Anyway…So, I blogged before about preparations for the Aberdeen College Fashion show and now it’s all over!  The clothes were fab, the wine was plentiful and SpoiltPig Jewellery got a great showing off on the runway.

See more shots from the night on Flickr and in the Facebook Album.

In the coming weeks I shall be finishing work and then assisting with the hanging  for the college exhibition, attending the opening and schmoozing people into large purchases(hopefully), attending final fittings for the HND Fashion Show and then erm, strutting my stuff on the catwalk!

On top of this, SpoiltPig is also providing the jewellery for the HND Fashion Show, yaay!  It’s going to be a fantastic night and I’ve decided it’s the right time to properly launch “SpoiltPig Couture” collection too.
Sooooo to keep SpoiltPig fans included and involved in the new happenings, I’m hosting ANOTHER giveaway!

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The Couture Collection will be launched and online on the 7th June 2010  so I’ll be drawing ONE lucky winner at random on the 1st June, to make sure they get their surprise Couture Heart necklace before anyone else!

I’m not unveiling anything until the very last minute, a little because it’s a huge secret and a little because I haven’t put the finishing touches to anything yet!  But be assured that you’ll be receiving a completely unique, One Of A Kind, designer Heart shaped necklace from the new range of SpoiltPig jewellery (which will retail between £20-£25!)….and all you have to do is leave a comment here to let me know you want to be entered!

Please also share this giveaway with your friends.  Link to the post from twitter, post it on your facebook/bebo/myspace or blog about it if you can!
SpoiltPig Jewellery is also now on Facebook.  Pretty please, take the time to look around the page and suggest us to all of your friends x x x

Helen Beaumont!

Thanks to all who entered, I shall make sure to update you with the next giveaway, which isn’t too far in the future! *

Wipe that imagery from your mind of teenagers dressed in black pouring out of cereal boxes or being handed out to communities like rations from a Red Cross van.

I’m giving away this Purple Leopard print and Spider necklace:

It has a sick sad story.  I couldn’t photograph  it properly but it has a little piece, of a single strand of (most likely) my hair embedded on the back. Woops?  Don’t fret, I’m sure this only adds to it’s value.  Preserved forever in resin.

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and I’ll pick someone at random in a couple of days.  Bonus points for anyone who tweets, subscribes by the little orange box (top right), becomes a fan on facebook, tells a really good joke* or promises to use that strand of hair for cloning or voodoo.

*no racist, sexist, ageist, bigoted or ableist sick sad jokes please.

SpoiltPig jewellery is all going to be re-priced by the end of April.

I wish I could say its now all FREE but erm…nah, that’s not how it works :(

I’m not sure how much anyone’s interested in the ‘details’ but I figure I should be as transparent here as possible.

Currently, I don’t pay myself for my design work or the time it takes to put that idea to paper(many long hours cursing and swearing at photoshop and tearing up sketchbooks) or the time it takes me to promote, list and write item descriptions, the cost and time for promotional materials like flyers and business cards, travelling to and working all day at markets in the freezing cold, the cost of market stalls in the first place…this list goes on forever.

From the very beginning, I’ve been paying myself minimum wage for the time it takes to ‘make’ each item and then y’know, adding materials costs and rounding it up or down to the nearest quid. It’s not even the current legal minimum wage…I’m lazy at maths so when I say minimum wage I mean a FIVER p/h.

I’ve managed to keep it going this far with LOTS of help from lovely, awesome friends who’ve donated time and tools to help me.  I don’t have to pay for professional jewellery shots or expensive programs, I didn’t have to pay a web developer and I currently don’t have to pay for web hosting, all down to their generosity.   These people deserve to be paid though, right?  and I’d like to start doing that at some point this year…and maybe start earning a proper wage for myself too.

Folksy, the UK based site that I use to sell my work through are coming out of beta mode on the 1st May 2010 and as such, will be introducing a teeny 5% commission on my and everyone else’s sales,  so I figured that’s as good a time as any to re-launch SpoiltPig with some more realistic prices.

I hope this doesn’t piss anyone off, I hope that all my lovely customers will stick with me and I’m more than willing to answer any questions anyone might have and explain commission and fees in more detail if needed/wanted.

I got a great custom order to work on a while ago, the task being to create something with a cutesy bee theme.

SO – I got the thinking cap on and created a little smug bee character to embed in resin and turn into jewellery!

I unfortunately don’t have a picture of that very first Bee necklace I created but I went on to make some different colours for last month @ Sloans market (where they went down a storm!) and now have decided to share my little illustration(“doodle”) with my Folksy customers :)

Of course I did have some bright yellow ones but they all sold out today at Airyall Craft Bazaar :)

What’s your favourite colour? What would you like to see in the Spoiltpig Folksy Shop?

Completely one of a kind Couture Necklace, exclusive to SpoiltPig.
This heart comes from a print of my first exhibition piece.
£18

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Pink Rose Necklace

Hot Pink Necklace, handmade from glossy resin
and finished with a 16″ gold plated necklace.

£6.50

]]> http://ilovespoiltpig.com/2010/03/515/feed/ 0 http://ilovespoiltpig.com/2010/02/hearts/ http://ilovespoiltpig.com/2010/02/hearts/#comments Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:46:59 +0000 SpoiltPig http://ilovespoiltpig.com/?p=426 I love hearts, as is evident from my shop listings!  So how could I resist NoodleBubbles Valentines Heart Swap?!  Obviously, as is tradition, I left my present to the absolute last minute but hopefully Natalie @ HarveyCraftyCards will have received it today or atleast by tomorrow and it’ll be worth the wait!  and hopefully she doesn’t spy this entry first and ruin the surprise!
Handmade resin Heart Necklace, with faux pearls embedded inside.  Hope she likes it!

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I’ve already received my swap package and have been beaming all over the internet about it already :)
BlondeDesign makes the most amazing comic-y cushions:  (M’kay, so they’re in the “Baby” shop, don’t judge me!)
So obviously, I was super delighted when I found out that’s who was making my Valentines Heart present – and here are the AMAZING things she made for me:

Couldn’t be more pleased!   Black and red + Polkadots + SKULLS + something for my teapot = GRIN :)
Definitely one of my favourite Craft Swaps so far :)

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FINALLY – A quick plug for my Folksy shop ( I know *yawn*)  Keeping with the theme though, here are some of the heart shaped items in stock at the moment:

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend whether they be celebrating Valentines day or not.
x0x

SpoiltPig has just seen her first Christmas as a jewellery maker, seller type person/thing.  I actually spent Christmassy time getting drunk in Glasgow and then fat in Bath but I think I’ve really learnt a lot about what to expect next year (vomitting).

Did a couple of Christmas markets in 2009 which was maybe a bit adventurous given my lack of enthusiasm for selling and my inexperience in jewellery retail land but anyway, put all of my energies into those (two were ace and two were a bust sales wise) and sort of completely forgot about the online shop :(  I hopefully will remember not to make the same mistake again next year.  Sales jumped the last week of November but then I didn’t add any new stock to Folksy and they sort of became non-existent after that, rubbishums.

Anyway! Winterval was great, family & friends wise.  We ate, drank, talked a lot and were mostly merry.  Half my friends aren’t half as happy as I’d like them to be but maybe things will look up soon, it’s a new year after all.

Thank you to all my lovely customers of 2009, my first year as a jewellery maker seller type person/thingum was fine and dandy and I shall keep on making things :)

and…to commemorate my epic christmas online/folksy fail I’m having a January sale!

Lots of little trinket necklaces from £5 and brand new stock that I forgot to add before the holidays, THREE whole pages!  I’ll be breathing new life into my Folksy shop over the next month with whole ranges of new jewellery and accessories so keep your eyes peeled!

The last few weeks have been quite challenging and I feel like I’ve struggled to hold things together completely – This is apparently no bad thing when it comes to arty farty stuff though! Designing and making things are both excellent ways to procrastinate and distract and I’ve just made myself some shiny new jewellery, all for me :)

I thought it’d be nice to have a constant reminder of things that make everything lovely and wonderful for me so I made this necklace, stuffed with representations of a few of those things that make me very happy.

and carrying on with the circus and performer theme, I made a couple of brooch pins with some costumed people
*heart*

Some randomness:

1. Joan Jett beats the Sex Pistols at ‘Pretty Vacant’
2. I love Edward Cullen and Bella Swan (and Stephenie Myer for making them up)
3. I’m allergic to Kiwi, never send me Kiwi
4. I can play the violin (or at least I used to, quite well)
5. I desperately want a cat/kitten and it shall be Sebastian, Edward or Vincent

. . . . .

Finally…a post all about me me me wouldn’t really be complete without a picture and I have the most PERFECT one ever…I stumbled across this one a few weeks ago, I’d forgotten all about it and I’m sure I don’t actually remember much about it being taken – there was a hanami celebration earlier in the day with some sake and then some civilised consumption of cider at another picnic in the park…and then this photo happened:

me n my best jim

Those are not my sunglasses and that is not my jacket…kinda wish they were though.

It’s all nearly over though and I’m sad :(   I’ve totally struggled over the holidays to get into this ‘Coast’ project at college.  I started the class a couple weeks late so was already a bit behind and although I’ve managed to get all up to date learning the different printing techniques, I cannot get this sketchbook done :(  I’m just not excited about it.  I thought it was open to interpretation and breathed a sigh of relief last week when an idea finally struck and I decided to explore coastal legends and myths, y’know like mermaids and kelpies etc.  I went to clear it with the tutor and was told no :(  I can interpret the theme however I like, as long as it’s more traditional…like shoreline, shells and beach holidays.
What am I going to do?  I have 13 pages filled when they’ve asked for 2o and I only vaguely like ONE of those images.  I’ll admit I’ve just stuffed it with bullshit to get the pages done…which is really getting me nowhere and to be honest, I’m pretty sure my lack of enthusiasm shows in it – it is not good work.
I’m struggling to take on board other peoples suggestions too, somehow it feels like cheating if someone has to find my idea for me and even though I’ve heard some really good ideas…I’m just still not that into them.  I am so screwed.

Anyway – here’re some of the necklaces I managed to finish over the holiday:

Click the picture to see the larger version on Flickr.

Just like the ladybirds, these  probably won’t be added to the Folksy shop but will make a nice addition to the table at the Airyhall craft bazaar.