I realised that I haven't posted anything jewellery-related for a while (okay, I haven't really posted anything for a while, but especially not anything jewellery-related), so I thought today I would :)

A few weeks ago I discovered that there is an amazing bead shop in Birmingham called the Birmingham Bead Shop (what a creative name).

The shop sells pretty much everything jewellery-related almost at wholesale prices and the staff are so friendly :)

It's located in the Custard factory next to the water fountain.


Some things I've recently bought from the bead shop. The big white rose is actually a giant bead.


These glass cabochons are tiny!


These pendants are so cute ^^ the pages are attached with jump rings.


These are double-sided pendants, I think it's a brilliant idea :)


I thought I'd let you all know that I opened my jewellery joy shop today. Well actually I opened it 2 months ago but I put my first items in today :)

http://loppyloves.jewelleryjoy.co.uk/index.php

Loppy x
I did say I'd write this post a couple of weeks ago but I've been quite busy lately, and when I was free, the things I needed hadn't come throught the post yet :(
(I usually leave Christmas presents until the last minute anyway!)

This is how I created my stocking fillers for friends this year :D


I bought some candied chocolate hearts from ebay. The black and white ones cost about £1 for a bag of 100, the silver ones cost £2 for 100.


I bought some plain flat-packed wedding favour boxes, decorated them with paper (I think that's called decoupage!) and filled them with the chocolates. The boxes cost me £1.50 for 10.


I bought a box of 15 candy canes for £2 and put one candy cane in with each present (there's loads left over for me!) ;)


This pack of candles cost £2 from Primark. I put one or two in with each present depending on how much I'd bought the person who was receiving it.


The chocolate ice lollies are soap and the lollipops are bath bombs :)
These were 50p each at Birmingham's discount La Senza.


Here's the whole pack with the main present included, I'd be happy to receive it :)
The stocking fillers without the main present cost me less than £1!

Loppy x
Yes, you read the title correctly; hot chocolate on a stick. I only found out about this incredible idea a few hours ago when I was searching for unusual hot chocolate flavours on Ebay (I'll explain later).

I spent quite a while (without luck) trying to understand how this was possible, in the end I searched the internet for a recipe and found that it is one of the easiest things in the world to make.

I didn't actually measure out the ingredients because I'm just testing out the hot chocolate and I'm too tired to make it properly. I also didn't use the correct ingredients; I forgot to add salt, I used cheap chocolate and I used drinking chocolate rather than cocoa because my local Co-operative doesn't sell cocoa anymore.

This is the correct recipe;
  • 250g good chocolate (at least 70% cocoa is recommended)
  • 60g icing sugar
  • 30g cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
You will also need;
  • Lollipop sticks, disposable tea stirrers or disposable spoons (I'm using lollipop sticks)
  • Decorations (optional)
  • Packaging (optional)
  • An ice cube tray or mini silicone moulds


First melt the chocolate until it is smooth.



Then sieve in the cocoa, icing sugar and salt and mix until thick and smooth.


Sorry about bad picture quality, my macro isn't working properly.

Spoon the mixture into moulds (ice trays are preferred but I didn't have any). Shake or tap the mould to even out the chocolate.


After a minute or two, you can place sticks in the chocolate. The sticks should stand by themselves.


Once set (after about 5-10 minutes), remove the chocolate from the moulds.
If you aren't decorating them, they are ready to use :)



I've chosen to decorate mine with mini marshmallows. To decorate, simply melt a little chocolate and use it the glue the decorations on.


To use the hot chocolate sticks; heat 3/4 of a cup of milk and stir the chocolate in until completely melted.


Then enjoy! ^^


I'm going to be making these as Christmas presents, as part of handmade mini hampers (which is why I was looking for unusual hot chocolate on Ebay, I was going to make hot chocolate and mug gift sets).

I shall be posting tutorials for the rest of the items in the mini hamper within the next week or so :)

Loppy x
Yesterday I did a craft fair, it was my first one since August and I really wanted it to be successful so I tried to think of ideas to draw people to my stall.
Firstly I wanted to display my earrings in a better way so I bought an earring carousel and a small jewellery tree. I saw a carousel that I really wanted at my last fair, it was a stunning white carousel and I bought it (the link below has the carousel in black, it's also available in copper but I think white has sold out)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/REVOLVING-EARRING-JEWELLERY-STAND-ROUND-NEW-3B-BLACK-/310360164824?pt=UK_Jewellery_Watches_JewelleryBoxes_Supplies_CA&hash=item4842e849d8

I also wanted a jewellery tree and I found this one that I loved;
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WHITE-JEWELLERY-TREE-DISPLAY-STORAGE-STAND-NEW-MAYTREE-/180750756562?pt=UK_Jewellery_Watches_JewelleryBoxes_Supplies_CA&hash=item2a1595aad2
But when it arrived it was quite small and not very sturdy, so I used it for earrings too.

The next thing I wanted to do was card my earring so they look more presentable. All I did was cut out white cardstock into rectangles, then used a pin to make 2 holes and pushed the earring hooks through the holes. I also wrote 'LoppyLoves' and the price on the cards.
I used these pegs to attach the carded earrings onto the carousel and jewellery tree.
http://www.paperchase.co.uk/invt/00483684/

I wanted to make a patchwork table cover using Cath Kidston style fabric but I didn't have time, I will do this in the next few weeks and post a tutorial on it.

I also wanted to get a cup and saucer with pink roses on to put my paper flower hair grips in but I didn't find one in time (and it wouldn't match the table cover I currently have, which is black). So instead I used my mom's cup of destiny, it looked great with the black fabric.
http://www.holisticshop.co.uk/products/cup-of-destiny

I spent the most time carding my hair grips because they were the cheapest item on my stall (£1 a pair) and most likely to sell (they were my bestseller yesterday!).
I carded them, wrote 'LoppyLoves' and the price on them, and stuck a pink heart-shaped rhinestone between the grips. I would post a picture but my nan has stolen all of my stock for a jewellery party she's having.



And because of all of the extra effort I put in, yesterday was the most successful craft fair I've ever done!

Loppy x
I thought it was about time to get a logo professionally designed, so here it is; the new LoppyLoves logo! :)

Loppy x
I have just found out that LoppyLoves has made it on to the top 50 blogs list on The Jewellery Boutique!
The list can be found at: http://www.thejewelleryboutique.com/blog/latest_news/50_of_the_best_jewellery,_fashion_and_craft_blogs.php



I've been looking through some of the jewellery for sale on the site and here are a few of my favourite items;
  • Silver Garland Ring
  • Wren & Blossom Pendant
  • Mismatch Earrings
  • Silver Sprig Studs
  • Ivory Pearl Bracelet
All the items are handmade by some of the best UK designers and I highly doubt you'll find designs like these anywhere else.

Christmas is coming up, anyone fancy buying me one of the items above? ;)

Loppy x
Today I went to Hobbycrafts & Art Materials Live at the Birmingham NEC. In all honesty I was expecting it to be ridiculously expensive and I was only expecting to come home with a few ideas. I was very wrong.
I bought quite a lot of stuff, and I have a few more online bead shops I can buy from. And everything was SO cheap! See the two massive bead strings below? £1 each.


Everything I bought
 These focals caught my eye. They're so bright and colourful and I love the rhinestone detail. I only noticed on the bus home that the rhinestone colours are different on each focal; on the first one they're all white, on the second one 2 are red and the other is white. I don't know how I'll use these yet, I did buy some matching blue rose beads that I'll try to use with them.
I found it quite hard to pay £1 each for these as I'm used to buying beads and pendants in wholesale, but I do think they are worth it :)

Unusual focals
  The only thing I really wanted to buy today was craft wire to make a tree of life pendant. I've yet to find a shop in Birmingham that sells craft wire. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to find at the NEC. Even the wire craft stall didn't sell any -_-
Eventually I found some and as soon as I got home I made my very first tree of life pendant! I'm very proud of it.

Tree of life pendant I made using some bead chips and craft wire

 Here is a list of my favourite stalls and their websites;
Spellbound Bead Co was my favourite bead stall, below is the selection of beads that I bought from them (the cheapest ones were 2p each!)

Some beads I bought from the Spellbound Bead Co
 My other favourite stall was TuffnellGlass and my mom has bought my Christmas present from there.
I've always been interested in lampwork but I never thought I'd be able to do it at home. I also thought I'd need to spend hundreds of pounds to buy all the equipment. My preconceptions were absolutely wrong, I can do it in the comfort of my kitchen for less than £100! The man running the stall (can't remember his name!) was lovely. He gave a demonstration when I asked him to and he answered my many questions. He didn't even try to sell me his products, he told me B&Q sell the refill gas canisters and I can use a cheese grater instead of the fancy tools they were selling. The basic kit cost £56.00 and the gas canister cost about £12.50.

Included in the kit;
  • Hot head torch
  • 1 Kilo mixed glass rods
  • Mixed pack of 24 mandrels
  • 2 pots of bead release.
I think it was definately a bargain, although I can't use it until Christmas :(

Altogether, today was a pretty awesome day for only £10 admission ^^

Loppy x
This weekend I searched everywhere to find pumpkins with no luck. Until I went to Tesco ^^ these pumpkins were better quality than the Co-op (and so much cheaper, 75p for a pumpkin rather than £1.25!)
So I decided to make a traditional Jack 'O' Lantern, and some rather unusual fanged pumpkins I saw on the Martha Stewart website.


Traditional Jack 'O' Lantern


Adorable fanged pumpkin and squash

Due to the lack of pumpkin variety in the UK, I've decided to grow my own pumpkins for next year :)

Loppy x
Firstly, I'd like to explain why I haven't been posting much for a few week; I have a new job with ridiculous shifts so I'm often too tired to post. I'm actually really tired now so expect spelling and grammar errors.

Okay so basically, the point of this post is to let you know that I'm selling some of my supplies (more shall be added gradually). All of the money made from this (along with all of my tips and a lot of my wages from work, and the money I make from craft fairs) will go in to a savings account, the money from which will be used to help me open a beading cafe in Birmingham :D


Medium sized coloured beads with silver stars on - 10 for £1
  • Red
  • Light blue
  • Dark blue
  • Black
  • Orange
  • Dark pink
  • Pale pink
  • Purple
  • White
  • Green
  • Yellow



Glass lampwork chili pepper charms (roughly 20mm) - 10 for £1



Glitter flower cabochons (roughly 15mm) - 10p each
  • Green
  • Yellow
  • Dark pink
  • Blue
  • Purple
  • Light pink



Scrabble tiles (two different styles, round back and square back) - 20p each


Baby safety pin charms (these are actually card making embellishments but can be used as charms) - 80p for all pictured


Hamburger and hot dog charms - 10p each


Large heart-shaped fruit cake charms - 30p each
  • Yellow
  • Pink



Small heart-shaped love cake charms - 20p each



Large chocolate love cake charms - 30p each

If you want anything listed here, either comment on this post or email loppyloves@live.co.uk :)

Loppy x
No, of course I don't mean Sadism and Masochism (made you think that though ;D).

My friends Shanta and Matt recently got engaged (congrats guys) and tonight is their engagement party. So I decided to make these cake pops for the party as a surprise for them (I hope neither of you are reading this!)



Got squished in the wrapper D:


These are vanilla flavoured, I hope everyone likes them!
And Katie won the Halloween giveaway ^^ Well done Katie!

Loppy x
Just wanted to let everyone know that vial necklaces are back in stock and soon I'll be making matching earrings.
Currently available are;
  • Love potion (pink glitter)
  • Gold dust (gold glitter)
  • Snow (white glitter)
  • Mermaid magic (turquoise glitter)
  • True Blood (fake blood with silver fangs attached)
Let me know if you'd like to order one. They're £4.00 each.

Loppy x
Firstly I'd like to apologise for not posting for a while.

Now I'm happy to announce that the first LoppyLoves giveaway has begun! :D

*Rules*
  1. You must be a follower of my blog.
  2. You must be over 16 years old.
  3. You may enter to win as many items as you like but please only enter each giveaway once.

Please note, prizes will be sent in the post so winners will need to provide a postal address or PO Box after winners are announced. I will not keep any of the addresses provided.


The first item in the giveaway is this Hello Kitty ghost scrabble tile pendant. To win this pendant you need to describe the ultimate Halloween party in the comments box below. My favourite comment will win.


The second item in the giveaway is this gothic swarovski bracelet. I think it would look great as part of a vampiress costume. To win this bracelet, just tell me what your favourite Halloween character is (Frankenstein, a vampire etc.). The winner will be chosen at random.



The closing date for these giveaways will be 14th October. I may be adding some more Halloween giveaways in the next few days.
Winners will also be announced on 14th.

Good luck!

Loppy x
*LoppyLoves is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Just so that you are aware, I may get a small fee for any purchases you make through links on this post.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Halloween is my favourite time of year. I'm quite excited for it. Actually no, I'm extremely excited for it. I haven't made any charms out of polymer clay for a while, so I decided that I wanted to make some Halloween-themed charms. I saw some adorable pumpkin charms on youtube and I decided to make some for myself ^^


You will need:
  • Wipes, to clean your hands when using a new colour of clay
  • Varnish* (optional)
  • Green and orange polymer clay (I'm using Fimo Soft in shades Apple Green* and Cognac*) 
  • Paintbrushes (one for varnish, one for paint)
  • Black and white acrylic paint (optional)
  • Cocktail sticks (not pictured)



Shape the orange Fimo into a pumpkin shape. Everyone's interpretation of the shape of a pumpkin is different, so shape them the way you think is right :)


Using cocktail sticks, poke holes in the top of your pumpkin shape.


Using the green clay, make a tiny stalk shape and use a cocktail stick to poke it in the hole you made. I used the cocktail sticks to make indents around and on the stalk, this is optional but does help the stalk to stick to the pumpkin.


Cut an eye pin down to size and bend the end of it into a tight hook, this helps the pin to stay in the clay once it's baked.


Bake your charm on a low heat for about 10 minutes, I usually use gas mark 3.


Using black paint, paint a jack 'o' lantern face onto the pumpkin. This is optional.


I like to add white dots in the eyes, I think it looks cuter this way ^^ again this is optional. Varnish the charm when the paint is dry if desired.


Loppy :) x
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