Artisan Whimsy - Come and Join Us!!

I'm a member, are you?  If not, then please, come and join us!

Artisan Whimsy is a new website and learning centre for anyone who is interested in Handmade Jewellery and Beads and everything to do with them.  It is a fantastic place to meet like-minded enthusiasts from all over the world and make friends and basically indulge in our favourite topic!!

Today is the first blog post of the UK Blog Team and there are prizes to be won!  We introduce ourselves and tell you a little about our work and influences and there is a challenge for you all to take part in.

Each member of the Blog Team explains whereabouts in the UK we hail from and your challenge is to create a piece of jewellery or a component drawing inspiration from the region that we live in.

My nearest City is Bath, the beautiful Georgian city which has it's roots going back to Roman times, when they had a Spa there.  You can still visit the amazing Roman Baths today and imagine yourself back in time 2000 years ago.


The Roman Baths at Bath



Bath Abbey



Beautiful Pultney Bridge



The Incredible Royal Crescent

The Romans were very fond of their jewellery, so much in fact that there was a law passed, banning people from wearing too much gold - it was considered "tacky"!!!

If you look at this picture of some examples of Roman Jewellery you can see that many of the techniques they used are still in use today, 2000 years later!  I find that amazing!

Add caption

If you decide that you would like to choose Bath as your inspiration for this challenge then I am offering a set of my Petal Capped Beads in Teal and Black Cherry as a prize!

Petal Capped Bead Set

You can chose which region appeals to you the most out of the ones listed, and of course if you want you can do more than one region, although prizes are limited to one per person.

So, how do you join this fantastic new website and take part in all the fun?  Go here and just follow the instructions, it is really simple.  I do hope to see you there!

Pippa x

Are YOU One of the Three???

Ok, here is the thing....

The rules of the game say that I choose the first three comments on my blog post yesterday to be the lucky recipients of something gorgeous and handmade by me.

The First Three.......that is soooo hard!

When I put my comment on Cilla's Blog, I wasn't one of the Three....and yet she was so generous that she included a couple of extra comments as well, so in the end I was one of the Three...well one of the Five actually.

So, as this is a Pay It Forward theme, it felt only right that I should continue with Cilla's generous idea and choose more than three.

First lucky person then is Jennifer from Souls Fire Designs - (do check out her blog, she is amazing!)

Second is Julie from Made By Jules, one of my lovely and very talented fellow Craft Fairers!  Well Julie, this should get you blogging again!

Third would be Emma.....however Emma is my lovely neice from Canada, and not wanting to be accused of favouring family or anything, I am not going to count her, but will still send you something lovely Emma!

Fourth is Leigh, a lovely new friend I have "met" on an online beading group, so excited that you will be joining in Leigh!  Please go and check out her blog, Jewellrleigh

Fourth is Sky, happy to be sending something to you Sky!  Here is her blog for you all to check out Creative Chaos, what a great name!

Fifth is Elizabeth from Elizabeths Art, what a lovely blog you have Elizabeth!

and Lastly Sixth is Rebecca from the wonderful Songbeads.  Rebecca is an incredible Jewellery Designer who I am sure you have all heard of and have drooled over her gorgeous designs.

Dear Jody, who also commented by did not want to take part, I am so sorry that it didn't work out for you the last time that you did something like this, but thank you so much for commenting Jody.

So, over the next week or so, I will be contacting you all to find out what sort of things you like, colour preferences etc etc.  I will then make something for you, it might be a piece of jewellery or it might be some beads, if you have a preference, just let me know.  I want you to be happy!!! 

Of course, you will have no idea when I will send it to you.  Might be next week.  Might be over Christmas.  Might be in the depths of February to cheer you up on a dark and dismal day.  You will all have to wait and see.

Thank you all for taking part and playing along.  And Remember.........you all must Pay It Forward too.  Do a Blog Post and choose three (or more) people who comment and send them something gorgeous too!

Hope you are all having a lovely week so far

Pippa

Something to Brighten up a Monday - Pay It Forward

I discovered such a great game on the lovely Cilla of Tell Your Girlfriends blog (do check it out, it's fab!).

It goes like this:

I’ll send a surprise gift to the first three commenters on this blog post. The gift will be a handmade surprise by me and will be sent to you some time in the next 365 days (yep, mystery gift at a mystery time).

 

Here’s what you need to do, leave me a comment and make sure you include your email address (if your profile doesn’t include it). I’ll email you for your snail mail address and a ask a few questions (likes/dislikes, favourite colours, sizes general stuff like that).

 

To complete signing up you MUST play along too. To do this you must blog a similar post and pledge to make a surprise gift for the first three people who comment on it.

 

So, do you want to play?

Comment below and I’ll sent a thoughtful handmade gift to the first three people who do.

Just how much fun is this!!!   So, what are you waiting for - get commenting!!!

Autumnal Beads

Well Summer is over.  The children started school today and that always heralds the end of summer for me.  However it means that Autumn is coming, my favourite season of the year.

To celebrate this, I have created some new beads echoing my love of all things Autumnal.  Leaves, Berries, Nuts, Toadstool, the last of the Summer flowers, Pods and Birds.



Jenny Wrens



Woodland Acorn



Tiny Toadstools



Logan Berries

I do hope you like them as much as I have enjoyed making them.

They will be up in my Etsy Store tonight if you would like a closer look!

Hope you have all had a great Summer.

Oh yes....and stay tuned over the next couple of days for another Blog Post where we can play a great little game I discovered over on the lovely Cilla's Blog Tell Your Girlfriends, called "Play it Forward".  You won't want to miss this one!

With love

Pippa

And The Winner Is........

Thank you all so much for coming and leaving a comment!  It has been so much fun!

So without further ado The Winner Is....

No 48 who is Creations by Kari - congratulations!!!

Please contact me with an address and I can get those beads winging their way to you.

Thank you everyone for taking part and it won't be long before I do another giveaway I know.

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Love Pippa

GIVEAWAY !!!

It feels like just the right time to have another giveaway!


Set of 4 Beach Hut Beads

This is a simple giveaway and is open to Everyone, including all my lovely International Friends! 

All you have to do is to leave a comment on this blog giving your name and contact details!

If you would like an extra chance to win, then pop over to my facebook page and like it, (if you "like" it with your personal profile, rather than your page, then my likes will go up, apparently FB doesn't count likes from pages!  Something I learnt this weekend!).

For yet another chance, share this giveaway on your own Blog or on Facebook! Then come back here and leave another comment to let me know you have shared!

So up to Three Chances to Win!

Important:  If you enter more than once, please be sure to leave an extra comment on here with the links to let me know!!

So, What Can You Win??

This Giveaway is for a set of 4 Beach Hut Beads as pictured above and also for this set of my new Bell Blossom Beads.

So you can win 4 Beach Hut Beads And 10 Bell Blossom Beads!  What are you waiting for????


Bell Blossom Beads In Cranberry and Pale Pink

 I am so excited!  I love doing giveaways!

Good Luck everyone - I will be doing the draw next Monday 16th July 2012.

Love Pippa x

Some New Work

Well, it's about time!  I have some new beads up in my Etsy Shop for you!

Bell Blossom Beads

Love these!

They are called Bell Blossoms, because, well it's pretty obvious why!  I have a few more sets in the oven as I type this in some different colour ways and they will be listed hopefully later today.  I do hope you like them!


Casablanca Beads



Faceted Nuggets from the Off-Cuts of the Casablanca Beads



I have also been working hard this week on some Casablanca Beads from the wonderful tutorial by Desiree, here is the link.  I have had fun with all the left over cuts and made some bracelet tiles, faceted nuggets and some hearts too!



Double Drilled Bracelet Tiles



Heart Pendants - Love all the different colour-ways I got from just the Off-Cuts!





It has been hard getting back into a strong work ethic after everything that has happened.  I have been struggling with getting things into perspective and finding it difficult to just settle down and actually spend time at the clay table.  This has been a good week, but I am trying to allow myself understanding that things will not always go according to plan.  I need to take things at their own pace and not push too hard to be doing everything that I think I should.  Not easy!  But I am getting there.



My Weeks Work!



Hope you have all had a good week too!

With love

Pippa