Hopes and Dreams ...

I have been giving a lot of thought recently to my hopes and dreams - where I would like to be in the (near) future, and what I would like to be doing with my life.  It suddenly hit me last year - probably triggered by hitting the dreaded Big Four Oh - that certain aspects of my life were not bringing me happiness, and that time may be running out to change that.  All I wanted was to find my own fairy door and step through it into a simpler, magical realm.

One of the main reasons for this is that, for various reasons, that most precious of things - time - seems to be about as common as hen's teeth for me right now.  I work full-time, do my self-employed hubby's accounts, my own accounts and, of course, pour everything that's left into my jewellery business.  There was a point last year when I considered dropping the jewellery altogether, but I couldn't quite bring myself to do it.  Primarily because I love doing it, and because it makes some of the other stuff bearable!

I've never been the sort of person who sets goals for myself and then beats myself up when I don't reach them, but I have been giving some thought to the things I would really like to do with/have in my life.  It goes without saying that health and the people who matter to me are more important than any of these, but here, in no particular order, is my (fairly humble) list:

• Work full-time at the jewellery business
• Own a dog
• Live somewhere that is in walking distance of the countryside
• Do all the above, and still have enough money to visit the sea every now and again 

See, when I write it down, it looks achievable, but isn't it strange how things that some people take for granted often seem quite beyond our reach?  I may never achieve these modest dreams, but perhaps many others dream of owning their own house, having full-time employment so that they can pay their bills, and having a significant other who loves them.  So, on balance, I consider myself lucky to be where I am right now.  At some point, I will have to sort out this time issue - there really is only so much of me to go round! - but my life could be so much worse.  And if I can't just pop out of my front door and go for a walk in the woods, I can reach for the wire and 'draw' myself a wood, and that's pretty cool, huh?

So what are everyone else's dreams?  I'd love to know.  It's important to have them, but equally important to be grateful for what we have, I know.  :)

We have a winner!

Firstly, I would like to say thank you for all the truly lovely comments you have all left on my blog over the last week.  I wish you could all win!  Here is the hat I always use for my giveaways - looking a bit worse-for-wear after being shoved in a cupboard since the last one! ;)

The winning slip of paper is always chosen by my hubby - who has no interest in who wins, and is still muttering that he should be paid for doing this 'job'.  There is no cheating!  In the past I've had one winner from Germany, one from America and one from the UK, so everyone is truly eligible to win. :)

He's just had a really good rummage around in the hat - with well over 100 entries, there was plenty to rummage through.  I know you're all itching to know who's won, so without further ado, the winner is ... Kyley Nevard!  Well done, Kyley - if you could let me have your address (pm through Facebook is fine)  I will get it packed up ready to send.  Thank you SO much to all who entered! xxx

Summer is here - and so is my giveaway (closed 14th July) ...

Helloooo ... is anyone still there?  My goodness, has it really been over a year since I last blogged? Naughty Weeze!  It's another summer now, and a bit hotter than the last one at the moment!  And it's long past time to resurrect my poor, neglected blog. ;)

Very unusually, I'm writing this on my laptop, which means it's taking twice as long as I keep hitting the mouse pad with the heels of my hands and inadvertently deleting whole lines!  It's just too hot to use the pc upstairs, so I'm lurking in a darkened room, fortifying myself with homemade ice cream soda and listening with half an ear to the tennis, hoping Murray wins ...

So, what's been happening in my year of blog silence?  Well, I've been pouring my energy into my Etsy shop - which I have filled with lots of lovely handmade findings as well as all my latest jewellery creations - and my Facebook page, created two wirework tutorials, made many custom items for some truly lovely people, turned 40 (eek!) and still managed to work a full-time day job without (quite) cracking up. :)

And in the last few days, I have reached 1000 likers on my Facebook page - this may not sound such a huge number on the grand scale of things, but when I think that over ONE THOUSAND people have taken the time to visit my page and click that Like button (hopefully because they do genuinely like it), I'm quite humbled.  To me it is a big deal.

So, to say a big fat THANK YOU with squirty cream, cherries and chocolate sprinkles on top, I'm going to be giving away the following summery necklace, which I have just finished making especially for this purpose.

And all you have to do to be entered into the draw, is leave a comment here WITH YOUR NAME in it.  I will be closing the draw at 1pm GMT next Sunday the 14th July and announcing the winner as soon as they have been chosen.  As is traditional with my giveaways, all the names will go into my straw hat, and the winner will be chosen by my long-suffering hubby.  This is open to all my likers, wherever in the world you are, but please only enter if you have liked my Facebook page or you follow my blog, as this particular giveaway is meant to be a thank you for following me, and not leaving my ramblings to echo lost and unheard ... :)

*Please note - your comments need to be moderated before they will show (a measure I had to take because of spam) - but they will show, fear not!*

Memories of the sea ...

Way back when I returned from holiday (which seems like months ago!), I was filled with inspiration after spending time by my favourite element - the sea.  I made this Ocean Wave pendant in response to the latest Wire Goddess challenge on Etsy:

And, because I recently promised myself I wasn't going to assume I couldn't do something, I turned an idle sketch of Neptune into this slightly mad ocean-themed pendant:

I also decided to make an underwater pendant for myself, for a change:

The voting is now open for the Wire Goddess Challenge - Splendor of The Sea.  Please pop over and cast your vote - all votes are welcome! www.surveymonkey.com/s/V2QS8GL

I'll be working on my blog more in the coming weeks, and will try and share more about my techniques and inspiration - time has run away with me recently, as usual! :)

And the Winner of the Giveaway is ...

Marianna Adams!  As is traditional, I put the slips of paper in my (straw) hat, and my independent judge (hubby) selected the winning slip.  I will be contacting Marianna shortly to let her know, and the Silver Birch pendant will be winging its way to her.  Thank you so much to everyone who commented, and please stay tuned - there's bound to be another giveaway sooner or later!

In the meantime, after the hectic week I had last week, I shall start catching up with the blogs and Facebook pages of those of you who have them - it's always nice to find new talent and inspiration! :)

I won!!!

I can't believe it - I won the Wirework category of Beads and Beyond magazine's Jewellery Competition of the Year with my Lazing on a Sunny Afternoon necklace!

I am so thrilled, I just can't put it into words!  So ... we'll leave it at that.

And just to remind you all, my giveaway ends on Sunday, so if you'd like to win this pendant:

all you need to do is follow this blog (you can still enter if you're already following it!) and post a comment.  Or you can go to my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/LouiseGoodchildDesigns and leave a comment on either my Timeline or on the giveaway post pinned to the top left of the page.  If Facebook won't let you do that, please let me know - it's been giving me the serious runaround this week - just what you don't need when you're in the middle of a giveaway! >:(

Thank you to all who have entered so far, and good luck - the draw will go ahead on Sunday! :)

Giveaway Time!

I'm back from a lovely holiday in Norfolk, where we 'enjoyed' an even more eclectic selection of the British weather than usual.  Inspiration wasn't lacking, and I produced a couple of pieces to choose from for my entry into the latest Wire Goddess challenge, which I'll blog about next time.  I also played about with wrapping one of the beautiful pebbles that Norfolk's beaches are studded with:

And, for anyone who thinks that Norfolk is just flat, let me tell you it has some of the most stunning forests in the country.  I'd never actually seen an entire forest of silver birches before (right next to a pine forest) and as the silver birch is my favourite tree, I was inspired to make this tree of life pendant, with a cluster of violets at the base of the tree:

I recently reached 100,000 overall views on my Flickr album (which, while not a significant milestone to some, still makes me feel chuffed!), and to thank all those of you who have taken the time to look at my work, I've decided to give away the tree pendant.

 

All you have to do is leave a comment on my blog (and follow it if you aren't already) and/or leave a comment on my Facebook page LouiseGoodchildDesigns by next Sunday 13th May.  Feel free to like my Facebook page too - if you do like it! - but it's not obligatory.  I will put the names into my trusty straw hat next Sunday, and will contact the name drawn by an independent judge (my long-suffering hubby again) to obtain your address.  If you would like me to hang the pendant from a simple thong so that it's ready to wear, just let me know.

Again, thank you so much for taking an interest in my work, and please do keep coming back - I'm not done yet! :D