A Silly Larry Robin for Christmas....

He always has the last word, but he also seems to have the first too....?

New Larryware Items - Larry Robin Gets A Look In

Good evening!

I'm still tired!  Even though I went for a run this morning, for once it just made me more tired - no fair!

I managed to make a few more items the other day as I custom made something for someone too.

Brace yourselves folks - here comes a lot of makes!

Sterling Silver Hook Earring, the rest silver plated, original photograph and design of a starling £9.50 each plus £1.50 p&p

1" silver plated square pendant original photograph of a particular sea view in Cornwall £10 plus £1.50 p&p

1" silver plated round pendant tray, original photograph and design of Larry Robin £10 plus £1.50 p&p

1" silver plated round pendant tray,  original photograph and design of a house sparrow £10 plus £1.50 p&p

1" silver plated round pendant tray, original photograph and design of a shag (seabird) £10 plus £1.50 p&p

1" silver plated round pendant tray, original photograph of a Cornish beach scene £10 plus £1.50 p&p

1" silver plated square pendant tray, original photograph of a Cornish sea wave £10 plus £1.50 p&p

1" silver plated round pendant tray, original photograph of some holly in Horner Wood, Exmoor £10 plus £1.50 p&p

1" silver plated square pendant tray, original photograph of a Cornish wave £10 plus £1.50 p&p

1" antique bronze plated round pendant tray, original photograph view from Padstow, Cornwall £10 plus £1.50 p&p

1" antique bronze plated round pendant tray, original photograph cloud and rainbow taken in Cornwall £10 plus £1.50 p&p

1" silver plated round pendant tray, original photograph red campion flower still in my garden hedgerow £10 plus £1.50 p&p

12mm silver plated square pendant tray, original photograph of a rainbow protected by a clear glass cabochon £9 plus £1.50 p&p

12mm silver plated square pendant tray, original photograph of an iris flower petal protected by a clear glass cabochon £9 plus £1.50 p&p

 I will list all of these items on my Etsy store and link them 'live' on Boxing Day!  See, I haven't been idle! ;)

1" silver plated round pendant tray original photograph and design of a blackbird (called Elgar) £10 plus £1.50 p&p

Blogger doesn't like my laptop tonight, keeps aligning things wrong... odd!



And Larry Robin gets the final word (of course!)

 

Larryware changes and the boy himself - Larry Robin (always gets the last word!)

Hello all.  I just want to sleep.  Typical me to start a brand new blog and then disappear for days!  I have one craft market left (this Sunday) then I'm freeeeeeeeeeee!

I have lots and lots of ideas for new items, but I've invested in an Etsy shop analysis by a professional on Etsy, they're going to hopefully help me out with absolutely everything, as although I sell items, I don't get as many sales as I should or would like, as I'm still running at a loss, even though that everything that gets listed is 101% perfect and doesn't leave to be posted unless it's 102% and if it isn't, I remake it!  Quality control is a huge thing with me and it's got to be 103% perfect, in fact!  But it's nothing to do with quality on Etsy, it's all to do with being 'seen' and she's going to help me with that and not only being seen on Etsy but everywhere else on the internet too.

So I'm waiting for that.... then I can put it all to practice!

What do you think of that Larry Robin? ....

You know it's Christmas when......

The tree is up, decorated and looking fabulous!

Note there's no 'arty' colour coordination - it's just a tree full of colour and lights, with baubles and stars and deer and birds.... How a tree should be - if everything was designed perfectly, life would be incredibly boring...!

Today I tried to get some photos of Louie Robin (that's one of Larry's many sons) but he wasn't being very forward... yesterday I thought he was going to sit on my shoulder!

Instead, I said hello to the male blackbird - sadly not any of the ones I once knew very well, although there is one hanging around who does look and behave familiar, or at least has a certain families attributes that I knew so well....

Blackbird coaxed out of the hedge with live mealworms...

But who is it that gets the last word????

Did you guess?

Larry Robin....

Strictly Come Larry Robin

Good evening - I thought I wouldn't get to blog - it's been a busy few days!

No rest for the wicked though -  it took me 5 hours to decorate the Christmas Tree, I'll post pictures Monday as tomorrow I'm here:

10am till 4pm - in a very cold pannier market, but I have dug out my thermals for the occasion!

I'm also hosting the village book club on Monday and I haven't read the book - too many craft fairs, too much work and then a stinking cold for this week for me sadly!  Oh, the book is 'Cranford' by Elizabeth Gaskell - no thanks, I hated North and South through English A Level, I vowed never to read her again, and it's not the book you can speed read!

Well that was a rather boring pointless blog post, but this is just to say I'm still alive and hoping to compose some good, readable blogs once I've stopped 'craft fairing' ;)

Oh and..... Larry Robin?

Larry Robin - Who Else? Best Ever Friend

Weather update - howling wind and lashing rain!

Who's better to end the day on?  Larry Robin of course! :)

Thank you Thursday - Jasmin Studio Crafts

Thank you.  It's such a wonderful phrase.  It rolls effortlessly off the tongue and out through the fingers.  I don't think people use it enough.  It makes you feel good, that someone is thanking you for something you have done that has helped them and made them feel happy and vice versa.

Every week I want to do a 'Thank you Thursday' blog about those who have helped me - whether influenced a thought or state of mind, inspired an idea, a person I greatly admire or someone who has supported me, whether well known publicly or only known by myself and also a supplier, whether it's an actual physical shop in my local high street or someone I know online who supplies top quality items which I use in my business.

For the first ever 'Thank you Thursday' I am going to start with my first ever suppliers for my beginnings of my photography jewellery - I still use them and count them as the best - Jasmin Studio Crafts.

When I had the idea to put Larry on a pendant for my own personal use, I never realised I could make this into a business - profitable or not, that comes with hard work - and it was only until I typed in 'Pendant Blanks' did I stumble upon Jasmin Studio Crafts.  Lots from ebay and the like too... but the name 'Jasmin' stood out as it's one of my favourite scents (Jasmine).  So I clicked... and the magic began... Plus they came from Streatham in London, my grandmother lived there for 15 years and I knew Streatham highroad like the back of my hand!  They were all good signs!

Oh the ideas... My head began to run away from my brain which had decided to explode in inspiration...

LOOK:

Pendant Blanks - have you ever seen anything quite as exciting as this page?  I mean, I'm never going to be a silversmith, I'll never be able to make my own pendant trays and even if I did, the price goes up tenfold, for me AND the buyer!  Every shape and every size....

Wooden Tiles and Scrabble Tiles - What the???  Really?  Scrabble tiles?  And other wood blanks - you mean... Wow, really?  As I love to 'paint' on wood, as wood is absorbable and I paint mainly with water based mediums, this was too good to be true!

Then it came to the crunch - ok, so I have my pendant blank, how am I going to protect the image?  I've read about glass tiles, but what glue would I use for this?  Then I found these:

Epoxy Stickers - the name made me giggle 'poxy'?!  Different shapes, different sizes...  But how am I going to cut the shape to size?  My cutting skills are virtually non existent, I'm left handed (the best ones usually are!) and have adapted to cut with my right hand, but never in a straight line, nor a perfect circle (can anyone though?)

Ahhh, look at this...

Under Tools and Materials - Craft Punches - Ok, so this narrowed it down, I settled on 25mm (1") and it's still my best selling line (ironically!).

So, what now?  Oh, chain!  Looking at my own jewellery collection (it's vast - well, of course it is), I had found the best in my collection, as in the longest lasting, were the silver snake chains and the ribbons... and I never doubted it...

Snake Chain and Ribbon (Voile)

So I was set up... Of course glue was always going to be a problem, it still is in many respects, I haven't really found a good glue that will keep my images STUCK down forever, if anyone has any advice on that, please let me know, although I have been using Vitalbond - possibly the stickiest superglue ever, but it's messy and if you get it stuck to you or to something else you don't really want glue over, you're in bad trouble!


I think my first order was rather large... I'm not sure what Jasmin Studio thought of me - some nutter from no-where buying so much so quickly, first time - usually people start small - I am not your usual person!  But I've continued like that when ordering from Jasmin Studio, as not only do they have the best flat shipping rate no matter how much you order (£2.50 for UK residents) but they also post first class and only once in the entire 2 years and a bit ordering from them before mid-day or sometimes as late as 3 (sorry) they've arrived the very next day!  Perfection and I can't thank them all enough!

So my first order was delivered... I had just about taught myself how to shrink my images down to size on Photoshop, another huge self taught learning curve, but it wasn't satisfactory!  I needed to find templates (I did of course!  I found StefNeffStudio on Etsy, yet, another thank you!)

Larry Robin Pendant Using Wooden Tile (Scrabble)
Jasmin Wooden Tiles

So above was my first ever 'attempt' at a Larry Robin pendant - a robin - ALL YEAR ROUND - not just for Christmas and again ironically he became one of my best sellers in this format!  (I must bring it back!)

It was all down to Jasmin Studio - and the items in her shop - read her A Little Intro on her blog post she wrote way back in February 2011.

Just to give you other examples of my earlier creations using items from Jasmin's shop, here's some photographs:

Larryware Robin Earrings 16mm silver plated circle
(my photographs were so arty back then!)
Jasmin Earring Blanks

Larryware baby Larry on yellow painted 25mm wooden tile
Jasmin Round Wooden Tile

Larryware small silver plated pendant trays
Jasmin Small Pendant Trays

Larryware Larry Robin Christmas Decoration
Jasmin Domed Version

Larryware Larry Robin Bottle Cap Magnets
Jasmin Bottle Caps

Larryware Original Photography Daisy Pendant in Silver
Jasmin Round 25mm Silver Pendant Trays

Larryware Original Photography Daisy Pendant in Bronze
Jasmin Round 25mm Bronze Pendant Trays

Larryware Original Photography Cornflower Rectangle Pendant in Bronze

Jasmin Rectangle Trays

Larryware Original Painting Ring in Bronze
Jasmin Ring 16mm Round Blanks

Larryware Original Painting 25mm Square Wooden Pendant
Jasmin Wooden Square 25mm Tile

So there you have it - Jasmin led the way for my inspiration and she still does... although she's my best supplier for epoxy stickers (still chuckle over that name) and I think I've caused her 'out of stock' status on various round sizes...! ;)

In November Jasmin opened a shop in Streatham (I would love to go, but I think Devon is a little far for an afternoon trip!  One day!)  Read her blog post about it here - A Momentous Week - I am so so happy for her and her team to know that business is booming, I always send my fellow jewellery crafters Jasmin's way, as I know they'll be able to find exactly what they need!

There are a lot of items in Jasmin's shop I haven't tried - my New Year's Resolution is to try her own resin and, yes, it is in fact called Jasmin Studio Crafts Resin Kit - I'm a little wary of resin, as I know it has a mind of its own and if I make a mess with normal glues and glazes, then heaven knows what kind of mess I'm going to make with resin!  But we shall see - I might even blog about it (watch this space!)

So just to recap and conclude - Jasmin Studio Crafts is the place to be seen, whether online or in her fabulous shop (I know it's fabulous even though I haven't been) and I really hope this blog post of mine is seen, read and enjoyed and hopefully create sales for Jasmin and her team!

Thank you Jasmin :) x

Ok, so can't end there.... as Larry Robin always has the last word...

My Job For Today

As the wind and the rain lash against the windows here - we always seem to get the tail end of the weather system from Scotland - I have a huge job in front of me!

I work in sections - well, I try to and I try to do one thing and not lots of things all at once!

I make 'What To Do' lists, if it's more then 10 then it's a little over board, if it's less then 10, I'm heading in the right direction.

In this case:

Started mid October:

Wooden Christmas Decorations

1. Design images to use, for example:

I work best at nights designing on photoshop - I tend to use each image for every size all at once, so for example I'll do 12mm circles, 16mm, 20mm, 25mm, 30mm, 50mm and then after I'll start on the different square sizes - although so far it's only been 16mm, 25mm and 50mm.

2. Paint the shapes - Black, white, red, blue, yellow, green etc - I have special acrylic paints for wood Docraft Acrylic Paint I find is the best.  I usually paint at least 3 coats on each piece - it takes time!

3. Varnish the shapes - Docraft have their own acrylic paint varnish but I never got on with that!  So this year I've gone for spray varnish, either gloss or this amazing stuff Spray and Sparkle Silver Glitter Varnish - I find it's the best for wood and the wood does indeed sparkle silver!  I do two coats on each side!

4. Print out the images on double sided matt paper - I have an hp printer, but it's very happy using ANY paper I give it... and so I use this epson paper which I also use to print my own photography cards and tags too.

5. Line up each shape with best picture - I tend to go with the picture itself, as in, colour corresponding in the picture with the coloured shape - sometimes I break my own boundaries (I'm such a rebel!) and don't match at all - but generally I do!

6. Glue the designs onto the wood - blimey I've had trouble finding the right glue, it's been a nightmare!  Because I use ink jet print outs (look here, laser prints are costly, they may be only 56p per sheet at my local printers, but my local printers is a 30 minute drive away and laser printers themselves are affordable but their ink costs the earth!)  So after many, many trial and errors and utter disasters I have FINALLY found the best glue, like, EVER!  Naturally it's from America... Glamour Seal from Annie Howes - it's AMAZING!  So I glue AND brush over the image at the same time so it helps with protection!  I also now do both sides!

7. A new idea - self adhesive gems - I do like a bit of bling, but not too much, I'm not a big fan of the over the top can't see anything but fake crystals effect - but for decorative purposes and especially for Christmas purposes, they work brilliantly!  Same design, both sides!

8. A glaze top coat - now the images are protected - as in won't run if I add anything else on top, I have found Aleene's Jewellery Pendant Gel Glue works the best so far - I cover the entire surface, image, wood and the gems, as it gives them an added layer of glue in order to actually 'stay on' and hopefully for a long time to come!

9. Add jewellery bails to the shapes without a hole - I always promise myself every year that I'll purchase shapes always with a hole, but it doesn't seem to happen!

So.... here they are right now... Sorry for the frankly appalling photos, there's no light in here!

10. Tie ribbon!  I have a basket to pick from, I also have some silver string:

And there's no 11!

So it's all ok.

I better get on with it, or Christmas would have passed!

Just to end, here are a few links to the ones available in my online shops:

Larry Robin (a smaller design) - Folksy

Blue star sold, rest available - Etsy

Rabbit sold, rest available - Etsy

Larry sold, rest available - Etsy

The rest of my decorations - Larryware Etsy Christmas Shop

But I can't end yet, can I?  Without......

Explaining the Background

I just read someone talking about a pet hate about people's blogs - a messy patterned background - whoops!  But... It's beautiful!

I'M A PHOTOGRAPHER!

So you're going to see A LOT of my photographs from past to present - I will share EVERYTHING, as at the end of the day, most of the good pictures go into my creations in one form or another....

The background photograph on my blog was taken a few weeks ago when the first frosts settled down  over this part of North Devon where I live and certainly where I love!

The photograph is the frost patterns and the bouncing light of the amazingly bright sunshine on that particular morning which had settled on my car... which happens to be in blue, in fact, 'sapphire blue' (She's called Joy and she's a Honda Civic and yes, I name all my cars...)

So here goes, in order of picture taken, I could have spent ages standing there getting every single angle... but as ever I had to be somewhere else, but what I did get, I'm more then happy with, what do you think?

Lowering and upping the F-Stop, changing the ISO, changing the distance (these photographs are taken with my beloved Canon 70d and 100mm macro lens).

There is so much material here to play with. I'm planning a whole series of winter jewellery and accessories, but because of that certain festive date coming up, I've stuck to decorations and two pendants only for now...

Etsy Link

Etsy Link

Etsy Link

 Etsy Link

Folksy Link

So there you have it - these are the things I do, not all, but some.  It all depends on what images I can find.  I don't usually plan to go out to take a specific photograph the day before, I'm a very spontaneous person and I usually always have my camera on me, so I hope to blog more exciting shots and then what they eventually become, whether a decoration, a cushion, a pendant... even a paper bunting !

Oh and remember I said I'd end each post with Larry?  Well....