The pop-up

I dropped by a pop-up jewellery show and sale at Port Credit Emporium on the 20th, which a friend of mine was taking part in. There were 3 jewellers in the show, which ran for 3 days. 

Gallery Craighurst

We took a trip up to Craighurst, ON, north of Barrie today to bring a selection of my work to Woodside Pottery & Gallery Craighurst.  The owner is a potter himself, and has his studio space attached to this gallery shop, in which he sells work by various artists and craftspeople, including his own work of course.  He visited the Spring OOAK show, where I had a small booth back in March.  He now has some of my butterflies, scarves, and silk clutches. 

Artisan Studio Tour photos

I managed to get a small number of photos taken at the Artisan Studio Tour, before my camera battery ran out of juice.  The butterflies and jewellery are my work, the book bags and other pieces are the work of Noelle Hamlyn.  We were also teamed up with potter Adam Beales, but I didn't get pictures of his display (sorry Adam!). 

Almost September

Yikes, I haven't posted in almost 2 weeks.  Sorry all. 
I've been busy though.  For one thing, I've had the beads all over the place and made some new pieces, which are now, or will soon be, posted to my Etsy!  Here's a peek -

January Look Book

If you scroll down the left column of the blog, you'll find an embedded look book - I updated it last night so now it features some of my work which fits under the themes of January Garnet and February Amethyst. Take a look!

Beadyness

Just a little post while I finish up a cup of lavendar green tea -- I've been adding new and renewed pieces to my jewellery shop on Etsy over the last few days. I've added about 15 pairs of earrings (with a few more to come), and some bracelets. The bracelets include a choose your own colour customizable listing.

Shop updates

In between getting ready for Christmas and so on I've been working toward switching my greetings cards from one Etsy shop to the other, to make things look more cohesive. I've almost completed that process. Looking better, I think. Now one shop will be entirely jewellery, and the cards will be fitted in with my textile and painting work.

Don't forget the Indie Handmade holiday market ends on the 18th!

Sale!

Having a short sale on my jewellery and cards in this shop! Today through Monday (29th), use coupon code FRIMON at checkout for 15% off your purchase shop-wide.

Beading

These are the new jewellery pieces I made a few days ago.

Second Etsy Shop

Well, in the interest of organizing my work a little more cohesively, and of making use of my Eyespot Designs name, I have created a second Etsy shop.

I've decided to keep my jewellery pieces and greetings cards in the first shop. The second I will be using for my textile work, and paintings. Any textile listings that were in the first shop (all 12 of them, which wasn't so many) have been removed and listed in the new shop. I have listed the first two paintings also! Eek! I found that a little scary, even though I've exhibited them before. I'll be adding some more periodically.

Treasuries on Etsy

A bracelet I posted on my Etsy shop has been featured in 2 treasuries! 

Tourmaline, Freshwater Pearls

Sugared Plums by TheNestingSpot
Fall In by jadewolf06

Choosing Jewellery

It's your colour.  You love that stone.  So how do you know that it's going to suit you, or if it's going to match your outfit?

Ultimately, wear something you feel comfortable in.  If you feel awkward, you'll probably look it too.

Heart Shaped Face - A narrow chin wants a necklace that gives width to the jaw, with chunky beads. Earrings that hang to chin level also give width. 
Round Face - Create a slimming look with longer strands, or a focal point/pendant to draw the eye downward.  Angular beads minimize roundness.
Square Face - Give a square or rectangular face curves with focals that bring the eye downward, but on shorter strands.  Use rounds and other organic soft shapes.
Oval Face - Such faces have the flexibility to experiment with various shapes. 

So what about your outfit?

V-necks - Accentuate the drop with bold pendants and dangles.
Round neck - Keep it simple.  A traditional, soft round shaped necklace that is short so it does not compete with the neckline is best. 
Strapless - A bold choker, or a lighter long strand will work best. 
High collar, turtleneck - Choose a long necklace which contrasts against the shirt colour.

Show Photos

I'm back with more! Here's a pair of photos of my set-up from the show, one in the dry and one following a bit of rain.  Saturday, though mostly dry, did have a few short but heavy rain showers. 

 

This is a couple of pictures of booths near mine, shortly after a short rain. 

So, about those interesting people - one of those who stood out was a guy who mentioned he's a naturalist.  His attention was drawn to my machine embroidered butterflies, as he was among several people who thought from a bit of a distance that they were real specimens and wanted a better look.  We had a really neat conversation about bugs, nature, conservation, educating people, fear of certain animals, etc. 

The overall feedback on these was really fantastic.  A member of the Mississauga Stitchery Guild was visiting the show and stopped by my booth.  She was so impressed, she has asked me to come to a Guild meeting sometime to show them and possibly do a demonstration on the techniques! 

Another great experience in the show was a photographer for SNAP Mississauga came by and took my photo with some of my work.  I'll have to check in a little bit to see if anything from that gets printed.

Happy Canada Day!

I was taking some photos of the newest beaded pieces a little while ago and my little flutterby friend came back.

One of the new necklaces, which I've nicknamed Ladybug Garden:

I made a matching bracelet too.

Italy v. Paraguay

I'm settling in for this afternoon's match, and pulling out some jewellery pieces to add to my Etsy listings.  It's a humid and overcast day, and looks like it might rain.

I'm trying out a new coin purse, a wool felt one.  I've discovered the felt layers make it bulky and the sewing mahcine doesn't like it, so when I make the next one I'm going to adapt my seaming technique to make it easier.
When I've done that, I'm going to finish some pieces with applique polkadots. 

I'm also going to want to find time to properly look through my new issues of Azure and Stringing magazines which arrived recently.

Garden

Sat outside with coffee and breakfast this morning, then took my camera for a walk around the garden.  It's great to have some flower photos around for inspiration sometimes, the shapes and colours are brilliant. 
Also took more jewellery photos, for the purposes of inventory, adding to Etsy, and possible portfolio use.
I think I came indoors just in time to avoid a sunburn.  I'll apply sunscreen before I go back outside.

Meanwhile, here's a handful of photos from the garden, and of some pieces now on Etsy.

Weather

Sunny day today.  I spent a little time outside taking some photos of my jewellery.  I saw that many of the flowers are out, ie. irises, pinks, and not too far behind will be the peonies and roses.  I'm hoping to take a few photos over the weekend.

Another portfolio link

I've put up a link to my jewellery portfolio on Issuu, you can see it here.

I'm also in the process of adding to my textiles portfolio, with images of things I didn't have pictures of before, etc.  That still needs work, but here's one photo I took the other day which I quite like.