Folksy Friday ~ Butterflies

This is my first Folksy Friday blog post, and I thought my first theme would be “Butterflies”.

Summer is nearly upon us, and soon we will have beautiful butterflies fluttering around the flowers in our gardens! I have been a butterfly fan as long as I remember, and to be honest am a sucker for anything butterfly related, so here goes!

First up is “Butterfly Flower Brooch” from Lupin Handmade.

I love this next shop, and such a lovely lady too! I have some of her postcards which I adore, and I am coveting pretty much most of the things she sells! 😉

“Love birds with butterfly – original small art canvas” by Mochalulu

Next is “Oh to be a butterfly” by Cassia Beck Photography

I love the next one as it features one of my other favourite things…buttons! Brighten up a dull wall with these lovely 3d wall decorations…

“Vintage patterned butterfly & flower 3d wall art” by 100 Percent Delicate

Something a little unusual and perhaps darker… I love this!

“Butterfly Meadows original canvas by Verity Nicholson” by Tiphereth Art

This is adorable! What a lovely shop!

“4 really very lovely postcards” by Lil Sonny Sky

and finally… can not have a butterfly theme without featuring my friend’s lovely shop! All my twitter followers will probably recognise this photo! 😉

“Flutterby Love necklace” by Crafty Little Mia

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I hope you all enjoyed my first ever Folksy Friday post! Have a fabulous bank holiday weekend! 🙂

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“England” charm bracelet.

Quite a while ago, I was given an idea to do something “world cup” themed for the patriotic female English football team supporters. With World Cup season upon us, time to  design & create these has been paramount!

For several months, I toyed with various ideas and themes, and decided to try something feminine, yet substantial. Something that jingled satisfactorily on the wrist when cheering the team on!! In my mind, it needed to be versatile so it could also be worn on a variety of other occasions. I wanted the bracelet to be suitably patriotic but not over-the-top screaming “England” or “football”, and hopefully the finished piece is testament to my ideas!

As I make a lot of bracelets, particularly charm style ones, I decided to go down this route. I have been wanting to break-away a little from buttons and work on more beaded items recently, so this was the first decision I made. I wanted an abundance of beads in the colours of  St. George’s Cross – red and white clustered together. I chose small red and white glass round beads, and round discs. Nestled amongst the bead clusters, I wanted to incorporate something “girly” and feminine also, and managed to get hold of some pretty lozenge-shaped red & white floral glass beads, and some similar smaller round ones. I chose to have four silver-plated “England” flag charms on the bracelet, and as a nod to my button passion, a few little red buttons too! 🙂

The bracelet takes quite a while to make, but is ultimately one of the most enjoyable bracelets I have made to date, purely because it feels so gorgeous to hold (and wear!) – the beads drape naturally and jingle so nicely against the wrist.

I love the fiddly, long-winded (and nail damaging!) process of assembling each of the headpins with the silver-lined crystal seed beads, and watching the bracelet take shape. The finished bracelet weighs approx. 75g, and are approximately 19cm in length, so whilst it is delicate and feminine in many ways, it has weight and strength in it too!

I have sold the first one already on Folksy (pictured), and am hoping some more supplies hurry up soon as I have at least another three more orders! Each one will be very similar to the original,  but ultimately each will be individually handmade, and equally lovely!

The bracelet’s are £18 + p&p, for silver-plated. Sterling Silver available upon request. They come lovingly gift-wrapped and presented in a sturdy gift box. Perfect for giving! 🙂

“I heart England”

Took a  gentle step back into my jewellery making after loss of recent mojo, with some earrings inspired by a good friend of mine, who a) loves earrings and b) loves England! A true patriot and supporter of all things purely English!

The earrings are perfectly feminine and dainty, featuring a trio of little red & white heart buttons, all held together with silver-plated jump-rings. They hang really beautifully, and I am very happy with them.

There are five sets of these earrings for sale over on my Folksy shop… go take a look by clicking here!

Story of a bracelet – “Jardin d’Eliza”

I recently made a bracelet I was proud of. Dare I say, I love pretty much most of the things I photograph and try to sell, if I don’t love it, I don’t sell it. It’s that simple. But, this particular bracelet I was quite captivated by, even when I was making it, I knew it was special. It took quite a while to collate all the right buttons that I felt worked with each other. I have quite a substantial button stash now, but I have particular favourites, some are pretty unusual and have sentimental value due to where they came from…quite a few of my favourite buttons featured in this bracelet.

I started giving my items “names” or an “identity” of some sorts, as it helped me keep track of what I was making, and I feel it gives each piece a personality or theme. With this bracelet, I couldn’t quite get a name I was happy with, until I sent out a message on Twitter and someone responded. Not just any old someone, a friend who had been through some real personal turmoil in her life, and in particular the last year. Her username inspired me immediately, and looking at the bracelet, it all fitted into place. The colours, the flower, the contrasts between dark, and light… and so “Jardin d’Eliza” – Eliza’s Garden, was “born”. I listed the bracelet for sale on Folksy, and it sold within 40 minutes, and whilst I was happy to have a sale, there is a little part of me that could easily have kept it for myself! I am just happy it’s gone to a very lovely lady who I am sure will love it as much as I do.

“…Eliza looked to the stars on a dark winter night; with the gentle touch of her childrens’ hands intertwined with her fingers, she took gentle steps into springtime and the promise of a warm loving future…”