Just Catching my Breath Between Busy Weekends

Hi everyone,

Thought I'd post a wee Blog while I'm catching my breath between busy weekends in Edinburgh and at other markets.

Last weekend was our best yet in the capitol during the festival. We had really good sales and gave out a huge amout of cards for the website, and now we are getting sales from these too.

Selling well in Edinburgh are Lego and Scrabble rings, all kinds of other rings, teapot and teacup items and my new line of Lego Minifigure pendants.

The vintage brass pendants are popular too and I have just added a fabulous Victorian glass ball watch to the stock. Monopoly pendants sold out on the stall last week so I will be making more for the weekend.

I've just added Lego minifigure rings to the website and am adding new pendants almost everyday. 3 new figures have just arrived in the post and will be listed this afternoon.

I added a few new rings yesterday, a red rose with leaves, a mint rose and a fab faceted domed cabochon with a photo of Audrey Hepburn.

I will be making a new line of funky cufflinks using Lego Star Wars helmets just as soon as they arrive.

Before I go and process todays orders, I think I will go for a short run, as the rain has stopped. Then I'll be working all afternoon making up the orders so I can get them into the post this afternoon.

The website has been getting steadily busier every day, which is wonderful and what I have been working for. Thank you all for your purchases. Your custom means a lot to me and is much appreciated.

Have you all have a good week.

Best wishes.

Jude x

Second Weekend at Edinburgh Markets

Hi everyone,

I'm so pleased that we got to the end of our second weekend at Edinburgh Markets. 4 days in the capitol, 12 hours each day, really takes a bit of stamina. We also did 2 farmers markets last week as well. A lot of work as I had to work hard to keep our stock levels up, keep making and dispatching the website orders, and get out to the markets as well.

We had 2 good days in Edinburgh on Friday and Saturday, but Thursday was a wash out and Sunday was quiet.  Jen did Helensburgh Farmers Market on Friday and it rained there all day, so customers were a bit thin on the ground. Jen and I did Stirling Farmers Market on Saturday and had a good day. It only rained a wee bit then the sun came out.  This week we have 4 days in Edinburgh and Cupar Farmers Market on Saturday.

I've just had a delivery of 2x2 pink Lego bricks, and I've managed to get hold of some more purple 2x2 and 2x1 bricks. These are like gold dust so I'm very lucky to have found them. I also managed to get a couple of Hagrid Mini figures and found some Lego coupler plates that I'm going to be making into heart pendants, so watch out for these being listed. I'm just about to take photos and list some new Mini Figure pendants as well, including a Pirate.

Also delivered this morning were my new lures and flies for more fishing earrings and pendants. I hope to have some listed by this afternoon, if I can find my heavy duty cutters as I need to de-barb the hooks.






I also got my new sterling silver plated antique stampings delivered from the States today. Lots of new earrings and pendants to follow very soon, so look out for Unicorns, Sea Horses, Dragonflies, Elephants and Cats, as well as Bats and Butterflies.

As usual Scrabble and Lego rings are selling very well everywhere, but it's nice to see so many other items being ordered on the website, especially Lego and Scrabble bracelets. At Edinburgh markets it was teacup rings, teapot pendants and food rings that were the biggest sellers.

We really did have a busy weekend as we had 2 parties as well, a 21st on Saturday night and a 60th on Sunday. Got to dress up and I wore my new feather hairband and matching pendant and earrings.


I've just been out for a wee jog/walk, the first time out in about 8 weeks, so I took it slowly and managed just over a mile. My goal now is to jog more and walk less, then start to go a bit further. Hopefully I'll get back to circuit training on Monday too.

So I'd better get back to work, Nick has just come in and wants to work on the fishing lure things.

Have a good week.
Jude x

Nicks at Edinburgh Market Today

Morning all from a very wet Stirling.

Most of southern and central Scotland has had constant rain for a couple of days now. We were watching about 4 weather stations last night and this morning to check the weather forecast for Edinburgh today. Very heave rain till about 6pm.

Phoned Edinburgh Market organiser at 6.30am to see what was happening and she said the market was going ahead today. As we have already paid a large deposit, Nick decided that he would drive through and do the Jude's Jewels stall himself while I stayed home and processed the website orders. He's away with a set of waterproofs as he has to park the car 30 minutes walk away from the market to get free parking, otherwise it's £20 for the NCP !!

Anyway, I made a new feather fascinator/hairband and listed it on the website last night. The one in the photo is for me to wear this weekend. It's available in a choice of feather colours and I've just been asked to add pink as well :)

I've also listed 6 pairs of Dr Who earrings, but I only have 1 pair of each type.

I found a few Tennants cans yesterday so listed 2 pairs of earrings. Found some Grouse cans too, so I updated the can cufflinks list as well.

I'm just waiting on the parcel post arriving, as I've got a lot of materials ordered. Most should arrive today. At least 6 sets of Scrabble should come today, so that means plenty of letters in stock for all the Scrabble jewellery. I got a huge delivery of Lego yesterday, so all colours of bricks are in stock too.

If I get a chance I'm going to work on some more fishing lure pendants, but I need to find my heavy duty snips so I can take the barbs and hooks off.

Remember to sign up for the Jude's Jewels mailing list to receive your special offer discount codes and newsletters.

Hope the rain is not too bad there ever you are.

Take care.

Jude x

Very Wet Weekend

Hi everyone.

We have just about dried out after 3 very wet days at Edinburgh Festival Markets, but at least the sun shone on Friday.

It was so wet on Sunday that all the other stallholders called off, so we decided not to bother setting up as one stall does not look like a market. We came all the way home again and I went back to bed. Probably did me the world of good as I've been working constantly for weeks.

Last week, Nick had a brilliant day at Milngavie farmers market and also at Falkirk farmers market, and the website has been very busy again, so that more than made up for the wet days in Edinburgh.

I've just introduced a new line (excuse the pun) on the website, fishing lure pendants. These are made from real Bass lures with Swarovski crystals covering the hooks. They are very bright and colourful, and I will be adding more today. I've also just sourced some fab brightly coloured Walleye flies and these will be made into earrings as soon as they arrive. I'm toying with the idea of using some Trout flies for earrings as well, but I'll wait and see how the first lot sell.

I've just added more Dr Who earrings to the online shop. The photos are coming this afternoon.

As always the Scrabble and Lego jewellery is selling well, as are the cufflinks. The new Purple Lego rings have sold out so I am searching for more bricks, and the Gold Lego pendants are proving to be very popular. The Red Geisha Girl pendants sold out almost immediately and so did the other Lego Minifig Girls. I'm just about to list a Lego Pirate Minifig pendant as well.

I sent out the August Newsletter on Sunday night and got a very good response. If you received the newsletter and are thinking of placing an order, remember to use the special discount code. If you would like to sign up to the next newsletter use this link.

Also remember that postage on UK orders over £20, and Overseas orders over £30 is Free.

I do hope you like all the new items I'm adding to the website. If there is anything you would like me to make and list, please let me know and I will see what I can do.

Have a great week.
Take care.
Jude x

Another Busy Monday

Evening everyone,

I'm just catching up with a bit of work on the website, adding links and checking the SEO. It's an ongoing job, making sure that everything is correctly listed and described.

There were a lot of orders to make up and get posted today. It's the same every Monday, as there are always a lot of website orders placed over the weekend. Just trying to work out a more efficient way of labelling and now considering buying a package so we can do out own postage without having to go to the Post Office every day.

I've had a couple of new ideas for earrings but will keep them to myself until I order the materials and get a couple of pairs made up. These are going to be very different :)

Also just reminding myself to order up plenty of bags and boxes. We will hopefully need them at the Edinburgh festival markets which start on Thursday. Jen has been working hard making up lots and lots of bracelets so we have plenty in stock.

I listed some new cufflinks today. Three pairs of Tartan Lion Rampants, a pair of Union Jacks, and a pair of Miniature Compasses. All very fun and funky.






I'd better go and get the things I need ordered.

Take care and have a good week.

Jude x
www.judesjewels.co.uk/ourshop/