Another Peak – A New Series

I’ve been having fun this week making more of these little charmers. 

I introduced my Thumbelina’s Garden series of jewellery last weekend at the new Barrie spring show to great reviews.

Here are some of the earrings and a necklace that will be available at the Made by Hand Spring show on Saturday from 11:00 – 5:00 at the International Centre, Airport Road in Mississauga.

Go online here to get $1.00 off admission.  I’m looking forward to seeing you there.

Made By Hand – Spring Show this Saturday

My second show for this spring is coming up this Saturday.  I will be at the International Centre in Mississauga for the Made by Hand Spring Show. 

My booth is number 90, located just a few aisles from the entrance, middle of the aisle.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Sneak Peak at New Work

I thought I’d give you a quick peak at some of the pieces I am bringing to this weekend’s Barrie Spring Arts & Crafts Show.  These photos are just quick shots but I think they feature the essence of some of the new designs I’ve been working on.

Sparkle Rocks (Sold)

Quartz Crystal Electroplated with Titanium

SwarovskiCrystals, Sterling Silver

Archaeology Series - Fine Silver Pendant

Sterling Silver Bail, Stainless Steel Wire

Flying Saucers (Sold)

Copper and Lapis Lazulite Earrings

Tinted Moss (Sold)

Handmade Lampwork Pendant

Copper, Carnelian and Fire polished

Glass Beads, Silk Cord

Climbing Vine – Copper,

Lapis Lazulai, Leather (Sold)

Sparkle Rock (Sold)

Quartz Crystal Electroplated with Titanium,

Pewter Bezel, Silk and Satin

Looking forward to seeing you there!

This Weekend – New Show

I will be participating in one of the newest arts & crafts shows this year, the Barrie Arts & Crafts Show.  It’s this weekend at the East Bayfield Community Centre and runs Saturday from 10:00 – 5:00 and Sunday from 10:00 – 4:00

Come visit me at booth 175.  Print this ad and get $1 off the admission price.

I’m looking forward to seeing you there.

Stamping Spirit

The organizing jag continues.  I have lots of good intentions, just slow progress.   Today, I was organizing stamps, and had a pleasant surprise; the number and variety I’ve accumulated is more than I had thought!

I use stamps for metal clay texture and for etching regular metal.  When I started in these mediums I purchased discounted stamps and would alter them to apply my own interpretation of what they should look like.

Recently, I found a free download of instruction on creating my own stamps.  It turns out that the methods I was using to modify the purchased stamps are very similar to those used for creating a unique stamp.  Now I already know, I will be able to turn my own designs into stamps and increase my tools without higher costs.

So, the discovery with the pleasant surprise?  A stash of stamps I had purchased and squirreled away in an odd location.  What is it they say about out of sight?  Oh yes, out of mind!

DYI – Just For Fun

For the first few months of this year I took a bit of a break and decided to complete some decorating projects.  I’ve been collecting black and white architectural prints, planning to use them in the family room adjacent to my studio. 

Though the studio is usually a mess it has a colour theme; white for work surfaces, accented by a silvery grey and a bright pop of red.  I am working on carrying these colours into the family room, and used the grey and red colours on the mat boards framing the pictures.  Black frames make the black & white photos

They started out looking like this:

Transitioned through this:

And finished up looking like this:

I’m still having a challenge getting the frames lined up 100% but otherwise, I’m happy with how they turned out.  Now to do something about those beige walls!

January – Organization Time

December went by in a blur.  A few private shows, the holidays and mild illness ate up my month (darn colds and flues).  I feel like I am finally on the road to better days. 

In the spirit of better days, I have started some planning, cleaning and organization of my studio and work tables.  One of the things I tackled today was sorting and organizing the plastic bags that are so essential to a jewellery artisan’s work.  We use the bags to store all kinds of supplies; gemstones, glass and Lucite beads, wire, findings, and so on.

Plastic bags are indispensable for sterling silver, copper, brass and silver plated wire and components.  The bags protect all these metals from oxygen.  It’s the oxygen in the air that causes jewellery, and the raw metal parts, to tarnish faster.

It doesn’t look like there are a lot there but it took me almost an hour to sort, put them together by size and bundle inside larger bags.  It’s a great opportunity to determine what my inventory of plastic bags is, and to realize; I don’t need to get any right now, something I was seriously thinking I needed to do!

At the top of the picture peeking out is another item the bags get used for – individual packages of anti-tarnish cloths for sterling silver jewellery.