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Showing posts from 2013

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Wishing all our friends and supporters a very happy Christmas and a fabulous New Year. So much has happened this year, a lot of it GOOD and all I want is more of the same next year!

Christmas Fair at Ferry Meadows, Peterborough

Christmas Fair at Ferry Meadows, Peterborough on Saturday, 14 December « Stamford Artisans Guild : This is my Final Craft fair of 2013. Hope to see you there! There may be a few special offers on the day... 'via Blog this'

Arts and Crafts for Christmas in Grantham

Buy Local, Buy Handmade.  Help support your local craft community and small businesses! If you are in Grantham area do check this out! Pop Up Shop at the George Shopping Centre until Saturday, 14th December 2013. Fantastic shopping opportunity for Christmas! I won't be there but many of my artisan friends are including Shedglas Design , Eve Marshall , Pin & Tuck Notice Boards , 1.2.Tree , DL Designs of Rutland and Shelly Anderson

#smallbizsatuk... These small businesses...

...they are everywhere! On your high street, in local markets, in that little corner shop unit near your house, occasionally working out of a van (electricians, food sellers, decorators...). And in this age of technology, a lot of them are on the internet . Some because that is their business model and some because they have not yet got to the point where they could afford premises on the high street to open a brick and mortars shop. (That will be me then!) Some of us are working very hard towards having a little shop. In the mean time we are still trading and open for business on-line . On Small Business Saturday why not take a browse around the interweb and seek out small, individual businesses (like mine) in your area. You know they are there. They have websites and on-line shops you can buy from. You have seen some of them on Facebook or Twitter . You have met them at local markets / craft fairs. You have friends who have told you about their friend - who makes jewel

Late Night Christmas Shopping at Oakham Castle « Stamford Artisans Guild

Stamford Artisans Guild's final Craft show of 2013 is at the beautiful Oakham Castle. Local artists and makers including various guild members will be exhibiting a range of beautiful handmade Christmas gifts during the  Oakham Late Night Shopping Festival on 9th December .  I will be there with my handmade jewellery :-) There is still time to place a bespoke order. But only just!  Late Night Christmas Shopping at Oakham Castle « Stamford Artisans Guild : 'via Blog this'

The Best Laid Plans...

...sometimes don't quite materialise. Oh well... That's life. Its my Birthday week-end so Dave & I had planned two days of intense learning to celebrate... how to solder, how to set bezels, how to make cold connections... and create a few new pieces in time for 3 Christmas shows coming up. Unfortunately an old friend decided to pay a visit on my birthday (yesterday). Well not quite a friend, I don't like it, I don't want it, but it likes to arrive unannounced anyway and linger for a while. And it has no concept of timing! (Grrrrrrr!) So here I am suffering with an Iritis flare up (right eye pain, light sensitivity, blurred vision in the affected eye due to the medication, more eye pain) Intricate jewellery work is out. Spending too much time at the computer is out. Daytime telly is not really my thing and its not a good idea to watch TV with an aching eye anyway. Its been just over 24 hours and I am bored already! So the next few days I will probably spend ti

01 December: Stamford’s Own Handmade Christmas Market « Stamford Artisans Guild

Really looking forward to this! Let's just hope everything goes well and there is no advertising fiasco like last year when the newspaper messed up and used the wrong artwork! 01 December: Stamford’s Own Handmade Christmas Market « Stamford Artisans Guild

Its Our Birthday!

Jewellery by Shalini is 5 today! Why 22%? Because its my Birthday soon too! :-) On 22nd November. Go and have some shopping fun! Buy a unique handmade gift for the special people in your life! Or just treat yourself this Christmas.

Stamford Arts Centre Tourist Office Shop

A small selection of my jewellery is available at the Stamford Arts Centre Tourist Information Centre Shop . Yesterday I re-stocked my shelf there and delivered a new range of reasonably priced one off pieces which would make lovely Christmas gifts. Of course you can also visit my on-line showroom at any time and buy online, or come and see me at one of my local art and craft events in the coming months.

Facebook! AAAARGH!

All those very useful Interest Lists I made are completely useless at the moment! I added all the pages I follow into various interest lists so updates didn't get lost in the main news feed which I prefer to keep for friends' updates. Suddenly those lists are no longer updating unless I check show in news feed as well for the pages. So I am missing things that are important to me. And I guess other people like me who made lists and added my page Jewellery By Shalini to one of their lists are no longer seeing my page updates. No wonder my reach stats are down since last week! I guess Facebook wants me to spend lots of money and advertise my updates to be seen :-( NOT IMPRESSED!

Do something for "CANCER AWARENESS MONTH"

Something that does not involve your handbag, the colour of your Bra, Knickers or other frivolous aspects of your facebook life! Something that is not hush hush to keep men wondering for days . Because Cancer is NOT a game and Cancer is most certainly not a secret! So get over yourselves people and instead of having a giggle about cancer do something that actually raises awareness! You know like making a simple facebook status update about why cancer matters. Use your imagination and write something about why it matters to you and why you want to raise awareness. And if you can't think of anything original to say just share this fantastic post by Playful Genie: Breast Cancer : Facebook Slactivisim or Awareness? . As far as I am concerned every month is cancer awareness month, every day is cancer awareness day. Because people who get this deadly disease don't have the time to wait for an awareness month to come around for support, they need it now! And each one of

An Afternoon spent with Beautiful Labradorite

Spent the afternoon polishing some of the recently acquired Labradorite. It was great fun and I am quite pleased with the results :-) One face polish ed and rest of the rock left natural. There is amazing Labradorescence in both polished and rough sides.   I also cabbed a couple of slices of Indian Moonstone. They are OK but not the best result. It could be something to do with the quality of rough stock we have at present. Its not brilliant. I will carry on trying for better results and post pics when I am satisfied with the pieces.

Labradorite Heaven!

I am easily pleased :-) This is going to be so much fun!  We have taken delivery of LOTS of Rough Labradorite today and I have spent the last half an hour just picking up random pieces and saying oooh! Over the next few weeks these pieces and the 12 Kg we procured last week will be added to our Rough Rock Shop so keep an eye on the shop or follow Stamford Lapidary on facebook

#DHLchain Crafty Blogger Challenge: Don't Call Me Cute!

Or else... This fluffy pink tail is really a lethal weapon! I mentioned last week that I had signed up for another creative challenge and was sent an adorable bunny by Vintage Magpie Bears as my inspiration. "The aim of this campaign is for you to share your creative craft skills with another craft blogger, by creating an item for them and sending it via a prepaid DHL courier box." So when Nicky sent me this little chap I thought wire sculpture instead of a piece of jewellery would do this "cute" creature justice. Out came the aluminium wire I have used before for trees and the Wire Sculpture Fairy I made in July. Aluminium wire is not very good for most of my jewellery but the qualities that don't work for jewellery are ideal for sculptures! Its so soft and manageable that I can bend, wind and wrap it in so many different ways. This Rabbit (Or if you think he looks more like a hare then Hare) was wrapped free hand. I had no template from a

Memories Necklace: Thank you Spriha

My " Memories " Charity Exhibition piece has gone to London. I would like to thank Spriha for her very generous donation to  Dementia Support South Lincs. Hope you enjoy wearing it as much as I did making it Spriha, and making beautiful memories of your own :-)

#DHLchain Crafty Blogger Challenge: My inspiration

So I signed up for another craft challenge... This time its a little different because its not just jewellery makers but all crafty people. Back in August I received an email from someone called Dan asking if I wanted to be part of DHL Crafty Blogger Challenge. This is the challenge: " The aim of this campaign is for you to share your creative craft skills with another craft blogger, by creating an item for them and sending it via a prepaid DHL courier box." OK... Another challenge... Yeah of course I want to be part of it! So they sent me a DHL box with all the instructions and Hobby Craft Vouchers as a thank you for taking part. Now I am not a regular at Hobby craft but I do like to browse and pick up bits from there on and off, especially when working on packaging ideas, so this is VERY welcome. Thank you  parcel.dhl.co.uk Then I had to wait for my item to arrive from Vintage Magpie Bears  which would be my inspiration and theme for the item I have to make f

Tidying Up or This?

In my world THIS will win every time! I started out with very good intentions of tidying up my making table today. It is in a mess. And no I have no intention of taking a photo to show you my mess! It was going very well... Found a few orphan beads and pearls, a cab I thought I had lost, bits of wire... Actually it was LOTS of bits of wire. I cut it too short, or bend it the wrong way, or it gets kinks I don't need so I put it aside on my board for doing something at a later date. So I made these earrings. Tidying up is soooo over-rated!

Patina Challenge You Say? OK...

Those of you who follow my ramblings on the internet ( Facebook , twitter , blogs , etc. ) should know about my famous torch by now! And if you don't:  Dremel Versaflame Torch + Copper = Fun! So when I came across the Patina Sunset Challenge on Artisan Whimsy I understandably got just a little bit excited :-) I have been playing with patina on copper by painting all kinds of copper bits with fire. Sometimes satisfied, mostly not, many times I have started again but generally its been a learning exercise that I know will do me good! I made these bangles. They are OK... Actually they are pretty good for a first attempt but Can do better! Then I played some more and used the same copper pipes that I used in the bangles above to make some earrings. They turned out all right. I liked the way the colours came out. And I think they should fit in well with all the horseshoes at Oakham Castle at my next show there. Horseshoe Earrings made with copper tubes, flame painted

Patina Sunset Challenge on Artisan Whimsy

I just came across this challenge on Artisan Whimsy . I have only just started doing a bit of flame painting but perhaps I should enter one of the copper pipe bracelets I recently made. It would be nice to get feedback from experienced jewellery artists on the forum I think...

Dremel Versaflame Torch + Copper = Fun! - Jewellery By Shalini

Read more about my first adventure with a torch!  Dremel Versaflame Torch + Copper = Fun! - Jewellery By Shalini : 'via Blog this'

4 Craft Markets in September!

Its going to be a busy start to Autumn at Jewellery by Shalini :-) 1 have four events booked this months and really looking forward to them all!

Recycled Bead Necklaces

While going through my hoarded stash of beads, wire and all kinds of jewellery making bits for the Bead Hoarders Blog hop I came across a big bag of beads, mostly wooden but a few glass ones thrown in as well! My friend Carol gave me these beads. I don’t know if they were just beads she had bought or if they have been in a necklace before but she said she was sure I would find some use for them. This was many months ago! Anyway... I have finally made something with the recycled beads. They have been thoroughly cleaned and washed and I think they look nice on adjustable waxed cotton cord. I also used wire which was left over from previous projects where possible. Some extra components I made, or occasionally when it got bent out of shape or scratched and I just put it aside instead of repairing it. Hoarder that I am I rarely throw things away! :-) These necklaces are available to buy in my on-line shop . If you have old beads from a broken necklace, or a necklace you are bored

Wire Sculpture Fairy

This is the Fairy I made for the Stamford Artisans Guild charity exhibition. I think I will make another one soon... More about this here here:  A Fairy Tale Ending! - Jewellery By Shalini :

Bead Hoarders Blog Hop Reveal

So its time to reveal what I have been hoarding. Well this does not even touch the surface of things I have stashed away but its a start! Let me begin by introducing fellow Stamford Artisans Guild member DL Designs of Rutland . Diz makes the most amazing jewellery, charms and lanyards in different types of cords and threads and I admire her work a lot. So about two years ago I bought a handmade hemp macramé cording knot necklace from DL Designs. And then I promptly put it in safe keeping because I wanted to make something special with it. And I have been hoarding it all this time. I also had a beautiful Labradorite Cabochon cut and polished in house in our Lapidary workshop . This beautiful stone has a magnificent Labradorescence and I have had it on my board for almost 6 months! Because of the angle its been cut at it needed a special wrap on it for the colours to be seen in full glory. I have wrapped it a couple of times and then taken the wire off because the Labradorescence w