Wednesday Woo: Embellish Yourself

Jewellery is a very personal and beautiful way of expressing yourself.  A favourite piece of jewellery can evoke a time, a place or a feeling, it adds and allure to you and your day.  We all have an instinct to embellish ourselves - jewellery is decoration that can tell a story.

Each piece of Renaissance Life jewellery has a story, and it will appeal to you in different ways...

Year 1983 Swedish Russian Doll by Renaissance Life £119.  This necklace is from the Bird collection that takes it's inspiration from dreams, possibilities and happy summer days. The Swedish Russian doll is a very sweet and adventurous little doll. You have to open her layers to get to her perfect heart of silver.

Year 302 Ball with Swedish Stone by Renaissance Life £89. This necklace is from the Ocean collection that takes it's inspiration from the future, endless possibilities and nature´s vibrations.  This large ball necklace contains a stone from the Swedish west-coast that will bring calm to you and make you feel open to life and what lies ahead.

Year 1970 Freedom Horse necklace by Renaissance Life £89.  This necklace is from the Bird collection that takes it's inspiration from dreams, possibilities and happy summer days. The Freedom horse is a Swedish horse that has jumped straight from 1970 to today with a beautiful free spirit that makes life more fun.
When you wear this you will surely feel your free spirit soar

Year 1952 secret heart - silver (£129) or gold (£149) by Renaissance Life This solid heart is from the In Between collection that takes it's inspiration from hope, dreams and illusions. This necklace has a secret box where you can keep your cherished memories, a secret, a dream or a hope for the future.  A piece of jewellery that is so personal...only you or maybe one significant other will know what hides inside the heart.

"Jewellery is something more intimate and personal than just trends..It should become a part of yourself...It's not just something you put on.It gives you feeling for the day..." Linnéa Götstav, designer/founder - Renaissance Life

In celebration of London Jewellery Week we have 30% off the jewellery collection - including hop hop hop, and Renaissance Life - with discount code ENCHANT

Expires Sunday 12th June

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This is part of our Wednesday Woo blog post series where we present a selection of our favourite things from the Sisters Guild Boutique.

We also have a Monday Makery with ideas for things to make yourself.

The Art of Living posts bring you all the things we are passionate about and the things we discover in our lives as mamas.

And for a glimpse behind the scenes of Sisters Guild we have the A-Z of Sisters Guild here

Stop Press! London Jewellery Week offer

It's London Jewellery Week and to celebrate we are giving all our readers 30% off our jewellery collection including hop hop hop from France and Renaissance Life from Sweden. To make it even more wonderful we're also adding our pretty fabric lined jewellery boxes too by Rice DK!

Enter ENCHANT at the checkout to recieve your special 30% discount on the jewellery collection

 

Offer ends Sunday 12th June 2011

Monday Makery - Paper Beads & Brilliant Bracelets

It's London Jewellery Week and to celebrate we've been making some fun and colourful jewellery with the girls here at Sisters Guild. We've come up with some great creations that are as easy to make as they are beautiful. With different designs and ideas there's something here for everyone - even the boys!

First up; paper bead necklaces and brilliant bracelets:

You'll need:

• Coloured paper, wrapping paper, or an old magazine.
• Scissors
• pencil
• ruler
• elastic
• knitters needle

Here's how.

1. Mark out long triangles onto your paper about an inch wide at the base. You don't have to mark them out you can just cut away but it's easier for children if there are some lines to follow with the scissors.
2. Cut out your strips
3. Spread some glue on the thin end of the paper.
4. Roll up the paper from the larger end to the tip, making sure the end is securely glues to the 'bead'

That's it! Make as many as you think you'll need. I prepped lots the evening before for the girls so they could see them and have a bead bank to get started. Then they had a turn themselves, choosing their own colours.

For the fatter beads we put the glue on three strips sat them on top of one another and rolled them all up together. You can also make fatter and rounder ones or 'spacer beads' by using 2 different measurements of strips. Taking the wider strips first and winding them up, then where you finish off start rolling another set of thinner strips. This way you'll have a thinner and wider layer making the whole bead wider and flatter.

To begin making the necklace tie the end of your piece of elastic around the first bead in a secure knot. Thread the necklace. To finish make a loop in the elastic and knot it you can then usethis as a clasp to loop around the bead on the other end. Then tie the end of the elastic around the final bead as before so that both ends are secure.

Brilliant bracelets:

These are so easy to make and so versatile too. You'll need:

• A sheet of card.
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Elastic
• Sticking tape
• and crayons, pens, or paints if you fancy.

Here's how:

1. Decide on what your design is going to be..... believe me this is the hardest bit, especially with my 2 indecisive munchkins!
2. Draw your design on to the card and cut it out.
3. Now colour away to your hearts content.
4. Once its ready cut a small piece of elastic; enough to tie loosely around the child's wrist and stick the elastic to the back of the card with sticky tape!

There you have it....a wrist control panel, a hovering glittery butterfly...  whatever you can imagine. They're great for completing costumes too. The girls liked them so much I might try having a go at making some with felt and sewing a ribbon to the back to tie around the wrist with.

I have to admit I loved making these alongside the girls. I was so chuffed with my green paper bead necklace Sophia made me I might have a go using fabric scraps and fabric glue so they're more lasting. I didn't want to stop there either so in the evening I carried on, making a few surprises for the girls.

If you want to see what we made next come back and see the Monday Makery next week.

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We have more Monday Makery craft & recipe ideas here.

For behind the scenes photos of Sisters Guild we have the gallery of the A-Z of Sisters Guild here.