A very Happy, Healthy and at least Solvent New Year to you all.

I hope everyone has had a great Christmas and those that gave or received a piece of Mornie G Jewellery were delighted with their purchase or gift. I would like to thank all my Clients for their support in 2008, it was very gratifying that you had faith in my products. As a new venture for me it was a scary leap of faith especially as it turned out, at the beginning of a recession.

I have towards the end of the year, tried to include some less expensive items and I will continue to add these in 2009. The 'charm' bracelets sold well for christmas and I will make some more and add to the site soon. I appreciate we all have less cash for luxuries but we still like to treat ourselves occassionaly and not ignore our friends and relatives own celebrations, be it birthday, congratulations, valentines or just because you love them and they deserve to be spoilt sometimes too.

I have separated the shop so there are earings from as little as £7.50, bracelets from £35.00 and necklaces from £25.00, and I will add more in these price ranges soon. The quality remains the same whatever the price. The lampwork is still from the workshops of Rob and Yvonne Johnson and all fittings are sterling silver, although there will be less or no hand woven chain maille on these pieces. My pearls are natural cultured, occasionally swarovski ( but you will see that in the description ) and crystals only from Swarovski. Beads are lampwork glass, again from Rob and Yvonne, not cheap imports from abroad, or semi-precious stones.

I will still produce the chainmaille and lampwork pieces I love to make, and I am hoping to start to learn some basic silversmithing during the coming year. If it all works out well and I think what I produce is good enough, I will hopefully incorporate it into my work. I  was lucky enough to be given some fantastic books and tools for Christmas towards the vast kit I will need to persue this latest dream, and my husband has promised to make me a proper jewellers work bench for my birthday at the end of the month. It's handy having a carpenter in the house sometimes !

I know I have been very lax on the Blog front but with a full time job as well things get very hectic towards the end of the year. When I do get it together I can waffle on a bit, but I dont see the point blogging unless I have something to say.

Thank you all again for your support, please come back and visit Mornie G soon. Very best wishes for 2009 and beyond.

Mornie G X

Well here we are again, a bit behind as I just realised it's two months since my last rant. Autumn has arrived and I have given in and put the central heating on, bliss. I have been having fun making lots of bracelets and some new more affordable items for the gift season. There is no way I will compromise on quality by substituting plated silver for sterling or Czech imports for UK Artisan made beads so I have used more of Rob and Yvonne Johnsons 'standard' beads and went mad durning Robs '100' sale, where he offered sets of his quality beads at one ' buy it now ' price. Not seconds, or inferior in any way, but his usual interesting and varied repetable ranges. The one off sets I have will be saved for the more expensive pieces.

I am also offering pieces without the Chain Maille I love so much, but it is labour intensive and uses lots of silver per necklace. Instead I have used a product called 'beading chain' which is sterling silver articulated continuous chain, that can be threaded through some beads or used in combination with chain maille or stainless steel beading wire for threaded necklaces. I always use the heavy guage, likewise for the bracelets I always use a medium or heavy guage curb link chain instead of the lightweight versions favoured by so many others to keep costs down.

You will see from the pictures that I don't just thread a lampwork bead on a flat pin and attach to the bracelet. I use a ball headpin and silver beads, pearls or small semiprecious beads to compliment the glass or stone. This is all additional money but I just can't bring myself to cut back to the point where I am not happy with the piece and to me it would look 'cheap' and unfinished. So my bottom line is probably a little more than others on the market but the little additions I offer I feel are worth it.

The Party season will be with us very soon and the shops are full of Christmas stock. I was in Manchester at the weekend doing a little retail therapy on a 'girls weekend' and it was like no one up there had heard of the credit crunch, the shops were heaving and the tills ringing. If the budget doesn't stretch to a new outfit for the party season this year, remember a stunning accessory can lift a simple dress or if you feel like a little early gift browsing in the comfort of your own home, then please have a wander through my shop to view my new products. If you like the site please tell your friends, if you don't remember we can't all like the same things. Once again many thanks for taking the time to read this, I welcome your comments via my contacts page. Get the winter woolies out, I think we are going to need them shortly.

Kindest regards Mornie G.

''Summer sort out'' as I type that it is tipping it down with rain yet again and I really ought to go and get something warmer to put on, as not even I could justify switching the heating back on in August and I hate being cold.

Another month has flown by and people have been kind and spent a little money with me despite the credit crunch ,so a tidy up of the site, a bit of editing and some additions were due. I have so much going on in my head that I want to make but I have to reign myself in on occassions and be sensible,  but I have made a few new pieces including some bracelets that people have been asking me for and added those to the site. I have also separated out some of the necklaces and earings into their own pages but there are a few that I felt had to be left as sets.

I know I will have to be thinking about Christmas soon. Although a lot of my designs are already ' in your face' pieces that, unlike me, many people would only wear in the evening, I will make some specifically evening pieces for the party season. I hope also to do a few Jewellery Parties locally in the run up to Christmas so plenty to be getting on with.

Thank you again for taking the time to browse my site, and please do feel free to 'talk' to me via my e-amil contact page or leave a comment. Enjoy what is left of the summer. Mornie G.

Firstly I would like to welcome my new customers and thank them for their business. In the light of this I have done a quick update on the online shop and it is now looking a little depleated. I hope to rectify that this weekend when I will take some photos of the new pieces I have ready, and add them to the shop. I think I have finally mastered the camera so I hope that the photographs will be a little better than the last ones and I will to be able to post some close up shots of the earings especially.

I think the jewellery is taking over, I found myself up at 5.30am one morning this week finishing a necklace and earings before I went to work, just because I wanted to see it finished and was too tired the night before to do so !

I am accumalating so many of Rob Johnsons lampwork beads, but I just can't resist them, it's like being let loose in a sweetshop at 7 years old. He is making so many truely beautiful beads and unfortunately my terrible photography does not do them justice. I try my best to describe them in the text but it is very difficult. I  must stop hoarding them for myself and get more onto the site.

That's enough from me for the moment. Comments are always welcome via e-mail, I like to know what potential customers like and dislike about my jewellery, the website, or if you just want to 'chat', that's fine with me. I hope you call back soon to view my new pieces, have a good weekend. With thanks, Mornie G.

Decided that I just had to make the long journey to Norfolk to Visit Rob and Yvonne Johnson who make the most fantastic Lampwork Beads. I am a huge fan of Robs and am using his beads more and more in my jewellery and now Yvonne has started to produce her own range which I also use, I felt a visit was due. I like to understand the mechanics of things, how they are made and the limitations or otherwise of the product. Rob was moaning that I always want what I can't have, well I'm a woman, so what does he expect ! I had a lovely day, tried to make some beads under Robs excellent tutition, they were reasonably round, but I think I will leave it to the experts. I was fed and watered throughout my over extended stay and came away with lots of lovely, lovely beads. Rumaging through the stock of beads in the barn, I was like a kid in a sweet shop, and I wanted lots more that I left with, but there is always next time if they will have me back.

A very wet visit to Ely on Sunday was followed by an even wetter journey home on Monday, but I couldn't wait to get back and play with my new stock of beads, and have spent hours planning new pieces which I hope to make a start on this weekend as I have to get back to my day job on Wednesday.

Hope you all had a good holiday weekend despite the weather, and will pop back to see the new pieces I hope to make with my bead hoard shortly.  Mornie G.