Front Page Excitement

Hello lovely readers.

I have some excellent news. I was on the Etsy front page this morning!! Lovely Becci (from Momentsbymartha) took a screenshot for me (as did posh_doodles from flickr - thanks guys!) and here it is:

Can you spot me? I'm the centre of the bottom row, with my fab splodgy rings. You can purchase yours here. I'm so pleased! Seriously, I was jumping out of seat. The rings have received 20 new hearts and my shop has got 13 new admirers. Being on the front page has certainly boosted my creative flow, as a whole bunch of ideas came to me today sitting at my desk at work that I can't wait to get working on! I got paid today from my regular job, so I'm probably going to buy a printer so that I can print my own packaging. I love the idea of packaging and have been having some ideas for it recently, so I'll show you what I come up with!

Had some Etsy people round to my HOUSE believe it or not! Snapdragonbeads, momentsbymartha & lovealittle from the Handmade Oxford team came round to stuff the goody bags. I've been begging, stealing and generally hassling crafters across the world for their promotional items, samples, business cards and general stuff for weeks now, and had a huge pile of it in my living room. The girls came over and we filled the goody bags, they really are going to be a highlight of the day. Each has a bunch of business cards, notecards, earrings, phone charms, magnets, bookmarks. I want one myself, and I've been looking at the stuff for weeks! We'll be giving them out free to the first 200 people through the door to the fair, so you should most definitely make the trip and come along on the day, stop by my stall and say hi if you do! You can check out photos from the bag-stuffing day here, and don't forget we are still accepting promotional items, cards and anything you would like to be included. These bags are going directly into the hands of people who buy handmade, so don't miss out. We'll also be sending a number of bags with the best bits in to buyers for a number of high-end retailers, so it really is a great opportunity. Leave me a comment if you want more information, or you can email me at cakeadaykatie@hotmail.co.uk.

Friends, buyers, countrymen

Another long, long week without Internet access, although I have spent more time mucking around on the floor with my titchy-boy, I have felt rather cut off from society. Luckily being back at work has allowed me to check emails (and increasingly regular purchases!) nightly.

I have been on a bit of a making spree this week as well, no Internet access does wonders for my creative flow, as I'm not pissing about on the forums, I can actually get down to creating!

I totally love both of these designs (now available in my shop, here!)

I have also been working on my wholesale price list. If you would like a copy, and you are the buyer for a business or retail outlet, you can grab yourself a copy of the list by emailing me at cakeadaykatie@hotmail.co.uk. I'm talking to two shops right now about stocking my jewellery in the UK, and a website already carries twinklyspangle.com jewellery. So things are going well in that respect. Plus, my Dad has finally finished the catalogue stage of the website, so that will be up for your viewing (and purchasing) pleasure shortly. He is also sorted out my Internet connection at home, so provided my laptop doesn't give up the ghost - the adapter is buggered. Seriously, it's not even funny, Ramsey has been pulling at the cord (do you know something funny? I actually put "corn" there, and it was only when I read it back through that I noticed) and all the wires are dangling loose, I'm surprised that it still even works.

I hope you are all well, my lovely readers. I'm off to get myself an extra strong coffee. Tomorrow, my boyfriend IS going to finish my crafty cupboard, so I'm going to have my own little studio, I'm so excited!

P.S I'm looking for fun blogs to add to my blogroll - if you post in the comments here, I'll be checking out your blog and if I like it, I'll add your link to the side.

Phlog!

Photos + Blog = Phlog!

Yesterday I thought, "Hmm...I haven't updated my blog for a few days so I had better think of something. I know!" So I took loads of photos of my day, one every hour, on the half hour, so you have have a thrilling, enticing glimpse into my life and all it's interesting twists and turns. Ahem.
So, here we go!

8.30am: Enjoying my morning coffee. I have a small piece of weetabix in it, and it's cold, and in a Christmas mug. I'm pure elegance, me.

9.30am: Trying to check my email, but not getting a moments peace.

10.30am: Watching This Morning!

11.30am: Feeding

my bubba

12.30pm: My bubba is sleeping, it's crafty time.

1.30pm: Ramseys awake and lunch is ready - we always have lunch together :)

2.30pm: Playing with my chubba on the floor!

3.30pm: Going to post a letter quickly, while Daddy is home for lunch to look after the baby

4.30pm: Getting ready for work

5.30pm: Waiting for Daddy to pick us up to take me to work

6.30pm: Talking to a customer on the telephone!

7.30pm: Can it get more exciting? Getting a form to fax to someone!

8.30pm: Nearly home time, getting a bit silly!

9.30pm: Can finally relax with a glass of wine and some telly!

So that was my day yesterday! During my little craftytime there, I made a fab new range of jewellery. Using sparkly little beads and wire, in the same style as my Fluro set, I made this gorgeous necklace, which you can purchase in my Etsy shop as a set or on their own. If you buy the set, you even get a free pair of matching earrings, what more could you ask for? I think you should treat yourself :)

Internet Outage & New Designs

Uurgg! My bloody internet connection has been crap this week so although I have been taking photos and creating gorgeous new pieces, as well as working on a huge wholesale order, I haven't been able to upload anything to Flickr or Etsy :(

So, this is a bit of a meaty update.

Firstly, I made a whole batch of 'Meadow' bracelets.

Here are a bunch of the charms I have made for each of the bracelets. Each bracelet takes 15 flowery charms to create, so I had to do over a 100 of these to create the amount of bracelets that I was trying to!

And here is a snap of some of the completed bracelets! I ended up making 8 of them, because I ran out of the flower beads, which are from Hong Kong, so I'll need to order some more pretty soon (I hope!)

You can read more about how I made these bracelet on my Flickr photostream, plus see some more lovely colourful snaps of them! You can purchase one in my Etsy shop for a reduced price right now, as I really need to see how popular they are before the launch of my website on September 1st. Click here to purchase yours!

So after all that, I had a bunch of these left:

Which are the pieces I cut off the end of the headpins that wasn't needed. So I wracked my brains for something I could do with these bits. I added a couple of beads to each, and curled the end: And basically, I made this cute, nu-rave coloured set!

I was really happy with how this turned out, and although this colour combo will be a one-off, I might do it again in a different colourway!

So, I think that is probably about it. I'm off to the Harvester now, I just adore their lovely Salad Cart and Lemon and Herb chicken - yum, my belly is totally rumbling right now. I'd love to know what you think of my newest jewellery, it's always nice to receive comments on posts. I know people are reading because I can see on my stats, so make yourself heard!

EDIT:

Stupid Harvester have changed their menu! They no longer do the bloody chicken that I love so, I had to make do with some yucky pasta, it was rank and bland. Down with menu changes!