UKHandmade Jewellery competition - my entry

I'm feeling lucky and so I'm entering the 'UKHandmade Jewellery competition'.
Here is my entry:

I recently purchased a gorgeous handmade rag doll from a lovely lady called Jo from Milly and Me.
Not only was the doll beautifully handmade by Jo but she was also made to look like my 3 year old daughter.
Jo was so accommodating and created her exactly as I wanted, with blue eyes, dimples, blond hair and holding my daughter's favourite teddy bear.

My daughter and myself absolutely love her, she is so well made with lots of details and every time I look at her, I think of my daughter. She is so precious mainly because she is not just any old doll but she is 'my Raggedy Jennie'. She will have great sentimental value to both of us, especially as my daughter grows up.

I think handmade items are so much more precious for several reasons. They are made with love, care and attention by somebody who loves what they are doing. They are of a great quality and will probably last longer than most mass produced items. But what I like most of all about handmade items is that they can be made so precious by personalising them, like in the case of my Raggedy Jennie.

So make sure that you buy UK handmade too!!!

If you would like to read more about how my Raggedy Jennie came to life, please click the link below:

http://personalisedtreasures.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/my-recent-purchase-raggedy-jennie.html

PERSONALISED GIFT FOR THE TEACHER

Special offfer: PERSONALISED GIFT FOR THE TEACHER. Aluminium heart brooch (4x4cm) £10 incl. postage. Can be personalised around the edge with about 8-10 words. Please leave a comment below if you are interested and I will get back to you.

Brand New 'Stamped With Love' website

I have just finished creating my brand new website 'Stamped With Love'.

Stamped With Love is a collection of personalised necklaces, bracelets and message keyrings for men. 

The website is now up and running and to celebrate, I will refund 20% of the total order value on purchases made by the end of today Sun 1st July (purchased made through this website only).

Please visit: www.stampedwithlove.co.uk

New range of 'Design your own charm necklace'

Design your own personalised charm necklace with mix and match charms. Choose the stamping blanks to go onto your necklace, add your own text to be stamped on, add a sterling silver character charm of your choice together with a Swarovski crystal birthstone. Finish your personalised necklace with a sterling silver chain of your choice.

All items are sterling silver (except from some copper blanks and one aluminium pick blank).

All necklaces are supplied with a matt, wire brushed finish. They all come packaged in a lovely gift box with a ribbon and a gift tag, ready for giving.

How to design your own necklace (please see images below for details):

Step1: choose up to 3 stamping blanks (1 large & 2 small or 3 small ones). Decide what text you would like stamped on each stamping blank (please see the maximum number of words/ characters)

Step 2: choose one additional sterling silver character charm (choice of 16 charms)

Step 3: add one Swarovski crystal birthstone of your choice (choice of 12 beads)

Step 4: choose your sterling silver chain

To purchase your own personalised necklace, please click here to go to my online shop.

* Shows the maximun number of words (or letters including spaces) to be stamped onto each blank. This number is estimated & will vary depending on your chosen text. If I am unable to fit your text onto the chosen blank, I will contact you to reduce the number of words. For further advice, please contact me prior to ordering.

My guitar pick on a Baltic Amber bracelet by Dino-Daisy

I have recently had a request from a lovely lady called Kate from Dino-Daisy to make some personalised guitar picks.

Kate makes gorgeous Baltic Amber jewellery and she was going to incorporate my picks into some of her bracelets and anklets.
And here is an example of one of her lovely bracelets.

Please check out Kate's website http://www.dinodaisy.co.uk for more of her beautiful Baltic Amber jewellery.

Folksy sellers: double check your bill!

Do you sell on Folky? Check your Folksy bill, you may have been overcharged...
I normally pay my Folksy bill without even checking it but this months I had a proper look at it and spotted some duplicated listing charges.
The item description, date, time and amount were exactly the same which didn't seem right. So I contacted Folksy who said they will remove the duplicated fees. They did that a couple of days later and sent me this explanation:

This is a bug which seems to occur when a seller increases the quantity of a listing while the item is in draft, or while listing-similar (we do not see this bug when ‘renewing’ a listing). Tech support are working to fix this. In the meantime, we apologise for the inconvenience but would advise that you complete the listing without altering quantities and then increase quantities afterwards.

So just double check your Folksy bill to make sure you not paying more than you are supposed to...

New Personalised Copper Tag Bracelet.

I have a new personalised bracelet available to buy (and I am also testing Paypal's BUY NOW button - hope it works!)

This personalised bracelet features a solid copper tag threaded onto a 2mm black waxed cotton cord.
The tag can be personalised with your names, date or a short message. The tag is oxidised and wire brushed to create a lovely aged effect.
The bracelet is finished with a handmade copper button and fastens by threading the button through the end loop.
Bracelet comes in a standard 8.5 inch length for men but please contact me for other lengths. Supplied in a small gift box with a ribbon and a gift tag.

Stamping Instructions
Please leave a message in the ‘Note to seller’ field what you would like me to stamp on the tag (max. 2 lines of text, 15 characters including spaces per line).
Apart from capital letters and numbers, I can now stamp a small heart symbol.

Price £23.99 + £2.00 P&P.   To purchase this bracelet, please click the BUY NOW button below.

Facebook Giveaway EVERY MONTH!

How would you feel if you had a chance to win a free personalised jewellery item every single month for the rest of the year?
On the 1st day of each month I will randomly select 1 of my 'Facebook Likers' to receive a personalised item of my choice! 
We will start off with this lovely personalised turquoise bead charm, worth £14.99. The winner will be drawn on the 1st July. Good Luck.
PS: Don't forget to tell all your friends to 'LIKE' Personalised Treasures to be in with a chance too!

Blog giveaway: prizes claimed

The winner and the runner up have both claimed their prizes.
The winner Gemma who won one of my silver washer bracelets has chosen to have 'Alex & Aiden' stamped onto the silver washer.
The lovely Karen who won my copper washer bracelet had the following 3 names stamped on:

Tom, Karen,Roselle. She will use her bracelet as a gift for her husband for their anniversary.

And here are the finished bracelets:

I hope both ladies are happy with their gifts.

Here is Karen's comment:

The bracelet arrived yesterday and I have just opened the package.  It is lovely and I am sure my husband will love it too.  I will make sure we tell everyone where to get their own personalised jewellery...it is a lovely idea. Thanks so much. Karen x

Personalised necklaces order in pictures.

Gingerbread house.

My daughter's favourite story at the moment is Hansel & Gretel. She has a book and we read the story almost every night! So I though it would be nice if we make (or attempt to make...) a gingerbread house.
Here are some photos to show you how we got on:

It not the best house in the world (it looks like it's subsiding a bit...) but my daughter loves it!
Here is a link (includes the house template) if you fancy making one yourselves!
http://www.mydiversekitchen.com/2009/12/magic-of-gingerbread-house-daring.html

Folksy's Best Sellers: I'm Number 6 !!!

Have you seen Folksy's new homepage feature? It's a chart of 40 Best sellers in the last 7 days.
I came across it accidentally this afternoon and when I was just scrolling down looking who is on the list, I spotted my shop in Number 6! I could not believe it, I didn't expect to see my name at all...
Anyway, it really made my day so I think I should go and celebrate...
Congratulations to the other 39 shops! Thanks Folksy, great new feature.

Recent order: Unusual personalised message keyring

I recently had a request for one of my personalised message keyrings.
This time, however, the lady wanted a personal message equally spread over the whole keyring with no spaces between the letters or words. It kind of makes the keyring into a little riddle...
And here is the finished product, see if you can read it...
If you would like one of these for Father's Day, please visit my website (www.personalisedtreasures.co.uk). They are £14.99 + P&P.

And here is my customer's feedback:
You have blown me away, from the beautiful thought through presentation & finishing touches to the actual item which is exactly as I'd hoped. Thanks so much! Love it!

And the winner is...

My blog giveaway is now closed and we have a winner!

Although I only have 46 blog followers, I now have 100 FB likes which is amazing!
Thank you to everyone for liking/following Personalised Treasures.

I have combined my blog followers (46) with FB people (100) and FB pages (37) and have randomly selected one winner (out of 183 entries) who will receive a personalised silver washer bracelet worth £18.99.

And now the important bit:

The winner is: no. 153 BOO DOODLES

Congratulations, I will be in touch to get your personalisation requirements.






But wait...this can't be it?
I'm sorry if you didn't win! But the good news is that I have decided to draw a runner up who will receive a similar personalised bracelet with a copper washer.

The runner up is: no. 57 Karen Sweatham.
Congratulations to you, too. I will be getting in touch shortly.
 

Thank you to everyone who entered. Don't be sad if you didn't win! There will be a new giveaway coming very soon...so watch this space.
Thanks again. Martina x

In Etsy treasury again!

My Personalised Guitar pick bracelet has been featured in another Etsy Treasury called Gift guide for dad by Rima and Genute.

Featured in Etsy Treasury

Can you spot mine?

Personalised Father's Day gifts.

 Make Father's day special this year with one of my personalised message keyrings, bracelets or necklaces.

With Father's Day coming in exactly1 month (Sun 17th June), now is the time to buy personalised gifts for the dads and grandads in your life!
Father's Day is probably my busiest time of the whole year. With half term holidays coming up as well (my shop will be closed), there is not that much time left.
We are also having some new windows put in which means that my busy jewellery studio (OK, my kitchen!) will be out of use for a few of days.
So plan ahead and order your gifts now to avoid disappointment!

I have a range of metal keyring which can be stamped with your own messages. Also available are silver, copper and aluminium bracelet and necklaces for men which all make ideal Father's day gifts.

Below are a few of my favourite personalised items, all available to buy through my website www.personalisedtreasures.co.uk  
Click on the images to go straight to my online shop.

Personalised Bracelet BEFORE and AFTER

I have received a special request from a customer who purchased one of my Silver washer bracelets some time last year.
The lady was wandering if I could replace the black cotton cord on this bracelet.
She said her partner absolutely loved the bracelet and had hardly taken it off since she gave it him.
I offered to replace the cord for free (I just charged a small fee for return postage) and asked her to post me the bracelet.
I didn't think that the bracelet I received would be in such a sad and tired looking state...See below for yourselves!
I knew I had to bring it back to life!

before

 

before

So I flattened the silver washer, gave it a really good polish and highlighted the stamped letters.
I then added a new cord and there it was! As good as new!

 after

after

Have you purchased one of these washer bracelets from me? Is yours looking a bit tired?
Please contact me and I will see what I can do to bring it back to life!

Click on the images above to purchase one of these bracelets through my Etsy shop.

Personalised bracelet with a 'Hidden message'

I get a lot of requests for stamping on both sides of a tag or a charm. Most of the time though, I have to say 'no' as normally the stamped letters tend to go through the metal quite deep and make an impression on the reverse side of the tag. It is possible on the thicker pieces but not so easy on the thinner ones.

On this occasion, my customer really liked the Aluminium tag bracelet and wanted another hidden message on the inner side. I was worried about the thickness of the tag but after a little persuasion I thought I would have a go.

I had to stamp one side then sand the back to make a smooth surface and then stamp the reverse and again sand the other side so that both sides were smooth and no stamping marks were showing.
It worked! I was surprised how well it worked and the finished bracelet looks lovely.
Hope you agree.

My recent purchase: Raggedy Jennie

You may remember reading on my Facebook page about a recent purchase that I was so excited about.
I received a Like on Facebook from a lovely lady from Milly and Me. When I checked her shop I instantly fell in love with one of her lovely handmade dolls.

After a few messages with Jo, I decided I must have one.
Although I really liked the Raggedy Annie, I thought it may be nice if I asked Jo to change her slightly so that she looked a bit like my 3 year old daughter. I thought she could have blond hair, blue eyes and dimples just like my Jennie and I wanted Jo to add a cream teddy bear who is Jennnie's favourite bear - she always takes her to bed with her (in fact she takes her everywhere!).
Jo was very helpful and offered to make 'raggedy jennie' and even offered to email me some progress photos.
I was even given the choice of hair (see photo below) and could choose the colour of her PJ's.

Jo emailed me a photo of 'Jennie' when she was finished to make sure I was happy with her and I loved her!

She arrived in the post this morning and she is sooo lovely.

My daughter and myself will treasure her forever.
If you would like one of those, please visit Milly and Me Facebook shop
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Milly-and-Me/148767231866419?sk=app_135607783795

My new Pinterest board: Chocolate & Orange

I have just finished my new Pinterest board inspired by my favourite flavour 'Chocolate & Orange'.
I'm hoping it may make it onto the Folksy front page...
Click on the picture below to see it on Pinterest.
Enjoy!

Making Jewellery or Baking?

I thought I would have a break from jewellery making today and wanted to do some baking. I had a free Asda magazine which had some lovely cakes recipes in. My favourite was a recipe for Cherry bakewell slices.

The cake was quite easy to make and to my surprise, tasted absolutely delicious! If you don't have a copy of the March Asda magazine, let me know in the comments below and I will send you the recipe. I thoroughly recommend making this cake.

Can you guess which one is mine?

The next recipe on my 'to make' list is this lovely Banana and pecan cake from the same magazine.

 PS: Yes, you guessed right, mine was the one on the right....