The 'blue' House Diaries

I know I know it has been such a long time since my last post but the past year has been so hectic that  there hasn't been a moment to write!.....

.... I have decided to concentrate the blog on our new venture.... The blue house diaries.... I toiled with creating an entirely new blog but this is an extention of nelli D and I think it will sit perfectly within that! So here you are ... Our little blue house....

thankyou mia!

One of my lovely customers photographed herself and posted the pic to her blog and it has made my day....doesn't she look lovely ?

and to pass on my thanks to Mia  here is some delicious eye candy from her very own website.....yummy yummy yummy....which one shall i eat first??

http://www.facebook.com/MiaWPhotography

maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAHHHOOOOOOOOOOOSIVE sale...HELLO 2011

 

Hello 2011.................well what a year 2010 was...but here's to a new one and to start a fresh and to make room for lots and lots of new and exciting designs...i am having a mahoosive sale...right now! all items are 1/2 price or less...so come and have a look round!       enter Sale

im back...and i've got lots to share....

Well it has been ages since I last posted.....months and months in fact ....and these are the reasons why!



1: new  job


2: we bought our first house!

3: and many many other things...............

Firstly I got a job in the Police and I have to say that I absolutely love it....there has been lots to learn and lots to do in my little sleepy new forest town let me tell you!

im in here somewhere......

Secondly me and James bought our first house.yipeeeeeeeeeee...and we love it....i have a whole room dedicated to nelli D and James got the garage he desparately wanted...so all is good.

Anyway apart from the usual decorating and chores to be done in the house (the boring stuff) we decided we needed some new additions....


Introducing.......WHTNEY and PEARL...

Whitney came to me via a chance encounter with a lady at work who had hurt her leg and couldn't  deliver cat food for a charity...we got talking and I offered to deliver it for her....thats when I met Jayne of Pound puppies in Poole, who single handedly runs an animal charity for animals that are abandoned in Ireland, they  get 5 days in the pound in Ireland before they are destroyed...so Jayne brings them back....and rehomes them, needless to say I couldn't resist ending up with one or two cats! (she also has dogs, and rabbits, but our house is not a tardis (or so i am told) ha ha

Jayne relies completely on donations and fundraises and puts on events even though she herself is heavily disabled...She  also happens to be hysterical and when I visit I am there for hours rolling around on the floor with laughter.....



now here is the plea....All animals are neutered and vacinated before they leave Jayne....and tested with other dogs children and cats...trust me her house looks like a kennel and they absolutely love her.


If you could give an animal a home and are thinking about a pet please please take a look at her website:

Pound Puppies 

Introducing Whitney....a black and sporadic white cat (she has a sprinkling of white hairs in her ears)

Here she is with her brother and 2 sisters! (i had to decide between them ! horrible)

Watching over them....the little ginger one was too little to leave Jayne and I am too impatient to wait!
So Whitty came home with me...and she is the most loyal and loving cat I  have ever known...she follows me to work, waits for me on the wall and even comes on dog walks with me.

Whitty ended up in my handbag...the very first time she followed me....I hadn't noticed her behind me and thankgod I missed her crossing the main.... she ended up..dog lead round her neck and stuffed in my bag..complete with tennis balls and poo bags! (it hasn't stopped her though! damn it!

....so not content with one...we got another.....PEARL

Who is the devil in a white coat, quite literally....very very cute...but very very naughty..you can mostly find Pearl...with her head...in the dog bowl, in the bin....or on the kitchen work surface : (  looking for food......! Apparently..this is quite normal said the vet and very typical of a rescue cat! (great)

 Poor dotty....strawberries and cream is her favourite too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DESTROY DESTROY....i must DESTRRRRRRRRRRRoy!

Notice how the lovely leather sofa is completely covered....opps

 

 Well must dash...lots and lots to do..but don't worry the shop is still ongoing..I have a huge party on 13th of November that I am very excited about...which has taken up lots of my making time.(union jack bags are back on the agenda..and bags that have wearable jewellery pieces attatched ...but there will be lots of new additions ready for xmas.......whats that ? you want a sneak peek?

Go- on then!

Photographing my wares

this for me is always a headache...I have never been great at taking a photo...chopping bits off / dark/shadowy...argggggggggggghhhhhh...anyway I do try my best. I got a swanky camera for xmas and I have a light box which helps loads.


Becuase I have little to no skill with the aformentioned gadget it sometimes takes me weeks to photograph something...as is the case with the tashley tote which has been in my possession for 2 months since I made it.

Today however I cracked it and got some lovely shots: I put my camera on a tripod to avoid the shakes..and I think it worked.

The thing with me is that I am a dreamer, a romantic soul who always has her head stuck in some fashion or interior magazine cooing over the gorgeous pictures and wowing at all of the scene setups!  I like to be sold a story along with a product and a quirky shot will often make me buy something, more so than a plain simple one.

So in my little world I try my best to be stylish and interesting...and recreate a vogue/beautiful homes setup in my own way.

and this is what I came up with for : Professor Cecil Nugent!

my old trunks and suitcases fitted the Professors story perfectly ! but you'll have to visit my shop to read more about him!

Read the Professor's story here 

  

Previous to this I had tried some other shots and I think you will agree the above are a marked improvement!

this one even shows the fold creases...rubbish!
 

...any way enough said out with old in with the new!!

so on that successful note I decided to reshoot the union jack tote too..in the same vain:

 

thats all for now folks..off to put some rings into my shop...ok ok..heres a quick photo for you!

Fresh fresh fresh ideas!

Well its been a while since I last posted, mainly due to me teaching again and having limited time, but its half term and I have been beavering away...and I think you will like what I have made...

As you know I love pastel shades, and I have a tendency to stick to the same shades all the time...so my mission, which I chose to accept was to use different colours: and this is what I came up with!

a beautiful fresh grassy green and a pure crisp white! both colours I haven't used before..

I have also used a really lovely new mould which creates large domed cabs, 1 1/2 inches across, which make fabulous oversized rings ! (so watch this space as they will be in my shop very shortly!)

 

 

 both of these shades have spurred me on to make single colour collections such as charm bracelets and multicharm necklaces-

so that folks is what I am going off to do..bye for now! x

 

Make Jewellery Magazine feature

Today I have a big fat smile on my face....because the postie just delivered issue 11 of Make Jewellery to me....and it features my resin jewellery...cue---dancing around the house!!

I am so chuffed with how it has turned out that I thought I would share it with you all!!....

A couple of months ago I was asked by Lorraine the editor of Make Jewellery (on sale in all major stockists by the way) if I would like to submit 3 resin tutorials of varying degrees of difficulties....and I jumped at the chance...so I set about planning the tutorials and sent off the items to be photographed....and that was that...until today.!

The tutorials explain how to create my layered resin brooches, necklaces and charm bracelets.

  

 

 

This is definately going on the loo wall once I get one (a loo and a wall that is) ......

The magazine also features Laura of SheDraws and her fabulous jewellery ... see above..Telephone necklace


and naturally...the goodies for sale can be found in my shops...folksy, etsy and www.nellid.co.uk

Rainy day brooch

 

Queen Elizabeth necklace

 

necklace

 or

Brooch 

 

charm bracelet

and another!

A very Special Tribute

photo courtesy of Holly Cocker

A twist of fate bought me to Holly Shaw...I was trailling through the mountains of blogs that there are on the web....when I stopped to read Holly's ...http://transplanttantrumsandtiaras.blogspot.com/ mainly because I liked the title! and I wanted to find out more.

this is what she wrote:

Hopefully this will raise awareness of transplantation and organ donation but no doubt I will end up waffling on about about friends, family and shopping (hence the tantrums and tiaras bit). I hope this gives you an insight into life after a transplant and wherever that may take me... (Hopefully to lots of shops!)

I read Holly's humbling story with admiration...having had a kidney transplant in 2008, Holly has dedicated her life to grasping life with both hands and working towards her dreams and achieving them...so I read on.

visit Holly's Campaign here 

Holly's mission is to raise awareness of the importance of  organ donation and she dedicates her time to doing just that...fundraising and generally doing crazy things like ....abseiling down the 100ft Leasowe Lighthouse! and meeting Ben Shepherd!!! (showbiz)

Along Holly's journey  she made many friends, one friend was Jessica Wales.  Jessica had been waiting for a double lung transplant for 4 1/2 years and received her transplant a couple of weeks ago...however her body was just not strong enough to cope with the trauma of the operation and sadly Jessica died on the 12th January 2010.

Holly and Jess had remained great friends and supported each other throughout their transplant journeys and both girls felt very strongly about being advocates for their charities...working tirelessly even when they were both very ill...

Read more of Jessica's story here

it was Holly's wish that she could pay tribute to her friend in someway.....

 

and this is what I helped her with...I only hope I have done Jessica proud.

 

and if you would like to read more about organ donation and join the national register...visit the site here where you can quickly and easily sign up

organ donation