Some feminine teamwork

I'm feeling a little behind this week. I seem to have my hayfever back in full swing (darn those 10 cedar trees along my fence that are flowering!!) and it's so tiring! Add to that children who have still got a cough after weeks and I'm fondly remembering what a sound night's sleep used to be like LOL!

Thank goodness the children are old enough to help me do some basic things these days. Langdon has become quite good at mowing and as he is my ONLY child that doesn't get hayfever, he does ALL the outside jobs at the moment! The girls are suffering like me but they're not adverse to helping me tidy and clean and they absolutely love helping me with my work. I wish they were old enough and skilled enough to help making jewellery - but they're not. So, I often get them to help me with more 'chore-like' jobs such as refilling my packaging.

I had a little factory going the other day - just before the Spring Gardens Festival my packaging drawers were empty so I had them making up boxes, cutting ribbon, lining boxes with tissue, putting care cards in organza bags, making up bonus partner bags, putting labels on bags... you get the picture. It was a huge help. The job that would have taken me a good half a day by myself was all done in just over an hour. Great teamwork girls!

I was recently reading on the Business Mums Magazine Blog how work at home mums manage to blend family and work. If you find yourself in the same position as me - of getting the kids to help out with your work, why not leave a comment to share your story on the Business Mums Blog.

I've seen notices of it everywhere but was still startled to see my whole local town looking decidedly PINK over the last couple of weeks. Even the men working in the rural supplies were wearing pink shirts when I ventured into town on Monday! Of course this month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and there are lots of fundraisers going on worldwide for this cause. One of my great blogfriends is Michelle of Michabella Creations. She has got a pink theme going as well with a good portion of all her sales going towards this charity. She has done some very pretty pink and sparkly jewellery too of course! Do check it out!

I haven't made much in the last week it seems, but one new piece is pictured above. Red seems to be an eternally appealing colour for jewellery and I often get requests for something in red. Now, barring rubies and very expensive large garnets, rubelite and so on, the best red impact at a reasonable cost is often found by using coral.

The necklace above is sponge coral (treated of course, as coral will bleach when removed from the water) in a lovely brick-red colour. This type of coral usually only has a very low sheen or is even matte, due to its fibrous structure, so it is really lifted with the addition of some fantastically gleaming white keshi pearls as I've done above. The red and white presents a classic look, however the top drilled keshi petals give it just that extra touch so it looks modern and of course, eminently wearable!

OK, off to rub my eyes, try to clear my blocked nose and wish those cedar flowers would all blow OFF!

Till next :)