granny takes a trip

hello again!

first, can i be completely stereotypically british & express amazement at how wonderful the weather has been lately? (in the united kingdom, of course. i cannot speak  for countries across the waters.) this weekend it's supposed to about 20 degrees where i live and although i will be spending most a lot of my time inside working, i'm going to try to make the most of it by taking my revision notes outside. or by having the window open in the living room, whichever suits my hermit-ness better.

anyway, last week i visited hobbycraft (an arts & crafts superstore, for those not in the know) to get some embroidery threads for an art project, & i found some pretty cute wooden craft materials while i was there;

aren't they pretty? these little laser-cut butterflies are supposed to be used for making cards i think, but i've decided to make them into rings, & i have just bought some ring pieces from ebay to get the ball rolling! it's been a long time since i've actually made jewellery, and i really miss it. over the summer i'm definitely going to start buying things wholesale & thinking of a name for my shop.

there's 9 butterflies, so i can make 9 rings. i would like to keep one for myself though, so i shall sell 8, and taking into account the prices of the components i think i'll sell them for about £3-£4 each. this seems pretty fair to me, especially as, as the last vintage fair in newcastle, i saw a stall selling heart rings with exactly the same pattern as the butterflies (so similar in fact that i have no doubt she bought the pieces in hobbycraft) for £6, pretty steep for a mere ring i think.

each piece is unique (which i love!), as they are all obviously cut from different parts of the pattern. i think when i sell them, i will give people the option of choosing between blue, purple & pink, as those are the colours of the flowers on each piece. there are twice as many pink ones as the other colours though, so i hope people like those!

i also managed to pick up some heart and flower wooden pieces, which have a lovely stencil design on them. unfortunately, the majority of them are pretty faded so i'll have to be wary of this when it comes to selling.

i have decided to put these together as earrings as they are quite a bit smaller than the butterflies, but if i have an odd number (which i do) i will make a few of them into rings.

there we are, you can all look forward to my next jewellery venture soon! i'm actually quite excited, as while i've made jewellery for family & friends, i've never actually sold a piece. i'll obviously let you know the details at a later date when i have more of an idea for what i'll be doing.

good wishes to all.