A little something for under the Christmas tree

I've just treated myself to one of Sharon's (of Mana Moon Studios) beautiful woven wire bracelets. I very rarely buy jewellery for myself, but I fell in love with this as soon as I saw it. Can't wait for it to arrive! :-)

Drool, drool!

Feeling Blue

I must have been feeling a bit blue lately.... I have finally gotten round to loading a few new items onto the Wildberry website this afternoon, and noticed that they are all blue! It wasn't planned, so I must be going through a phase! I must try and steer away from the blue box for a while.

Photographs are still a major headache for me. I just can't seem to get them right. I've sussed the macro thing on my camera, and have some photo editing software that is pretty good, but the photos just don't come out right. Is it the background I'm using, or maybe the lighting? Any ideas or suggestions would be gratefully received!

"Orbital"

"True Blue"

"Célèste"

I'd definitely watch this!

The New Series of 'Survivor'

Six married men will be dropped on an island with one car and 3 kids each for six weeks.

Each kid will play two sports and either take music or dance classes. There is no fast food. Each man must take care of his 3 kids, keep his assigned house clean, correct all homework, complete science projects, cook, do laundry and pay a list of "pretend" bills with not enough money. In addition, each man will have to budget in money for groceries each week.

Each man must remember the birthdays of all their friends and relatives, and send cards out on time. Each man must also take each child to a doctor's appointment, a dentist appointment and a haircut appointment.

He must make cookies or cupcakes for a social function.

The men will only have access to television when the kids are asleep and all chores are done.

Each father will be required to know all of the words to every stupid song that comes on TV and the name of each and every character on cartoons. Each man will have to make an Indian hut model with six toothpicks, a toilet roll tube and some dry pasta. They must get a 4 year old to eat a serving of peas.

Each man must adorn himself with jewellery, wear uncomfortable yet stylish shoes, keep their nails polished and eyebrows groomed. The men must try to get through each day without snot, spit-up or sick on their clothing.

During one of the six weeks, the men will have to endure severe abdominal cramps, back aches, and have extreme, unexplained mood swings but never once complain or slow down from other duties.

He will need to read a book to the children each night without falling asleep, and then feed them, dress them, brush their teeth and comb their hair each morning by 8am. They must leave the home with no food on their face or clothes.

A test will be given at the end of the six weeks, and each father will be required to know all of the following information: each child's birthday, height, weight, shoe size, clothes size and doctor's name. Also each child's favourite color, middle name, favourite snack, favourite song, favourite drink, favourite toy, biggest fear and what they want to be when they grow up.

They must clean up after their sick children at 2am, and then spend the remainder of the day tending to that child and waiting on them hand and foot until they are better. They must have a loving, age appropriate reply to "You're not the boss of me".

The kids vote them off the island based on performance. The last man wins only if he still has enough energy to be intimate with his spouse at a moment's notice.

Only then will the winner be granted the honoured title of 'Mum'!!

Dedicated to all you fabulous mothers out there!! :-)

A good day in Wildberry land

I may be tempting fate by saying this, but things are slowly falling into place in the world of Wildberry!

Firstly, I have to say a HUGE thank you to Sharon at Mana Moon Studios for doing such a wonderful job with my Etsy banner and images. They are fab, and as a result I have finally been able to launch my Etsy shop today. Woo hoo!! I'd love you to take a peek if you get the chance...

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6230510

As if that's not brilliant enough, the lovely Sharon also added me to my first ever treasury - double woo hoo!!




It's fair to say I'm a very happy girl today!

I also got the new website finished today, with most of the photographs now uploaded. Unfortunately, the horrendous weather we've had lately scuppered my plans to take lovely new photos, so I had to use 'old' photos from the old website. They are not horrendous, but they're not as good as I would have liked. However if I continue to wait for the weather to improve, I wouldn't get the photos done this side of Christmas!

After all this super productivity today, I'm now off to put my feet up with my book and a cup of tea. Lovely!

Finally

Something new to show, at last! I have been lacking in motivation lately, so I thought I'd try and get back into the swing of things with some simple pieces.

"Rock Pools"

"Hearts Desire"

"Picasso"

Tagged!

I am chuffed to bits! I logged on to my blog this afternoon to find that 6 lovely people have signed up to follow my blog. Thank you Veryan, Ali, Lesley, Manda, Caroline and Catherine! Unfortunately I haven't been too great at updating my blog regularly, but I'm now feeling more motivated to do so now that I know there are actually people reading it! The lovely Veryan Parker at Beady Pool has also tagged me, and the rules (if you would like to play) are as follows:


1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by including links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.


It was easier said than done to come up with 7 random, weird or even remotely interesting facts about myself. Apologies if none of these even come close to the mark! Okay, here goes........

1. I am originally from Scotland, near the beautiful city of Stirling. I moved 'down south' 13 years ago and I now live on the Berkshire/Hampshire border with my lovely hubbie and 2 gorgeous children.

2. I have recently started to collect Momiji dolls. These are little Japanese friendship dolls, each with their own characteristics, likes and dislikes. At the base of every doll is a slot which can be used to hide a secret or friendship message. I'm probably too old to be collecting these, but there is something about Momiji which really appeals to me!

"Flowers"
Likes the shipping forecast and new shoes

3. I LOVE (and I really mean LOVE) margarita cocktails! What more can I say??

4. I hate rats. Really, really hate them. Even thinking about them now is making my skin crawl and the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. Eeuuuwwwghhh!!!!!

5. I have a huge, massive, gigantic crush on Ewan McGregor. Swoon!!!!

6. I think Wagamama's chicken katsu curry is the food of the Gods.

7. I am a bit obsessive about organisation and making sure everything in the house is in its 'proper' place. I have put labels on the shelves in the linen cupboard, the larder and my husband's chest of drawers, to name just a few, to ensure things are put away correctly. (I think I may need professional help...?!)


And here is my tag list (sorry if you've been tagged already - I'm quite new to this blogging lark so only have a short list to choose from!)

1. Elizabeth at EVY Designs
2. Nettie at Ng Jewellery
3. Dawn Turner at Handmade by Dawn
4. Min at applegreenmachine
5. Hazel at Sulis Glass
6. Nicola at Sparkly Treasures
7. Casto Creations

Neglect

I've been woefully neglectful of my blog lately - has it really been 2 weeks since I last posted??

Life has been manic, as I have started a new job, begun a silversmithing course and the children have joined a total of 7 after-school activities between them! So between my work during the day, collecting the children from school, taking them to and from their activities, helping with homework, my evening job, my course......there doesn't seem to be much time left for anything else! Unfortunately, my jewellery making is suffering, as I haven't had the time (or the inclination - too tired!) to make anything for the last few weeks. Not good.

Actually, I have made 1 piece of jewellery - my first creation in silversmithing class! 2 hammered silver bangles. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am! They may not be perfect (they wouldn't hold up to close scrutiny) but they are beautiful in my eyes!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!

A very, very bad person has stolen our son's bike from the back garden. I am soooooooo angry, and am now wishing for all sorts of horrors to befall the thief (I think that possibly makes me a very, very bad person!?) We have reported the theft to the police, but I think it's unlikely we will ever see that bike again! So, it looks like bike shopping is on the agenda for this weekend........

In the closet....

...or rather, in the cupboard. I have spent most of the weekend clearing out the (huge) cupboard at the top of the stairs and converting it into my jewellery making workspace. I know this sounds very strange, but it is fabulous! I no longer have to sit huddled over a fold-out table in the lounge, being distracted by children, O.H. or the television. I now have my own space where I can work in peace. Heaven!

At Long Last

My first blog! Exciting, but also very scary! I've seen blogs on almost every other jewellery artist's website, and have realised that these are the way forward! Although I'm not sure that my own blog will be as exciting or as entertaining as some of the others I have read.... Perhaps this will encourage me to fill my days with all sorts of exploits and adventures, so that I have something interesting to write about. I have also vowed to make a concerted effort to keep this blog regularly updated. Past experience has taught me that I am not that great at keeping my journals up-to-date (no journal I have started in the last 20 years has ever made it past January 31st). Despite this, please bear with me while I get to grips with this blogging lark, and I will try very hard not to bore you into oblivion!

I just had to start by showing you a picture of one of my favourite bracelets. It's called 'Silver Moss', and was made using the most gorgeous beads by lampwork artist Clare Scott. I have added little nuggets of jade and used lots of Hill Tribe silver beads, together with a hammered Hill Tribe toggle clasp. I'm not usually one for greens, but there is something about these wonderful, glossy beads that I just love! I'm not sure I can bring myself to sell this piece . . .