Fairy Elephant gets married. . . .

Well I've been busy, been away and got married on a lovely beach in Greece,  made some new jewellery, and now I'm ready for the fantastic Handmade Kenilworth Market this Saturday!  You can find them at http://www.handmadekenilworth.co.uk/

Here's a sneak preview of a new jewellery piece that I will have with me Saturday (complete with chain of course. . .)  Let me know what you think!  I called it 'Words from the Heart'.

This piece is made with domed glass oval tiles, and a pretty blank bracelet from http://www.jasminstudio.com/page6.htm - a brilliant supplier of all sorts of fab goodies!

Well, hoping everyone is looking forward to the busy season ahead, I'm hoping it's an exciting time, I'm certainly loving making lots of different designs with glass tiles, resin, epoxy stickers, and my usual silver bead jewellery.

Have fun creating!

Fairy Elephant. . xx

Slacking. . ..

Hi everyone,

Sorry, been slacking slightly in the blog department!  Had a fab weekend at Handmade Kenilworth Market, lot's of new sellers on Saturday, beautiful handmade quality goods. 

I spent most of my day being a magpie over my good friend's handcrafted lampwork beads, and came home with more than I should have, but am slowly turning them into jewellery.  Rachel's fabulous beads can be seen here on my page at

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.231368170222311.78083.190836780942117&l=ebd939aefd

and on her website here at: http://www.silverfusion.co.uk/index.htm

She is also an amazing teacher, and will soon be starting up some new classes, keep following her website and blog for details. 

Kenilworth Handmade Market's blog can be found here: http://handmadekenilworth.blogspot.com/ and contains all the fab items from Saturday's market.

I have been busy making new pendants, bangles and jewellery from Rachel's beautiful beads, as well as my resin jewellery, example below.  These can be found on my page at http://www.facebook.com/fairyelephantdesign

Keep watching over the coming week as I will be adding new items for sale.  Stop by and let me know what you think.

Bye for now,

Fairy Elephant (Nikki)

Small Business Help in the UK

Hi again,

I just wanted to share that there is help out there, for small (and very small), businesses like me, who work full time but want to create at home also, and perhaps do the odd craft fair etc. 
You can sign up with HMRC, at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/index.htm and register your small business.  This is easy to do, and they also run free courses to help you learn how to go about doing books etc. 
Once you are registered, you get a couple of letters, and then normally just a tax return at the end of the year, which actually isn't that daunting to fill out. 

Also, at BusinessLink http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/home?domain=www.businesslink.co.uk&target=http://www.businesslink.co.uk/, you can get free advice, on nearly everything you need to know.

I found these two sites great help, and a reassurance that it's not that hard to do it yourself. . .

Hope this helps guys.

Best wishes,

Nikki

Care of your Sterling Silver Jewellery

Hi everyone,

Just thought for my second post I'd give you a little tip on the best way to keep Sterling Silver jewellery pristine.

Sterling silver tarnishes over time, simply by being in contact with the air.  it is best to put your jewellery away after use, inside a box or cloth bag and away from other jewellery to avoid scratches.  To remove tarnish and help restore shine to your jewellery, rub gently using a cotton cloth (one specifically for silver cleaning if you have one).  Use mild soapy water if necessary, rinse gently afterwards and dry thoroughly. Wearing your jewellery regularly helps to reduce tarnishing.

If your gemstones or pearls require a clean, the best option again is a damp cloth.  Detergents are not recommended as some gemstones are porous and this may affect their quality and beauty.  Try not to spray products such as hairspray or perfume directly on to your jewellery or wear while you are taking a shower or bath. 

You can also buy little pads that preserve silver, and put them in the bag with your jewellery. 

This hopefully all helps to keep your silver bright and shiny.  Of course, the best way, is to keep wearing it!

Nikki

My first ever blog. .

Well, to introduce myself. . . .
I am Fairy Elephant.  Or at least that's what my mum used to call me when I ran up the stairs as a child.

These days I masquerade behind a little mohair elephant, that I purchased from a lady who handmakes them at http://www.marjoriebears.com/, and he has had his wings added by computer magic by Zina Zee's Enchanting Images, at http://www.zinazees.co.uk/. 

My passion is beads.  And silver.  And shiny things.  Especially shiny things.  And now, and most importantly, resin jewellery, from anything I can think of to put in it or upcycle.  I have just started in this field, but already I can't sleep at night thinking of all the things I can do with this wonderful medium.

 I come from Dorset, along the Heritage coast, where I used to make jewellery from real fossils, and sell them in the local fossil shop on the beach, and a garden centre in Barton Under Needwood when I moved up this way to Coventry.  I now have my jewellery in the funkiest hairdressers in Coventry, Ruby Tuesdays, and the coolest tattoo shop in Bulkington, at Rawhide Tattoo. 

Now, life love and friendships keep me here.  I would say they keep me sane as well but people who know me will know that's not true. . .

In my blog's, I hope to share some of this with you, perhaps give a few lessons along the way, or at least give you a laugh at my attempts at blogging.

Please come back soon so I'm not talking to myself. . .

Nikki

http://www.fairyelephantdesign.co.uk/