Snow and St Valentine

 

We finally got some beautiful snow fall in the UK this week. Where we are it was just enough snow to make everything look pretty, but not enough to cause any real disruption, i.e. the perfect amount lol. The above shot is of the snow covered loveseat in the back garden, with a lovely view of my Art Nouveau style clock in the conservatory (isn't she elegant)

 

The romantic in me has been getting excited for Valentines Day this year... and I noted that I have such a range of colours represented in gemstones in the shop now, that I had to put together some luscious Garnets, Coppers and Carnelian reds as part of a Valentine's promotion. You can find them here . Below are some of the pieces featured...

This Garnet Gemstone Circle Necklace was purchased straight away, I am happy to say (below)...

 

Anyway thanks for stopping by, I hope you follow the link and see the Valentines themed pieces we have in store :)

Thanks for looking ...



Samantha Braund

Giveaway Winners Video and Dry Socket Drama!

What a crazy time of extreme highs and lows I am having right now!

I am currently going through the most awful dental pain I've ever experienced! My wisdom tooth got infected, which meant enduring 2 weeks of horrible antibiotics. The infection recurred and the dentist extracted the tooth,which was a traumatic procedure, and then the clot dislodged leaving the bone and nerves exposed!! It's a condition known as Dry Socket! Oh my, it is horrendous....so I am now on my third set of antibiotics and the whole sorry saga is entering it's fourth week, and the pain is worse than ever

Ideally, I would have closed the computer and shut the shop for the duration, but there were too many issues to deal with. First there was the sale of one of my favourite pieces in the shop, the beautiful Cognac Quartz Gemstone Circle Necklace (pictured above),went to a new owner a week or so ago, which felt wonderful! I also managed to list ALL the Holi Charm Necklaces this week. 19 luscious gemstone laden charm necklaces inspired by the Holi Hindu Festival celebrating colour. The complete collection can be seen here I am so proud of myself for enduring awful dental pain and managing to edit all the images, (which amounted to at least 100 high res photos)and proceed to list them in the shop! This time last year I would have avoided the task like the plague lol.

The other major development to have occured this week, is that the Art Nouveau Earrings Giveaway Contest has run it's course! My facebook page reached the target number of likes 1111,(a binary combination in honour of Big Bang Theory's Sheldon Cooper...my inner geek loved that!). The whole experience had been so much fun, and so many people had joined in and got into the spirit of things that I really did not want to let them down, so it meant having to procure a video showing the prize draw winners, again while unwell - but the adorable hubby lent a hand(literally lol) and helped me do the draw and edit the video. I am so pleased with the result having not really done anything like that before, and the reaction to the video and contest in general has been amazing. These are all things I wouldn't have wanted to miss inspite of the pain

Anyway, here's hoping that I recover in a timely fashion and get to have some fun in the studio soon!! Enjoy the video below






Samantha Braund

So Much In So Little Time!

 
AAA Cognac Quartz Art Nouveau Earrings

I can't believe it has been almost a month since I last posted here. The shame of it all is that I have been a constant presence online, photo editing and listing new items in the shop, as well as making new pieces.

The Art Nouveau Cognac Quartz earrings (above) were such a rewarding challenge to create. I  can admit to avoiding even attempting mirror image symmetry with my wirework - it is so much easier to do in metal clay lol. Yet, there they are, looking stunning dripping in "Gatsby Glamour" - I am totally chuffed to have been able to pull it off. I plan to make more, and am toying with the idea of making earrings based on my Bridal Coral Drop Necklaces too, as I have a kind of pattern to work from, so I will give it a go

As you can see from the Pirate's treasure chest of beauties below, there have been a lot of new additions to the Etsy shop . The complete Contessa Collection inspired by Countess Olenska from "The Age Of Innocence" novel by Edith Wharton, are in the shop now....the Queen of that collection (AAA Smokey Quartz gemstone one) has already been reserved, which is fabulous news.



Contessa Collection and Dragon's Eye Necklace



AAA Peridot Cubic Zirconia Dragon's Eye Necklace



Close up of Blue Aquamarine Contessa Necklace

There have also been a fair few sales too, which has been a lovely surprise given the usual Summer slump many of us sellers experience. Let's face it I'd rather be running around in the sea and the sand than internet shopping too lol....anyway inspite of the season, the various pieces below have all sold. I'm a very happy bunny  lol

Next on the to do list is to continue listing my never ending backlog of pieces to the shop - I have the Holi Charms and the Spider Conch Collections to go in next aside from any new work. I will also be working on media experimentation for my new shops, which is really exciting and I will be sure to expand upon that here first :)

The Free Earrings Giveaway is going great guns too, there are less than 100 likes to go before the Prize draw will take place. if you haven't entered before now, it is well worth a look, the prize is a good one for such a giveaway... it has only been running less than a month, but I expect things will slow down a bit with Summer, which will give me a chance to work on the video for it!

So thats a brief synopsis of the latest goings on ... thanks for reading  - even if I don't update here as often, my Facebook Jewellery page is always up to date, so you can find me there :)


Bridal Coral Drop (Turquoise freshwater Pearl)


Selena - White Beryllium gemstone and sterling silver necklace


Green Amethyst and Sterling wirewrapped Necklace


Teal Blue Fluorite gemstone Boho earrings

Bye for now xx



Samantha Braund

Garnet Gemstone Circles Earrings

These are some images of a recent commission for a pair of Earrings. It’s the first time I’ve ever attempted to make matching earrings, in the Gemstone Circle Collection style.

The challenge was to keep to the asymmetric organic freeflowing style, while mirror imaging the design in the other earring

It took me two attempts and was a real challenge lol. If they hadn’t been requested I don’t think I would ever have tried to do this, and I am incredibly grateful for this – I learnt so much in this project

Anyway, I hope you like the pictures - I tried out a resin bust in a light box as part of my photography experimentations, I love it! The acrylic material looks luminous when back lit through the lighting tent – a very inspirational prop isn’t she lol?

The other pics include some taken in the backgarden with the earrings hanging off a little milk jug. The gemstones are rich coloured Rhodolite Garnets, sculpted in sterling silver

If you are interested in anything similar, it's best to contact me at mail@samanthabraundjewellery.com














Samantha



Samantha Braund

I Have Sold A Jewellery Piece

I have sold one of my beloved Gemstone circle necklaces. The green Amethyst, Flourite and Peridot one.

I should be ecstatic, its one of my higher end, expensive pieces, so from a cold commerce perspective this is good news. However, as a soppy artist who cherishes all their creations, I'll be so sad to let this piece go

The gemstone circles collection has grown a little, with two new additions, a Rhodolite Garnet necklace, with a clustered trio of marquise shaped briolettes, that resemble flower buds

The other new piece is an African Amethyst necklace, with two beautiful purple gemstones nestled amongst tendrils of sterling silver

I have actually made 8 new necklaces as well as these, and am adding bracelets to my stash too. I'm making a start on earrings as well.I'll just have to decide which pieces will live in the Etsy shop and which will come with me to sell offline . Decisions, Decisions!!

Enjoy the pictures...