owls!

At last! I finally have a new batch of jewellery bits – so I can show you the latest addition to my range of brooches and pendants: owls!

I only got them last night, so please excuse the poor photos – the evening light isn’t up to much photography-wise in this poor excuse for spring/summer we are having.

There hasn’t been much time to put anything together to photograph – these little fellas aren’t even glued!

In fact I’m not even sure that these buttons will end up as part of the finished articles, but I was so excited about my owls that I just had to tell someone!

I’ll be spending the weekend choosing fabrics for buttons and strings and turning them (and another lot of apples and birdies) into a new batch of pendants and brooches.

Watch this space for the results of my labours…

And do feel free to get in touch via my commissions page if you would like to reserve one, or have a special request for a custom colour or design of brooch or pendant.

I think they’re a hoot (sorry!) – I hope you do too x

pretty thing of the week

I’m a bit rubbish about buying cards online.

I have to admit that, even when the occasion I am buying for involves those closest to me, I am apt to forget all about a card (and usually giftwrap too) until it’s time to actually write the thing.

At which point I find that I have absolutely nothing suitable in the house. And by which time it’s too late to order online.

But I am trying to improve. It is on my list. Along with sorting out my driving and painting the spare bedroom floor.

If I weren’t so rubbish, I would definitely have bought some cards from Jolijou by now.

Not that I imagine either lad or his dad (my primary card-recipients) would fully appreciate them.

But so much the better…

I might just get to keep them for my wall instead!

p.s. Check out Jolijou’s mugs too – they’re lovely!

p.p.s. The broken English descriptions of the goods in the shop are so sweet!

e.g. “These cards are much too good to be used as a map, make plugged also great eye-catcher on your wall, or on your wall if framed, dangling with a Clothespin on a leash, you will hopefully enjoy it”.

See what I mean?

giveaway time!

Today, at long last, my apple pendants have gone on sale in my Etsy shop.

I know I have said quite a lot about them on here already, so I will try not to bang on about them again. Instead, I’ll leave that to Chris of The Life Creative, who has featured them at number one of his top seven creative finds this week! Thanks Chris x

However, I will allow myself a small celebration – and I’d like you to share in it!

I am giving away one of my apple pendants to one lucky blog reader.

This is the one that’s up for grabs:

It has a silver-plated toggle clasp and, when finished, will hang from a silver-plated bail. The central button is made from a 1960s Dekoplus fabric and the string is made from Rose Walk, a 1970s fabric designed by Heather Brown for Heals.

The rules are simple, all you have to do to be in with a chance to win is:

• Become a modflowers blog follower  (if you aren’t already).
• Leave a comment on this post.
• If you are a Pinterest user, pin a picture of my apple pendants to one of your boards. (Any picture, as long as it’s of one or more of my apple pendants, pinned to any board you like – I’m not fussy).
• And for an extra chance of winning, you can like my Facebook page.

The giveaway closes on Sunday 5th May 2013 and I’m happy to post worldwide.

Good luck!

I haven’t done many giveaways, but I’m so pleased to actually have something to give away at last.

I think it’s about time.

Update – giveaway is now closed. Winner to be announced shortly!

stringing along

I’ve been busy making the strings for my new batch of apple necklaces.

The first job is the matching of strings to pendants.

I could just use the same fabric for both, but I prefer to mix and match as I think the end results are more interesting that way.

Choosing the fabrics always gives me pleasure. It’s a good excuse for a rummage through my messy stash, which often turns up some forgotten treasures down in the depths of the pile.

These are some of my fabric choices for the current batch of pendants:

Then there’s the delicate task of pressing, preferably avoiding steamed fingers (tricky when working with such narrow strips!)

I was having a bit of trouble with the sewing machine today, too.

It doesn’t like narrow strips. The feed-dogs seem to chew on them rather than run them smoothly under the foot.

But we got there in the end.

Just a couple more strings to make, the bails to attach, and finally the dreaded hand-sewing-on of the silver-plated toggle clasps.

These last two stages are a little bit fiddly, but its worth taking time over them to get it right.

Hopefully, the end result will all be worth it.

I’m aiming to have them completed and on sale within the next few days.

I feel a bit guilty over how slow I’ve been getting these finished. I know some people have been feeling a bit impatient.

But I hope that by showing the care and individual attention involved in the process of making each pendant, you can see that I’m not just stringing you all along. ♥

whatever happened to…?

When I posted about my new apple pendants, I have to say, I was pretty overwhelmed by the response.

So many people commented, emailed and messaged about them…

And then it all went quiet, didn’t it?

To be honest, I’m a bit ashamed of myself. I haven’t felt like doing any hand stitching recently, so the job of finishing them off sort of fell by the wayside. I’d run out of brooch pins too.

Businesswoman of the Year I am not.

But in my effort to rise to the Twiggy pledge I am determined to get going on all those little jobs that I have been a bit lax over.

Including completing my pendants. And…

I’m making a new batch!

They’re not finished yet, but I will be beavering away like a good’un this week until they’re done. Never a shirker herself, Twiggy would be proud of me.

And there’s more…

I have decided to do a little giveaway.

As they say, watch this space…!

pretty things of the week

This week’s pretty things come from a shop with so much prettiness in it that it’s hard to know where to start.

Although that bracelet above will do me. Lovely, isn’t it?

In fact Tami Rodrig’s Etsy shop is filled with things so nice that, despite never having been one for dangly earrings, I could even see my way to making an exception for a pair of these:

And there are lots of birds and flowers involved too, so you can guess that I’d be quite keen.

Have a look and you’ll see what I mean.

Such loveliness doesn’t come cheap, unfortunately.

But window shopping is free. So soak up the cheeriness of Tami’s happy art studio and let it rub off on you.

Happy weekend everyone! ♥