New things and old things back in stock!

Sorry for the long and unplanned absence!  I've finally moved house, up to South Yorkshire, and started a new day job.  I'm a full-time primary school teacher now, in year 5 and have a house full of boxes.  As such I've had very little time (or energy) to dedicate to other things!

I have been doing some crafting though, and ordered replacement bits and pieces, and made a few new designs.  Firstly, I'm very pleased to say that I now have my Hunger Games themed charm bracelets back in stock.  These bracelets have been really popular, so if you missed out before, now's the time!  :D

You can now find these bracelets here in my shop at £10.00 plus p&p.

My key necklaces from the last post are now back in stock too, with the full range of birthstones, and I also have wire spiral earrings to match my wire spiral necklace:

And finally, I've designed a Halloween charm bracelet!  Featuring some cute tibetan silver charms with orange and purple Swarovski crystals, it's perfect as a bit of spooky sparkle this Halloween.  I have lots of these charms in stock, so if you wanted matching earrings, that can be done too :)

So there are new things happening at Willowbrook Artistry all the time, even if it seems a bit quiet - do keep checking back! :)

What I've been making - Custom Orders :)

I've had a crafty weekend!  I've had a couple of custom orders to do, so I thought I'd share them with you!

First one was a personalisation on my birthstone key necklace.  Lovely for an 18th/21st birthday present, this one has a peridot Swarovski crystal - peridot is the birthstone for August.  

Each charm is on a separate ring so you can wear all three or any combination, and the crystal and pearl are hung on headpins that have a little twist under the loop.  The crystal is 6mm and the pearl is 4mm, so it's still dainty.

The next order I had was for 9 custom wine glass charms for a bridal party.  The theme is orange and pewter, so after a chat with the bride, I went for pretty silver tone charms with Swarovski crystals and pearls.

I'm really pleased with them!  I love custom orders because I get to try out colour schemes I wouldn't necessarily have tried otherwise.  The crystal satin Swarovski crystals really sparkle in the light (excuse the photo - I'm away at the moment without my photo cube!).  They're off to a lady in the US - I hope she's happy with them!

And here they are all packaged up to go!  As they're for a bridal party I put each one in a separate organza bag, ready to give to each person as a keepsake - a pretty reminder of the day!

Lastly, I tried my hand at something totally different.  I love baking so I decided to make a birthday cake for my OH.  My cakes never turn out like the pictures (whose do?!) but they usually taste good.  Anyway, with this much chocolate in it, it was bound to be tasty... :D

I found the recipe on the BBC website here, highly recommended if you want a quick and easy recipe for soft, chocolatey goodness!  

A few updates - prints now available

So again I feel I should apologise for the long absence!  Summer months are busy for gigging musicians and I haven't had much time off.  That and things are picking up in the shop so I've been keeping on top of orders.  I have finally started adding prints to my shop though!  :)  I'll put more on that in a sec but first, there's no space to write this on Etsy so I'll put it here - I've been selling more of these bracelets recently than I ever expected! (thank you if you've bought one!)  At the moment they're sold out, but that's temporary.

I've run out of the little bird charms.  I've got some more on order, so hopefully I can get these back in stock soon, so if you are wanting one, I will be making some more.  :)  I've also been making plans for a Harry Potter inspired bracelet, and in the meantime I made this blue one, centred more around Annie and Finnick.  Again though, until I get my little birds I only have one in stock!

Anyway, that's my little service update :)

Back to the prints - I'm really pleased about this because I've been dabbling in photography for a while now - I had a DSLR for Christmas a few years ago and have been experimenting with it ever since.  I finally decided to take the leap and list some of my photographs in my shop.  At the moment I'm just selling them as prints, but I have been looking into greetings cards, calendars, and more.  Here are a couple I've just listed.  I'd be really interested to know what you all think!

This one was taken in a little patch of woodlands in Dorset in 2010.  It's such a pretty place I have a number of images from that spring.  Every year it fills with pretty bluebells, and the light was just perfect on this particular day.  








This photograph was taken in July 2012 on my recent trip to the Loire Valley, Brittany and the surrounding area (see previous post!).  This is the Passage du Gois, a natural road between Beauvoir-sur-Mer and the Isle of Noirmoutier. The road is flooded twice a day by high tide.  Luckily for me, the beautiful weather and the timings lined up and we crossed just at sunset.  It really was an incredible sight!  


So yeah, you'll be seeing more of my photography sneaking into the shop - I'll mostly be listing nature and landscape photographs.  I'm also into sports & gig photography so I might put those up in an album but probably not in the shop.  As with most of my work, I'm not too focussed on any one thing, I just tend to go everywhere with my camera and see what catches my eye! 

Lastly, the final reason for my recent disappearances - I'm moving house!  I'll no longer be based in the Midlands, but I'm moving up to South Yorkshire to start a full-time day job.  I'll still be running my shop and blog, but over the next few months I might be a bit quiet.  However, one of my main excitements about the new house is I'm getting my own craft room!  No more scrabbling in bags and boxes for bits of ribbon or those crystals I know I have somewhere - I'll actually have a space to set everything out - YAY!  :)

Back from France, found some treasures :)

So I've been away in France, in the Loire Valley and Brittany, for a week, and it was beautiful.  The weather was gorgeous and I went to some beautiful places, like Quiberon...

How stunning is that?!

As well as trying the local food (including mussels in roquefort cheese - just fantastic!) and local wine, I also managed to find handmade things whilst I was out there, including this lady.

I bought a gorgeous necklace from her that she made in polymer clay, then wrote my name along with a design of my choice, music, of course!  Anyway, I don't know if you can read the pic, but this was the sign on her stall.  

 

While I was out there I also visited an amazing themed park (not theme park), Puy du Fou (google it!).  It's basically got themed areas including Vikings, Roman Colosseum, Middle Ages Village and others, with amazing shows in each, and they have traditional crafts.  I found one lady stamping metal necklaces, and another doing calligraphy.

Unfortunately I don't have a photo of the finished necklace, but it was really interesting to watch as I've dabbled with stamping and she made it look so simple!  The calligraphy was amazing too, I do have a photo of that, excuse the awful colour cast, it is a plain white background really.  The photo above is of her actually writing mine!

If you're ever in the Loire Valley, check out Puy du Fou, the shows are fantastic - it's a great day out :)

Finally, on the last day, we went to Quiberon, in Brittany (the first photo), and I had some time down on the beach.  I found this...

It might not look like much, but it's beach glass.  Pieces of glass that have been tumbled by the sea until they appear frosted, and then washed up on the beach.  I've cleaned them at home and will be using some of them to make jewellery. My favourite is the light blue, and the piece of pottery, although it's a shame the pattern is damaged!  Watch out in my shop for some of these pieces :)

So that's the condensed version of my trip to France.  I got to wander around some very pretty towns and take lots of photos.  I'm keen on photography too, in fact today I've been investigating prints, so hopefully very soon you'll see some of my pictures in my shop too!

Craft Fair this weekend, and a few new creations.

So at the moment I'm on a train, because my beloved car is poorly.  It's no surprise this happens though as I drive a MkII VW Polo.  I just love the thing.  It's an '88 F reg, making it about a month older than me, bright red (the only proper colour for a VW in my opinion!) and I've had it for about 3 years now.  I just love driving something different, something unusual, and it's so reliable.  It has very few problems considering the miles I do!


I don't mind the train too much, except for the little things, like when you book a table seat to get some work done and end up sat with 3 loud friends and can't concentrate despite headphones, or sat opposite a man who's clearly just smoked and smells of it, then pulls out some smelly onion rings and a can of beer.  Or when you pay for 3 hours wi-fi then your final connection train is an old one with no wi-fi anyway.  Grumble.  But hey, it gets me where I need to be, which this weekend is Dorset for a music thing.


Anyway, back on topic!  This week I've been running about like a mad thing.  I have a craft fair this weekend and am determined to make it a success :)  I've been trying to make more of my smaller items such as the cute little key rings with "Friend" or "Sister", and my Hunger Games items.  Things that might catch the eye.  I've also been making more charm necklaces, and my new hair pins!  First though, this "rescued" pendant.

It used to be a lonely earring.  I was looking around Loughborough market and happened to see it, along with a few other shiny things I bought.  It was on a pretty grubby ear hook, so I removed that, gave it a clean and put a jump ring on it.  It's so pretty I almost kept it for myself.  It looks like Mother of Pearl, it changes colour in different lights and has beautiful shades of pink, purple and blue/greens.  Really lovely, and unique, too!

The next thing is my hair pins.  These were inspired by one of the tutorials in the book I reviewed in my last post.  I was trying that out, and this design sort of "happened"!

I can see making these becoming addictive.  I might do a tutorial on them because they're really quite simple and it's actually pretty therapeutic!  :)  Just involves a lot of wire twisting!

I'm going to be making them in pink, purple and blue once my latest order of crystals arrives so watch out for those in my shop's "Special Occasions" section, here.

Last but hopefully not least, is my new beach theme Tibetan Silver charm necklace.  I like this one because it is "multi-purpose".  I think it would be gorgeous for a beach theme wedding, as bridesmaids necklaces or even for the bride!  The crystal colour could be changed to the wedding theme or birthstones, or left as is for a real beach feel.  The starfish charm is pretty and eye catching, but not too big.

I think it also serves as a lovely Hunger Games charm, for those of you (like me!!) who love the series but feel a bit old to be wearing a "Finnick" bracelet or necklace with "District 4" on it, this is a cute subtle way of showing your support for that most dashing of victors.  I also have a similar one for Katniss coming soon.  You can find those in the Tibetan Silver section, or if you want to go all out, I have name bracelets here!

If you can't decide who your favourite is, here's my subtle series fan bracelets.

Last note, for any of you who live near Lutterworth, I'll be holding a stall at the craft fair in Lutterworth Town Hall.  Entrance is from 10am, and there'll be loads of lovely handmade stuff there, so come and support local crafters - and say hi!

Oh, and I'm always looking for blogging inspiration, whether it's suggestions of books to review, or things I make you'd like a tutorial on!  Just leave me a comment and I'll see what I can do!  :)

Craft book review - Making Hair Jewels and Accessories by Gabrielle Byrne

I've been mega busy, but I did get chance to try out my latest craft book!


I bought Making Hair Jewels & Accessories by Gabrielle Byrne.  I bought it from Amazon, and it cost (at the time) £10.71.

This book features a number of products with step by step instructions on how to make them, including tiaras, hair combs, crystal hair pins, butterfly hair pins, crystal decorated hair barrettes, japanese sticks and hair jewels.

The pictures are lovely.  Really clear, and the instructions are easy to follow.

Personally I think this book is a great starting point for making hair slides and accessories.  It inspired me to try other designs, and the Tools, materials and basic techniques section at the start of the book ensures that you've got all the bits, pieces and know how to get started.  I also like the fact it features different styles, not just crystal.

This hair comb is so cute, and you can easily adapt the design.  I'm intending to make this comb using some gorgeous mother of pearl vintage buttons I found at a vintage shop in Hebden Bridge.

On the whole, I'd say this book is a good starting point for anyone wanting to get into making hair accessories, but if you have been making them for a while there may not be much in it for you.  If you're creative though, (you probably are if you're looking at this book!) it will give you lots of ideas for designs, and the basic techniques to make them happen!  Its a really lovely book, the layout and photos are really attractive, and it's enjoyable to read.  :)

I'd give it 4/5.  Great book, beautiful photos and a lovely clear layout and great instructions, but perhaps more suited to beginners.

The bits I've been making from this book will be appearing in the Special Occasions section of my Etsy shop soon!

Sorry for the absence! Here's what I've been making...

Wow, so I haven't posted in almost a month!  It's not because I haven't had stuff to say...


I'm a musician, as my day job (though I'll be starting a "proper job" in September as well as doing music :D), and as the summer rolls around my calendar fills up!  


I've been putting time into my shop recently, and have been making things in my "spare" time, so I have some new stuff to share with you.  In the next few weeks I also have features from Embellishing You, InStyleHeadbands, and I also bought a top secret Fathers Day present from Organica Botanica UK that may make it on here.


For a change though, I'm going to share some of my stuff!  Starting with these, a revelation of my latest guilty pleasure...I also have other character bracelets, and key rings too with more to come...

So I read the Hunger Games.  I heard about it, and saw the film trailers, but knowing that film adaptations are rarely as good as the books I wanted to read it first.  I was apprehensive, having been coerced into reading Twilight and resenting the wasting of hours of my life (sorry Twilight fans), but I loved The Hunger Games!  I think Suzanne Collins did an excellent job of not pandering to the "format" of a lot of Young Adult fiction (I'm trying not to give anything away!).  Normally I'm not one for writing in the first person but actually I really got into the books.  Love the story and I think it's very well written, and the ending is what it needs to be.  All too often (Twilight included) Authors seem to "give up" and provide a happily ever after ending, even if it's unrealistic.  The Hunger Games is pretty tragic, as you'd expect from a trilogy about a world in which children are forced to fight to the death...  If you haven't read it, do.  I couldn't put it down.  I'm 23 (so a bit older than the target audience, I imagine) and I really enjoyed it.  If you're wondering about my taste in books to see if you'll like it, my other favourites include (I read these a while back):

• Harry Potter - who doesn't love it?
• Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix
• The Windsinger Trilogy by William Nicholson
• The Doomspell Trilogy by Cliff McNish

I love to read, so I welcome suggestions if you've read anything you think I'll like!  My "to read" list includes Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, currently.  Again, I've seen GoT on TV but I want to read the books before I see much more.

Anyway, I digress :)

More sparkly things!  This is how my shop ended up so diverse, I get an idea and try it out, so I end up with a few of each type of item.  Since I last posted I've been making wine glass charms, "Something Blue"s, and hair pins.

Just love these!  When they're in your hair you just see the crystal, and they add sparkle to any hairstyle.

And these wine glass charms make gorgeous keepsakes from weddings or parties.  I make them to order in any colour.  They're such a cute party favour :)

This is one of my favourite wedding keepsake ideas though.  Something Blue...

This little charm on a ribbon ties around the bride's bouquet on the day of the wedding, adding just a little bit of sparkle and a flash of colour, and after the wedding she can take the charm off the ribbon and wear it as a pendant!  I just think it's a really cute way of having part of your wedding you can wear over and over.  This one features Swarovski crystals, and it is packaged for sending on the ribbon, in a pretty organza bag, with a snake chain included.

So, there's a little update on what I've been up to in my absence!  I've got lots more to add to my shop, so please do check it out.  At the moment I'm really trying to build my online following under my new name, so if you could pop over and "like"my Facebook Page, and if you're feeling especially lovely, share it with your friends, I would be most grateful.  I plan to host some giveaways once I have more "fans".

In the meantime, check back here for more product features - I've ordered some gorgeous stuff recently! - and hopefully these craft book reviews I've been meaning to write...

Product feature - Laptop bag from IUptown Chic!

Okay, so I was far too excited about this purchase!  :D


I ordered myself a handmade laptop bag from IUptown Chic, in grey and blackberry.

I am so pleased with this bag.  As someone who is normally glued to their laptop but only had a padded sleeve for it, this was a perfect find on Etsy.  It's gorgeous, obviously very well made, and does the job perfectly.


The bag has a main pocket for the laptop which is lightly padded, so it offers some protection for your computer.  You state when you buy it what size laptop you have, so it fits very well!  That said, I still managed to get my A4 pad of paper in with my computer - brilliant.


It has a larger pocket on the front, which I've put my charger in, and two smaller pockets which I've used for my external harddrive and cable, and iPhone and cable.  There's room for other items in these pockets too, but that's everything I wanted to carry!

The bag has two straps with popper studs to close it, and then a removable, adjustable shoulder strap that feels very strong for how thin it is.  My only slight criticism is that you can still see the laptop in the bag, it's slightly taller, so it's not a complete disguise that you're carrying a laptop around.

All in all, it's a fab bag!  Check out the full range here, there are loads of different designs available, and they also make items for Kindles, iPads, iPhones and more!  My laptop case cost about £30, plus p&p from the U.S., which I feel is very good value!

Name change!

Hello all,


I've been hard at work on my website, after finally deciding on my new shop name!  I've already changed it on Etsy, and designed myself a new banner.  My shop will now go by "Willowbrook Artistry"!  :)

I hope that it can incorporate jewellery, crafts and my photography eventually!


I'm planning to get my website up and running, and new business cards done before my next craft fair, on the 29th April in Leicester, I'll post some more details of that nearer the time - please do come along if you're local!


In the mean time, here's a competition for any of you based in Dorset.  There's a fab mobile beauty salon in the Blackmore Vale area run by Cassie Feist, and she's offering the chance to win a free spa facial for you and a friend, just by liking the Facebook group, and sharing the competition photo!  You can find the competition here, and you can like JAF beauty here on Facebook.  The winner will be chosen at random and announced on May 1st!

Product feature! Gorgeous Mug Cosy from Kozmic Dreams

I promised a product feature, and here it is!

This is my amazing mug cosy, courtesy of Laura Whitford at Kozmic Dreams.

Laura is a UK seller with heaps of experience in knitting and crocheting.  Her Etsy shop is fairly new, it has been open since September and features some gorgeous knitted animals, crocheted bags and a variety of tea cosy designs.  Here are two of my other favs, this lovely little pirate owl, and a musical notes cosy!

So, about my tea cosy.  I came across Laura's shop through the Etsy teams.  Her work is lovely, so I sent her a message about making a mug cosy with a treble clef, and she replied very quickly, saying she'd have a go.  I was very surprised by just how fast she got back to me - within 2 days she'd sent me a link to the completed listing!  Loved it, obviously, so I bought it and it arrived very quickly.  She offered to make it in a different colour if I preferred, but I think the black and white looks great :)


As someone who is always being told off for leaving my cups of tea to go cold (usually getting distracted by Etsy...), this is a brilliant buy.  It really does the trick.  The wool is lovely and soft and it's machine washable too.  Highly recommended for any hot drinks lover, as you can see in the top photo it even fits my music themed 'bucket-o-tea' mug!


Kozmic Dreams - Brilliant little shop, do go over and have a look!

I'm back!

Apologies for going a bit MIA!  I've been involved in a music project in Leeds for the last few weeks, so I haven't been blogging or doing much making.  Irony being what it is, I've had more orders in the last 2 and a bit weeks than any other time, but thanks to some help from home sending beads and tools up to me, I got them all done!


Also, some fun news!  To celebrate me reaching 200 likes on Facebook, I'm offering 15% off anything in my Etsy shop with the code 'Facebook15'.  Thanks to everyone who has liked my page :D


Currently I'm in Dorset again, more music making.  However, I have just listed one of my favourite new items on Etsy, this beautiful pink charm bracelet.  I know I'm a bit biased, but I just love it.  So much so that I immediately ordered a bunch more crystals to make one to keep, and I plan to make them in other colours too.  Let me know what you think!  I just think Swarovski crystals are stunning, they sparkle so much, but it's impossible to do them justice in photos.

The display on the right is a mini bust, I misread the eBay listing, but actually this size has come in handy for displaying bracelets, and will be useful for the craft fair I'm doing in a few weeks.

As I've just been paid, and had some more sales myself (yay), I also treated myself to some of the items I've favourited on Etsy, so as they arrive I'll be featuring some of them here.  The first one will be a gorgeous mug cosy that was designed and made for me by the lovely Laura Whitford of Kozmic Dreams, and I got the added bonus of being her first buyer!  Look out for that one in the next few days, and check her out on Etsy :)  I've also got some great books I'll be reviewing, 2 on polymer clay and one on jewellery stamping.

Run up to Mothers Day

Hope you're all prepared!  I've been working on a new project, but not the one I originally planned to do!  Funny how often that happens...


I started out trying to make a 'Bee Happy' necklace, but it ended up too big and I was worried the letters wouldn't be strong enough for a pendant if I made them smaller.  Instead I ended up with these!

They're fridge magnets, and I got the chance to try out my glitter varnish.  The silver one is really great, it leaves a totally smooth gloss finish with a bit of sparkle (you can just spray it again for more), I haven't really tested the iridescent one yet.  I covered everything except the wings, rainbows and gold coins with masking tape and sprayed with glitter varnish, then painted the rest with 2 coats of gloss varnish.  Painting the gloss on can be a bit streaky, the spray stuff seems like a better option so I may investigate some plain spray on varnish once I've used up what I've got.  I'm pleased with the results, and I'll definitely be making more!  Probably with names on, and I have sketched ideas for 'Hope', 'Dreams' and 'Peace'.  I'm heading up to Yorkshire on monday though for 3 weeks for a music project, so not sure how much I'll be able to do.  I'm hoping to do another tutorial, but we'll have to see what happens!  If I can't do a tutorial, I'll hopefully manage to do a book review.  I bought 3 books off amazon, two on making polymer clay models and one on metal jewellery stamping.  Really looking forward to reading them but I'm saving them til I get to Leeds!

A Few New Creations

Hello all,


I've managed to get this bug that's been going round.  Yesterday I felt like my tonsils were the size of golf balls.  Eugh.  :(  It wrote the day off a bit.  I got my super strong wire delivered, but I didn't feel very creative!  I can however whole heartedly recommend the healing power of lemon, ginger and echinacea tea with a spoonful of honey and, most importantly, a soft baked chocolate cookie.  Nom.


Instead yesterday I set up my photo cube and photographed my new designs ready to put in my shop.  I've also discovered www.fotofuze.com, an amazingly simple way of removing 'almost-white' backgrounds from product photos and making them really pop.  I think it looks much better than my other pics, but I'm still not sure I prefer it to some of the product photos in my favourite Etsy shops.  It looks very clean, but a bit harsh IMO.  I've seen some lovely photographs done on wood, or pale patterns.  Anyway, here are my latest items!

This is my one of my new charm necklaces :) The tibetan silver coin is reversible, and both parts of the necklace are on separate jump rings so you can wear both, or one or the other.  You can also combine them with my other charm necklaces, like this 'Love Paris' necklace.

This one is reversible too, and again all the charms are on different rings so you can change the order or combination.  I'm thinking about stocking the individual charms too.  I also have another charm necklace, designed for an 18th or 21st, with a pearl, a key and a birthstone.

The other thing I said I'd post about, was my new stamping blanks!  I bought them from  StampingBlanks on Etsy.  They're stainless steel, which is just as beautiful as silver, but doesn't tarnish or rust, and is totally hypo-allergenic.  It's also really durable and cheaper than sterling silver, so I thought I'd give it a go.

First thing I noticed is how shiny these discs are, they really are just like polished silver.  They arrive with the mirrored surface protected by a sticker so they stay in perfect condition, and the reflectiveness makes it easier to line up the letters on the stamps.  I haven't filled in the letter yet, so it's still a work in progress, but I'm very pleased with the initial results and I'm looking forward to my bigger discs arriving.  Well worth considering as a silver alternative!

Finally, I'm offering 10% off everything in my shop 'cause it's nearly Mother's Day, just use the code 'MUM10' at checkout.  :)