Shpangle Jewellery has gone International

This week has seen a few items of my handmade custom jewellery and paperweights making their way to their new home in Thailand. It got me thinking about all of the international countries that now have Shpangle Jewellery and how proud it makes me feel.

Anyone who makes jewellery and other handmade crafts knows that feeling when an item they have made goes to a good home. The feeling never goes away, knowing that an item we have made with our own hands is now being loved by somebody else. But whenever a piece of my jewellery makes its way to another country, the feeling is awesome! Yes, the internet has opened up the possibilities of selling worldwide to everyone, but people do tend to stay local whenever they can. So when a piece of my jewellery becomes owned by somebody on the other side of the world I feel it is a huge achievement.

Currently the different countries (and states) that have my jewellery are:

USA - Washington

USA - Colarado

USA - Florida

USA - Arizona

USA - Wisconsin

USA - California

USA - Georgia

USA - Ohio

USA - Minnesota

USA - New Jersey

USA - Virginia

USA - Massachusetts

USA - Tennessee

USA - Texas

Australia - New South Wales

Canada - Ontario

England

Ireland

Scotland

Wales

Northern Ireland

Taiwan

Slovenia

Thailand

Austria

I found this great website called www.travbuddy.com where you can create your own travel map. And this is what I go when I listed my international jewellery sales.

Jewellery Worldwide Sales

Shpangle Jewellery has currently visited 5% of the countries in the world! I would love to hear about your worldwide sales of handmade jewellery or crafts.

Mick

Patchwork Tote Bag for my Wife

It was my wife’s birthday last week and she is now an extremely proud owner of this patchwork tote bag by the fabulous Lynda of Bags of Swank by SimJaTa.

When the tote bag appeared on Lynda’s Facebook page I immediately fell in love with it. I am not the kind of guy who walks around with tote bags; but my wife’s birthday was a great excuse to buy it for her and she loves it too!

Patchwork Tote Bag

The patchwork of colours that make up the bag all complement each other and work together so well. With bright paisley prints, tie dyes and cords and details such as the inner pockets and lining, the tote bag is so special and a real credit to the handmade industry. You just couldn’t find a bag made to this quality and level of workmanship in the shops so thank you Lynda for making a fantastic one-of-a-kind bag.

Handmade Hippie Bag

I must say, the tote bag is one of the best presents that I have ever bought (and certainly beats last years’ present of a lump of dinosaur poop). Not only is the quality fantastic but it is supporting a fellow maker of handmade crafts. So if you are looking for a unique gift for a member of your family or friend, please visit Lynda’s shop.

Mick

What were you doing at 11:11:11 on 11/11/11?

I am sure people will be asking you this question for years to come. It will only happen once in our life time so I would love to know what you were doing at this moment in time when the clocks struck 11:11:11: on the 11/11/11.

I was in the middle of blowing up some strange animal shaped balloons for my wife’s birthday at the time. As the time drew closer to the 11:11:11 moment I probably took the strangest decision ever and decided to capture the moment on my PC! So there I sat with my PC clock open and fingers poised over CTRL-PRTSC.

11:11:11 on 11/11/11

I then opened Twitter to see what others were doing on this date and time and saw a great Tweet from Pan Aveyard, who made his 11111th tweet at the precise moment and here it is:

11111th Tweet at 11:11:11 on 11/11/11

So what were you doing at 11:11:11 on 11/11/11 and did you make a wish?

Mick

The Horse Hair Jewellery Giveaway Winner is...

Following my recent horse hair jewellery blog giveaway at 12.00 noon on Friday I selected a winner. The random number generator didn’t have to work too hard because not that many horse owners entered, but here it is!

The winner of my horse hair jewellery giveaway, who will receive the first of my new range of horse hair jewellery, is...... Louise Yeoman from my facebook page. Congratulations Louise!

Horse Hair Jewellery

The runner-up of my jewellery giveaway who will receive a custom made horse hair pendant, similar to the one below, is..... Carl Dunger for his friend Sharnna Makins.

Many thanks for all those who took part in my first horse hair jewellery giveaway and if you were not successful this time please look out for my future giveaways.

Mick

Budgie Feather Keepsake Jewellery for Circus

Back in February this year I blogged about A Budgie Keepsake - Mango’s Last Feather which was a very touching story from Laura who asked me to make keepsake jewellery from the feather of her gorgeous budgie Mango. Laura contacting me recently, following the very sad loss of her budgie Circus who was being treated for respiratory infection. She wanted the leg ring and a small feather taken from Circus preserving within a clear heart shaped pendant.

The following is a lovely message that Laura gave me after receiving her keepsake necklace:

“Once again Mick has left us with a fantastic reminder of one of our budgies - Circus. I was given Circus from a breeder who is also a great friend around my birthday 5 years ago.

Baby Budgie Circus

Over that time he has watched his sister raise 8 gorgeous little chicks and a year later to be joined by a great niece. Their blood line is by far my favourite and I'm proud to have most of the family tree right upstairs in the bird room!

Circus the Budgie - Bird Room

Soon after his passing I knew Mick was the person to go to preserve his leg ring and tummy feather.

Budgie Feather and Leg Ring Keepsake

Just as I'd hoped it's as beautiful and peaceful as imagined! There is something so calming about the pendant, you can view a perfectly frozen feather from all sides, there's something special about that.

Budgie Feather Keepsake Jewellery

Thank You a thousand times for once again providing a perfect keepsake that we will be able to hold close for a lifetime, he will still be here if or when his great niece and nephews take the plunge in starting their own family, now that'll be a story to tell them!”

Laura – Nov 201

Circus the Budgie

Many thanks to Laura for a lovely story; it is a pleasure to have made a keepsake for the feather of such a gorgeous budgie!

If you would like to see more examples of my pet keepsake jewellery please visit my Pet Keepsake Jewellery gallery.

Horse Hair Jewellery Giveaway

I have been making horse hair jewellery for quite some time now and thought it was time to bring out a new range of jewellery for the horse owner. Unlike the traditional braided horse hair jewellery, my jewellery actually uses very little hair; approximately one to two inches of hair the thickness of a pencil is more than sufficient for any of my pendant designs.

Personalised Horse Hair Jewellery

For my new range of horse hair jewellery I am looking to use longer strands of hair to incorporate into my designs. And this is the reason for the giveaway. If you are a horse owner, or know of a horse owner who can supply me with a few (maybe six) strands of tail hair (approximately twelve inches long and preferably dark in colour), I will then send you the finished prototype piece of jewellery that I make with it free as a thank you!

I will only be making one prototype for my new range of horse hair jewellery and therefore will be selecting at random the winner of the giveaway (assuming more than one person enters that is!).

The rules of this giveaway are simple. If possible please follow this blog (Using the ‘Join this site’ button located on the right of the page). Then leave a comment on this blog, maybe letting me know why you would like a piece of my horse hair jewellery and how I can contact you if you are the winner.

Horse Hair Jewellery

This giveaway will end at midday on the 11th November 2011 (which incidentally is my wife’s birthday). Good Luck!

Mick

Jewellery Made from Recycled Fabric Remnants

I do not know where the time has gone but it was last spring when I mentioned that I had been making jewellery made from recycled fabric. At the time I asked if anybody had small off-cuts of fabric that could be donated to me for my jewellery making, and the lovely Lynda of ‘Bags of Swank by SimJaTa’ came to my rescue. She sent me a huge pile of fabric remnants with some very gorgeous designs and I have finally got around to making some pendants with them.

Two pieces of fabric caught my eye in particular and the first is this ladybird fabric with foliage and small daisies. The ladybird fabric has been encased within a teardrop shaped resin pendant and has been backed by green coloured resin to compliment the colour of the foliage. The pendant has been given a Shpangle sparkle with a small amount of glitter dust.

Ladybird fabric necklace

The second fabric remnant is this one with pink flowers and a lovely cheeky looking bee. The pendant has been backed by pink resin and given the usual sparkle.

Bumble bee fabric necklace

I must start making more pendants with the fabric off-cuts that Lynda gave to me. The fabric is gorgeous and will look lovely made into some pendants; I also have an idea to make some of it into handmade buttons.

Mick