Settling In

I know that at some point I had made a promise to my blog that I would no longer ignore it. But this time I actually had good reason. Life has been a whirlwind lately. I already mentioned that big change was headed our way as we took to the road and moved to New Brunswick.
Surprisingly, the moving went off without a hitch. Unsurprisingly, things like blogs and crafting had to take a back-seat. But, with about 90% of the boxes unpacked, and a little bit of exploration time under my hat, I am ready to settle back into some sort of groove. And it was with great happiness that I pulled bead container after bead container out of a box and put them on their deisgnated shelf in my studio space. Yep, I actually have studio space.
It was with greater happiness that I actually found a few quiet moments to sit down and make a few pieces. Here are some of my new items:


Dyed Mother of Pearl and Copper Eternity Earrings


Mother of Pearl and Peruvian Opal Necklace


Lava Stone and Peruvian Opal Earrings

Oh, How You Tempt Me!!!

My bead store is (no pun intended) so very crafty!! They send out a weekly email highlighting new products and advertising the deals of the week. And week after week, I spy something new that I simply MUST have. This week it was a new stash of Czech glass donut beads. Oh, donuts... my ultimate weakness. These new beads are stunning, all mottled in watery and earthy colours. I was immediately drooling as I was reading the email. Then came the clincher. "Limited Supply". Oh no, get the car keys, I need to go grab these beads before someone beats me to it!!

Whew, close call. I beat the rush, and here is the first set of items made with just one of the new variety of beads. These beads are a particulary lovely azure blue with a hint of of brown speckled on top and bottom, like waves lapping gently at a sandy cove. They look stunning with the matte black.

Copper. Is it my Latest Obsession?

Turns out that, yes, it may just be. I posted yesterday about the copper and aventurine bracelet. Today I again used some of the curved copper tubes, but this time with copper flowers as well.

Mixing in just a little sparkle with Swarovski crystals, I love the result.





On a totally separate note, I wish it were dinner-time. We have reservations this evenign for Joso's, a Meditteranean seafood restaurant in Toronto. I have been dreaming of their grilled calamari all day long.

New Love - New Listing

This my newest item listed on etsy. I'm more than just a little in love with this one.



It is made with red aventurine stone flowers. I have given the flowers a centre of topaz Swarovski crystals. These have been wrapped with enough loop so that the flowers can move slightly when worn. Surrounded the flowers are rondelles of autumnal orange Czech glass, and curved copper tubes.

I just stumbled upon these aventurine flower beads this afternoon. I also found some Carnelian carved into a a shape of reminiscent of a calla lily or unfurling leaves. Very pretty. Here are the earrings that I made using the Carnelian.



Again, these have been lightly kissed with Swarovski crystal, this time in a peridot green. I love these copper ear hooks that have the stacked ball motif at the front curve as well.

Too Much Excitement!!!

I have been really ignoring my poor blog lately. It's not that I have nothing to share. Rather, I have too much!!

First, the big news. My husband, Darcy got a much hoped for work transfer which will result in relocation to a new province. By June 1 we will be in New Brunswick. We are both thrilled about this move. We have been hoping for some time to give up the urban life and find a little patch of land with a small house and some outbuildings. We both enjoy home-based projects and we can't wait to arm ourselves with hammers, paint rollers, grout etc. And depending on the time of year when we actually find a permanent residence, I am eager to also kit myself out with rakes, hoes, and seed packets. This will be our biggest creative eneavour to date, and one that we can actually work on together.

Second, I have recently been kept very busy with a large jewelry order which this past week I delivered to the CN Tower gift shop. I had hoped to have the time to take photos to share as a sneak peek. Sadly, I ran out of time and was not able to do so. Many of the items though are available in my etsy shop, so I can still provide some hints. Here are a few:







And the hairsticks shown below will be featured there as well.

So as you can imagine, between planning a 1,000km+ move, and trying to fill orders, keep up with my etsy shop, and dealing with normal life stuff, things have been a little hectic. But, it has all been very exciting, and it is nice to finally have a chance to share it with everyone.

Why Did I Cut my Hair?

Last January I decided that it was finally time for a new look. I went to the hairdresser and for the first time since the second grade I went for a short haircut. Overall, I am pleased with the result. It makes my natural curls far more manageable, and it makes my very round face look a little less round.

But... since then I started making hairsticks. And I love the hairsticks! Last week, I sat down and made as many as I could before the adhesive made me feel a little squirrely.

Happy Chocolates and Flowers Day

Chocolate shop window in Brussels.



Huge copper bowls of chocolate treats in Belgium.



A sidewalk flower shop in Paris.

Beach Booty

HHhmmm... that really sounds like another of those ill-conceived fitness fads. Its not.

Gripped by a mean case of the February blahs and restless with cabin fever following yet another winter storm, I really needed to get outside today to take advantage of the fleeting sunshine. Unfortunately, by the time I had bundled up to go out, the fleeting sunshine had fled. No matter, it was fairly warm, just around the freezing mark and little wind. I drove to the Beach area of Toronto, figuring a long lap of the boardwalk would cure my ills.

Well, I didn't quite make it that far. I walked down to one of the breakers to watch the ducks for a couple minutes. I made the mistake then of looking down at my feet. There was a perfect little piece of tumbled beach glass. Pale blue, my favorite colour of beach glass. Then, wonder of wonders, another piece. And another. Another. What a find. Although there is little good to said of winter storms, there is one benefit. With the high winds whipping across Lake Ontario, come strong crashing waves. This results in all the lake bottom detritus getting pushed ashore.

On my walk, I probably only made it about 100 meters in total. The length of this, I spent bent doubled over, picking up bits and bobs of debris. In less than an hour I came away weighted down with a pocket full of treausures. Lucky for me, there were three very exciting morsels. Three sizable pieces of porcelain/china dishes with the pattern still intact.

Cotton Candy Anyone?

Remember gigantic fluffy balls of cotton candy bought at the fall fair? Sugar coloured soft pink and blue, spun onto a slender cone. You would dive face first into this soft, delectable mess, and in no time at all your senses would be buzzing, face and hands would be sticky, and hovering not far behind was a swarm of wasps waiting to pounce on the whiffs of sugar that floated away in the breeze.

Well, here is a less sticky version. One that will not attract those pesky wasps.

I needle felted some softly hued balls of merino wool, and turned them into these earrings. Simply styled and so lightweight. More to follow soon, so keep an eye on my IGotFleeced etsy shop for more.

We All Scream.....

....for ice-cream!

Its been an ice-cream type of week here, although it is the dead of winter.
I made a batch of home-made ice-cream over the weekend. It was so yummy. Lovely, creamy vanilla. Yum yum!

And then today, I listed this super-cute treat on etsy.



It is made of 100% merino wool roving. Dark brown for the chocolatey coating, and little bits of pink along the bottom, and inside the bite mark on the top right corner. The tip of a wooden skewer acts as the stick. I again, turned this into a little lapel, bag or hat accessory.

Hhhhmmm.... looking at the photo, I may need to do a little bit of a better trim on some of those stray fluffs of wool. Nothing like seeing food with a hair on it.

Not All About the Food After All.

So I took my mind off my belly and stepped away from the kitchen. And the result - I was able to channel my creative juices into jewelry designs. I have a couple of new favourites, both of which are now listed in my etsy shop:



Made with antiqued metal and guacamole and malachite coloured marbled Czech donuts.



Made with raw brass, irregularly shaped triangle connectors, and just a small cluster of matte black, faceted Czech fire-polished crystal beads.

I also listed these earrings, and happily they sold quite quickly.



These have antiqued copper kidney ear wires and simple ovals of fire jade, again with the guacamole colour, marbled Czech fire-polished crystal.

Hearts

I'm not typically a fan of heart motifs. Hoping however, to capitalize on Valentine's jewelry sales, I thought it wise to put my own feelings aside and come up with some sort of design I could live with. And, surprisingly I managed.

I dashed into my local bead store the other to take advantage of a sale they had on some of my favorite beads and while browsing the findings section, I came across these simple antiqued copper heart links. Paired with simple red donut beads, I think these are appropriate for Valentine's Day, without being over the top girly. Best of all, I think that the design is simple enough that it can be worn the other 364 days of the year.

Light and Airy? Success!

If I had ever intended for this blog to about my jewelry shops, I was clearly delusional. It seems lately that everything revolves around food.

And this post will be no different.

Lately, Saturdays seem to be devoted to stretching my culinary skills. Today I wanted to really challenge myself. The moody, unpredictable souffle was calling my name. I researched some simple cheese souffle recipes, and picked up my ingredients during my weekly trip to the St Lawrence Market here in Toronto. Sharp cheddar and mildly nutty Swiss Cantenaar cheese. Eggs freshly laid no more than 2 days ago.
I followed the first half of the recipe, which involved making a pretty basic cheese sauce. The second part was a test of will. I had 2 egg whites that needed whipping to stiff peaks. I considered pulling out the Kitchen-Aid, but it seemed a little excessive, and given the small quantity of liquid, it seemed unlikely that the whisk would immerse all the way to the bottom of the shallow pool. I have, hidden somewhere an old fashioned hand-mixer. It seemed like too much effort to find all the pieces, and my cheese was waiting to congeal. Instead I used the as-old-as-time-method: bowl and whisk. It took great effort and caused much bicep pain, but after an eternity passed, I had my egg whites standing tall with stiff peaks.



I added this to the cheese mixture, poured into my souffle cups, placed them gingerly in the oven, and tiptoed away. Twenty minutes later, dinner was on the table. Well, after a few quick photos for posterity's sake. I probably should have just rushed them to the table, because after the impromptu photo shoot, one souffle was slowly starting to deflate. No matter, by that time, I was ready to eat it.

Prior to baking:


After baking, and before slowly sinking back into itself:


Now... one quick word so that it doesn't seem like all I do is eat, and that this blog still has some relevance in regard to my crafting.
I hit a milestone on etsy the other day. 50 sales! Whoo! Not a huge milestone, but one that I am nonetheless quite proud. I had seemed to stall in sales after Christmas, and I thought that I was going to end January with 0 sales. As it turns out, on Monday I am sending four pair of earrings to France, one to the US, and one cross the city. And I will clearly need to be adding some earrings to my shop again soon. So stand by, plenty more to come.

50 Books.

I made a pact with myself at New Year's that I would give myself more time to read this year. I promised myself at least a half hour per day. Sometimes I make it, sometimes not.

From the time I was able to sound out words on my own, I have been churning through books at an alarming rate. The past year however, I found myself tight on time, and books were left collecting dust on the shelf. The scary thing is that I did not stop buying books, and now I am faced with a bookshelf that is sagging under the weight of 1000's of pages of literature.

Now I hate to make reading seem like a chore. I don't want to take the sheer enjoyment out of it. But, I do like a challenge. So I decided to challenge myself to read 50 books by the end of the year.

So far, I have two down; forty-eight to go.

I'm going to keep my running tally on here:

1) Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
2) A Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon
3) The Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards
4) A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City; A Diary - Anonymous
5) Fire in the Blood - Irene Némirovsky
6) The Almost Moon - Alice Sebold
7) A Short History of Tractors in the Ukraine - Marina Lewycka
8) The Omnivore's Dilemma - Michael Pollan
9) The Wreckage - Michael Crummey
10) April In Paris - Michael Wallner
11) The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
12) Little Women - Louisa May alcott
13) The Zookeeper's Wife - Diane Ackerman
14) Remembering the Bones - Frances Itani
15) Three Day Road - Joseph Boyden
16) Afterwards - Rachel Seiffert
17) Blindness - Jose Saramago