UK Handmade Showcase

I'm delighted that two of my necklaces have been featured in the UK Handmade Autumn Showcase, which features handmade and unique items made by designers and makers across the UK. Take a look at the pieces and find out more about the work of those featured in the Showcase here- so many lovely things!

On Instagram In September

 Happy October! I hope you had a great September. It's remained beautifully sunny and bright (for the most part) throughout the month here in this little corner of the UK, but the mornings and evenings have been noticeably darker and chillier, with the onset of Autumn creeping in.

 It's been a busy month, here's a look at what I got up to through my Instagram photos. It's always fun to look back on the month, but if you'd like to keep up with what I'm up to as it happens, you can follow me here. I'd love to follow you back too! Here's to a fab October all,

One of my favourite shops in my hometown- the florists- looks and smells amazing!

Visiting a local garden that was open for charity on a sunny and hot afternoon. September certainly had that Indian Summer feeling!

Still hot enough for an ice cream treat in the garden!

I treated myself to a "Knit" scrabble tile phrase necklace from the lovely Claire, aka Claireabellemakes. I absolutely love it!

I've been making lots of new work this month and I've added new colours to my range of Harris Tweed mini embroidery hoop necklaces

A selection of my knitted and Harris Tweed button brooches and mini embroidery hoop necklaces are now available to buy from The Minories Gallery in Colchester. Thanks to the team at The Minories!

Working on necklace orders

New colours sneak peek!

Working on some new colour ways in my hand knitted Fair Isle necklace range

Button brooch close up!

Coming soon to my Etsy shop are these Swarovski Crystal, freshwater pearl and upcycled bead triangle necklaces. Watch this space!

Tartan and leather bookmark on its way to its new home!

The latter part of the month saw some more grey and Autumnal weather, but that didn't spoil the amazing views across London on our trip to the Sky Garden

As usual, Nelson has had a chilled out month!

He's too cute!

Sky Garden London

36 floors up, the Sky Garden, on the roof of 20 Fenchurch Street (aka iconic building the "Walkie Talkie") is London's highest garden. Mr Writer and I throughly enjoyed our visit there a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to share a few photos with you! (I didn't want to share too many pics so that if you visit yourself you'll get the wow factor!) I love London and this was quite a treat.

It was a grey but warm day and the skyline views stretched for miles across London, taking in sights of The Shard, The Gherkin, Tower Bridge, Saint Paul's Cathedral, The London Eye- a completely different viewpoint to these buildings and landmarks that we'd only previously seen at street level.

There are 360 degree views so you can take in the whole city, with an open air roof terrace on one side of the building

The Gherkin

Tower Bridge from a completely new viewpoint. It was fascinating to watch the activity on the river, bridges and roads from such a great vantage point

There is a lovely bar and several restaurants (you may need to book) within the Sky Garden- a great way to take in the views

The landscaped gardens are lovely to wander through, back dropped with those stunning views

It's free to visit the Sky Garden (how fab is that?!) but you need to book in advance. Find out more and how to book here. You can also book a night time visit- I'd love to go back and see the city views by night!

Louise Dawson Design On Facebook

Did you know that I have a Facebook page for my Jewellery? I post regular updates about my work and I'd be very grateful if you popped over to give my page "Louise Dawson Design" a like. Thank you and hope to meet some of you on FB! Let me know if you have a page too, I'd love to follow you back

Check Out My New Blog Gallery Page

I'm working on adding some new pages to the blog and I've just added a gallery of images of my work. Just click on the "Gallery" button at the top of the page and you can have a browse at some examples of my work from the last few years. Thank you to Mr Writer and his technical know how in setting this up! Let me know what you think

Some of the pieces featured in the gallery are are available in my Etsy Shop and if you have any questions about these pieces or any others featured, please do get in touch!

Sunny September Afternoon At Ulting Wick

Although there have been a couple of chillier, rainy days, on the whole September has still felt very summery so far- I'm making the most of it before Autumn sets in! Last Sunday was gorgeously sunny and warm and I spent the afternoon with Mr Writer and his family at Ulting Wick, a beautiful house with spectacular gardens, tucked away in the Essex countryside. You can find out more about Ulting Wick in this previous post, when we visited the gardens to see the tulips in bloom.

 Here are some photos from our lovely September afternoon... 

It really is a quintessentially English, picture postcard garden. Just stunning

My Mother and Father in Law are great gardeners so it was interesting to hear their knowledge of the different plants in the gardens

It was so bright in the sunshine that it was difficult to take clear photos in places but I hope you get the gist of the beautiful place!

You can see just how bright a day it was!

This wasn't intentional but I love this hazy, summery effect!

The colour of that sky!

If you've been on any trips recently I'd love to see your photos! Do you have any recommendations of great places to visit?

Mad Hatter's Tea and Craft Party On 6th October

Did you know that it's National Mad Hatter's Day on 6th October? If you fancy a lovely evening of tea, cake and Alice In Wonderland inspired jewellery making, why not book a ticket and come along to the Cardamon Tea Lounge in Colchester for the evening. There will even be goody bags to take home! I'm delighted to have been asked to get involved and I have designed the jewellery piece that participants will be making (we're keeping it under wraps at the moment but all will be revealed!). I had great fun immersing myself in all things Alice In Wonderland while coming up with ideas! 

It's great to be supporting such a great cause- all money raised will go to the charity child.org. If you'd like to book a ticket, you can buy them from the Cardamon Tea Lounge- contact them on 01206 504180

So looking forward to it, hope to see you there!

How fab is this poster by the way?! It was designed by the very talented printwear designer Melissa Faux- find her @melissafaux on Facebook