Where to Find Me 2014

I've been busy busy booking in lots of events to take me into the Festive period. Below are the details of the fairs and markets I'll be at, hopefully see you there!

Saturday 27th SEPTEMBER: "We Make It" Artisan Fair, De Bradelei Mills, Belper, DE56 1AR 9.30am-5pm

Saturday 18th OCTOBER: Cathedral Quarter Arts & Craft Fair, Derby Guildhall (off Market Place) 10am-4pm

Friday 24th & Saturday 25th OCTOBER: "We Make It" Artisan Fair, De Bradelei Mills, Belper, DE56 1AR 9.30am-5pm

Saturday 1st NOVEMBER: Attenborough Autumn Craft Fair, in aid of Christian Aid, Attenborough Village Hall, Attenborough Lane NG9 5HZ 10am-12 noon

Saturday 15th NOVEMBER: Craft & Gift Fair in aid of MS Society, Spondon Village Hall, Spondon, DE21 7FG 9.30am-1.30pm

Sunday 16th NOVEMBER: Mansfield Lights Switch On, Westgate, Mansfield 10am-6pm

Saturday 29th - Sunday 30th NOVEMBER: Festive Craft Fair as part of Open Studios, Long Eaton Art Rooms, Lime Grove, Long Eaton NG10 4LD 10am-4pm

Love is like a butterfly...

Recently I've been working on jewellery made from these little hand drawn butterflies. I use markers on shrink plastic and I just love their uniqueness. Generally I use shapes and patterns from nature, but experiment with colours and shading so that each one is different.

These are made into pendants, charm bracelets, earrings and even stretchy children's bracelets so that my little magpies could have one each! What I particularly like is that they are very light pieces, making them perfect for those who don't like chunky jewellery but still want a piece that makes an impact. Even better they can be made in absolutely any colour combination.

I'd love to know what you think!

Roses Roses Everywhere...

One of the things I find interesting is repurposing, whether that be items, or in this case skills. A while ago I attended a cupcake decorating course with a friend of mine. One of the techniques we learnt was how to make beautiful roses from fondant icing by creating individual petals and layering them together. This looked very effective, but I'll be honest, my children demolish all cakes icing first within seconds. Such time and effort for me seemed wasted on something that's beauty is so shortlived.

So when I started experimenting with polymer clay I attempted to transfer the technique over and I found it worked quite well. What started as roses for pendants soon escalated and I now I offer various jewellery items with roses, including cufflinks and hair grips. They make beautiful sets for wedding jewellery as I'm able to make them in absolutely any colour scheme, and offer something for all of the bridal party.

Most recently I've been making some teeny tiny roses for these pretty personalised bracelets, fiddly but very worth it! I think they'd be just perfect for flower girls!

The items start from just £6.50 for stud earrings or a pair of hair grips and are available to suit every colour requirement!

Working from Home

You may or may not know that I'm actually a stay at home mum to three little ones, two girls aged 5 and 2 and my baby boy who will be 1 at the end of this month. So what with the school runs, playgroups, outings and endless snack making I have a lot of juggling to do!

I'm still finding my feet with working from home, but I'm hoping that doing so will in the long term enable me to work flexibly around my family commitments. Prioritising though is hard, as is getting space and time to think. I am blessed however with a wonderful husband who is happy to be handed a baby as soon as he gets through the door!

I'm lucky that we have room in our bedroom for my work station, and that said bedroom is on the 2nd floor, separate from the other areas of the house, but in reality I work where and when I can! I have a great free list app on my phone (ToDoist) that keeps me on track and I use cloud technology (Box.com) to keep all of my account and inventory documents accessible to me wherever I am. I can also amend my website on the go, so I can remove a product that sells off-site straight away. I also tend to update social media when I can from my phone, or if I get a block of time I try to schedule updates to get myself ahead. Technology is definitely to be embraced when you have so much going on at once!

Luckily I was an administrator in a past life so keeping on top of the paperwork is pretty much second nature to me, and little and often is the key I think to avoid tax return panic!

Do you have any good working from home tips you'd like to share? Or app recommendations?

**This Saturday I'm at Spondon Village Hall, Derby, from 9.30am until 1.30pm at a Craft Fair & Cream Tea event for the MS Society**

Craft Fair Display Revamp

I've been tweaking my craft fair display recently. In the main I've used metal shelf raisers from Ikea and pinboards from Wilkinson that have been spray painted.

To tie everything together and add a splash of my beloved teal to an otherwise monochrome scheme I managed to find a twin pack of washi tape (again from Wilkinsons - bargain!), which together with a little lace create the large display boards.

These are then placed on display easels (I found The Works to be cheapest), which can be bolted down with g-clamps for outdoor events.

The new pendants on chain caused me a little head scratching before I remembered this box. I think it originally housed a toiletries gift set but has been holding tealights in a cupboard forever! I think it works pretty well as I've been able to use the clasp to attach them at the back and a simple tent card slots in nicely to label them.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the effect, and for very little outlay too!

Poor Neglected Blog! New Products and Upcoming Events

Poor poor blog, how I have neglected you! Lots have happened since my last post. I am now stocked in a real bricks and mortar shop! Ragdoll Embroidery & Gifts in Arnold have a lovely range of handcrafted gorgeousness and are having lots of fab crafty events too, including an upcoming Pattern Swap for charity, check it out!

My new jewellery range is the Rose Collection. These handcrafted polymer clay roses are available in all the colours of the rainbow and can be ordered as pendants (£16.50), hair grips (£6.50), cufflinks (£10), stud earrings (£6.50) or a brooch (£15). Until Saturday there's also a giveaway on this range to enter via my Facebook page.

This week I'm building up to the Furthest From the Sea festival in Derby. I'm taking part in the craft fair around the Guildhall area, but there's also comedy, music, street performances and craft workshops taking place all over Derby Cathedral Quarter.

Pearls & Lace

Up until this point my jewellery designs have been, in the main, gemstone designs. I love gemstones for their individuality and metaphysical properties, and they'll continue to be my main focus, but I just fancied a bit of a change!

I'd used Swarovski crystal pearls before, in my own bridal jewellery, and I loved the colours. I also wanted to incorporate more resin work into my designs.

I wanted a look that blended a vintage style with modern elements, like the coloured pearls and resin in the pendants and I'm really pleased with the results.

If you'd like to see some more pop over to the Etsy shop - www.Etsy.com/shop/EriminiDesigns