New Month, new things

If you’ve been over to my Etsy page recently, you’ve probably noticed that there have been some changes, so – what’s afoot?

As these things so often do, after a while of making jewellery, you find that you’re making more of one style than of others, and in my case, I’ve found that I’ve been leaning more heavily on history. I find it fascinating that although jewellery has been around for something like 7,000 years, many of the styles dug up in archaeological excavations would not be out of place on a modern woman today. How cool is that? Now, before you all go off and rummage about in your back gardens – please don’t do that! – I’m going to save you all some time and effort and bring you some beautiful brand new historically-inspired pieces, and all you have to do is browse Rose Bay Jewellery on Etsy.

I’ve been adding some super new lines to my clip-on earrings, and there are lots of fabulous new unique pieces of jewellery coming along soon, too.

I also now sell interesting jewellery-making components alongside my own handmade items, and a lot of these will be historically themed, too.

With this new direction in mind, I have a super new logo both here and at Etsy, as well as on my business cards. I have added a couple of new categories on Etsy, to make jewellery component selection easier. Currently, I have them in 3 parts – Jewellery Making for the nuts and bolts, so to speak, of making – the elastic thread, ear wires, clasps, and all that kind of thing. Charms and pendants and Beads have now been separated and have their own sections. This should make it easier to browse for what you want.

The Charms and Pendants section has lots of choice – enamel, glass, lampwork and metal, and in such themes as Boho, Viking and other historical, seasonal, animal, vegetable and mineral… sounds like a game, doesn’t it?

I am also in the process of updating my product pictures. However, with over 600 listings, I’m sure you can understand that this will take some time to implement, but it will all look great in the end!

Here on this blog, as well as my normal news posts I would like to have some fun with extra articles covering a wide range of topics that include the shop itself, jewellery, historically themed, links and resources, and whatever else I think might be of interest.

It’s all very exciting and if you want to follow along you can also follow me on social media. I have an Instagram and a Twitter account. Please drop in and say hi – I’d love to spend time with you!

June News

June again and the sun, finally, is shining.

It’s been beading hot, too…!

Luscious Lampwork beads

Fascinating Fossil beads

Lovely Lava beads

and

Beautiful Boho beads

Perfect for your own creations!

For those who prefer actual jewellery, I’ve done some Viking and Celtic-style earrings in copper and silver, and here are a couple of examples of those.

Copper and silver Viking earrings
Celtic spirals

Plus there’s more charms, little gift bags, glass beads, Viking components and lots of other things to discover! I’m adding new things all the time, so stay tuned – you never know what might turn up!

May news

As I sit writing this, strong winds and rain are buffeting the building – ah, the joys of an English summer!

I have re-opened deliveries for non-UK orders. If your area isn’t yet covered, just drop me a line and we’ll see what we can do for you.

My popular turquoise and silver Boho necklaces are back in the shop, and I have been adding lots of lovely supplies, too. Oh, so many supplies…

Christmas charms

Enamel charms and connectors

Cute snake charms and pendants

Viking pendants

Semi-precious pendants

And beads, charms and findings of all sorts! Lots more in the shop to view!

See you soon?

New year news 2021

2021 is upon us!

What do you mean it started weeks ago? I got here in the end…

I hope you are all well and staying safe? Let’s make this a good year, shall we?

I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you what extreme circumstances have befallen the world in the last year. Or how badly the postal services are struggling with Christmas high demand, pandemic backlog, extra ordering from those bored at home or trying to buy things they can’t get out for. And those of you who follow UK news know we’re in the process of recovering from Brexit. All of the above affects online shops – including Rose Bay Jewellery. There have been problems with postal delays, new rules and regulations to learn, and the upshot of all this means that I have taken the decision to withdraw overseas sales, and these – hopefully temporarily – have been removed from Etsy for the time being. However, if you’re a regular overseas customer, and don’t mind waiting for your order, come and talk to me – I’m sure we can work something out.

Well, that’s the depressing stuff out of the way. Lets get on to the good stuff, shall we?

Last year we introduced interesting jewellery-making supplies, and I have now added some 5-8mm semi-precious chips to the shop. We’ve got things like rose quartz, turquoise, amethyst, aventureines, agates and white jade, and there will be more stones and sizes to follow. Look at these – aren’t they beautiful? Perfect for modern, Boho, and historical designs! A win for everyone!

I am also currently in the process of adding some Viking-inspired pendants to the shop. I have a whole load of these ready to go and you can get a preview of them below. Watch this space!

Down in the forest….

Only 16 days to Christmas!

I thought you might like to have a little peek behind the scenes at Rose Bay Jewellery! We sell a lot of Clipon Christmas tree earrings at this time of year. All of my finished jewellery goes out in some kind of bag (or box, for certain items) and it saves time to do some up in advance. The clipons go out in cute little organza bags – they look amazingly colourful and fun when a batch is finished. You can’t help but feel cheerful when you look at them!

Also finished a batch of Viking-inspired pendant necklaces, all now listed in the shop.

Christmas is coming!

Did you know that its only 44 days to Christmas?

If I’ve just ruined your day, I shall immediately make up for it by telling you that Rose Bay Jewellery is having a jewellery and bead kit

Check it out!

July News

As a jewellery maker myself, I know how important it is use good quality materials, and how difficult it is to find the more unusual components, I’ve already added well over 100 new supplies, including sterling silver ear wires and bracelet charms, ceramic, lampwork and other glass beads, beading kits, Christmas and Halloween components and Steampunk mixes, as well as pewter charms from Tierracast, beading mats…. so many things, and many more to come!

I haven’t added as many things as I would have liked – we’re in the middle of decorating my craft room at the moment and I’m sure you’ve all experienced the utter chaos of shifting things from place to place so that you can work, and I’m having trouble finding half my stuff right now! But it will all be worthwhile and I’m very excited about having a lovely new room to work in.

Have a look at some of my new jewellery supplies and I’ll tell you all about my new room and my new products soon!

May is going to be exciting!

As promised, Rose Bay Jewellery is back up and running. I have decided to focus on more historically-inspired jewellery, largely in the Celtic/Viking to Victorian time-frame, although I could wander off on a different path from time to time. Products will likely get older as we go along, so that should be fun. I will be making a more detailed post soon to tell you all about it!

In addition, I have also started selling some interesting jewellery making components, and I have heaps of those coming up soon.

Stay safe, everyone.

April Shop News

Or lack thereof.

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you about the problems facing the world right now. Many areas are in lockdown, and here in the UK, we aren’t any different. While I think that jewellery – especially mine – is pretty essential, it isn’t right to burden mail-service workers with non-essential supplies, or worth the risk to my family to keep trotting off to the post office. I have therefore taken the difficult decision to put Rose Bay Jewellery on hold for a little while until we see how things work out.

However, that doesn’t mean that I’m not doing anything. I am still making lovely jewellery, and I am working on something new for when we can be together again. In the meantime, I will be making the odd post here, plus I have my Twitter account where I post links to interesting articles and repost daft and quirky stuff, too. We could all do with a little light relief right now. On Instagram, there is no point posting pictures of products that aren’t on sale, so instead, I’m posting other sorts of pictures – most notably, images of our new rescue cat. She is settling in quite nicely, thank you very much for asking.

Actually, this reminds me of something I meant to mention. In the UK, and probably where you are, too, animal re-homes have been put on hold because nobody is supposed to go out to view them, and charity shops attached to these re-homing centres have been closed for the time being. Since these shops are the centres’ main (and sometimes only )source of income, they are suddenly bereft of funds.

If you have a pet sanctuary close to you, and you are so inclined, please could you check out their local websites or media pages to see if you can help? It’s not just about the cash – some need food or other supplies, and some just want media help to spread the word out.

Anyway, talk soon and please stay safe.

March Shop News

March is here and spring is on our doorstep. Probably…

I have added some new clipon earrings to my Etsy shop, varied and fun!

Sunday was, apparently, International Women’s Day and I am, as always, late to the party. However, I couldn’t let that pass without a few links to posts about our awesome women. These ladies prove you can do more than you ever thought possible!

Joan Macdonald (74) achieves amazing weight loss!

Yvette Lundy: French Resistance fighter from World War II. She died last year, at 103

Mary Eliza Mahoney became the first African American licensed nurse, graduating in 1879

Eleanor Wadsworth, currently 101 years old, is the last surviving female pilot from WW2.

Emmeline Pankhurst is best remembered for organising the UK suffragette  movement and helping women win the right to vote.

Ada Lovelace was an English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage’s proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine.

Boudicca was queen of the Iceni tribe who led an uprising against the the Roman Empire around AD 60

Oh, and on the subject of amazing women, for those of you celebrating at the end of next week, have a great Mothers’ Day!