The festive season is heading our way faster than a speeding bullet!

This year I’m hoping to encourage people to shop early to avoid too much of a last minute rush.

So if blog readers would like to purchase any of my handmade jewelry for Christmas, place your order by Monday 1 December 2008 and use the code early to receive a 10% discount.

Visit my handmade jewelry shop to use the discount code. The code is also valid in my Australian handmade jewellery shop for Australian and New Zealand customers.

Those of you in the US can think of this as a Black Friday / Cyber Monday sale, of course!

Festive season deliveries

The earlier you place orders for Christmas gifts, the more certain you can be of the items arriving in time. However, I suggest customers keep in mind the following dates:

• Australian customers: order by 17 December for regular post and by 21 December for Express Post
• New Zealand customers: order by 17 December
• Other customers: order by 14 December

Orders placed after these dates may still arrive in time, but they may not.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just a quick note to wish all of my US readers who celebrate it a very happy Thanksgiving!

Yes, I’ve been ill - for days now. But bizarrely enough it’s actually enabled a lot of productivity on the jewellery making front (although a lot less on other fronts) - as you can see below!

Some of the jewellery I’ve made in the last few days, some finished, some not quite finished

For some reason I’ve been left with sharp stabbing pain in my head after a short-lived virus. The only thing I’ve found which has given me any real relief from the pain is to keep busy at my bench. I think the combination of a lot of varied movement with having my ipod blaring in my ears has helped to distract me from the pain. Doing almost anything else has made it worse - including working at my computer, watching television or even just laying down!

Thankfully I’m on the mend now, but I’m also thankful that I’ve been able to get so much making work done, even if I’ve had to neglect a lot of other things.

Much of the handmade jewellery in these photos will be sent off to outlets I sell through, including the sparkly new National Portrait Gallery in Canberra (which opens on 4 December), but some of it is for my own handmade jewellery shop.

Yippee! Congratulations to all of my friends in the US.