but wait, there's more...rip-offs

i'm wearing a new skirt, my lipstick is just the right colour & i have an exciting evening planned...but i've been on the verge of tears all day & eating chocolate like it's pop-corn..
here's another 2 sightings, now brought to you by Etsy :(

Rip-off by beadfullthinking - 'Tape Measure Heart Charm'
(OMG!! would someone really buy this?)

Rip-off by RetroSkor - 'Measuring Tape Heart' ..ooh! late Edit! this item has now been removed!!!

i did a bit of emailing this morning, to the sellers & to Etsy's complaints department, i haven't heard back from anyone yet but i did just notice that one of the sellers has removed the item. YAY!
thank you so much for the supportive comments - it means a huge deal to me and makes me feel not alone at all :)
vic
ps. and thanks Peta & Jade for being on the lookout!

OMG I've been ripped-off!!

in a long line of recent rip offs, one of my designs can be added to the list.
i made a necklace called 'i heart' a few years ago and i spent a very long time on the design - maybe 8 months before i was comfortable that it was exactly how i'd imagined it & i would be proud to sell it. (i ended up making a few versions, including one which, when curled into the heart shape, had the numbers stamped upside-down & another that looked like it had 'ears')

and then a lovely customer emailed me the bad news - 2 online retailers, one UK & one US have been selling the same design under different names.
sure the quality is not the same - i've always been pretty confident that it would be hard to remake my jewellery & make a good profit, cause they're so labour-intensive...but i was shocked about how it made me feel when i saw it.

it completely broke my heart, (no pun intended), i felt gutted.
it seems pretty common to have original ideas stolen & reproduced, it was only recently that it happened to Made By White & Simon MacEwan's lost in the woods, (mentioned in an article here) & maybe it's just a casualty of the internet but gee it's a horrible feeling.

Rip-off by ShopCuffs - 'necessary measures'

Rip-off by LoveheartAndCrosses - 'i love you this much'

i've emailed both ShopCuffs & LoveHeartsAndCrosses and so far have had a reply from Shop Cuffs saying that they're sorry that this has happened, they're not the manufacturer & they'll contact them to see what they have to say. I'm relieved to have had this reply but now have to presume that there's another player that is selling them onto to others. How many others?
if anyone sees these copies around, could you let me know please?

my original necklace - 'i heart'

New edition (making books)

...& this is the last of the 3 in the new series; apple, sandwich & book...called 'Lunch in the Park'
these were really fun to make, i started off planning to make a neat, new book which turned out to have NO character at all so i took out the Charlotte Bronte i've been carrying round in my bag for a couple of weeks (it's a slow read but i'm determined!) & messed up its hair.

i saw-pierced a bookish shape out of 2mm plate

marked out the 'pages' & used a saw & burrs to carve silver away

voila! a really boring looking book...(now with 'spine' detail)

to make this book look more like the one i have in my bag, soldering on a 'dog-ear'

getting a little better but needs to be more crumpled

soldering on 2nd 'dog-ear'

a book that looks like someone's been reading it

polished, but still needs a little fine-tuning

Stamping with a maker's mark + 925 hallmark (silver stamp), i usually stamp on the back but thought here was better :)'new edition' earrings $55

apples & love letters..

Apple earrings in sterling silver $55

L0ve Letter earrings in sterling silver $55

at last these earrings are ready-to-go :) i took them to Bowerbird markets a few weeks ago & craft hatch last saturday & they got a great response & now are now available at Pussycat Black!
ps. thank you to the lovely people who came to craft hatch & said hi!

Craft Hatch this saturday!

apple, 'love letter' & 'little piece of my heart' ring - sterling silver, 3 sizes available, $65 each

this saturday i'll be showing some new designs (including the new apples & love letters) at Craft Hatch :), so if you have some free time, please come in & say hi!

also there will be - Adelle Frittitta, Belinda Crossley, Dawn Tan, Gemma Johnson, Harvest Moon, Kylie Bickerdike, Mae Finlayson, students from NMIT’s Gold & Silversmithing course & Sharon Margaret

Where: City Library gallery, 253 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Date: Saturday 10 April
Time: 11am to 4pm

making a spoon with Granny..

Granny Square spoon, made with love (and with the help of two clever crafters) Spoon 'bowl' made using 1.2mm silver plate which has been domed in an oval doming block

spoon handle made from stock gauge (a commonly bought shape of metal, like a square rod & is often a handy starting point) it's been put through the rolling mills to give it that tapered shape, then evened out with filing.

groove cut into the end of the handle so that there is a strong connection point when the two pieces are soldered

'bowl' & handle propped up ready for soldering, anything can be used to prop it, i've used some tweezers but it could also be an old file (or an old coin but that's not right is it? but common)

lining it up by eye - there's no other way to do it, i just normally settle in to do a couple of correction solders, you just have to start somewhere :)

after soldering (& correcting :) )
it's all lined up now & ready for emerying. the spoon handle will now be arched back (just using hands cause the metal is quite soft after being heated. the black surface is copper (a component of sterling silver) which will be removed with acid, emery & polish

surface has been fine emeried. even though i'm going to solder it again when i put the granny square on the end, it's easier to clean up the edges now.

granny soldered to the end (the original crocheted granny made by the very talented Kirsty of Kootooyoo)

granny detail

i had to deliver this piece to the gallery on the same day it was finished (why do i leave things til the last minute?!) but i was unsure how to package it - but thanks to another very clever crafter, within just a couple of minutes she'd whipped up this granny-pocket & now it has it's own carry-case!

& i know it's very short notice, but if you live in melb there is an exhibition opening tonight (& continuing throughout april) at Hand Held Gallery called 'One Cup - an exhibition of 48 teaspoons' & granny will be there along side 47 other spoony-themed works!

Hand Held Gallery 'One Cup - an exhibition of 48 teaspoons'
6-8pm Thursday 8th April
exhibition continues throughout April
Suite 18(upstairs) Paramount Arcade 108 Bourke Street Melbourne, 3000 (03)9654 4006
www.handheldgallery.blogspot.com

My creative space..big plans for a little granny

here is the (pretty rough) casting of Kirsty's granny square - & i think it turned out beautifully!
...more photos soon

Bowerbird Bazaar wrap-up

here are some piccies from the markets i went to last week! (& judging from the amount of Adelaidians who told me it was "about time" there was a market like this one, i reckon people were pretty pleased :) )

'picnic themed' display, there's a bit of gingham, turf & wood

cause i was flying solo this time, i had to be really sparing with the displays - even as it was, i had 22kg of stow-away & a 'cheeky' *ah-hem* amount of hand luggage.

there were lots of melbourne peeps there including Rebound Books, Twiglet, Maru, a Skulk of Foxes, Matt bags & Octoberdee, so even though i was by myself there were plenty of friendly faces.

thursday afternoon set-up

beautiful ceiling of the Queen's Theatre, (better photos here)

didn't have much time to leave the stall so had to run for this shot..