Posts tagged ‘holidays’

Getting it together!

Fisherman's Bay shackYes, I am still alive!

And things are finally improving as I get over the horror start to the year. Right now I’m working hard to get myself back on track again.

So while I’m busy doing the belated planning, organising and thinking that I normally do right at the start of the year, I thought I’d share a few photos I took a couple of days before Christmas while I was on holidays to spend time with my family.

These were taken in a very odd little town called Fisherman’s Bay which is on the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia – just down the road from where my parents now live.

I spent an hour or so wandering around the town taking these photos while I was still very ill with bronchitis – which didn’t seem a good fit with the beaming sunshine and heat! But it was nice to be out doing something different and to be spotting new details around the town that I hadn’t noticed on previous visits.

Fisherman's Bay shack

The town is full of mostly very roughly built holiday shacks, many of which are quite old. For much of the year the town is mostly empty, given that there are very few permanent residents. However, after Christmas particularly it fills up with people who come to the town to relax and go fishing.

Chairs by the water in Fisherman's Bay

I’m not sure I’d find it especially relaxing as the place gets very hot at that time of year and most of the buildings look like they’d be impossible to keep cool!

'Please shut the gate' - sign on a playground in Fisherman's Bay

Because of the fascinating ‘handmade’ type of buildings, the fact that the town looks like its from another era and also because it’s very often deserted, I find it a wonderful place to go and take photographs. It’s a bit like wandering around a film set, only it’s all real.

Roof gable from a Fisherman's Bay shack.

You can find more of these photos on Flickr.

The twelve deals of Christmas: week two!

This is week two of my Christmas deals – each week in the lead up to Christmas I’m going to be offering a special deal on two pieces of handmade jewellery in my range for one week only. This includes some of my most popular pieces.

I will post the deals on my blog every Monday until Christmas. You can also bookmark the ‘special deals’ pages in my Australian shop and international shop.

For week two the deals are:

Butterfly wing earrings


To create these eye-catching earrings, an intricate butterfly wing design has been cut out by hand in sterling silver.

The silver is given a brushed but shiny finish and the earrings are finished with handmade sterling silver ear wires.

One of my own favourite designs!

Sulphur crested cockatoo earrings


These cufflinks were inspired by the many lovely sulphur crested cockatoos I see around my home – birds with a lot of personality!

The silhouettes of two slightly different cockatoos have been cut out by hand in sterling silver which has been given a brushed satin finish.

The cockatoos are backed by hammer-beaten panels which are finished with sterling silver swivelling cufflink findings.

The twelve deals of Christmas – week one!

Each week in the lead up to Christmas I’m going to be offering a special deal on two pieces of handmade jewellery in my range – so twelve pieces in total.

Each piece will be discounted from its usual price, but for just one week only! This will include some of my most popular pieces.

I will post the deals of the week right here on my blog every Monday until Christmas. You can also bookmark the ‘special deals’ pages in my Australian shop and international shop and check back weekly.

So to kick off the very first week I’m offering special deals on the following pieces:

Butterfly wing pendant on chain with gold and gemstones

This is the deluxe version of my butterfly wing pendant – one of my most popular designs for the last few years.

The wing has been intricately cut out in sterling silver and is suspended from a delicate sterling silver chain.

Hanging next to the pendant is a small ring of 14ct gold with two faceted ametrine and one amethyst gemstone beads, all of which are suspended from 14ct gold pins.

Leaf and bud earrings

These earrings were inspired by a beautiful leaf I photographed at the lovely Mt Tomah Botanic Gardens not too far from my home.

Each leaf is cut out by hand in sterling silver which has been hammer beaten to give it an organic texture and shape. The pendant has a satin finish.

Suspended from a sterling silver headpin in front of each leave is a lovely hand cut pear-shaped faceted garnet which has a deep wine colour.

The leaves are finished with curvy handmade hook ear wires in sterling silver.

Earlybird holiday discount – get in quick!

Mock orange blossom brooch - sterling silver.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.

Season’s greetings

Christmas pudding.
I’m a day late, but I would like to wish all of my friends, customers and anyone who happens across this a happy festive season, whatever it is that you may or may not observe.

I’m spending the season with my family in rural South Australia. Above is a photograph of my family’s traditional Christmas pudding, as devoured after a long roast turkey lunch on Christmas Day. The pudding is a bit different to the regular ones as it’s quick and easy to cook, can be made on the day and – being a recipe from clearly poverty-stricken times – it has no eggs, no suet and cold tea for flavouring rather than alcohol. And, oddly enough, it’s delicious – especially when smothered in brandy sauce!

As the new year looms I hope all of you have a wonderful 2009. I’m certainly hoping for some major improvements on 2008, which has been a very difficult year for me personally.

Succulents and a bird tap in my parents’ garden.
Some succulents in my parents’ garden and their lovely bird tap – taken on Christmas Day.

Are we there yet?

Picture frame pendant by Simone Walsh. Well, nearly – Christmas is almost here! And once it arrives I shall be collapsed in a heap after a few very busy weeks involving lots of jewellery making.

I thought I would provide a quick update about festive season shipping for those of you who are still shopping for gifts.

It’s now getting very late in terms of delivery outside of Australia, but it’s not yet impossible that your gifts will arrive in time as I find the post office to be very efficient at this time of year. However, as each day passes it becomes less likely. If you’d like to take a chance, visit my handmade jewelry shop to make your purchase asap.

For Australian customers, you should be fine to order by standard delivery until around 17 December. From then on I strongly recommend that you upgrade to Express Post, which you can do when you checkout from my Australian handmade jewellery shop.

Note that my suggested cut off date for Express Post within Australia is for orders to be placed by the end of Sunday 21 December. After the following day I will be away in an area where overnight delivery is not guaranteed – I can still post your items, but it’s not certain that they will arrive in time.

Holiday shopping & shipping

Forget me not pendant on red silk by Simone Walsh.Yes, Christmas is almost upon us! And things are rather overwhelming at Simone Walsh Central (aka my place!). But I thought I’d take a quick break to fill you in on shipping deadlines and more re my handmade jewellery shop over the next couple of weeks.

Shipping

Orders outside of Australia: The earlier the shop, the more guarantee you have that items will arrive before Christmas. However, if you order by 14 December then you should be fine in terms of delivery. After that date, orders may well still arrive, but you will be pushing your luck!

Orders within Australia: You will be fine to order up until 20 December for delivery within Australia. However, from 17 December at the latest you should select Express Post to ensure your items arrive on time.

Find out more about shipping.

Gift certificates

If you do run out of time or you’re really not sure what to get someone, I now have gift certificates available in various amounts.

If you purchase a gift certificate I will email it to you as a PDF that you can print out in either colour or black and white to give to the recipient – so you can buy them as late as you wish.

Life = work

I pretty much have no life at the best of times. But at this time of year I really have no life at all. My existence pretty much entirely involves working, sleeping a bit, working some more, eating hurried meals, working again, etc..

Components and finished pieces after a few days of hard work.

Funnily enough, I realise that I could probably get more done more efficiently if I worked less. But because I work too much I have to keep working too much because I’m less efficient than I should be because I work too much. I’m sure that makes perfect sense!

Anyway, I thought I would share the above photograph with you after a few days of hard work to catch up on handmade jewelry stock for Christmas. I did actually get a bit more done than this, but some was put away already and other pieces had already been sent to customers.

And now … back to the grindstone!

button-go-shopping

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