Lori's competition

Before bed last night, I was reading blogs but too tired to leave any comments. The blogs must've been on my mind because I dreamed about a competition Lori Anderson of Pretty Things was having. You had to sneak into her house at night, eat a piece of chicken in sauce and then leave patterns in the dirty plate. The most artistic plate won the competition. 

Fortunately, the real competition is a little more mainstream, if you blog about it, you can win a book so why not pop over there and enter! And the best thing for Lori is that there'll be no washing up when she gets up!

Winner of the Aeolian Treasure competition

I have had a draw this afternoon of the three competition entrants and the winner is Kendalee! Please let me know which pair of earrings you would like from the new range. You can have your choice of the Aeolian treasure nugget, Aeolian treasure rondelle or Aeolian treasure dangly nugget earrings. Photographs of the earrings are on this page of my website.

The name Kendalee suggested is also my favourite so I'm using this in the future for this range. Many thanks and congratulations!

I am very grateful to Mandy and Alice for entering via e-mail as well. Hugs to you both.

I will publicise my next competition using my mailing list as well so hopefully I'll get more entries next time! :-)

I need a new name

The new name is not for me, I know who I am (well, most of the time I do!) It's for these:
This morning I have been taking photographs and updating the Lampwork jewellery page of my website with new jewellery. There are a couple of new crocodile bead earrings and a super double length crocodile bead necklace on that page but the stars of this week's updating is this new jewellery range using beads made from recycled Cava bottles and turquoise. Indeed, I have only just realised that I need a new page in my Recycled section for recycled Cava beads; I don't seem to have ever photographed them before and I usually have a few pairs for sale most weeks. Until I get round to making the new page, I'm just putting them on my Lampwork jewellery page.

All I am calling them at the moment is Cava Turquoise which seems very boring so ... I am having a second competition in two days. To enter, please just post a name for this new jewellery range as a message in the comments section or E-mail me using the contact page on my website. I will choose the new name from my favourites but everyone's name who enters will go into a hat and I will draw out a winner whose prize will be a pair of earrings of their choice from the new range.

If you want to see them in person, do stop by my stall at the Art & Craft Market in Cambridge tomorrow, I'm looking forward to showing them off!

This afternoon I have been to see Jonathan Hobbs, the osteopath who has done such sterling work to unfreeze my neck and cure that persistent headache which plagued me for much of January. It's steadily been getting better day by day and I've only had one dose of painkillers in the last three days; I still get the odd twinge but I feel so much better now and I'm able to think. He's suggested that I don't go back for 4-6 weeks when he'll check me out again to make sure I'm not tightening up. In the meantime, I've got some upper back exercises to do which should help.

Now I'm feeling back to normal, I'm finding that suddenly I've got lots of ideas for updating the display area of my stall which was one of my top priority jobs for this month but I just couldn't seem to get "switched on". Now that I'm feeling myself again, I am looking forward to putting it all into practice. I had hoped to have that done by now but watch this space for more news soon!

Pay it forward

I have won a prize on Beads and Botanicals' blog! :-) I've no idea why it was called "Pay it forward" cos "Play it forward" makes more sense to me but never mind, I am looking forward to receiving my prize and in accordance with the rules (published below), here I am, passing it along:

RULES

1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me. (It will be a surprise but I promise to make it something fun)

2. Winners, you must post this challenge on your blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!

3. The gift that you send to your Three Friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!

4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it! If you are not one of the Top Three Commenter's on this post, you can still play along. Start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same!

Name that jewellery

I didn't make many new designs last week, there was only one necklace with matching earrings and that was the sum total of new items on my stall last Saturday. Any necklaces and bracelets costing over £25 and made with lampwork beads are one-off designs. I might make some more of the same type of beads but next time, I make a totally different necklace or bracelet with them.

Many people want earrings to match their necklaces/bracelets and I've found from experience that if you don't have matching earrings in stock, you can lose a sale. But last week, everyone was mainly buying earrings - it was a big earring day - so almost my entire week's production was on making more to match the unsold necklaces and bracelets! My zebra necklace (with matching earrings!) was a notable exception. One of my regular customers purchased it to take with her on holiday so I hope she's having a lovely time!

So, rather late, here are photographs of my latest new creations.
When I first made the beads (see close up in my blog entry Blue and Green shouldn't be seen on 8 May), I named them blue grass but I'm not that keen on it. The lack of a name has stopped me putting them up for sale on the website! It's got me completely stumped. Has anyone got a better name for them? I will run a draw of everyone who suggests a name here on the blog and the first out of the hat will get a pair of the earrings. Deadline for entries here on the blog is midnight on Wednesday, 3 June 2009.

If you prefer, you also enter by e-mailing me via the Contact page on my website.