Glen Rosa 17th February 2010

Thought we've had the last of the snow this winter, but, no, some fell last night & this morning mountains looked gorgeous. So, of course I went for a walk :)
Would have loved to get all the way to the saddle, but as it happened my wellies weren't that comfortable for a 3h walk, still I'm happy I wore them as the snow on the ground was melting fast by midday.
Here's a view of Glen Rosa towards the Saddle.

Synergy

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=113153

Ok, sometimes I'm too lazy, or simply don't have enough time to search in order to find new items for my next treasury. But I love making treasuries. So, often I go to the shops of the Jet & McEtsy teams I'm in & pick something I like there or something that fits the theme. Recently, for the first time in about half a year, I began using Pounce feature on Etsy again in order to find items for my treasuries. It has a choice of Undiscovered/Just Sold. This treasury was made with some items using this feature & featuring sellers who haven't yet had any sales on Etsy and/or have recently joined. Plus, some new items from my 'old' favourites. & While I like finding new items & sellers and making a treasury with lots of 'fresh' talent, it got me thinking - what about those that only had a sale or two? Their shops would not show up in Pounce & it would be much harder to find them on Etsy if not searching the particular thing they're making/selling. More often than not, it's hard for people to start an online shop & get some exposure for it & get it 'off the ground' - I would not say that my own shop is 'off the ground' yet! & this is something that Etsy is failing at - giving equal & regular exposure and promotion to all its sellers. They seem to strive for a certain aesthetic, a brand, but for a site that is supposedly promotes handmade it fails to realise that handmade is not just one aesthetic, it's not just one fashion, one trend - it's a community (however un-uniformed) & in a community every member has to have a voice & some attention. Not least because each seller tries to promote their Etsy shop wherever they can & by extent Etsy itself, so it doesn't seem that much to ask that Etsy promotes its sellers in return. Does it?

Spring Colour Series - Aurora

My Swirl Me pendant was featured by Nicolle in her Silver Canyons blog. Check out her article & see her picks from the JET team HERE.

22 January 2010 Isle of Arran, Scotland, between Brodick & Sannox

Spring Colour Series I - Turquoise

The inspiration is from the Spring-Summer designer collections. I'm really exited about this colour as it's one of my favourites!

You can find different shades of it in different stones - Turquoise, Chrysoprase, Chalcedony, Aquamarine ... mix and match different shades for a great look, layer them to add more colour & add them to your LBD or work outfit for a splash of colour!

If you're interested in latest trends SilverCanyons has a feature on her blog where she features the latest colour trends and fellow Jetteam members's work. You can find it here .

Here's to the last day of 2009

HAPPY 2010 EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!

Goatfell this afternoon.

Washed up on the beach

Walk in the forest in the foothills of Goatfell

The full Moon this evening. I'm always mesmerised by the Moon & today it's absolutely beautiful, my camera doesn't do justice to it.

Views exchange

On our last morning in Lamlash was greeted with this spectacular sunrise

Simply HAD to get to the beach to capture this one.

This is the view from my study now (snow fell during our move)

Can see Goatfell from the window too :D (I've been at the top!... and so are thousands of others)

This was the view early in the morning

Slightly later first rays of sun showed up

:D

♣♣♣ CHRISTMAS ORDERS & ORDERS BETWEEN 17th DECEMBER & 2nd JANUARY ♣♣♣

Christmas orders are now closed - due to moving house I will not be able to dispatch your order in time for Christmas.
There will be delays in dispatching orders between 17th December & 2th January for the same reason.

Thank you!
Olga

Turquoise Studs Giveaway Winner

Ok, finally got a free minute, well, not exactly, just had to squeeze one in!

& the winner of the Turquoise Studs Giveaway is

JennTRC

Appologies to all of you so patiently waiting & congrats to the winner (I'll be emailing you shortly).

Delay

Sorry about the delay in announcing the winner - I'll be back as soon as there is a wee bit of time to do so.

PS. Don't try to move house before Christmas - not easy!

CHRISTMAS ORDERS

If you're planning to make a Christmas purchase, please note that we'll be moving house before Christmas, & I also have 3 Christmas markets before then. If you'd like to receive your purchase before Christmas, please make sure you allow plenty of time for dispatch and delivery. It is best to make all purchases before the end of November. Dispatch after 10th December might be somewhat erratic. I will not be making anything new until we settle in our new home & it is more than likely that I will not be able to dispatch anything between 18 December & 5 January.

Thanks a lot for your understanding!

MonkeyBuns Giveaway

Just thought to let you know about this $10 gift certificate giveaway by a friend - Krystal Backer of MonkeyBuns.
Please visit her blog for more details for your chance to win this great prize. & don't forget to check out her Etsy shop - I love her beaded cuffs and I'm sure you will too.

Bonfire Night (belated Guy Fawkes)

Bonfire weekend in Lamlash on the green in front of the beach with an effigy

Fireworks

More wonderful fireworks

People gathered in front of the fire

Sparkles

GIVEAWAY - Natural Turquoise Stud Earrings

A very special prize of handcrafted stud earrings made with completely natural untreated hand-carved and roughly faceted organic look Turquoise. Each stone is individually cut from a rough by me. It has no treatment whatsoever, so you will have to treat it well! :D
More photos can be found here.

Here is what you have to do to enter:

You do not have to be a blogger to enter. Please make sure to leave your email address so I can notify you if you are a winner. Please separate each entry (you do not have to follow them in order! :D).

1. For first/one entry etc.
Check out my Etsy shop. Come back here to my blog and post a comment on the item you're most likely to buy as a present or would like yourself from my shop with a link to the item.

2.
Visit my ArtFire shop & do the same as per First entry.

3.

Visit my website & do the same as per First entry.

4.
Join my mailing list. Emails are sent out 4 times a year to let you know about seasonal happenings.


5.
If you would like..you can blog about this giveaway or have the giveaway or my work featured (Please post the url link if you decide to do this.)

6.
Become a fan on my Facebook page. Once you become a fan, you will get to know about the newest items, the times of the giveaways and other special offers.

7.
You can simply follow this blog.

8.
Let me know your favourite gemstone - if you had a choice of just one, which one would you go for?

This Giveaway ends on Sunday, November 29th, 2009 at 12:00 Midnight GMT. A winner will be chosen randomly using a Randomizer. I will disclose the winner on Monday, November 30th, 2009 here on this blog.

Good Luck and Thank you for participating!

T&C: Only 1 pair of earrings to be won by 1 person. Entries that do not follow the rules will be deleted. All comments are moderated, it might take a while for your comment to appear, however I will be checking them regularly. All prizes are posted by standard post. Proof of posting is always obtained. Responsibility for the delivery of the prize resides with the posting service and not the seller.

Ayr

Sandy beach (with seaweed)

Cleaner when the tide is out!

Dead visitors...

View of the Isle of Arran from Ayr beach

The view of Ayrshire coast

Sunset over roof tops in Ayr

GIVEAWAY WINNER

Thank you ALL for participating. & Thank you so much for answering questions for this giveaway. I'm always curious what gemstones and colours other people like - much easier to get to know these things at a craft fair, but it seems that blog is a good way to ask you all that as well :D THANK YOU!

Ok, the hard bit.... and the winner of the second giveaway this autumn is:

lin3arossa

Congratulations! & I'll be emailing you shortly.

Next GIVEAWAY details will be posted this WEDNESDAY.

Goatfell Walk

Starting point of Brodick and view of our destination.

Forest path

View across moorland towards the interior of the island

Keep to the path :D - lovely path to keep people from going across the moors (quite a few folk end up being rescued in these parts)

View back towards Brodick & Holy Isle visible as a little lump

Towards mainland

Gorgeous slopes & the incoming rain (already got a shower about half an hour previously!)

The last bit of stretching across stones was the most difficult one, and that's where a lot of folk took regular breaks. As you can see this walk is somewhat popular - even with a few people around, it felt like a traffic jam!

View to the left when accending - towards the 'bottom' end of the island and Ailsa Craig

View down towards Brodick (the bay with green fields around it), with Holy Isle visible (the lump) & Lamlash is across the stretch of water from the Holy Isle in the bay parallel to Brodick.

View back towards the path we just came by along the ridge

View down into the glen towards Corrie & the mainland

More gorgeous views (mainland looks so pretty from this high up)

AT THE TOP!!!!!!!!

That's what we did this for! View of Arran's Corbetts

The view from 2,866 ft down to Glen Rossa

Looks like the dog likes the view too!

And now all the way back down.... EASY!