Waiting...

Hand-Made jewellery for sale.

So if you've read any of my other posts, you may know that I've been making jewellery out of my dad's old watch parts. I've really enjoyed getting crafty and I haven't made much jewellery before now. 

I'm hoping to sell them at a pop up shop in Brighton along with my photography and some other people's handmade items. 

Here is what I've made so far..
If you would like to buy any of these items please email me at becky.netley@live.co.uk. Add 75p for postage to the UK. 

Alice in wonderland. Already sold 2 of these. Currently don't have any more but can make more!

Moon and stars. £8.00

Gold and black stud earrings. £6

Red and purple gem earrings on old watch movements. £5

Leaf and pearl on old wind up watch movement studs. £5

Handpainted blue and silver two-toned ring, £4 (adjustable!)

Feelin fruity £6

Big glitter ring (adjustable) £4

This one is current out of stock but more will be made. £10.

Eiffel tower earrings, on sale on ebay here (bid starting at 99p!)

My dad actually made the mermaid years ago, I painted the tail and added the gems. £10

£8 

This one is sold! 

This one is sold but similar can be made. It was £7

Baby pink glitter ring (adjustable!) £4

Vintage watch face adjustable ring. £4

I'm really happy with how these turned out. £7

On ebay here

£6

£6

DIY Glitter rings.

You'll need: 

A watch glass, and back of a watch OR a clear (non coloured) gem that you can easily glue onto a flat surface. 

Glitter nail varnish

Plain coloured (colour of your choice) nail varnish 

Super glue

A plain ring attachment. 

1. Get your glass and watch back ready (or gem). Make sure they fit onto each other. 

2. Do two coats of glitter on the inside of the glass.

3. Once the glitter has dried, paint your plain colour over the top of the glitter layers.

4. Ensure the nail varnish is complete dry. Then use super glue to stick the glass on the watch back. (Skip this step if you're just using a gem)

5. The final step is to super glue the back of the watch case onto the ring attachment. Ensure its fully dry before wearing (I've made this very painful mistake!)

FIN!

Other ideas:

Try experimenting with bigger glitter!

black and gold glitter to give a nightsky effect

The best and worst business/freelancer books I've read.

Over the years I've read many business books, trying to find ways to help me get clients and provide a great service. Some books just state the obvious while others offer some genuinely useful advice and ideas. Here are some I've read and my thoughts on them.  

Best for: People who are keen to be entrepreneurs and make alot of money doing it.
Review: While this book did have some good ideas about running a business, alot of it was about running a team and getting a loan. While this is great for many business, it didn't really offer alot for me as a freelancer. I did however learn some good techniques for assessing your process every 6 months.  
Score: 4/10

Best for: Anyone wanting to pursue a passion!

Review: This easy to read book is great for anyone who has a dream. Its not strictly aimed at business people but anyone who has goals. Its written well, directly and gets straight to the point. It doesn't go into alot of detail on how to achieve the goals as such but its a motivational booster!

Score: 5/10

Best for: Anyone who wants to get ahead in business. 
Review: I had seen the author Shawn Achor on a Ted talk about this very book, before reading it. I really enjoyed it and decided to give the book a go. The book talks through 7 main principles that help people get ahead in their work. Theres alot of information to take on board but all very interesting! Check out his ted talk below if your interested. 
Score: 7/10

Best for: Entrepreneurs and freelancers

Review: This is probably one of my favorite business books. Its easy to read, and gives you step by step tools on how to achieve things. One of the main things I've learnt from it, is that people buy YOU as the business owner/freelancer. If people like you, and you make them feel good, they're more likely to use your services than someone else!  I keep refering back to the book whenever I get stuck! 

Score: 9/10

Best for: Freelancers

Review: I read this book a while ago and I cant really remember much of it, so I don't think it really taught my anything new. Alot of the freelance books make the same points which can be quite obvious. 

Score: 2/10

For future reading:

• The 4-hour work week by Timothy Ferriss 
• No contacts? No problem. How to pitch and sell and freelance feature by Catherine Quinn
• Creative Inc. The ultimate guide to running a successful freelance business by cho IIasco
• Like a virgin by Richard Bandson 

[May's monthly post] 10 photos that...get up close. (Macro shots)

Macro photography, usually means photographing objects or living creatures extremely close up. For this months '10 photos that...' I will taking a look at things that are so close up that you'll either be amazed or slightly creeped out!

While searching for macro shots, I wanted to pick ones that were slightly different, not your usual up close flower shots.

1. Amazing cat shot by Kristina Buceatchi

2. I can't decide whether I find this cute, or really creepy. Photo by Jose Deluna

3. Macro shots look great when photography new born babies, letting you get all the little details like toes, nails and little hands. (Unknown source)

4.I never thought I would think a snail was cute, but Vadim Trunov has proved me wrong! Check out more of these magical photos here.

5. This is a beautiful photo of inside an Ocean Jasper rock. Photo by MicROCKScopia 

6. NOPE, this is too much! (photo by John Hallman)

7. This up close look at a fingerprint is part of a series called 'Skin story' by Jarket Kozjar.

8. This cute froggie was photographed by Wil Mijer,

9. Check out these sweet mushrooms photographed by Steve Axford. For more magical mushrooms click here.

10. Photo by Japanese photographer Shihya Kowatar. I love the colours and patterns made by leaf in this!



Hope these photos have inspired you to experiment using Macro, most DSLR cameras have the setting. I'll do a future blog post on how to best use macro. 

Next months (June) '10 photos that...will make your heart melt.'