Hello Sailor

Well this week a load of new jewellery will be going up on my etsy shop. I have been busily slaving away trying to get as much as possible done. I've also been experimenting with new photography techniques and backgrounds and I'm really pleased with what I've managed to achieve. I had to show you this new anchor necklace because I love it, so much so that I may have to make one for myself to wear. If you love it too, you can buy it here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=28513120

I got a full size mannequin through today, which I am super excited about because it means I finally have something to photograph my longer necklaces on. I've named her Dolly. I'm slightly worried she may come alive at night and try to kill me. Wow. I've been watching far too much Psychoville.

Ta Ta For Now xx

Waterfront Festival

The Waterfront Festival on the 11th July at Clarence Dock in Leeds was great. Even though it was a bit blustery, the rain stayed away and the sun even came out. There were lots of visitors and the entertainment was great. All my jewellery went down really well and I sold quite a few pieces of my new Alice in Wonderland range, so I was really happy. I would definitely recommend this festival to any crafty folk in the area. Make sure you have lots of sturdy display stands though, otherwise you may lose your stock to the river! Ah the perils of outdoor craft fairs.

Only 13 days until the next jewellery giveaway is announced. I'll remind you all again nearer the time. If anyone wants to join the mailing list to receive news about giveaways, special offers and other highly interesting topics please send an e-mail request to rubyrouge@live.co.uk and I'll add you to it.

Hope everyone has had a lovely weekend. Mine was filled with delightful friends, yummy Croque Monsieur, a trip to Wagamammas and Harry Potter. Hurrah.

xx

July Jewellery Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations to Lucy who won the July jewellery giveaway. The carousel necklace is on its way to you! Don't worry if you entered but didn't win, another giveaway will begin on 1st August and you'll have a chance to win something purdy then. xx

Seaside!

I went to Filey with my boyfriend last week for a few days and had such a nice relaxing time. The weather was a bit unpredictable but it added to the fun. We did lots of walking and went out for meals and won our body weight in bears at the arcades. I also made friends with a cat, played travel Cluedo and ate yummy baked goods from Sterchi's. It was so great to get away for a while. I think the next few weeks may end up being a bit crazy so it came just at the right time. Here are some pictures of two of my bears and some Filey boats for you to look at. Hope you like them :)

New Facebook Fan Page

Hello lovely followers. Just to let you know, you can now keep up to date with Ruby Rouge Jewellery news by becoming a fan on Facebook. Just scroll down and look for the "Become a Fan on Facebook" box and click on "Become a Fan". Yay! xx
P.s. Only five days left to enter the jewellery giveaway below. Keep those entries coming!

JULY JEWELLERY GIVEAWAY!

Well it's the first of the month - the day on which I give you the chance to win a piece of Ruby Rouge jewellery! This month's prize is this super cute antiqued silver plated carousel necklace with a pink rose clay bead. The chain measures 18" long and the charm 20mm (2cm). If you win but would prefer a different length chain it will be ammended for you. If you're not a flowery person I can also remove the rose bead :)

TO ENTER all you need to do is visit www.rubyrougejewellery.etsy.com find your favourite item and post a reply to this message telling everyone what it is and why you love it. SIMPLE! I will ship internationally so anyone and everyone can enter. Multiple entries can be gained by blogging and/or tweeting about this giveaway on twitter (please provide the link to your post below as evidence) and/or becoming a follower of my blog (please let me know in a message below). Each extra thing you do will gain you one extra entry!

A winner will be chosen on 14th July. GOOD LUCK!!! xx

Dragon Boat Festival

I had a really nice day at the Dragon Boat Festival. There was great music and entertainment and great food. I had a malteaser milkshake which was super yummy. I also got to see some old friends and met some really lovely people who also had craft stalls. The weather stayed dry and warm and nothing on my stand blew away, so all in all it was a success! Bring on next year's festival! xx

P.s. Jewellery giveaway in T-2 days!!!

All Hands on Deck

I have booked a stall at a Dragon Boat Festival at Clarence Dock in Leeds this Saturday (27th June, see http://www.brewerywharf.net/events/first-event for more details) and am very nervous as I have never done a fair as big as this before. A few hundred customers I can cope with, a few thousand I'm not so sure! I've been madly making jewellery in an effort to get as much done as I possibly can. I'm convinced I'm going to sell out of everything (even though deep down I know this is VERY unlikely). It's all going to be very exciting. I just hope the weather doesn't fail me. I'm even more excited because my new and improved Alice in Wonderland range is going to be unveiled. I know I said this would be here at Christmas but it has taken a while to get it right. I apologise profusely for the delay.

In other news:
- There aren't going to be any indoor markets at The Loft until September. Sad face :( This means I'm going to have to resort to going to a load of outdoor fairs and possibly getting all my jewels rained on/blown away. Fun! But on the plus side it will mean that I get to go to lots of exciting new fairs and meet lots of lovely new people.
- I'm about to send a jewellery package out to The Projeto Gallery in Silsden in Keighly (http://www.projetogallery.com), so my pieces should be available to purchase from there in the next week or so.
- I'll also be doing the Waterfront festival on July 11th. If you want to have an amazing day, get yourself down there and join in with all the fun things that will no doubt be going on.
- I've been asked to do a temporary exhibition at Armley Mills Industrial Museum. Excitement! This exhibition aims to show the public how objects that have been made primarily for a practical purpose are often designed in a way that reflects prevailing art movements popular either at the time of or preceding their creation. It should be finished by the end of July so if you're in the area, pop in and take a peek :)

Phew. I'm finished now...promise. xx

Competition Winner!

Congratulations to pink leopard print aka Rachel from New Jersey who won my June giveaway! To all who didn't win, these competitions are going to be a monthly occurrence, so keep trying. Next month's giveaway will be announced on 1st Juy. xx

JUNE GIVEAWAY!

I have been slightly delayed with this giveaway because life has been very hectic and I had to go down to London unexpectedly, but better late than never! The prize up for grabs is this brand new elegant pair of glass pearl earrings on bronze plated kidney earwires. They're so new they're not even for sale in my shop yet! To enter, all you need to do is visit www.rubyrougejewellery.etsy.com find your favourite item and post a reply to this message telling everyone what it is and why you love it. SIMPLE! I will ship internationally so anyone and everyone can enter. A winner will be chosen on 14th June. GOOD LUCK!!! xx

P.S. Multiple entries can be gained by blogging and/or tweeting about this giveaway on twitter (please provide the link to your post below as evidence) and/or becoming a follower of my blog (please let me know in a message below). Each extra thing you do will gain you one extra entry!

Poor Chic

So my egg hatched but the chic was deformed and it couldn't open its eyes and it was so weak. After a day of waiting to see if it would recover, it got even weaker and I had to have it put down. It was really sad. But at least it's not suffering anymore.

The Most Exciting Thing Ever

So our wonderful chicken Muriel had eight little baby chics yesterday! Very exciting! Pictures to follow shortly. But that isn't the most exciting news! Four didn't hatch so we brought them inside and left them on the windowsill while we sorted the others out. I completely forgot about disposing them, but I am so so glad I didn't because about an hour ago I heard a noise coming from one of the eggs! One of the chicks is still alive! YAAAAY! I tried to put the eggs back under the chicken but she rejected them and is just focused on looking after the chicks she has. So, I now have the chirping egg (along with the other three just in case there's something in them) in a cardboard box with sawdust in it and a light positioned over it to try and keep them warm. Fingers crossed for the next 24 hours! I'll keep you posted on any developments! If anyone has any chicken hatching related advice please tell me! This is the first time I've ever had to do this! xx

New Shops and Giveaways

Ruby Rouge jewellery is now available to buy in Great British Pounds at http://www.rubyrouge.folksy.com! "About time" I hear you cry! Yes it has been long overdue. So far there are only nine items listed on the site but I'll be building up the stock on there over the next few weeks. If you are from the UK and would like to purchase either something you've seen at craft fairs or on my shops at etsy.com through the new site feel free to contact me and I'll set up a listing. If you live in Cheshire, my jewellery is available for purchase at House Interiors & Gifts which is in Cotton Shop Yard just off King Street in Knutsford. It's not available on their website, but take a look anyway, they have some really pretty things: http://www.houseknutsford.co.uk/

I've also opened up a new supply shop on etsy: http://www.sparklesupply.etsy.com so if you're in the market for jewellery findings head there for a bargain. Don't forget about the original www.rubyrougejewellery.etsy.com though. Have just listed some new items this week including this new Rain Rain Go Away Umbrella Necklace.

Hope you managed to enter my May giveaway. If you didn't don't worry. I'm going to start doing giveaways on the first of every month on my blog so make sure you look in between the 1st and 15th of June for your chance to win your very own piece of Ruby Rouge Jewellery.
xx

May Giveaway

Want to win one of my new birdcage pendants? Well you'll be in with a chance of winning one along with a load of other cool stuff if you click on the link below and follow the rules to enter. It really is that simple! Closing date for entries is 15th May so get your skates on.

http://www.vivawoman.net/2009/05/03/viva-woman-may-vivabella-giveaway/

Sensory Gardens = Much Fun

On Saturday I went on a rare but wonderful day out to Knaresborough with my friend Rachel. It is a beautiful place and it was such a gorgeous day. We went boating on the river, drank tea in a wonderfully quaint tea shop, had ice cream, went to see the castle and stumbled upon a sensory garden in an arts and crafts center. The sensory garden was amazing. It had different areas dedicated to different senses and was clearly designed for children - which is probably why I loved it so much! :D I especially liked a tree that kids had decorated with clothes, toys, mobiles and flowers. It was so lovely.

Sad news though :( One of our chickens died. We're not sure why. We noticed she had a bad leg yesterday so we think it must have been something to do with that. And we didn't get any chicks. We broke one of the eggs after the broody hen had been sitting on it for the right amount of time and discovered it hadn't been fertilised. The rest of them were like that too. But our remaining hen is now sitting on some different eggs so hopefully chics will be here soon :)

Craft Fair No. 2

Today I participated in my second craft fair of the year. The Artsmix team had employed the Urban Angels' Circus (two dolled up ladies with an oversized shopping trolley) to go through the streets of Leeds and promote the fair by handing out leaflets for free drinks at the bar downstairs. It was such a good idea and it brought a lot of people in. I had a great day. My jewellery went down really well and I met some lovely people with some really interesting products. I sadly forgot my camera though so no pictures of the table this month :( It's a shame actually because I had a 6ft table instead of a 3ft and everything looked so much better.

I tried something new out this month. I had a sale basket. I never know what to think about sale baskets at craft fairs or bargain sections on etsy. On one hand I think putting handmade items in a sale grossly undervalues the work of the artist, on the other I think it's a great way to give old stock or pieces that have minor imperfections new homes. I thought I'd try it out anyway. I had the items individually priced in a basket, but I decided to give them away free to people who spent over £15. It worked quite well although a few people didn't even notice it and spent £15+ and were really pleased to discover that they got something else for free. I think if I go with the sale basket again, I'll have to put it in a more obvious position so people can see it. I didn't really advertise my sale as much as I could have done because I don't like it when people do that to me. Sometimes it seems pushy and desperate.

My top tip this month is to make cards like this one in the picture. It makes everything look so much better and makes it a lot easier to display things. I did mine on word and printed them out on cream card. Give it a go!

Link of the day (yes I'm doing this now, apparrently): http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=12364 This is the best thing I have ever seen. Enjoy!

GIVEAWAY! - because everyone likes something for nothing!

I'm participating in a giveaway! Hurrah hurrah hurrah! All you have to do is go to the link below and enter the competition before the closing date (10th April) and this pair of earrings could be yours. There's also a lovely little interview I did for you to read and lots of pretty pictures. Isn't that nice!?

http://jleighdesignz.blogspot.com/2009/04/featured-friday-ruby-rouge-jewellery.html

What a Whilrwind

So my life right now is pretty hectic. I've just finished a wholesale order for an online boutique (http://www.mylittleboutique.com), I'm trying to get items made to go in a gallery and I'm in the process of making prototype jewellery for a vintage wedding in California. On top of that I have a craft fair on Sunday at the Loft in Leeds to prepare for (fantastic place and people, come along if you're in the area), my etsy shops to maintain and museums to volunteer at. A hell of a lot is going on in Sarah Land right now. I've hardly had time for a social life let alone blogging! So sorry friends and followers. I promise I'll be better in future.

Anyhoo, here is a new piece of jewellery for you to look at that I just listed on etsy. Watch this space because more jewellery will be added this week. Also, another craft fair related post filled with tips is on its way....

In other news:
My parents borrowed a broody hen from a farmer to sit on our chickens' eggs. Chicklets will be here in T-20 days! Hurrah!
I added a new poll to the blog in order to carry out a bit of market research. Favourite colours please!
I also added Pacman (see bottom right hand corner). DISCLAIMER: SARAH OF RUBY ROUGE JEWELLERY FAME CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF PLAYING PACMAN. THOSE WHO BECOME HIGHLY ADDICTED SHOULD SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION.

Comic Relief

I'm sure there are very few of you in the UK right now who don't know how important comic relief is to people in both Britain and Africa, but did you know that if you donate a pound, the whole of that pound will go directly to those in need? Comic Relief has donors and sponsors who provide the money needed to pay their staff, so that all public money given will be used to improve lives. If you're in a position to donate money to this deserving charity, please please do. All of it will be used to do good.

Also, from the end of Summer 2009, every bar of Cadbury's Dairy Milk sold will be Fairtrade. Guilt-free Cadbury chocolate is on its way. For more information on this and Comic Relief in general, see http://www.comicrelief.com

Craft Fair!

I went to my first craft fair of the year last Sunday. It was at a place called The Loft in Leeds and it was organized by Artsmix. I've been to these before (I did five of them in 2008), but I had one of my most successful days ever this time round. Even more successful than the ones I did in the run up to Christmas - I was so happy! Although my things were all squashed together because I had made so much! I think next time I'm going to have to invest in a larger stall so it looks nicer. I also need to get some lighting. Ikea here I come!

Top tip for anyone attending these things - buy disposable cake stands (made out of cardboard) and spray paint them! It works out so much cheaper than buying acrylic stands and they are REALLY easy to transport because they can be dismantled and rebuilt. Also, if you get a multi-tiered one, it gives you so much more space to display. Very useful if you have a tiny table!

Hope this helps :D