Cup of Tea and a Chat!

There is one forum on Etsy that I pop into every day, the UK chat thread. We finally got our act together to do a little bit cross promotion of our shops, rather than just gossip all day!! Although our chat and our tea making skills are exceptionally good........

Up this week is http://www.snowdropsanddaisies.etsy.com/. A fellow Scot, based in rural Lanark, Ann designs and makes homeware and other handcrafted bits and pieces. She take her inspiration from the bright colours of nature and the cosyness of curling up in front of her wood-fire.

Ann make items that she would want in her home, often making things for herself, before deciding if they deserve a life in the outside world.

She tries to use recycled, organic and/or fair-trade materials as much as possible. She tries to live as sustainably as possible while living in a modern world, which is reflected in her choice of materials and packaging.

Follow Ann on twitter: www.twitter.com/_snowdrops_

Ali

x

And .. drumroll please... the winner is.....

Hi all, thanks so much for your diligent tweeting over the last two days, we've finally reached 444 tweets.

This cute little speckled sparrow will be winging it's way to...............

Emily of http://twitter.com/ImHooped

Congratulations!! Please do join me in congratulating Emily by tweeting and following her!!

I am really amazed and flattered at the following this little competition had and therefore I'd like to offer everyone who did a retweet 15% discount off all items in my http://www.alibalijewellery.etsy.com/ shop until 11.59pm (GMT) Thursday 5th November.

I've saved a list of everyone who tweeted. If you wish to take up this offer, please mention your twitter name in the notes to seller. Only tweets prior to the winner announcement will qualify.

Etsy does not have a discount code function, so please pay for your purchase and I will refund you the 15% (does not include postage).

I've got a wide range of jewellery which would make fantastic Christmas gifts, or just treat yourself!

Congratulations once again to Emily of http://twitter.com/ImHooped!!

Thanks again, I've really enjoyed this competition and met some lovely new tweets along the way!!

Ali

x

Twitter Competition - Win a FREE Sparrow

It's been a while since I've had an AliBali competition!!

I've been twittering for 3 or 4 months now and I am always amazed at the support my followers give me in terms of encouragement, retweeting my tweets and chatting to me, especially joining me in a weekly commentary about XFactor!!

So to thank my followers and inspired by http://www.hauttotes.etsy.com/, I will be running a short competition to win one of my Speckled Sparrow pendants, pictured below.

Here is the link to the pendant in my Etsy shop:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=31517157

How to Enter

To win you need to retweet my tweet announcing the competition. But there are some rules!!

We don't want to spam our followers and give Etsy a bad name, so please follow a limit of 1 tweet per hour per person. I will not count any tweets over the limit.

The 444th tweet will win the Speckled Sparrow pendant.

I will announce the lucky winner here and on twitter and will give you some 'tweet stats' as we go on twitter.

If you do not follow me on twitter and wish to participate, my twitter address is:

http://twitter.com/alibalijeweller

Good luck and Happy tweeting!!

Ali

x

My First Experiment with my Kiln and COPPRclay™

I bought a kiln last month and it's sat unused in my spareroom. It's a lovely Paragon SC2....

Finally, this weekend I decided it was time to crank it up and see what it could do!!

I had a little experiment with COPPRclay™ and this is the end result!

COPPRclay™ is manufactured by Metal Clay Adentures, the same organisation that created Bronzclay. COPPRclay™ consists of pure copper, water and non-toxic binding materials. The binding materials vaporise completely during the kiln-firing process, leaving a solid copper piece with a density over 95% that of cast copper. Like Silver Art Clay, all copper used to make COPPRclay is recycled.

So, in theory should be familiar territory to me with my experience using Silver Art Clay.

It actually felt quite different.

For starters.. you get loads of it and so I think I'll be experimenting with much chunkier jewellery designs.

It stains your hands and the first time I handled it I think I had a mild allergic reaction, so from now on it's gloves all the way for me!! Other than that, it handles wetter than Art Clay Silver, probably more akin to PMC.

The biggest difference is firing. It has to be fired in a kiln, surrounded by activated carbon for two hours. It was a long wait..... but I'm pleased with the results and looking forward to experimenting some more. I made a few other bits and pieces including these earrings.

The makers of Art Clay, Aida Chemicals have just launched their own copper clay which will be availalble in the UK towards the end of this month. This has a much simpler firing schedule than the other copper clays available and I guess I'll be experimenting with that too!

Ali x
Follow me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/alibalijewellery

National Wedding Show, Earls Court London

My wedding collection is there with my friends at http://www.elephantshoes.co.uk/. Wish I could be there too!!

Here are some more of the items I've added to my wedding collection!

Ali

Follow me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/alibalijewellery

Let Etsy UK brighten your day!!

It's a horrible dull, rainy day in Edinburgh today. So I thought I would turn to the sellers who frequent the Etsy UK chat thread to brighten my day!! Here are some of my favourites from their shops!

Keep your hands cosy with these gorgeous lime green gloves from http://www.moocowhandknits.etsy.com/.

Cute pink and red sweetheart earrings by http://www.lazygiraffe.etsy.com/.

A Blackberry fluffy flower by http://www.ffflowers.etsy.com/.

I love this handmade Spotty Sock Bear by http://www.clarebears.etsy.com/.

A brilliant print by http://www.cowisland.etsy.com/.
Happy Friday!!!

Ali x

Follow me on facebook: www.facebook.com/alibalijewellery

Bridal at AliBaliJewellery

Whilst I've always done bespoke bridal jewellery, I've not really worked up a range of bridal jewellery. All that is set to change with the intention of attending some bridal fairs!

Here are some new creations.

First of all, two new additions to my crochet jewellery range.

I will also be making these with beautiful creamy white pearls.

I've added a bridal angle to my silver leaf range with the addition of this pearl and silver leaf necklace.

Many many more new ideas in the pipeline!!

My friends at http://www.elephantshoes.co.uk/ are taking a small selection of my new stock to the National Wedding show at Earls Court next weekend, so if you are there, be sure to look out for them (and my jewellery!!).

Ali x