I'm back on Folksy

I'm back on Folksy!

I first opened a Folksy shop years ago, not long after they launched, and were still in beta mode.

I left and closed my shop when they decided to enforce a rule about what was deemed "handmade" which affected many of my crafting friends, mainly jewellery makers.  Whilst this rule didn't really affect me I saw the small businesses run by my friends torn apart and they were devastated.  They were forced off Folksy and most moved over to Etsy. I felt that Folksy had treated my friends badly - they should have enforced their rules from day one.  I decided I didn't like how Folksy had treated their customers (us, the sellers) and closed my shop in support of my friends. I moved over to Etsy too and found that being on Etsy was the best thing that could have happened to me. My Etsy sales have increased year on year - shipping all over the world.

However I've always felt that I needed a UK presence too and have thought about reopening on Folksy for a while.  The site is only for UK sellers and I like that - it keeps out the sellers from the Far East selling at silly prices that we can't compete with.

So I'm back on Folksy.  I've opened a shop and am slowly stocking it.  I've bought a "plus" account and am going to give it a year to see what happens.

Here's a link to my new FOLKSY shop - Click Here

The Queen's 90th Birthday

I thought I'd make some items to celebrate the Queen's 90th birthday that the country is celebrating this weekend.
All these pieces have been made with old, used, postage stamps that I have decoupaged into bezels, sealed with a coat of resin and then made up into jewellery.

I have some more to finish and make up into jewellery. They are all listed in my Etsy shop (if you put "elizabeth" into the search box you should find everything available).

Coins in Resin

We have a box of old coins at home.  Some are pre-decimal UK coins but we also have some French Francs left over from holidays.  I selected a few and cleaned them as best I could - and then cast them in resin to make pendants and keyrings.

They seemed quite popular so I then bought a bag of old sixpences with a variety of different dates. They were always called "lucky sixpence" here in the UK so I felt they were a good coin to cast in resin. Some of them were very dirty as they had all been in circulation but I got out my trusty old toothbrush and gave them a good scrub.

Here's some of them...

1981 French Franc

1966 UK old Penny

1966 UK Halfpenny

1991 French Franc with Heather

1994 French Franc

1955 UK Lucky Sixpence

1960 UK Lucky Sixpence

I gave some of them a border of dried heather that I had picked from my garden and pressed to use in my flower jewellery. 

The above items are just a selection of what I have in stock at the time of writing.  To see what I have in stock today please click this link Resin Coin Jewellery

Lilliput People Jewellery

I'm always on the lookout for something quirky & different to cast in resin.  Bearing in mind it has to be really quite small - probably smaller than you'd think.
I found some miniature people or figurines when looking for something else and just had to give them a go.

Man & Woman earrings. 

Dad & Children necklace.  

Two model girls earrings. 

Momma on a mission necklace.  

People bottle necklace.  

Couple sitting in necklace.

Man & Woman thimble necklace.  

Twins necklace.  

I was asked recently if I could make a necklace for a girl who has two dads, instead of the conventional family.  I'd been thinking about making family necklaces with two dads or two mums - but hadn't got further than just thinking about it. I made a few necklaces and my customer chose the one she wanted.  The others are now listing in my Etsy shop.  I'll be making a two mums necklace soon.

All the above are listed on Etsy - click here to see more

Coffee Bean Jewellery

I've been making more jewellery with real coffee beans in resin.
I always seem to make them in batches - and always forget what a pain in the butt they are. A constant battle with air bubbles.  I check & check again - am happy that there are no air bubbles and then go away to do something else.  A while later I come back and check again - and there's always at least one air bubble that sneaked in.  Now bearing in mind that you make resin pieces upside down in moulds so it means lifting the mould up in the air but not tipping it so the resin spills or moves too much.
It's all worth the effort as the result is a lovely quirky piece of jewellery.

These are little stud earrings. 

A coffee bean bottle necklace.  

Coffee bean charm necklace with cup & saucer and coffee pot charms.

Coffee bean cufflinks.

Coffee bean earrings.  

Coffee bean cabochon ring.  

Coffee bean cufflinks. 

And it always seems a pity to throw away the pieces where the air bubbles won - so I list them as seconds at a reduced price. 

All the pieces above are listed in my Etsy shop - click here to see what's currently in stock.

Snail Shell Jewellery

I bought a bag of little snail shells. The underside of the shell have a really pretty pattern.  They were in the flower arranging section of the craft store but I thought they'd look good cast in resin jewellery.
All these items are listed in my Etsy shop.

I haven't added links to the individual items but if you visit my Etsy shop and put "snail" or "shells" in the search box you'll find everything listed.  Click here to visit my Etsy shop

Steampunk Jewellery made with Small Watch Parts

All these items have been made with tiny recycled watch parts.  Some have the watch parts cast in resin and then made into jewellery and keyrings.  Others have been set into blank jewellery bezels and sealed with a coat of clear resin.

All these pieces are listing on Etsy.  If you click here and type "steampunk" into the search box you'll see everything available for sale.