Well it’s been a sad and tough last couple of weeks for us, We have had a couple of family bereavements one of which was our beloved fur-baby Broxi who was suddenly taken from us. We have had some great times over the last 12 years home and abroad and the workplace feels very empty without him. So we haven’t being making much over the last couple of weeks as you can image but we have got our new Mother’s Day personalised pearl necklace on the website, It’s a couple of weeks overdue to the above mentioned but sometimes work isn’t the most important aspects of life when it really comes down to it. It’s nice to see the nights getting lighter and a little bit more sunshine to boot, It makes you feel a little bit more happier. Anywho back to work we decided to go for more of a tradition necklace with this design and you cannot get more traditional than a pearl necklace! Of course we added a modern twist to the design with some personalisation.  The pearls we used were 5.5-6mm and are a  light cream colour, The quality is  AA+  and they have a lovely lustre to them making them a wonderful starting componant  for a new design. We added some sterling silver ball spacers between the pearls, It  gives it that more elegant and classy look we feel, We do this with all our pearl range, It just adds something extra to it. Now the heart we cut measures 1.8cm wide by 2.5 high and is a nice sturdy 1.2mm thick, Because we cut our own shapes and sizes we can make the heart bigger if required but for what text we were using we decided on this size. There is so many personalised bits of jewellery out their that we wanted to design something a little different to your bog standard “Mum” centered on a heart. So we came up with idea of having “Mum” at a funky angle, It looks great, Something different but it did leave a big space on the heart so we thought about adding an image and the first one we thought of  was a Rose as it goes hand in hand with Mother’s day really. Looking at adding other images at some point but we will just add that to the job list at the mo. On the reverse of the heart is where you can add your personal text, Depending on how much text someone wants we have the option of cutting  the heart bigger but that’s a good thing! Flexibility that’s one of our main strengths. Overall this really does make a unique necklace, It has elegance,Class,Love all rolled into one necklace but if you would rather have something a little more subtle then we do offer this in a more simple design with it just on a sterling silver chain of which you have two choices, Trace chain or a Snake chain. Already I have a few new ideas for this design just from writing this blog, So onto the next challenge! Not sure what idea to start next but that’s all part of the adventure.

So onto our new necklace, We have been thinking hard to what we could add to our secrets range, something different, something new and exciting, something unique that’s how we like to roll – being different! So out of the ideas we had written down we decided on the Teardrop! I know the teardrop is not new but tears are used everyday in real life for a variation of reasons, Laughter, Joy, Love, Saddness so we thought that a tear is just as meaningful as a heart so we thought for the first addition to the secrets range we thought this went hand in hand with the secret heart range. Now to start with we cut out the length of sterling silver we needed for this one with the text we were going to use but like the secret heart you can have it smaller or bigger depending on the size of your text. So the next step was to etch the text onto the silver which if any of you know takes a little time but well worth it for the results. Now the next bit is the tricky part, Trying to shape it! I have a little scrap heap pile going on in the workshop. Now it may look a simple shape but it does take a little bit of time to achive this especially as its all made by hand, Any little wrong bend takes the whole piece go off course and it’s start again to which I have the evidence on my work bench. Doesn’t help when you have no patience like me and try to rush things! Once the shape is right the next step is to solder the two ends together which again sounds simple but what you don’t want to happen is for the solder to drop off and go in your text as this also adds to the scrap pile, Yes this also happened! but like the old saying goes you learn by your mistakes. As you can see by the picture we soldered it a fair way down the design just before the bend comes into play and there is two reasons for this. The first is that it gives it a lot more solid look from the top of the teardrop to make it more visual and basically gives it more definition and a more tear like shape. The second point is you need the soldered ends to be very solid so when you drill your hole for the chain it will not come apart – very important lol. Now the hole is a simple part to this necklace but it’s where you drill it that makes the difference, We could have drilled it right at the top so it gives it a longer look but we thought it looked best drilled half way down the join, Just gives it a more classy look with the top of the drop above the snake chain. The last two steps are to give it a damm good hand polish and bung it in the tumbler for an hour or so and there you have it a Personalised sterling silver teardrop shaped necklace. Now on to the next piece!

Well the first post of the new year so a belated “HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL”  We only started back yesterday after a couple of weeks off and with all the bad weather and not being able to get out, Having the kids off for two weeks felt like two months! lol  Come on you all felt the same! Wanted to get off to a good start as soon possible and just realised the last blog was on the 7th December, Wow seriously where does time go? Hope you all had a lovely Christmas, Actually I’m glad to be back at work as we stopped at the wrong time when things were just flowing nicely and now after the break its a bit of a struggle to get the throttles on full again but due to the backlog of orders from last year we have no choice which is good as it gives me that little push we all need going into a new year to which I’m really looking forward to. We should get our new packaging next week which looks fab well it does on the computer (fingers crossed) so another job marked off  last years list! This years list is all about making things – WOOHOO and then we obviously have to try and sell them! Yet this list already looks longer than last years and its only the second day back. Ok I wanted to blog about these Angel wing & Pearl earrings that we made last year and done us proud over the Christmas period, A simple design but look fantastic due to the AAA  white/creamy round pearls we use which make them look so elegant, Thinking about making a personalised version but need to see if it looks right and also that its right for IndiviJewels, Sometimes you can over do personalised jewellery to the point of it looking tacky and cheap. Anyway back to these earrings which I just love, Well I would say that as it was me who designed and made them! Like I said a simple piece but one that has a standout look without being bulky and have that “I want to be noticed desperately” tag on them. The Angel wing is Sterling silver and the Pearls we use are 8mm, Great size and great looking pearls with a lovely creamy colour to them and the ear stud is a ball design which is 5mm. We could have put a bigger ball stud on but we wanted the main features to stand out which I think we managed to acheive. The good point I like about these earrings is although your first thought is “Wedding” these earrings can be used for everyday wear which is what we try to do at IndiviJewels unless we actually make a piece for a specific occasion. OK so good start to the new year blogging, I just have to keep it going hopfully at least once a week. Right back to work!

“Tis the season to be jolly la la la la la la” So who is in the Christmas spirit and who is feeling like a good old Scroooge? This is the best time of the year for me I just love it! It’s been a busy old couple of weeks as the orders pile up and I can’t believe the amount of orders on this website considering we haven’t kept it upto date as it should have been as we have been looking to get a new website for the last 18 months and just basically neglected it. Anyway our new personalised Tie slide is a completely new product from us but we are very pleased with it and sales are good so maybe next year if we get some time on it I would like to try making some new ones with different shapes but that’s for another day. We offer this tie slide in two fonts currently but when we get a little more time will add some more fonts as well as a signature one. I think I have already mentioned to death in previous blogs that we offer this as part of a set but nothing like talking up your own products so if you missed the last couple of blogs then here’s the link again lol, Personalised Tie shaped Tie collar siffeners and here is the personalised Tie shaped Tie cufflinks.  Ok enough of boring you to sleep with this range and hopefully have something a little more exciting to show you next time. Right I’m off to finish the rest of Christmas decorations.

Personalised cufflinks! All the rage at the moment so we thought we would add our new personalised Tie shaped cufflinks to the mix! With Christmas round the corner we have been working on a range of  Tie shaped mens accessories which include our new personalised Tie shaped collar stiffeners and our new personalised Tie shaped Tie slide.  We thought this would be a refreshing new design to offer potential customers who seem to have the choice of the same style of cufflink offered by anyone and everyone due to the fact that everybody jumps on the band wagon and just copies designers work (Like us) I have to admit it really gets under my skin these people who call themselves “jewellery designers” when infact all they do is copy other people’s hard work. Anyway we offer these cufflinks in two fonts at thre moment, A children’s handwriting and a more elegant font but are looking to sell these with the customers handwriting (Signature cufflinks) as having checked out other companies offering this option and they are completely ripping people off in my opinion so we feel we will offer a better quality of product and a better service for a much better price.

Is it just me or do the weeks just seem to be getting shorter? I can’t believe Christmas is just around the corner again! As usual we are working on so many different projects when Christmas comes around, It’s unreal how we always do this but Hey-Ho there we go. Best news of the week is that our new workshop is ready to move into WOO-HOOOO. It’s all kitted out just have to find a home for all me bits! And there’s more good news regarding the new website, It’s moving in the right direction now- Forward LOL that’s due to the fact that we are no longer involved LOL. Anyhow as you can see by the title of this blog we have added another unique personalised Golf ball marker to our ever growing collection. I do have another one to show soon just waiting on the photographs and we our currently working hard on making our annual Christmas ones which I have to say look even better than last years if I do say so myself. Right back to this particular Golf ball marker, If you like watching Golf ( Couldn’t hit a golf ball with a cricket bat!)  like I do then you will know where I’m coming from with this one if not then what happens is when the Golfers are on the first hole there is an anouncer who calls the player up and tells the crowd to be “Quite please”  Rory Mcilroy on Tee. We are always looking to expand and better are range of markers and as I was watching I just thought what a good new idea so here we have it simple as that!  We always like to put some sort of Golf pun or reference on if we can so it took us ages to think of something but do you get it? The name Justin Fairway? As your driving off the Tee you want to get it “Just in the Fairway” come on now that’s funny, Go on have a chuckle lol.

Well that was a really quick two weeks since the last post! Unreal where does the time go? Well it’s very late or is that very early? in the morning but I really wanted to get this blog on as we are off in a few hours for a little break to the coast. I have lots of blogs to catch up on so I will be working backwards with some of our designs that are already out  but we have some nice stories to tell so hopefully I can catch up with the old ones and then get on to the here and now of Indivijewels and to the future. One of our latest designs has really taken off with you guys out there and that’s our personalised silver secret heart necklace We designed this necklace for all occasions in mind but have been inundated with wedding orders of late which we are so pleased about. The fact that  brides are choosing to wear our jewellery on their big day fills us with pride and joy and well to honest we feel pretty humble as some of the messages are so lovely to read it’s a privilege to make them. We really love this necklace and are currently working on expanding the range with different variations, We have some difficult designs in mind for new necklaces so cross fingers we can make them work but we are also working on bangles, Rings, Bracelets.  We also made a pair of earrings to go with the necklace which can be left plain or you can personalise them with a small message if you wanted. OK I’m running on fumes now! I will probably re-write this when I get back as it’s more than likely gobbledygook anyway! lol.  Hope to get some new inspiration while I’m away for some new designs, So I can add them to the hundreds of designs still on paper lol but hey it’s always good to keep busy and keep the mind ticking over with new, unique and fresh designs. And YES at last the new website is underway!!! Hallelujah AND  the new workshop is nearly ready, Well it’s got four walls and a roof well maybe not. Iv’e got a really sweet story for my next blog so till the next time, Hopefully just over a weeks time.

Well after all this time we have finally, Finally got back to writing blogs!!! It’s been so long and many stories to catch up on. It’s unreal how things just get left and you quickly get out of the habit of doing a certain job, In this case blogging, It really all goes back to roundabout the last post (many moons ago) and which we were looking to have a new website made for us so decided to drop it until it was done but that didn’t work out so good with that particular “design company” and so we just drifted away onto Facebook and Twitter but you just can’t explain a full story on those social media sites, As good as they are I’ve missed blogging. Anyway back to the now! As it’s our first post back and as my son has just broken up from school after his first year I thought this would be an appropriate place to start for the first one back.  Not being the most knowledgeable parents about how school traditions go we realized that at the end of the school year it’s custom to bring the teachers something to say thank you. Realizing this after a bit of investigating! that most parents would bring flowers or bottles of wine or teddybears, Tins of biscuits, Sweets and as they probably have a room full of these gifts we wanted to give them something  a little different – So we had this big thinking session and then it hit us!! We make jewellery so why not make them a little something lol.We thought our Friendship button bracelet would make a lovely gift, not to overpowering but just nice enough for a little message. Although Archie (son) wanted to make them we had a hard job of convincing him that he couldn’t and that we would for him, Bless him! He does like to do everything and doesn’t like to take no as an answer so there was some tears and tantrums. We have been looking at some new designs for friendship bracelets( out soon I hope) and we just bought some new cord to try out so instead of the just having the single strand cord we went with a multi layered cord which give it that look of a little more thickness. As you can see in the photo’s we had put a bit of thought into the design regarding the text, We used a typewriter  font associated with schools from yesteryear and also the asterix we used for the star which we were quite proud of thinking of at short notice lol. On the back we used a kids handwriting font, We would have liked to have used Archie’s but unfortunately time was against us but it done the job and they were well received by the teachers, Well so they told us lol. Till the next post – Which hopefully will be somtime this year!

I cannot believe how long it has been since my last post. It’s true what they say when you leave things for a period of time that it becomes harder to go to back to it, I kept meaning to do some blogging but it always got put to the back of the daily jobs and I never reached that far down the list lol. Unfortunately all the social networking got put on hold for various reasons but I do enjoy this side of the business to interact with customers or just people who have a common interest in jewellery and I have set myself some new goals for the foreseeable future. I do have a few topics and some new jewellery to share so I will be doing a fair amount of blogging over the next few days but thought I would change how I write the blog and make it  more open about us , our jewellery and life in general. As much as I love to share our  jewellery adventure with you guys I would like you to get to know us because we would like to a more open and engage more with you rather than being  boring with continual work blogs  although that is very important because I love to talk about jewellery but all work and no play makes jack a dull boy so I want to share lots of new topics and some personal stuff about us and somethings that get my blood boiling like talentless “Jewellers” who copy other Jewellers designs to get ahead! Right, Off for tea and cakes now.Just wish this was what I was going to get but mine looks like it has been dragged through a hedge backwards.

I cannot tell you how hot it was in the workshop today! And cannot believe how hot it still is, I’m melting away at the computer writing this blog. Well I’m going to blog about a customer we had last week that was asking for a Hebrew initial on our personalised initial necklace which was quite exciting (I’m very sad) as we haven’t used any other language other then English so I was intrigued to have a look at Hebrew text which looked so Alien to me as I have never seen it before, Need to educate myself more me thinks! I wasn’t sure how it would turn out as the letter was very thick in places so it was a test of my etching skills to get it right. I really enjoyed working on something a little different and hope very much to do other languages in the future just need to get my website out there into the big wide world! I forgot to take a picture when I made it (Doh!) but this is the letter M that we etched, this is my print out version for transferring to silver.