How to Make Your Gift More Special

Good morning lovelies ..

This is a topic that a lot of people want to know about, we get a lot requests on how to make gifts more personalized, special, unique, and this is what we are all about. These are a few tips that  I think are really helpful when looking for such a gift.

1. This like the person you are trying to gift
This is really important as it is important to get a present that the person your gifting actually wants not what you want. Sometimes you get trapped into the idea thinking "Oooh I like this, I'll get it for so and so". So first decide what you are looking or.

2. Can you get this item handmade?
More and more people are moving to loving handmade items, and one off items. It is always more special when you feel that the gift has been made especially for you, or only you will have this item. Everyone loves to be unique and different.

3. Can you customize your gift?
Think of the present that you want to gift can you customize it? For example, lets talk jewellery (Surprise! lol!), can you change the color? The shape? The gems? Depending on what the person you are making it for likes, and this can go for a lot of other items you are looking for. If you are customizing a purse or a bag.

4. Personalize
For me this is the most important point. At Hana Designs we personalize our jewellery by adding an engraved jewellery tag and you can choose what type of tag. We started offering this service after a lot of you lovely ladies starting to order personalized jewellery. You can engrave a name or a date or a word that means something to you. This has been met by a great response and everyone loves them. If you want to look or something other than jewellery, taking the example from the previous point, a bag or purse you can again get it engraved, or attach an engraved tag to it. Any little personalized item will make so much difference to the presentation and feel of the gift. It chose how much thought has been put in the gift and that is what makes the most difference. If you would like to see the tags we provide click here.

I hope that you find this helpful and hope that all the gifts you buy are loved and appreciated. If you would like to know anything else please leave a comment below or message me anytime.

Have a lovely day beauties.

New Collection Launch

Hello Beauties ..

As many of you would have already seen that I have launched my new collection this month, but not only that I have also launch a new look along with a few signature designs. If you have not yet seen my collection you can view it here.

First of all about my new logo, complements go to the beautiful Ranya who is an amazing upcoming designer. She was super helpful and did not mind my pickiness (don't think that is a word lol!), I felt bad I'm usually not very picky :D. This is the end result which I totally love and you will be seeing everywhere hopefully.

I have changed the gift packaging now it looks totally cool I will be posting up some pics for you too. All exciting new things about the look and feel of my whole brand, felt we needed a little bit of a change. I'm in the process of changing some things around the house or adding lets say, changing my workshop, my brand .. who can tell I'm board? lol! But it's a good thing.

Now moving to my signature designs, there are a three specific designs that are related to Hana Designs, not all of them are in the store yet, but I want to share with you one that I have fallen in love with. It looks stunning, simple, elegant, you can wear it every day, or dress it up, it is just perfect. Below is a photo of one of the designs that I have used this technique in. You can find the same look in different gems or pearl, in different colors and sizes. So far this has been the most popular of all the newly added items. I have also made my very own request (I haven't made it yet though lol!)

For me this a perfect choice, as a mother of two I find it hard to wear earrings, especially that I like dangly earrings. I get scared that one of them will try to take it out lol! Kids these days are just too curious lol! But these are simple yet beautiful and elegant, not too flashy so I can wear them every day, yet if I'm dressing up it still looks great, and it looks like I have even made an effort, when if you're like me there is no time to make any effort. :D

These are made with Sterling silver and Swarovski white pearls, you can order them in any color pearl. With the same design I have a pair that are made with Semi Precious Aquamarine, and coming soon will be a pair made with Semi Precious Agate. All have their matching necklace sets that you can also purchase from Hana Designs. To see these earrings click here.

There will be more updates coming your way including the Christmas best seller so keep a look out for that. If you have any questions regarding my collection please do not hesitate to message me any time.

Noha xx

A quick update while the kids eat their icecream :D

Hello Lovlies

Hope that you are all doing great and have been enjoying the super weather we have been having this month. I have been away for a while, planning for a lot of great projects that I will be be launching soon so keep checking this space for more information about that. Also I took a bit of time to focus on my twins and spend more time with them to help and encourage them to start speaking. As most of you know they are now just past the two year and a half mark :) so they should be speaking quite a bit, yet alhamdulilah they are still at baba and mama! I have picked up quite a lot of skills and spoken to a lot of people about this issue so if anyone is concerned that they have this issue or would like me to talk more about this just comment below here and let me know.

Wanted to say Eid Mubarak to those of you who are celebrating and hope that the past month has been filled with blessings and that you have been able to make the most of it.

I am quickly typing this post for you guys while Youssef and Hana eat their ice cream, that I gave them to keep them occupied lol! I am just imagining the mess but at least they would have had fun, then we can have fun cleaning up lol!

I have recently just been inspired to make a lot of changes around me, starting with myself and to our apartment. Well I was watching TV as you do, and saw this couple who felt their room was lacking in character and described it as a "box" and well I realised hang on! that looks like my entire apartment haha! I think having been around the kids and always cleaning and tidying after them didn't really give me the opportunity to take a good look round and see what was around me. I'm always looking out for crumbs or toys or anything else that has been misplaced. So yaaay! That's one of the things I want to start doing so if you have any ideas or things to recommend please send them my way.

So alhamdulilah I am excited for all the projects that I have coming and will be updating you a lot more often so keep a look out, also will be having some amazing give aways from my shop.

Have a lovely evening beauties xx

What's New This July!

Hello my lovelies,

It has been some time since I last had a chance to post to guys but I have been updating my facebook and instagram so you can also follow me on those. I have been just focusing on being Mummy me for a while, toddlers really living up to the "Terrible Twos" name lol! I find it very useful that every once in a while you just sit and think what is important and priorities, some things are important to you at one  point in life but their importance may change.. So I find it very helpful to do this every so often so I  can clearly think where I am needed most. Yes, another trick from my amazing mummy :)

However, I have not forgotten you, my amazing supporters (how could I?) and have come back with a mind blowing offer!!!!! Drum Roll Please!

***It is a MASSIVE up to 70% OFF everything on my etsy store***

Yup, don't believe me check for yourself :). I am clearing out my shelves of all the designs that I have made over the past year and will be away for a few weeks working on a new re-launch for my shop and brand. This are going to change around here, but change for the better hopefully. :)

Because I love you guys so much I didn't want to leave without an amazing gift. I value all your comments and feedback they mean so much to me to feel all the love. If there are any suggestions for my re-launch please pass them my way below in the comments section.

Will be updating you of what I am doing over the next few weeks.... Exciting!!! :)

Nite nite xx

This Month's Best Sellers

Hello Lovlies :)

I have brought to you today two of my best sellers this month. This shows what's in right now and what is going to be great this summer. As you know all my items are especially made and can be re-ordered on my Etsy page which you can access via this blog page by clicking the tab at the top.

The first item that has been very popular and still available for purchase is the Crystal Cluster Bracelet.

It is available in three colors, the pink (which is in the above picture), the topaz and the lavender. It is a very beautiful and sparkly bracelet, and has caught the eyes of many people who have visited my shop. One of the comments that I got from one of the lovely ladies:

I love wearing my beautiful pink crystal bracelet. It goes with almost all of my clothes. It makes me feel like a princess and I know it was made with love because it is so carefully and artistically put together. Thank you

You can see all the other colors at the shop via this link.

The second best seller for this month is only of my wire crochet bracelets. These bracelets are so special as they are very rare out there on the market, not many people own one. They are all made with the highest quality and I just love making them which you would definitely feel when wearing them. 

This is the teal version and you can purchase this by visiting my store here. This bracelet was also ordered in a different color. I custom made this design for a bride who wanted it in ivory and purple shades and you can see the picture below.

And for just everyday wear if you wanted it all in purple, here is one that was also custom designed.

All my items can be custom designed in any color that you like, all you need to do is message me to make sure that I have the color you are looking for and then, purchase the item stating the color in the message section.  

I love receiving all your comments and posts, especially if you have suggestion, things you think I should add  to my shop and anything that I could improve on. So keep them all coming. 

Have a lovely day and don't forget to visit my shop for get your hands on our amazing 40% discount. 

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Was at the Corn Exchange this weekend

Hello my amazing ladies ..

Yes it is very late but I thought I'd just wish you all a beautiful week. It has been a super busy weekend, as you must of seen from my statuses I was at the Crafty Exchange which was an amazing experience. I met some lovely people there, and also bought some stuff myself.

I bought some handmade pottery tea lights and they are just stunning I love them. I actually bought them for Mum, but keep lighting them and just sit looking at them, they are so pretty I can keep looking at them all day lol. This is her facebook page check it out, I'm sure you guys will love these.

I am definitely looking forward to my next event, I will leave you guys with some pics of the day :)

Finally Moved

Hello ladies,

I have finally ,moved woohoooo :). I know a week later I tell you sowi! But seriously moving when you have young children, even if you are getting all the help in world .. WARNING!!.. Not a good idea. I now know lol!

My little two monkies when I took them for a walk on that one sunny day .. you can tell I got excited and got ready for summer lol! 

We started packing two weeks ago believe it or not, and actually started moving our stuff exactly a week ago, and yet the flat is a mess. But I have been to ikea to look at all the lovely storage facilities that they have hoping that I will sort this flat out. Well, at least my intentions are in the right place ;). Hopefully by Monday I should have sorted a lot of things out so we have more busy days ahead of us.

There are two things that I think are SUPER cool that I got from ikea, first a toy storage from the children's section its just like a frame with plastic boxes, it's really easy to put together, but what I love most about it is that the boxes are not like normal drawers. I always have this fear that one of the twins will trap their finger in a drawer, hence I try not to have any drawers that they can reach or get into, and these boxes don't close tightly together so their fingers can be trapped, which for me is extremely comforting. This is a link to one of the designs that they have, this is not the exact one that I got as I had to get a smaller one, but there are all different shapes and sizes so you can pick out something that is suitable for your space.

Another item that I got that I love. Is a hanger that is made out of circles stuck together, I love this idea as it is really useful. I have lots of scarves, as one does, and I am going to organize them in this hanger and hope that it would make it easier for me to keep them tidy. As for now they are still in the moving box, yes they have been there for a week it's terrible I know. Although some have been taken out by the one and only Hana, as she decided she wanted to play with them lol!

Other than that ikea is just the same old stuff, these idea might not be new but it's the first time I see them so I thought I'd share them with you, you may find them useful too.

As well as settling in and getting the twins used to the area, I am also preparing for the Craft Exchange event that is happening next weekend. It is going to be amazing so be there I was to meet all you lovely ladies and we can chat all day. I am hoping to have a kids free day lol! If that is at all possible or you may just have the pleasure of seeing my little ones running around and exploring. I have just updated some new items to my shop so don't forget to pop over and check them out, like them, leave me comments .. I always love hearing from you guys.

It's bed time for me now as twins will soon be up and ready to start a new day full of naughty things that they yet are to discover and do lol! Sweet dreams everyone xx

What's New?

Hello lovely ladies :)
It has been a while and I have missed you :) .. I should be moving this week hence I have been away for a while, but you have surely been on my mind. I have not stopped designing, I find that when I am busy with other things than designing more ideas tend to come to me and I can't wait to get a moment alone and start carrying out my ideas.

I have made some interesting designs that you will love and you can check out by visiting my Etsy store. Here are some of the pics that I wanted to share with you.

This first design is a bridal bracelet and tiara set that are sold separately  if you would like both of them I can give out some discout offers for the complete set

This is a stunning pink wire crochet bracelet, I love wire crochet bracelets they are so different from anything you can get in the shop and full of character. You can't go wrong with a crochet bracelet.

While we are talking about how amazing wire crochet bracelets are check out this amazing gold design, as you can see from my shop I usually like to work with silver but I am in loooooooooove with this bracelet and I am sure that its new owner will not take it off :) .. get it while you can!

I have been working on another crochet bracelet custom made for one of the amazing brides that I have had the opportunity to work with and will be sharing its pics soon. :) 

I will leave you now with some positive words that I have read recently and have stuck with me :)

"The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible."

Noha >> over and out :D!

Inspiration: Bridesmaids

Hello my lovelies :)

Tuesday and already got a lot done (alhamdulilah!). Been really inspired by bridesmaids these past few days. Just thinking a lot about beautiful weddings and how amazing it is when you have your best friends as your bridesmaids. I have made items in the past the were ordered especially for bridesmaids and it was so great to work with such amazing brides. So what have I been making ?? Earrings!! YaY! They just look great in pictures when all bridesmaids are wearing matching jewellery. Especially considering that now it is very popular that bridesmaids would have different dressed but the same colors .. and it looks great by the way! You just have to get the exact color for it to work.

Here are some pics of what I have been working on, most of them you will find in my shop so please visit it.

Thank you for your Confidence in me .. Custom Made Projects

Hello beauties ..

This is a quick post to show you two projects that I have been working on the past few weeks...

First is a freshwater pearl bracelet that you may have seen on my facebook page or store.

This has been custom made, the lady who ordered it wanted a unique and bespoke bracelet for her mother. She required that it be made with freshwater pearls and have a pendant/ brooch like bead in the middle, and so this is what the resulted item turned out to be :) .. I hope that her mother does like it.

This is now in my shop, as one of my customized bracelets, you may remember that I have one very similar already in my shop, the main difference between the, is that this center piece is made from pearls and rhinestones, while the other is only rhinestones. This is to give more variety in choosing. Of course all my customized items can't be exactly the same but I put pictures to show you show you the end result of something similar, to show the design, quality and uniqueness. 

This is another bespoke project. It is a headband that I was required to use two colors, peach and grey. Material and design was left up to me, thank you for your confidence :) .. this is the end design I will be adding more pictures or the whole tiara. I am happy with the result and over joyed that my lovely customer loved her tiara.. This will also be available at my shop.

All items at my shop are individually handmade with the most care, if you would like to order anything bespoke, please feel free to contact me on facebook, etsy, or email: hana.handmade@gmail.com

Have a happy Monday :) x

This Week's Inspiration: Freshwater Pearls

Hello Lovely Ladies :)

Hope you all had an amazing weekend. I did plan to have a weekend with the kids, however it turned into a working weekend. Bless those kids, number one on my to do list is now to take them out. Yaaay! for them :D lol!!

Just an update of what I have been up to in my workshop. As you can see from the title this week's inspiration has been freshwater pearls. I have been sorting our my stock and looking at what materials I have and came across some freshwater pearls, different shapes and sizes, and all of a sudden I just could not stop thinking about them, a million and one ideas popping into my head at once. Please visit my shop to see all the new additions "Hana's Etys Shop"

And here are some pics of what I have been making,

These I absolutely love, I am a firm believer that simplicity gives birth to elegance "quote me" :D, and so this is both simple and definitely elegant. I as everyone else looooove my mummy, she is and always will be my number one fan, my rock, support, first love everything everything in the whole wide world, because she is simply AMAZING! And yes!! she is totally getting on of these lol!! 

All you lovely ladies who love your amazing mummies get the chance to get one today as I don't have many of these in stock .. The Amazing Mummy Bracelet!

These earrings I actually made today, another freshwater pearl inspiration. Spring is here and summer is soon to follow, wedding season is here and for all the beautiful brides who like a touch of pearl on their special day I made this. I love the wire wraps the different size pearls, everything fits perfectly, as I am sure it will be perfect to any bridal dress. Having said that this can also be an everyday earring that you can wear to work or for an outing, it fits with everything .. it has also been added to my shop .. "Pearly Earrings"

Other than these two items I have been working on some custom made projects which I will uploads pics of very shortly :) .. 

..Now from me it's Good night and Sweet Dreams xx

Accessory for outfit - Teal

Hello Lovelies :)

Went out with the hubs and kids and thought I'd do a quick accessory of the day type post. I was wearing a black dress simple, teal scarf that you can see in the picture. The scarf was from when I was travelling to Egypt so don't remember where is was from, but totally my color. Was also wearing my watch that I love :) and a crystal bracelet which hubby got me from Jon Richard and on the other hand an agate bracelet from Hana Hanadmade :). It brought both the crystal and the colors of the outfit together. Hope out like this post and that it helps out get ideas on who to pick and match your jewellery when going out.

Will also be posting on jewellery that I wear all the time .. soon!!

The Beauty of Friendship

Hiya beauties .. :)

Today I have some pictures for you of my latest addition to my shop. It is the two necklace friendship set. Friendship is precious gift that I think should be celebrated, you may have many friends but if you have that one close friend that knows all your faults but still loves you, then you are the luckiest person in the world. Good and bad times come and go but friends are the one thing that we never want to loose. This set is to celebrate this special relation shop that you share with that special friend.

This is a set of two necklaces made with Sterling Silver chains and a single Swarovski Drop (pear drop) connected to an amazing Swarovski Crystal bail. This is very elegant and looks great, yes I already have one lol!! (I chose the Ruby color ;)) .. You and your friend can choose any color of a choice of colors and you will get your necklaces in one box wrapped together so that you can share them. Please click here to see more pics and visit my shop.

Show your friends how much you appreciate them, a friend can be neighbor  a sister, a mother or even your daughter. Show them how much you mean to them. This set can be made in more than two if you wish to share this amazing gift with more than one person, why not share the love in a bigger group. :)

Have a lovely weekend .. I hear we are to have some sunshine!! wohooo! :D

Custom Made Projects this Month!

Hello all, hope you are all enjoying the Easter weekend. We have not got anything special planned just chilling at home which is sometimes the nicest thing you can do lol! I think the kids may disagree a bit. Other than trying to make grumpy babies happy this holiday I have had a few lovely custom made projects.

One which I posted a picture of on my facebook page the other day.

Two teardrop (pear drops) necklaces. They are Swarovski crystals and the bail is also Swarovski, with a sterling silver chain, I actually changed the chain at the last minute as I felt they needed a longer chain but will upload the new pics when they are ready. I love this particular project as the two necklaces are for two ladies who are twins. Two amazing lovable ladies I can just eat to bits :D and it is so cute that they even when both are mothers still like to get things that are similar. Each got to choose her own color though :).

It seems that I am not the only one that loves these paired necklaces as another two young ladies who are cousins have also ordered them, and again two different colors. Pictures will be available soon. This is a great gift to treat yourself and share it with the person closest to you, whether a friend, sister, mother, cousin it is just a great personal gift.

Final project that I wanted to tell you guys about is something that looks like this item from my shop,

One of my friends has ordered it for her mother as her mother loves pearls, however, I like to add a different touch of character to each piece I make and so instead of choosing the same pendant I have gone for something a little different .. Keep following this space for picture updates ..

Follow my next blog post as you will get to see lots of lots of my pics :) .. one final note I have been working on a project that I mentioned previously that is still going ahead however it has just been paused due to finalising orders, I would just like to throw a question out there .. for a formal occasion that you are wearing a beaded tiara/headband with your dress would you choose a matching necklace or bracelet or maybe both ?? mmm .. let me know what you prefer! 

New Projects Coming your way

Hi lovlies :)

Missed you guys a lot this past week... A lot has been happening here at Hana Handmade, still buzzing from launching my new "Headband and Tiara" line which you can check out by clicking on the link <<

I have made a few more designs that still need to be added to my shop, I am not working on a new project which is basically making a full set that I bring to you with ideas of clothing and everything :).. so sit back relax and enjoy the show :D ..

Has anyone been finding problems with leaving comments? Something has been reported so was just wondering if anyone else is having the same problem just drop me a shout on my email hana.handmade@gmail.com.

Will try not to say too much about my new project but we are going for pastel and elegant colors :). Also been booking a few events so will update you once everything is confirmed.. Spring is coming and everything looks wonderful, okay it is still snowing in Manchester! But it's not bringing me down, I am all flower and sunshine inside, and I hope you all get the same feeling once you see my new designs.

H over and out! :D

Mummy Time :)

Hiya Beauties ..
I hope you all had a brilliant Tuesday, I know that I mostly talk about my jewellery and new interests. But this is a bit different. For those who don't know me, I am a mother of two year old twins. As any other two year olds they are starting to figure out that they can actually say no and choose things. This is very frustrating, as I am sure every mother has experienced. I actually don't mind them choosing or expressing their opinion, I get frustrated when they just don't like anything for the sake of not liking anything. Or so it seems.

Okay lets talk food, and please bear with me, as I do need advice. They wont eat anything! And I don't mean they like crisps and not vegetables (although crisps is sometimes the only winner), they just wont eat. Thank God they are a good weight not too thin so sometimes I feel that I'm worrying to much. But am I? Let me give you an example so you get a picture, this is a list of things I offered them today:

Breakfast time:
- Cheese Sandwich (Not interested)
- Porridge (Nope!)
- Cake (Had a tiny bit)
Then I gave up and just offered milk and made sure they drank it.

Dinner time:
- Rice and vegetables (Not interested)
- Tuna Sandwich (Which they used  to like but no not anymore)
- Oven cooked fish and rice (Nope)
- Cheese and Onion Pate (Yup they had that with juice)

Supper time:
- Yogurt (No)
- Custard (No)
- Cookie (No)
- Muffin (No)
- Anything!!!!!!!! They went to the kitchen in the end and chose crisps and they have milk before bed.

So everyday it's the same process, I don't offer the same things as we have different things or leftovers, whatever is available. But is this normal for this age? I tried new recipes and it seemed they didn't like things that look different to what they are used to. They like pastry things like instead of cheese and onion it could be chicken or vegetable, they will like it. I even tried peanut butter today but that didn't go well down too well.

If anyone has any advice? or faced the same thing? Are they going to grow out of it? I was never a picky child with my food so this is very strange for me, and sometimes I just feel I run out of ideas very quickly and then patience. Help!

We all have our own experiences in life, sharing is great so others can learn and help. Sharing is caring :) x

Launch of New Collection .. Be the First to Know

Hello lovelies :)
I have been away from the blog for a few days, I have truly missed you. I have a few things to discuss, so lets start. :D

Lets talk business! I am super excited this week as I am launching my new headband collection. They have not yet reached my shop so you are the first to know about them .. Here is a little preview of one of them.

This is the first headband from my new collection. I have aimed to make them simply elegant and most importantly affordable for all. We all deserve a treat once in a while. In this design I have used white glass pearls and peach crystals, I have also matched some earrings with the headband. This is a bit different for me as I do not use glass pearls much but I put them next to the crystals and just couldn't resist. It was meant to be. For all the lovely ladies out there that wear the headscarf (Hijab), no I have not forgotten you. This is a little preview of how you can use this headband as a hijab accessory.

I love these headband as they can be used in so many ways and so many styles. I will be sharing with you some of my favorite styles as the rest of the collection is revealed.

I mentioned before that it seems that every week I pick up a different piece of jewellery or accessory that I get excited about, last week was all about earrings, by the looks of it this week is all about headbands and tiaras. I still have many many designs that I was to try out so keep an eye out as they will be coming your way soon .. I would like to know what you guys think of this new collection so please share your views below.

As I said at the start of the topic there are a few other things that I would like to talk about, but unfortunately Mummy has to run! lol! But I will get there :) .. Please remember me in your thoughts as I am in the process of moving my twins into their own room, or actually I am moving out of theirs lol! .. So expecting some sleepless nights ahead of me. If you have any tips please share them, as you can see I am in need of all the help I can get. :D

Nite nite :)

Four Jade Teardrops ..

A while ago while I was shopping for other things I came across a pack of blue jade teardrops. Now, you all know by now I am a fanatic about semi precious gems and anything to do with Swarovski elements. This pack had only four large teardrop, at the time I had nothing planned for them but well .. they just had to come home with me :D. So I bought them and put them to one side...

Since then I have made many projects but recently I came back to them and just started to imagine what they could become. They have now been turned into three different projects that I just love. Here are the three projects.

1- Jade and Swarovski Crystal Earrings - Blue and Orange

2- Jade and Swarovski Crystals Pendant Necklace

3- Wire Wrapped Jade Pendant Necklace

It is just amazing how to see that they were once all in the same plastic pack, and now they are different items and that have come to life and have the chance to have a different owner. If you click on the name of each item it will take you to my shop page where you will find them. I was just thinking how great it is to see complete projects and think that now they are ready to be shipped off to their future owners, and wanted to share my thoughts with you.

These are each a one off item that will not be repeated to uniqueness is 100% guaranteed. Enjoy! :D

A Trip Down Memory Lane

I was looking through some old pictures, of when the twins were first born and they were so little, and it just made me stop an reflect on all the precious and lovely moments that we have and life makes us go past them without stopping and savoring those moments. This was the picture that made me tear up and realise that I have such a blessing Alhamdulilah, I just don't give thanks or appreciate it enough.

This is my little baby Hana and this is one of the very first smiles that I got from her. Life goes so fast and you want to move on to catch up with what's happening we don't stop and look at what we are actually missing. During this picture the twins were only 8 months old and barely crawling (which I was supper worried about) now that I see this picture all I remember is how tiered I was lol!! But now just looking at her smile makes me forget all that.. You know that during that time when I wasn't sleeping or eating or drinking and was crying all the time, people used to say it's all worth it, it will all be worth it. I used to think emmm no! haha! But it truly is! Subhana Allah.

Life is so strange, I was once this small, with my mother looking down at me thinking what a pretty baby lol!! If I say so myself ehem! I think however much the hardship is that we go through in life, there is always something that God gives us that brightens up the darkest of days. Our problem is sometimes we don't see this "something" or take it as a burden on top of everything else. 

Take a moment and pretend that you are standing outside your window and looking in at yourself and your life, how many things would you see that you could be thankful for and that would make you feel lucky. I'm sure there would be lots if you honestly thought about everything. Totally in a reflective mood today .. Oh Allah! Whatever blessings I or any of Your creatures rose up with, is only from You. You have no partner, so all grace and thanks are due to You.

A lovely day to all xx

A Quick Catch Up ..

Starting from where I left off before, I had told you guys that I started some earrings which I finally finished :). Here are some pics that I wanted to share with you, hope you like them.

It took me a bit of time to finish these as there is a lot of wire wrapping and a lot of small crystals to work with, but I love them, if I say so myself. Blue is totally my favorite color and I am actually thinking of making some more this style for myself. So if you like these watch out they may just disappear from my shop and make an appearance in my jewellery box. lol!

This week it's all about earrings in my crafts room. I have some weeks where I'm just in the mood to make something in particular and this week it's earrings. I finished these earrings and have already started working on some other earrings, again Swarovski Crystals but won't say too much .. it's a surprise!!

On a different note, today I have been researching on new and healthy recipes for toddlers as my twins are 26 months now and have all of a sudden become extremely picky about food. I will share with you if I find anything interesting but please let me know if you have come across this with your kids, how did you go about it? and just if you have any other thought? Please, also let me know what you think of my new earrings in the comments section below, they will be available in my shop very soon.

Nite nite lovelies xx

How was your weekend? :)

Hello everyone, hope you all had a great weekend. For anyone who was stuck on the M1, I feel your pain I was there too :(. The waiting was not the problem however, the problem were the two, two year olds in the back seat lol!

Alhamdulilah it was a great weekend, my family and me went down to Nottingham to see most of my uni friends, ladies I lived with and others that I saw nearly every day for three years. It's just great to see everyone and have a chance to catch up with all and see where life has taken everyone after uni. Of course chatting was interrupted but the sudden leap of running after one of the twins lol!

I had made some jewellery especially for the occasion. We had all decided to get together to see one of our friends who recently had a baby, who is super cute mashaa Allah :). I wanted to make something special for her. I decided to use a semi precious stone, marble, because this just makes the set unique as you rarely see anything made with marble, or not enough I think. It has a great color and feel, you can see a pic of the set below.

Also I wanted to make some earrings for me to wear, with some blue jade teardrops, but I only managed to make on side of the earrings. I think my twins secretly know I'm busy with something else and wake up to get my attention back :D. I think it must be a super power that all kids have. So in the end I wore some earring that I had made previously these are the ones I wore.

They are also on my shop, you can find them at: Swarovski Teardrop Earrings

I will also be sharing with you the other wire wrapped jade earrings when they are complete. So keep an eye out for that. All in all it was great weekend, it great to just take time out to see friends and remember great memories that you all share. Hope you all have a great day today, and to any new mothers out there want to say a massive congrats and cherish every moment because it is truly precious. 

Love Semi Precious Gems?

I love working with semi precious gems, like agate, aquamarine, quartz, topaz, turquoise and many more. I think that jewelry looks so much better when you use real and authentic material. You can feel and tell that the quality is different and you can appreciate it a lot more. I have dedicated a treasury on my etsy page especially for these special gems.

https://www.etsy.com/treasury/MjMyMzI1OTN8MjcyNDA5MDczNg/semi-precious-gems

My choices were mainly based on designs and beads that I thought were different and interesting. Items that I would like to complement their owners on as I love all of them. I hope that you love this treasury as I have loved collecting all its items.

Will be sending updates soon on a new set I made for a friend as a present, I used marble gems which gave it an outstanding look. Stay tuned!! x

Blue Jade Pendant with Swarovski Crystal Clusters

I have had a few productive days, first I finished the earrings that I told you guys about in my previous post. Then yesterday I finished yet another project that I had started a while ago but didn't finish. I usually carry some of my tools, beads and wire around wherever I go, as sometimes I like to try things see what they look like, or get some time to myself where I can try out new designs. This is why some projects I would start but then I would have to stop, there are many reasons that would lead me to stop, but mostly because I need something that I didn't pack so when I get home that is what I need to do.

This is a picture of the new necklace:

I have not yet uploaded this to my shop but will post the website for you when I do. To tell you a bit more about this necklace it is a wire wrapped pendant necklace. The large teardrop in the middle is a blue jade drop. The small cluster crystals and the crystals wrapped in the chain are all Swarovski crystals. I love working with semi precious stones and Swarovski crystals, it just gives the whole design so much more elegance and great quality.

It took me until 3am in the morning to finish this, so when my husband tried waking me up at 8am, that wasn't going to happen lol! He was trying to tell me that my alarm was ringing and he said I just looked at him took my phone and put it under my pillow and continued to sleep. I was reacting in my sleep honest I didn't do it on purpose lol!! 

This jade teardrop is from a pack of four beads that I purchased together, I just loved the color and the shape. Although I didn't have ideas for them at the time I have now made two of them into pendants for my necklaces, and have an idea already for the other two which I plan to make into earrings. So I am glad I bought them :). Usually when I see beads I like, I do buy them knowing that they will come in use some day lol!! 

I will go to sleep now it's like 2 am here in the UK, plus I was trying to get a soap episode online because I missed it, that's not happening so disappointed me :(. Other than that I am excited about some plans I am making for the weekend in shaa Allah will tell you all about them.. also might be making some jewellery especially for that occasion.. so yaaaaay!! :D

Good night everyone xx

Swarovski Long Earrings .. Spring Inspired

I have a new piece to talk to you about today, I made new earrings that you can now find on my Etsy page at:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/125262773/swarovski-crystal-wire-wrapped-earrings

I have been working on this project for some time and only had time to finish it last night. It was really nice working on it after the kids were sleeping and I had a bit of time to myself and my toys. :). These earrings look really nice and the colors are great together. I started by making the wire loops and then started to choose different Swarovski crystals from my beads, putting them together and wire wrapping each one by one.

After a lovely sunny weekend I was left inspired to make a colorful and springy piece of jewelry. The purple teardrop crystals are also wire wrapped with a little crystal attached to the front which made it blend in with the clusters to the side. I love working with Swarovski elements their color shines through amazingly and they always look great.

I hope you like this piece and you don't forget you can find it in my shop. Please press follow to the side >> as there will be some offers coming soon make sure you don't miss out.

Good night everyone :)

Wire Wrapped Pendant .. A result of noisy kids lol!!

I have added a few new items to my shop today .. If you still haven't seen it, it's:

www.hanahandmadedesigns.esty.com

One of them is a wire wrapped pendant necklace made with Jade semi precious stones  that I am super excited about and just couldn't wait to tell you guys about it too .. Here is a picture:

I especially love this wire wrapped piece as it was completely my design .. didn't cheat honest lol!! I have had this tear drop jade bead for a while and not really sure what to do with it so what I usually do is put it to one side and sleep on it. One afternoon I had just put the kids to sleep for their nap, they were being especially noisy that day and I had already started to get tiered. My husband was in the dining room working away on his laptop . . I opened my bead box got a piece of wire and started to work away. I had no idea what I wanted to make I was just making it.

I love designs that come to me just like that they end up so much prettier than anything I have planned before hand. Just spontaneous designs that talk about you and how you feel. The jade stone is known for its calming characteristics and purity it brings to those who wear it. That was exactly what happened, I was so tiered and just fed up and started wrapping and wrapping and wrapping and wrapping and an hour and a half later I looked at it and thought wait a minute I like this .. and felt so much better after and ready for when the kids got up. 

All my items are not just jewellery that you buy, there is a story behind each one, something to feel and communicate  I am so looking forward to selling this piece and I hope that it gives that same sense of happiness, contentment, and calmness to its owner as it did me making it.

So What's New

To start off by what is happening right now in the world of Hana Handmade :). At the moment I'm trying to figure out this blog design lol!! If you keep checking you are going to find a new look every time until I find one that I completely like. I like trying out new things to keep things interesting.

I have my Mother's Day offer now one which you can check on my Etsy shop at: 

www.hanahandmadedesigns.etsy.com

I have two offers for Mother's day, just because mothers are so great and they deserve the best. One is an amazing grey pearl necklace with a handmade wire connector with a rhinestone heart pendant that is in the picture below.

The other is a classic Swarovski Pearl set, necklace and bracelet, crystal white pearls are always an elegant and beautiful gift on any occasion.

Both are now half price so hurry while the offer lasts as this is only my Mother's Day special. 

Other than these offers I have just given away 5 of my new wire wrapped ring designs which I dispatched the last of them only the other day so that was great. It is always great to send off things at the post office it's nice being known there lol! Now I'm just finishing off a few new wire projects and trying to catch up on taking pictures of all the new items that are being made. 

So keep following for new pictures to come very soon .. :)

Hello Blog!!

Just wanted to send out a big hello to all the bloggers and readers out there. To briefly introduce myself, I am Noha Loutfi, British from Manchester. Mother of twins and very passionate about jewellery making. I have decided to make a blog just talking about every day matters from making jewellery to finding interesting handmade items or even maybe just something I read.

I have a lot of ideas and if you follow my blog it will be great :). Message me if you would like to discuss anything I would be willing to reply to any of your questions. I have a lot of experience as a mother of twins and face daily issues I'm sure you will hear a lot about .. So that's about it can't wait to get started.