What a week!

PHEW! It's been a crazy (but wonderfully successful) week here at Coburg Crafts!

Last weekend we held a two day party here which not only gave me a chance to see some of my lovely friends, but also to display every single piece of jewellery and gift items that Sarah and I had available!

Then Wednesday was another really super party at the home of a good friend - so more catching up with friends - and she had great display space so again a great opportunity to show off the range of goods we now have - which is expanding all the time.

And then this weekend we were at Sarah's with all her chums.

I was very delighted on Friday evening when my Murano Mystery (see post below) set was purchased by a lovely man (yes, you read that right!) who, in fact, bought all the Christmas gifts for the ladies in his life from us. Thank you, Kevin!!

So, a great week. In fact, October has been a great month! WhooHoo! And we've got loads of events in November too. I'm going to be very busy trying to keep the stock levels up.

With so much going on, it's been impossible to photograph everything, so you've missed a few lovely things, but here's a couple from the remaining stock that I'd like to show you...

Firstly a few 'stand alone' earrings - no necklace to go with these, just the earrings.

Here's Dainty Dangles - these are the tiniest of tiny pearls - I almost went blind making these!

These pearls are pretty small too... Gossamer Window
Parisian Nights - gorgeous purple pearls on Sterling silver chandeliers
These next two use a new pendant finding that I've just discovered. You can unscrew the top and put on the beads - which means that these wonderful hand-made lampwork beads can take centre stage - where they belong!
First up is Toffee Tornado featuring a gorgeous tube bead by Denise from Indigo Lily.
Next is Midnight Moment with beads by Suzy Hannabus.
This next set is (another) one I'm tempted to keep as I love it. Black onyx teamed with sterling silver beads that are faceted... but not just faceted, but SO faceted that they look - and act - like mirror balls. Just so twinkly!
This dainty set is called Blue Lightening because the labradorite flashes blue. It's a fabulous stone and here it's teamed with sterling silver tubes and rounds.
Progress on the workshop! It's now painted. All white to maximise the light in the room. It's lovely and bright in there. We did make a start on the floor today, but those puddles on concrete could still be felt through the underlay and hardboard, so we're going to have to chip them off. Hopefully it won't take too long and then the floor can go down. Will show you!

What a week!

Phew! That was a heck of a week... and just when I thought I couldn't cram in anything else - Thursday evening involved dashing Tom to A+E!!! He spilt (my) coffee over his hand. He's absolutely fine and we did the right things... (just so you know if you don't already) held his hand under cold water for 15 minutes, then wrapped it in cling film, wrapped it in a tea towel with ice, kept it elevated and took him to the hospital.

It was scary though... but we've been very lucky - that was Tom's first ever trip to A+E. That's 16 years, so we're counting ourselves fortunate.

Onto jewellery matters: the sale at Clerical Medical went very well - and they're such a lovely bunch of people, very complimentary, very friendly - and have great taste in jewellery!! We're now booked in for four more sales through to the end of the year. Excellent.

Last night we were selling at a fashion show put on for International Women's Day. That was great too! I'm sure those of you who sell jewellery will know what I mean when I say that you can never tell what you'll sell at any event. Last night I sold a lot of stand alone Sterling earrings and some sets that I'd had in stock for so long I was thinking of re-designing them. Strange, but infinitely fascinating.

Here's a selection of things made this week:

Firstly, these pearl chandelier earrings. Sorry, it's not a very good picture - and I can't take another cos these sold last night! First time out. I think they have a very Art Deco look about them.
This set is Impression Jasper and Amazonite rondelles with Thai Hill Tribe silver. I'd not come across Impression Jasper before, but I really really like it.

Here's a close up so you can see just how lovely these beads are - a combination of browns and pale turquoise - just stunning:

Next is a set made with Labradorite rondelles, Swarovski crystals and Thai Hill Tribe Silver. It's so difficult to photograph Labradorite and get the effect of those blue flashes, but I managed to get a couple.

The next one is also Labradorite - but very different. Looking at my stock recently, I noticed there was a predominance of big and chunky stuff. I suppose being a big and chunky girl myself (LOL!) that is what I'm drawn to make. So, I thought I should try and redress that balance and make some more dainty items. This is the first of them. Labradorite and sterling silver. I was particularly pleased with the earrings - not a style I'd used before, but one I really like, so you'll be seeing more of those.
And lastly, in this batch, Blue Crazy Lacy Agate coupled with Freshwater Pearls. I really love the agate diamonds - I love the fact that there are rough bits, unpolished bits, it makes the beads SO interesting. And, I think, the pearls, just pop the gorgeous colours in the agate.

Can't go without telling you about Wednesday night. It was a real dash to get to London for 6:30, but we made it. The concert was an exclusive (oooo, get me!) event at Gibson guitars. There were only about 200 people there. I'd won 2 tickets through a competition on Amazon. It was a really great experience. Kathryn Williams and Niell MacColl were so un-starry, so friendly and you felt like you could just go up to them and have a natter. BUT, the music was just wonderful. They played tracks from their album 'Two' and I do urge you to try and have a listen to it - in fact, go and buy it... you won't be disappointed. It's beautiful.
Afterwards we went for a delicious Italian meal and then dashed back home. A great and very special evening.

Wow, that's a post and a half, isn't it? Well done, if you've managed to stick with it to the end! Have a lovely weekend and I'll see you all next week.

Much love to all.