I just had to buy these yesterday from Etsy! They were so lovely, and such good value

From a lovely shop - DesignedbyRJ. Go check it out, and you might score some bargain loveliness of your own!

I will be watching the post every day in antici…

…pation!

I’ve decided to start a new feature on my blog, called Superb Sunday! This is where I will feature five wonderful, handmade products from Etsy each week. Now, five is going to be a challenge, because there is so much spectacular stuff out there!

Superb Sunday for the 30th of November, 2008…

1. Evergreen by ArchaicDesign

2. Winter Branches by Konyskiw

3. Fiesta by MarianneS

4. Copper leaf and resin ring by Pennydog

5. James Bond Mouse by The House of Mouse

If you would like to be considered for next week’s Superb Sunday, please leave a comment on this post letting me know which of the above products was your favourite, and also leave your shop link in the Etsy forums - under Promotions - “Superb Sundays at Epheriell Designs - Thread for the 7th of December 08″.

I’ve found a new passion! After seeing a ring made by a fellow crafter on Crafteroo.co.uk, I popped over to her blog, followed links to tutorials, got the general idea, and then got creative!

Thanks KittyB, for sharing!!

Here’s what I came up with…

First, a simple ring made with silver-plated wire and a square bead.

Then, I decided a sea glass and copper ring was in order. And so it was…

What do you think? I love the sea glass ring - I’m now planning to start making more and putting them in my etsy shop. Perhaps some brass and sterling silver ones, too?

I was just looking at my incoming searches, and saw ‘resin jewellery supplies Brisbane’. Well, I’m in Brisbane, and I use resin… but I haven’t yet found a supplier here! I actually order my resin (the nasty stinky stuff… but so much cheaper than epoxy!) from a company called Adelaide Moulding and Casting Supplies.

For those non-Aussies out there, Adelaide is another capital city - a very long way away! However, I would definitely recommend them, and I will be ordering from them unless I find someone closer. The postage is a bit steep, but the price of the resin is 1/2 what you would pay from a ‘craft’ supply store online.

So if you’re in Oz and want resin, give them a looksee Here is the exact link to one of their resin products.

I’ve just made my first animoto video! For those of you who’ve not heard of it, animoto is a website that allows you to upload your own photos, choose a music track to accompany them, and then puts them together into an awesome animation!

I created one to showcase my sea glass jewelery - check it out…

The cool thing about this is that it’s free!!!

You can then easily tag it with relevant keywords, upload it to YouTube… and hopefully people will watch it, like what you make, and check out your site and your stuff!

One boo-boo with this one - I forgot to title it with my full web URL. I’ll be doing that in future!

What do you think?

Well, I’ve finally gotten around to sorting out my latest photos.

Okay, most of my latest photos!

For those of you who sell online, you can probably sympathise with the amount of time it takes to take, edit, and upload photos of your work. It can be an incredibly tedious part of what we do. But it can also be rewarding, because we then get to share what we’ve made with each other!

So, here are a few of the new line of crocheted earrings I’ve been working on…

'Summer' Crocheted Earrings

'Spring' Crocheted Earrings

'Gypsy Rose' Crocheted and Beaded Earrings

'Purple Haze' Crocheted and Beaded Earrings

What do you think?

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Click Here for a free how-to-crochet e-course!

We had a lovely night last night! My partner Nick and I have been renting a lovely 3-bedroom house near the beach for a few moths, and we decided we wanted to have our family and friends to visit. So, last night was our housewarming!

It was great fun…

Our house-warming, November 08

Two of our good friends stayed the night, and we all went for a walk down to the beach this morning. It’s a windy day, but not a cloud in the sunny sky. Here’s what it looked like…

My local beach - Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia.

As always, I couldn’t help but cast my eyes to the sand! As it’s been very stormy here this week, there was lots of detritus on the beach, which, of course, equals fantastic sea glass and stone/shell/coral finding conditions. My haul was quite modest compared to what I’ve come back with some times. There were a few particularly nice bits there today - especially the awesome long, deep-green bit that Nick spotted!

What I Wombled today...

This is not my favourite collecting beach, though. I think I may have to head out this afternoon to the best beach I have found… but I’m keeping that one a secret!

I also finally got the chance to photograph some of my sea glass jewellery! I also wore one piece at the party last night (you can see it in the photo above), and it was really rewarding to have people notice and comment on it. It’s just so wonderful to create something you really love and are proud of

Hmmm, it’s almost 4pm, I think I’ll have to head down to the beach soon. It’s been such a lovely day after the crazy week of storms we’ve had here. Last night was perfect - no clouds, stars and a light breeze. We thought we might have had to postpone it, but we’re glad we didn’t! Enjoy the rest of your weekend, all!

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I’ve been making sea glass and other ocean-related jewellery. Well, I have finally gotten around to launching my Etsy shop for it all! I decided to use a little play on words, and call it AusSea Designs. It’s likely that only Aussies will get the joke…

I decided that I wanted to sell and brand this stuff separately from my other bits and pieces - aim for a slightly more upmarket audience and style. I’m working with more expensive, precious materials, such as resin, sterling silver, plus unique finds. Every piece in this shop will be totally one-of-a-kind, as I’m working with natural found objects.

I have come to really love living by the sea, and taking time out a few hours per week to just slowly wander up and down the beach as the rays of the sun slowly dim. I’ve found so many lovely treasures! And I have come to really love turning them into wonderful little works of art.

Over the next week I hope to photgraph and list all of the pieces I have currently made. I was waiting on an order of sterling silver chains, so I can photograph my sterling pendants with the chains they will come with.

To take a peek, have a look here - AusSea Designs. I’ll also pop a little Etsy mini-shop up here in the sidebar so you can get a regular squiz at what I’ve been up to! Have a look below, as well…

It’s the end of another long week - but it’s been a fruitful one for me. After working six days this week, and fitting in little bits and bobs of my crafting when I could, it was nice to sit down this evening and get stuck in.

This morning I took advantage of the good sunlight to take photographs of some of my pieces that I will soon be putting up in my second Etsy shop - AusSea Designs. I have been squirrelling away making jewellery from sea glass, coral, shells, and sea stones… and all work of that nature will be for sale at AusSea.

After that, I spent a few hours cleaning up what had become of our study! After a trip to Bunnings, where we purchased all manner of things - and me, specifically, some more storage containers - I finished finding a place for everything! I then printed out some business cards and packaged my first two sales! Sneak peak - if you ever buy from me, this is what your package will look like…

A little Epheriell Package!

Then, just as we were eating our dinner to the sounds of the thunderstorm outside, the power went out! So, after a bit of knitting, I decided to make some earrings I had been planning for a while. This turned into two pairs of Triple Loop Crocheted Earrings, and one pair that I’m really proud of, and that took me ages - The Gypsy Rose Crocheted Earrings. Here’s a sneak peak… I’ll be photographing these and popping them on Etsy in a few days time..

New Crocheted Earrings

Finally, the power has come back on, so I was able to finish my instruction sheet for ‘how to wear your NeckWrap’, and hop on here to potter around before, hopefully, a very good sleep to prepare me for the massive week ahead!

I just had my first sale on Etsy! I’m so excited

When I read the message from the seller, I found out it was an old high-school friend, who must have found me through Facebook!

So a big Thank You Jen!!!!

Here’s what sold…

My Blue Leaves NeckWrap…