One last show for the year.

I'm getting ready for a show tomorrow which is appropriately names Last Chance Craft Show. Well maybe that's just what I need since I'm not done my Christmas shopping yet!

 As usual I get a burst of creative energy just before a show, so here are a few of the new items I'm made this week.

 This is one of three nest necklaces that will be their.

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 These have just a slight steampunk feel to them.

It took me a while to finish these ones. I did the patina months ago and couldn't decide if I liked them or not but once I found some beads to go with them I think they may have become one of my favs. So I may have to keep one of these for myself!

Along with these earrings I have about 8 more pairs all a little different from each other.

So come on out to the Richmond Arena for some last minute Christmas shopping. What you say you're done! Then come out and get yourself something special to celebrate, you deserve it!

Last Chance Craft Show

Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011 10am-4pm

Richmond Arena upstairs Hall

6095 Perth St. Richmond, ON.

See you there!

Wendy

New earring design.

At my Open House recently I was wearing these new earring I had made a few weeks earlier to try them out...well you know you can't sell things without test driving them first! These little bead and shells are each wrapped on it's own head pin. I had made them to add to a bracelet as  little extra dangles but then didn't like them on it so there they sat on my work table waiting for another project to fit for few months. I don't use pink and purple much in my work but sometimes I do wear a little so I thought I'll just make a small pair of earring for myself with them. I'd been playing with the idea of making some dangling earring from bits of chain and I could try it out with these before making some more combos on head pins.

 Well back to the Open House- one of my favourite customers notices them but asked me to make them in an orange gold combo of colours. I love when people asked for variations of my jewelry because it inspires me to continue to find more variations on a theme. Something I never tire of.

 In this combo the shells are more golden than the first ones I did and the ear hooks are my own had made ones too.

 This has the little coloured shells again with my own ear hooks. I like the way the orange pops more with the lighter coloured shells. What's your preference?

So if you every have any suggestions or variations of my jewelry you'd like to see, I'd love to hear about it.

Wendy

My first blog hop.

WELCOME TO MY BLOG!

I'm so excited to be a part of the Holiday Shop Hop this weekend. This is the first time I've participated in a blog hop and I'm looking forward to meeting some new blog friend. So if you're new to my blog give me a shout, I'd love to meet you. Or if you're not new give me a shout any way, spread some holiday cheer to kick off December.

We've had a lovely light snow fall this morning and everything is coated white. It's a winter wonderland that  can't help but put me in a festive mood. So along with my first blog hop I'm going to have my first Etsy sale this weekend.

Saturday and Sunday

December 3 and 4, 2011.

10% off everything in the shop.

Use code HSH2011 at the checkout.

Now you can go check out all the other participants in the Holiday Blog Hob.

A Bead A Day

Blackbeary Mountain

Blue Pearls Handcrafted Goods

Chic and Frog

Crafty Hope

Dragonfly Dreamers

Etania Gems

ExPostFacto Jewelry

Fangdangles

GreenBead Designs

Handcrafted Serenity Jewelry Designs

Happy and Healthy Magnetic Jewelry

Holly Westfall / Silver Rose Designs

Just A Tish

Just Mare Pottery

Keefer Style Creations

Kabs Creative Concepts

Klassy Joolz

Kristi Bowman Design

Lilly Rose Jewelry Designs

Little Rocks

MiShel Designs

Melinda Orr Designs

My Life Under the Bus

Olive Branch Organics

Pine Ridge Treasures

Pink Poppy Studio

Rosebud’s Lampwork Beads

Sand & Sea Designs

SCJ Jewelry Design

Sew Stacy

SongBeads

Studio Waterstone

Sundancegems

Suzanne Stevens

Sweet Creek Herbs

Sweet Water Designs

Wire Worked Handcrafted 

Now I'm off to do some holiday shopping. Have a great weekend.

Wendy

Just part of the journey...and my first tutorial!

For the most part I'm a self taught Artist. I have no formal training other than taking a few workshops here and there. I love to explore and teach myself a variety of techniques.

So when I decided I wanted to combine metal and leather, I just went ahead and got started. It all went well until it was time to attach the copper to the leather. I had seen a few examples of this kind of think on line and my first impression was that the metal had been attached with wire.  After some time fighting with the wire, copper and leather, I discovered that this was not going to be as easy as my brain had led me to believe it would be, as is so often the case. When I get stuck on an idea my best solution is to start doing some google searches. This usually delivers endless suggestions for how something should or could be done. But in this case I came up with next to nothing. Not one tutorial or video to be found. Etsy as usual was a great inspirational source but I could only guess at how some of the lovely leather and metal cuffs had been combined. So it was back to the drawing board. I started to think about any conceivable method of attaching these two elements. It wasn't long before I had a number of methods to try. So I went ahead and tried them all

With this first one I attached it with waxed linen. Something I had handy from doing some book binding. Once the holes were made in the leather and copper I sewed it together. For fun I added some rivets to the leather band with my Crop-a-dile.

The next one I decided to try some mini nuts and screws. I had bought these earlier this year but hadn't tried them yet. Although they are very small to work with they proved to be very easy to use. I was able to cut the extra length of the screw off with my wire cutters and just give the ends a little sanding with my metal file. I will definitely be using these more in some upcoming projects.

On these last two I used rivets and my Crop-a-dile. I was able to use the Crop-a-dile to make the holes in the metal and the leather and then set the rivets. On the tan one I added flowers with more rivets to the band.

I started out thinking if I try lots of different methods for attaching metal to leather, I would at least find one that worked well or that I like. But in the end I discovered three methods that are quite easy to accomplish and I really love the look of.

So what do you think? Which method is your favourite?

And let me know how my first tutorial went. Did I give you enough information or too much? I can take it, let me know how I can improve.

Also if you know of any other methods for this I'd love to hear about them.

Wendy

Piano Hinge book workshop

On the weekend I taught a wonderful group of women how to make Piano Hinge Books. This is probably my favourite book to make. One of the reasons I love to teach is to see the creations that my students do. You never have two books the same. I'm always inspired after and have started another book of my own. Here are their beautiful books.

 Bonnie

 Michelle

 Roberta

 Sharon

Sheila

Thanks ladies for a great day.

Wendy

Hand made books.

Wow, a week just slipped right by me. November is such a busy month, I must remember to slow down and enjoy the ride. I want to share with you some more wonderful finds I've made. Today it's all about Mary Kritz and her wonderful hand made books she creates. I've seen a few of Mary's books since she's joined our ATC group but recently I was lucky enough to make it to one of her shows to see many of her original creations. Each book is a one of a kind creation and some even include some of her art.

 This first book is covered with one of her Ink blot designs made of wonderful Canal paper. I love the details she adds like the tabs to hold the book closed when you're not using it. I think it will make a great art journal if I can bring myself to use such a unique piece of art.

This is a book of endearment. The intention is to write a word of endearment to another person and give the book to them. They then write a word and pass it back. You continue to pass it back and forth until it is full.

Mary has added some words and designs to get it started. I thought this was such a great idea and already know who I'm going to share it with.

This last book is bound with brown and red leather and has a wonderful stitching design on it. It may have small dimensions of 3.5" by 3" but it holds 80 pages. I think this will make a fun book to keep close in a bag ready to use any time. This is going to be a Christmas gift so I have officially started my shopping!

Mary makes many more types of books so go check out some of them here.

Craft show time...

Yes it's that wonderful time of year again where each weekend we can go to a multitude of shows. The last few years I have been a vendor at numerous shows and haven't had the time to visit many. I find myself involved in very few shows this year so I'm enjoying visiting friends at their shows and checking out possible shows for next year. So far this weekend I made it to 5 shows(picture big happy face on me). I love craft shows. We have so much local talent with such a wide variety of skills. Today I went to a show in Kemptville at the college in the WB George centre. It's also on tomorrow and well worth checking out.

 I have officially started my Christmas shopping! So I'm not able to show you everything I bought but I can share a few things I just really needed for myself.

 This is a Fairy door. Since my life is full of fairies I just had to have a door for them. This was made by Joanne MacKenzie who told me about how her daughter designs the doors for her. Who better than a young person to see into the wonderful world of Fairy. Joanne and her husband Doug both do beautiful wood working. I had a hard time controlling myself from buying more things there. See more of their wonderful work at Celtic Elegance.

 I have a soft spot for pottery and Joyce Wood of Beckett's Landing Pottery really caught my eye today. Again it was hard to just pick one piece. When she told me this was from a Hosta leaf it was a done deal.

Again this hit a soft spot for me. I love little drawers and I love wood working. I once took a course to learn how to do wood working and the thing I learned most was to appreciate other peoples woodwork. This box was made by L Wood's Crafts. I'm sorry I didn't get his business card and can't seem to find a link for him. He had lots of beautiful handcrafted wood pieces.