Only time for a couple of quick updates this week… I took a peek at the calendar and apparently the show is in a week and a half! After my heart started back up again, I realized that I’m actually more than prepared for this… dozens of earrings, rings, beach glass and coal pendants, lots of steampunk (although they keep selling on Etsy, I still have a few dozen left), a bit of polymer clay/steampunk, some great gemstone cabochons, a few little surprises, and my big box of clearance items. That was sort of a mental inventory for my own benefit, but I figure you might like to know too :)
Beach glass, or sea glass, is one of the prettiest pieces of garbage you’ll ever see. I am lucky to live on Cape Breton Island in the Atlantic Ocean and I’m able to collect my own beach glass. If you aren’t so lucky, you can buy them on Ebay. This technique also works for any flat, irregular object.
This is my first tutorial & it’s super duper long, because I had trouble taking out any steps. If it’s any help, I shot a video, too! I thought it would help explain the photos by watching me create something start to finish. Also, it was hard to get the photos while also working with both hands. So you get both!
I am SO freaking excited to be able to tell you that my online shop is now OPEN at Etsy. Just a dozen or so pieces up for starters but I’ve already sold a piece, which is exhilarating despite having sold thousands of other pieces in galleries and shows because this is my first ever online sale.
Wanna see? Of course you do. Here are the first items I’ve ever made available for sale online.
I was given the honour of creating a wedding necklace for my friend Stephanie. She had a fall-coloured wedding and fell in love with the honey-coloured beach glass I’d had in my stash. It went beautifully with the carnelian and pearls she’d already chosen. We had a lovely evening together sorting out what style and size and shape she’d like best. She was exceptionally easy to please :)
I took a few in-progress shots as I went along, maybe you’ll be interested?
She was a beaming, gorgeous bride and I was proud to have taken a tiny, shiny part in that.
I’ve been itching to get back into polymer clay for quite some time, and this past week I finally pulled it out and had the most fun with it! I had all these teeny tiny watch parts from when Laird tore apart a bunch of watches for me and there were just so many that I really couldn’t use… they’re so small they either can’t be attached or they get lost within the design. So I’ve been collecting them in little watchmaker’s cases for a while now.
However, they’re perfect for pushing into clay! I wasn’t sure what kind of shape to make – I knew I wanted to create some kind of animal look like it had been made out of metal in Victorian times but it took a while to hit on the nautilus/snail shape. They were super fun to work on.
I made a bunch and then tried some hearts, which worked out OK but Laird pointed out that they were taking me forever to make, so I thought for a few minutes and figured out that the watchmaker’s cases made perfect circular cutters, so I made a bunch of those quickly to try and even out the time I’d spent on the more sculptural pieces :)
I varnished them after baking and will wrap them after. So there’s more to come!
…but I keep trying to make it new. For instance, the addition of reclaimed leather and old earring pieces to the pendants, and a full-sized necklace using clock parts and chunky chains. The clock hand is from my fiance’s grandmother’s clock.
I also thought you might be interested in some in-progress shots – these are the base elements I produce before wiring them into pendants, some of which are still waiting to be connected:
…I promise I’m also working on other things! It’s just that these keep selling out so I have to keep replenishing!
I was doing a little research on drilling beach glass and discovered an incidental piece of advice that actually changed everything. It’s a whole new ball game. Apparently, if you rub sea glass with a little olive oil and polish it back off with a cloth, it freaking well glows. Allow me to demonstrate:
These are some colour combos I was working out on my bench. Probably, these pieces are too small to successfully wrap together, but by heck I’m'a gonna try! Now, take a look at the exact same pieces after the olive oil treatment, in the same spot with the same overhead lighting and the same camera settings:
These are in no way greasy or wet, but just LOOK at them! The oil has completely removed the salt residue (which I could not get rid of no matter the amount of soap) and left an amazing glowy surface instead which allows the glass to light up from the inside.
World’s stupidest name but I get blocked some times. Suggestions for naming these little guys? I’ve got a bunch more but am just too tired to photograph them all.
They still need bails and chains, and I’m not sure why I did two pale green ones when I have all kinds of colours pulled for this series, but I’m kind of loving them anyway!
I’ve got at least a dozen of these on deck for this week. What with the season opening coming up in just a couple of weeks, I’m spending at least an hour or two in the studio each evening. On top of my full-time job (which is hectic) it’s a little tiring, but worth it when I can gather my wooly thoughts enough to do something creative and controlled like this!
A few of the newest batch of earrings from last weekend – I just found my camera card this morning! I’d love to stay and chat about them but I’ve got to get back to production… the season is upon us and I’ve got to be ready!
Somewhat harsh close-up photos (when oh when will I be able to take consistent photos?!):
I had a little contest and asked folks to pick what I’d make today… and here are the hair clips that resulted! I managed to make 15 pairs before I started to get hungry :)
As I’ve been working on for years, the Focus pendants are coming along nicely. I’ve been doing research and created some new combinations. Yesterday I gathered some raw specimens and took photos… they’re a little uneven but it’s a start! I eventually plan to use these photos (or possibly ones like them) on cards for each pendant. Here are a few:
I always love seeing the in-progress shots of artists at work, so hopefully you do too!
Laird and I have been honing our soldering skills at a basic jewellery forging class this winter, and it’s super fun! We’re working on a single bracelet each, but I tend to work pretty quickly and I’ve had a lot of luck, so with some extra wire I had lying around I made a bunch of circles (below top left), soldered them (middle) and then started manipulating them into different shapes (bottom right).
After I soldered and shaped the wire, I hammered them for strength and to give them this gorgeous sparkly finish:
I’ve got a shipment of faceted gemstone drops just awaiting pickup at the depot on Monday, and I think they’re going to be gorgeous combined with these frames.
As it turns out, the jewellery studio – with torches – is available for rent, so if these work out I will be taking advantage of that and doing more of this kind of thing. I really like the idea of adding forged work into my existing wirewrap to make something new – then I’ll be wiresmithing indeed!
Aren’t these fabulous? My friend Angie has been telling me about the virtues of alcohol ink for at least a year, but last weekI finally got my fingers dirty. And oh man! Fun! I will of course be making jewellery out of these. Look at the sets made from regular dominoes and tiny dominoes:
Laird really wants to start lampworking and fusing glass, and I think when we get our place we’ll ensure there’s room for a glass area with a kiln and a torch and such. Meanwhile, I’m more than happy to just have gorgeous things like these show up at my door!
These are the earrings I made for the home show I had on Sunday:
And yesterday I got a whole passel of new beads, including flowers, raspberries, butterflies, leaves and crackle beads – so of course I had to make more! These are destined for the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design’s gallery on Charlotte St., so get your butt down there if you want some! [earwires to be attached soon]
Today I woke up wanting to make more starfish. The clay is exactly what I needed to kick-start my creative mojo again. I needed something different. Today’s batch is more colourful.
I also started to wrap them and they’re turning out pretty great. Exciting! I’m putting some leather in as well, that I got from the friend of a friend who’s a bookbinder. I am hoping to incorporate some beach glass.
One of a kind wire-wrapped jewellery handmade by Cape Breton artist Gayle Bird. Look for silver wire, labradorite, beach glass, gemstones, glass, beads, and a unique style.
Find Me On Facebook!