Vicarage Jewels

Its been a Long Time!

2009-07-22T05:03:00.000-07:00

Its been a long time since I last Blogged - sorry about that! :P I have been really tied up working, and reading (Okay, Im not going to lie about it - Im addicted to Twilight!). Since I last blogged I have been to my first bead fair, and visited the bead shop numerous times. I also spent a long weekend in Glastonbury at the famous music festival.

So now onto what I have been up to jewellery wise. Well, I have just completed my first Tiara! I brought the ase a while ago at Hobbycraft and since then have just been looking for the right beads and crystals. At the bead fair, I picked up mainly pearls and crystals. The crystals were very expensive, but have given the tiara a fabby sparkle! :P I brought 5 different coloured pearls - white, pink, blue, green and purple. The end product was the tiara below. Let me know what you think of it! :D This is for sale in the "Wedding / Prom" section for £20.

While at the bead fair, I also brought some tiger tail on a reel - giving me about 10 meters of the stuff! I looked mainly for toggle clasps, buying two different sizes altogether. With the tiger tail and pearls (and some of the large glass beads that my Boyfriend brought me :P ) I whipped up this lovely 3-strand necklace! Im surprised at how effective using only a couple of beads is. I am selling this great necklace at £12.

So thats what I have been up to recently. I know its not much, but now that I have nearly finished reading the Twilight saga (Look out for Twilight inspired jewellery comming soon XD ) for the second time (Yes I know, addicted Right!) I should be back on track in no time!

Thats all for now folks - Peace Out!
Lydia @ VJ xxx

Bead Fair Prep...

2009-06-08T16:36:00.000-07:00

To day I am super excited!! I went to an Artisan Market in Frome on Sunday and paid a quick visit to the Bead Shop. Whilst there I managed to restrain myself to only spending £5, which was a real effort. After being dropped off home, my lovely Boyfriend went back and brought me some surprises - which was really nice! :D

But that is not the real cause of my current excitement, I will be going to my first ever real bead fair this Sunday, and I cannot wait!! Its the West of England Bead Fair, and is the only bead fair that they actually hold near me, so I will be snapping up the opportunity and getting there as soon as the door opens! :P Lastly I thought Id post some piccys of the beads that I brought the other day. Among the collection my faves are the blue and black stripy beads and the chilli bead charms which will make a great bracelet!

Lydia @ VJ xxx

Book Review: Marketing and Selling your Handmade Jewelry

2009-06-03T10:09:00.000-07:00

Book Review: Marketing and Selling your Handmade Jewelry
Written By: Viki Lareau
ISBN: 978-1-59668-024-1

I brought this book mainly based on a recommendation that I saw in Make Jewellery Magazine. The section of the magazine was about earning extra income from your creative makes, exactly what I'm trying to do. I promptly logged on to Amazon and purchased the book at the price of £11.99, with free postage and packaging - this was a bargain compared to the £15.95 price displayed in the magazine.

First impressions? The book is very clearly typed with approximately size 8 font and double spaced lines. This would make the book easy for any age to read. Flicking through the book I noticed section of case studies and references which was great. The book consisted of 7 chapters, starting from scratch and ending with more advance selling options. The pictures used were clear and provided great inspiration of what the book was teaching you to do.

The book is written by Viki Lareau, she is currently a successful bead shop owner in America. She writes the book very personally, making reading very easy - as you feel more in touch with the writer.

This book does exactly what is says on the tin - gives you a multitude of ways in which to market and sell your handmade jewellery. It focuses on the following:

• The first steps of business.
• Building your portfolio, with examples of pages that you will have to create.
• Pricing your work. Although this may seem the complicated section, its clear and easy to understand using sample figures and sums.
• Selling your jewellery at craft shows: how to act with your customers, and how to display your table.
• Selling wholesale to retailers.
• Marketing including advertising, website construction and press releases.
• And finally managing the business.

One fault that I did find with this book was that each business detail was written in American form - which is understandable for American readers. Areas such as getting business licenses and insurance details are all as you would do them in America - therefore I would strongly recommend not following these instructions. How ever to compensate for this the book has 2 pages of internet links that can be used all over the world directing you to business help and case study companies.

In conclusion to my review I found this book incredibly useful. It’s clear and easy to read. The layout is attractive and I’m sure you’ll find yourself not being able to put the book down at night! The steps in this book have helped me to “Turn my Passion into Profit” and hopefully it will help you too!

Review written By Lydia Hart

Fimo Fantastico!

2009-05-31T05:33:00.000-07:00

Ok, So over the last few days I have been going Fimo Crazy! I have started to make alot more fimo foody Items that make great charms and pendants. I recently brought a poly blade from Ebay that has aloud me to make perfect cuts without squashing the design. I have also invested in some Fimo varnish, that at £4 in John Lewis, it seemed a rip-off at first, but now I know its going to last me forever! :P
My most proud fimo item from the past week or so if the bakewell tart. It looks so yummy that I dont want to sell it... I want to eat it myself! Haha. The lines were make with a knife - I love the lay it looks so realistic with icing and a cherry on top!

My second fave Item is the chocolate, I had to mix white and brown fimo to get the decoration, that anyone who knows fimo will understand takes ages! :P Other Items I have made include a gorge mini pretzel and doughnuts. I have also master the art of fimo flower making and will be turning my red roses into earrings pretty soon! I also produced a load more oreos after being inspired by an oreo milkshake last night! Haha.

Well Im afraid that is all I have time for now, but I will soon be posting more picture a curly silver bracelet and earrings set. I have also finished reading my "Marketing and selling you handmade jewellery" book and will be reviewing it soon!

Lydia @ VJ xx

Latest Pictues

2009-05-21T10:21:00.000-07:00

Heya All
Here are those ring pictures I promised!

These rings are funny sizes and wont be for sale, however if I get practising I should soon make some nice ones!

Well im off to make some Fimo flowers, I have been inspired by a friend and a program that I watched on television the other day about cake decorating. And i figured that fimo was just like icing sugar so im off to attempt it! The book has arrived and so has the swap package! :P I havnt read the book yet as I havnt found a quite 10 minutes but will post a review when i have!

Lydia @ VJ xxx

Ringging It!

2009-05-19T15:19:00.000-07:00

My most recent investment as i have said is some silver plated wire. My main aim when buying this was to make a nice wire beaded bracelet and maybe some earrings, but i have recently been insired the want to make beautiful rings.

Problem 1 - beautiful. Yesterday i was somewhat lacking in the creative thinking department, but soon got on my crafting cap and decided to recycle some old pearls that i had broken off a necklace weeks before. My first ring attempt was the one on the left (Pictures comming tomorrow) (with the blue cubes). I made this using 0.6 wre. This was easy to bend and work with but found it hard to make the actual ring with this thickness.

Problem 2 - my fingers! I have quite large fingers and have had to have rings made for me in the past, i cant fit normal bangles over my hands as they are too big. I chose to model the diametre of my ring around that of a small clue stick. The second ring, made with the recycled pearls, is unfortunetly too big! All though this 0.8 was easier to bend into a ring I must have slipped somewhere along the route.

Im going to keep practising at this ring lark, but first i think i need to find something more reliable than a gluestick! Haha. Oh, and i made a new purchase, i have brought the "Marketing and selling you handmade jewellery" and this should be coming soon, so ill give you a reveiw when it gets here! Thats all for now folks, good night - dream beading dreams!

Lydia @ VJ xxx

Silver Plated Wire

2009-05-14T14:52:00.000-07:00

One of my most recent purchases was some silver plated wire from Hobby Craft. Although it was expensive i couldn't stand waiting for some to come in the post after buying on-line so jumped straight in and brought a reel of 0.6mm and 0.8mm.

Again, thanks to MJ magazine I have managed to create my first ever wire jewellery piece! And im really chuffed to buts with it. The first attempt didn't go too well, but after that the final pair of earrings looked stunning! Now after my practice i have discovered two things.
1) Its really good to have about 10cm of scrap wire that you can just have a practise with and ruin to prevent your final product looking like a disaster! I just straightened it out and will practise with it again at a later date.
2) I think I need some flat nose pliers. This is another reason to buy a new plier set, but i am going to have to resist again, to prevent my room from filling with a crazy array of tools! Haha.

Overall I would say i have learnt alot from todays activities, and really want to crack out the fimo again, but am waiting untill i buy a proper fimo cutting knife. But when I do, im sure ill have fimo coming from my ears! Haha.

Thats all for now Folks, but dont forget to check out the website for more items! Im hoping to get super crafty over the weekend! XD

Lydia @ VJ xxx

Postage Updated

2009-05-11T10:55:00.000-07:00

I really was intending to get making tonight, but instead I have uploaded all my items on to the on-line shop. Not everything has an "Add to cart" button yet but I have sorted out postage. The total amount of your order determines the postage cost. So a single item will cost £1.50 ect.

Thats all for today folks but Ill leave you with a couple of pics of the new items I have put on line, including a SWEET fresh water pearl link necklace that I just want for myself! Haha

Lydia @ VJ

xxx

Im addicted to Fimo!

2009-05-08T14:49:00.000-07:00

I think im addicted to fimo! The fact is, as the oven is so expensive to run Im only aloud to cook up my fimo items once a week! Haha. I have just finished my first lot of mini cupcakes, however I dont think these look too good, so will keep them for myself and carry on practising. So im afraid theres more of a wait until they come out! :D

With some white and green I tried to knock up some mini lime slices to use as charms, but the knife I used squashed it down and therefore the lime slices ended up as marble beads! DOH! :P Im going to have to restrick myself for the time being, as Im spending more than im getting. The next thing on the shopping list is a fimo poly blade to make my cutting cleaner, which should improve the quality (fingers crossed).

Im also thinking of investing in a new set of pliers. My flat nose ones are getting a bit old and the carboot sale pliers that have served me so well for so many years deserve a well earned rest for a while! :D

That all for now folks! Keep checking back, i'll post pictures of the new sea-side themed bracelets anotherday! :D

Lydia @ VJ xxx

Everyone Wanted to Eat them!

2009-05-01T09:23:00.000-07:00

I was out and about show casing my Oreo necklace today. Nearly everyone that saw it wanted to try and eat it! (Not that i can guarantee it would taste too good! Haha)

The good news is that today was a major deadline, and therefore I will now have more time to do some jewellery making a beading, which is very exciting! I have uploaded a picture of the Oreos necklace so let me know what you think. I reckon it looks FAB! :D

Lydia @ VJ xxx

Oreos!

2009-04-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

Heya!

Wow, Im a bit new to this whole blog thing, but I really wanted somewhere to post my makes whilst the Vicarage Jewels on-line shop was being finished! :D

I recently purchased a new magazine called "Make Jewellery". Its LUSH! I have had so many ideas out of there that my mind cant keep up with my jewellery making and course work! Haha. It has also inspired me to play with Fimo. Its a polymer clay that can be baked in the oven untill hard, and basically ends up like plastic. I went out and brought £10 worth! And yesterday I spent £12 on "Beads Unlimited!"

In issue two they had these sweetie charm braclets and im a sucker for oreos... so I have made some! I rooted through mums craft boxes and found a really cool pack of Silicone moulding paste. You mix the white and blue past together and then it goes hard, so i stuck a mini oreo in there and made the PERFECT mould! Voila!

Im gunna add these to the range availble on the website, so let me know what you think of them :P I might even expand into trying a large oreo pendant or ear rings!

Thats it for now, I will post some of the making piccys on here for all to see.
Bye bye!
Lydia @ VJ xx