I’ve been wanting to do this list for such a long time and finally today I managed to nab a Treasury spot on Etsy.

My Treasury is a collection of just a few of the excellent metalworking makers who are part of the Etsy Metal street team.

The primary theme I had in mind was simply to show some beautifully coloured images of great looking metal pieces.

Most of my images tend to be on matte black backgrounds or very faintly decorative white backgrounds, but I love looking at the colours used in the photography of my peers.

So while it lasts, visit my Mettle Treasury list - and have a good look around at some of the others too.

In case you’re not aware, a big part of the Treasury on Etsy is to ‘embrace the decay’ lists disappear after just a couple of days, never to be seen again.

Congratulations to Marianna, who has won this handmade swallow pendant in the recent Rare Birds Finds competition.

Thanks to the lovely Rare Birds for the opportunity to take part in their competition for June.

Well, it’s now not really that new - it’s just taken me a while to blog about it! But I’m taking advantage of a long weekend to catch up.

Recently I created some new pieces to sell via my two new online shops; Bouf.com and Mintd.com.

My favourite of the new pieces is this butterfly pendant on black silk. The pendant has been meticulously cut out by hand in sterling silver and is suspended on doubled up strands of black natural silk thread.

This piece uses the full version of the same design I’ve utilised for the single butterfly wing pendant I have been making for a while now.

You can find this pendant for sale both in my Bouf shop (prices in UK Pounds Sterling) and my Mintd shop (prices in your choice of currency).

This pendant features a Japanese chrysanthemum pattern which has been etched onto a panel of sterling silver. The panel is suspended on doubled up strands of deep red natural silk thread with handmade sterling silver findings.

I have made a few of these pendants utilising different Japanese-inspired patterns and suspended on different colours of silk thread. This particular version can currently be found in my Mintd shop.

You can also find a different version in my Bouf shop. Keep your eyes peeled for other versions to be listed in these shops along with Etsy at some stage soon.

Previously I’ve blogged about the swallow pendant I am giving away in June on Rare Birds Finds, well here are the matching swallow earrings.

The silhouette of a flying swallow has been cut by hand in sparkly hammer-beaten panels of sterling silver which are suspended from handmade sterling silver hoop earrings. These earrings are currently available in all three of my online shops: Etsy, Mintd and Bouf.

Plus you can find the matching brooch (above left) in this series on Bouf and Mintd.

I have recently also started making jewellery sets in my Japanese pattern etch range. These sets feature a pendant suspended on natural silk thread in a variety of colours, along with a pair of matching earrings. The pendant and the pieces for the earrings have all been cut from the same etched panel of sterling silver, so the pattern lines up.

Currently I have variations of these sets available in my Mintd shop (also see here) and my Bouf shop. I hope to have some listed in my Etsy shop soon too, so keep an eye out.

I’m giving away a handmade swallow pendant via the lovely Rare Birds Finds blog this month. All you need to do to enter is provide them with the address of Make Me, this very blog. Easy, huh? Especially if you found out about it here!

So hurry and enter the competition. The winner will be announced on 17 June.

The pendant features a swallow sillhouette which has been handcut from a hammer-beaten sheet of sterling silver. It is suspended on black natural silk thread and has handmade sterling silver findings. As you can see, the shape of the swallow will show through whatever you are wearing (or not!) beneath it.

At the moment I don’t have this item listed for sale anywhere, but it will retail for around US$74.

You can find the same design created as a brooch (or pin for those of you in the US) in my shop on Mintd.com and also my Bouf.com shop. The matching earrings also appear in both of these shops as well as my handmade jewellery shop on Etsy.com.

Good luck!

… As you can probably tell from my previous posts. So, dammit, I’m taking one!

I’ve completely stunned myself by booking a holiday to Ubud in Bali in mid-July for ten days. I’ve never seriously pondered Bali as a destination I’d travel to before - it’s really not very ‘me’! However, I’ve been convinced by a few people (including the lovely meringue) that it’s a really great place to go and relax, especially if you avoid the notoriously iffy bits of the island and go at a good time of year (which is pretty much right now).

And a relaxing holiday - as opposed to a ‘travelling’ holiday - is what I desperately need. In fact I don’t think I’ve had one of those for over ten years!

Ubud is in the mountains and I gather it should be quieter and cooler than many places along the coast. It’s also known as being the main centre for fine and performing arts in Bali.

I’ve booked myself into a great looking hotel with gorgeous grounds, a perfect swimming pool (see above!), air conditioned rooms and excellent reviews - the Bali Spirit Hotel.

So now there’s just … a lot to organise!

Today I’ve finally managed to purchase a perfect daypack for getting around with and taking on the plane. This proved to be a surprisingly difficult and long-winded task when shopping online. It was hard enough to find exactly the right type of bag, only to discover that most US retailers completely refuse to ship internationally (I guess my money isn’t good enough for them or something!), while most Australian retailers either have an extremely limited range or utterly over the top pricing ($350 for a daypack? I don’t think so!) and UK retailers have a great range but when you convert things from Pounds Sterling into dollars … ouch. Of course I would love to have purchased one from an indie designer, but I had no luck finding one who makes what I need - although Timbuk2 was indie once upon a time.

Now I need to find some decent walking shoes, organise vaccinations and travel insurance, get my head around the ever-changing visa situation and baggage restrictions, get a letter from my doctor explaining that, yes, I really do need to take all of those medications with me, sort out some bathers/swimmers, get my plants minded … and much more. Nothing like wearing myself out even more before I take my desperately needed rest, huh?!

As for my shops on Etsy, Mintd and Bouf … I’ve decided to keep all of them open but will try to make it as clear as possible that there will be a delay in terms of shipping, which I will get to asap upon my return to Australia after my ten day trip. If you’re considering purchasing something for a gift or an event, you might like to bear this in mind.