Etsy shop now closed

Just a quick note on the blog to let you know that I'm closing my etsy shop.

I had used it as an online place to sell my vintage finds but these seem to be going well at my Fairs so I've decided to close it.

But never fear, you can find the full range of jake and jasper handmade jewellery and crafts in my Folksy shop which is going from strength to strength.

Visit jake and jasper this weekend!

Christmas is coming. Geese are getting fat. Have you done any Christmas shopping yet?

If, like me, the answer to that question is a big fat no then fear not. Come and see jake and jasper this weekend at the Vintage Fair and Tea Party in Wolverton, Milton Keynes.

Held at Madcap it will be a festive celebration of all things vintage and your chance to see all my wares and choose some wonderful gifts. I will be on hand to gift wrap any items you buy meaning that all you need to do is put them under the tree.

For more information about the Fair see the Facebook page.

Hope to see you there! :)

Special Offer for December

It is that time of year again - Christmas! So make sure you have all the gifts that you need with my jake and jasper special offer.

For anyone who follows me on Twitter, 'likes' my page on Facebook or adds my shop to their favourites on Folksy I will be offering 10% off everything.

Tell your friends! :)

Vintage Finds - grab a little bargain

Treat yourself to a little something from my vintage finds. Every item is just £3 including UK postage. See the Vintage page for more details.

Folksy Friday - Wrapping Up Warm: A Knitting Special

This week it is all about keeping warm. I don't know about you but I've been really feeling the cold this week, it seems to have got nippy again all of a sudden. While I was out running in the pouring rain I thought about what my theme should be this week and as the wind tried to freeze me to the core I realised there was only one option - knits to keep you warm or entertain this Winter.

First up are these lovely cosy winter bed socks from Alice Makes. They have been on my 'Favourite Items' list of Folksy for a while now and this week the weather reminded me of them all over again. Knitted to order they can take 1-2 weeks to arrive but you can request another colour so order now to have warm tootsies all winter long.

Proving that knits don't have to be just for your toes or nose, or really any part of your body and riding the latest meerkat trend is this great knitted meerkat from Nifty Knits. Knitted to order in the colours of any football team it is a great gift for the footballer in your life.

And finally another item to wrap up warm in, this time when you are out and about in this biting wind. This 'Let's Do The Twist' Cowl by LoveD will keep you lovely and warm while you are doing your Christmas shopping. Also made to order you can request another colour to match your favourite winter coat.

Have a wonderful weekend and keep warm!

Happy Halloween - Folksy Friday

As it is the end of October that can mean only one thing - Halloween! But if you really want to get spooky the best place to go is Folksy for the best as showcased on my Halloween Folksy Friday.




These cute decorations are from the quick crochet fingers of Simply Creative. Give a ghoulish feel to your house or office with these cute little decorations. You can choose from the pumpkin, ghost , eyeball or bat but all are guaranteed to send the shivers down your visitors backs.

Put a little fright into any outfit with these cute brooches (pictured left) from Fabric Nation. Choose from these brooches or a rosette.

And finally for those who prefer to show off their hair and not their hat, why not wear both your witches' hat and your fabulous hairstyle with this wonderful witches' hat alice band from Made with Love.

Happy Halloween!

My first craft fair

I am pleased to announce that you will be able to visit jake and jasper at my very first craft fair next week.

I'll be at the vintage art and crafts fair at Buszy in Central Milton Keynes on Thursday 4th November. Run by Mad or Make a Difference it will be an evening of crafts and all things vintage from 6-9pm. For more information visit the Mad website here.

All the usual jake and jasper items will be available, jewellery galore as well as my new cake stands. I'm even sewing up a storm this weekend to do some punk-style Christmas decorations - keep an eye on the blog for pics.

Hope to see you there!

Showcase Sunday

As I continue to explore the crafting community I have found another great excuse to be showing off the work of some other talented folk - Showcase Sunday.

This time the action is on Facebook where Folksy encourages members to showcase the work of another crafter each Sunday.

This week I am showcasing Whimiscal Wren. This wonderful necklace was the first item that I 'liked' on Folksy, so I thought it would be a great place to start.

I love anything that comes on a long chain. I wear a relatively short necklace everyday, a gift from The Boy, and having something longer works well with the one item I have to wear come rain or shine. A little cluster of beads/charms makes it something to fiddle with in a quiet moment, or for The Child to hang off and I'm in heaven.

So have a look around Whimsical Wren's Folksy shop and see what you think. But maybe not this necklace, I mean I do have my eye on it and if I send The Boy an email with a little link who knows what might be coming my way!

Folksy Friday

So as a newbie to all this Folksy stuff I have discovered in the nicest way that on Fridays it is the day to recommend other Folksy sellers.

This week I am still on cloud nine about being included in Painted Ghost's Folksy Friday.

Which just leaves me to start as I mean to go on and take part myself. This week I'm recommending you take a look at a couple of sellers who I have bought from myself recently.

Snow Queen Trinkets came to my rescue. After sending a lovely package to a friend, all tissue paper and little gift tags I was forced to write the accompanying letter to her on a piece of paper I ripped out of my notebook that I use to write lists - not quite the look I was going for! But never fear, a little search on Folksy and now I'm the proud owner of a range of notecards all ready for the next time I want to send a little sunshine.

Champignons make hand printed moleskin notebooks fit for any little ideas that you might want to scribble down for a rainy day. I bought one to send to my Secret Post Club pick this month.

And finally for today It Belongs to Turtle have cute illustrations available as prints, cards and badges. I bought a print for my brother and sister-in-law as a thank you. My sister-in-law is a little (understatement!) monkey mad and their Maurice print, framed by me once received, will look great on their wall. If you can't find their shop, try here too as they are moving over their Folksy store to a new username.

And so ends my first Folksy Friday - it feels good! :)

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As featured on Painted Ghost

This Friday I am so delighted to be featured in 'Folksy Friday' by Tracy, who runs Painted Ghost.

Her theme this week is pink for Breast Cancer Awareness month and she has featured my pink button brooch. See the post in full on her blog here.

It's always such a lovely feeling to know that someone else is looking at your work, but this is the first time that I've been featured on another blog by someone else who is making crafts so I'm totally chuffed to pieces!

Thanks Tracy. You can see more of her work in her Folksy Shop.

And thank you also for reminding me about Breast Cancer Awareness month. Please do visit the Cancer Research UK website for more information or to get involved.

New Line - Oh Crumbs!

The more of the upcycled/recycled/preloved/whatever you want to call it jewellery that I make the more I am seeing a new side to vintage items. It seems to have sparked a new creativity in me, or maybe just tapped into my inner recycling guru.

If there is one thing that I love more than jewellery it is cake. There is little that a cup of tea and a slice of tea bread can't solve and as for a good chocolate cake - don't get me started! And as if to fuel my obsession my Mum is in the business of making cakes, so I've been raised to appreciate some darn tasty crumbs. The Boy thinks that my Mum's brownies are basically the closest that you can come to heaven without the bother of having to die.

So what better homage to my baking heritage than to make cake stands. My 'Oh Crumbs!' collection brings together some lovely vintage plates, fused with glassware to make cake stands that are just crying out for a good afternoon tea.

Reloved - images

My Reloved range is now in full swing. I'm scrabbling through broken bracelets, chains, cutting out clasps that can be reused and restringing beads at a frantic rate. It is all great fun and makes me realise why I started making jewellery again. Inspiring.

This sparkly necklace was a dirty broken bracelet, once woven together with now disintegrating string. A polish of the beads, a little thread and a thin needle (and some good sunlight to string by!) and a new piece is born. This necklace is lovely and long, long enough to wear low or wind around your neck twice.

Vintage Finds for my Etsy Shop

One of the wonderful side effects of my new Reloved collection is that in amongst the broken jewellery and beads I have been finding long lost treasures that can also live to see another bright fashionable day.

It is so exciting to be untangling beads and broken bracelets, painstakingly pulling apart chains that have been messed together in a ball for years and to then find something that has made it through all of this in tact.

This cute little brooch was my first find. I thought that the pin had been broken, but no, it was totally in tact. A wonderful find and a great feeling to know that someone will pin it to their lapel or bag for it to be admired once more.

I've now rearranged my selling affairs. My own handmade jewellery is available through my Folksy shop.
www.folksy.com/shops/jakeandjasper

My vintage finds will be available through my Etsy shop.
www.etsy.com/shop/jakeandjasper

Reloved

I have long looked at new beads and felt my fingers itch. I see potential jewellery reflected in each shiny surface, new necklaces to be strung, new charms for bracelets, new earrings wound around wires and shiny little pendants setting off a cute daytime outfit.

But recently a series of discoveries and gifts have made me take a new look at older beads. At the bottom of my magic box of jewellery ingredients I found an old box of vintage beads. Dusty but delightful I found myself dreaming of giving them a new lease of life, making them desirable all over again. A friend gave me a box of broken jewellery and a preloved string of classic pearls made me feel that urge again - to restore these to their former glory and find them a worthy home once more.

Add a dash of ethical consumerism and my own instinct to 'Make do and mend' I have launched a new line - Reloved.

All the pieces in this collection are recycled/upcycled/preloved/preowned. Call it what you will they all have one thing in common now; they will be loved all over again.

Some of the pieces just needed new life breathed into old thread - restringing a classic pearl necklace for example or repairing a long forgotten pair of earrings. These items are now ready to be rediscovered all over again.

But with other items I have been inspired by vintage and used beads, broken but still sparkling jewellery, earrings that long to be reworked as bracelets and clasps that set a whole necklace off to perfect effect and used these to create new and exciting modern classics.

See the new section in my etsy shop or contact me for more details.

Photos to follow soon - alas my digital camera also needs some TLC these days!

My first Etsy listing...

And so... my first Etsy listing is live!

Pink Button Brooch

At the moment I am inspired by buttons, stringing them together on necklaces, attaching them to chains, and pulling them all together to make cute little brooches like this.

Buttons are fun and whimsical and that is how I feel about this right now, jake and jasper is starting from a place of fun and joy.