A very good evening from Fat Fairy HQ here in Warwickshire!

As I type this there are lots of fireworks going off outside - very thankful that our little Jack Russell has gone deaf and isn't bothered by them any more!

For those of you who read my previous post on our Blog, you will know that last month I took part in a Mug Swap organised by the lovely Hannah from Cup Cake Mumma.  I was 'partnered' with the equally lovely Michelle from Gifted Goodies and so the fun began. We managed to exchange mugs the same week which was very clever of us - especially as we live far apart and had to rely on Royal Mail (have to confess here that I was not convinced that a) they would not break the mug I sent to Michelle + b) it wouldn't get there the next day but I was wrong on both counts!).

Anyway I had taken some photos of my lovely mug when it arrived but, unfortunately, last week someone decided to steal my camera - complete with photos on the memory card.  So had to resort to finding another way to get a photo for you all! Not only did Michelle pick my favourite colour but she also managed to find me an environmentally friendly mug too - BIG thank you to Michelle xx

Bye for now, with love from Fat Fairy Jewellery xx

A Happy 1st November Blog......
Evening everyone - near + far! When I updated our Blog last Sunday with all the events and happenings since we last blogged, I had that feeling that I'd forgotten something quite important and kept going over things in my mind but, no couldn't find anything that I'd not listed and accounted for..... Until the lovely Michelle at Gifted Goodies (http://www.gifted-goodies.co.uk), sent me a tweet saying she'd blogged about our Mug Swap..... And then the penny dropped.... 
We'd both taken part in a Mug Swap arranged via Twitter with the equally lovely Hannah from Cup Cake Mumma (http://cupcakemumma2011.blogspot.co.uk). Michelle and I were paired up and had to swap mugs by the end of October.  Well, it's always difficult buying something for someone that you don't actually know but as Michelle lives in Wales, I was hoping that she or someone close to her, might like the game of Rugby.... as I actually live here in Rugby where the game is thought to have started! So Michelle's parcel was duly sent off to her containing a mug from Rugby and mine arrived the same week - talk about good timing! Michelle had noted that on our website, we state that we try to be as 'green' as possible (my day job is a PA to a Sustainability Director) and when I opened up my parcel, Michelle had sent me a gorgeous pink Ecoc mug!  I would have some photo's to share with you all but last Friday someone decided to steal my camera which contained the photo's.  I was also fund-raising at the time, so I am particularly upset over it. Haven't tried my lovely mug out yet - in fact it's sitting here looking at me! I did think about taking it into the office but then decided to keep it here at home.
The 2nd thing I had forgotten to mention was Mike, the Animal Healer.  Some of you will remember and know that Judy, our little Jack Russell has been poorly for some time now and Uncle Hugh, our lovely vet, is a bit stumped as to what to try next.  Judy keeps biting and chewing her paws till she makes them bleed - silly dog! Mike was recommended to me by a close friend and he was looking for some case studies.  I duly e-mailed him and he very kindly offered to drive over from Kidderminster to see our Judy.  As an Animal Healer, he works intuitively with them - he arrived with a large case containing lots of essential oils and lots of other things.  To cut a long story short, Mike has made two visits to Judy and we've tried various things out on her - including some 'green clay' to rub into her paws when she chews them! As I type this Judy is ready for bed, so I'd best go and sort her out!
Till next time - when hopefully I may have those photo's of our mug swap to share with you all! 
Sweet dreams everyone, with love from us here at Fat Fairy Jewellery HQ + Judy the Jack Russell xx

Good morning from Fat Fairy Jewellery HQ!

Well, deary me I've just looked at the date of our last blog and cannot believe it was back in July...... Can only apologise and say that I'm not quite sure where the time has gone too.... How come we are nearly at the end of October and last night the clocks went back?  Hence yours truly woke up at 5:15am this morning.... so decided to make use of that extra hour and updating our blog is on my daily list!
Well, what have we been up to since we last blogged? Probably easier if I do a 'bullet point' list below - that way I hopefully won't forget anything that we've been up to....
1.  Our jewellery is now on sale at the lovely Brackley Rocks crystal shop in Brackley village.  This is a fantastic opportunity for us and Dianne the lady who owns the shop, is very passionate about crystals and handmade jewellery.  So, if you are in the area there, please pop in and have a look.  Dianne also sells a wonderful selection of crystals and offers treatments too - the shop has a lovely energy about it.
2.  We've been busy making more jewellery - both to sell and to give friends as presents.  One project I set myself was to make a gemstone necklace for a very dear friend who is recovering from cancer.  I rang some friends of mine who run another crystal shop locally and they advised me to use 'Petalite' crystals as they are a great to help a person recover and heal.  Only problem was, I couldn't find Petalite in bead form anywhere - tried all our favourite suppliers but no-one had ever seen Petalite in bead form and, I'm guessing, if it is available anywhere, I should imagine it is probably very expensive!  Anyway, I managed to find some gorgeous Petalite tumblestones - one raw and two polished (this beautiful crystal comes in white + pink) and I then made a wire 'cage' to encase the crystal (as per photo below).  I was really pleased with it and it was duly sent via Royal Mail down to Hampshire to my friend who has, apparently, worn it ever since.  
3.  We have also been very lucky to have been included in another lovely website called Poppito run by the lovely Rebecca who, this week, has had a 'Pop-up' shop down in Bristol.  Again, another fantastic opportunity for us to get Fat Fairy Jewellery out + about!
4.  As you all know (from previous post), we have a new baby due in the family very soon now, so I've been busy knitting. The pram blanket has been completed and is already up in Preston waiting for the arrival of Baby Boylin.  I've started on a little baby jacket but, boy, does it look small!
5.  My son and his partner saw a lovely baby blanket in a store (who shall remain nameless just in case!) in the Trafford Centre, Manchester.  It was gorgeous but I thought the price was ridiculous, so offered to try and find some similar wool - which I did finally track down in a lovely wool shop over in Hinckley, Leics.  It's an unusual colour combination for a baby (see photo below) but am hoping it knits up well.  Will keep you all posted on that one!
6. Back in August saw me heading north to stay with my son and his partner and we went down to Trafford Park to purchase the cot from John Lewis.  Gosh how things have changed since I had the twins...... John Lewis were great - as you would expect and the cot was duly delivered in September.  As it happened, Paul's dad was up staying with them that weekend, so he could help with the cot-building!
7.  We also supported a charity based up north called 'All join Jack' by sending them 50 pairs of our ear-rings for their Ladies Night which, we gather, was a huge success.  Photo below of our lovely ear-rings, all wrapped up individually and ready to be posted!
8. Last week saw us supporting the 'Wear it Pink' to work day - big thank you to my company for letting me organise and run the event.  We sold cakes, jewellery, cards and also had the Book People with us who will also donate 10% of their sales to the Breast Cancer Campaign.

Well, folks I think that's about all for now - had best get on with some more knitting!  Promise we won't leave it so long next time but if there is a gap it might just be because we've had to head north when baby arrives!
With love from us here at Fat Fairy Jewellery xx

Happy news + Baby Blessings!

Good morning world from Fat Fairy HQ,
Well, has summer finally arrived I ask myself? It's a glorious summer morning here in Warwickshire - bright, blue sky and the sun is out....... Yesterday was also beautiful day and it makes such a difference to how we feel.
Well, what have we been up to since our last Blog? Lots really but the one thing we would just love to share with you all is some very special news..... As our title this time will probably suggest, we have had the lovely news that later this year, there will be a new baby in the family.  My son and his partner are expecting their first baby in November!!! So, as you can probably imagine, there is great excitement here at Fat Fairy HQ and I think over the next few months, our blog will probably contain more baby news as we go forward towards the expected delivery date!  It might turn into a jewellery + knitting blog for a while as I've already had to rummage in the cupboard and find my knitting needles after my son said 'Mum, do you still have your knitting needles?' - what a silly question....!  As a Virgo, I do find it hard to throw things away and just as well in this case!  Actually the bag of needles I found first belonged to my late Mum and as she is no longer here with us to enjoy this momentous event, it feels fitting to be knitting the first item for Baby Boylin with her needles.  She would be just so excited at the thought of being a Great Grandma but, I'm sure, wherever she is, she already knows!  
I've started on a pram blanket in lemon + double-moss stitch - my son and his partner decided not to find out whether 'Bump' is a blue or pink one, so hence my choice of lemon wool.  Gosh, hasn't wool + patterns gone up in price - anyone out there reading this blog also a knitter?  If so, would love to compare notes with you!  I've been lucky that a friend and also a work colleague have very kindly lent me some patterns or else this venture would cost me a fortune!
One thing we will be doing in the not too distant future is designing a range of jewellery to celebrate this joyful news - it's so lovely to have something nice to tell you all amidst all the doom + gloom out there! 

Oh what a beautiful morning........!

Happy Sunday to everyone!
Well, here we are on St Swithin's Day! The week seems to have disappeared again and although I didn't quite achieve a 'blog a day' as I'd hoped, I don't think I did too badly!
The week started with some lovely baby news (as previously blogged about!) on Tuesday night when my nephew and his wife became parents for the first time with the arrival of a little pink one named Rosie (what a gorgeous name!).  I've been looking at 'pink things' ever since and when our Creative Director gets home from her driving lesson, we may well pop into Birmingham as there is far more choice there and I have a feeling that Selfridges will have a fabulous baby department!
Then on Wednesday, we had a very sad start to our day at work with the news that one of our colleagues had lost her husband the afternoon before - very unexpected as these things often are.  Our thoughts have been with her and their family as they come to terms with their loss.
Well, today is St Swithin's Day and many years ago whilst living down in Hampshire, we just happened to be visiting Winchester Cathedral where St Swithin rests on the 15th July and on the guided tour, we were asked if anyone knew of the significance of this day - ie if it rains today, it will rain for 40 days + 40 nights! So folks, I guess the theme of today is keep your fingers crossed that it stays nice + dry as it is here in Warwickshire at present - hence the title of this blog!
Time has gone very quickly since our very busy weekend 2 weeks ago and I realised that I still hadn't had a chance to share any of the photos with you - so here are a couple:-

 Me taking a well earned rest after setting up our table!

 Our table with a selection of Fat Fairy Jewellery.........

 People always love our cake-stand! It has little cut out hearts all around the edges, which are just right for us to hang our ear-rings on to display them!

 Me again! Our Creative Director went a bit mad with the camera.....

This last one was taken the day before at the school summer fayre - this jewellery display holds a selection of our favourite pink bracelets!
Hope you enjoy these photos + a Happy Sunday to all, with love from Fat Fairy Jewellery xx

Well folks, here in Wednesday night's blog - just a little late! 
I was out last night catching up with a couple of girlfriends for a drink (tea + coffee I hasten to add....!), always good to catch up with friends but by the time I got home, it was off to bed! It's a lovely morning so far here in Warwickshire, the sun is actually out and shining - what a difference that makes! With that in mind and the sun shining on my garden, I thought I'd share some garden + flower photos with you all!

 My lovely garden - please excuse the washing line (most important in our house!)

 Garden chairs for a little sit down and contemplate........

 These beautiful flowers were a present from our Creative Director - how beautiful are they?

 These flowers were from my Spirea bush outside my patio doors - with all the rain we've had it had grown so much that I've had to cut it back and decided the flowers were so pretty to bring some indoors to enjoy!

And last, but not least, this is Judy our little elderly Jack Russell!  I wonder what she's thinking.....?
With love from Fat Fairy Jewellery xx

A new arrival.......

Well, it's now nearly midnight so if I don't blog soon it will be Wednesday before this one goes out.....
Having promised to try and blog each day (or night), tonight's blog has completely changed in the last hour, as I had planned to blog about my other love (apart from my jewellery, my children and the dog) .... which is my garden and love of flowers (I always think flowers can make such a difference when you have some in the house).  But then we received the exciting news that my nephew and his wife have just become parents for the first time! Baby Rosie (the scans were right then!) arrived at 9:22pm and weighed in a 8lb 4oz. We're really pleased for them all and now I can safely go out and buy something pink! I never quite trust the scans until baby is here - although I know they are much more reliable these days.  My dilemma now is, do I go to our local Asda's to buy something pink or wait until I can get to our local Next store or go into Birmingham on Sunday..... Decisions, decisions!
In the meantime, I'm going to love + leave you with that happy news + wish baby Rosie a very happy, healthy + long life and a big welcome to the family little one! xx

Monday night's Blog.....

Well, as promised here is our daily (or maybe that should read nightly) Blog for this week.  Not quite sure where Monday disappeared to but at least the washing dried! Took our little Jack Russell for a nice wander round our local park this evening, she's very slow these days so it takes me some time! Perhaps I'll add some photo's from the park later this week as it is looking very patriotic with a red, white + blue planting scheme! I came home and made some very yummy ham + cheese omelettes for tea and then loo + behold, it was time to walk the dog again...
Thought I would share some photo's with you tonight - taken when a close girlfriend + I went down to Weston super Mare to visit some joint friends who have recently moved there from Leicestershire. Feeling very envious as they are only a 30 minute walk to the sea..... They live in a small village just outside Weston called Uphill - and yes it does have a hill..... We were very lucky with the weather (it was the Jubilee weekend) and also the traffic on the M5 - obviously the M5 Angel was on duty that day (thank you!).  I'd jokingly said to my friend that if we could have a walk on the beach and an ice-cream I'd be happy - and guess what?  That's exactly what happened and the ice cream was amazing - we can't wait to visit again so we can try another flavour!

This lovely little Church sits on top of the hill at Uphill - what a peaceful resting place!

 Beautiful wild flowers in the Churchyard!

 Local boatyard.....

 Still life on the beach....

 We are sailing.....

 What a lovely, long sandy beach......

Sun beginning to set on Weston super Mare

It's Sunday night again.......

A very good evening from Fat Fairy Jewellery HQ!
As quite a lot has happened since our last blog, I thought I'd maybe do things a bit differently and try to post one Blog a day (or night probably) all this week.  I thought that would give me a chance to bring everyone up to date with all the happenings and maybe just change the blog slightly to include other things - all will be revealed over the next few days.....
To start this blog off - what a day it's been with the tennis - well done to Andy Murray, even though he didn't win!  And also, that other favourite British topic the weather..... Today we've had some almost hot weather which lasted for just a couple of hours and then yet more heavy rain...... I've also spent quite a bit of time today taking more photos of all our jewellery - trying out different shots and locations, so keep an eye out for some of those photos as we go through the week!
Anyway this week started off on a very good foot (if you pardon the pun...!) as we had the Olympic Torch relay coming through Rugby.  It meant an early start for everyone but what an atmosphere there was out on the streets.  We were very lucky as it came right past our offices, so we had a good spot to take photo's and then as one of our colleagues was running the 2nd lap, he brought the Torch in afterwards so we could all have our photo taken with it to raise money for the local Air Ambulance.  Here's a photo of the lady running the lap past our offices:-

We also had one of our 'special' CEMEX fleet on our forecourt - this is one of 4 of our logistics fleet which are wearing their special new 'livery' for the Jubilee and London Olympics.  I know one of my friends will like this picture - watch out for these 4 vehicles as they make their way around the country!

This is me with my colleague who had the honour of running the 2nd lap - well done Kevin!
Well, that's about it for now, more tomorrow folks!
Goodnight from Fat Fairy Jewellery HQ! xx

A busy weekend coming up.....

Evening everyone! Before our mad weekend arrives, we just wanted to let you all know where you can find FAT FAIRY JEWELLERY this coming weekend!
Saturday 30th June will find us supporting Bilton Junior School's Summer Fayre.  Always a pleasure to support a local school and this event has grown considerably over the past few years.  This year they are expecting over 100 stalls to take part.  Bilton Junior School is in Plantagenet Drive on the Woodlands Estate in Rugby.
Sunday 1st July sees us taking part in a Craft Fair at the National Heritage Centre at Gaydon, Warwickshire. The car fans amongst you may already know that this is their MINI Event (as in cars and not just small objects as a friend first thought......). Showcasing the MINI down the years and they are expecting a lot of people through the doors.  So, if you happen to be out and about over the weekend and find yourselves near either (or maybe both....) of the above events, please do come and find us and say hello.... We'd love to see you all!
Monday 2nd July - sees the Olympic Torch coming through Rugby.  It has an early start at about 8:20am from Lawford Road and then up into town - stopping off at the famous Rugby School.  One of my colleagues has the honour of running the 2nd lap in Rugby with the torch - well done Kevin!

Fat Fairy Jewellery goes 'up north'.....

Well, we can safely say that May was a very busy month for us......
Firstly we had the very lovely wedding to attend of the new Mr + Mrs Buckham, which we mentioned in a previous blog. Then we had the pleasure and fun of entering the 'Fit for a Queen' competition run by Jilly Beads. Then the last weekend in May saw us heading north up to Lancashire where my son and his partner live, to celebrate the birthday of both my son and daughter (yes they are twins before you ask!). We had a lovely weekend (although disappointed not to have found time to visit the local bead shop - Beads Forever but there's always next time folks.....). 
My son + his partner took us to visit their chosen location for their wedding next April (all very exciting.... we just love a wedding here at Fat Fairy Jewellery!) and then on Sunday had a lovely walk along the beach at Lytham St Anne's and a very nice lunch before the time came to head back down the M6 and homeward bound..... thank goodness for the M6 toll road - why don't more people use it? It's well worth a fiver each way just for a nice, clear road.....

Thought you'd like to see some photo's taken on our trip - this lovely canal is right outside my son's house and is an ideal location for them to walk the adorable Ruby - see 1st photo above!
That's all folks, still next time!
Night everyone from Fat Fairy HQ x

'Fit for a Queen.....'

Good morning from Fat Fairy Jewellery HQ!
Hope this finds everyone well despite our awful weather....!  You can certainly tell that it's England - not only because of all the wonderful Jubilee celebrations but also the fact that every other person you speak to talks about the weather.....!!
Talking of the Jubilee celebrations, back last month we were given the chance to enter a competition called 'Fit for a Queen' which was run by one of our favourite bead suppliers.  Unfortunately, we didn't win but that's not the point, it was great fun deciding on what we would make and enter in the competition. The rule was that you had to use some of the new gorgeous Swarovski pearl mixes from this bead supplier and you could also use anything else from your 'bead stash' as long as the pearl were the main feature!  Here at Fat Fairy Jewellery, we love a challenge and thought you'd like to see what we entered - which was a necklace made using the lovely pearls and mixed with some beautiful, round Rose Quartz crystal beads from our bead stash and with a few Haematite beads for good measure as Haematite is a very good gemstone/crystal to keep you grounded.

We were only allowed to enter a necklace but we loved using the Swarovski pearl mix so much that we also made two bracelets and a pair of ear-rings to match! Hope you like seeing them as much as we loved making them! Obviously we could make anything similar to order if required - just e-mail us for details!
Now we are all looking forward to the Olympics - the spotlight certainly is on England this year, so lets all celebrate and enjoy!
Have a good day with love from us here at Fat Fairy Jewellery xx

On the road with Fat Fairy Jewellery.......

Evening everyone from Fat Fairy Towers here in Warwickshire.....!
Well, I can't believe where the time has gone since we last blogged - so much has happened that I feel our feet really haven't touched the ground...
Our first exciting event was the wedding of my work colleague Miranda and her husband Stuart which took place on Friday 11th May at the very lovely Rhinefield House Hotel in Brockenhurst, New Forest.  What a lovely day we all had - the bride looked absolutely amazing and the weather was perfect.  My daughter Debbie (aka our Creative Director) managed to get sunburnt while we sat outside on the terrace as the bride + groom were having their photo's taken! It really was the perfect day as hopefully our photo's will show you!

A wedding is obviously the perfect time for us to make some jewellery to wear and I decided to try out my pattern for a brooch instead a buttonhole.  I've made several of these brooches and each time - depending on what beads + crystals I use, they turn out slightly different each time! 

This is the lovely wedding heart that we gave to Miranda on her wedding day as a keepsake.

And these are some of the absolutely beautiful flowers that adorned the hotel!

After our lovely day and overnight stay in Lyndhurst, we had a quick trip to Lymington as we'd heard they hold a fab market every Saturday (no-one mentioned that they also have a small bead shop there too.....).  We then headed back along the M27 to catch up with some very dear friends before returning home.
Well, I think that's all for tonight! I'll carry on with our adventures and some more photos tomorrow! 
Goodnight everyone from Fat Fairy Jewellery xx

Beads, beads + more beads (with a little ribbon thrown in....)

Well, as promised, here are some photo's of the gorgeous gemstones + beads we purchased at the Towcester Bead fair.  We met some old favourite suppliers and made contact with some lovely new people!  There was certainly a lot of choice - as hopefully these photos will show.

Hope you enjoy looking at these beautiful beads as much as we enjoyed buying them and will love making some stunning pieces with them! 

with love from us here at Fat Fairy Jewellery xx