Sterling Silver Posts on Earrings

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Claire

I made this change a while ago but I guess I forgot to tell you about it!

All my stud earrings now come with a silver-fill post instead of copper. I decided to make the change, not because there is anything wrong with putting copper in a piercing – my dangle earrings still have copper wires, and sterling silver is part copper – but because copper is too soft.

Studs just after soldering

In order to connect the disc to the post I have to solder it and that means heating the whole thing with a blowtorch. Heating metal makes it soft and then it takes a lot to get it tough again. If the post is too soft it tends to bend when you push the butterfly back onto it and that’s really annoying and not what you want in your earrings! So I’ve switched to the silver-fill because it has just enough extra toughness to make all the difference.

New Gemstones!

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Claire

I did really well at my craft fairs in December so I went a bit crazy buying exciting new supplies for the new year!

I really love the look of raw gemstones – uncut or rough cut and so natural, they fit in perfectly with the existing style of my work and I finally managed to find some to buy!

You can see a whole pile of exciting stuff here! Most of them are beads but a few are cabochons (don’t have holes drilled in them).

These natural Aquamarine sticks are my absolute favourite! They were quite a lot more expensive that any other supplies I’ve bought before but I just *had* to get some. Now I just have to come up with a design that will do them justice (and take a proper picture of them).

I already have a design in mind for a lot of these supplies but there are quite a few that I just bought because I loved them, or which turned out different than I expected, that I’ll be playing around with over the next few weeks.

I’ll be posting previews of my latest items (and there’s a lot in the works ) very soon so keep an eye out

Mobile reading is now fixed!

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Claire

Just a very quick post to let you know that you can now read my blog on a mobile device!

I don’t know why it was broken but there was a weird problem where the page was pushed across so you could only see the right hand side of the text but now, thanks to my wonderful husband, you can read the whole thing

I know quite a few people had been asking for this so hopefully you’ll be happy with the changes We removed a lot of the navigation elements so let me know if there’s anything you particularly need putting back in!

Heading into 2013

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Claire

I’m not particularly into New Year’s Resolutions. In fact I’m more the kind of person who likes to constantly make (and break) resolutions throughout the year! January is no exception and that fresh-start-feel helps me to feel like it’s ok to try more drastic changes than at other times of the year.

Here are a few of the things (of varying importance) that I want to try and achieve this year:

I still haven’t made anything with these beads I got in 2011!! I keep taking them out and pairing them up with things and putting them away again so this year I want to actually make at least one finished piece with them!

I need to cease my endless determination to offer every style in every colour! Now I’m moving away from round beads towards raw, unfinished gemstones (more on that topic soon) it will be easier for me to achieve this because I just won’t be able to get hold of the materials in many colours.

Stop overthinking things. I think about my business and my jewelry all the time… which is good but I often take it too far and end up changing things that didn’t really *need* changing or, worse, not working on anything because I haven’t planned it out fully in my head yet.

Eat breakfast and lunch everyday! I’m so bad at this but I’ve been getting better since we moved house. I’m sure I won’t achieve this goal but I really want to continue moving towards it.

Photography. I want to take my camera with me more often when I leave the house and I want to go out on specific photo trips more often as well. And I want to snap snap with my phone more, too.

Looking back at 2012

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Claire

The new year is a perfect excuse to look back over the previous year, and it’s really useful to review what did and didn’t work well so you can do better in the coming year. It’s also really nice to remind yourself of everything you did, and especially all the things you achieved, so you can start the new year with confidence and a happy glowing feeling.

So here’s a summary of what I feel are my highlights from 2012:

I started the once a month promise and set myself the challenge of buying a handmade jewelry component once a month and then making something with them. I had a lot of fun trying to design a piece of jewelry with a random component each month and I’ll be quite sad once I’ve made my December piece and the challenge is over.

My favourite Once A Month Challenge piece!

I decided to give twitter another chance and discovered the awesomness that is tweetchats and then went on to host one myself! I love how many new friends and connections I’ve managed to make on twitter; there’s a whole community out there and I’m so pleased I joined it.

I carried on building on my skills in 2012 and tried out several new techniques including etching and chemical patinating. I also got a custom rubber stamp and started providing branded gift boxes with every order. I’m so happy with how much more professional they look now!

The results of my early etching experiments

I love custom work and I was fortunate in 2012 to make 2 custom wedding orders and a few other custom pieces. Some of that work hasn’t been shared here yet so I’ll be showing you that in the next few weeks!

Custom Wedding Headpiece

We moved house and, as a result, I got a lovely new studio space which is so much bigger than before. Shortly after that my husband took me on an amazing surprise vacation to Hawaii where I got in equal parts relaxation and inspiration, coming back with loads of new ideas!

Volcano at night time in Hawai’i

I am now selling my work in 2 San Francisco stores, Adorna Bella and Urban Bazaar. I know I didn’t actually tell you about Urban Bazaar because it happened not long before Christmas so I was too busy to get a post together.

Finally, it’s been a big year for me for blogging! I’m now a regular contributor on IAMTHELAB and also on Daft Crafts, as well as starting 2 new blogs which I’ll tell you about in more detail very, very soon!

How did your year shake out? Do you enjoy looking back or do you prefer to keep your eyes firmly ahead?

Quote for the year 2012

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Claire

My craft fairs are all done for the year, the final shipping deadline for orders is nearly here (December 14th) and I’m starting to pack things up, tidy things away and wind down production.

This tidying process is very cathartic for me, it allows me to create a very symbolic end to the year so, when I come back from vacation in January, I really feel like I’m making a fresh start to my year. As I go my mind is ticking over, automatically reviewing the year and filing away the lessons I have learnt.

I wanted to share with you this quote, which really represents my year and the development of my business. I try to keep this in mind all the time and will be reminding myself of it frequently in the new year.

The picture was taken on my honeymoon in Peru at Ollantaytambo Inca Ruins

Is there a quote which really sums up your 2012?

Gift Wrap 2012

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Claire

It’s becoming sort of a tradition for me to offer a new style of giftwrap each year. That sounds a lot more fancy than it really is because, in truth, my giftwrap has changed because my business has evolved and I’ve been able to offer better stuff.

But, no matter the origin, I like the tradition and I want to embrace it. So today I’m going to share my 2012 gift wrap with you. If you’re interested here are the 2010 and 2011 styles:

2010 gift wrap – still using the old Carnelion brand

2011 gift wrap

All items come in their own hand-stamped gift box these days and I’ve decided to keep the brown kraft wrapping paper because I love it so much!

I’ve replaced the white paper ribbon with some rustic brown twine and added a handmade copper snowflake gift tag. All orders placed in December will ship giftwrapped like this and I will be offering a free giftwrapping service at Bazaar Bizarre this weekend and The Crucible Gifty next weekend.

What do you think?

Work in Progress

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Claire

Here is another collection of behind-the-scenes photos from instagram, taken over the last month. Enjoy

Annealing 2 copper cuffs

My most popular necklace from last winter

Work in progress

Stud earrings in progress

Squares for a custom order

Instagram just recently updated their web profiles pages and now they are totally awesome!! You can now view my instagram feed in all its glory online as well as through the app and it’s laid out beautifully too!

What do you think? Will you start using the website more now or will you stick with the mobile app?

From Concept to Reality

Posted on November 6, 2012 by Claire

I mentioned the other week that I’ve been featured and interviewed on IAMTHELAB a few times in the past. Well today I have more exciting news to share – Brett has asked me to be a regular contributor to the LAB so I’ll be posting there once a month, sharing insights into the challenges and rewards of running my own jewelry business and snippets about my design and creation processes.

My first post is about the overall process of designing and making my jewelry – the stages a design goes through before it becomes a completed piece of jewelry ready for sale. If you’re interested you can read it here and don’t forget to check the LAB each month to read my new posts!

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