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Does this odd combination ring any bells with locals craft ladies?

Matt my ever suffering husband has a rare night away from the kitchen sink tonight and has been allowed out to the pub, he has seen a knitting club drinking beer in the real ale pub (Olde England in Northampton)

What a great way to knit, I always wanted to learn how to knit, my dear nanny used to teach me and I never remembered. I think I got most of my crafty nature from her as nobody else in the family is as crafty as me

So if you hear of these beer drinking knitters, please let me know who they are so I can join them 

:)

So there's me waffling on, you don't want to read about my life, you want to see some new pictures!!!

   <<<< my favourite 

It's that time again, two weeks after the dieting, exersize plans and new years resolutions fail and people start getting the blues. Includes me! So far this week my diet has got slowly worse and biscuits, apple pie and iced sponge found their way into my tummy, not quite sure how... The sponge pointed a little gun at me and said 'Eat me or I pull the trigger' So I obliged. Death by Chocolate I say!!

I'm also fiddling with the website again, I am always fiddling, finally happy with the design and 'feeling' of the site I am just tuning it, adding my ever important titles, keywords and Meta stuff, it's all a bit beyond me but I am trying...

Something posessed me to go on a Website design course the other day; an undeafated thirst for more knowledge about how it all works, I found it very useful, the tutor was touching on HTML & CSS, not everyone got it and one chap walked out as he seemed so confused, but with a lot of time and fiddling, I reckon you/me/one would 'get it' ... in a few years

What else has been happening? Oh, the kitty has been spayed she is currently running about with a lampshade on her head, the husband bought a petrol remote control car which he keeps trying to get me to go and watch him play with; in empty cold car parks, I got a kindle; Fabulous invention!! Everyone should have one. Comes in handy for said empty cold car parks.

And finally I am addicted to Groupon... purchases so far... falconry day for my lovely Mum & Dad, afternoon tea, hair do, tank play day, afternoon tea, segway racing, yoga, pilates, afternoon tea, greyhound racing and afternoon tea.... (theme?)

Anyway, I'm off, need to check out Groupon before they change the deals ;)

I'm terrible for changing things, I have to move rooms round, change cupboards round, everything, it's like Christmas clogs it all up and we need to declutter, have a fresh start!

So... I have made a few changes to the website, decluttered it, mainly the font and pictures, I have had this font and picture for 2 years now and despite it being right at the time I felt it was too harsh for what I want to convey in the website, now it is a calm blue and brown with a natural feel; just like my life... 

Anyway, what are you reading this for? Go check out the SALE!!!!

You have probably figured out by now that my blogging is not very good or consistent. :) 

Thought I'd better do another one

So it seems Christmas has taken over the household, as many of you may be able to relate to, my housework has gone down the drain and suddenly shopping, cooking and keeping up with your jewellery orders is suddenly very important.

My house is a tip and one room is now dedicated to 'Christmas' with unwrapped presents filling the dining room table and spilling on to the floor. The cats are loving it, the unwritten christmas cards that are neatly piled up, have been 'accidently' pushed on the floor and reassembled too many times, got so fed up with that, I wrote them tonight! 

And then there is the sad task of taking those loved ones off the lists that are no longer with us :(   (it's been a night of mixed feelings)

However, the Christmas tree is assembled. Full of delightful decorations, sparkly, dangly things that the kitten has taken a sudden interest in, the tree has nearly fallen over once when she tried to get in it; she is now learning that there are far more exciting things to play with than trees

Anyway; at work this week (I am a cook in real life) we made little santa hats! Shamelessly stolen idea from a picture that did the rounds in the crafting network, they never sold very well, but they did look cool!

So whilst I am waiting for the sun to come out...

Made these the other day, we did a 'Charity Halloween Cupcake Day' and made some vanilla and chocolate cupcakes, topped with a variety of items

Also made witches hats and spider cakes

Pictures;

Argh!! they are taking over!!

I am trying to capture a few google searches now ready for Xmas, it's the perfect price you want to pay for someone as a Christmas gift, so I made it my goal to make loads of items under £10 to help you out with your shopping, here are a few of the bracelets first...

They will be uploaded tonight I should imagine :)

Next project is 'Entwined Necklaces'  I have made 4 of these last night and this morning, very pretty and crystals galore! Just waiting for the sun to come out so I can get some pictures and hope to get them on by tonight as well

I have started working on Christmas ideas, although I won't be going mad on seasonal jewellery, apart from a few sparkly things, I have altered my categories to encompass (is that a word?) anyone looking for corporate gifts, i.e. gifts for employees, gifts as a thank you for a group of people... anything.

Also added in Gift Vouchers of several denominations if you are stuck on what to buy for that special person

I have also grouped by price so you can search by what sort of price you would like to spend on particular people making the searching a bit easier

I hope this helps everyone... 

Apart from that we went out for a lovely meal out last night to a place called Corner 5 in Kempston 

http://www.corner5restaurant.com/

Set in the grounds of Box End Park a purpose built water sports centre, they have a nice restaurant, very modern with top class service. The food was superb. I had Pork Belly with scallops, although the scallops seemed a little out of place, it still went with it and it had crackling which is a big bonus point

On Friday we went to Olde England, a pub just opened up on the Kettering Road in Northampton opposite the Picturedrome

It has no website so I cannot put in a link, it is still unfinished, it has a temporary bar, it has no pub sign, it's just very very ... quirky? I think that's the word

The pub has it's rooms intact, one room is the bar, one room is the toilet, one room is the games room.

The bar is being built down stairs, but is currently a hole in the ground to the cellar? covered in apt hessian 

Please go and visit, it won't be every bodies cup of tea, but it's different

I am quite glad I don't live within 5 minutes walking distance, as I think I'd be going in every night.

Cos the beer is gooooooood 

So what do you think of when someone says, do you want to sell your wares at a 'Ladies Night'

Pampering? Make Up? Massages? Nails?...

Well the first and last one I never researched, turned out to be a Full Monty night

I should have guessed when the Ann Summers rep walked in asking where she could put her wares

Next to walk in was a very bubbly chap with a flowing scarf, he started playing with the speakers, then disappeared for 3 hours to get all his make up and hair on (Drag Queen)

All the ladies come on in, some buying, most not, when they sat down for the evenings entertainment and the drag queen was nearing an end, we started to figure out what the next act was

Need I say more? we packed up before the next stripper come on, yes there were two!

It was fun and thanks to the lady who contacted me about it, it WAS a good night, and after many apologies, my mother in law who was helping me was very gracious about the whole thing.. It's a story to tell... :)

Updated the website again, hopefully getting a few Christmas present customers from now on, so it's heads down and increasing stock, promoting and fairs

I have added a FAQ which may help some? at least it's something else to read during your lunch break anyway ;)

Also changed template to add in links to featured products, and links at the bottom to help you all navigate a bit better

So, I say again, keep eyes peeled for new stuff coming, I probably say that everytime, but this time it will really happen... 

We have added to the flock of chickens here in Chez Di

We seemed to have a constantly broody chicken, so we thought we'd put some fertile eggs under for her to look after and 3 hatched! 

First one was on Wednesday, so chick 1 is now 4 days old;

Rest of pics to follow

So this is summer season? I think we had it already in April, and now we are getting Aprils showers in June! 

Oh well. So anyway, I've been busy, I had a couple of fairs recently, one was very wet and we were outside and we discovered the gazebo doesn't leek, but drips down the sides down your back when you are not expecting it... new gazebo time...

Apart from that I've been making lots of things and neglecting my duties on the website, so will be having a website week instead of a making week

Keep your eyes peeled for lots of new things x

Busy week! 

I have a 'Girls Night' on Saturday at the Frog N Fiddler in Kingsthorpe, Northampton

I have not done a stall since Decemeber so will have to get all my displays out and polished up and everything priced up ready to sell. So I may not be doing many updates on here this week

~~~~

I changed things about a bit at the weekend, introducing a Mother's Day section for those looking for something for mum. Don't forget I can tailor make something special and change colourings, just contact me ASAP for this as time is getting on.

Last orders to guarantee delivery in time for 3rd April will be this weekend, later if it's already made up.

I'm getting quite a few hits on my new categories which I am very happy about, as with all website owners; climbing up the Google pages for searches is the ultimate aim so I can sell more of my pieces. So if anyone who has bought from me and is happy, please link this website onto the internet; somewhere, anywhere.

Thank you 

I have to apologise for the changes I keep making.

After Christmas I had a break from the website and making jewellery, I had worked so hard on the run up to the break I needed a couple of weeks off!

In that time I thought long and hard about where it was all going; I wanted to increase the quality of my products. So after January I split the site to have a costume jewellery site separate to my better semi precious and silver products. I love working with the stones, and feel using sterling may up my game

It worked for a while, but looking back at the sales and hits I am getting now... they have gone! I rarely get a google hit now that says anything other than 'handmade by di' .... Where are my other search hits that I used to get?? 

So unfortunately, I am going back on what I did in January, Costume and Sterling/Stones will again be all done from this website, I have redone my categories similar to what they used to be so I hope to start getting the right hits again, as much as I would love to make myself fully sterling and stone, this is a business and I have to sell as much as I can to stay as a business rather than a hobby :)

What a gorgeous day!

Instead of getting in the garden and clearing the path that the chickens have decided to mess up

(Obligatory chicken pic.... meet Ginger who rarely lays an egg but eats us out of house and home & Tikka who hates humans; this is 2 of 5 we have)

So, instead of clearing the path they are messing up above, I decided to get the lightbox out and photograph my new pieces

Now in the process of loading them up to the website, so a few more things to choose from for the two weeks before Mothers Day, get your orders in quick as things are picking up here and so is my social life for a change! I seem to have nights booked up and weekends have become busy all of a sudden.

My favourite pastime of shopping in Northamptons finest shops; Abraxas, Church's China, St Giles' Cheese & Blenders coffee is all put on hold :( If you are local and not been up St Giles street yet, have a peek.., some wonderful little treasures up there 

This post is a bit random... I only came on to say there was some new stuff uploaded. The joys of a blog!

I love looking at the costume jewellery in the high street shops

It's like a bug, I have to look- for tips, ideas, inspiration, fashion sense... you know what I mean?

How disheartening I feel when I see that they are selling pieces for £5, and how easy it is to try and compete with it. Then before you get that far a quick feel and try on of these super cheap pieces reveal they are mainly plastic, coated, sharp, badly made, short lasting... which then makes me feel better about what I am selling and what I am charging for it

Just goes to show we shouldn't compare prices without comparing quality first :)

Please enter into the giveaway, my inbox is very empty...

New stuff coming up... 

I have been beavering away making earrings for quirkyhandmade website, just awaiting my silver earring wires to come in now before I can photograph them.

There are a few bracelets coming for quirkyhandmade as well, pictured, they just need uploading

I have also been making with stones again, a funky 'Rainbow' necklace & a massive link necklace made with jade discs

Things are picking up a bit, two craft fairs booked and Mothers Day orders are starting to filter in, so if you do see anything you like, order it or email me to reserve it before you miss out...

Been making loads today, shame Facebook is broken, otherwise I would have just updated the facebook page, cannot seem to load any pictures up, annoying isn't it?

First necklace; 

Pink drizzle beads, silver drizzles, black lava squares and finished with a pewter ball and onyx dangle

This has been sat here for months with a flower on the dangle, never been happy with it, so I finally changed it for something that suited the necklace more than the flower did. End result....

The other I made last week with some gorgeous labradorite beads I received in the post, we love special offers as does everyone, when I'd bought these, as I'd spent over a certain amount I got a free bag of turquoise beads- and they are a perfect match!

So no matter how tempted I am to keep this, it will go up for sale in the week. I just love the fact that it's so subtle

What a drab day!

The chickens won't even come out of their run as it has not stopped raining and wildfire won't stop them normally...

But what a great day for making!

I have made loads of new bits today, a few of them a little seasonal, autumnal and even Christmassy. 

Acrylic beads are quite underrated, I have tended to avoid them in the past as they just remind of of shop products made in bulk.

I picked some up yesterday and I have to say I quite like them, the colour ranges are excellent. It also helps to keep the weight light on neck and wrist and keeps the price down as well.

So it was a little bit of acrylic bead heaven this morning as I crafted away with these big shiny bold beads.

The cat loved it, I think I now have 3 beads hiding behind the dresser where she 'pretended' to knock them off the table and then proceeded to chase them into places that human hands can't reach :(

It was fun for her anyway :)

So keep and eye out for new bits coming online.

Di x