Up Cycled with @beadsmorebylois

The every so lovely Lois from Beads and more by lois, sent me some gorgeous gun metal findings to blog about and they have been sat on my work bench for a few weeks now.
As beautiful as the lovely deep grey findings are i had struggled to find the perfect accompaniment for them and the longer i looked at them the deeper my creative block become.
But after finding 3 huge bags of broken jewellery at a charity shop last week, i found THE most perfect set a damaged beads to use with them.

They are a vintage, twilight blue bead that are circa 1970 i would guess from the way they have been strung, The clasp was broken so i used this gorgeous oval spacer bead to balance out the way the beads hung and reattached a new clasp and the most amazing owl stamping.

As you can see they are short, but with all the glamour at the back it really sets off this beautiful set of strung beads, perfect for an evening event where understated but beautiful is a must!

i feel almost inclined to keep them myself, I've totally in love with the deep colours, makes a fabulous change from the silver , gold and brass and a fabulous addition to your A/W wardrobe.

L xx

La Chic Unique in conjunction with Earth Salon

This isn't our first encounter with Earth Salon as last month we provided some one off pieces for a fabulous bloggers event they ran.
This month was no exception with a fabulous new product, a goody bag and bags of visitors!
Heres some sneaky pics from the event.
To see our other event with Earth Salon or to see how Carrot Top PR can help your business too then pop over to Carrot Top PR

NEW enamelled jewellery

Ive made some limited enamelled pieces, really just for a bit of variety and for , the lovers of simple yet different jewellery.
There is 2 more designs coming soon..

L xx

Multi Pearl Bracelets

As some of you may have noticed, i have deleted the Chic Unique only blog, i just don't have enough time to split myself that may times over so everything will be here, in one place for you all to see :)
So to replace the pearl bracelet post some photos of past commissions are viewable here.

All bracelets are one off and customised to your specification. Prices start at £10. contact me via twitter @chicuniqueuk or email chic_uniqueuk@yahoo.co.uk to order

L x

Childrens Jewellery Making

As you know i have mini, girl people, 3 of in fact and like all mini people they enjoy getting stuck in! Especially my mini people, and nothing much gets past them!
So this morning while i was finishing my rainbow cluster bracelets Emma came to join me, so i handed over some beads and some string and left her to it! And while i was preoccupied with my own creativity look what she made!!

Now for 4 years old (obviously she didn't tie it off) She rivals a lot of these "newbies" that are knocking about at the mo trying to enter the market! Maybe i should hire her as staff!!
And as usual the others then jumped on the band wagon and so i let Zoe have a go!!

ok so Zoe is almost 2 and of course didn't string this but she chose all the beads and the order, kinda funky if you ask me!!!
Which now of course has given me an awesome idea for children's jewellery kits to make at home with mum, or dad, or big sister/brother! or any other "responsible" adult!
Watch this space for new children's jewellery kits!!

L xx

NEW Pretties

Got some shiny new pics to share with all of you. As always items are available straight away when ordered direct through me but if you dont mind waiting a few weeks then they will be available online from our shiny new shop :)

Our first limited edition collection is these tiny wooden hand painted rabbit jewellery. This one is a lovely mossy green with pink spots and is a ring

This little beauty is white with green spots and is a lepal pin/brooch.

And these gorgeous white shaded rabbits are cute earring studs, these are also available in pink. These are a MUST for any rabbit fan and are spot on with the Woodland theme thats doing the rounds with my own twist!

These gorgeous little handmade clay heart buttons are from Cariad Clay, who have a gorgeous little Etsy shop. I have had these for some time now and ive never been happy with anything ive made with them until now!  A gorgeous artisan take on the tradition charm bracelet brings this beautiful silver plated twist chain with a row of 7 hearts.

This is another charm bracelet as above with a different lay out. With this you could fill the space with any charms of your choice or with pearls with a new twist on my multi pearl bracelets.

I bought these in a charity shop  a few weeks ago and fell in love! the style and shape are just amazing but from age and wear the wire cages where are all worn and the pearls have some discolouration and wear to them. i put them on new earring posts, which are also vintage, and re painted the fancy fillagree cages. i havent touched the pearls to keep that old well loved look but would be THE perfect addition to a wedding outfit or for a special event. They are long but hang beautifully and i personally wouldnt wear them for day wear but they are a MUST!!

I was asked by a local cake maker to design some cake toppers for her wedding cakes and to advertise in her cafe which has really sparked a desire to create wedding jewellery. Here is my first EVER hair side. it has a little row of pearls, in this cage very light pink and a red pink tone in a smaller size and i have attached a gorgeous vintage brooch. its still a rough design and this is a prototype but i amazed even myself :)

And finally my MAKE OF THE WEEK this week is this gorgeous caravan cross stitch brooch. These arent for sale but i wanted to share this with you as i LOVE it so much!!! It will be taking pride of place on my Funky Diva Design tea cup bag :)

Thanks for stopping by, feel free to comment and if you need to drop me an email at lizipants@yahoo.co.uk

L xx

Exciting NEW items for Chic-Unique

Up first of the new goodies is out winners necklace for @sarahsscribble she loves rabbits but i wanted to make something that was grown up and was wearable for all occassions while keeping the cute rabbit theme! so this is what i came up with...

ive used brass findings throughout at her request and added some pearls and shaped beads for interest and texture then added the all important acrylic black rabbit charm!

Next up, hot off the press is a pair of brass leaf earrings..

These have been used with the same leaf and bead charms and are hanging from a pair of brass earring hooks... these will retail approx £6 per pair

Nextt we have these gorgeous large layered pearl earrings again in brass..

Next is my new collection of arcylic rings, i think u will agree they are most definatly cute, customisable and stackable!

Next up is my fave theme.. festival! they are a multi layered brass earrings with a contrasting feel

Next is a festival leather charm bracelet..

and finally my fave piece of the day, a large movable gold effect brass butterfly chocker with a ribbon chain

all will be available soon at our newly re-branded store. in the mean time contact me via twitter @chicuniqueuk or email lizipants@yahoo.co.uk to order or custom design a piece :)

L x

Price Increases for Chic Unique

After a very long, teary, heart to heart with my business advisor (thatll be the hubby by the way!) last night ive had to review all my prices. For the last 6 months i havent taken a wage for any of the jewellery i make, neither have i charged for postage.
Time is precious and cant be returned and hand crafting jewellery from scratch takes time and lots of it. The design process, then shopping for findings then actually creating the piece is what you dont get charged for if you shop at a high street store and their prices are still expensive.
So from today onwards in ALL my outlets the prices have to be brought up into line with other retailers and finally ill be able to take a wage for all my hard work.
This for me isnt a hobby, its a business i want to see grow and flourish into a brand that people can trust and will return to time and again but to able to do that i have to charge prices that cover every single cost that hand making jewellery from scratch encounters. For you to receive the best service, quality items and unique one off pieces then my prices have to rise.
I did argue, i didnt simply back down and i thought long and hard how business would be effected by the increases but at the end of the day every single item is handmade and designed from scratch for every single customer. i dont mass produce, and i never make more than one of anything unless asked to do so by the customer.
I hope you can all accept that this is for the best interests of myself and my business and in no way means im trying to charge more for less.
I will be able to buy more expensive findings and charms and spend more time on each piece to ensure everyone gets more than what they pay for as you have done in the past.
I hope to see you all again soon

L x

P.S
There is a hash tag comp running over on twitter at the mo. Pop the hash tag #chicuniqueuk into a tweet saying why you think you deserve to win a custom item for you choice to be in with the chance of winning, Comp closes on 1st july at 12pm.
Good Luck!
Also some sale items will be regulary added to the store and a monthly comp with run on facebook and on twitter.

day 14... fathers day makes

So i had all these fabulous ides for fathers day this year as we where hand making but i realised a few days a go that we are away that weekend and with wholesale orders mounting up and the usual jewellery work i wont have time to do what i had in mind so me and the girls rustled up something cute for him today!

This is a photo that i took this afternoon and edited with a light sepia tone filter and printed on to photo paper. mounted it into the frame (these r 1.99 from b and m bargains!) they super glued our message in scrabble letters to the glass and the wooden frame.
We then made this cute card!

I hand cross stitched the little picture of daddy and we stuck it onto some photo paper. We then printed out a cloud and some cute little birds and glued them down. We then used magnetic scrabble letters from the travel edition to spell out our message and pop the girls names on. Its no Picasso but its cute... i just hope he likes it!! And the girls had fun!!!

Lxx

Thursdays Make

So as my handmade year has restricted me from buying ANY presents this year for fathers day i have taken the time to consider the gifts seriously (even tho i only have a few weeks til the big day AND we are away that weekend!!) so to start i thought id cross stitch a cute card for daddy from the girls and THIS is what i came up with..

it just needs mounting into a card frame and then let the girls loose designing the inside! i would actually really love making these to sell they are sooooo cute!!
His present will need a make ALL to itself... Ive never made anything like it before :)

L xx

Project funky Rug

So in the spotlight this week for craft of the week is rag rugging. Ive been so tempted over the years to give this a go but have never gotten round to it so when i found this dead simple tutorial in MAKING magazine i have decided that this will be my first major project.
It fits in perfect as we are off for new flooring in the hall over the next few weeks and a new rug for the door way will be perfect :)
I will not be buying new fabric etc i will be using scraps from old projects and old clothes that i cant upcycle etc to it may take a while!
But here is it, the rag rug tutorial, feel free to copy the picture and keep for yourself. If you do would love a pic and your thoughts!!

Cant wait to get started :)

L xx