http://gaylebird.com/jewelleryblog silver wire and gemstone jewellery in development by Gayle Bird Sat, 15 Nov 2008 18:52:56 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I am extremely happy to finally be able, after nearly a decade of wiresmithing, to present the public with a line of jewellery that is centered on the lore of mystical properties of gemstones. They're my Focus pendants, and here are a few! Happiness:   Renewal: Strength: Friendship:   I also have Love, Luck, Health, Wealth, Insomnia, ... http://gaylebird.com/jewelleryblog/2008/11/15/gemstone-focus-pendants/ (Click for Larger) This private shopping party at the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design is going to be totally fabulous. I will be dressed to the tens (the nines aren't fancy enough!) and we'll have a jazz band and martinis, and it's going to be beautiful and intimate and ... http://gaylebird.com/jewelleryblog/2008/11/08/christmas-loft-2008/ The very kind people at the CBCCD, through a funding program, have allowed me the financial ability to have rack cards printed - plus business cards and the Moo cards I talked about this week. I spent far too many hours designing these things - struggling with niggly details, staring ... http://gaylebird.com/jewelleryblog/2008/10/21/rack-cards/ The coal industry has been a big deal in Cape Breton for decades. It's been slowly shutting down, but of course the coal is still here - and it washes up on our beaches, all soft and beautiful. I give it a semi-gloss coat of sealant (because coal, it is ... http://gaylebird.com/jewelleryblog/2008/10/20/coal-pendants/ You've probably seen my tiny finger-sized business cards from moo.com. I've got funding for more print materials so I'm using part of it to print some business-card-sized cards from Moo. The very best part is every card can have a different image on it! I chose 30 different images. Here ... http://gaylebird.com/jewelleryblog/2008/10/19/new-moo-business-cards/ In the ramp-up towards this fall's craft market, I've made nearly 100 new pairs of earrings, most of them from a fabulous batch of new glass beads I received recently. In my never-ending quest to find the best way to photograph my jewellery, I tried hanging earrings from the top ... http://gaylebird.com/jewelleryblog/2008/10/18/earrings-2/ I finally found a setting that doesn't look completely lame when taking beach glass pendant photos - a fistful of my white beachglass, a couple pieces of driftwood, some sand dollars and a shell! I think these came out really fabulous and as soon as my camera's battery is charged ... http://gaylebird.com/jewelleryblog/2008/10/17/photographs/ I think the fall is one of the best times to go searching for beach glass and other bits, because A) there's fewer people around and B) the storms really churn up what's out there and drag it up onto shore! I've made some of my best finds in the ... http://gaylebird.com/jewelleryblog/2008/10/13/fall-beachcombing/ I sorted my beach glass! This is everything I have. I thought it might be neat to show the actual rarity of the colours by volume. Here is all of it: (click for larger + notes) And a close-up on my precious pieces: I'm surprised at how little brown I had - I ... http://gaylebird.com/jewelleryblog/2008/09/16/beachcombed-sorted/ I've finally managed to get a real sort of update onto my website. I replaced the Rings and Earrings pages with representative images instead of individual works for sale, as that just never worked out very well - those always have a high turnover and I just can't keep the ... http://gaylebird.com/jewelleryblog/2008/08/27/phew/