Hello,
Thank you all so much for joining me for my first official blog post/newsletter thingy!
Please bear with me if the formatting looks a little weird, or if things aren’t lined up properly – I’m not fabulous with technology so this is a bit learning curve!
The plan is to send these out probably every 6 weeks or so. Not so long that you forget about me, but not so often you get sick of me! Each newsletter will have a mixture of current emporiums, what I’m working on, a bit of history, and general geekiness.
So, let’s get started!
This should hit your inbox just before the next Paper Panda and Friends Emporium starts on Friday 7th July. It runs for the usual 4 days, and I believe we have got well over 20 different crafters and artisans selling with us this time. I’ve been taking part in these for a number of years now, and I think most of you know I’m actually one of the admin team too.
I’ve got a mixture of jewellery, embroidery, and my new woven wall hangings too.
One of my favourite jewellery pieces this time is this fabulous ametrine necklace.
Ametrine is a naturally forming combination of Amethyst and Citrine, so you get
a beautiful combination of the purple and yellow.
The embroidery pieces I’m most proud of in the emporium are these two bee hoops. I love bee designs, and I’ve recently mastered a new technique to create their 3D fuzzy bums! Expect to see fuzziness everywhere from now on!
You need to be part of the emporium group to see posts, and you can join here. https://www.facebook.com/groups/PPFEmporium
Gem of the month
The birthstone for July is the Ruby. Rubies are a pinky-red gemstone variety of the mineral corundum – other varieties are known as Sapphires. The name Ruby comes from Ruber, which is the Latin word for red.
The worlds most expensive ruby is called the Sunrise Ruby. It is the most expensive coloured gemstone. In May 2015 it sold to an anonymous buyer at an auction in Switzerland for a massive $30million!
Rubies are recorded all throughout history. One of the earliest records of transportation and trading of rubies was around 200BC when rubies were carried along the North Silk Road of China.
Spiritually, Rubies are believed to improve energy and concentration, creativity, loyalty, honour and compassion. It stimulates the heart chakra and brings spiritual wisdom
I have a few Ruby pieces in my Etsy store at the moment.
Speaking of Etsy – as a little thank you for bearing with me, reading this far, and just being all-round wonderful people, I have set up a special discount code for absolutely everything on my Etsy. Just use the code Blog20 to get 20% off your total order. This runs to the end of July. The link (hoping this works) is www.etsy.com/uk/shop/athenamakeshandmade. Or you can follow the link on the main website menu.
Well, I think that’s it for now!
I would love to hear what you think of my newsletter. If you have any questions, or if there is anything you would like me to talk about in future newsletters, either comment, or message me!
Zoe xx