More necklaces added to the SAMPLE SALE!

I've just added a few more handmade ceramic sample necklaces to my little SAMPLE SALE!

Click here to shop!

SAMPLE SALE!!

As I'm busy developing my new ceramic jewellery collection I've been making a few trial pieces along the way, testing out glazes and textures, so I've decided to have a little A Alicia sample sale!!

Each of the pieces in the sale is a beautiful, unique, one-off piece - click here to grab a bargain!

Ceramics obsession...

I mentioned in a previous post that my obsession with ceramics long pre-dates my new foray into actually making it, so I thought I'd share a few of the bits of ceramics made by other people that I've collected over the years and which make me very, very happy.

Above is a piece of antique tile that I found while walking in Victoria Park - I can only imagine how wonderful it looked alongside its fellow tiles, but sat alone on our bookshelves it's still a source of joy.

A big thank you to Hazel who gave me this beautiful hand-built planter for my birthday! I mentioned before that we go to pottery class together, so I even got to see my lovely planter being made.

Do check out the little etsy store she's set up selling her wonderfully 'wonky pottery'.

I picked up this mug at the Bust Christmas Craftacular - it's a collaboration between ceramicist Emma Gaston and illustrator Sara Lippett - I drink tea from it at least 3 times a day, and it never ceases to make me happy!!

A little faux leaf bowl - the first thing I bought (in a junk shop) for our first proper home! It now lives in our bathroom along with lots of other little bowls used to store stuff.

Studio pottery heron bowl (ceramics and a water-bird, how could I resist when I stumbled upon this on ebay!!)

Vintage saucers make the perfect little paint pallets for some decoration workshops I have coming up, so I ordered a batch from the wonderful and super helpful Ted's Tea Sets! The two above are staying in my kitchen though as they are just too lovely!!

A Alicia bargains at Craft Central One Day Fashion Sale - this Tuesday!!

If you're anywhere near Central London this Tuesday be sure to pop along to Craft Central's One Day Fashion Sale!!

Along with over 45 other designers (selling a mix of jewellery, clothing, millinery, accessories...) I'll be there with some absolute A Alicia bargains!! It's your chance to grab the last remaining pieces from last season at knock-down prices and current collection pieces at special (very!) reduced prices for one day only! And as if that wasn't enough, I'll be previewing the first of my new ceramic necklaces too!!

The sale runs on Tuesday 21st Feb from 12-7pm, perfect for lunch-break or after-work shopping, and entry is free!

Click here for location.

Ceramic jewellery...

Still in it's early stages, I wanted to share a new project I'm working on - ceramic jewellery! I've been using handmade ceramic beads (made by the lovely Karen at Hodge Podge Arts) in my collections for a while now, but when my friend Hazel (who's beautiful work you can see here) suggested going to a pottery class it seemed like the right time to get my own hands covered in clay!!

I've always hugely admired ceramics (I'll share some of the pieces I've collected from charity shops, ebay and craft fairs in future posts!), but haven't tried my hand at it since I was a wee girl. Now I'm completely obsessed with it!

These pics are of my first experiments and some of the little crescents above will end up as fully fledged necklaces... I'm really excited about combining textiles and ceramics, but this time with ceramics taking centre stage...

Mollie Makes Magazine mention!

I'm so happy that my A Alicia Workshops get a mention in the new issue of the simply beautiful craft magazine Mollie Makes - out tomorrow!

A good press day!

Well, I never expected to be featured in the Wall Street Journal, but my pom pom earrings (available at Beklina, a gorgeous boutique in the US) made it in!! I love a Hawaiian shirt!!

And on the day my new collection officially launched (today!) I was lucky enough to be featured on the wonderful Design*Sponge. I'm an enormous fan of the blog (I read it every day over breakfast!), so I'm more than thrilled to have my work featured!! Thank you!

NEW COLLECTION launch discount!!

The new A Alicia collection is now out, so head on over to my shop to take a look!!

And to celebrate it's launch here's a special discount code to take 20% off any purchase from my shop before the end of Feb - just use code NEW20 at the checkout!!

More sneak peeks!

Another sneaky peek at some of my new collection!! I'm just putting together the lookbook for this collection (it'll be going on sale on my website next week!) and these are a few of the photos that made the final cut.

Photos/styling by Sibell Barrowclough, hair and make-up by Dolly and Rhonda

Can't wait to launch the collection now!!

Last chance for sale bargains!

I'm hard at work putting the finishing touches to my new collection, so this week is your last chance to grab a bargain in the A Alicia Sale!

Events!!

I've just updated my events page with three fabulous up-coming events. Two are wedding fairs (one this weekend!) and the other is Craft Central's One Day Designers Sale: Fashion coming up in February (I'm very proud to have a necklace featured on the flyer above!).

Click over to my events page for details of all the events I have coming up over the next few months and maybe get a date or two in the diary!

Sneak peek! Photo shoot for the new A Alicia collection!

My new collection is almost ready for launch and Sunday saw our little flat once again transformed into a photography studio (with the help of a giant roll of paper hung in front of our book shelves!) for a fantastic model shoot!

I worked with such a lovely team for my last shoot, so I couldn't wait to work with them again. Sibell Barrowclough was behind the camera and the Dolly and Rhonda girls were in charge of hair and make-up! Our gorgeous model Agnese (an architect by day) looked amazing, and my lovely assistant Emily made sure there was a constant supply of tea!

The new collection will be coming out very soon, so watch this space...(and grab any sale bargains you have your eye on before they're gone!)

NEW birthday gift workshop package!

Know someone with a birthday coming up, or just someone who needs cheering up? Why not treat them to an afternoon of crafty fun!

You can now book a special A Alicia gift experience workshop for just £60 for you and the person you're treating (larger group packages also available).

Click here for full details!

Organic thread!!

Okay, so a few spools of cotton thread might not seem like something to be that excited about, but in my on-going quest to make my work as eco-ethical as possible, I'm always thrilled when I find a new ethically produced material or, as in this case, one of my fabric suppliers adds organic cotton thread to their range! I'm also very excited about finding uses for the lovely wooden spools that the thread comes on once I've used it up!

New A Alicia workshop packages - Masquerade Masks!

To welcome in 2012 I've just added two lovely new workshops to my workshop website - great for hen-parties!!

There are two Masquerade Mask workshops to choose from - Cats/Foxes or Burlesque - both the perfect way to start a hen-do, especially if you're going on for a vintage themed or burlesque night out! The workshops use eco-felt and vintage trimmings, sequins and beads, and no crafting experience is needed to make something beautiful!

The workshops are also a great way to celebrate a special birthday and you can book for as few as 3 people - so why not treat someone to a crafty birthday!

A Alicia SALE NOW ON!

The A Alicia January sale is now on, so grab yourself a handmade bargain!!

Merry Christmas!!

As the Christmas holiday is almost upon us I wanted to share some of the handmade (by me and others) decorations that are dangling about our flat this year! Firstly, here's my little herb wreath that's currently gracing our front door - this one is my own handiwork and combines dried bay leaves and rosemary (thanks Val and John!), bits of twig from our local park and vintage velvet ribbon in green and orange (a nice alternative to red, and what I happened to have in my ribbon stash!). I made a simple wire ring and then wired each of the leaves and twigs to that, covering any bits of wire that were left showing with the green ribbon!

I had to share the stunning little crochet snowflakes (I have 3 in total, but plan to build on that next year), that I bought from the lovely Isamo Crochet (thanks Izabela!) at the WeMake fair earlier this month. They are nothing less than exquisite!

Well, this was supposed to be my grand handmade wooden Christmas tree, but I somewhat overestimated my woodwork skills and it ended up only about a foot tall and very wonky - I still love it though, and have decorated it with our vintage Christmas lights, and home-made paper decorations (made just like you did at school with folded paper and scissors!)

And last but definitely not least, this year's gorgeous hand-knitted decoration from Val (my mother-in-law)! We've built up quite a collection over the years, but I think this might be my favourite yet (though the knitted tree with bobble lights is definitely a close second!).

Have a lovely festive break and all the best for 2012!!

Workshoppe is back, at Shelf!!

If you didn't make it along to the amazing Workshoppe pop-up-shop in Clerkenwell (or if you fancy another browse), here's another chance to shop the gorgeous selection of handmade goodies! Today and tomorrow (22nd-23rd Dec) only, Workshoppe will be guesting at Shelf's Xmas pop-up-shop at 13a Boundary Street, E2.

So if there's still some Christmas shopping left to do (or you got some cash in one of your Christmas cards!) head on over between 11am and 7pm!

Perfect stocking fillers - ON SALE!

My little hand-knitted Snake Brooches make perfect socking fillers and are now on sale! They're now just £8, with free UK delivery and a lovely gift box!