Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and New Year!

Well, this will probably be my last entry before Christmas day. So I would like to wish all my blog followers and anybody else who comes across my blog before then, a very Happy Christmas and New Year. I hope Santa brings you lots of nice things and that you eat and drink lots!

I wrote the following for somebody else's blog recently when asked 'What does Christmas mean to you?" Anyway, it didn't get published (I didn't think it was all that bad) and it took me all morning to write so I will leave it for you here....

"Christmas is a time where the world unites in happiness and any negative feeling or actions are put aside. A time when neighbours become neighbourly and enemies become friends. It is a time where family and friends come together and celebrate the things that they are lucky to have. It is about looking back on the past year and looking forward to the coming year with renewed appreciation. Christmas is about children, the excitement of the days before and then seeing their happy faces when opening presents. That’s the magic that Christmas brings."

Wishing you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2010 and let's hope it is a good year for the crafting world!

Mick x

A lock of my son's hair set in jewellery...

I made this last week and it is a lock of my son's hair preserved forever in a piece of jewellery. The hair is set in resin on a sterling silver bezel and I am sure you agree that it makes a very unique keepsake.

I think it will join the growing number of pendants that I have put into his baby memory box. It will probably make a young lady very happy when he is older and he opens his baby box to find a hoard of lovely pendants! I hope if that happens it is given to somebody very special.

Hair keepsake pendant

Anyway, unintentionally this pendant has given me an idea. If think I will start promoting this service on mum and baby forums and magazines...what better satisfaction than preserving something so special into a piece of handmade jewellery.

I've already made a start and added a page to my website that can be seen here...Lock of Hair Preserved in Keepsake Jewellery

My latest custom order - Preserved Gold Cross

This is my latest custom jewellery item that I finished last week. A lady wanted her broken gold cross preserved into a resin pendant. The cross is over 70 years old and very fragile, so as you could imagine I had to take special care with this one.

This is the cross before I started to work on it...

 

A broken gold cross pendant

And this is the cross embedded into a teardrop pendant. It has been finished with a 9ct gold 8mm jump ring...

Broken cross preserved within keepsake jewellery

What a beautiful way to preserve a piece with sentimental value!

Is having a craft stall like giving birth ?

I wouldn't know because I'm a man but this is how I see it...

I had a stall at a local school at the weekend and although it went really well, lots of sales, nice comments and possible orders, I still find it a painful experience. I am not really a selling kind of person; I love being in my own world making my jewellery but as soon as I have to share it with anybody else, my body turns to jelly.

I haven't had a stall for six months and I think the painful memories of the last labour must have been forgotten (Its funny how the brain does that to you). Anyway I crouched there behind my table (they didn't supply chairs) and thought 'what am I doing here?'. Sandwiched in between several 'bought-in jewellery' stalls and another selling 'bought-in babies clothes', sweat pouring down my face because we were all stuck in an unventilated class room, all kinds of people fiddling with my bits and I thought....is this what it's like to give birth ?

(Apologies for the lack of pictures, but I was so overwhelmed by the occasion)

I'm not one to blow my own trumpet but...

I have to share this comment mailed to me this morning from a very happy customer.

  

"Shpangle jewellery allowed me to create a piece so personal that it holds far more sentimental value and is cherished above any pretentious and expensive piece. Not only did it allow me to create a piece that I had envisioned for a long time it was made quickly and with great care, allowing my full input at each step. The end product was exactly as I imagined and when presented to its recipient, it brought on a flood of joyful tears. It really is the only way to get a perfect piece of jewellery."

Custom made daisy flower bracelet

It brought a tear to my eye when I read it. This is what crafting is all about isn't it!

Recently been making buttons

After hours of searching high street craft shops and fabric/sewing shops for button shanks, I finally gave up and went online. I ordered some silver plated ones from ebay and they are great ! These are my first buttons, handmade by embedding seed beads into resin with the button shanks attached to the back. They are certainly different and would add a bit of colour to that special item of clothing !

These are the first resin buttons I made containing seed beads:

Resin buttons containing seed beads and glitter

Handmade resin buttons 

These are the other ones I made, containing cake sprinkles (100s and 1000s) embedded in resin.

Custom made buttons containing cake sprinkles

Personalised buttons containing cake sprinkles

These custom made buttons can be ordered from my website Keepsake Jewellery - Custom Jewellery

Wedding Items Preserved in Custom Jewellery

Weddings are a time of excitement, planning and organisation. The end result being a, hopefully flawless and memorable wedding. However, most of the energy for a wedding is put into the preparation for the big day and once the wedding is over, the bride and groom look forward to the honeymoon and relaxing. So, it is not surprising that after wedding thoughts often go forgotten.

Wedding flowers preserved in jewellery

Traditionally, capturing memories of the big day take the form of photographs and videos, but there are often other items which helped make the day special that the bride and groom may have kept but are unsure what to do with. These can be anything from confetti used at the ceremony or table confetti used to decorate the tables at the reception, from flowers to ribbon, wedding favours, or anything else that made the day special.

Wedding confetti paperweight

All these items can be preserved forever and even worn and enjoyed for many years to come in the form of resin jewellery. And it is not just an item of jewellery that could be made to capture flowers or those special memories. Resin preservation can be used to create many items to suit just about anyone. Key-rings, phone charms, bag charms, cufflinks ...there to always remind you of the special day, whether you are the bride, groom or the family members and friends.

The beauty of Shpangle Jewellery is that it can be tailor made to just about any design and to your preferences, so you get that special keepsake you want. The glass like properties of the resin have a magnifying effect on the special items within it, and it really does show off the colours of the items and their details exquisitely.

Wedding dress material cufflinks

Shpangle Jewellery will take pride and satisfaction in providing you with something special. Each piece is carefully made to your specifications, which will be completely unique.

Items can be preserved at your convenience so you can enjoy your wedding and after celebrations knowing you can use the service when you need it. If you have used fresh flowers you can let someone keep them or get advice from the florist to keep them fresh before preservation.

Wedding flower preservation

Whatever you choose to preserve, you can be assured that it will be a very unique way of capturing and preserving the special items and memories of your big day.

We wish you a very happy wedding day with lots of memories to cherish forever.

For more details visit my Handmade Keepsake Jewellery website.