would create a Yibble and see if that helps me focus on stories/ doodles ect. She is made of linen from namolio and she is stuffed with a cushion I got from a thrift shop. I have spent some time today working on the first of many "Yibble Adventures". And tonight I'm going to watch a movie and make some more of the family.


Now for your imput, what types of adventure would you like to see Annelise go on?

Got some lovely new earrings I'll be adding to the shop over the weekend so pop by for a wee look. And I'll let you into a little secret too, I'm getting ready for an etsy spring sale! More details coming soon.

I went to one of my local thrift shops the ther day to hand some things in and could not resist these 2 little jars. I haven't decided yet what I'm going to put in them, but my bo has been full of useful ideas, his favourite being one for collecting his tummy button fluf! Somehow I just don't think so!

A big hello to all you new visitors to my blog and thanks for enetring my competition. Keep your entries coming, you still have another 16 days to enter. (I know it seems like ages away!)

Play day

Firstly thanks for all the comments on my 100th post competition, I'll put all the names from all the comments from yesterday until March 31st into the draw so keep adding your reasons for blogging and top tips.

These are a couple of new earrings I added to the shop today, and I have lowered some of my prices too, to make room for new stock, so pop by and have a wee peek. Tonight I spent some time with my little friends the Yibbles and even brought myself to bring out the water colours! I have never really learned how to paint with them but just love how they look with the fineliner, but hey who cares it's all about enjoying what you're doing isn't it? What are your favourite materials to work with just now?

I have just started making time for play dates and although it is hard at first to say 'no, I won't put those clothes away, or clean the kitchen, instead I'm going to play!'. But when I'm done it is so much more rewarding than filling another load in the washing machine. What do you like to do on a play date?

"Spreading the Love" was inspired by all the new friends I have made in blogland!

100th Post Competition

Well here is my first ever blog competition to celebrate my 100th post which should be coming pretty soon. I started this blog on the 1st October 2007 and oh my, I have learned soo much and met a bunch of wonderfully creative and inspiring people. The reason I decided to start one was that I had found a couple of other designers had pages and I got great pleasure reading what they had been up to and seeing little snippets of their work. So I decided I would do the same! It has been such a delight making contact with people all over the world and forming electronic friendships, Flickr, and of cource you showed me ETSY! So thank you! My business is now growing much faster and wider than it was with just my website and I am motivated on a daily basis to create something new.
I would say my top bloggin tip is to share as often as you can and want to, and show a picture of something, whether it's something you have made or something that is inspiring you. I love sneeking little peeks into other peoples creative worlds! And my next tip would be to find a cluster of like minded folks whos blogs you like and comment on their posts. I remember the first comment I recieved and it warmed my heart that someone out there, from another country had found little old me!

Anyway enough about me, this is all about YOU now! Tell me why you started your blog and your top blogging tips, and in return I'll draw one lucky person and design and make them their very own Bloggin Bracelet! I will use your blog as a theme as inspiration for colours and style.
So get thinking, typing and spreading the word!
I will close the competition on Monday the 31st of March and announce the winner on Tuesday 1st of April. (This has nothing to do with April fools day, the date just falls with when I should be writing my 100th post!)
GOOD LUCK
xoxox

Pure Heaven

Well I decided I was going to spend some time today making up some inspirational collages for the wall that my desk faces, and here is one of them! Chocolate delight. I have mentioned before how much I love food photography, anything from cupcakes to beautifully styled sandwiches! I think it all started during my final year at art school. My specialism was knitted textiles and one of the schools sponsors was Rennie Yarns. They set us a competition, to use their yarn in an creative and unique way for a display for them to take to an International trade show.

I decided on knitted and felted chocolates and I came 2nd! During my research I spent a lot of time photographing chocolate, reading books on it and it was at the same time that the film "Chocolate", with Jonny Depp and Juliette Binoche was out in the cinema! This is where it all began, I don't really like eating chocolate, but love the smell and how amazing some of them look.

It is coming up to my 100th post so I'm going to run a little competition, I haven't quite decided on the fine details yet but more to come very soon, and I have some very special delights for prizes!!!!!