Art & Jewellery

This is a re-post from my new blog. I thought that I would pop this online here as well because most of my arty and crafty people are going to be checking this site more than the new one. I haven't added any of the pictures - if you would like to see it with pictures please click here to my new site. You'll see why if you look as there are hundreds of pictures and it is a bit big to move over to blogger!

Art & Jewellery

I have made jewellery since I was 16 and collage pieces since I was 20 but recently I no longer have time to sell my wares. I don’t have the resources at the moment to find craft fairs, to promote my Etsy shop and to source new shops to sell in. I have pulled my jewellery from most of the places it was selling and my art & cards are now only available on Etsy.

I am trying to decide what to do with the stock I have and this blog is, as much as being an update for those interested, a plea for ideas. I am more interested in finding something to do with them rather than making a lot of money – although I won’t say no to the money, it always helps. I hate the idea of them sitting in a drawer or ending up in a rubbish bin somewhere.

If anyone in the past has liked something I’ve made and would like to make an offer on a piece, or pieces then please do get in touch. I am also very willing to sell wholesale. I’m not looking to sell on consignment at the moment as I don’t want to be tied into contracts. As far as costs go I want to cover my costs and a little profit would be great.

Everything can go as far as I am concerned. All of the jewellery, the art and the cards are available. The only thing I am not selling are the prints of my collage pieces, which were only ever available as cards anyway. If you read this and would like something I can arrange details over email or through Etsy for any/all products.

If anyone hosts jewellery parties and wants some extra handmade bracelets then I have a ready made set of stock. If there is someone who wants interesting pieces to compliment their picture frames then I have a ready supply of 5×7 collage pieces.

I feel obliged to point out that I poured a lot of time, energy and creativity into these pieces and it has not been an easy decision to stop selling them.

I’ll include pictures of some of the collage pieces, either A4, Cards or 5×7 prints. Frames can be included or left out. I’ve not put pictures of the jewellery in here because, well frankly there are more than enough pictures and I have got hundreds of different styles of bracelets. Anyone interested should drop me a line and I’ll happily share photographs.

Vick.

The End of 3RW

Hello everyone,

Just in case people haven't moved over to my new blog I thought I would put a quick note on here to let you guys know that I have now finished my Three Random Words poetry project that I started over here earlier this year.
The final four poems are here!
I went a little over my target of 100 poems but I had a great time and I have already got the next project planned out and ready to go.
I hope everyone is well and staying warm this winter (if you're in the UK, that is!)

Vick.

Treasure!

I have been included in three treasuries today - this is a record for me and has made me super happy.

The first was called 'Come and open up your folding chair next to me' by LeenGreenBean and included my blue Floating Vivid Pattern Collage print.

The second was titled 'Feeling blue...' by ChiccaBijouxCreations and was decidedly more cheerful than you would imagine! It included my original Vintage Winter Woodland collage.

The third was called 'Creative a Collage' by bbrunophotography and included my Crimson Atlas original collage piece.

Happy Friday everyone - hope you are all looking forward to a great weekend.

Vick.

All Change Part #1

I just turned twenty-five. That’s a lot of time.

I’m running out of creativity on Etsy at the moment – a lot of what I have been doing lately has started to seem a little stagnant to me. Now, if I am feeling that what I am doing is getting tired then I’m not going to be selling so well or doing my best work. I’m taking a bit of a break from putting new things on Etsy. I’m working on my photographs – both the ones that I am using to display my products online and also the photographs that I take purely for artistic purposes. I’ve been playing with the idea of using some of my ‘art’ photographs as Etsy cards to match the collage cards and the print cards. This is not me just dragging my feet on original ideas but I’ve had several people (no, really!) ask me if I would consider it as they like both the cards and the photographs I have on this blog. 

There is a lot of change happening at the moment and I usually keep the personal away from blogging and the business but over the past few months I realised that I wanted to be able to put more of my writing, my opinion, things about food and books online without it impinging on my Etsy and crafting work.

So I am splitting the blog into two. This will remain as an Etsy, art, crafts, collage, jewellery blog and I have a NEW BLOG (can you tell I'm excited?) over on WordPress. If you'd like to take a look that would be fantastic. So far there is nothing new over there but there will be a lot going up in the next couple of weeks.

There will also be a neater way of looking through the writing I have done in the past – plays as well as poems. The 3RW poems will also be over there from now on - so if you're looking for those the archive will be both here and on WordPress but the new ones will only show up over there. There will be a new one up in the next two days... I’m not quite sure what the final product over there will end up looking like but there will be more of me and the things that I enjoy and slightly less business.

I am going to have a section on the new blog for images so that I can put my favourites online. I am in no way stopping what I am selling on Etsy just not adding lots of new things until I am re-inspired. Once that happens I will probably keep putting things up on here but this blog will be business while the other will be more personal.

I would really like it if you want to follow me over to the new site - if not, there will still be updates over here but a lot less frequently. Also, my apologies for the complete radio silence while I worked on this - my head was so full of trying to get both the sites working that I didn't have the energy to blog.

Thanks everyone!

Vick.

p.s. for future reference, part #2 of the blog is here.

Preserved

I've been busy turning a tree load of bramleys into apple butter this week. If you're in the US then this probably makes a lot of sense. If you're in the UK: apple butter is a sharper, less viscous type of apple jam. There is a lot less sugar involved and it is pureed halfway through the proceedings.

Many people use a slow cooker. I don't. I'm not being snooty about it, I just don't own a slow cooker. I had to do a jar-count to see how many batches of the stuff I could make. I also decided to do a general round up of preserves while I was about it. It's coming up to Christmas and I generally give people preserves (they make nice gifts...yes I am also very poor while trying to figure out what my job is going to be!).

The final tally.
Elderflower cordial - 4
Elderberry cordial - 7
Sloe Sherry - 2
Sloe Gin - 3
Rosemary Oil - 2
Chilli Oil - 2
Damson Jelly - 2
Pickled Beans - 3
Winter Chutney - 1
Apple Chutney - 2
Green Tomato Jam - 3
Gooseberry Chutney - 6
Damson Jam - 6
Victoria Plum Chutney - 3
Apple Jelly - 15
Damson Chutney - 7
Mincemeat - 2
Chilli Pepper Jam - 3

And not nearly enough empty jars. I wouldn't come around to dinner any time soon - you might be forced to eat jam so I get another jar free for this year's goodies.

And there are currently 6 jars of apple butter with another double batch on the hob as I type.

Vick.