I'm back! Well, sort of :)

Sorry for going quiet (yet again) but life decided to do a number on me (doesn't it always) so blogging fell completely to the wayside, and in some parts my jewellery has also had to pay the price.

I did do some Christmas markets but then ended up with some house issues (where I rent changed owners) and ended up having to not do more markets and then it was home to Sweden for Christmas and New Years which was lovely, but horrible timing. 
Original house issue was a big increase in rent which due to my storage also increasing in price meant I had to take on more hours at work from January (working full time which haven't left much time for jewellery making) and get rid of my storage. To start it was just due to be until end of March however now it looks like the new owner is planning to throw us all out (I rent a room in a house) so I will need to find a new place to rent. Therefore when asked if I could go up to 8 hours 4 days a week from April until August I (after endless hours of thinking, fretting and discussing with my partner) said yes.

Due to finishing the work I originally did overtime for and Easter coming up I will get a couple of extra days off before I start the extra time again in April so besides the bits I have to do (hang out with family) I am looking forward on catching up on all things jewellery related. Thought there will likely also be a lot of house viewing which does dampen my enthusiasm slightly.

I was very stressed about it all especially as it's really hard to rent an unfurnished room in this area, but am now feeling a lot more chilled out about the whole thing. I think in part due to my partner who is being very supportive and my wonderful work colleagues who all make me feel that things will be OK (and in fact could be far worse) and the rest is likely just due to not being able to be that worried about something for so long without having a nervous breakdown, hence my brain has just gone 'that's enough'. I will try to update once I got a new place

The 100 Day Goal

I am still alive and still working on my jewellery. It's been a couple of paid months now on my reduced working hours and I must admit it's hard, however I am still managing. To help get me focused I have just signed up for the 100 day goal which is being arranged by the Business Bakery and I must admit I'm finding it great so far (only on the fourth day)  http://www.thebusinessbakery.com.au/the-100-day-goal-were-doing-it-again/
I'm currently trying to get some Christmas Markets booked and so far got one confirmed but will share details about that closer to the date.

Reading Arts Week

This week has been very busy and also very hot, like extremely hot for the UK. I'm trying really hard to not complain as we don't really get enough sun and it's nice to have some, but when you are as pale as me and suffer from RA, extreme heat is not your friend. Reason I've been busy is because I only came back from Sweden on Sunday and due to having a late flight and Sunday buses being few and far in between I wasn't in bed until around 1am and then had to be at work in the morning. Following that I have been (and am until tomorrow afternoon) in the Reading Arts week exhibition (as mentioned previously) and had the preview to go to Monday evening. Since then I've worked and prepared for Sundays workshop as well as volunteering for one day (Thursday) at the exhibition. Together with seeing family and catching up with friends. In fact I've only just sat down for the evening and I just (well likely 20 min from now as not yet posted this) taken a cake out of the oven which I've baked for tomorrows skill share day. So all in all it's been a good kind of busy. Extra so as I've spent a fair amount of the time on jewellery based things.
I didn't bring a camera to the preview on Monday but popped in to rearrange my pieces on Wednesday so took the chance to take a bunch of pictures of the art being shown which I thought I'd post.

Creative Skill Share Day

During Reading Art week there is a range of events being planned by different organisations across town. One of these is a Skill share day on at The Rising Sun Arts Centre the 5 July. The day will be full of different workshops and any proceeds will go to support the centre. If you are anywhere near I really recommend you go as the day should be a lot of fun and each individual workshop doesn't cost a lot (some are even free). I am running a bracelet making workshop between 12-14 (which only cost £5) but am definitely planning to try some of the other ones out myself. 

Reading Art Week

Reading Art Week is an exhibition going on between the 29 June to 5 July in Reading. I've applied and found out last week that I got in!
Must admit that I am very exited. If around do come and check it out, the event will run across Reading, with the Arts Week Exhibition being held at The 3B's in the Town Hall, Blagrave Street, Reading.

These are the pieces I will be showing:

Those summer nights

Aware I've not been updating for ages but I've not just given up or anything, no indeed, things have been happening. To start with the temp job I started in January which was as a HR Administrator at University of Reading has just turned into a permanent part time job, giving me more time to work on my jewellery. The new shift pattern has only just started so I don't yet know if I can live on the decrease in income but at least I am giving my jewellery a fair shot as I decided I would do this year. The job itself is nice and the team I work with is great so I really hope it will all work out.

Currently I am home in Sweden celebrating Midsummer and trying to get a new jewellery display together to use when selling. My idea is to make it look a bit Scandinavian to show where the inspiration comes from. However finding cloths that are appropriate is harder than I thought. I am also trying to work more on getting myself out there as I've made a lot of new pieces lately but not worked on selling them  or anything so guess I need to move onto that. Being home gives me some time to look at stuff like that (and writing blog posts) so guess that's a good thing :)

To end the post here are some pictures I've taken from down by the river where my parents live and from the midsummer celebrations we had.

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 :)