Spring is in the air

Spring finally feels like it's here. The snow's stopped and it feels like it's finally beginning to warm up a bit. Yesterday, whilst I was out walking, the air was cool and crisp, but with the sun shining on me, it was quite warming. It was nice and refreshing. There are plenty of birds visiting my garden and soon the flowers will be coming out and blossom growing on the trees. I get a lot of my inspiration at this time of year from the plants and flowers (see photos).

Inspiration for Dandelion Pendant

Inspiration for Daisy Collection

As well as my Daisy Collection and Dandelion Pendant, I have made items inspired by blossom, leaves and trees. Below are examples of some of these items. I'm hoping to make some more nature inspired designs this spring too. In the pipeline are some daffodil earrings. Keep your eye out for more items!

Tree Pendant

Wire Leaf Pendant

Blossom Pendant

Another sign of spring being on the way is the approaching celebration of Mother's Day. This year it's on Sunday 10th March. It's a good day to celebrate our mothers and/or the women in our lives that have helped us and looked after us. Do you have any plans for Mother's Day? If you're looking for present inspiration, feel free to visit my Folksy shop for ideas.

4 sales in just over a week!

It's been such a good week since I got back from holiday that I just had to tell people. Within the first day of re-opening my shop on Folksy, I had a sale. I wonder if they had been waiting for me to re-open to buy it.

My first sale - Frosted Leaf

Two days later I had another sale on Folksy. It was one of my items that I have set as 'made to order', so I made it and sent it off.

My second sale - Daisy Studs

Then a friend of a friend wanted some jewellery as an anniversary present. They looked at my jewellery and wanted something making that was similar to some of the items with a few changes. I designed and made them a set of matching earrings and necklace. (If you'd like a design making for you feel free to contact me on jenny@silverchestnut.co.uk)

My third sale - Semi Textured Set

My final sale, and hopefully not the last, of the week was today on Folksy Some of my earrings this time. All these sales are really good. I hope it's a sign of more sales to come, although it does mean that I have to make a few more bits of jewellery to restock before the Christmas craft fairs.

My final sale - Dangly Textured Earrings

Christmas already?!

No it's not Christmas yet, but I am thinking about it! Normally I don't start thinking about Christmas until about the end of November. I don't even start buying presents until mid December, unless I happen to see something I think someone will really like. So it's quite unusual for me to be thinking about Christmas in September. Here are some of things I've been planning...

Designs
I have started designing (and making) some more winter/Christmas themed items. I've also tried to design them so that people can wear them any time of the year, although I am considering making some snowflake designs. Here are two of the designs:

Frosted Leaf inspired by frost on leaves

Star Earrings

These are currently on sale in my Folksy shop if you fancy a look:
http://folksy.com/shops/SilverChestnut

Craft Fairs
I've been researching and booking craft fairs. I have 3 booked; 3rd November, 17th November and 15th December. I'm going to leave it at 3 fairs this year because there will be 2 weeks between each of them and the Christmas jewellery party I'm planning (see below). This gives me time to restock anything I've sold and make any orders I've recieved.

Jewellery Party
I'm planning a Christmas themed jewellery party for the beginning of December, to which I'm inviting some friends, family and long term customers of mine. There'll be Christmas music and decorations, with food like mince pies and biscuits shaped in Christmas themed things. As well as jewellery to buy for Christmas presents of course (or possibly as a treat!).

It's quite exciting. It's only just September but I am getting excited about planning and making stuff for the Christmas events. I'll blog about the events closer to the time to let you know more.

Are any of you planning things for Christmas yet? Have you started buying presents? Or are you like me and tend to leave it to the last minute? Let me know your thoughts!

Welcome to Silver Chestnut's blog!

Wire Leaf Pendant

Welcome to Silver Chestnut's blog.

I'm new to all this blog stuff so I'm still working out what to write and how often, etc. I thought I would start by introducing myself and explaining a bit about what I do.

Blossom Necklace

I'm a designer-maker from West Yorkshire. I design and make jewellery, mainly using silver. I like creating different surfaces and setting stones. I get a lot of inspiration from nature. I have a range of daisy items and blossom items. I also get inspiration from Celtic designs. I've included a few examples of my work in this blog for you.

Twisted Ring

I sell my jewellery on-line, at craft fairs and in a shop (with the possibility of more!). The website I sell my items through is Folksy, a website that showcases UK designers and makers. Feel free to browse my shop: http://folksy.com/shops/SilverChestnut