Jam Jar inspiration

I finally got the keys for my shop last week so since then I've been spending most of my time there polyfilla-ing, sanding and painting. There's so much work to do now that I'm in there. Before, it was a lovely fairytale shop in my head.

I thought I had put my facebook page on here but I don't think I did. So, please become a fan of the Jam Jar Beads facebook page! I'm posting all my updates about the shop on there including pictures of the inside of the shop as it develops from absolute dump to lovely bead shop.

The hard graft and rainy weather is really starting to get to me though and I'm just trying to tell myself that it's all worth it. In the meantime, I've been looking for inspiration to keep my excitement and enthusiasm up.

Love this wall of jars at Ornamentea

Cool workshop table, again at Ornamentea

The Arrangement, found on Cecily Ink's blog

Loving these frames at Femme Gem's in NYC, also found on Cecily Ink's blog

Brook Farm General Store

Loving these curtains from Homes and Gardens

Big plan revealed ... at long last

Hey folks, I have kind of started to ignore the whole big news thing that I started way back in April/May. You've probably all forgotten about it by now anyway! But I didn't want to say anything earlier in case things fell through. Well I just signed the lease today so it should be safe to tell you that I am opening a bead shop here in Sheffield. Yippie!!

I've been waiting for the solicitor to complete the lease for my shop unit for what seems like forever (real time: 4 months) after being reassured that it should take no longer than 8 weeks and have be dying to tell you about it for ages!

The shop will be primarily a bead and jewellery making supplies shop. I got most of the stock while I was in Hong Kong and it has all been waiting patiently in the corner of my dining room until it can go and fulfil it's jewellery making destiny. I will also be selling my own jewellery as well as jewellery from other local and international makers.

There will also be workshops held at the shop teaching all sorts of jewellery making techniques and a few other crafty things too.

I am hoping that I will be open in about 3 weeks or so (all things going well) so straight into the Christmas rush. Eep.

Anyway, the name of the shop is going to be "Jam Jar Beads" in homage to the jars that crafters tend to collect to put their crafty stuff in. And I already have a logo! Let me know what you think!

Craftgawker

I've just discovered this website called Craftgawker which is just a huge showcase of crafty folk's work, as if I don't spend enough time on Etsy just looking and feeling inspired, this is going to be a major hindrance on my productivity!

The website is available for all crafters, artists, photographers and general creative types to show off their wares by submitting photos of their work. It is free and submissions need to be checked and approved before being published so this ensures that the images are all top quality.

It's a great way to find new Etsy talent that you haven't come across yet, I've found some fantastic etsians and bits and bobs which I have added to the Christmas/birthday wish list.

Please go and have a look and find some inspiration and/or some ideas for presents!

New glass tile magnets

These are some new magnets I've been working on recently. I bought loads of glass tiles a while back and found them recently whilst doing some clearing of the spare room. There are so many possibilities, but so far I have made...

Tube:

Calligraphy:

Ikea Fabric

Look at this fab new fabric I got from Ikea. It's so lovely, but I have no idea what to do with it...maybe some cushions? Suggestions welcome! For now I'm just enjoying looking at it.

Meet Chowder!

We had a new addition to our family this week: Chowder, the agouti Netherland dwarf babbit. I've been wanting to get a pet babbit for a while now but didn't have room in our old place for her. Now that we've moved and have more space we decided to go ahead and get her. She has the whole hallway to run up and down in and likes very much to lick our hands and feet and attack the Sky remote.

Tethys necklace

This is a lovely new necklace I've been working on - Tethys - named after the Greek goddess of the sea. I couldn't decide whether to make a asymmetric or symmetrical necklace so I decided to do one of each. The seaglass is picked from Hong Kong and is the most amazing aqua turquoise colour.

Hope you like!