creating a mood

I’ve been having fun with my camera, taking photos of my new pyrography necklaces for my etsy shop. The forest has been great for finding different textures and backgrounds. I completely lost track of time and it became like when I am drawing, completely focused on just one thing, all the stress of life melted away.

Trying to think up ways of putting across my feelings for these necklaces through the photos is hard but I think I’m getting there! I’m hoping to come up with a sort of formula to make the following necklaces quicker to put into the shop.

I’m not sure I can count the photography part as work because I enjoy it so much, and there’s the added bonus that Floss gets a walk at the same time.

I have noticed the leaves changing colour already and Autumn is definitely in the air. The smell of Autumn in the forest is so evocative for me. When I was four, my first night away from home was with school to a place called Fox Howl in the forest. I can still remember the ranger taking us on a walk to show us all the different types of fungi. It was all such a big adventure.

fruit-ion... bead magazine and pie!

Here's the article about my pebbles in Bead Magazine (issue 25)! It has been months in the making, so long ago that I thought it had been forgotten about and wouldn't happen, especially as Jean Power (the old editor who originally spotted my work on Etsy) left the magazine halfway through the process. But here it is!!! And I'm so pleased!!!

Mr P made me a lovely apple pie with some windfalls from the bramley tree I used to climb when I was a kid in my parents' garden. The pastry was extra tasty having cinnamon added to it and it was not too sweet, not too tart, just right. Loving the bakery typography! There's no mistaking it's a pie ;-) It's fab having a husband who can cook. It's a military operation clearing up afterwards but I find that funny and Mr P looks great in his stripy apron.

happiness!

My little robin pebble made it onto the front page of Etsy this morning in a really lovely seasonal looking treasury. What a great start to the weekend!

My mum and dad brought me some sweet, delicious damsons and a bottle of homemade apple wine yesterday with strict instructions to drink it a little bit at a time in case it's like rocket fuel! It was so potent last year that one glass blew my head off. It is delicious and sneaks up on you because you really can't tell how alcoholic it is. I think a good weekend will be had. :-)

autumnal pebbles

Yesterday I saw the most beautiful fly agaric fungi in the forest. They were HUGE! And so many of them! I've never seen so many in one go. That'll teach me not to carry my camera with me. I will have to take it with me later to see if I can get some good photos. So anyway, I decided to celebrate with a mushroom pebble.

This new bird pebble I think is my most favourite pebble to date. It has a curved line running all the way round it and I wanted to make use of it in my design. Really pleased with how it's come out. Anyway, into the etsy shop they will go.

The very exciting news I was talking about...! There is an article about my pebbles along with an interview in Bead Magazine (UK issue 25 - published today). I haven't had a copy in my hands yet but the proof looked ace. I can't wait to get hold of it so I can show my mum. I think she will cry!! They are also having a give away of 3 of my pebbles. If you see it please give me a shout and let me know what it looks like :-) I can't stand the suspense but I won't be able to get a copy until the weekend. Eek!

pebble offerings

Feeling all autumnal here now, I was inspired to carve a squirrel onto one of my pebbles yesterday. The ideas are flowing at the moment so I am making the most of it. Hopefully more to come.

Have a great weekend :-)

crafting birds

Just a quick post before I go. The birds and berries design has proven to be popular. Here's the latest one which is destined for a lovely lady who makes her own jewellery. It's made with two holes to become part of a bracelet. I had to simplify the design to fit it into the space but I think it's come out really well.

I'm hoping to be able to post from Cornwall so with a bit of luck and a tailwind on our travels I'll catch you soon!

new bird pebble

A new robin pebble necklace that I've engraved. I need to take some better photos of this one and some of the others for that matter! The light wasn't great when I had my camera out but it has been so dull and grey here recently. Hope you're having a good weekend.

Memories of summer

I found this pebble I'd carved at the bottom of my pebble bowl. I'd completely forgotten about it. It took me right back to sitting on the bench in the sunshine next to the strawberry plants, choosing a blossom to carve. I engraved the pebble right there in the garden. It's hard to imagine sitting out there in just a t-shirt at the moment. We had more snow a couple of days ago and it's still lingering!

I've been meaning to do this necklace design for a while! Sometimes they go round and round in my head until I put them down on paper or engrave them. As always, click on the pictures for more details.

Thanks for all your suggestions for names for my mannequin so far. It's been great fun reading them all. Still 6 days to go if you haven't entered the giveaway yet. Good luck!

little fox pebble and the inspiration behind it

Here's my new little pebble necklace, based on the sighting of the fox from my walk I wrote about in the last post (click on the photo for more details of the necklace).

I thought I'd show you the picture I took of the fox, although it's a bit blurry I was still so happy to get a photo of the little fellow. We were almost at the edge of the field when Mr P spotted him. I think he must have watched us all the way across, sat so silent and still. It really made my day ♥

a couple of nature inspired pebbles

A new simple design, berry pebble necklace (click on the photo for more details) inspired by my walks in the forest with Floss.

And another leafy sprig pebble necklace (click on the photo for more details)... this one is very lightweight, dainty and flat... maybe I should have called it a spriglet!

Ta-ra for now as my nan used to say :-)

mini moo love

So excited to receive a new box of moo cards this morning! I love the new style cardboard box, much better than the old plastic one, and prettier too.
And the tiny index cards!! Very cute and a great idea for keeping the best ones separate!

And now you can upload your own design for the back of the cards they're even more versatile! I chose to add another little photo to the back and keep the typeface the same as my shop and blog header. I do love them, I think it's genius being able to have a different photo on each card if you wish.

Now, back to work I must go or Floss won't get her walk in the forest.

new discoveries

I was thrilled to find out this morning that I'd been included in this gorgeous treasury by illusio and that my beloved acorn necklace has sold.

As I've always been quite shy I've never been one for shouting from the rooftops for people to look at what I do, but recently I've been thinking that I should try and increase the views of my work. Just by chance and coincidentally I recently discovered project wonderful. Am I the last to know about it? It's an amazing way to increase exposure for your shop or website although it's a little bit addictive. You bid for advertising spaces on websites of your choice so you can experiment with who is the best audience. You can track the number of clicks and views for your placements. It's an exciting and interesting way to go about it and you don't have to spend a lot of money. It really does make it fun!

Have a lovely weekend x

Free shipping!

Please forgive me for this blatant self advertising but I'd like everyone to know that there will be free shipping at bird ahoy etsy shop from now until Tuesday 1st December to anywhere in the world so if you've had your eye on anything now might be a good time to sort out those Christmas presents or treat yourself. I also love to do commissions so if something you like has sold or you have your own ideas please get in touch. Have a lovely weekend! Bye for now.

i've finally found it!

Some of you may already know just how much I love the scent of lichen...

... it reminds me of places like this. I've often wished I could bottle it.

Well somebody has already done it for me! I'm currently sitting here typing getting wafts of lichen every now and again. I bought a set of mini perfume oil samples from etsy shop For Strange Women after being seduced by the natural ingredients and beautiful packaging, and yesterday I tried Moss & Ivy for the first time. After the first burst of powerful fragrance had faded I was left with my favourite scent! Lichen!!!! Total bliss!!! I just can't believe that after all this time I've come across it. Happiness in a bottle!

Major excitement!!!

I've just had a lovely surprise... I was on the front page of etsy again!!!!!! Hurray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here are all the lovely picks chosen by Fern of The Wellington Boot. Thanks Fern for including me!! You made my day!!

here i am...

Hello people!!!

I have finally returned to this place which I used to love so much and it's about time I showed it some attention I think! I have missed all my blogging pals so much! My cunning plan was to leave it until the beginning of May and then it might have looked like there was no break given a short glance!!! Except for all that has happened in the space of a year... things that now seem as though I could have dreamt them. But that's for another time.

I had the best day yesterday.

The sun was shining and it felt so warm against my skin. I wasn't the only one enjoying it, the birds were singing and a lovely friend sat with me for a while and we had a cup of tea and shared some chocolate. I spent part of the day in the garden painting some old bookshelves a nice new colour for my workroom. I'll show you a before and after sometime soon.

Major excitement!!! I found out that one of my necklaces had been featured on the front page of etsy!!! That's never happened to me before and it was so exciting. It was this one.

Anyway, I will leave you with a link to a program on the bbc iplayer which had me totally engrossed yesterday. Oh how I'd love to go to Japan on a quest to find the meaning of wabi sabi... it's available for the next 4 days... take a look if you have chance.

Bye for now :-)

my first etsy customer

Yipppeeeeee! I have something to celebrate! A lovely lady has made my week by being my first birdahoy etsy customer!! I am so excited!! At first we had a problem with paypal refusing to let her make the payment but I sorted it out quickly with help from the forums on etsy. It was basically a box that needed unchecking somewhere in the deep dark depths of my paypal account. The forums are brilliant on etsy! Makes the learning curve far less steep! So now the earrings are somewhere in the postal system on their way to their destination. Fingers crossed that it goes smoothly and they arrive safe and sound.

I wondered which (if any! yes I know, more confidence please!) would be sold first and I thought it might be either these or their blue equivalents. Now I will make some more for the shop. I also have some more silvery coloured crystals that I'll be using too. It's so much fun this jewelry making lark!! :-)

Anyway, I hope you all have a lovely weekend. I'm off to buy myself a guitar!!!! I am slightly scared at the prospect of the music shop and trying one out when I don't have a clue what I'm looking for or how to know if one is right for me but hopefully my guitar will find me!! I'm definitely going for one with all metal strings, that much I do know, and maybe a sexy cutaway bit but that's just for aesthetic reasons at the moment!! Anyone got any tips on choosing a guitar?

Wishwoos

My silly name for fish! I'm still driving myself crazy looking at the number of views of my earrings on etsy!!! Thanks to everyone who's added me as a favourite seller or favourited one of my items!! Cheers!! You're all lovely!! I'm thinking of adding a linoprint later. I've figured out that the best time to add items is in the early evening here when most of the usa has woken up and we're still awake over here. That's my theory anyway.

Now, please would you go over and see gromit and tell her she must sell her cyclist gloves on etsy. They are just so funny! You will see why when you click on the link. ;-)

Have a wonderful weekend people!! :-D

I did it!!!

After much deliberation, pondering, wondering, encouragement from lovely people, photo taking, supply gathering and now nervous anxiety I have set up a proper etsy shop!!! I decided to call it birdahoy just like the blog and my username on etsy. Etsy's such a great place. I've been a member for a couple of years now and have bought lots of lovely things from some very creative people. It's a great place to shop for presents too and you can use paypal which is so convenient.

In my shop there are a few pairs of earrings so far and I will keep adding to them along with maybe some lino prints. It's very exciting and scary at the same time! I have to keep stopping myself from going to my shop to see if anything is happening!! It's terrible!!!

The fun bit is naming things... I've been using song titles as inspiration for some of them. These ones are called Ready or Not Earrings!! They're amethyst and glass on sterling silver earwires that I've oxidised again. I just love that rich purple... it seems so long since purple was in vogue, it's nice to see popping up again everywhere.

I went for a beautiful walk at lunchtime to try to stop thinking about etsy for a while. The sun was shining and the birds were singing and everyone I met had a big smile. The sun does that to people doesn't it? Ahhh... I feel so alive at the moment!!

Anyway, I think I will be back here again before the week is up. Bye for now! :-)