Wednesday and its looking good .........

Random earrings - I have made a selection of earrings for the trade show hoping to entice some orders, they are well priced so hopefully I will get orders for a few of these.

I am making up my mini brochure tonight, I only have 70 so I hope it is enough!  I will take extra info but I only have 70 sets of images  .......

Radio 1's Big Weekend is in Carlisle this year so we are going to apply for tickets's which we do every year but have never got any so far, lets hope this year we will be lucky.

Did I waffle a bit yesterday? 

 Feeling positive, getting lots done so time to do a bit of surfing already today ... James Blake is my current favourite singer, here he is at SXSW which I would love to go to one day.

Chill time ................

Why do I do it?

It has been a busy day of getting things ready for BCTF at the weekend.  I only have today and tomorrow as I am working at the Bath House the rest of the week.

I finally received my 700 photographs so I have started to put together my mini info pack to give out to prospective buyers. I have 10 photographs showing each of my ranges,a price list, info on recycled silver and info on me, punched a whole in the corner and tied it all together!  Hope it looks good enough, I think it does and it only cost me approx. £2 per pack so a lot cheaper than getting everything printed.

I decided to do more earrings, just random ones.  I like to keep myself busy!  It helps to have a few lower priced items to get people interested in looking at the rest of the jewellery.  I made 2 more pairs, they need polishing now then they will be ready.

I am still not sure about my display, it is so hard to display jewellery if you want to avoid those naff plastic display stands ........ hope I have done the right thing.  I am making my small 2m x 1m stand look like my studio/workshop!  I have a couple of cupboards, a plant, a mirror, x2 mood boards and a picture frame with jewellery in it.  I have my tools as well which I will place around the area.  Hopefully it will look good.  I will take photo's when I am there then you can judge!

Job Search

This is my problem:

I am very passionate about design and my jewellery.  I don't make a living from it so I have to have a part time job.  Ideally I would just design and make jewellery all day long and get handsomely paid for it.

I currently have a part time job, 3 days a week - 21 hours, working at the Bath House.  It is a mundane job, fun to work there but it pays minimum wage and I travel 30 miles each day round trip.  Financially it is not really worth it so I am looking for something closer to home.  However that poses a problem.  The kind of jobs that I need to do in order to be able to focus on my jewellery are all low paid of course but in this job market now employers can be choosy as they are a lot of people looking for a few jobs.

I am kind of stuck.  I have applied for a few jobs but I don't have the relevant experience, ie restaurant work or bar work. I would be happy to do that part time, I love to meet people and people watch, I even get inspiration in those environments so it would be a great combination but no-one wants me!

I am currently applying for a job that is more hours but better pay and is more local.  The downside is that it means less time for my jewellery.  I think I am just going to have to suck it and see.  Maybe I can fit it all in, maybe I am Super Women!

More images prepared for BCTF Trade show in Harrogate at beginning of April.

Cold sore is still there, annoying me.

Went to Bath House to work today, had a good day and worked hard.
Managed a run after work, had to get out in that sun before it went down.

Back to Bath House tomorrow but will get some more paperwork done at night so I have a tidy desk before next week.

I have developed a coldsore overnight, think its the second one I have ever had.

Dyed my hair, my eyebrows and my lashes this morning.  My eyebrows are the only thing that look different, unfortunately they look a bit caterpillarish!

Anyway, I have another commission to make pendant, its another stone that needs setting so I will get on with that today whilst I am doing my other pieces for the trade show.

I got my photographs done yesterday and sent off to Photobox.  I have done a photo for each range so that I can give these out to prospective buyers rather than a whole brochure.  I think it is more cost effective and definitely less paper stuff so hopefully it will look good.  I will make all my other info the same size as the photo so it fits neatly together.  Might use ribbon to tie it all together...... 

Example of photos for trade show

Progress Report

Everyone left for the day so I went for a run and then got back and started work.

Done my price list, check.
Emotional Design info, check.
Recycled info, check.
Got art work out of attic, check.
Added 2 new pieces to my website and updated homepage. http://www.thejewelleryroom.co.uk/

It feels like I have done far more than that but no that's it.  It doesn't feel bad though, I have achieved a lot.


But anyway back to it ..................

Busy Monday

I have a lot to do today which is unfortunate as I have woken up feeling very lethargic!

I need to make some jewellery, buy some stuff and get my trade show work organised.  And bake.

And are there is no movement or sound in the house I need to get the kids up for school ....... back later.

Trade Show Design

I spoke to the designers at the Bath House about my idea to display my jewellery at the BCTF.  They came up with some great ideas so I have changed my plan now.  I will keep the picture frame to use on the back wall but I will also have a display at the front of my area which will be the main part.  Hanging things on the back wall means that people have to step on to my 'space' and sometimes that can be a problem so by having it all out there at the front people can look as they pass.  It's all psychological but I get what they mean as I have been to lots of trade shows.

So I have ordered some small wicker baskets which I will spray black, these will have the jewellery displayed in them.  I will have lots of my jewellery tools interspersed around along with sketches and designs.  I might have a branch hanging above me which will be sprayed black or white, not sure about that bit yet.  I have some tags to put info on and of course all my prices etc.  I am getting photographs printed as a kind of brochure thing etc etc.  I have got a lot done but still have a lot to do!

Random image Cove Scotland

Tueday 15th March 2011

Feeling good.  Been running 3 days in a row so that is me satisfied until the weekend as I am working the next few days at the Bath House so I don't get much opportunity to run.  I have just baked cookies and cup cakes without chocolate as the kids have given up it up for Lent.

I am going to make a few more pieces today for the trade show.  I bought a picture frame yesterday so that I can see what my jewellery is like displayed in it.  Looks good so far but I need to get some foamex to put in it to complete the look.  Hopefully it will all work!

Sold a few pieces in February to a new outlet for me, The Exchange in Kendal.  They want to put some in their Lancaster shop as well so that is good.  I also met up with a friend and she bought a resin heart off me that I made last year so glad to get rid of that at last.



random image from Ibiza last year



Resin!

So I started the resin off again.  I made some shapes, yes hearts and flowers, they are very popular.  I baked the shapes and then made some moulds with the shapes.
I made up on the resin in different colours and made the shapes.
Next is the bit I hate, filing and sanding.  My fingers are sore from the work and it reminded me why I dislike it.  The toxic smell, despite the mask and messiness of the material is not good so I am not going to do anymore........ again.  I will finish off the pieces I have done and make in to brooches and earrings but enough is enough.

So I need to focus on Harrogate BCTF.  I will get all my jewellery ready this week and then start on the stand design.  I know what I am doing, I am going to hang the jewellery in picture frames on the wall,  One range in one frame.  I will get some material as well to hang on the wall to make it a bit more fancy but I want to keep it minimal, I only have a 1m x 2m space anyway.  Hope it looks good and works .........

I also need to photograph my finished pieces as these will be my brochure.  I will have each range on a photograph with a price list and my business cards so hopefully that will be enough, no point in wasting lots of paper. 

Feel organised but also feel like there should be more to it ................

Resin?

This is a continuation of the upcycled dress article from a previous blog. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/livia-giuggioli/livia-firth-oscars-dress_b_830782.html#248532

So now to resin.  I did say last year that I was giving up on resin because although I made lots of pieces with it, I never felt at one with it.  However I have decided to make a few more pieces, so I am giving it another go to see how I feel this time.  I have made some model pieces of flowers and hearts which are baking in the oven at the moment.   When they are ready I will make a mould with them so I can start doing my resin pieces.  It will probably be a week before I have any finished pieces. Maybe I will take some to Harrogate if all goes well.

This is a silver spoon I made based on a spade shape.  I gave it to a friend for her birthday, she loves spoons, their shapes, handles etc. I love making pieces like this probably because its not jewellery so it makes a change for me.

I started reading Never Let Me Go last night.  It is intriguing as it doesn't make a lot of sense yet but as I am reading it I already have the actors/actresses faces in my mind and they really fit the character so well done to the casting director on the film!

Another commission done ....

Another commission completed.

I loved making this one.  A lady asked me to make this for her daughter's birthday this week.  It is made from a piece of sea glass that her daughter collected from the beach at St Andrew's where she studied English.  She is now an editor at Cannongate Press in Edinburgh and she loves that area.  Her Mum has had this ring made for a surprise so I hope she likes it.

We watched The Joneses last night on DVD.  I had been looking forward to it  for a while but was a bit disappointed.  It is a great story but the script was a bit weak, the film could have been developed more, it was all there but I felt it just wasn't powerful enough.  Get me the movie critic!

Went for a run this morning and then got sidetracked when I got home and I am way behind already with my workload.  I should have set off to go to Lancaster 10 minutes ago but I am still here! 

Ok, enough already, I am off now ................

Night out

Liam Baily supporting Plan B at Blackpool Friday 4th March 2011

Went to to see Plan B on Friday at the Empress Ballroom Blackpool.  The support was Liam Bailey of whom I am very proud to have heard of!  My 2 daughters hadn't heard of him so I filled them in!  It's not often you can do that to teenagers about music.  I had heard him on Radio 1 and googled him and listened to him on Spotify.  He has a beautiful soulful voice and I really enjoyed his performance.

Plan B was great, just as you see him on TV performing (the Brits).  I had to disappear half way through as my younger daughter felt faint (we were standing near the front) so I missed a bit of his set.  She was okay in the end after nearly passing out and throwing up (yuk).

Have to mention the Empress Ballroom, though, which is in the Winter Gardens, what a great space, beautiful ornate room, fantastic chandeliers ...... especially great for a modern day concert, what a dichotomy.

And we got home about 12.30am!  I managed to stay awake which was good as I was driving but I am normally in bed by 10pm most nights so it was  late night for me but a really good one.

Upcycled/recycled/sustainable/ethical blah blah blah

http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/natural-beauty-fashion/blogs/oscars-2011-livia-firth-shines-in-upcycled-dress

Livia Firth, wife of Colin 'Oscar' Firth, is a great advocate of the ethical trend and fully embraces it in all respects.

I love this story about her upcycled dress for the Oscars.

That's all, just wanted to share.

PS. Baking was abit of a let down yesterday.  Tried the Nigella gingercake recipe from Kitchen which was a disaster and then did Brownies from my friend Zoe's recipe .... soooooo good that there is none left!  Making more today tho ....... piling on the pounds ........

PPS Maybe I should contact Livia with some of my recycled silver jewellery?