Nails + Jewellery Wardrobe

I painted my nails with the nailpolish I purchased the other day, Rimmel's 60 second one in Sky High. This is what it looks like.

My nails are really short at the moment, they were much longer but all started to break. I need something to keep them long.

It's a really gorgeous colour, and went on easily. This is with two coats, on top of a base coat.

I also *finally* got around to sorting my little jewellery 'wardrobe' I made out of a gift set box, a present that I had for Christmas. I've never known packaging to be so useful.

I used two skewers to make little poles, and I've hung all my handmade earring pairs on them. The doors close with a slight magnetic catch, so it stays closed and keeps them clean. Previously I stored them in little drawers that didn't fit so many in, but now I have plenty of space.

Love,

Fiona x

Monthly Faves: February

I'm not entirely sure if I'm going to make this a permanent feature, it's likely to be more of a 'now and again' post that pops up on here occasionally.

So, here are a few of the goodies I loved through February.

Bourjois eyeshadow single in Rose Perle

This gorgeous pinky eyeshadow is super shimmery and great as a base over the eyelid. For most of the month, I wore this smudged into a bit of black eyeliner around the upper eyelashes.

Kylie Minogue Darling Perfume

This perfume is so sweet and vanillary, something which I love in perfume. It was my go-to scent last month.

Gingerbread Latte whipped body cream

I had this as a stocking gift from my boyfriend at christmas. It smells amazing! And it leaves my skin feeling soft and smelling yummy for hours & hours. I think this is still available from Asda, for around £4.00 (I think).

Sparklerose Designs Ribbon Rose Earrings - £2.00

These were one of the first pairs I made, and I've worn them everywhere since. I find they're handy for work, as they're delicate and easy wearing.

Dusky Pink version are available here.

For the lilac pair, please email sparklerosedesigns@live.co.uk :)

I love the colours in this bracelet, and I've been wearing it for most of March too. My mum made it with a variety of pink and clear beads, strung onto clear elastic. It seems to go with all the girly colours in my wardrobe.

There's loads more to mention, but those are the main bits :)

At the moment, I can't reach my jewellery desk to make anything, I can't even complete the bracelet I decided to make myself as a birthday treat (it was a week ago now). We're planning to go to a car boot sale tomorrow morning, so our living room is filled with boxes and bags of goodies to take. The mess is quietly driving me crackers, but hopefully tomorrow we'll sell lots and make lots of money :D I hope..

Anyone got any plans for the weekend? :)

Love,

Fiona x

Milkwood Gallery Visit

Sparklerose Designs is getting seriously neglected lately. There just seems to be a ton of other things going on. But I promise there will be regular blog posts soon.

While I was in Cardiff, I visited Milkwood Gallery. I think I may have mentioned my intention to go there in a previous post. They're a lovely little corner shop/gallery that sells plenty of cutesy/vintage items, and they hold exhibitions etc in the back. They had some of my stock last September, and from having a chat to the owner, it seems as though my little beauties are quite popular there :)

It was such exciting news, I even popped to Starbucks for a celebratory frappuccino (and a shortbread :P). As mentioned previously, the new items I made have now gone back to Cardiff to be in Milkwood Gallery. I also included some cupcake earrings that were recently featured on here.

While I was there, I took some pictures of the rest of my stock, sitting proudly on their gorgeous jewellery stands.

Opulence Pink sitting with my first ribbon rose bracelet

Autumn Flowers necklace

Candy Pink earrings inbetween some lovely pairs by someone else (I couldn't see the name)

It's an awesome feeling knowing there's girlies out there wearing Sparklerose Designs :)

I turned 24 on the 11th March, scary stuff, I'm getting older ;) but I had a great day in Skegness with my Dad (he stayed in Lincoln for a while). But as I say, life's been a whirl lately..

I'm in the process of working on the website, and the shop is somewhat active, just containing one item at the moment.. ahem.. I'm working on it ;)

Hope you all have a fab evening :D

Love,

Fiona x

Springtime Collection

Sorry, I've barely written anything in a while. My holiday got rather busy so I wasn't online that much.

However, I did manage to get a few items made, but I was focusing mainly on my charm bracelets. These items are from the new Springtime Collection, so expect lots of pastels and flowers ;)

Cupcakes & Elegant Sparkles Charm Bracelet - £14.00

Made with plenty of sparkle, this charm bracelet is perfect for those springtime days to come.

Spring Flowers Charm Bracelet - £14.00

This is a favourite piece of mine, based around the love of flowers.

Springtime Lilac Rose Earrings - £4.50

Adorable lilac clay roses with green Swarovski hearts, symbolic of a flowery garden.

These items are 'grab while you can' pieces, so if you were interested in something, please send me an email to sparklerosedesigns@live.co.uk. In the next week or so they'll be going to Milkwood Gallery after my success in selling there :) I popped over for a chat (and a naughty browse) last week. I'll be blogging about that soon :)

I'll also be announcing the giveaway winner in the next few days, so keep your eyes peeled :)

Hope everyone's having a good weekend so far!

Love,

Fiona x

Plans

I apologise for the lack of posts lately. I'm feeling a bit out of the swing of it all. My trip to Cardiff has generally been good so far, but today is a fragile day, for reasons I won't note. Just, wherever you are and whatever you're doing, have a really good day :)

I've slowly been making pieces for Sparklerose Designs, and I've been working on the website. It's going to need a LOT of work, and I'm way behind my deadline, but I'm getting there. I also have plans for the blog, so expect some changes.

In the next entry, I'll be showing off some new pieces, promise!

Love,

Fiona x

PS. Don't forget to enter the giveaway! Ends monday :)

A Catch Up

Hello everyone!

I seemed to disappear over the weekend. I was rather ill and trying to recover quickly for my Cardiff trip (I'm in Cardiff until the 3rd March now. yay for holidays). Thankfully I did feel much better by the time I was sitting on my train on Monday ;) and the journey seemed to fly by.

I have plenty of comments to read, and plenty of blog posts of others to read also. And hello to the new followers, thankyou for being a fan :D

I'm pleased to say that I've brought my jewellery making supplies with me, so there will be new pieces very soon. I also have my camera, so I'll be able to show them here, yay!

I'm in the process of starting to de-clutter my old bedroom today, I'm a hoarder by nature and I've kept alot of things that need to go now. I think living away from home made me realise exactly what I want/need in life. I've noticed quite a few people creating blog sale posts. Do you guys reckon they're a good idea?

Love,
Fiona x

PS: Don't forget to enter the giveaway! Ends next monday.

V-Day Giveaway - CLOSED

*CLOSED*
I'm holding a "V-Day Giveaway" as a thankyou to all my lovely readers/commenters. As I'm slowly starting to build up my jewellery business, and making general positive changes in my life, your support means the world to me.

Sooo... here are the goodies up for grabs :)

One lucky winner will receive:

♥ Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker lipgloss

♥ Soap & Glory Clean On Me

♥ Nails Inc nailpolish

♥ Primark sequin hairbands, one in pink, one in gold

♥ 'Candyfloss' pearl earrings, Sparklerose Designs

♥ 'Pastel Passion' trirose sparkle ring, Sparklerose Designs

How to enter/rules:

♥ You must be a follower of this blog
♥ Just comment on this entry saying you'd like to be entered :)
♥ I'll email the winner requesting their address to send the goodies

The deadline for this giveaway is 28/02/11 at midnight, so you've got two weeks to enter :)

Good luck!

Love,
Fiona x
*CLOSED*

Happy Valentine's Day

Hope everyone's having a lovely Valentine's Day so far. I had yummy breakfast in bed made by my wonderful boyfriend, complete with a red rose sitting on this month's cosmo, I'm a very lucky girl ;)

We're having a homemade three course meal this evening, he's made the starter and main, and I'm providing the dessert. I'm planning to make some marshmallow cupcakes as the main bit, with some bits of fruit etc for dipping into melted chocolate after. Yumyum. I shall try to remember pictures.

Here are some of the new pieces I mentioned in my previous post. My plan was to pop these to the boutique today but I'm deciding to wait a little while. I'm seemingly taking on alot lately, it's hard to keep up ;)

Garden Bird Of Paradise Charm Bracelet - On Hold

Dream In Cupcake Earrings - £5.00

Spring Showers Cupcake Charm Necklace - £6.00

I started creating my general packaging last night, for things that won't be boxed. It'll be ideal for the stall.

Isn't it cute? I love polkadots :D

If you're interested in the items above, please comment or send me an email to sparklerosedesigns@live.co.uk as they probably won't be listed on my Folksy store until after April (depending on what sells at the stall).



I'll be making another entry later today (before this evening) about my V-Day Giveaway! It's featuring some Sparklerose Designs jewellery, plus extra goodies.

Love,

Fiona x

Maybelline Volume Express Lift-Up Mascara

I've been a huge fan of my wonderous Rimmel 100% waterproof mascara for years and years now. Everytime I've decided to treat myself to something different, it's always backfired on me. I love something with a bit of volume, and some curling, plus something that isn't going to smudge all over me. The only mascara that provided me this was the above, until a week or so ago, when I found a new eyelash friend :)

I was re-buying my basics in Boots when Maybelline had a 3 for 2 deal, so I decided to pick up one of their mascaras, the Volume Express Lift-Up, which was labelled as 'new'. I'm not entirely sure how long it's been 'new' for, I live under a rock most of the time where make-up is concerned. But I have to say, expecting it to be pants, I was pretty surprised by the results.

It's in a lovely black casing with shiny pink writing, I think the packaging is lovely and girly in ways.

The brush is curved slightly to follow the curvature of the eyelashes, so it catches the end ones too. I just need one coat of this for a decent impact (I think if you applied loads it would start to clump).

It's not very clear but my eyelashes are bare in this photo, there's just some smudged eyeliner around my eyes.

Here are a few photos demonstrating the lengthening power of this mascara. I don't curl my eyelashes anymore, so the curling and lengthening properties are really useful for me. I notice a change almost immediately after applying, which is also pretty good.

I'm usually a good girl and remove make-up before bed, but I've always had a bit of a panda going onthe next morning. With this mascara, the panda is minimal. Just a bit of black smudge under my eyes, and that could be from bits of eyeliner that didn't come off the night before.

All in all, I'd rate this mascara rather highly. I've never tried anything too fancy, but in terms of drugstore brands, I'd say this is a winner.

***

In other non-mascara news, I'm hoping to show off Sparklerose Designs goodies to a boutique (hopefully on monday), so I've been beavering away making lots of new items. I'll be posting pictures of them in my next entry.

And also, as a thankyou to my wonderful readers, I'm planning to hold another giveaway (they're so fun!) It'll begin on monday, with a semi-valentine's theme ;)

Hope everyone has a great day tomorrow!

Love,

Fiona x

Jewellery Studio

Good morning! :D

I thought it'd be fun to show you all where the sparkly magic happens...

Overview

It's a small desk space, but it's all I need for my creating. We live in a flat with sloping ceilings, so this little desk sits in the very corner of our living room. It means I can sit over there and focus because the living room is behind me. It works a treat ;)

It consists of two drawer sets, some tins and a jewellery holder that I put recent pieces on. The grey drawer set contains beads & charms, the blue/cream one has completed pieces inside. The pink Sanrio tin holds all my ribbons and the blue tin holds all my findings :)

Floral drawer fronts

This grey plastic drawer set was a really basic piece from Asda, I think it was £4.00. I decided to spice it up a bit by using floral paper in the front, it makes the set look neater and saves everyone seeing what's inside each drawer. Each drawer is relatively organised so I know what's in each (on a good day..). But it would be great for storing make-up in.

Sneak peek

You can just about see some of my newest supplies for new collections towards the summer in there. I'd also say that these drawers are really roomy.

Cream & blue drawers

Sadly I have no idea where this came from, my Auntie passed it to me years ago. I store all completed pieces in these drawers that are lined with soft tissue. It has the cutest rose handles :D

Few goodies

A few earrings that are currently on Folksy are sitting in here. As you can see, I'm slowly running out of space to store completed pieces, and with the stall coming up there's going to be looooads..

Hope everyone's having a good weekend so far (if you're an early bird like myself and awake by 10am, ha!)

Love,

Fiona x

New Items

Hello there! What a lovely freezing day it is today.. haha.

I'm back from my trip to Cardiff, spent the weekend catching up on things, then I started making the stock for the stall I'm hoping to do in April. I thought I'd show the pieces here :)

Filigree bases finished with mauve roses, pearls and Swarovski rose hearts.

Lemony beads complimented with amber coloured Czech glass, mini flowers and satin bows.

Deep blue sparkly earrings, I'll hopefully be making a matching necklace for these soon (as below)

Deep mauve sparkly necklace & earrings set

Turquoise sparkle necklace & earrings set

I haven't yet worked out the pricing of these items, but if you're interested in finding out/interested in purchasing, leave a comment with your email and I'll get back to you :) Snap them up while you can :D

Ideally, I'll make a few necklace & earrings sets. I tend to make individual pieces but I think given my audience at the residential home, sets might be appropriate :) I will have some specialist pieces to take there though. I haven't made any charm bracelets yet, I have so many pretty beads and charms, just having trouble finding the antique bronze plated chain that I use, rather annoying..

I keep forgetting to mention this everytime I write, as I'm still getting used to the technology of it all, but Sparklerose Designs is on Facebook :D

Become a fan for realtime updates and exclusive offers/info.

Love,

Fiona x

Giveaway Time! CLOSED

I hope everyone's had a lovely start to the new year :)
So far I've been very busy with work and family time, but as the new year progresses I'm hoping to create my new lines. I had a quick peek around at supplies but haven't seen anything in particular for inspiration yet ;)

*CLOSED*
Anywho, as mentioned previously, I've been very eager to create a giveaway! So, without further ado..

Tadaa! :D

This giveaway is a bit mixed really, I wanted something predominently Sparklerose Designs jewellery with a dash of something else. Here we have some nice scented things, along with my handmade jewellery pieces. They include a pair of my navy blue ribbon rose studs with clear Swarovski crystals, a tri-ribbon rose ring that's adjustable and a black laced charm bracelet.

So, onto the rules :)

1. You must be a follower of this blog.

2. Just comment on this entry with your blog link and email address.

3. For extra entries, you can tweet about this giveaway, or advertise it on your blog, or be a follower/fan on Facebook :) just let me know which of these you've done so I can make a record of it :)

4. I'll collect up the names and put them through a randomiser to get the winner :)

I'll then email the winner for their address to send the goodies.

The deadline for this giveaway is on 18/01/11 at midnight and I'll be announcing it on here as well as emailing :)

Good luck!

*CLOSED*

Love,

Fiona x

Outfit Of The Day + Good News

I'd wear this outfit today, if only I could ;)

Tie Front Shirred Dress - New Look

£24.99

Click to view.

Flock Spot Cardigan - New Look

£22.99

Click to view.

Fleece Lined Legging - New Look

£10.99

Click to view.

Not sure how these would work with this outfit physically but they're so cute!

Grey Minnie High Heel Shoes - Debenhams

£75.00

Click to view.

Then the fun bit, accessorising! :D

Victorian Romance glass drop earrings - Sparklerose Designs

£4.00

Click to view.

Sweet Romance sparklebead bracelet - Sparklerose Designs

£5.00

Click to view.

And something sweet for my hair :D

Luxe Butterfly Pair - Crown & Glory

£8.00

Click to view.

I had the wonderful news last week that Milkwood Gallery have sold some of my jewellery items :D it's very exciting stuff for me. We're in the process of organising a cheque or me popping down to collect monies. It's amazing to know that there's people out there wearing my designs, it's an awesome feeling :)

I'm off work today and tomorrow, so I've hopefully got some free time to get making some more :D I want to start my new year collections v.soon. I also need to work out what supplies I need and find some interesting bits for said collections ;)

I'm also planning on making some cherry coconut cupcakes later on this afternoon, so I'll have to show you how they turn out. I've even picked up a cheap piping bag to make fancy icing :D I'm so used to blobbing it on with a spoon and it looking pants, haha.

I'm still plotting my giveaway when we reach 10 followers :D

I'm thinking of making a goodie box, filled with little things including, of course, some of my handmade jewellery :)

Hope everyone's feeling mighty festive!

Love,

Fiona x

Busy Busy..

Wow, time flew since I last wrote!

Before I write this entry, I'd just like to thank my followers and readers :D It means alot to me that people out there share my interests and support my jewellery making. I'm planning on creating a giveaway involving some jewellery goodies v.soon :D

***********
I had a wonderful trip to Cardiff, it's a shame it wasn't a longer one, but I did get to see family etc. After I got back I had a load of extra shifts in work, and it's only now that I've had a bit of time to relax. With christmas around the corner, I think Sparklerose Designs is getting a little lonely. I haven't made a bit of jewellery in a while now, eek.

I've nipped into town today AND yesterday, I must be crazy. I did get a load of christmas pressies though, I'll be organising/wrapping later on ;)

Have you all finished your christmas shopping yet?
Here are a few items from my folksy store that might be the perfect gift for that certain someone :)

For the older & posher lady ;)

Jardin du Libellule glass drop earrings

£4.00

For the fun and funky one :)

Sweet Rainbow sparklebead bracelet

£5.00

For the floral/vintage lover :)

Navy Blue Sparkle Rose Earrings

£2.00

I also have the red sparkle rose earrings available (I have tons to add to Folksy, I'm just so busy, grr).

Before I finish this entry, if anyone is due to go shopping, Debenhams is having a massssive sale :D Alot of items are 20% off or half price. I was expecting a much larger bill when I was at the checkout, I was very pleasantly surprised indeed :)

Love,

Fiona x

New Pretties

I've had a truly amazing few days indeed, and I've had so much inspiration to get crafting.

Here are the new arrivals :)

Candysweet Rose Earrings

Vibrant blue roses mounted onto a filigree base, completed with candy pink bows and Swarovski AB hearts.

£7.00

Charming Paris Eiffel Tower Earrings

Green gingham bows and AB Swarovski crystals attached to a cute eiffel tower charm.

£4.00

The Sweet Wrapper Glass Beaded Earrings

Inspired by a Cadbury Roses tin, these earrings provide an unstereotypical hint of the festive season. Made with glass rondelles, Swarovski bicones and a touch of lustre glass, finished with bows and crystals.

£4.00

Golden Toffee Glass Beaded Earrings

Deep purple glass rondelles, complimented by lilac and pink beads, including glass pearls, Swarovski cones and Czech glass.

Finished with a golden bow.

£4.00

Sweet Princess Pale Blue Sparkledrop Earrings

Super cute combination including white crystalled bows and pearls, highlighting beautiful AB crystal drop beads.

£3.00

Sweet Princess Pale Pink Sparkledrop Earrings

Super cute combination including white crystalled bows and pearls, highlighting beautiful AB crystal drop beads.

£3.00

My personal fave are the Eiffel Tower ones, I think they're just so cute and versatile. I'd love to make them with different coloured gingham bows to suit every outfit I've got :D

All these beauties will be on my Folksy shop in the next few days.

I've also introduced a beautiful red ribbon rose into my collection, right in time for Christmas & Valentines next year. Will be taking pictures soon :)

Anyway, time for lunch :D

Love,

Fiona x