Updating and relinking

Slowly, slowly re-linking all the images in my posts; moving them from the previous hosting site (which had been so good before! So sad...). Also updating dead links and videos. Please bare with me! Here's a pretty picture of some lavender I grew =)

Earrings inspired by Chinese period dramas...

Well, I had to do it at some point. Between watching all those Chinese historical dramas, wanting to own their fabulous hairpins and earrings, and pinning beautiful photos of hanfu and qipao, kimbok and kimono, I don't know what took me so long to actually make some jewellery inspired by traditional clothing.

Here's the brainstorming... always the fun bit.

And here are the four earrings! I wanted to make them wearable everyday, not too grandiose.

Getting the listings ready to go in my Etsy shop. Watch out for the update =D

Edit: Live now in store!

A necklace 18 years in the making

Back in the summer, I worked on probably one of my favourite custom projects so far...

My clients wanted a necklace for their god-daughter's 18th birthday gift. The brief was that they wanted it to have some connection to her name, India, and for it to make use of a piece of amber that they had actually acquired on a trip to India 36 years ago.

Early ideas revolved around using her name or initial, and then changed into incorporating something to reflect India the country. We decided to use the lotus, India's national flower.

During brainstorming for how to work the amber and a silver lotus charm together, my client suggested having the amber linked above the lotus charm, so that it would look like a flame.

When I received the amber, it came wrapped in its original, 36 year old paper packaging. The amber had a lovely shade of caramel and was beautifully faceted, but in some way I thought the packaging was even more precious.

I was so excited after setting it and joining all the pieces together.

It was wonderful to have helped realise such a special gift which had been in the planning since a little girl was born 18 years ago, and which obviously held so much sentimental value.

And that is what I loved the most about it all: the story behind the necklace and the stories it will hopefully go on to be a part of. I feel it is such privilege for me to have been able to play my part in that.

Midsummer Magic

I got these carnelian carved butterflies quite a while ago and could just never make them into a design I was happy with. So it was really good when I tried again with a variety of beads and settings I'd acquired since then and worked this out.

The colours that have come together this time remind me so much of a summer meadow.

Available in my Etsy shop ~*~

Something for the bridesmaids

Last year I received a custom order for a batch of Raindrop pendant necklaces from a bride who was getting married this April. She wanted to give her bridesmaids something bright and yellow to go with their light blue dresses.

It was so fun to work with her! We picked out exactly the swatches she wanted from a selection I chose based on her brief...

I selected which bits of the fabric pattern to cut out and she picked the ones she liked the most...

and I got to turn them into a very special set of necklaces.

What can I say? I love custom orders! ~*~

Slipper making with the Merry Bobbins

I went slipper making with a friend on Sunday. The workshop was run by the wonderful Chloe and Kirstie of The Merry Bobbins in a shoe store on Broadway Market.

It was so much fun! We cut up felted wool jumpers, attached them to squishy soft sheepskin soles and turned them into adorable snugly slippers. I chose the round toe; there was also a slimmer pointy toe version.

I only managed one side at the workshop but completed them without any problems at home. You can decorate them however you like, I put pink ribbon bows on mine (after changing my mind millions of times regarding where and how big...) and finished the back edge with some more ribbon.

I ♥ them! They are so cute and really, really comfortable. We were all sent home with the pattern and a leather needle, and I am seriously contemplating making some more as presents.

There are still some places left in the 2 remaining slipper making Sunday workshops - if you're in London, they're highly recommended! ~♥~

Tiny Garden

When I was a kid I used to love collecting stickers - shiny hearts, fluffy animals, pretty flowers and the like. My old album has long gone now, but I kept some of the floral sticker sheets under the 'it'll be useful one day' idea.

Well! Here they are, upcycled into the images I've used in my Tiny Garden glass pendant necklaces. These are so small it gets a bit fiddly but they're great fun to make.

I feel rather attached to these pretties but I'm getting a great response so I'm really happy they're going to new owners who love them as much as I do

Find them in my Etsy shop! ~*~

One Sunny Afternoon goes to Canada

I've been waiting to post about this super exciting news for weeks! Any Canadian readers near Hamilton out there? You can now find One Sunny Afternoon's handmade raindrop pendant necklaces in the White Elephant store in Hamilton, Ontario!

These little babies winged their way to Canada last week to the lovely Jane and Hollie who run this handmade and vintage shop.

I also found a rather novel way to use my business cards and indulged in a corner rounding paper punch in the process. ^^

Making raindrops

Here's a peak at how I make the raindrop pendants. First I stick a paper backing to the fabric snippets, then I choose by eye the parts of the pattern I want to use and cut out the shapes.

Then I seal the metal parts with Mod Podge to help prevent chemical reactions with the glue which can discolour everything. This bit I tend to do in advance as you can just leave it to dry and cure. It also means I have batches of them ready to use whenever I need.

Next I set in the fabric pieces and the clear glass cabochon over them with clear drying Diamond Glaze. You can do both at the same time or you can set in the fabric, let it dry and then set the glass over it. I usually set both in at the same time because I'm impatient.

But this is the slightly tricky part because you need to make sure all the air bubbles are squeezed out from under the glass, otherwise any left can ruin the clear image. As the glaze will take a while to dry, you will need to periodically keep squeezing until it has dried with no bubbles left behind.

Tip: be careful with the amount of glue! If you put in too much, it'll just spill over the sides when you squeeze and make things messy. It can be wiped off when still moist or scraped off when dry though so don't worry if it does.

The raindrop necklaces and all the others in the glass series are available in my Etsy shop ~*~

Custom Butterfly

A while ago I received an unusual custom order - 40 string loop Chinese knotted butterflies. It was difficult at first as the cotton string is quite flimsy, but once I got into the swing of things, the weaving was quite meditative.

It was rather fun =D

Hatchling

Made a new set of porcelain owl charms. I had to be inventive and fix their eyes a little as they arrived rather non-uniform.

Sold out ~*~