Happy New Year...

Happy New Year...
Here we go - back to normal and I've got loads to get my teeth into this year. Nick was supposed to go back to work today after a nice long relaxing christmas break but like most of britain we've had the lurgy & he hasn't shaken it off yet. Hopefully he'll be well enough to go in tomorrow.
I'm planning to change the name of my jewellery shop on GroovyCart from Secret Jewellery to Just K Jewellery - it gets so confusing having online shops with different names. The plan is to have just one online shop eventually which will be Just K Jewellery on GroovyCart. All the different domain names I own will be redirected to take you to this shop. I'll be making the change this week and will need to check all links, listings etc. If anyone finds a link that doesn't work I'd be really grateful for a quick email...

Personalised photo cards

I've been playing around with my photo editing software - I needed a card for my niece to give her some money for christmas and had left it too late to get one of my card making chums to create a bespoke card for me. I tried making a card with lots of glitter, glue, embellishments etc but just made a horrible mess - definitely the before not the "here's one I made earlier..." Where do you all get the patience from? So then tried playing around with photographs on the PC - I'd scanned all mums old family photos so had a selection to experiment with. The result is below - I hope she's not too embarrassed as she's now a stunningly beautiful teenager...

christmas is just around the corner...

Only a week to christmas day...
I'm pretty well organised - all presents bought, non perishable food bought and safely stowed away. All orders for bespoke jewellery have been fulfilled and posted. Each order received for jewellery on my websites is being posted as soon as it comes in to give the best possible chance of arriving in time for christmas - Royal Mail permitting. Will the queues in the post office ever reduce? I've spent so much time over the past week or so in a Post Office queue.
This is Nicks last day at work until the new year & my son comes home on monday morning after dropping his fiancee off at Gatwick airport. She's going home to Greece for christmas - they are getting married in Spetses next year & she's got things to organise at home. I don't think they'll ever spend christmas apart again.
Not sure if I'll be able to update this blog until the new year so I'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone who takes the time to visit & find out what I've been up to a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR. I hope the festive season brings you everything you wish for.
Apologies to anyone who has used my jewellery making projects for the lack of them recently - my plan for next year is to write as many as possible when it is quiet & keep them filed away for publication at regular intervals in 2009.
Thank you to everyone who has bought my jewellery this year - your orders are much appreciated...

photo keyrings...

I've been uploading my mums box of old photos onto the PC. I wanted to use some of them to make some photo keyrings and decided it would be sensible to scan them all while I had them. A decision I questioned half way through - it took so much longer than I expected. An interesting exercise though. When you look at the photos on the PC screen you see so much more - especially family likenesses.

Anyway, here's my first attempts - all from scanned photos.....

dad about 50 years ago

my brother & me about 45 years ago

my son about 25 years ago

The keyring with my sons photo was the first one I made & the resin has affected the photo. I tried a different technique for the others which worked perfectly.

I'll be adding these personalised keyrings to my shops very soon...

here you are...

These are the results of my experiments of embedding hair in resin.

I've put too much in the pink one and needed to remove the straggly bits from the brown one but they've worked better then I expected for a first attempt. A childs hair will be much finer and will be more effective. Obviously the actual pendants are much smaller than the photo...

embedding hair in resin...

I've been asked to make some resin pieces that have hair from a little girls 1st haircut embedded in the resin. I'm not sure how this will work and have been experimenting with a little bit of my own hair as I don't want to make mistakes with the real thing. They are destined to be presents for the grandparents at christmas - with the option for the grandmothers to wear them as necklaces & keyrings for the grandads. Not sure what to do with my experimental pieces when they have fully cured - who would want to wear my grey streaked hair, apart from me . I'm going to the hairdressers next week to get it coloured again - but I'm not vain !!!

This resin pendant has been a popular design & I've been asked to repeat it a number of times so I've added a chain and moved it to my finished resin jewellery category in Just K Jewellery.


I've also added this bracelet to Just K Jewellery - the blue flower beads are really pretty and I've used some cream swarovski pearl beads too which offset the blue beads beautifully.

more of my handmade resin jewellery...

when I look at the kind of jewellery I make I worrry myself sometimes... my style is so varied & I seem to flit from idea to idea. I've been experimenting over the past few days - had quite a few disasters & made loads of mistakes but that's how I learn. I think I've stumbled on another interesting effect - but the pieces haven't fully cured so I won't know if it's worked until I demold them.

While I wait for the resin to cure I've finished these pieces and added them to The Secret Jewellery Boutique.

This pretty necklace has lilac flower embelishments embedded in clear glasslike resin. I put it on a sterling silver bail and chain which seems to set it off beautifully. (note to me - must not wear it myself!!!)

these pink earrings are really kitsch & fun. Takes me back to my days as a hippy chick...

these earrings have dolphin embellishments embedded in clear glasslike resin