Jewelled Web - January 2014 - Link Love

The first Jewelled Web of 2014 and I've found the internet to be no less distracting and absorbing than I did in 2013... to that end, here's some more goodies I've found these last few, and new year, weeks...



~Jewellery links~

Measuring up for rings, never an easy task, but made simpler after reading this...

Fantastic tutorial/personal experience on how to combine soldering and enamel by Tracey from Cinnamon Jewellery, one of my favourite haunts for down-to-earth blogging and beautiful jewels.

Jewellery tutorials coming out of your ears... this site also has tutorials for pretty much every other craft in existence. Well worth a browse though.

Branding your jewellery ranges - how to and why.

More magazine fame for Rachel Lucie - well done!

Neat tutorial on just how to make ball chain look a little more hand-crafted.

Pretty wire designs.

Interested in making wedding jewellery?

Limited time only - reduced price on wirework tutorial by KS Jewellery



~Other links~

This may be a couple of years old now, but I love this post about the sea, such a wonderful place to be at the start of a new year...

How-to calligraphy by Mo.

Where people craft - photos of real work spaces, reassuringly normal, so you don't wonder how anything creative can happen at all... unlike these photos which is, of course, exactly how crafting work spaces should look.

If you're ever not busy (!) then you can take a look at these ways to pretty up your work space.

Inspiring website of art which often features a monthly desktop calendar, free to download...

Pretty freebies - in exchange for a tweet or FB mention, you can have a calendar and some beautiful illustrated flowers.

Getting serious about your crafting business this new year? Check out some of these articles, a great resource.

Blogging tips for arty/crafty bloggers. And some more from the same site... And just one more...

Great photos and interview from the Folksy blog.

Oh, okay. Yet more blogging resources. If you ever read all these articles then you deserve a nice cup of tea. And probably a lie down in a darkened room.

Try this one out too - words of wisdom on how to write engaging, crafty blog posts.


Hope your January was a good one - the photo at the top was taken when the waves were well past their worst! Here's a to a less blustery (and drier) February.

Christmas, New Year, Gales, Chocolate, TV...

So how was your Christmas and New Year? I hope it was good. Mine was busy, busy, busy and then nice and peaceful, which isn't too bad a combination... None of it was helped by the awful weather we've been having in the UK - on Christmas Eve the gales left us with a slight (ahem) roof problem which needed immediate fixing, so come the time when I should have been sitting in front of the TV with a few chocolates and It's A Wonderful Life hitting the spot, I was instead holding a ladder, wishing I was wearing gloves (that wind was very cold), and wondering if I'd get enough time to push the shed back upright before it got dark (I didn't).

However, despite continued bad weather, the electricity stayed on, as did the roof, and the shed remains mostly upright. And all the water has stayed outside the house, a good state of affairs in anyone's book.

The chocolate on the middle left tasted of violets and was exquisite...

I'd hoped for a movie-saturated Christmas but events above and then welcome visitors meant it wasn't until close to the end of the year that I got to indulge myself with chocolates and films on the TV, but it was worth the wait, and Sherlock was a nice way to welcome the New Year in too...

My plans for the new year? Well, writing my blog, of course, a bit of jewellery making/creativity, a lot of blog design, and some careful tidying of my laptop before it explodes from all the photos and links I have insisted on saving to it... I hope your new year brings you much happiness - and thank you so much for reading my blog; the visits and comments mean a lot :)