Halloween Elves

Yes its getting to that time of year again and I have made some Halloween Elves that have already been listed on Etsy. I had great fun with them, I already had the BOO! elves and the vampire elf Bite Me listed on Etsy. 

I thought it would be a good idea to make some more.  Well I had to make another vampire naturally but I didn't want to make wire wings as they can be a bit annoying to fix on. After a lot of thinking I settled on a design and made Count Dracula. I loved making him especially the bloody mess around his face and his cloak looks great even if it was a bit tricky to get it to stick on. 

I couldn't just leave it at the Count so I made a family set called the O'Lanterns, pumpkin elves.  Again I was so pleased with them as they turned out really well, also they seem to be popular on Etsy having been featured in a few treasuries. 

 Now I need to make a few beads and charms and make some Halloween Jewellery. Then it will be Christmas but as I have a few elves ready I have already started listing them on Etsy, which for me is unusually early especially as we haven't celebrated Halloween yet.

Busy Busy

 I wish I had a few more hours in the day to fit everything in its been a busy time. So I decided the other week to close down my Folksy shop and reopen with a new marketplace called Craft Cafe It does seem like a nice place.
Today I have realised apart from not blogging for a long time I haven't told you all about my new website. Its called the Creep Crew and it combines some of my Storm Glass Beads and some of the Cornish Dragon Gifts. I have made a couple of Elves to go on there and I will be making more beads etc.

I have been having some fun with the Elves this time, I made a couple of Knight and Princess sets, both have new homes now.

Thats it for now as I have to get to the post office to send some Elves to a new home. 

Office Work

I wish I could sit and create all day but in order to sell my work there is a certain amount of office work I need to do. I usually do the office work if the weather is so bad like this week cold and very very wet or it just needs doing.

So what does my office work consist of, well mainly it is taking photos of jewellery, beads, elves etc. then uploading them to the computer to edit them. Some get uploaded to Flickr, posted to forums and used for selling like in my ETSY listings which then I pin to my Pinterest boards. 

Blogging is part of my office work as it is part of my self promotion getting my name out there so people get to know me and what I do. That also means I have to update my Facebook page and of course Tweet.

I also have a side where I want to help out others, like recently I made my first Squidoo lens on Jewellery Parties, I could have written it on here I know but I thought I would give it a try. I hope to add to that lens with a few more hopefully about display, craft fairs, etc. I include going on to the forums I'm a member of as part of my office work, well it is a bit lonely working for yourself and going on the forums helps.

Office work doesn't just include the above its the accounts as well, and possible my favorite part, ordering. Yes ordering glass, beads, metal and elf bodies is all part of the office work. So for now I had better get on and update my other blog and order some glass and go and chat to some lovely crafters on my favorite forums. 

Giveaway Winner

Thank you everyone who took the time to leave great comments. The Elves will continue as they are perhaps not so many plain ones.

So to the bit you are all waiting for, yesterday evening I put all the names in a bowl and blindfolded   the girlie and she picked out ...........................

                        Awrylemming

Congratulations and the Elf and Bead will be in the post to you. 

Beach Huts to a Street.

The creative process is a fun one, anything can spark it, a word, music, colour, photos, the list is endless. I have been fascinated by Jo Walker, a fellow Craft Pimp Forum member and part of the forum team on ETSY, and how she has been inspired to make the lovely creations below.

First she was inspired by beach huts to make these lovely and original lampwork beads.

But it didn't stop there, Jo created these beauties in copper & silver.

Then a street developed, including a castle.

Well I just had to treat myself so I'm the proud owner of one of Jo's houses. It has been interesting seeing the creative development from making the lampwork beach huts to the houses. I'm looking forward to see what type of house she will make next. 

Have a look at her shop on ETSY to see more.

 Studio Jewellery by Jo. 

Its a giveaway

Yes I have decided to have a giveaway on the blog, now you have to do a little work for me, don't worry its nothing to bad just need a little marketing advice.
As you may know I make cute little Elves and some of those are in my ETSY shop, I love making them but I really want to concentrate on making limited edition ones a bit like these.

So my Question is: Should I keep making the Elves and just Limited Editions?

So for the chance to win an Elf and one of my Lampwork beads just leave a comment below, you have until Sunday 22nd April 2012 and I'll put all the names in a hat and announce the lucky winner on Monday 23rd. 

This is what you could win.

 

Good Luck. xxx

Sorry

Well I was supposed to be keeping up with this blog, eek slapped wrist for me. Anyway I set up a Twitterfeed last night and I was a bit tired and ended up with all the posts tweeted. Never mind it was fun rereading a few posts. I've added a widget to the blog so you can see my tweets and there is a link if you want to follow me.

So the next post is the important one, so make sure you look you could win something from me.