How about a bracelet?

There, I have just given away my secret. Or, in other words, told you what my latest project is.


I am not yet sure how it will turn out. See, what I love most about my project is that they 'make themselves'. It's very simple. If I hit the right idea, making it into a tangible reality is piece of cake and I'm loving every bit of it. If the idea is not so great, soon I'm losing interest and simply abandoning it. I'm not going to get freaky and talk about destiny, let's just say that my creations enjoy bits of personality.


I've already tried making bracelets once upon a time, but it proved to be one of those failed projects, so this time I'm a bit apprehensive. Yet, I'm giving it a try. So far it's going smoothly. If it all works I'll be screaming with pride so you'll be sure to know. If it doesn't work... heheh, I might just as well treat it with elegant silence :)


I'm still wondering how to finish off the new bracelet. Of course it's cross stitched, but I'm hesitating whether to put it on felt or on leather backing. Any suggestions?

Sea Inspirations

Things are speeding up.

I opened the new section today - new project, new chapter in my creative development, new lessons to learn...

I'm excited and a bit anxious how will it go down, but here only patience is the cure.

Why with every new solution you also get a bunch of new problems?

Two appeared straight after I launched today:

1. I will probably need to find some other way to take pics for this line - as much as I love the background of natural coral, it's a bit dark. Well, before I give the idea up for good I'll try to find some win-win solution, but something clearly needs to be done about it. Maybe some advice? How to keep the coral as background but make the pic brighter? I'd appreciate it very much!

2. Better description/search words. Or better category? I've listed this item as jewelry (well, that's what it is...) but new items in jewelry section stay new for about 10 seconds... Bit to short to be seen. I'm all against fighting competition, I'd rather stick to my own niche. Having a category all to myself is quite unlikely, but again - brainstorming waves go this direction and hopefully a solution will present itself.

They usually do, you know?

New projects

I'm nearing the end of my earrings line. All the pairs are stitched, photographed, described and (all but one) put up in my Etsy shop.


What next?


It looks like I'll be working on two projects simultaneously. First is my seaside inspiration jewellery (I'm always torn between American and British spelling of this word..) - I already have a bunch of necklaces ready to go, tons of beach debris to work on and mountains of ideas.


The second project will be a sequel to my cross stitch earrings story. Someone suggested one day that I should expand the range to include necklaces/pendants. I like the idea, so already started to work on some items.


Soon I'll divide the shop into sections and will update as I go.

Supplies from around the world

Now, I bet I will get chastised by all the eco-conscious out there, but at least at the moment a good story is more valuable to me than environmental consciousness. Feel free not to like it if you so choose.


This story is to wonder about two things: how ideas materialise on their own if only you hang on to them and how each part of my new small project has a big story to tell.


I've been toying with the idea of making some business cards. Putting aside all the business advisors screaming it's a complete MUST, I felt that I want to have a little something with my name on it in case someone asks where to find me. I could write on a scrap of paper, but I will be much happier to give away a little pretty card instead.


I looked for ideas for a while, or, to be more precise, marked the project as 'open' and waited for ideas to flow in. And, slowly but surely, they did!


Now, I don't want to go into too many details - first of all, not to spoil the surprise, but also I have a feeling that the whole process, although unbelievably magical to experience, would be plainly boring to read. I'll just say that my supplies include an unusual gift from my sister from years ago, one thing travelling to me from Australia even now, another from UK and another freshly bought on yesterday's trip to Northern Ireland (man, that was a long drive..). Every single thing I'll be using in this project has a big story to remind me of and I'm sure it will change the energy of finished cards.


Well, I guess the only thing left to do now is to post the picture of it when ready. I'll try to do it in few more days, but I have to ask you for a little patience there.

Necklace Flower

A little something to be proud of.

This is a finished batch of my clay-seashell necklaces, made specially for the open day in Dunsandle Castle.

If there's any left over at the end of the day, they will go to etsy, although they may need to wait a little in the queue - still have lot of earrings to put up.

Making these was such a joy! The end effect surprised even myself. What started off as messing with what I had around at the time, ended in a coherent line of pretties to uplift everyone's mood.

I particularly love the way they look all together. Do you?

Kathe archoi kai diskoloi..

The phrase, transcribed from modern Greek (and let please all the Greeks forgive me if I got something wrong - I'm just a beginner) means roughly - all the beginnings are difficult. Yeah, I wanted to say something about starting on a new adventure, and wanted to avoid the usual cliches.

So, the mission is - start a successful online shop and sell handmade - jewellery mostly, but if an idea for something else flows in, I'm not going to fight it for too long.

Easier said than done.

But I hope that the last post on this blog will be: mission accomplished.