That’s right, I’m having a sale! I’m trying to clear some stock and you can benefit.
To get 25% off all items in my store, use the coupon code 6501309852 when you checkout.
*Only includes jewellery already featured in the store. Does not include custom orders.
As I’ve talked about before, we had family visit for Christmas this year. With other relatives and friends, we ended up with fourteen people over on Sunday.
I cooked a turkey, roast vegetables and cheesecake for the big day. My sister made a Christmas cake and my Nana brought ham. The other guests brought salads and bread.
I modified this turkey recipe for my whole 4kg bird. I didn’t stuff it, I ended up putting in a halved onion, lemon and bay leaf in the cavity for extra flavour. It turned out fairly well, but since my meat thermometer is still in a box somewhere I ended up over cooking it a little which resulted in slightly dry meat. The gravy is awesome and everyone needs to try it.
The cheesecake and Christmas cake recipes were both from The Cook’s Companion by Stephanie Alexander. If you don’t have this book, you really ought to change that.
The day itself was good, though one of my cousins fell asleep pretty early on after getting home at 6.30am that morning from a big night of drinking. It’s been really fun having my aunt and uncle’s kids visit. We hadn’t seen them in five years and they’ve grown so much since we last saw them. They’re now teenagers and pretty damned mature for their ages. Sadly they’re off extremely early this Thursday morning so the visit is almost over.
All in all it’s been a good Christmas for someone who usually swings between hating and barely acknowledging its existence. The presence of people you love really makes all the difference.
item 1, item 2, item 3, item 4, item 5, item 6, item 7, item 8, item 9, item 10, item 11 and item 12.
I have made a huge update to my shop today with the above twelve new items. I’ve been getting back into using plastic flower beads again so there’s quite a bit of new jewellery that uses them. I have ordered a bunch more beads which I’m hoping arrive really soon.
I’m especially concerned about that because I just found out I’m moving up to the country in two and a bit weeks. I’ll be living with my dad until I get a house of my own which could take absolutely ages. I’m really hoping that’s not the case because we’re going to be pretty cramped in the small three bedroom house (there are four of us as well as cat and dog). We’re also having my cousins visit for Christmas but they’ve thankfully booked accommodation in town. It’ll be brilliant to see my cousins and aunt and uncle. The last time we saw each other was August 2006 when my paternal grandmother died. I can’t wait.
So don’t expect many more updates to the shop for a while. I’m going to buy some more packing boxes in the next few days and start on the non-essential kitchen items. Wish me luck!
I’ve finally been able to add some new jewellery with my camera returned to me in perfect working order again.
I seem to have made a ton of post (stud) earrings lately. I still have a ton more to photograph, as well as a bunch of other stuff. I’m basically just waiting until we get enough sunshine so that I can photograph them.
All the new earrings can be found here.
Tags: button, glass, green, leaf, new items, pink, post earrings, rose, sea glass, shop, stud earrings, turquoise
Clearly it’s been a while since I posted last. Since then I’ve spent a lot of my time working at my old school as a substitute for the last few weeks. It’s now school holidays but I’ve been spending most of my time over the last few days cleaning the house and throwing out garbage to get ready to sell.
You won’t be seeing any new jewellery for a little while on the blog. Recently I was playing with my camera and I noticed I couldn’t change the aperture or shutter speed in manual modes. It’s apparently a pretty common issue with my camera so the manufacturer repairs it for free. The only problem is that I’ve had to post the camera interstate to get it fixed so it will probably be gone for at least a week.
You may also notice that the blog address has changed. I’m fiddling with things a little bit at the moment so certain things may appear and disappear but it should all be fixed in no time.
I think it’s pretty obvious that I’ve been collecting a lot of sea glass recently. Sea glass collecting isn’t that common in Australia as far as I can tell from my attempts to research on the internet. There is very little information about which beaches in Victoria are best for finding sea glass, so I thought I’d give a little advice based on my experience so far.
I have only visited beaches in south-east Melbourne for sea glass so far. However I have visited several beaches, many multiple times. Here is my advice on finding sea glass in south-east Melbourne.
Anyway, I hope this helps. If you have anything to add please feel free to comment. The more information Australians have about sea glass collection, the better.
As I’ve mentioned before I’m in the process of cleaning and packing up my house. One of the many things I’ve sorted through recently is the last of the Barbie collection my sister and I amassed in our childhood. While my Mum was still alive she worked for one of Australia’s Federal law courts. At some point she ended up donating the majority of our collection to the child care room in the particular court she worked for but we had a little bit of our collection left over, mostly made up of broken or damaged dolls and accessories.
I went through the collection and pulled out what I thought I might be able to use for jewellery. The following are the beginning of my using the collection.
Buy here
Buy here
Buy here<
Tags: arm, barbie, doll, earrings, high heels, necklace, ring, shoes, steak, toy
I went out this afternoon to clear a few things from my never ending ‘to do’ list. I posted a jacket I sold on ebay, bought a copy of Australian Beading magazine and got the cat’s medication from the vet (where I also encountered a very cute Labrador x Jack Russell cross puppy).
While flicking through the pages I spotted something very familiar:
I emailed the photos of my jewellery to Australian Beading in March and promptly forgot about it so this was a great surprise. The photos are in the new issue which is Vol 5 No 3. My photos are on page 113 for anyone who comes across a copy. I recommend the magazine for anyone interested in jewellery making because it is one of the more diverse magazines I’ve seen as far as techniques in the projects.
I also thought I would link to my Pinterest account. For those of you who don’t know, Pinterest is a website where you can make a collection of virtual pin boards. A lot of the content pinned by other people is design and craft centric. I’ve found a lot of great craft tutorials that I’m dying to try out. If you have a pinterest account of your own I’d love to see your boards so comment on this entry with your username.
Tags: australian beading magazine, media, photos, pinterest, press
Recently it was decided that we would sell my family house here in Melbourne. My sister and I still live here, while my father and brother live in the country in the house my dad bought four years ago. The country house was purchased after my mum died suddenly in 2006. We’re going to purchase a smaller house for my sister and I to live in (at least until we can afford to buy our own places), where I’m also planning on having my own craft studio. Most of the houses for sale in the town come with sizeable sheds which I could convert so I’m looking forward to the space.
As a result, we’ve started packing up the house a bit. Since we’ve lived in the house since I was 10 months old (I’m now in the last few years of my 20s) we have amassed a lot of stuff, and a lot of junk. It’s a huge job. My next job is to find some boxes as we’ve run out. I’m still hoping to make jewellery for the next month or so, but eventually I’ll have to pack up all my supplies. Such fun!
One thing I’m looking forward to is the potential renovating and decorating of a new house. I plan to post about my progress here, so that’s something to look forward to.
While still (sort of) on the topic of jewellery, here are two new pieces I’ve got for sale.
Both are for sale here at Madeit.com.au
Tags: jewellery, madeit, moving house, new items
The story behind this plush dino head trophy is basically one of boredom. I found the wood plaque at an op shop a while back and bought it without any clear idea of what I would do with it. I decided I wanted a faux taxidermy trophy for my wall but figured I wouldn’t find any plastic animal heads that would be the right size. I did have a lot of felt, so I ended up making this head without a pattern (as if it weren’t clear from the photo). Once I was finished I hot glued it to the now painted plaque which I attached a picture hanger to. It now sits on my wall near my wardrobe.
This is one of many crafts I’ve been trying that wasn’t jewellery making. I am also teaching myself embroidery using Amy’s embroidery how to and the embroidery basics posts on Wild Olive. I’ve also picked up an embroidery book from the op shop which has a tonne of information, as well as photos of some impressively awful embroidered clothing (it was published in 1986, so I suppose it goes with the territory). It gives me something to do with my free time other than cleaning up the tiny bits of wire that end up in my carpet.
To finish up this post, I’m going to share some of my newer jewellery. Click on the images for more info or to buy.
Tags: faux taxidermy, felt, handmade, home decor, new items, plush
