Week 8 of the Nine Weeks of Amy ... win a $20 gift certificate from AREjewellery

It’s week eight of nine in the Nine Weeks of Amys and it’s nearly Christmas! So Merry Christmas to you all! I’m Amy of AREjewellery. I’m a UK based Amy (hence the English spelling of jewellery!). It’s great to be involved in a team with such a variety of sellers from all over the world.

I make bead jewellery and have done so for about 6 years now. Beads are my biggest weakness – the bigger and shinier the better! I just love browsing for unusual beads and love it when I find something that I have never seen anywhere before. I had these earrings in my shop for a while but they haven’t sold – I’ve decided I love the beads so much I’m keeping them for myself.

I also love using different materials: ribbon, fabric, wire, cord. I’m always experimenting with something new. I’ve just bought some tulle and am coming up with some ideas to incorporate it.

I make jewellery in my spare time as I have a full time job as a graduate surveyor. I just moved to a different part of the UK and am just settling in. Where I lived previously I was a member of an arts festival committee and one of my main roles was organising a handmade craft fair. Hugely rewarding but also pretty stressful – it’s an outdoor even and the weather in the England is highly unpredictable! I am helping out again this year – from a distance! I love the handmade community and support it by buying the majority of my Christmas presents on Etsy.

To enter my giveaway to win a $20 voucher in my shop, leave a comment on this page with your favourite item from my shop.

Earn additional entries by:

- following @amysinthearts on Twitter

- sharing this giveaway on Twitter by tagging @amysinthearts in your tweet

- following the Amys In The Arts blog,

- Follow me on twitter @AREjewellery

- Follow my blog

To get credit for your additional entries, please be sure to let us know what you’ve done. You can earn one additional entry by doing each of the above actions, up to 6 entries total. Competition closes 25^th December. 

Back to School with AREJewellery

Generally School for me was always a bit of a bind. I liked to rebel as I’m not the best at being told what to do. I rebelled as much as I could get away with as my school was fee-paying and selective. In that way I was lucky and had a privileged education. That doesn’t mean to say I appreciated it at the time! My school was literally two minutes from my house but that didn’t stop me from always being late. I was never the worst and never the best. In fact in all the important exams I did I seemed to achieve a Grade B. For my exams that would get me in to university all my teachers were concerned. I wasn’t. I knew I could do what was needed in the exam, it was just my attitude to homework was to do as little as I could get away with! I think the problem was I never found my niche. In a way I’m still not sure I have.

My school was tiny, in fact in my last two years I was the only pupil studying Geography! We had a uniform which, obviously, I hated. What child doesn’t hate their school uniform? It was a tartan skirt, shirt, tie and blazer. I must have been told to tuck my shirt in a thousand times – there’s that rebellious streak again. Or as one teacher described me ‘belligerent’.

The only subject I liked was P.E. I was always on the sports teams and often the captain. I loved rounders, netball, football, swimming... all sports really.

Looking back, school is like the best of times and the worst of times. For a bit of a laugh I thought you might like to see this, yep, that’s me. Not a very flattering photo as I seem to be blinded by the sun! It’s the first day at my new school and it’s my brother’s first day of school – he went to a different one hence the different uniforms. That satchel looks nearly as big as me and I already seem to have lost my tie – great start!

Amy @ AREjewellery

Click here to find the Amys' shops offering free shipping this week!

Amys Challenge Winner!

Congratulations are due to AREJewellery for winning our latest Amys Challenge with her mermaid inspired ribbon brooch . Way to go!

SewArtsy's Featured Amy

ARE Jewellery, handmade bead accessories

We all need a little sparkle, no matter what time of year it is. I love the sophisticated, yet textrual and artsy look of Amy's pieces. I'd wear her unique designs from day to evening, and always feel I was wearing the right stuff. Her mixture of bead sizes, shapes and hues add interest and flair, and are pieces you will sparkle in!

Amy hails from Leicestershire England. She strives to find beautiful beads of glass, semi-precious stones and crystals to make thoroughly wearable items. Amy is a fellow Amy in the Arts, and also participates in the Etsy Midlanders Street Team.

My favorite item is the Pretty in Purple Necklace. My birthstone is the amathyst, so I'm always drawn to purple jewelry. I love the smoky quality of the beads, and the mixture of the different shades - and, of course, that gorgeous tear drop commands my attention! Check out Amy's shop today! She's offering free shipping until the end of Monday, December 1 - you won't want to miss it!

AREJewellery.Etsy.com and AREHandmadejewellery.Blogspot.com

Happy Monday! Amy