I'm not listening to any more weather forecasts...

Sorry to anyone who did make it into Cambridge today and found me not there. The markets manager took the decision to cancel the market as the snow was bad where he was.
The frustrating thing was, that where I was was bathed in sunshine! I don't take a decision to cancel lightly, especially in the last few days before Christmas and having the worst trading year since I started six years ago.
In the seventies, the snow ploughs had several feet of snow piled each side of the road and we all still got the school! Now we have half an inch and the weather forecasters warn that we shouldn't go out unless our lives depended on it. Carol Kirkwood and her kind have done so much damage to businesses like mine my sensationalizing the smallest bit of weather news. Right. Rant over.
If anyone desperately needed to buy something from me today and can't get back into town before Christmas then do e-mail me as I'll try and accommodate.I've made a lot of stock (that, funnily enough, I still have) so I can get some things sent out at the weekend.
And to anyone who also listened to the forecasters then enjoy your day off- I shall certainly try!

And whatever the weather tomorrow, you can bet that the traders will be there on the last saturday before Christmas- I'm not looking at the forecast!

Christmas!!

Hello all. I've been neglecting my blog for a little while to gear up for Christmas. I'm planning on being on All Saints from thursday 17th to thursday 24th December, excluding the sunday where I'll be on the main market, of course. Hardly worth packing away each night really- might as well sleep in the stall! Mum will be heartily sick of me as I'll be staying with her most of the week, bless her.
Christmas day I plan to be asleep in my Christmas dinner...

finally....insect amber!

Through a long drawn out battle with UPS, wrong items, wrong vans... oh it all gets too tedious...
Insect amber!



Here are the first three and I'm working on some more today.
This is a close up:

There are three insects in this one of various sorts. This particular piece is £30. Each item will be individually priced, ranging from £30 to £150.
I'll be adding some new blue amber to the main website today too so look out for those too.
Much more to come!

Back from Hols

Hi there,
Back from a very wet Wales and in need of another holiday! Ah well. My imminent delivery of insect included Dominican amber will cheer me up. That's right- I'll be making jewellery out of amber that has ancient insects trapped inside. I've been getting a lot of requests for it so watch this space...

New silver designs

Here's the new "Equinox" designs in necklace and bracelet form. The necklace is long enough to slip over your head and is £72. All sterling silver, little Macintosh-inspired roses link with delicate wraps.
The bracelets are £30 with a choice of crystal, or a plain silver bead like the necklace.
Both designs exploit a new technique that I've been playing with, which gently takes the silver to near melting point and fuses the wire, letting it melt and re-form a little in the process. Each one comes out unique as no one piece will behave the same way. (Gets a little tricky for matching up a pair for earrings but I will give it my best shot!)
These two will be up on my main site to buy very soon. In the meantime, you'll find them on my stall, or drop me an e-mail and I can arrange an order.

Congratulations to the draw winners!

Here's the lucky winner of the Blue Amber pendant:
Ticket number 03542, E Burton.

The winner of lunch for two at Alimentum:
Ticket number 03718, Mrs Perrett.

And the winner of the Sooz Jewels Bracelet:
Ticket number 03709, T Coverdale.

A big thankyou on behalf of Ermine Street Project and the winners have all been informed and sent their prizes.

Raffle- change of venue

Just a quick note to any of you that may be attending the raffle/launch at Alimentum. For various reasons the venue of the raffle will now be at All Saints Art and Craft Market at 4.00pm this saturday, 15th August.
We shall still be launching Ermine Street Project at Alimentum but at a later date to be confirmed.
No change to the raffle though and good luck to all those ticket holders- winners will be posted here!

Butterfly Summer

Is it me, or does there seem to be a huge amount of butterflies around recently? I took these photos last week and I'm really pleased with them.



My buddleia is covered with some gorgeous visitors like the Peacock, Red Admirals and loads of Painted Lady butterflies like the one here:


Painted Ladies weren't that common when I was a kid. It's lovely to see so many in my garden.

I counted nine butterflies on my back wall at one point too! It's south facing so they loved a bit of sunbathing! Other varieties so far have been Tortoiseshell, Cabbage White, Meadow Brown and the odd Blue.

If you see some butterfly-inspired jewellery on my stall or online soon you'll know why!

New Prizes Added to Grand Draw!

New donations have been coming in to make this prize draw very special.
We have a donation of lunch for two plus wine from
The Alimentum Restaurant
who do fantastic food in the heart of Cambridge.

Also a lovely donation from sooz jewels in the form of a bracelet made from recycled Harveys Bristol Cream bottles. Sue makes her own glass beads as well as the jewellery. (Drinks the Sherry too, so I'm told...)
Take a look at the picture at the top of the page.
Don't forget the grand prize too- that unique piece of blue amber from me! If you want to learn a little more about what this raffle is in aid of, go to the Ermine Street Project website.

Prize draw- win a piece of blue amber!

Here's how:

I'm involved in a new initiave called Ermine Street Project which aims to create opportunites for filmmaking talent in the area east of the A1 from The Wash to South Yorkshire. It's a not-for-profit organisation where all profits from films and documentaries are ploughed back into subsequent projects. We'll be working closely with Kahbyah Films to create exciting new work and create paid opportunites for those working in the area, including new graduates who normally have to work for nothing to gain experience.
To that end, I am donating this piece of blue amber as a prize in a draw to be held in Cambridge to raise funds. Another draw will be organised for Lincolnshire too with other prizes. In fact, more prizes will be added to both draws so watch this space!
To buy a raffle ticket, it will cost you £1.00. Arcturus will be paying the Paypal fees and passing on each £1.00 to the project. Simply click on the button below. You will be allocated a ticket which will be put into the draw. More information on what Ermine Street Project do will be posted shortly. Winners will be contacted and a list of winners will be available here and on Ermine Street's website when it is up and running very shortly.
The draw will be held on saturday, 15th August 2009.
*Please note- the opportunity to purchase online raffle tickets is now closed. You can still purchase raffle tickets up until 3.30pm on saturday from me at the stall on saturday 15th August

Azul

Now here's a nice hefty chunk of blue amber:

I've named it "Azul", the spanish word for blue. And very blue it is too. This one's £320 and will be on the main site very soon.

I've got some special sale prices on a handful of my blue amber pieces on the stall in Cambridge this weekend- catch them at the stand- (I'm running out of room on the stall!) If there are any unsold after the weekend I'll post them online at the new reduced price next week.

Get in there quick!

Bluebell

Well, it looked a little like a bell, what else would it be called?!

I do like this one. Lovely blue colours on a simple bail. Measures around 25mm x 20mm.

It will be on the web early next week for £140. If you can't wait that long, come and see me at the market! Remember, fridays start this week at All Saints so there's no excuse!

New wedding pics

Here's a photo from one of my brides, Tamsin.

It's lovely when I get these sent to me- keep them coming!

New Blog, New Blue Amber

Hi there, Hope you are all locating my new blog successfully until I get brave enough to tackle changing the links! The web updating is still abit new and scary. Plus, I did manage to undo some of Sue's work the last time I had a bit of a play...

Right. Let's see how I upload a photo on this blog...

Ta da!

So far so good. This little beauty is called "Maelstrom" as the colours just swirl around in it so well. It's £120 and will be going on sale on the main website very shortly.

More to come!

Welcome to my new blog!

Moving blogs is a little like moving house...
New surroundings, unfamiliar layout...
Please excuse me if I bump into the furniture from time to time!
I'll be bringing some of the old posts across with me but it'll take time to unpack the boxes, so to speak! (Getting tired of the analogy yet??)
Lots of stuff to go on here, with new wedding pics, new blue amber and the odd random musing of course.
Watch this space!