New Rings are almost here!
Stacking Pearl Rings
I’m a bit obsessed with stacking rings - I think it relates to my love of all things Wendy Ramshaw (I’ve written about here before, you can follow the link to find out more about this iconic British woman goldsmith). This is my latest iteration of elegant stacking rings in sterling silver - with pearl. You can see some of these in person at the Craft Ontario Shop, but I’ve been working on some new ones that are coming to Jewel Envy soon!
In the spirit of waste not, want not, I use the cutouts from my M cells to form the pearl cups on the rings, so I like to think of them as my “nuclei rings” :). It’s a little secret story that you don’t know about unless you know about it! Yes, it makes my little geeky science heart happy! And each one is different from the next one!
Gone Fishin’…….
I’ve been taking a bit of a break the last couple of weeks, and been enjoying a few activities….Grand Slam of Curling (I love to curl!), a “new-old” shop opening for the Workroom- a staple for more than a decade and a half for all things stitchy in Toronto (now in Sprucedale too!)- and a flying visit to The Artist Project, to see my good friend Carolina Reis and her exhibit (I love a good hummingbird!- check her work out, I’m sure you would too!).
Catching the ladies doing their stuff on the ice! Watching four simultaneous games is challenging, but there were some really amazing shots. I’m always so inspired watching good curling!
Me and my bestie on the bus to Sprucedale- with Carolanne Graham, quilter extraordinaire photo bombing in the background! (I’m such a Toronto-ite, I had to look up where we were going as we were leaving Toronto! Turns out it’s a lovely place:).
Carolina doing her thing at the Artist Project. I saw so many other inspiring artists when I was there, but I was too busy experiencing them to document anything!
What do you do to recharge and re-invigorate your creativity? As a small business, I wear all the hats, and I find it really difficult sometimes to make time in my life to get out and about, but every once and a while I have to make an extra effort to do so, because I know how important these things are to keep me going. How about you?
Kilt-a-Palooza
Last Saturday was Tartan Day! So, I guess it’s a bit appropriate that I talk about kiltmaking this week! I’ve been a bit quiet on here, partly because I’ve been a bit busy elsewhere!! Last month I taught four intrepid sewers how to make a traditional kilt! Over two marathon weekends, we stitched, and stitched, and stitched (including some frantic stitching of pleats in between times). Hosted by the lovely Contemporary Textile Studio, despite some hiccups, we had alot of fun!
Working on setting up the kilts
Working away on the pleats!
Kilt love! Or exhaustion, take your pick!
Moving on to finishing!
Doesn’t it look like fun? Don’t you want to make your own kilt? You can sign up for the next session - which won’t take place until November (because, let’s face it, who wants to stitch wool in the Toronto summer???). Interested, but not sure when you want to take a course? Register your interest with me, and I’ll let you know when courses are on offer!
Yellow gold brooch to White Gold Bling!
I love interesting custom re-designs of jewellery. This is one I did recently. The client brought in this sentimental brooch, with the intention of making it into two new pieces, this is one of them.
Original brooch
Now, she’s not particularly fond of yellow gold, and she’s not really what I would call very traditional, which is always fun! So, the brief was that she wanted a white gold ring, re-working the sapphire and diamond cluster. She said that she liked negative space, and I knew from previously that she liked architecture. She also liked the Diana-esque esthetic, and wanted something that would nod at the Princess Diana engagement ring. The sapphire was also particularly lovely in colour, but wasn’t very lively, partly because of the setting it was in, so I tried to do something about that as well.
trying out a wax element
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Trying out the wax some more!
Finished ring before setting
Finished Ring
Finished Ring - Side view
So, the final ring, with an exploded halo on levels, which allows some light around the stone, with a modern feel to a classic!
Have something hanging around your jewellery box that you’re not sure what to do with now? Let’s start a conversation!
Learn to make your own kilt!
Come join me at the Contemporary Textile Studio the first two weekends in March, and I’ll show you how to make your very own heirloom, hand-stitched Scottish kilt! This heritage craft involves a number of different hand stitches. which I’ll teach you over four days of sewing with other fellow kilt enthusiasts! Don’t wait too long, though, registration closes this week!
January is garnets month!
If you’re a January baby (like me!), hopefully you like garnets (like me!). In honour of garnets (I love those deep, red, almost black ones!), here’s a picture of all garnets, all the time!
Have garnets hanging around that you don’t wear, but really wish you did? Let’s talk about what you could do with them in a new piece of jewellery!
New custom T bar pendant
I love it when people buy my stuff (seriously, the validation of someone actually wanting to own something that I made really never gets old— thank you so much to all the people out there that own a little piece of my creativity!). But, as I’ve said before, I like to do custom work too. I had a recent order that sort of combined both — a piece that I designed as part of my ongoing obsession with all things immunity, but in a bespoke combination!
Here it is: my sterling silver T bar pendant on a string of beautiful garnet beads with garnet needled felt, with a special flower motif.
Kilt and jewellery crossover!
I love being a one-stop-shop for all things kilty related! I had the fun of outfitting a gentleman with a kilt, and fly plaid, as well as an original fly plaid pin and kilt pin before Christmas. I love the zen of stitching, and I get such a kick out of helping someone realize the perfect outfit!
The MacKay Modern tartan, with garter flashes
Sterling silver fly plaid brooch and kilt pin. These were both based on the clan crest, which features an upheld dagger, with the motto “with a strong fist” and the kilt pin was don'e deliberately to match the fly plaid brooch. Both have been subtly oxidised in selected locations to highlight the texture and levels in both pieces.
Since the client hadn’t worn full dress before, we had a bit of a fashion show before he departed (yes, I work at home!). He looks pretty spiffy in all the trimmings!
An outfit to last for ages! I love it when a plan comes together! Want your very own kilt? Or clan jewellery to add to an existing outfit?
Happy New Year!
So, I took a bit of a hiatus over the holiday and new year — hope you did too! I’m back though, and full of plans for the new year! But that’s a story for another day!
Not this week........
Sadly, I’m feeling the pressures of my workload this week, and don’t have anything very interestiang to say. So here are some pretty colours for you.
Sterling silver M pendants with needled felt. I’m still obsessed with these forms, so expect to see more of them in the future!!
Have a good weekend, whatever you are doing!