the end of a decade

i can't believe it's almost the end of a decade. sometimes time goes by so quickly. i'm actually going to sit down now and make a resolution list and try to stick by it.

i actually like crossing things off lists. in my final year at OCAD i was juggling so many things that when i was finally able to cross something off a list, i could practically feel a weight come off my shoulders. i hate dragging things out, constantly worrying about them.

for now, i think this will be a main resolution of mine:

(via Matt Jones)

thanks to everyone who reads this blog and supports me and my work. it's not the same without you :)

happy new year!

fused earrings

i made these earrings a little while ago. they're sweet and simple with hand formed earring wires.

hand forming earring wires kinda drives me crazy, it's very easy to get a kink in the wire, and basically impossible (not worth it) to get it out.

so it's a small accomplishment to get smooth, symmetrical ones. go me!

colour charts

i finally had some time to finish off my colour charts a little while back. this is months overdue. for anyone doing enameling it's really important to have samples of each colour since the colour of the enamel powder is never the same colour as when the enamel is fired in the kiln. and you may think two colours will work together, but when you put them side by side is when you'll really know.

i think it's time for me to get some new colours...i barely have any reds, oranges or yellows. i also want to get some very pale, ivory like colours.

thank goodness you can buy enamel online. i do not like shopping on boxing day.

work space

okay...no one said i was tidy.

i've been all studio crazy the past couple of days trying to both restock and make new work that you'll all eventually get some glimpses of.

happy holidays everyone :)  see some family and get some rest!

my first etsy treasury

i'm pretty new to etsy so i was super excited to see my lichen earrings included in a treasury by cynmb. yay!

chainmail

i spent a couple of days working on chainmail bracelets with our intern at Organic Metal Gallery. this requires sawing coiled wire to make hundreds of little jump rings, stringing a line of them onto a clothesline like contraption, and then linking the next rows all together with pliers to get this pattern.

it feels so good to see each row finished as i work.

i think i want to do some more elaborate chainmail type bracelets for myself in the future. i'll try to get on that...

a gingerbread house

the OCAD student union is always doing little fun things like this. there was a gingerbread house competition and i helped some friends decorate (eat) this house.

we were going for a "totaled by an environmental disaster and then left alone for a 100 years" kind of look.

a tiny little seed

"Breathe. 
Be kind to yourself.  
Don't panic. 
Take risks. 
Make messes. 

Decide every day that in your...toolbox, 
next to the fear and self-doubt, you are also going to  

keep at least one tiny little seed of faith. 

That's all you need to keep going—one mustard seed. 

Keep tight hold on that faith, and keep [creating]."

- Kristin Cashore

a small trade show

Some 4th year OCAD students asked me to participate in a small trade show as alumni around the beginning of the month. it was a nice experience, and i met a lot of great craft enthusiasts as i usually do.

the trade show was designed to emulate the One of a Kind Show on a small scale - complete with demonstrations. Carol-Lynn Beaumont, a fellow classmate, was doing demos on the throwing wheel.

i love love love her pottery.

especially this cup.

a silver fertility charm

do you guys remember this piece? i carved out the wax in the summer so i could have a smaller, sterling silver version of my bronze/brass fertility charms. i eventually cast it, cleaned it, and patinated (stained the silver with a chemical) the back. i like the ball burred texture compared to the smooth back of my original, and it makes it more resistant to fingerprints which is always a plus.

i hate taking photos of high polished work. you can always see the camera. argh...

emerging artist

Rickson Salkeld was very kind to have interviewed me as a featured emerging artist on Crafthaus.

read the interview here to learn a little bit more about me.

new etsy items

i was supposed to put up new etsy photos a loooong time ago. but things didn't work out with my model. these will have to do for now. at least i have my hand in some shots for scale purposes. check out my shop for some newish stuff like this fire-y red fan necklace:

cuff links

we have these cement rings that are really popular for men at the gallery (here shown in its pink wax form). after being cast, the grooves are filled with cement and then polished as usual. Robin uses this same ring to create matching cuff links.

i've never made cuff links before. i don't normally design for men (though i have made quite a few chunky rings for commissions), and it's hard enough as it is to come up with a line for women. so this was a new experience. these are the cuff links on the brick right before being soldered.

these ones are still not fully cleaned up. but after i saw them i thought they didn't really need the cement. i guess Robin thought so too, because the next time i was in the store i saw them in the case in this form.

clean up

when i say i have to clean up a piece this is partly what i mean. the cufflink bit on the right is still rough from abrasive grinding tools and the one on the left happens is what happens in the later stages after i use my flex shaft (a type of rotating tool) with increasingly finer sandpaper on the piece. after this stage there are stages of polishing as well.

i'd say clean up is at least half the battle for each piece. designing and soldering would be first half. it's worse when you have to do clean up all by hand for the hard to reach places. when the clean up is uneven it's really noticeable in the finish (and slowly drives you insane).