Jewellery By Shalini

Its a really busy time of the year at the moment. I am  working on bespoke orders for Christmas presents, there are Craft Shows every week-end, I am making new stock to sell at the shows and I have to make sure that all the guild events publicity is happening as scheduled. This means I have no spare time at least until 10 December! So I decided to do another Artisan Whimsy Challenge, "Berries and Leaves" ... Yes I know I just said its a very busy time... But challenges are fun! There is always the hope that I might win something, but more than that its thinking of new ideas and making something different to what I have done before that really excites me. Its a "Me" exercise really  A little bit of time invested in me and to pamper my ego. Self indulgent... yes. Even a bit vain... of course! Well its high time I did! I am reading a Terry Pratchet book at the moment and this statement by a character called Malicia  really struck a chord "If you don'

And now there is a "Berries and Leaves" November challenge over at Artisan Whimsy . Hmmm... Yeah! Why not! :-) I think I can make a pair of earrings for this...

Fineshade Woods Craft Display : 2013 Fineshade Woods Craft show dates are now booked and I am looking forward to the monthly Fun Sundays there April 2013 onwards :-) 'via Blog this'

Christmas Craft Fair: 18th November : 'via Blog this' Jewellery By Shalini will be there!

I came across ArtisanWhimsy on Facebook through MyBeadTherpay ’s Page (I follow Heidi’s work with a passion because she has inspired me to try so many new things and its great to see how wonderfully her work has progressed in the 2 odd years we've been talking bling with each other!) And right there on the front page of the forum was this little banner which took me to a page which said: “Can you create a piece of jewellery or a jewellery component inspired by where the UK Blog team live?” The choices were Dorset / Edinburgh / Bath / The Isle of Wight / Liverpool / Southampton and this is what the description said about Liverpool : image courtesy Wikipedia “ Liverpool  is world-famous as the home of The Beatles, but is also well known for football, the Scouse (now there's a term for you non-Brits to look up!) sense of humour and of course, the shipping port and the River Mersey” The description and for various other reasons Liverpool it had to be!

Of Course! That's all I am saying for now. Oh and two things I am quite partial to are involved... Copper and Red. This is for the  Artisan Whimsy: UK Inspiration Challenge  I wrote about a couple of days ago. My piece of jewellery is inspired by Liverpool. Here is a sneak peak :-) Rest of it on 12 November.

I am making something for this... The Challenge is to create a piece of jewellery or a jewellery component inspired by one of these places: Dorset / Edinburgh / Bath / The Isle of Wight / Liverpool / Southampton I wonder which city I should choose... Any ideas people?

Jewellery By Shalini will be there! Easton Walled Gardens : "Sunday 18 November: Craft Fair in the Coach House. Entrance is free." 'via Blog this'

Submitted  this and several other new bracelets to Craft Juice... Lapis Lazuli Disc Beads Copper Wire Bracelet | Jewellery By Shalini | Craft Juice : 'via Blog this'

Christmas Bazaar in Aid of The Children’s Society | Jewellery By Shalini : Pop-Up Coffee Bar and Christmas Bazaar in aid of The Children’s Society I have booked this event at the Stamford Town Hall on 9 November. Its the first time I will be doing an event for the Children's Society and quite looking forward to a good day! 'via Blog this'

Really Looking forward to September! I have 4 events booked including the Autumn Market at Easton Walled Gardens which is such a lovely venue. Hope I will be in the stables again... 2 September Fineshade Woods Craft Fayre 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM ---------------------- 9 September  Easton Walled Gardens Autumn Country Market 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM ---------------------- 16 September Craft Fair at Ferry Meadows 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM ---------------------- 23 September Autumn Craft Market – Stamford Arts Centre 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Wendy Who? She is a jewellery designer friend and a lovely lady. If you have not seen it before this is her website: Wendy McLean Jewellery . So? The reason I think this is worth a mention is because I found it so refreshing to sit down with a fellow jewellery maker and discuss all kinds including website design, publicising our work, fairs, bespoke orders and stuff in general. We both work in the same industry, and in some ways a VERY similar field because we both make wire jewellery but we can talk about it and even share supplier information occasionally and feel good about it. Just wanted to say it... And of course always a bonus that she is a dog lover and Bullet and Millie enjoyed the visit too. She talks in a tone of voice they understand. I would love to meet her dog sometime if possible as I am sure we would get on well. I have a special soft spot reserved for German Shepherds :-)

I have now activated my new website based on a completely different shopping cart solution. I like it because it give me so much more flexibility with images. AND I actually have a proper rss feed for items in the shop! Do have a look at the new  Jewellery By Shalini  website & online showroom and let me know what you think please :-) Good Bye Marketpress! Your developers made a good e-commerce solution to start with but you are not very pro-active and your customer service is seriously lacking of late so its not for me!

Yup I have not updated this blog for ages and I'll be honest I have not even visited it much! Its been a mad month so far! In the Motorhomes business it was Burning Man RV Rentals balance payment week last week and that is always crazy. This year spectacularly so with a couple of ... clients for the first time in my history of doing Burning Man bookings. But as in everything else two people will not let me spoil the enjoyment of dealing with some of the nicest people in the world who keep coming back every year, refer their friends and even share their fun photos with me when they come back from the show :-) I will go there one day... Then  there is Accounts! I never want to see another spreadsheet in my life! GRRRRR! Couple of bespoke orders to make. Preparing for the 29 July Summer Fair . As one of the committee members of Stamford Artisans Guild I do volunteer a lot of time to guild stuff (and enjoy every second of it... OK almost every second of it!) And I am re-bui

Guest Post: Oakham Festival 2012 on Stamford Artisans Guild : Dave & I will be at the Crafts show at Oakham Castle which is part of Oakham Festival 2012 on 23 June. We had a great day last year at this event which was held on Gaol Street and really looking forward to this one at one of my favourite venues of all - Oakham Castle. Sarah who is the chief organiser for this has been working really hard to get everything in place and I think she is doing a brilliant job! Hope to see you there! 'via Blog this'

I have already talked about these on my " other " blog but I thought I should post the pictures here too :-) Really proud of the finished pieces and THIS is why I do what I do! :-) "Hiya, Safely in receipt of the pendant and I absolutely LOVE it – it’s amazing. I know Stacy will love it too. Thanks again for all your hard work." "Safely in possession of my 2 pendants - they are both amazing, love them! I am going to keep the more triangular one for myself and send the other one to my friend in Oz - can't want to hear from her when she gets it!!! Thanks again so much for all your hard work - it's been fun...well for me...maybe less fun and more work for you!"   (They were sent on different days) I can assure everyone that it has been a lot of fun for me! :-)

Stamford Lapidary Workshop Creating Beautiful Cabochons | Jewellery By Shalini : 'via Blog this' The Engine Room!

Craft Fairs, Shows and Markets Where You Can Meet me & occasionally Mr. A too! : I don’t have a showroom (yet!) but you can meet me at various local craft fairs and hand-made markets in Stamford and surrounding areas. I have updated the Craft Calendar on my website. You can have a look via the link above :-) This little one has been helping me sort out all the jewellery and packaging for the fairs too! If I forget to take something important I blame it on Millie in advance!

Go Slow | Jewellery By Shalini : I wrote this on 25 May 2011: At the moment my adventures in jewellery making are on a go slow and its not very nice. For about  a month now I have been suffering from blurred vision on and off.  Some days I can see clearly but some days the vision is completely blurred. Been to the optician – nothing wrong with eye sight. Had a whole lot of blood tests including for diabetes. All Fine. I have now been referred to the eye clinic & Fingers Crossed they will know what’s wrong. So there are days (and quite a lot of them!) when there is no way I can make any jewellery because everything is blurred. I can do some work on the computer because it can be set to large size reading option but I am reluctant to try close work or take on any repair jobs at the moment. The last repair job was delayed so much because of vision problems.  The customer was really sweet and understanding about it and it has finally been completed but that’s not how I work and

Do you know about Craft Blog UK ? Well if you had not heard of it before now you know. You should have a look! Its an excellent resource of blogging tips, social media tutorials and fabulous craft links. This morning there was a really easy to use tutorial on How to Install a Pinterest Tab on Facebook Brilliant pictures explaining what to do. So I did! Have a look via this link!  Jewellery By Shalini : 'via Blog this'

Today I met someone else who I have been talking with for a few months on twitter - Andy Deighton from the Events and Fundraising team of local charity St Barnabas Hospice (  @StBarnabasLinc on twitter). The charity ploughs all the funds it raises back into helping Lincolnshire. It was a very pleasant meeting and some interesting ideas discussed. Always nice to put a face to name :-) Read more about St. Barnabas Lincolnshire Hospice   on their website. And can I just add that we met at the Stamford Arts Centre , a great venue for one to one and group meetings. They serve up a nice mug of coffee at the Arts Centre Coffee Shop too.

YES! It's almost here :-) Stamford... where it all started. Where I did my first craft fair, where I organised my first craft fair in December 2009 and where I like doing as many craft shows as possible! Hope to see you all there! Some new wire fun pieces I will be putting out for the very first time!

Bespoke Lapidary Projects | Rough Rocks, Minerals & Crystals : 'via Blog this'

Getting Excited! The First Stamford Craft Event of the year is almost here :-) View the link below to get an idea of the fabulous range of crafts on display & available to buy. AND you can meet the talented people who make these beautiful things! There will be no bought in or imported items! 13 May Spring Fair at Stamford Arts Centre | Stamford Artisans Guild : 'via Blog this'

Craft Blog UK: Free spot available in the UK Handmade Showcase! : Competition ends  Saturday 5th May at 6pm! Have you applied? 'via Blog this'

This week's specials from Jewellery By Shalini: £5.00 off everything Blue in the On-line showroom Click on the image below to visit my shop and read more about the items! And if I add anything new which is blue the offer will apply to the new listings too! So do check back again later if you don't see something that immediately takes your fancy right away.

In my world everything stops for Cake! So am I actually going to get any work done this week-end or will it be spent eating  Cakes and Crepes at Oakham Castle ? I will be at this Hand-made Craft Market at Oakham Castle on 28-29 April 'via Blog this'

New pendants added to my online jewellery showroom: This is my first  Labradorite and Copper pendant . I personally feel the two really compliment each other! And some Lapis Lazuli & my personal favourite:

Bespoke Wire Sculpture Tree by Dave Austin , a photo by JewellerybyShalini on Flickr. Dave has done a fantastic job on this hasn't he? :-) This tree was commissioned by a family in memory of their little boy and will be placed at their Church in Edinburgh as a prayer tree.

You get to meet some fantastic people on it! I joined twitter long before it was "cool" and remember getting really excited when anyone followed me! Well over the years I have learned that there are some rather nasty, rude and silly people out there who are not worth my time and I am more careful about who I follow and who I block. These days looks like everyone has a twitter account and some of those who do really have no idea of how to use the internet and especially a public platform like twitter in a responsible way! I am not going to go into specifics but I do see a lot of nonsense posted on twitter and have encountered a few keyboard warriors who are an embarrassment to humankind! BUT  for each one of these morons there are a 100 good guys and gals who are a pleasure to know.  I am happy to say I have met really lovely people on it, some I knew before and twitter has just given us another way of sharing information or occasionally having a laugh. Some I made the e

Came across this on Facebook and I have posted it on Stamford Artisans Guild website. What a good initiative! Please feel free to share this :-) " A pop-up shop in Peterborough for DIY mending, tea and cake, devised by the women menders of HMP Peterborough with Futuremenders. Mar 30 - Apr 5 2012" The Mending Shop, Peterborough : 'via Blog this'

Brrr! Bit chilly today. (Update 14:03) Its Snowing! This is the best plan for the rest of the day I think!  Light a fire and play with wire. I have to get a few more bracelets finished for the SKDC Tourist Information shop at the Stamford Arts Centre. Mary the shop manager has asked for new stock :-)

Doing the right thing looks good. - LINKwithlove : " It's about spreading the word that linking to the original creator is the best way to share intellectual property and inspiration online. And sharing is awesome. " 'via Blog this'

For my Indian friends and those of you who like Indian music here is nice selection if Hindi songs from Raja :-) InsideOut: Ten romantic songs from Hindi films : 'via Blog this'

How to survive craft fairs? | Jewellery By Shalini : Wrote this on my website blog a few days ago... 'via Blog this'

or for any other occasion, I'd like to recommend my dear friend Amanda at Greensleaves Florist, Stamford. Give her a call to discuss your bespoke arrangements, Bouquets and baskets or visit her beautiful shop. Shop Telephone Number: 01780 480077 Address: Stamford Garden Centre Great Casterton Stamford Lincolnshire PE9 4BB The shop opening hours are Mon: 10:00 - 15:00 Tue - Fri: 08:30 - 17:00 Sat: 08:30 - 16:30 If you are not in the Stamford area you can order flowers via the Greensleaves Website . And if you are on facebook , she can be contacted there too! Mandy (yes she will answer to that as well!) is taking orders for Valentine's Day Flowers now! And if you had forgotten all about Valentine's day treat my post as a timely reminder so you don't get into trouble!  Don't leave it too late! 

The Jewellery By Shalini 15% Off Sale January Sale ends today. Still a few hours to grab yourself a great deal on a one off piece of jewellery or wire sculpture! Thanks everyone who has supported me and made purchases during the sale period :-)