Jedward, Jedward, Jedward!

Well, my wife came home last night and announced that she had been given a free gift of a suitcase. And a very nice one it was too. We haven't owned a suitcase in years and normally make do with carrier bags when we go away. The idea of owning a suitcase was quite novel and we all made suggestions of how best to use it, like for doing the shopping etc.

Then it came to me announcing my big news. I said 'I have won something today'...and we all did a big drum roll and then I announced what I had won.... 

Jedward

A lovely Jedward keyring courtesy of the Glamglass Gifts Blog give away. As you can imagine there were lots of oooh's and aaarh's coming from all direction, and my 11 year-old daughter went hysterical! I think she automatically assumed that it was going to be for her!

So, many thanks to Rachel for her lovely giveaway, you certainly made our day, it's not often I get something as special as that and I will treasure it forever!

My first name on rice custom order

I completed these pendants last week and they are the result of my first custom order for 'name on rice' pendants.

The young lady who contacted me wanted the pendants personalised with the words 'Ari (heart) Roni' writing on the grain of rice, and also wanted two identical pendants making, one for her and one for her sister.

Personalised name on rice necklaces

These 'name on rice' pendants proved quite a challenge, it wasn't the wording that was the problem it was the heart symbol. For some reason I am not the best at drawing hearts on paper and trying to draw something that resembles a heart on a grain of rice is a different matter! She also wanted the pendants colouring with a tint of blue. Anyway, several hours later (and many grains of rice) I had produced two pendants that I was happy with.

She is over the moon with her new pendants and so am I for overcoming the challenge of my first custom order!

You can see more 'name on rice' jewellery, the history and symbolism on my name on rice page.

Scorch's Pyrography & Custom Jewellery

I have been busy surfing the web over the last few days trying to find royalty free photographs to represent the various craft disciplines (all will come clear later this week when I launch a new website project). Anyway, the craft category that I was having the biggest difficulty with was trying to find a photograph to represent Pyrography.

Then it dawned on me that I (well actually my wife Angela) already has a pendant that has been made using Pyrography! It was custom made for me by the very talented Tracey Annison of Scorch's Pyrography for a Christmas present for my wife and I have never shown it off!

Pyrography pendant of Stonehenge

The pendant is made from solid sycamore wood and the picture is of our special place, Stonehenge and burnt onto the reverse side there is a personal message to my wife. The whole process of having the pendant custom made by Scorch was fantastic and enabled me to have something that far exceeded my expectations, and my wife was very pleased too!

On another note, I have just had my first custom order for some name on rice pendants. A lady wants two, both with writing on each side of the grain of rice and the glass vial coloured. I am extremely excited with this order as apart from making these pendants for friends and family, it will be my first custom name on rice jewellery order.

In fact, I am a little bit shaky with the prospect, which is not a good way to be when you are about to write on a grain of rice.

Hope you are all have a good week!

Festivals!

It was the 1st of May on Saturday, and the beginning of May means something important to me, it is the start of the Festival season!

I absolutely love going to festivals; spending three or four days being transported to another world. A world where everyone around you are there to celebrate good music and good company. A world where the rules and barriers put down by our society are broken and people are free to be their real selves. A world where the words 'morning', 'afternoon' and 'evening' become meaningless because day and night becomes one never-ending experience.

No material possessions, no 'home comforts', smelly portaloos, dirt and mud growing out of every orifice. Thousands of tents, but nobody sleeps, food like you have never seen before. People dressed as fantastical creatures from some far-away planet.

Happy, dazed and sometimes crazed, the people around you become one, a festival family of happy individuals who have completely forgotten what life is like the other side of those festival gates.

Mick Cluley at Canterbury Festival

This picture was taken at one of our festivals my wife Angela and me went to, Canterbury Festival. I think we spent most of the festival just sitting outside the chill-out tent watching the festival world go by. And what a beautiful world it was.....