this little blog is 2 years old today!!....

I have another excuse to eat birthday cake after last week's celebrations, this blog is 2 years old today!

I've looked back on my posts over the past year and here are some of your favourites (according to Google Analytics that is)....

This is your number 1 post of the past year and all time! Have you made this? I would love to see your pictures

my crafty tips for stamping.... #3 how to stamp

Guest post ~ Spiral Earring Tutorial

Craft A Creative Business Book Review. I also ran a give-away to win this book which was popular.

#CraftBlogClub 2014 Secret Santa Challenge Reveal

Did you have a favourite post?

Book reviews, craft tutorials and #CraftBlogClub challenges were definitely the favourite reads last year.  I plan to continue with these as well as share more of my business top tips and behind the scenes of fizzi~jayne's world.

If you look at the side bar on the right, you can see the top 10 most popular posts of all time from this blog.  Most of my posts from this year appear in this top 10, I hope this is because I have improved as a blogger and because I listened to your feedback from last year's survey and not because my posts from the first year were rubbish, haha! Thank you to everyone who took part in the survey it really helped me shape my blog and what to focus on. I hope you have seen an improvement but have still enjoyed what you liked about my blog since it started.

I always love to hear from you and if there is a topic I've not covered yet that you would like me to write about or if there is something you want to read more of here, please let me know, I truly appreciate your feedback.

I love blogging, it's another form of creativity, a way to share my experiences, ideas, crafty skills and to write about my passion. 

The blogging community is awesome. Since starting this blog I have met so many inspiring crafters and bloggers both in the virtual world but also in real life and some of whom I now consider friends. It's great to meet up with like minded folk to chat about craft and blogging over tea and cake or a glass of Prosecco!

I hope you enjoy reading my ramblings and I am thankful to anyone who makes the time to read my posts.

thank you

fizzi~jayne x

Guest Post ~ Spiral Earrings Tutorial....

When I was looking for guest craft bloggers for my National Craft Month celebrations Sykes Cottages contacted me.  They had created a craft guide featuring a series of easy to follow craft tutorials and were happy for me to feature one of them.

Over to Leanne from Sykes Cottages to tell you more....

Hi, Crafting is one of the world’s most rewarding pastimes; it’s creative, engaging and artistic. Sykes wanted to offer simple handmade craft guides for beginners as a stress-free introduction to the world of craft. After teaming up with six UK-based craft bloggers, we created Simple Handmade Crafts: A Guide for Beginners, to encourage those who’d never tried craft to take up scissors and thread and have a go. All of the tutorials in the guide were designed to be easy to make, giving novices the chance to create something special in just a few simple steps.

One of the tutorials in the guide was contributed by Erin; a UK craft blogger who creates wonderful handmade jewellery and other incredible crafts on her blog, e-eliseETC. Her tutorial for a pair of wire work Spiral Earrings are inexpensive to make and easily-transportable, making it perfect for beginners who’d like to try their hand at basic wire work techniques.

If you’d like to have a go at making these gorgeously simple earrings you can read how below....

You will need:

• Sterling silver wire (0.6mm-0.8mm), 
• Six beads (this tutorial uses Jade rondelle beads 4x6mm), 
• Wire cutters, round and flat nose pliers, 
• A pen 
• A small file.

Step 1:

To begin, cut approximately 2 inches of wire. Using flat-nose pliers, bend one end to form the centre of the earring’s spiral.

Step 2:

Holding the centre loop firmly with the flat-nose pliers, carefully wrap the wire around the centre bend. When you've done this a couple of times, your spiral should begin to take shape.

Step 3:

Once you’re happy with your spiral, use pliers to make a 90-degree bend in the wire in the opposite direction.

You’re now ready to add the beads.

Step 4:

To complete the charm, make a 90-degree bend above the three beads. Then, use pliers to make a small loop which will be used to attach the charm to the earring wire. Repeat the above steps to create a second charm, before setting both aside.

Step 5:  

For the earring wire: cut a 2” length of wire and create a small loop at one end using round nose pliers, this will allow you to attach the charm.

Step 6:

Using a small round object like a pen, make a curved bend in the wire. Then, use round nose pliers to bend the other end of the wire outwards to give the wire its earring shape. Be sure to check if the end of the wire is sharp; if it is, you may like to smooth it down with a file. 

Repeat step five and six for the second earring wire.

Step 7:

To complete your earrings: use pliers to open the small loop on the earring wire and attach the charm. Then, secure the charm in place by closing the loop with the pliers. 

Repeat this step for the second earring and hey presto, you've created a wonderful pair of earrings!

Thank you Leanne for sharing this tutorial. These earrings are so pretty and I can't wait to try making them for myself.  

If you are new to jewellery making and you would like to know more about the basic techniques I would recommend visiting the tutorials here by Beads Direct.  They are free and helped me when I first tried making jewellery.

To find out more about Erin, the blogger behind this tutorial, you can find her over on...
Her blog 
Twitter
Instagram

You can find the other tutorials featured on Sykes Cottages' blog here.

Sykes Cottages kindly provided this tutorial for free and have NOT sponsored me or this blog to use it. You can find out more about Sykes Cottages and their 5,000 self-catering cottages to rent across the UK and Ireland on their website.