Cinnamon Jewellery

 I finished my mega bead sort out a couple of weeks ago (thank God!) and now I currently have several listings of beads on eBay . Most of them start at 99p as I just want to get rid if them so if you're after some bargains it might be worth checking out. Items listed include Swarovski hearts, rondels and bicones in various colours, mixed shape Hematite beads, lampwork beads, lucite flowers and a few semi-precious beads. The listings end Monday night ~ find me on eBay  here

Issue 28 of Bead magazine is out today and features a variety of lovely projects including my green freshwater pearl and sterling silver wirework earrings on page 45! I forgot to take a photo of the finished earrings before sending them off to the magazine for photographing so here's a couple of the step-by-step photos I took plus a copper version of the earrings 

The New Year has inspired me to come up with some new earring designs. I'm going great guns at the mo - full of ideas and feeling like there's not enough hours in the day at the moment! I've even made a stock of ball-end earwires and headpins with my new torch ready for when I'm making earrings which is very unlike me, I usually make them as I need them. I love my new torch but I'm still at that "slightly scared of it" stage which I'm sure will soon pass! It's soo much better than using the ring on the gas cooker and means I can ball the end of copper wire now (the flame on the cooker isn't hot enough). Here's a selection of what I've made so far soon to be listed in my  Folksy  and  Artfire  shops. I've also just finished oxidising some heart inspired earrings ready for Valentine's Day - I said I was going great guns! Copper and riveted Sterling Silver Spiral Swarovski Pearl and Sterling Silver Wirework Lampwork Bead ...

I made a start on the mammoth task of sorting out my bead boxes the other day. I currently have seven bead boxes so keeping all my lovely beads tidy and sorted is quite important, what a shame it doesn't actually happen! I start off with good intentions but new arrivals fail to find a proper home and stay in the bags for months until I do a "sort out". At least I've made a start now and listed 13 lots yesterday in my  Folksy  shop. I'm pleased to say all of the semi-precious and the abalone shell beads have sold already but I still have some pretty beads and a TierraCast SP toggle going for very reasonable prices! Having a sort out does have it's up-side ~ All those gaps I'm going to have in my bead boxes by the time I've finished will just HAVE to be filled! Bead shops here I come :D ~: Still for sale :~ Small Lucite Flowers Large Lucite Flowers Mixed Glass Heart Beads - great for Valentine's Day! Mixed Hematite Beads Lampwork G...

Selling my handmade jewellery on Folksy  is great fun and gives me the opportunity to browse the many fabulous shops on the UK's best handmade selling site. I've been busy recently on the Folksy spending front and here's what I've been buying.......... A Macintosh-style copper mirror from  The Owl And The Pussycat I've had my eye on this for a while and after a good few weeks of sales decided to treat myself! Oilcloth purse from Luvlii  - very handy to keep some of my jewellery pliers in English Yew Wooden Bottle Stopper from  Diggi Woodturning A Christmas present for my Dad! Polymer Clay Wee Westie and Hedgehog Beads from the very talented Kirsten of QuernusCrafts A present for my Auntie (hope she doesn't check out my blog and see this!) Very pretty Golden Bird card from Lilly's Night Garden Embroidered Notebook Cover from the lovely Fiona of fionaT   

It was a nice surprise to see a of pair my earrings in the Featured Items on the front page of Folksy yesterday. There's a lovely selection of jewellery there at the moment and my Turquoise Lampwork and Sterling Silver earrings featured quickly sold (thank you Folksy!) They've now been replaced with another pair of my earrings - this Sterling Silver abstract design pair

Noticing my supply of Liver of Sulphur chunks was running low recently I thought I'd better order some more. I've found getting hold of the chunks quite hard recently so I was interested to see my usual supplier Joy Funnel of ArtClayUK  on eBay was now stocking Liver Of Sulphur XL Gel. It's a stable gel form with an extended life hence "XL" which is ideal as the chunks tend to lose their effect after a couple of months and must be kept away from moisture. I've used the liquid form of Liver Of Sulphur once before which is available from Kernowcraft  in the UK, £2.95 for 10ml but found it wasn't very economical and the results could be a bit patchy, so I was interested to see how I would get on with the XL Gel. The XL Gel from ArtClayUK costs £6.95 for 30ml and comes in a plastic bottle with a nozzle top. I tend to oxidise maybe five or six pieces of jewellery at a time (I can't face polishing up more than that at once!) and the tiniest amount wil...