Beautiful Handmade Things to Brighten your Day…

Thank you for visiting my website! I am Fiona, AKA The Happy Mushroom, and I make everything in this online shop. It is my full time job and my main income. I was selling on Etsy for the last nine years but unfortunatly they have lost their way and I was no longer happy with their business practices, so I have struck out on my own. It is early days yet, and a lot of work is needed on social media to get you lovely people to my shop, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can make this work.

My best sellers on Etsy were my mens beaded tribal surfer style jewellery and my macrame gemstone jewellery. I have shipped hundreds (probably thousands) of these items all over the world. I am going to continue selling those on here, and hopefully expand into some new and exciting ranges as well. I am always making/designing/creating, and even when I am off doing my other favourite thing, which is going on adventures, my work is never far from my thoughts.

I use gemstones, beads and other materials from all over the world. I make every effort to ensure that my gemstones are as described, and not fake or dyed (on the rare occasions that I knowingly use dyed stones because they are pretty I will state it in the listing). It is not possible to be sure that some stones have not been gently colour enhanced by the wholesale suppliers, it is standard practice to give a bit of a boost to some gemstones such as lapis lazuli and aquamarine and it can be very hard to tell, even for an expert. I do try and avoid this when possible though. The only stone I use which is regularly enhanced are the turquoise beads. Genuine turquoise with a very strong colour is incredibly expensive and quite hard to get hold of. I do also sell andara crystal glass, which could be considered controversial. It has been very popular with my customers over the years. I buy it in as andara and sell it on as the same without making any claims for it. I would rather that people made up their own minds. I also use opalite, which is not a crystal, but is infact manmade using recycled glass. I sell it because people like it and it is pretty, but I do not claim it is a real stone like some sellers do!

I use quite a lot of bone and horn beads in my work too. These are always a byproduct of another industry, generally the food industry, and an animal is never harmed just to provide material for bone or horn beads. Most of the beads I use that are made from animal products are also second hand, upcycled from vintage or modern jewellery gleaned from thrift stores and flea markets. I love hunting for beads this way! Many of my best tribal beads come from these sources too. My gemstone, wood and coconut shell beads generally come straight from wholesalers in their country of origin.

I send all my parcels through Royal Mail. I am very lucky that shipping from the UK is relatively cheap, so I can afford to offer free shipping worldwide. Royal Mail does not provide tracking as part of its standard service, however. If you require shipping with tracking please contact me and I will work out a price for you.

I am happy to resize beaded jewellery, and there is no extra charge as long as I am not adding any significant length. Repairs are usually free if you are willing to ship the item back to me. I do not give refunds without return of the item (and without a good reason, as I still lose money on shipping and transaction fees!)

The size and length of things should be clearly stated in each listing, but if I have missed out any details or if you have any other questions please do contact me.

Thank you

Fiona

AKA The Happy Mushroom

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