The Blue Brick

I come by it honestly.

September 8, 2011

My mom is far more creative than I am. Here are her latest bracelets ;)

White Swarovski crystals paired with ivory Swarovski pearls. Silver findings, a silver dragon charm and filigree toggle clasp top off this incredibly blingy bracelet.

Each charm (there are 95 of them in total) is double wound at the base to prevent any charms from falling out or catching on clothing. Took about 4 hours, but definitely worth it!

She also created this beautiful pink piece over the winter and we’ve only gotten to photograph it now;

Square cut 6 mm Swarovski crystals in Indian Pink paired with deep chocolate Swarovski pearls, on a chain of antique copper with filigree toggle clasp and antique copper charms.

She’s got such a natural design sense – paired with her equally natural love of loud, sparkly jewellery she comes up with things I would have never thought of – way to go mom!
Helpless

September 7, 2011

There is a town in north Ontario,

With dream comfort memory to spare,

And in my mind, I still need a place to go,

All my changes were there.

Blue, blue windows behind the stars,

Yellow moon on the rise,

Big birds flying across the sky,

Throwing shadows on our eyes.

Leave us, Helpless. – Neil Young.

Labour Day road trip :) Kawartha Lakes, Port Perry, Sudbury, Kilarney, French River and back home.
Never give up on the ones you love

September 1, 2011
…especially shoes.

I bought a beautiful pair of flip flops from 9West earlier this summer and they didn’t even last til August! The purple jewel in the front of one of them fell out leaving behind an ugly metal hole… or a perfect resin bezel.

I was upset for about 5 minutes before I thought ‘wait a minute, you’re an artist, figure something out!’. Out came the resin and some leftover washi from my resin bracelets.
- I filled the hole (bezel) with a paper cutout with a pretty texture on it,
- I celebrated my chance to get away from the giant purple stone which had really been my least favourite bit
- I set up an elaborately balanced arrangement to allow me to fill the bezels
- I waited a few days and then wore my new shoes with pride.
I actually think it looks nicer now. Honestly. Ah, the many benefits of resin!

Never give up on good shoes, these ones will last into October ;)
Tiger Lily preserved

August 31, 2011

More resin pendants, on overlong antique copper chains.

This one is a 1.25″ diameter antique copper bezel with a tiger lily petal and a dragonfly charm in the same finish.

This has a sprig of Queen Anne’s Lace over the petal, and a leaf charm at the bottom.

Just the petal, but laid into an antique copper cuff.

And just because I love it so much here is another shot of my first petal/resin attempt.

I’m starting a series of these now that I’m comfortable with the technique and preservation. It will be a return to my old Inspira concept. I combine photography and jewellery making techniques to tell a story about a place, the way it felt, the colours and the mood. I’m looking forward to more explorations within the resin medium :)
Sugared Violets Shawl. Kinda.

August 26, 2011

I think I really messed up the pattern along the way, adding way more eyelet ridges that was necessary and running out of yarn before I could do the 2nd repeat of the fleurette mesh, or the garter edging… but nonetheless I’m happy with it.

Sugared Violets (Ravelery Project page here) is a gorgeous design that I will definitely be attempting again. Aggressive increases give the shawl a great crescent shape – my favourite and very easy to wear.

I think I might have lost track of what my stitch count was before I started my eyelet ridges. I kept thinking the shawl wasn’t deep enough, so I kept adding eyelet ridge repeats, with the result that I didn’t get the full effect of the fleurette mesh. The pattern is so flexible though, that this hasn’t really made a bad difference. It still opened up beautifully.

This absolutely gorgeous yarn is one of the treats I bought in Victoria. It’s a skein of Sweet Georgia yarn in the colourway ‘Cayenne‘. My first, I’ve been dying to try it out for a long time. It’s great to work with and blocks beautifully.

The next time I try this it will be with TFA Blue Lable charcoal :) It think it would be a gorgeous piece for fall!
Night Circus Magic

August 24, 2011

I love going to the EX – Tito and I have gone every year since we met – even the year I broke my hand and discovered that rides+broken bones=stupid amounts of pain ;)

It’s a million times better than Canada’s Wonderland; no waits for the rides, way cheaper and with a chaotic, old fashioned carnival atmosphere.

The rides have got that ‘folded out of a truck’ feeling to them, with the extra thrill of not being able to quite trust the straps.

Everything smells good. Deep fried twinkies, deep fried butter, deep fried coca cola (how do they do that?) Tiny Tom’s doughnuts, funnel cakes and cotton candy. Of this delectable list I could only bring myself to go as far as cotton candy ;)

We played lots of silly games that we weren’t terribly good at, with the result that my ferret now has all kinds of new small stuffed animals to hide on me, so that’s alright.

Even on a Monday night the EX is vibrant, packed and exciting. The ferris wheel afforded a fantastic view of the fairway.

All of these things make the EX something I look forward to every year. But I have the heart of a photographer – so the very best part of the EX is taking long exposure photos of the rides and the craziness.

When the blue hour was done and I was ready to put the camera away this was the ride we opened with. Stumbling home with sore tummies was worth it :)

Bad food, great rides, silly games and magical photography = a perfect night.
Resin and Washi – Take II

August 22, 2011

I loved the washi bracelets from a few weeks ago and decided I couldn’t stop there; here are my latest attempts :)

I love this one – hematite findings with a toggle clasp and black/white/pink washi.

Because the ring and the backing are not one piece I had to make my own bezel. I used contact paper on the back of the ring to make a seal, placed a thin glaze of jewellers grade resin on the back, placed the washi inside and added a second pour, including the dome. The paper ends up nicely sealed inside the resin and after it’s cured you can pull the contact paper off the back and add your own backing.

To make sure the paper didn’t go translucent on me I sealed it using Modge Podge beforehand. I let this dry for a full day, to make sure it was totally cured before adding the resin.

Turquoise and antique copper are one of my favourite colour combos.

2 extra medallions went into a cute pair of earrings.

I’ve been doing some more work with resin and flower petals – more pics tomorrow!
When you least expect it…

August 18, 2011

I found this beautiful lady in front of the CBC last night;

Ok. I’ve been looking for a praying mantis for a long time. I mean, a really long time. Years even.

Last night I finally found one – in front of the CBC. Not on the Leslie Street Spit, in the Don Valley or up in cottage country, but on Front St. She climbed onto my hand with what I swear was a sense of relief. I did the only thing that made sense, I called Tito and we took her home.

This is she – hanging out on my kitchen counter. I say ‘she’ because of a vibe I got, but really I’ve no clue. To my questing photographer’s heart this is the entomological equivalent of having northern lights appear over Lake Ontario.

She was more relaxed in the apartment and spent time time preening herself. She is stunning, delicate, beautifully built and… cute. Really cute.

After getting a few shots we took her down to the Toronto Music Garden and released her there.

That was an unexpected gift. I’ve looked all over southern Ontario for a praying mantis and found one quite literally in my back yard. This morning another friend found one downtown as well, so there may be more – if you live downtown keep an eye out ;)
Happy birthday to the Blue Brick!

August 15, 2011

It’s been a year since I started this blog – I want to thank everyone who’s been by, subscribed, stumbled here or linked to my work. Thanks to you the blog just passed 38,000 hits. Not bad for 1 year old :)

I had a good year of discovering how much I love to share ideas and art, enjoying sites like craftgawker and Pinterest, discovering my writing ‘voice’ and learning what folks like to read about. There were pleasant surprises like having my yarn bells end up in Canadian Living magazine and having my blog skyrocket past 5000 hits in one day thanks to StumbleUpon picking up on the Long Beach photography. I’ve met (at least via email) super nice people and found all kinds of new products, sites and inspiration.

Here’s to another year of beautiful people and beautiful craft :)

S.
It’s official, I’m a Ninja.

August 14, 2011

I passed my Nidan grading :o)

For my crafty cohorts who aren’t familiar with the term, I have been training in Goju Ryu Karate for 14 years, and this past Saturday I tested and passed for my 2nd degree black belt.

This grading was very special to me in many ways. It has been 9 years since I graded last, due to having to change schools many times before finding the perfect fit and having many injuries that needed to be addressed before I could take on the challenge. I’m proud of myself, and feel deeply content now that it’s over.

My Sensei is credited with supporting, challenging and encouraging myself and the 2 amazing people I graded with. The dojo is fun, relaxed and supportive. I am extremely grateful to have found such a wonderful school.

Here are some shots from the day;

Proof that one can be crafty, and still be badass :)