Friday 22 May 2009

Guess who's got new hammers!

They've come all the way from America and I love them!

There are actually two hammers with four different textures. The first one has wide ridges and gives this ripple effect:

The next one - and my favourite - has raised circles which give this lovely texture which reminds me of fabric.
Narrow ridges give this tree bark - or pouring rain effect.
The fourth one has little squares which give an effect like basket weave.
These are really sample pieces - just to see what the effects would be. I'm excited now to use them in more complex designs. Watch this space!
At last I've used one of my etched pieces (blogged about here). This reminds me of a tattoo - hence its name, Love Lies Bleeding.


And lastly, a new shaggy loop bracelet. This one is made with copper rings and glass magatamas in greens and purples and is called Lavender Garden.

Sarah and I are off to Devizes tomorrow to sell at a Craft Fair.

I hope you have a great bank holiday weekend and that the sun shines on us all.

Much love,
xx

9 comments:

Eve Smith said...

Hope you sell loads tomorrow at the fair, oh and i love those pendants with all the different textures, Eve x

BeadyPool said...

What a gorgeous array of textures to play with - I think I like the top one best, but it's hard to choose. All the best with the craft fair.
BTW, I have moved my blog to http://beadypool.blogspot.com - hope to maybe see you over there sometime.

Coburg Crafts said...

Thank you, Eve and Veryan for your good wishes for tomorrow. And for your lovely comments on my hammered pendants.
Take care, both.
xx

Nia said...

Those pendants are just fabulous Lesley, they are bound to sell! Hope it goes well for you x

Coburg Crafts said...

Thanks, Nia.
Unfortunately yesterday was a total waste of time. Hardly anyone turned up to look and those that did, didn't buy much. There were WAY too many jewellery sellers. Hey ho. On with the next!
Hope you've had a terrific time at Nantwich!
Much love
xx

Nia said...

Oh I'm sorry Lesley, I assumed Devizes would be an ideal place for a fair. But as you say, too much jewellery is really bad news. People end up not buying at all, it's something that organisers should really take on board because when this happened to me, I pulled out of the event the following year, as did lots of other sellers. The show then folded altogether. Better luck with the next event, although I'm guessing these beauties will sell well at parties and workplace events.

Coburg Crafts said...

I think it would be an ideal place - if there had been more advertising... Or if someone had gone out onto the High Street and given out some leaflets.
We went with this organiser because she said that she kept a good balance between jewellery and other crafts... obviously her idea of a good balance and mine are slightly different. 40 stalls and about 10 jewellery.
We are booked to go back in August but giving serious thought to backing out and trying to get in somewhere else.
We're pretty confident of our next few events - two offices, a well publicised city centre event and a return to a good stately home fair - so we'll be fine. I feel sorry for the sellers who don't have other good events to look forward to - or haven't had great events in the past to know just how good sales can be at the right place.
How was Nantwich?
Much love
xx

Nia said...

Hmmm, 10 out of 40 doesn't sound like a good balance to me either. But we always have to try these things, at least then we can decide whether or not to go with them in future, and the rest of your events are tried and tested so there are good days ahead for you.
Nantwich was great thanks! Hot though, and very busy, but I did get to chat - and buy from - all the lampworkers, got most of the gemstones I was after, and went completely mad with Germaine (Bead Spider)'s pearls, some of the most expensive I've ever bought. I really don't know why I even pretend to set a budget anymore. I'll photograph my stash tomorrow so you can judge for yourself how poor I am now!

Coburg Crafts said...

As you say, Nia, we do have to keep trying new things, otherwise we'd never progress. Some things will work and some won't. But all are part of our learning process.
So glad you had a good time in Nantwich. Can't wait to see your stash! I don't know when I'm going to make it to a bead fair next - Wincanton is close-ish but it's the day I'm having a BBQ for my birthday, so can't go. Think it might have to be Autumn Fair... so I'll be bringing the BIG purse to get stocked up for Christmas events!! Blimey, talking about Christmas already... yikes!
Much love
xx