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  I am on a mission to make more stud earrings....I love my studs - I love them so much I am hard pressed to wear anything else! Being a maker of enamel jewellery I am always trying to find ways to make stud earrings that are a little different to what is already out there. You also know that hearts feature a lot in my designs and I thought this may be a good place to start. So I made some sterling silver heart studs that are so dinky and teeny weeny they would work for anyone. I set about the fiddly task of enameling them in a few colours and I have to say they are more gorgeous than I thought they would be!  At the moment I am making them in purple, grey, turquoise and green, but I am sure to come up with some other colours soon. If you have any suggestions please let me know. The bonus of  a little pair of stud earrings is the fact that they are so easy to wear and you can almost always find a pair that work for any occasion!  They are lightweight, easy to pack for holidays and are also suitable to swim, dance, sing and party in, without losing them! So if you like studs then feel free to pop over to www.maisyplum.co.uk and take a peek at what is available!  Click here to see the earring options available in 

Well Hello There! I do hope you are enjoying this delightful weather! It's fabulous to be able to just sit outside and eat brekkie or dinner in the fresh air!   Talking about food..... I have a thing about jam at the moment. I try to limit myself, but every now and then I get that craving to demolish something sweet that isn't chocolate and so jam is it! The other day I had one of these cravings and decided to seek out something a little different, as whilst I love a strawberry jam, I fancied being a little more adventurous. So, I took to Twitter - a great place for discovering new things/ businesses. During a particular twitter hour called #handmadehour I noticed a little company that that kept popping up in my notifications. They grabbed my attention because their name Joyful and Mellow made me smile and feel a little cheery! Also, on the up side they were promoting their jams and the one that definitely made my mouth water was Prosecco!!!  OH MY WORD! Prosecco? in jam? who would have thought I could kill two birds with one stone and be able to have a little of my favourite tipple spread all over some hot, buttered toast first thing in the morning and no one would know!!  Marvellous - so I ordered a jar.... A few days later, the jam arrived, beautifully packaged in a hessian bag with the cutest little wooden tag on it. I have to say I was salivating by the time I opened it and whacked the toast in a toaster ready to have my first taste. The jar was a little smaller than I expected, but to be fair, when it spreads you really don't need a lot so in other words, a little goes a long way!  The jar was well labelled and the design was spot on.  Well I bet you are wanting to know what it tastes like..... .......It was fantastic!  - I loved it - sweet but not too sweet...with just a hint of Prosecco coming through so you felt like you were drinking it from the glass. Easily spreadable and in the cutest of jars. I have to say I shall be purchasing this particular jam for many a friend, as a gift, as it beats buying the obligatory bottle of wine & let's face it - who do you know that doesn't like a little of the fizzy stuff! Visit www.joyfulandmellow.co.uk and treat yourself too :)      

Happy New Year    and best wishes for a successful 2017   So, Christmas disappeared in a flurry of activity and pressie opening and as usual too many mince pies were eaten and too much mulled wine was consumed! No wonder I got to the point where I suddenly hit a brick wall of exhaustion!  In order to relax and unwind we spent our days dog walking, chilling with the kids and ermmmm eating!!! One thing I was determined to do was to try my hand at Needle Felting. I have always admired this craft and didn't have a clue how to do it, so I ordered a kit and watched a few YouTube videos. I bought my kit from http://lincolnshirefenncrafts.com/ After doing a search on the internet, this is the one that caught my eye as I thought the Hare was rather cute! It came with a full set of instructions and all the items I would need to create my version of a Winter Hare.   So I set about reading the instructions and then followed them as best I could. I have to say, there is more involved in this craft than I imagined and it is quite time consuming!.....my arm was killing me!! Stabbing at the felt over and over I watched as it matted up and started forming a body (of sorts). I then continued with the legs, ears, head and a tail, until I had all body parts covered. Attaching the parts together was much easier than I anticipated as I thought everything was sewn together! I couldn't have been more wrong - the same process applies so no needle and thread was required - a huge bonus! Well here is my first ever attempt! Not bad although he is a little on the skinny side, oh and his legs aren't quite right but I am happy with him as he makes me smile! Next time I won't be so shy with the wool!      I highly recommend giving this a go as it's a great way to relax and it can be done in front of your favourite film too!!  Happy needlefelting!   Jo 

As green is all over fashion this year, I have decided to create a mood board showing how wonderful it looks! Green Goddess by maisyplum featuring a rayon dress

  Hello Plummies!    It has been a few weeks since I last wrote a blog post and that is because a lot has happened since then!    Now for those of you who are not familiar with twitter, I am an avid fan of this form of social media. I can't remember when I decided I was going to set myself up using it, but it was a few years ago as I recall, maybe three? Anyway, when I took my first steps, I really didn't have a clue what to tweet or how I was meant to use it! I mean it moved so fast, I was limited to what I could tweet and I didn't have any idea if anyone would 'see' me or even be interested! So I did what most people do....I gave up!  About six months later, I decided I would have another crack at trying to work out what all the fuss was about, so I decided to just watch.....I watched everything, hashtags, how they were used, what they were used for, I worked out what twitter parties entailed, and from there I tentatively sent out a few tweets and asked a few questions. Needless to say, my account picked up pace and I have kind of muddled through ever since, gaining some wonderful (virtual) 'friends' and followers along the way!  So roll on to this year.... I made the decision that I was going to make 2017 my year of being noticed and to get my products in front of someone who could make a difference and I decided I would have a proper go at entering Small Business Sunday, otherwise known as #SBS which is run by Theo Paphitis of Dragon Den fame.   Every Sunday small buisnesses are invited to tweet him about their company/ products or servcies between the hours of 5pm-7.30pm. The next evening at 8pm he then chooses six winners which he then tweets to his half a million followers which can be a huge boost for us little online companies. You then become a member of quite a brilliant 'club' of like minded people who are fabulous at supporting each other. In previous months/ years I have tweeted him on and off but to no avail - I think also, I never really thought my tweets were good enough as you really need to stand out from the crowd!  On the way to a family Sunday lunch, I realised I hadn't scheduled my tweet and set about creating a video showing him a little of what I make and do! I pinged it off to him and thought nothing more about it. It wasn't until Monday evening at about 8.05pm that I heard my phone going mad! I went online to see what was happening and there it was - a truck load of notifications congratulating me on my win and the best one of all was from Theo himself!  Three weeks later I still can't quite believe that my work has finally paid off.  You are probably wondering what difference it has made to me and my little business....well firstly, a huge confidence boost for me as I must be doing something right! Secondly, my followers on twitter have increased by a whopping 1200, which has blown me away! My instagram feed had increased engagement and more importantly, my sales have gone up week on week! I also have a shiny new badge that I can plaster all over my social media platforms!! (please check the top of this post!) The most exciting part of all of this is that I get to meet him next year and will have my certificate given to my in person by Mr Paphitis at an awards ceremony with pictures taken!! Yikkesss!    So plummies, if you have a budding business of your own, my advice is to get yourselves on twitter - it could make all the difference! All the best!   Josi  xx

Something A Little Different!     Well Christmas is almost upon us and I know that many of you (including me) find it really hard to buy for the men in our lives. So, it got me thinking about what I could make that would be fun for all ages and not found anywhere else..... So I set about wondering about sport - well actually football & rugby - as most men support a football or rugby team and spend their weekends watching it in some form or other.    As you may know I make a lot of pin badges or brooches and decided that I would craft a few of my own little footie shirts in an selection of colours!  I cut the shapes from copper sheet and after filing and sanding them so there were no rough edges I soldered to each a tie tack. These are easy to use as you just pinch the back of the tack and pop it on to the pin, securing the item to your top/ bag etc. I decided to make three little shirt badges and went for red & white, white and black and black and white. I fired up my kiln and once at the required temperature, I applied a layer of black to the reverse side of the brooch. This is to prevent the metal from warping when the enamel is applied to the front! Three layers of powdered glass are then carefully sifted to each shape and fired fusing the glass to the metal. This process is repeated up to three times before the contrasting number and stripe detail are added. One final firing and hey presto! All done. I rather like my little football rugby shirt badges as they can be worn pinned to shirts, lapels, ties, bags scarves etc and they are each completely unique. You certainly won't find these in the shops either! Great little tree presents and stocking fillers too! If you are interested in purchasing any of these items then feel free to visit my store www.maisyplum.co.uk and search under 'For Men'