The Blue Brick

Making myself jewellery – third time’s the charm!

February 8, 2011

I’ve not had a lot of luck with this ‘making something for myself’ business’. The first bracele t I spent loads on, and it got lost on the subway. The second bracelet was just as lovely if not quite as pricey and I managed to lose one of the earrings. This time I’ve learned; not only did I go for an even sturdier construction (light gauge steel cable, doubled throughout the piece) but my mom paid for all the supplies, thus removing the guilt factor from making myself a third (and hopefully not doomed) item.

Mom bought me two ropes of my favourite semi-precious stone; Aquamarine. (I know, it’s a shocker. I mean, I hardly ever wear turquoise…) I decided to make the clasp the main event – so two little bejewelled arms come together over over a ring to close the piece. Strung through the ring is a fine silver chain with silver filigree cones at each end, and each cone has another bead of aquamarine nestled within.

I like the way the weight of the charms pulls the necklace down in the middle.

The earrings are similarly dangly.

The bracelet is doubled steel cable as well, with double crimps on the end. I could get into a super huge, multiple opponent, fight to the death match on the ttc, during rush hour, and still karatefy every last son-of-a-motherless-goat, while engaged in a Mexican knife fight… and this bracelet would survive. I’m sure of it.

I think it’s a little on the dressy side for me to be able to pull it off daily, but it’s definitely work-worthy. Hopefully this one lasts!
Winter shooting – and the inspiration behind the camera cosy!

February 7, 2011
Hey everyone! I wanted to share some pics I took a few days ago – the very day in fact that I decided my camera needed it’s own cosy.

These are the snowy steps leading down into the ravine by my place. For those of you fixin’ to berate me about ‘being careful’ on those stairs let me assure you I exercised utmost caution – what makes you think I would ever risk the safety of my camera?

At the bottom of the ravine is a little creek. I love how the little piles of snow on each rock make it look like tiny round mountains are in the water!

Another creek shot – I couldn’t get enough of how the sides of the creek, and the dark water, created this textural flowing landscape through the snow.

This bridge went over the creek – but my favourite detail is how that fallen tree created an arch over the path leading up to the bridge itself.

I love winter shooting – though it did occur to me in the middle of all this that my camera was getting snowed on, and that my battery was not lasting nearly as long as it does in warm weather. That was what led me to crochet a cosy for it that night =o)

While I was at it I took a photo of a house in my neighbourhood that I drool over daily. If crafting and photography somehow lead me to be able to afford a house one day this is the one I would want.

More gorgeous houses near me.

I love the colour the sky turns when it’s snowy like this – the reflection of the city lights on all that white gives the sky a warm tinge at night.

More winter shooting coming up soon! In the meantime all kinds of other exciting things are happening;
- I came sooo close to putting in an offer on a condo this past weekend – but it had turned into a bidding war with multiple offers and my agent advised me to stay out of that for now. I’ve got to say, while it does have it’s fun aspects, I find home-hunting to be very exhausting. Particularly emotionally for some reason. Luckily I have a really great agent to work with, and all the places I want to see are close to my office so I don’t need to travel much.
- Tito and I are both taking lamp-working classes at beadfx next weekend (a belated birthday gift) – I’ve never tried it, I’m so excited!
- The weekend after that we’re going up to Tobermory for a weekend, that camera cosy will definitely come in handy!
- I picked up a gorgeous skein of dark turquoise sock yarn from TFA – I’m going to try knitting a beaded shawl. I foresee all kinds of stress ahead, but with a gorgeous result at the end.
- My blog is on the cusp of 10 000 hits! Amazing! It’s small change compared to some of the mega blogs out there, but I am humbled and amazed that so many people have found my crafting to be so interesting =oD
Oh, yes I did.

February 3, 2011

Meet the new baby.

This is the Canon 7D. Swaddled in TFA Grape. Yes, I said swaddled. Because nothing says love like TFA yarn. No Patons cop-out for my camera!

I crocheted a camera cosy. I’m not sure if this qualifies me as uber geek… or just incredibly lame. Maybe they’re the same thing. Nonetheless, I’m pretty proud of my new camera and it’s protective Canon-mitten =oD

There is a reason, besides just reaching for hitherto unheard of levels of crafting madness; it protects her from the elements, and allows me to tuck in a few hand-warmers around the battery casing which extends the life of lithium batteries in the cold. Really – it works. I’m taking her snow shoeing in Tobermory in a few weeks, so I’ll need it.

While I’m at it I’ll give you another little nugget of wisdom – if you’re taking your camera out in elements of dubious merit (rain, rainforest, fog etc.) then do this first: Go to a shoe store, ask them for a bag of the silica gel packs (most stores throw away a ton of these things every day) and pack a bunch of them into your camera case. Even if you’re just moving in from the cold and to a warm room, and you’re worried about condensation inside of the camera body – try this trick.

I can’t take credit for this nugget of wisdom – when I told the people at Henrys that I would be taking the camera canoeing up the Amazon river and did they have any suggestions, they could only (with sad faces), wish me good luck. When I mentioned it casually to someone at Mountain Equipment Co-Op they said ‘Hmmm… I wonder if this would work?’ and took me to the shoe department. Well, that person was a genius and I have them to thank for successfully taking a V.1. Rebel, plastic casing and all, from the Andes to the Amazon with absolutely no problem.

I left openings in the cosy for all important things, like the tripod foot and the dial for changing shooting modes, settings and of course, the shutter button.

The grody little boogly face on the right was given to me (and my 50D) in Madrid by a very nice girl who came up to me at random and gave it to me for good luck. I took some very fine shots in Spain, so I suppose it worked out for me =o) I’ve kept it on the camera ever since.

Many of the cameras other settings are accessed through the back LCD – so I didn’t need to leave anything else free.

It’s quite the engineering feat if you think about it. And yes, I’m talking about the cosy and not the camera, which we can assume is an amazing piece of equipment and which I love dearly. I’ve been a Canon shooter for over 12 years, and this, my latest appropriation, is a pretty damn amazing camera!

My 50D is being gifted to my beautiful friend Yvette, who I’ve known nearly all of my life and who is moving on to new adventures in New Brunswick next month. I can’t wait to see what beautiful work she does with it!
Snow… in Toronto!

February 2, 2011
Newsflash, folks – It does snow in Toronto.

It snows frequently in fact, despite what other Canadian cities, the news, our previous mayor, these guys, and even some Torontonians, seem to think. The past two days we’ve been warned of this impending doom, only to wake up to a very pretty morning with some lovely white stuff on the ground. My parents, who’ve been in Canada virtually all of their adult lives, were nonplussed and drove to work as usual. Tito unconcernedly drove to Ajax this morning. It’s a regular day here in the T-dot, except that half the city stayed home, which I just do not get.

Here are few snow stats to back me up ;o)
- Winter 07-08 – total snowfall in downtown Toronto – 194.0 cm
- Winter 08-09 – total snowfall in downtown Toronto – 119.1 cm
- Winter 09-10 – La Niña year – ok, so there wasn’t much snow, but that’s rare
- This winter so far – 120 cm, and it’s only February.
- Average annual snowfall, according to wikipedia – 133 cm
For comparison sake:
- The average annual snowfall in Winnipeg, MB is 110.6
- The average annual snowfall in Calgary, AB is 126.7
- The average annual snowfall in Edmonton, AB is 123.7
- The average annual snowfall in Vancouver, BC is 46.5
Ok, so Montreal royally trumps us in snow with an average of 226.2, but still, we’re up there. So take that, Western Canada!

(source)

To celebrate our proven snowiness I’m posting some of my favourite winter photography from the past few years, enjoy!

Winter 08 – I took this photo at Harbourfront at 5 am, just before the sun came up after after a lovely storm.

Did I mention that it also gets quite cold here? This is Lake Ontario – responsible for moderating much of Toronto’s weather trends, on a frozen morning.

Earlier this same winter =o) Doggies love the snow!

Winter 07 – in the Toronto Music Gardens

Winter ’10 – This is the Leslie Street Spit – the breakers were totally coated in ice.

Another shot from that same day – just gorgeous!

Another lovely dawn shot.

From the Toronto Music Gardens.

We had a good 30 or so cm today, so I’ll be going out tonight, yes, you guessed it, shooting. I can’t wait – winter is just another opportunity to wear all kinds of knitted goodies and drink lots of hot chocolate – what’s not to love?
Sundays with mom

January 31, 2011

Every Sunday for a few months now my mom and I have made a habit (quickly becoming a tradition) of getting together to design, make and photograph jewellery. Here are her latest!

These adorable, bunchy little earrings were our main project. They’re made with 4 different sizes of Swarovski crystal, tiered to created these sparkly little beauties.

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between glass and crystal? This is something I looked up on the weekend – when lead oxide is added to glass it contributes weight, sparkle and strength – that’s what makes it a crystal.

Standards vary, but in Europe glass must contain at least 8% lead to be considered a crystal. High quality suppliers, such as Swarovski, must contain at least 30% lead, contributing to their extraordinary clarity and shine. In addition they are precision cut – using a method similar to cutting diamonds and other fine gemstones. Before I just loved using them because they’re so sparkly, but now I can understand a bit more of where that sparkle comes from!

We really must start shooting in the sunlight again – the lights in mom’s display cabinet just don’t do it justice.

We also created this elegant bracelet. Sterling silver filigree clasp, polished agate beads and oversized faceted Swarovski crystals on a thin, doubled steel cable for strength.

I love how mom likes to art direct the photography – she’s very creative in this – I think she enjoys taking the photos after as much as she enjoys the jewellery!

I also finally got mom downtown to show her the PATH project…

(I’m sporting my awesome new knitted shawl, that I am now hopelessly addicted to and never without…)

It was another great episode of “Sandra Sundays” =o)
Sneak peek – new Yarn Bowls and Wooly Muggeths!

January 27, 2011

These ones will be cute, promise. I was getting bored of throwing the same shape every time, so I’ve gone and had a little fun with this round.

This is Fred. He likes yarn, probably as much as I do.

(Ahem) rear view; Fred has been created from a mold, so I can make a little army of Fred’s to guard each pot.

This is Sally – she’s got her own yarn to hang out with.

What? Valentines is coming up, you know.

The dragonfly pot

This one will be lovely – I can’t wait to glaze it =o)

And I couldn’t forget the latest round of wooly muggeths – destined to be wrapped in what’s left of my TFA Grape and Mallard skeins. Who doesn’t want frogs in their drink?

Updated pics to come when this lot has been fired and glazed =o)

In other news, I’ve been pre-approved for my first mortgage! Tomorrow I’m viewing my first prospective properties, I’m sure there will be trials and tribulations ahead, but right now all I can think of is how much fun house shopping sounds. Did I say house? I meant snazzy, sexy, waterfront condo shopping. w00t!
Travelling Woman Shawl

January 25, 2011

I’ve just completed my very first knitted shawl! The pattern is the Travelling Woman by Liz Abinante. The yarn is TFA Blue Label in Mallard. Thank you Tanis, for the recommendation! This was an ideal first lace shawl – the purl columns as well as the sk2po column make it easy to read your knitting and keep track of where you are.

I wish I had a nicer room to take photos in . Ah well, soon! In the meantime, though I loath the apartment I love the paint colour =o) I wasn’t kidding when I said turquoise was my favourite colour, I could seriously paint every surface in it and be happy.

The shawl reminded me of this silk sundress I have hidden away in the closet. I can’t wait for warm weather, I bet they’ll look great together. Yes, it’s a match made in heaven.

I was able to make the shawl a little bigger by doing 3 repeats of chart A – I have a feeling I could have squeezed in one more repeat – there is still quite a bit of yarn left. One skein of TFA goes a long way! Have I mentioned how much I love the way TFA blocks? It was like night and day, the shawl opened up so beautifully, and the details in the lace became more visible.

This was my very first shawl, crocheted in TFA Blue Label, in Grape. It was also the beginning of my love affair with this yarn. However, at the time I didn’t know much about blocking, and though the shawl was lovely it didn’t fit quite right. After seeing how much change blocking brought about on my Mallard shawl I decided to block this one and see what happened.

It worked like a charm! The lace opened right up and my painstaking beadwork is much more visible. It’s also better shaped, with longer wings. I can’t wait to wear it out!
Photography flashback – Italy

January 20, 2011
Lots going on lately – so much that I’ve hardly had time to blog. One very cool thing is that I’ve been asked to display some photography at the corporate head office for Cadillac Fairview. I’m very honoured to be asked to contribute art to such a prestigious company. The selection is going to be mostly based around my photography in Italy, so I thought I’d share some of my personal favourites from the gorgeous city of Rome. The shot above is of the Colosseum.

This shot is one of my favourites. It’s a puddle on the ground in a narrow little side street. My favourite detail is the feather :)

The subways in Rome are coated in graffiti.

There are scooters all over the place, but one of the reasons I love this shot is that I’m pretty sure that seat was coated using someone’s tablecloth!

Sidewalk chalk artist.

This was one of my best known shots of Rome because it led to this Inspira Bracelet. The version above was made for my dear friend Esther.

This photo was certainly my most popular shot – it was chosen for publication online and in print 2 years ago, in a special edition of National Geographic – the holy grail of photography! It was, and remains, a major highpoint of my photographic life.

When in Rome (I love saying that!) I stayed with my amazing friend, and fellow photographer, Dina – she was standing right next to me when I took this picture. Though I don’t get to see her often, I love that we shared this moment. As soon as she saw the picture on the back of my camera she declared it the best shot I’d ever taken :)

In other news…
- My kitty is 100% better – hooray! That’s a load off ;o)
- I’ve had some unpleasant visits to the physiotherapist where I’ve gotten some very humbling news about my knee injuries.
- Despite above mentioned knee injuries I am preparing to start the formal training period for my Nidan (Second degree black belt. See? Crafters can be cool too!)
- I completed my downpayment savings and I’m shopping for my first mortgage! Yay! Debt! This is a day I’ve been waiting for, for a very long time.
- More good news – my sweet cousin Billou had her first baby yesterday, and she’s gorgeous! I bid a very loving welcome to Zaara, and will be attempting to speed-knit a baby blanket to send to India.
My next posting will be of my gorgeous travelling woman shawl in TFA Mallard – it’s almost complete! I decided to go risque and see if I could squeeze three pattern repeats of chart A out of one skein – and I think it’s going to work out. I can’t wait to have it finished so I can show it off! I love the pattern so much I’m already planning another, this time in a worsted weight yarn. Thank you Tanis for recommending this – it’s a perfect first shawl pattern!
Look! I made myself a Bracelet! Take 2…

January 14, 2011

Gone forever…

The dragonfly bracelet is lost =o( not 2 days after I finally made matching earrings, I decided to wear it out of the house for the first time.

Witness, the absolute madness that is trying to board a train on the Yonge line during rush hour. I hate the TTC! I can’t wait til I buy my condo and am back downtown again where I can walk everywhere =o)

To return to my sordid tale: while on that horrid, sweaty, crushing, stampede to get on a train my lovely bracelet was torn from my wrist and lost forever. I discovered it missing when I got to work. I was pretty upset, to be honest, it didn’t seem fair. If I had bought it I wouldn’t care, but because I made it, it felt like someone had broken a piece of my pottery.

So…I mourned it’s loss, and have made another bracelet for me, much less expensive, less delicate and therefore less worrisome.

Here it is – very pretty, and quick and easy to make. Caribbean blue cubic swarovski beads with antique bronze filigree findings. Done. Simple. Ok, so I used a toggle clasp, but the whole thing just feels more secure than the gorgeous-but-tricky oversized dragonfly clasp of yore.

In a way, it’s just as much ‘me’ as the other one – I love filigree and I love the colour turquoise and I love antique bronze. I also don’t tend to be big on bling. That having been said, I’ll certainly be re-making a new ‘expensive’ bracelet for myself to wear on dressier occasions (with a better clasp this time!)

Cute little lantern earrings finish it off. The earrings I made for the previous bracelet are still with me, and I still love wearing them just by themselves.

Hey, speaking of how much I love turquoise, I treated myself to a gorgeous skein of TFA Blue label yarn in Mallard for my first shawl in the Travelling Woman pattern! Pics to come soon, I’ve finished the set-up rows and am ready to start the lace, this shawl moves along very quickly. Once my first shawl is out of the way I think I might finally treat myself to a skein of TFA’s Mulberry silk yarn for the next one.

it may not be the original, but it’s an adorable bracelet in it’s own right and I’m enjoying wearing it =o)
Mittens!

January 13, 2011

At last, I’ve managed my fear of DPNs. Every time I picked them up and tried something it felt hopeless, tangled and uncomfortable. Then about a week ago I said ‘this is it! I want mittens!’ and I picked up the DPNs and all at once they were super easy. I don’t even know what I was doing wrong before.

The yarn is Malabrigo Rios, and the colourway is called “Arch Angel”. The varigated colourways available in this yarn are so pretty!

The pattern is from a KnitSimple workbook, but I’m not too thrilled with the thumb gussets, I’ll be trying Tanis’ Grammy Mitts next time. I think it’s the perfect way to use up all the spare yarn I have in Jewel and Stormy. Not having to seam up anything afterwards was nice =o)

For those who are new as well to DPNs I found this article to be very helpful by Knitty.com.