Win an Angel Eden Handmade Solid Silver Necklace!!

Like it or not Christmas is on the way and while most of us enjoy the festive season, there’s no denying that it can be a huge drain on finances. So today we are giving you the chance to win a fabulous Christmas gift either for yourself or a friend.There’s even a fabulous runner’s up prize!

We are giving away a handmade sterling silver Key Pendant from the Angel Eden Heritage Range (RRP £45). The key is joined by a removable Swarovski Pink Crystal Heart and hung upon an 18″ silver chain. This particular key is a one off and is not available on the website. It will all arrive beautifully presented in a black jewellery box and tied with Angel Eden ribbon, ready to place under the tree

For the runner up we are giving away an Angel Eden Textile Brooch Kit (RRP £10). One of our most popular kits, it contains everything you need (bar a needle) to make one of Angel Eden’s signature textile brooches.

For more fabulous gift ideas for Christmas and beyond please visit the Angel Eden store.

How to Enter

Step 1. is mandatory and entries will not be valid unless this is followed, extra entries without step 1. being fulfilled will unfortunately not count.

Step 1. Follow this blog publicly (using either Google Friend Connect, Bloglovin or Feedburner on the right) and leave a comment mentioning you are following the blog (current followers need only comment). Remember to leave me a way to contact you if you win.

Extra entries – for each extra entry leave a comment to let me know:

1. Tweet about the comp for an extra entry

2. Follow us on Twitter

3. Like our page on Facebook (links on the right)

The competition will end at midnight 2nd December 2011.

 

 

The Bag of a Thousand Uses Tutorial!

Well alright, maybe not a thousand but this truly is a very useful little drawstring bag that you can adapt easily to fit your needs. Here are some of our suggestions:

Use it as a small gift bag, instantly making any gift look special.

Place herbs inside it and hang it up to make an attractive room fragrance.

Use it to keep your jewellery in.

Make it slightly larger and it could be used as a perfect bridesmaid bag.

Again make it slightly larger and using glitzy fabric, easily make yourself an evening bag.

What You’ll Need

Fabric in two designs for outside and lining

Dinner Plate

Pencil

Cord or ribbon

Step 1

Draw around your dinner plate on both your outside and lining fabric. Cut along your pencil lines so you have two circles of the same size. These usually look good if one fabric is paler than the other.

Step 2

Place the circles right sides together and pin around the edge.

Step 3

Sew around the edge of the circle (this can be by machine or hand). Remember to leave a gap so that the fabrics can be turned the right way out. Clip around the edge of the circle at approximately 5cm (2″) intervals.

Step 4

Turn the circles the right way out and sew the gap closed. Next iron your circular mat flat.

Step 5

Now we need to create a channel for the drawstring cord to go through. Begin by sewing around the circle approximately 1 1/2cm from the edge. Sew a complete circle with no gaps and make sure to sew back and forth at the beginning and end of the circle to reinforce. Now we sew another smaller circle, approximately 1cm in from the circle we’ve just sewn. Again no gaps and sew back and forth.

Step 6

Now we need to make two small cuts in our new channel so we can push the drawstring in. Cut on either side of the circle so that they face each other. It’s wise to sew a few stitches around the edges of these cuts to reinforce them.

Step 7

Now cut two pieces of cord (or ribbon), I particularly like using colour co-ordinating cord here. We now need to thread the cord through one hole and bring it around the entire circle and back out the same hole. With the other length of cord you need to thread it through the opposite hole and again pull it through the entire circle and back out. Either side is then knotted together. Tip. If you find it difficult to thread the cord through, a hair grip attached to one end of the cord can make the process easier.

Step 8

Pull your cords together and you have your completed bag! You can also turn it the other way out and it still works very well.

Time to replace the gloom with a big lift!

Anne and I are not immune to feeling down from time to time. I’m sure all small business owners experience this. It’s the curse of a creative mind, you dream your days away feeling elated at every new idea, then come crashing down as the inevitable plateau comes.

Suffice to say I have been feeling a little this way of late, we’ve also been making some hard decisions about the jewellery, such as who will stay and who will go. For example my favourite pendant looks set for the chop, I adore this pendant and wear it very regularly, but despite my admiration it hasn’t been popular with customers. Obviously I have unique taste 🙂 I would dearly love to know what is ‘wrong’ with it, so if you have any feedback please feel free to share it here.

But just as I was feeling very ‘woe is me’ I had a lovely email from Anne telling me that she has been nominated and made the final 6 in the Mumpreneur awards for Best Online Business. How fabulous is that! Of course I think she is beyond worthy of the award (but I may be ever so slightly bias). But Anne is the one who has really built the business, dragging it from nothing into something to really be proud of, it has taken far more time and energy than you might expect and I think she’s done a wonderful job. I feel very proud that she’s made the final 6 and I will hopefully be attending the awards with her. If you too are going be sure to keep an eye out for us.

So it goes to prove that yet again the law of a creative life carries on, I have moved from one low to another wonderful high. Lets hope there’s more of them to come 🙂