New Shop and Offer

After much pondering, I have finally decided to open an Etsy shop. It's a bit like an American version of Folksy, where I currently sell on-line. I decided to have another on-line shop so that I could hopefully reach a wider audience.

It sells the same items as my Folksy shop, at the same prices, so feel free to use either of them when you want to buy an item. Why not have a browse:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SilverChestnut

As a celebration of the new shop I am currently running an offer for the next two weeks. Receive 15% discount from your total spend (excluding shipping/P&P costs). This offer is only available in my Etsy shop until Saturday 23rd March. Use the following code when you get to the check out: NEWSHOP15

If you have any problems working out how to use it, here's a guide:
http://www.etsy.com/help/article/350

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.

Valentine's Day and Love Spoons

Yes, it's that time of year again when people start preparing for Valentine's Day. I'm sure you've already noticed the shift in the shops from Christmas cards and gifts to Valentine's Day cards and gifts being on sale. Do you like Valentine's Day or do you find it irritating? Are you planning on doing anything for it? Well to get you in the mood (and hopefully not annoy you if you don't like it) I thought I'd share my Reloved Spoon Collection.

 

 

 

My Reloved Spoon Collection is a collection of pendants inspired by Welsh love spoons. Welsh love spoons are a symbol of love, traditionally carved from wood. "The lovespoon was given to a young woman by her suitor. It was important for the girl's father to see that the young man was capable of providing for the family and woodworking."* There are a variety of things that were carved into the spoon, which symbolised specific meanings. Here are a few examples:




Bell - Weddings, anniversary or together in harmony
Chain - A wish to be together forever or a number of children
Heart - Love
Horseshoe - Good Luck
Lock - Security
Twisted Stem - Two lives become one, or togetherness

 

I wanted to take to make my love spoons designs a bit different, so I decided to incorporate the idea of recycling and upcycling. All of my love spoons are made from unwanted spoons, most of which I have bought from charity shop. As well as combining the design ideas, I decided to combine them for the name too, hence the name of the collection; Reloved Spoon Collection. I thought the name fitted quite well because they are spoons that are now wanted instead of unwanted, recycled and reused for something new. They are re-loved.

For those of you who already know about my collection you will see there is a new addition (the second picture in the blog). I'm hoping to get another new one out before Valentines Day, so keep your eye out.

Why not visit the Reloved section in my shop for more details of those on sale:
http://folksy.com/shops/SilverChestnut?shop_section=reloved_spoons

Research Links:
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovespoon
http://www.welsh-lovespoons.co.uk/meanings.html

How to put on a three band ring

I have previously written about the russian inspired rings that I have been making (http://silverchestnut.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/russian-inspired-rings.html). It is not obvious as to the best way to put the rings on. When I made one for myself, sometimes the ring would go on smoothly, whereas other times it was tight and a bit uncomfortable. At first I couldn't understand why, but I have since worked out what I was doing wrong, so I decided to share this with you for all those you own or want to buy a 3 band ring.

Russian Inspired Ring

It's a lot simpler than it might appear. The main thing is to make sure that all three bands are aligned in the right direction. If you look at the photo below, you will see how all the bands go over and under each other in the same way. When this is done, push the three bands together. (It should look like the top photo.) The bands should then roll over each other as the ring is put onto the finger, making it easy to put on and and more comfortable.

All 3 bands aligned

If the bands are not in aligned, the bands will not roll over each other and therefore restrict movement of the bands. If you look at the photo below you will see how the far right band goes over and under in the opposite way to the others. This tends to make the ring feel a bit tighter when you are putting it on and it will not be quite as comfortable.

Bands not aligned

I hope that helps any of you who have been struggling with your three band rings and those of you who are thinking of buying one. I currently have some on sale in my Folksy shop if you fancy a look:
http://folksy.com/shops/SilverChestnut?shop_section=rings

Merry Christmas!!

I'm now going on my Christmas break for just over a week, so thought I'd send you all a Christmas message.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I hope you all have a fun and relaxing time whatever you're doing.

Thank you to everyone who's the time to read my blog. I look forward to writing more in the new year.

Updates on the Christmas season

I hadn't realised how long it had been since I had last written anything. It just shows how busy it's been as it's been getting closer to Christmas. Since I last wrote I have been doing a mixture of making orders, restocking, selling online and preparing for craft fairs.

I was just expecting to have one craft fair after my jewellery party, but I ended up being at two. The one I was expecting was in Ilkley on Saturday 15th December, but the last minute one was a fundraising event for Christians Against Poverty (CAP).
The fundraising event was held at the CAP headquarters last week for all the staff to attend. I took along my jewellery and then gave a percentage of my takings to the charity. There was some interest and I sold two items. One possibility for the lack of sales is that my items were a reasonable amount more than the other stalls, so people hadn't prepared and brought enough money with them. People did take business cards though, so I did do a bit of advertising.

The craft fair in Ilkley was in a good location and was quite busy. The was a good flow of people throughout the day. There was also a lot of interest in my jewellery. However, unfortunately people's interest didn't turn into sales. I sold one pair of earrings, and a couple of cheaper stocking filler items. Again, people took business cards so I may get future sales out of it.

The craft fairs I have done this year don't seem to have been successful in terms of sales. It has varied at each craft fair how busy it's been and the type of people looking round, but I have never made much more than the cost of the table. I have felt rather disappointed with the results. I'm unsure if it's the type of fair, the style of jewellery, the price or the display. At most fairs I've had interest, so I don't think it can be the style or display, and I can't really go cheaper on the price, so maybe I'm attending the wrong fairs or shouldn't be attending fairs at all.

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, feel free to contact me with them
Has you ever had a stall at a fair before and had similar results? What did you do? Have you done fairs that you've done well at?
Have you been to a craft fair before? What attracts you to certain stalls?

Busy week ending in a jewellery party

This week's been a busy week, with a mixture of Christmas shopping, stocking up and jewellery party preparation.

It started off with a day out in York. I went to do some Christmas shopping with my Mum. It turned out to be a very wet day and rained most of the day, which put a damper on things, quite literally! We bought a few presents and got a few ideas for various people, but didn't get quite as much as we'd hoped. I don't think we were quite in the mood for Christmassy things with all the rain. We did have a quick stop off at Betty's though, which is favourite place for a treat in my family. We bought a cake to share and I bought one for my husband.

I then spent the next few days doing a mixture of things. I helped out some friends with house sitting and baby sitting. I stocked up on a few items, like my blossom earrings (see photo), and created a few new items. I also made a ring to that someone had ordered.

I spent the rest of the time preparing for my jewellery party on Friday. This was fun and a bit stressful at the same time. I had fun choosing the Christmas music to play, decorating the house and making goody bags for those who attended (see photo). However, I did get a bit stressed making sure I'd got the house tidy, bought enough nibbles and making sure my displays were good. Then finally came the jewellery party! It was a fun time, relaxing with friends with good conversation, Christmas music, and mince pies and sweets to nibble. It was good to catch up, as well as make a few sales.


Are you looking for a party idea? Would you enjoy hosting a jewellery party? Silver Chestnut offers jewellery parties as a service*. When you host a jewellery party, you provide venue, guests, and nibbles. In return for your hosting skills you receive 10% of the takings**. Silver Chestnut provides the displays and handmade jewellery, and will be on hand on the night to answer any questions. If you are interested, please get in touch on the following details or add a comment below:

Phone: 07580633945
Email: jenny@silverchestnut.co.uk


*Currently, I am only able to definitely offer this service in or around Leeds. Other destinations may become possible, dependant on travel times and accommodation, so do not let it put you off contacting me.
**Terms & Conditions Apply