Neon Ring Set Giveaway

 Children's Neon ring set

Okay, it's been a while since I've run a giveaway, so I thought it was about time for another one!  To celebrate the new neon additions to the children's jewellery range, I am giving away a set of three neon flower rings (see above)!!!  And for those who don't have any little ones, you can choose to have the ring set made in adult's size instead.  What do you have to do to win a funky set of neon rings?  Fill in the Rafflecopter form below, that's it!

Important stuff: this giveaway will run until midnight, April 20th, 2014.  The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my notifying email before I choose a new winner.

Adult's Neon ring set

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My Creative Space: Mr Darcy Charm Necklaces

I have been a fan of charm jewellery since I was very young, so you can imagine how pleased I am to have finally thought of a way to combine my love for charm jewellery, my literature jewellery range, vintage keys and floral cabochons!

I am only at the early stages of designing this exciting new range, but I am over the moon with the results I have achieved so far.  Each necklace will carry five charms consisting of a floral cabochon, a vintage skeleton or luggage key, a metal charm, a pretty beaded dangle and, the piece de resistance, a small cameo setting inset with the name of a famous (or drool-worthy) literary character.

Not only am I having tonnes of fun making these new necklaces for my Two Cheeky Monkeys stores, but I put aside some time to make one for myself!  I chose to go with my favourite Austen novel, Persuasion, what do you think?

Things I Love - Cupcakes

Some of you will know that I have been on a five year long quest to lose all the baby weight I put on having the Two Cheeky Monkeys.  My attempts have gotten more serious in the last six or so months, so this blog post is purely about vicarious enjoyment of one of my favourite treats, cupcakes!  There are all sorts of amazing recipes to be found in blogland; here are some of my current favourites.

This recipe combines two of my favourite things, cacti AND cupcakes!

If you can stop eating Easter eggs long enough to bake with them, these Easter egg cupcakes would be fun to bake.

Simple but oh so sweet, macaron "flower" cupcakes!

DIY Flower Headband

I think this will be the last blog post this year where I mention the Two Cheeky Monkeys' annual school fete, I promise!  Every year the fete committee decide on a theme for the fete and everyone is invited to dress up for the day.  This year, our fete theme is "Carnivale", so the Cheeky Monkeys have decided to go decked out in their brightest, most colourful clothes, topped off with a floral headpiece a la Frida Kahlo.  Of course, I was asked to create said floral headpieces, so I decided to write up a tutorial as well!

Supplies

• fabric faux flowers (I used polyester ones, but you may want to go for the more luscious silk flowers)
• fabric-covered headband (or cover a plastic or metal one yourself)
• hot glue and hot glue gun

Method

 

1. Remove the fabric flowers from the stems, vines or whatever base to which they're attached.  Snip off as much of the stem of the flower as possible to flatten out the flower base without resulting in your flower falling apart into separate petals.

2. Decide on the arrangement you want for your flowers and start attaching them to the headband with hot glue.

3. Tidy up any stray bits of hot glue and make sure all your flowers and petals are firmly attached to the headband.  Add more hot glue as needed to ensure your floral headpiece stay intact.  Once done, you or your little one can wear the headband with pride, all ready for your festival, fete, or day out in the sunshine. 

Saying farewell to an era

Can you believe that I started selling dictionary page art prints all the way back in 2010?  The last four years have brought amazing and exciting twists and turns to this range of creations, with custom orders ranging from musical instruments to animals and ordinary household items, and an offshoot range of dictionary page greeting cards.

I have enjoyed working on the dictionary art range, and have enjoyed even more hearing my customers' stories and seeing their photos of the art prints in action.  But, as they say, all good things must come to an end.

After four fun years, I have decided to phase out the dictionary page range to focus on the burgeoning literature and cabochon jewellery ranges.  This means that you will have the opportunity to purchase all remaining stock at heavily discounted prices.  All items have been discounted by 25%-35% and no further discounts apply.  Items are already discounted in both my Madeit and Etsy stores. so get in quickly before they're all sold out.

Things I Love - Flowers

Nothing can make me smile quite like having a beautiful bunch of flowers cheering up my dining table!  I'm not really too fussed what flowers we have at any given time, just so long as I have a little spot of colour and beauty to brighten up the room.  Do you have a favourite flower you love to have around your home?

Tutorial Roundup - Felt Creations

Here at the home of Two Cheeky Monkeys, we are big fans of creating with felt.  I'm not sure when my love of felt began, but I think the little Cheeky Monkeys got their love of felt when I started making felt food toys for them when they were toddlers.  Now that they are older, they can create simple felt projects on their own.  The tutorials I've collated here will suit a range of skills, though some are more suited for children and others for adults.  Enjoy!

I love all the felty tutorials over at Bugs and Fishes!

i Manufatti also has lots of sweet tutorials.

How Joyful has the cutest hot air balloon mobile tutorial.

Make an iPhone cozy out of felt.

Felt creations don't just have to be cutesy, as these sophisticated coasters demonstrate.