I’d love it if you felt so inclined as to vote for me in the first ever Poppies – a series of indie design awards being run by the lovely Jan at Poppytalk blog.

You can vote for my handmade jewellery right here.

Just scroll down to check my name and then a bit further down to click on ‘vote’ … and that’s it!

I’m thrilled to be in the running and have my fingers crossed for a happy outcome! Winners will be announced on 5 February 2010.

Good luck to everyone else in the running for a Poppy too. View all of the award categories and get voting for your favourite indie designers!

Even I think it’s still a tad early to start shopping for the festive season! However, as someone running a micro business I can tell you that having everyone go shopping in the last few weeks tends to result in a Christmas day where I’m so exhausted I just want to fall over!

Not that I’m complaining of course, but I thought I’d offer people a temptation to get shopping in earnest a bit earlier this year.

I’m offering a 15% discount across my entire range of jewellery for purchases made before 28 November. Just enter the code earlybird09 when you checkout to receive your discount.

Feel free to pass it on to friends and family – especially if you’ve got your eye on something for yourself, of course!

Also make sure you check out my new range of handmade jewellery. I’ve added a few more pieces in the last couple of days.

Note that this discount is valid in both my international handmade jewelry shop and my Australian and New Zealand handmade jewellery shop. It is not valid in other outlets.

Finally today I’ve managed to do something I’ve been meaning to organise for ages – I’ve written an environment and ethics statement for my shops, plus I’ve added a carbon offset contribution which buyers can purchase along with any jewellery they buy from me.

Every business has an environmental and ethical impact and a micro business run by an indie designer is no different. Don’t believe anyone who claims that an indie business is somehow green or socially responsible by default purely because it’s indie!

Of course buying handmade and from indie businesses does come with a number of plusses in terms of moving away from mass-production, but there’s a lot more to it than that.

My business makes its mark on the environment in terms of having a web presence, an internet connection, hardware, tools, materials, shipping, chemicals, lighting, paper … and more.

Of course being a jewellery maker comes with its own special array of environmental issues, such as in relation to the mining of precious metals and gemstones (both have serious ethical issues as well), the use of sometimes very toxic chemicals and so on.

I do what I can to minimise the impact of my business on the environment, but there will always be something to offset when it comes to greenhouse gases. Given that customers ultimately have to pay the cost of such offsets (a business has to pay for itself, of course), I’ve decided to be transparent and give my customers the option to contribute voluntarily.

So there is now a small carbon offset available for purchase in both my Australian handmade jewellery shop and my international handmade jewelry shop.

The contributions I collect will be donated quarterly to Carbon Neutral, a non-profit carbon offset organisation operated in Australia.

I’ve also written an environment and ethics statement to outline how I try to minimise the negative impact my business might have on the environment and the world in general.

Plus I’ve now identified the handmade jewellery I make which is specifically designed to help me recycle some of the scrap silver which is leftover from other pieces, meaning that only small pieces are set aside for refining. View my recycled jewellery.

Yesterday I redid the jewellery photographs that I’d taken the previous day and I’m much happier with the results. So I’ve started listing more new work in my handmade jewellery shop.

Much of this work I had previously started but not resolved – some over a year ago! So I made an effort to go back to the pieces lurking around my bench and finally got them completed and ready to put into production.

This ironwork pattern pendant is a smaller, redesigned version of the ironwork pendant I have been making for some time. It is based on an antique ironwork pattern and has been intricately cut out of sterling silver.

The pendant is 1.6cm (0.63″) tall and wide and is suspended on a blackened sterling silver chain with handmade findings.

These ixora flower pieces were inspired by the gorgeous bunches of ixora flowers in vibrant yellows and oranges that I saw in the lush tropical gardens of Bali.

The flowers are made in a metal called shibuchi. This is a Japanese alloy of 75% copper and 25% silver. Its colour varies from an golden-pink through to a light copper colour, depending much it has oxidised, meaning the colour of the pieces will vary over time as you wear them – and can of course be quickly cleaned of tarnish in silver dip to get back to the original colouring.

The ixora flowers pendant features five flowers suspended from a narrow oval of sterling silver so they hang in a cluster which changes depending on how the flowers fall. The pendant is on my favourite simple sterling silver chain with handmade findings.

The ixora flower earrings feature one flower per earring suspended from handmade sterling silver ear wires. They will swing as you move.

I’ve also added two new pairs of cufflinks to my jewellery for men range. The above damask cufflinks feature my favourite damask-style pattern. The pattern has been blackened and then the piece has been tumbled to polish the entire cufflinks, but also to give the pattern a gunmetal grey type finish.

The other pair I’ve added have a very 1960s looking circles pattern on them. Visit my jewellery for men section (also in my Australian shop) to see more.

There is more handmade jewellery already listed and more yet still to come. For now you can check out everything that’s new in my handmade jewelry shop (prices in US$, delivery everywhere) or my handmade jewellery shop (prices in AU$, delivery to Australia and NZ).

I’ll post about more new pieces soon.

I’ve just added two shiny new rings to my handmade jewellery shop. The rings each feature beautiful deep pink lab-grown rubies. The tube settings that the rubies are set into are connected to the ring shank by loops at the back, meaning that each setting moves freely around the ring.

One version is a two settings ring with one stone larger than the other. The other features a single ruby setting. Of course both are also available in my Australian handmade jewellery shop.

Quite some time ago I made one of these rings for myself and I love wearing it. I particularly like the way the stones move as I do – and of course I can’t stop fiddling with it when I have it on!

The choice to use lab-grown gemstones is partly down to the fact that they are identical on a molecular level to a mined gemstone, but are flawless and beautifully coloured, while also being a lot more affordable. But also they are a more ethical choice given that there is none of the massive environmental damage that mining can cause and none of the other issues such as mistreated workers or gems being used to fund wars.

Photographing jewellery

I took the photographs of the rings today – the first time I’ve photographed my work in my new home, so it was a bit of an experiment. I’m not thrilled with how the shots I took today (including of a number of other new pieces) came out so I think I’ll have another go at them soon.

Part of the issue was down to wanting to make better use of natural light in my much brighter home, but only finding the time to take the photos on a very windy day with clouds coming and going, meaning the light level changed constantly – not ideal! But also I think the spot I chose just wasn’t quite right. I’ll see how I go in another location as soon as I get a chance.

Just a note to let you know that I’ve just added a number of pieces to the sale section of my handmade jewellery shop to help clear the way for new work.

Some of these pieces have never been sold online before and for many there is just one remaining in stock.

So stop by the sale section and take a peek! I hope to be adding more in the next little while.

PS. Australian and NZ customers can visit the handmade jewellery sale in my Australian dollar shop.