Hello September!

I'm not sure what happened to the end of summer.  It somehow just flew by.  I'm not sad though as I always do love September and the fall weather.  September has always felt like the beginning of the new year and I always love that feeling.  This year there is also the promise of completed renovations.

In August I have grown used to the daily banging and scraping noises coming from our bathroom upstairs.  I can now tune out the two top squeeky stairs that I hear everytime the contractors go up and down the stairs.  I have accepted the fact that our house is encased in a thick coat of dust even right after vacuuming.

We've made such progress though and we're really happy with the changes.

We've gone from a completely blank room to new flooring.

We've chosen large 24 x24" porcelain tile with a neutral stone look.

Our shower went from this...

...to this.  You can also catch a glimpse of our new vanity.

The shower was completely tiled this week and the countertop was installed.  I'll take pictures this weekend to show next week.  Hopefully by the end of the coming week it will be very close to a finished bathroom.  I'm so excited!  With school starting this week and four of us trying to get ready in the morning we will be thankful to have the extra space.

I also have some very exciting news.  A pair of my earrings are featured in the Fall 2012 edition of  DIY Weddings.  It's available now to order in print and will be available to download later this month.

I'm very excited and can't wait to see the feature!

Creative Burst

Good Monday Morning!  It's so nice to be listing some new items.

Pink Gypsy.

I couldn't resist these charms! Grateful for your love necklace.

These black and whites are fabulous.

More to come....
A cool breeze coming through the window.  Does this mean the end of summer already?

New Goodies in the Shop

You may have read my post last week (wow! that was already last week).  No wonder I can only manage about 1 post a week (maybe 2 posts if I'm really lucky).  The time just seems to be flying lately.  I had fun playing with all my beads.   I love the new colours.  So summery and fun to work with.  I came up with some really lovely colour combinations. Inspired by summer dresses with a touch of the candy shop.  Modern with a real vintage feel.  Perfectly feminine and fun!

Lemon yellow, mint green, sky blue necklace.

Sky blue bracelet. So light and easy on the wrist.

Gorgeous pink and mint green necklace.  A virtual ice cream cone!

Aqua and mint dangle earrings.

...more to come later this week!

Forget Spring it was Summer in the Air this week.

Wow! What a week.  We've been saying for a while now what happened to winter?  Well now it's what happened to spring?  With temperatures soaring to 26°C and sunshine galore you felt you were hopelessly behind in the gardening department only to be reassured it was only March.  The trees are budding, the birds are out and there is green, lots of green in the garden.  Sandals, pedicured toes and tank tops are the style du jour.
Some spring summer inspired designs!

Have a great weekend friends!

What Happened to January?!!

Can it really be February already? What a strange winter so far. It's has been cold but we just realized that we have only shovelled our driveway once this winter. Usually at this point, we have piles of snow surrounding our driveway. In fact, the grass is actually visible under patchy coverings of ice and snow and on a sunny day it appears quite green. I wonder what February and March have in store for us?

In January I started to focus on some new designs. Especially those that involve gem stones. I love the look of wrapped wire and especially against the sparkling facets of a gem stone. Here's a look at what I've been up to.

Tanzanite Blue Chalcedony with Oxidized Sterling Silver.

Carnelian with Oxidized Copper.

Aqua Chalcedony with Copper Swirl ear wires.

Inspirations....

Claude Monet

No vacation has ever affected me like this one did. Full days of walking through museums, churches and old buildings provided what was almost an overstimulation of artwork and history. Weary feet and tired eyes at the end of the day could barely take in any more beauty. This time away allowed me to rest my head of everyday stresses and open my mind. Creatively, my head is in a wonderful place. It's full of colours and visions and thoughts. The visions I can't complete at the moment I scribble and draw on scraps of paper so I won't lose the image.

Although this image of Waterlilies, Matin is small and so tiny compared to the floor to ceiling sized canvases I was lucky enough to see in the Musee de L'Orangerie it still can pinpoint my inspiration. The right hand side of this painting is a gorgeous mixtures of aqua blues and greens.

Here's my interpretation ....Waterlilies ~ glass and copper earrings.

My Obsession.

It was a happy day yesterday when I went to my mailbox and found my package of supplies had arrived. I really didn't expect it to arrive for a few more days so it was extra special. No sooner had I ripped open the envelope and I was grabbing my jewellery tools. I've had fun playing with copper in the last few weeks so I had ordered more and also something new: brass and gunmetal. The brass daisy bead caps were even nicer in person and I had to use them right away. The result are these earrings. I call them Fairy Mist. They make me think of giant waterdrops that have landed on a flower petal in a fairy forest. The seagreen firepolish beads are gorgeous and have such subtle colour shifts.


It's amazing how such a small package can spur you on to creative delight. You jewellery artists out there know the feeling when you come out of a beading store with such a small bag and a $100 receipt in your hand. But what lies in that bag is pure excitement, enjoyment and creative satisfaction.

Enjoy your day, as I know I will, happily lost in my beads.

Think Pink!

A good friend of mine from Etsy is participating in the 60km Weekend to End Breast Cancer Walk in June 2009. I wanted to support her in her walk so I designed these earrings to sell on Etsy. It's a set of two pairs of sterling silver earrings. I initially thought they would make a great set for a Mom and daughter, but really, sister, friend - it doesn't matter - we're all in this together.

Check them out in my Etsy shop.


The proceeds of the sale of these earrings will go directly to Jay's campaign. (otherwise known as Loopy from Loopy4ewe).

So let's all Think a Little Pink.

Together, we can End Cancer.

What a Great Discovery!

What a nice surprise tonight to find my Vintage Rose Copper Earrings in an Etsy treasury. "Nothing to Get Hung About' - Strawberry Fields Forever.

Gutentag from Oregon created this beautiful treasury. Thanks so much for including me and please check out her shop as she has some gorgeous bags. I had a hard time picking which one to feature she has so many beautiful ones. I just love the fabrics!

Treasuries are so much fun!

It's great to discover new favourite shops!

Happy New Year...

I still always think of September as a new year, a new start. I guess it goes back to the new school year as a child and continues now with my own children. The fresh new pack of pencil crayons, new backpacks and jeans. Somehow though, this year feels a bit different. The girls are growing up right before my very eyes. My youngest still wanted us to walk to school with her but we were quickly abandoned for school friends that had been missed over the summer. Instead of helping with tying shoes I'm helping with the hair straightener. Where did the time go?

So as we begin September I'm reflecting on the great summer we had together. I'm enjoying the summer-like weather we're having now and excited about the fall weather to come - I love walking our dog on a crisp fall morning. As the girls head to school I will now have some more time to myself to create some new jewellery designs that have been swirling around in my head. Here's one of my new copper earrings that were inspired by my sister Kathy.

Happy 'new year' to everyone.