Three of a kind: colourful one of a kind charm necklaces!

I recently rediscovered these statement charm necklaces I made a couple of years ago - at the time I was obsessed with braiding brightly coloured embroidery thread with chains, and then add layers and layers of colourful, quirky charms. I used vintage, upcycled and new charms, crystals and wooden animals. The more, the merrier!

I made one of the necklaces below for myself, can you guess which one?!

I still have a lot of charms so think I might make a few new necklaces for 2020, I think they’d make the perfect statement necklace for a sunny evening, a festival, or a holiday - so watch this space! :D

Sadie xx


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Let's support independent businesses #4 - Jakob from Love Local Collective

We are back with another independent business interview this week with the contagiously enthusiastic Jakob from Love Local Collective, or LLC. LLC is on a mission to support, promote, and strengthen local businesses by sharing awareness and encouraging consumers to shop locally.

So it will be interesting to hear what Jakob has to say from his experiences connecting with many, many small businesses, and what he thinks the future holds!

 

♥ Jakob’s Interview ♥

Jakob Love Local Collective Plymouth Devon

Describe Love Local Collective in three words: sharing the love.

How long have you been running your business? We set up as a company in June 2018.

What inspired you to start your business? And what keeps you going? I grew up in Liverpool, which has roughly over 500 independents. My family and I would often visit our local independents for coffee, brunch, lunch or dinner.

You will always get better services, quality and passions with independents. Corporate or chain places never have staff who care about what they do! Shopping locally benefits SO many more people. Spread love, shop local.

And what keeps me going? The face of people when I’ve given them access and help to our 30 thousand monthly readers. I just love helping local businesses thrive and grow!

Love Local Collective

What are a few of your fave local producers that you’ve seen since starting LLC? I’m in the fortunate position to have met many wonderful local makers. From jewellers to hairdressers. Makers to the best makers of food. A personal favourite of mine is V is for Veggies. She makes the most incredible vegan cakes ever! I'm not even vegan! :-)

What do you think the future holds for shopping? I think we have difficult times ahead, which is why I've set out to get even more businesses involved so we can get people to shop locally instead of spending their cash with the corporate giants.

What’s the best bargain you ever bought? It has to be when I  got a load of pallets from a building site! I then made our bed out of them. Long story short I bought the builders some beers for their hard work! A pallet superking bed. Winning.

What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done? I’ve had numerous surgeries on my back. And setting up this company and going away from “normal” life!

What’s your biggest fashion faux-pas? I used to work for AllSaints when I was younger. This was before I decided to start a local revolution! We decided to wear some women’s shorts for the day at work! Brace yourselves, photographic evidence below!!

Find Love Local Collective online here and on Instagram here.

Jakob Love Local Collective All Saints

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Miyuki Beaded Mascot Kit Review - No.31 Flora Rabbit Charm
Miyuki beaded rabbit
Miyuki delica mascot kit rabbit

This blog post is for the geekier people out there like me!

Way back when, in 2015 (how is it so long ago already?!), I ordered the Miyuki Mascot Fan Kit in this cute little bunny rabbit, and was delivered to me all the way down under in Wellington, New Zealand, from the USA.

Well I opened it, looked at it, got totally confused, and swiftly put it away again. Then when we relocated back to the UK in 2016, it got put in storage amongst one billion other beaded things, and completely forgotten about.

THEN in January this year, we took our belongings out of storage after nearly 3.5 years, and I rediscovered the kit! I’ve spent years making jewellery using a traditional bead loom, and have slowly tried to teach myself other beading techniques, but I’d still never managed to make a beaded figurine.

But now I felt like I was ready to give this little rabbit another go!

The instructions weren’t that user-friendly. I am not very good at learning from written instructions, I prefer demonstrations, so this was probably partly my problem. But the kit comes with everything you need to create the little rabbit, and includes duplicate beads in case you lose any (which I thought was really handy).

You follow each step to create a different element of the rabbit - for example, its ears, its feet, its hand or tail, and then towards the end when you have created all of the pieces, you put them together. It was actually really exciting when I managed to finish my first section, because never thought that I’d have been able to.

And then when I finished my whole rabbit, I almost danced! (Well, I probably did dance.)

I didn’t add the metal keyring attachment to its head because the closure didn’t work on it, and I don’t really know what I will do with my rabbit yet, so have placed it on a shelf!

It took 2-3 hours to complete the kit and I am so thrilled with my little rabbit, I have already ordered the bear version of the kit, which I will save for a quiet evening in :-)

What do you think of my little bunny? Have you ever tried something, given up, then gone back to it at a later date and found that you could do it? The moral of this story is, don’t give up!! :D

Sadie xx


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NEW ombre heart fringe LOVE earrings!
Heart Brooch_3.jpg

They’re here, my new LOVE earrings!!

My favourite ever design, I am SO happy with them, I can’t even believe I managed to figure out how to make them!

Pink and orange ombre love heart earrings with a beaded fringe. I am biased, but I think they’re the best things since sliced bread ;-)

Online and available now, along with a little friend - the new pink Pearl Heart brooch. Because pink hearts can only make your day happier!

Sadie xx


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Let's support independent businesses #3 - Nadia from Club Kombat

Back again for a fresh decade with this week’s independent business interview.

Today we have kick-assss queen Nadia from super high energy, fast-paced exercise classes Club Kombat in Plymouth and Newquay. Nadia is also a personal trainer and coach.


♥ Nadia’s Interview ♥

Club Kombat plymouth

Describe your shop / business in three words: energetic, calorie burning, fun.

How long have you been running your business? 9 months

What inspired you to start your business? And what keeps you going? Fitness got me through a very hard time in my life and if I can give back to others what I learned and show how a positive mindset can change your life, then I’m happy. That’s exactly what keeps me going, the feedback of other people.

What do you bring to your classes at Club Kombat? Bundles and bundles of energy and years of experience!

What do you think the future holds for independent businesses? I would hope to see more small local business and shop owners being purchased from, I feel that social media enables that happen more, creating something not just for an individual but for the community.

club kombat plymouth

What’s the best bargain you ever bought? My house.

What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done? Given birth at home in a swimming pool!

What’s your biggest fashion faux-pas? Flared white and black newspaper trousers with red splashes all over them, people would just start reading my trousers whenever I was talking to them. (In my defence, I was 14 years old, but I knew it was wrong from the start!)

Find Club Kombat online here and on Instagram here.


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