The Jewelled Web - December 2013

It's been a busy, busy month in the-run-up-to-Christmas, and I know that once it's done it will then be like a huge intake of breath before the new year (with or without big celebrations) begins, and it'll feel as if the pressure is let off, just a little, tiny bit...perhaps.

I'm doing an early web round-up this month, it seems a little easier to do it now when I've got time, rather than just schedule it to post later on - and it means I can combine it with a wish for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year ;)


~Jewellery~

Great looking guide to setting a stone in a bezel - lots of lots of detail in this tutorial.

Working with copper and silver - hints and tips galore.

A good advert for investing in a disc cutter on this blog post...

More bezel info...

This fishing rod ring (at the top) is just so, so beautiful, both in design and execution.

Simple but effective wire-wrap earrings.

Beautiful gems and a gratuitously sweet photo of a puppy.

Q and A about opening a bricks and mortar gallery.

Cuttlefish casting. Love the use of something so organic to create something so beautiful.

Stunning buttons made from polymer clay and transfer paper.

Made from one piece of copper - inspiring and beautiful.

Jewellery from concrete? I love these.



~Other things~

I have never been organised enough, so far, to do this type of beautiful but simple gift wrapping, but I wish I was...Instead it's just a case of double-wrapping in whatever flimsy, reindeer covered 10 metre wrap the local supermarket has left by the time I get to the aisle...

Free printable, and editable, calendar.

Tiny, Christmassy-spiced cookies.

Stunning leaf bunting.

Love this blog - wise words, great photos, and wonderful Folksy Fridays.

Download, print, and organise the whole next year... well, that's my plan anyway.

Something else to download, print and fill in...

A truly wonderful Christmas tree - but too late for me to build for this Christmas.

Something else that's too late for this year, a sweet gift for those separated by the miles

A nice and brief post about images on the net - what can you use without upsetting anyone?

This is sad and beautiful. And this is amazing and transient.

How to make your photos better by using the scary manual button on the camera.

Inspiring feature about making a living from selling crafts online.

If you come across any fallen branches from the gales currently sweeping the UK, then consider browsing this collection of what to do with wood to make it into, well, anything and everything.

You can't have enough lip gloss - tutorial on how to make your own.




Hope your year has been good, your Christmas is wonderful, and 2014 is even better for you - thanks for reading :)

Shopping and silver on the radio

How busy is this December? And just how slow is the internet on a December evening? I have a feeling that come dusk, everyone goes on the net and hunts furiously for Christmas gifts for several hours, pausing only to sleep, go to the shops, and then repeat the same routine...

I went out yesterday to the shops, literally fought my way across a Tesco Extra (or was it an Express? I'm never sure which is which) to find one small item, fought my way back again to the self-serve tills to the strains of Jona Lewie's Stop the Cavalry, queued, noticed a monitor informing anyone who cared to look that the same self-serve tills had experienced slightly over 1,600 customers that day so far (it was around 1.30pm), paid for my solitary item, and legged it, breathing gulps of fresh cool (okay, cold) air as I left the place.

Every year I say I'll Christmas shop in June, every year I don't quite manage that...ahem.

But my main reason for this post (no, I'm not just using up bandwidth to state the obvious, that the shops are busy in December) is I caught the end of an interesting show about silver and silversmithing on the radio today, and thought it worth sharing the details as it's on iplayer, but only for a week.

Hope you enjoy a listen, and hope your Christmas shopping is going, well, easily...!

(no photo - the net is too slow!!)