The season to be jolly!

I am as briefly mentioned in Sweden for the holidays. Christmas is done and dusted and is being followed by Birthday celebrations (not mine) and will then, I assume, flow into New Year’s celebrations next week. However whilst I am a huge fan of Christmas the New Year generally gets ushered in by watching TV, especially when I’m out here in the middle of nowhere with my boyfriend and parents. I’m not complaining as I honestly prefer it that way and I don’t think New Years is a big thing.
As for updates on day to day life I finished work on the 5 Dec and I got 4 day a week temp job starting on the 6 Jan which was confirmed whilst I was in Sweden (nice Christmas present) which means I’ll at least get some time to work on my jewellery on the side. That is part of the final plan I decided on, to find a part time job (however preferably 3 days a week) and try to make something of my dreams. It will be very hard to cut down on my income like that but if I don’t try this now I never will and I feel I would regret not trying far more than I would trying and failing.  I plan to give it a year to find out if its viable or not, thou I’m guessing it will take more than that to actually make any profit but hoping I should know by then if its likely to work or not.

But the main reason for this blog post is that I wanted to share a picture of the present I made for my dad. My granddad was very handy and used to make all sorts of pretty things. One of my favorites is rocking chairs he made from beer cans so that’s what I wanted to make. However I realised when starting that a: beer cans used to be wider, b: the metal used to be thicker and finally c: the bottom used to be flat but is now domed. The thing causing the biggest issue was b: the metal used to be thicker, as it made the chair flimsier. So whilst I am relatively proud of the outcome I do wish I had some old cans to work with.

 

I enjoyed making something other than jewellery as there are other things I'd like to move into that would generally also be larger so doing this felt useful. Also more importantly it felt nice to make something based on my grandfathers designs :)

Help Needed

So I am trying to name my shop on Etsy but all the obvious things are already taken (and my name is too hard to remember). I am therefore putting the query out there for good shop names. Any ideas?
Thinking something along the lines of mythology, fairy tales or second chances. The first two as its my inspiration for making jewellery and the third as this is my second chance when it comes to jewellery making :) Will likely stretch to fandoms if its one I'm passionate about and the name makes sense. Any ideas are welcome

Here are some I tried already:

LittleSilverLinings
FairytaleJewellery
SecondChances
Fairytale endings
ShootingStars
Hope
Happyendings
yggdrasil
LifeGoesOn
Phoenix
Fairytaleendings
Fenix
Saga
MySilverLinings

Quick update

To prove I have no intention of going radio silent again I thought I better do a quick post with some updates.

1: I got an FB page now :) Its called  Lina's Silver Linings but I wont post a link as I've not yet set the name in stone (so not decided on the actual page address).
2: I've applied for one Christmas market and am about to apply for one more. If any are confirmed I will obviously post about it *fingers crossed*
3: I'm looking at returning to Etsy but am cancelling my old account and starting a new one (it felt like a good idea considering my RA hiatus and all).

In other news I've finally been given notice at work (the whole team, not just me) :( so need to decided what on Earth I'm doing next. Hiding in bed and pulling the duvet over my head sadly doesn't seem like an option. I'm hoping this turns out to be a good thing but currently it doesn't really feel likely.

Christmas is coming

My making has been plodding on, albeit slowly, and I was thinking it would be nice to do some Christmas markets in the area this year. They would need to be before the 18 Dec thou as I am planning to go home this year for Christmas. I am really looking forwards to that but seeing we got told about work just after I  booked the tickets the timing isn't the best.
Anyways, so far I've only found one market which I've tried to sign up for (still waiting for confirmation). Appears I no longer have a clue where to find upcoming art markets which is both sad any annoying.

Shop name, any suggestions?

So I've been thinking more about this whole changing name on Etsy thing, and the more I consider it the more it sounds like a good idea.
I'm not the person I was when I opened the first one and looking at it makes me sad because it was dead for so long. A bit how I stopped wearing my jewellery when I got sick because it reminded me of something I was no longer able to do.
However this now opens a new question - what should I call it?
I could go simple and call it Lina's jewellery or just Lina's. Or as I've been thinking abut changing my surname  - Lina Larsdotter. Or I could go with something completely different like - Second chances, 'Where dreams are made, Jewellery & fairytales,  Hopes & wishes, (To)Bright futures, Better days  or something like that, to hint at things getting better. And also because  its more me.
But I don't know, its a hard decision to make and input would be nice :)
  

Etsy, here I come?

Today is a Bank Holiday in the UK and it’s a grey and wet day here with the rain pouring down. Also it’s gotten cold and turns out my heater has died :( (hoping its just a fuse or something, not that I have a clue how to check), so I'm sitting inside at my computer in a thick jumper and woolly socks where I have ventured into the world of Etsy once again. As it’s been so many years since I used it I am reading up on how to sell on Etsy and wondering if I am able to change the shop name as it doesn't seem to fit me anymore. To much have happened in-between and I feel like my shop name should somehow reflect that.
It feels surprisingly daunting to be looking at Etsy, I mean I never figured out how to make it on there in the first place (not that I spent a lot of effort trying) and used it more to show my stuff whilst selling elsewhere. Trying to make a go of it I am worried I once again won’t be able to figure it out but also because it will be the first place I try since having had an involuntary break and trying to sell anywhere just feels excruciatingly hard. 

I'm still making stuff...

just not as much.

I am aware that since 2010 I've made 2 post on here and one of those was very depressing (true but depressing). Which likely also means not many will be reading this (as you'd probably thought I was gone and deleted me, which I completely get), but it still feels nice to write it. And this one is hopefully a bit more upbeat :)

Since my last post I've done a bit of jewellery, not a lot but at least some. My RA is going up and down but my fingers seems to be faring fairly well (knees, wrists and ankles are the main issue these days but still a lot better). I had as I was worried forgotten a lot of what I learned so not as smooth as I used to be but hoping it will come back as I go on. Also life & work has been taking up a lot of my time (I'm a bit of a workaholic) so the jewellery making has fallen to the wayside a lot due to that, which is bad but at least I'm honest. However it looks like my team might not have a job soon which is making me think about the stuff I want to do outside of work which I've been neglecting, and obviously making jewellery is a big one of those.

On the jewellery and family front I've found out that as well as my travelling great grandfather KnivKalle (text in Swedish) who I've known of all my life, I also have a closer (and alive) relative, an Uncle who makes a living out of making jewellery together with his missus. The are both exceptionally good and incredibly lovely and I'm very happy I've gotten to met them  :) As a jewellery maker without close friends that make jewellery its nice to have someone to talk to and they are very supportive. Also I guess this means Jewellery making really does run in the family... 

Anyway, my current plan is to give jewellery making a go again as I haven't tried to sell any of the pieces I've made since I got sick but just been giving them to friends. I don't have anything I've made recently to show but I do have some bits I'm working on to show I'm not lying.

I'll try to stick to it whilst I can (hopefully for years to come) and not get too frustrated when I fail and also figure out where to try and sell (start with Etsy I think). And I shall attempt to update my blog more than twice a year, thou I know even twice a year would be an improvement :)