Nails - Jewel Decals

I'm in love with these jewel nail decals by Jolly Good Studio. I'm big on supporting other crafters, so when I saw these (and obviously fell in love with them) I couldn't resist.

I only used three on each hand (I want to make them last!). They are very easy to apply. Just cut out a gem, apply a little water with a paintbrush, slide the gem off the backing paper and apply to the nail. A good top coat will seal it. I applied the decals over Topshop Tidal which is such a pretty grey-blue colour. I love it.

Wolf & Moon

I first mentioned Wolf & Moon in my in my Christmas Wishlist. Those earrings (infact all the jewellery) are still firmly on my wishlist but, browsing the website one evening, I couldn't resist making a little order.



I am a total magpie, so couldn't say no to the glitter hex studs and the glitter shard studs. The hex studs are really cute and wearable - they'd go with lots of things. I chose the pink glitter shard studs, which are a little unusual and 'out there' compared to the other studs in my collection. But I really love them, and look how sparkly!!



Wolf & Moon have quickly become one of my favourite handmade jewellery stores. Beautifully handcrafted jewellery, and the service was great too. My earrings arrived well packaged, with a care note on how to take care of the jewellery so that it lasts a long time. I'd definitely recommend popping over to the website if you're after some fun and quirky jewellery.

A Handmade Christmas

Apologies if this post is a little early for some of you, but I have been thinking about Christmas for a good few weeks now. I'm well on the way with my shopping (about halfway done!) and have been playing Michael Bublé's Christmas album non-stop (even, quite shamefully, on my iPhone in the gym).

I do love a good crafty project and I really love handmade gifts - they're so much more personal and I think people appreciate them that little bit more. Pinterest is a great source for creative ideas, and I thought I would share a few of my favourites which I have come across so far.



DIY Snow Globes
Such a sweet idea. And they seem very easy to make too! I really want to make some to dot around the house. We are quite big for decorating when it comes to Christmas - my Mum goes a bit mad!



Chocolate 'Dipping' Spoons
These looks super easy, and who doesn't love cosying up with a cup of hot chocolate? I love the fact you can customise them so much - marshmallows, sprinkles, chocolate drops (if you can't get enough), nuts, coconut etc. These would look lovely wrapped in cellophane bags and tied with baker's twine. A little token attached to a gift perhaps?



Glitter Candles
I love making candles, and the idea of adding glitter makes it even more appealing! Gotta love a bit of sparkle at Christmas. This step by step DIY makes it super easy.



Filled Mason Jars
I love the idea of filling mason jars with sweet treats. The possibilities are pretty much endless - hot chocolate, peppermint bark (recipe here), sweets (Ben's personal favourite), cookies, brownies, fudge...or you could create a kit depending on the person's interest. Craft kits full of mini craft kits, nail kits full of nail polish, nail files, decals etc. Decorate the jar as you wish, complete with a pretty ribbon, and you have a lovely personal gift!



Gold Dipped Cups
These cups look so lovely and classic. Very simple and effective. I think I would be very happy if I received something like this as a gift!

I'm looking forward to trying some of these in the lead up to Christmas. I'm also excited (moreso than I should be) about wrapping. I have some ideas up my sleeve and I can't wait to get started. I doubt I'll be able to wait much longer!

Will you be doing anything creative for Christmas?

DIY Gold Dipped Druzy Ring

You will need:
A druzy cabochon - Lots can be found on Etsy
A ring blank - Etsy
Liquid Leaf metallic paint - ebay
A thin paintbrush
Strong glue




Cover your surface! The liquid leaf stains, so it's best to put some paper down before you start.



Start by painting the black of the druzy cab with the liquid leaf. Leave to dry for about an hour.




Flip the cab over and carefully paint around the sides, and slightly around the top of the stone as well. Leave to dry for another hour.



Use the glue to secure the druzy onto your ring blank.



I absolutely love liquid leaf, and there are so many things you could use it for. I decided to make a dipped quartz necklace, too!



What do you think of this DIY?

Raw Chocolate

I felt the need to blog about this chocolate. I first discovered Ailey Mae's shop last year when Victoria mentioned her lovely handmade chocolate in a blog post. I think I went and bought a couple of bars immediately, and I don't think they lasted very long!

I paid another visit to Ailey Mae's shop the other week, to discover she didn't have any of my favourite 'cashew blonde' listed. I sent Ailey a message, and she kindly offered to make me some. I bought a bundle of 5 bars, which cost me £16.00 (£3.00 postage). Individual bars are £3.50, which might seem quite dear compared to regular chocolate - but Ailey's chocolate is handmade with love, and it's actually good for you!

Ailey says:

Handcrafted using the finest quality natural ingredients.
Kept raw to retain the superfood benefits of cacao and with an exquisite rich taste.

Sugar, gluten and dairy free.

Cacao in its raw state is considered a superfood – it contains over 300 nutritional compounds, it is one of the richest sources of antioxidants and is full of essential minerals – especially rich in iron,
zinc and magnesium.
It even contains the natural “love” molecule PEA.

Because my chocolate isn’t cooked it retains all of these nutritional benefits.

Not only is it amazingly delicious, it is actually good for you!

As well as two bars of cashew blonde, I also went for orange & brazil nut, rose & pistachio and roasted hazelnut. One bar of cashew blonde has gone, and I've made a start on the orange & brazil nut. AMAZING chocolate - so creamy, and it feels like such a treat but it also feels good knowing it's so good for you, too! Ailey also added an extra of a peanut butter truffle to my order, which seemed to disappear quite quickly! Yum. I want some of those next.

DIY Glitter Candle Holder

You will need:

♥ Mod Podge
♥ Glitter (I used some GOSH nail glitter which I'd had for ages but never used)
♥ Candle/tealight holder (mine's a £1 job from Primark)
♥ Small bowl
♥ Paintbrush

Put some of the glitter into your small bowl...oooh, so pretty!



Squeeze some Mod Podge into the bowl and mix with the glitter.



Apply the glitter-glue mixture onto your holder using the paintbrush. You will have to place the holder onto a sheet of paper so you can get all around the holder. I also applied some of the mixture around the top of the holder. Allow to dry, then apply a second coat.



Part-way through making this, I remembered I had some blue glitter from a Crafty Creatives box so I decided to try a dip-dye/ombré look. I used the same method as before, but only applying the blue glitter-glue about half way up. I then finished with more of the greeny-blue glitter-glue, merging the two colours together.




You could also use this to store bits & bobs - such as make up brushes - and this DIY can be used on a whole load of other things! I'm thinking shoes next?

New jewellery...

These will soon be sent off to The Gift Gallery York, once I have made a few more pieces. But, as always, remember I am open to custom orders. Just leave a comment here or tweet me :)

Hand knitted hat.

I've not found many good things about this bitterly cold weather we've had this week. I've been constantly cold, and my hands now resemble those of an old lady's. However, one good thing that has come out of it - I've made use of my lovely new knitted hat!

I commissioned Fiona to make me this. I had been after one for a while. I was pretty particular with what I wanted - dark green, chunky knit, bobble - could I find it on the hightstreet? Nope.
I wish I could knit - I've tried it a couple of times and given up after a while, but I would love to try again and make my nephew some cute little booties!
Fiona is an amazing knitter. She'd previously made me a knitted peterpan collar, so I knew I'd be pleased with my hat.

Excuse my offensive face. I wanted to show you how it looks on.

My hat cost me £20 [including p&p], which I think is such a bargain - especially as it's a custom-made item. Fiona plans to make more of these, so if you fancy one, contact her via her blog or twitter :)

Rediscovering my mojo...

Since closing my Folksy shop a year or so ago, my jewellery designing/making has lacked somewhat. I found myself losing my mojo a little, even though I was still to send pieces to The Gift Gallery in York, a gorgeous little shop full of handmade gems.

Recently, however, I am pleased to say that I have rediscovered my mojo and have gone back to my roots of making jewellery using wire. I currently can't really afford to buy metal clay - although, to be fair, I have nearly made up for it as I have a new love for druzy! Which is hardly cheap...

My first make using my beautiful Mystic Rainbow Druzy were these wire wrapped earrings. I made them using a lovely light rose gold wire. I absolutely love them and have worn them a lot since making them. I've since made some for the lovely Nat, too.



I had one druzy bead left over, so decided to wire wrap it and use it as a focal for a necklace. I also wire wrapped some pretty Czech glass and turquoise gemstone beads [can't remember what they are!] and added them either side. I think the colours go pretty well together. I now need to decide whether to keep this for myself, or send it to The Gift Gallery!?



I'm now awaiting a few more pieces of druzy, which I'm sure I'll swiftly use as I've definitely got my jewellery making head screwed firmly back on again! Let's hope it lasts!

I hope you're all enjoying a lovely, lazy Sunday - just like I am. We didn't get out of bed until 1pm, which we rarely do, and it was lovely! After some lunch of tomato soup, we headed out into the garden and made a snowcat, and Ben started a snowball fight...which didn't last long as our hands were already so numb. I made a gingerbread latte to warm myself up and have had my head stuck in my kindle for most of the time since then :)

Craft project - wooden floral bunting.

Here's my latest craft project! I made use of the wooden bunting I got in my August Crafty Creatives box, and I'm so pleased with how it turned out.



I decided to paint a design on my bunting, and went for roses - I love them, and I have a lot of floral things in my room so I figured it'd match well!

I got some acrylic paint and paintbrushes from Hobbycraft [cost me less than a tenner so not too bad!] and got to work. I hadn't really planned exactly what colour combinations I was going to do - I just went with the flow and mixed colours as I went along!







I used the yellow paper string which came in my Crafty Creatives box to hang the bunting. I really like it. It might not be perfect, but that's the charm of handmade. It looks so pretty hung in my room :)

Did you get the August Crafty Creatives box? What have you made so far?

Rose gold name necklace.

Being a jewellery maker/crafter myself, I really appreciate handmade things and am always on the hunt for handmade gifts for others, as well as myself.

I actually stumbled across Specially For U whilst browsing on Etsy - like I do a lot. I love rose gold jewellery so I was instantly drawn to the personalised rose gold name necklace. I popped it into my favourites straight away and it stayed there until I finally caved and purchased one a few weeks ago.




I'm extremely happy with my necklace - I purchased it on the 17th July, then it was dispatched just a few days later and I had it about a week later. So it came very quickly, and it was lovingly wrapped too.

The quality is amazing. You can choose how long you want the chain to be. I asked for mine to be 45cms, and it's the perfect length for me - I thought that if it was too long I could always alter it anyway, but it's fine :)



I highly recommend this shop if you're looking for a piece of personalised jewellery. They also make sterling silver and gold pieces, so there are other options if rose gold isn't for you!

DIY personalised porcelain.

I have to say, I was a bit aprehensive when I saw this on pinterest. It seemed a bit too good to be true - just use a sharpie to draw on a porcelain mug, then bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Well, I tried it and I was right to be aprehensive. My design rubbed off as soon as I scrubbed it.

So that's when I decided to buy myself a few porcelain pens - designed to be used on porcelain, and there's no need to bake! Just wait a few days for it to dry fully, and it's dishwasher-safe too :)





So all you need is the pens and a porcelain mug [or dish, or whatever!] - I got both from hobbycraft, but ebay is good for the pens and you can pick up a mug for cheaps in a charity shop. I think this is a great gift idea - keeps the cost down, and you can personalise it to the person's tastes.