Inspiration Overload - Lost my Way

All images from my Etsy Shop

So, I have been very quiet on the blog recently and I guess that has been for several reasons. I was in Scotland for a few weeks for some serious wedding planning (5 weeks to go now) and since I got back I think I have lost my was slightly. When running your own craft business I think you can run the danger of becoming over inspired and comparing your work to others rather than focusing on what you are doing.


This has been my issue lately. I have been making 'trendy' friendship bracelets, making my own beads in a tribal theme and why? - because this what is popular on blogs and on etsy at the moment. I think what I need to remember is that a trend is short term and I should keep doing my own thing and refine my product.


So from tomorrow, I am going back to basics and I'm going to focus on my own style of jewellery and then I'm going to focus on marketing myself because those that have seen my jewellery love it - I just need to work on getting it out there so people know about it!


Have you ever found yourself in a creative overload?

My First Interview and Giveaway

My first interview on Cherry Blossom Tattoo Blog!

Giveaway prize -to enter, comment on the blog and like my facebook page

A picture of me - in case you were wondering what I look like!

The thing about running your own business is, you have to be all things. In setting out to start my own jewellery business I had visions of spending all of my time making jewellery but if you actually want to sell or let people know that you exist, then you need to be a lot more than that. As well as getting out and approaching shops which I'm just starting to attempt. You have to market yourself. This is something that has never come naturally to me.

Anyway as the lovely Carrie from Cherry Blossom Tattoo was looking for interviewees, I swallowed my natural urge to shy away from such things and volunteered. She is also giving away one of my bracelets. You can read it all here.

Happy Easter!

TREND - Summer Brights

Shorts - Marni @ H&M, Dress - H&M, Zip Ring - Top Shop, Bag - Kate Spade, Shoes - Kurt Geiger, Jewellery - Bead Bash

It is a lovely sunny day in Ireland today - it feels like summer and it is only March!  I love the first time I get to break out my summer clothes and I love summer trends. This summer there are a couple of colour stories that I love and this is one of them. 

Summer brights can't help but put a smile on your face. I have been on the hunt for some hot pink beads but I haven't found much so far so I am using the hot pink as an accent. I will keep on hunting as I love hot pink as the feature colour, especially with green. I really love what Kate Spade does with colour - her bags and purses are lovely.

I am off to look for some hot pink beads, you can find my summer brights in my Etsy Shop here and keep an eye out for lots of new bright additions!

Etsy Ireland Treasure Hunt

Image from Etsy Ireland Blog

The Etsy Ireland Team are hosting a St Patrick's Day Treasure Hunt. The details will all be available on Saturday on the Etsy Ireland Blog. You just click on the treasure hunt logo on the top right of the blog to go to the questions. Many team members have contributed prizes so make sure you enter to be in with a chance of winning some lovely goodies all handmade in Ireland.

I was originally organising this but had to pull out for family reason's - so thanks to the lovely Sarah from Sarah Mai Designs for taking it on!

I contributed a faux suede wrap bracelet made from green czech glass and amethyst beads. What do you think? I love these green beads. I only got 10 of them and have used them all. My supplier doesn't have them any more but I'm keeping my eye out for them. If you don't win, you can find some more green products to celebrate St Patrick's Day here.

My First Etsy Sale

I have been missing from the online world for a couple of weeks, whilst I have been away I have been growing my Etsy shop and I even made my first sale. 


I've been having great fun making faux suede wrap bracelets in all sorts of colour combinations. This lead me on to make faux suede cord necklaces and also to add faux suede cord to earrings. I am really pleased with them - what do you think?


I also bought some proper boxes for my larger items , although I love my diy pillow boxes they are more suitable for small items.


My first sale was a lavender resin necklace (shown above), finished with silver plated chain. I bought all of the materials last time I was visiting my family in Aberdeen. I hope the new owner enjoys wearing it. 


I was so excited to log in and find I had sold something - if you have a shop on Etsy or sell elsewhere, do you remember the first time you sold something - how did you feel?

New Brand Find

All images from minoux

Today I am sharing with you a jewellery brand I stumbled across via pinterest. Minoux Jewelry, and boy do I love their stuff. If you are an etsy addict like myself then you will have spotted a trend for all things arrow related. I think Minoux has that kind of feel about it and I love the bright colours and textures. All pieces are handmade and Minoux will even fix them for you once you have worn them to death!

Based in Portland, Oregon you can check out the Minoux website here. 

New Facebook Shop

I only started this blog about 1 month ago and I have already forgotten to post for a week! I was in Scotland last week to do a bit of wedding planning for my wedding in June. I didn't quite get everything done I was hoping, but luckily I am back after Easter to try and get the rest done.

Since I got back to Ireland I have been making bracelets for my Etsy shop. I love these bracelets and I think I have found the focus for my shop. I love the texture combination of faux Suede and Czech glass beads. 

I have also opened a Facebook shop today and to celebrate I have a promotion on until Sunday 19th Feb offering 10% off. Just use the code NEWFBSHOP.

What do you think?