Acres of Art was Lovely; Also New Beach Glass

Hello everyone!

As mentioned, I went out to the beautiful Coast Collective for their Acres of Art show on July 12.  It was a lovely afternoon, and I got to talk to so many nice people.  If you happened to pick up my business card and are checking my blog now, please comment or send me an email so I know these things are working.

It was exciting to set up my table with all my new jewellery stands.  I think the table ended up looking pretty nice.  (There are closeups of all the pieces displayed in this photo down in my previous blog entries.)

Since I had dropped off all my old beach glass pieces at the Maritime Museum's gift shop, I made a whole new set for this show.  So I figure I'll show off some pictures of it here.

First up, I have a couple new reversible pieces.  The first is non-tarnish brass wire (looks like gold) on white beach glass.  It's $20.

The second reversible piece is copper on white.  It's also $20.

I have another copper pendant for people who really like swirls.  It has two scrolls on its face plus a really swirly top. $20

This next piece features silver-plated copper wire on white beach glass.  It sort of reminds me of a cello.  $20

I have another in silver-plated copper wire on white beach glass.  This one's design is more vertical.  $20.

In case you're beginning to worry that all my new pieces are on white beach glass, I'll show you now that they aren't.  Here's a dainty one in silver-plated copper wire on deep green beach glass.  $20.

I also did one with brass wire on dark green beach glass.  This one is probably my favourite of the new set of beach glass pendants.  The odd shape of the glass actually helped me to do a really nice wrap.  $20

The rest of the pendants all have charms of some sort.  The first is brass wire on white beach glass and features a large scroll and a shell-shaped charm.  $25

The next one is brass wire in a ripply wrap on white beach glass, and for something different I gave it a pink freshwater pearl to add a splash of colour.  $25

Sticking with the notion of some added colour, I put an indigo freshwater pearl on this pendant of silver-plated copper wire on white beach glass.  $25

The final pendant for the day is rather fun.  It's a heart-shaped piece of white beach glass wrapped in silver-plated copper wire with a dolphin charm.  $25

I also made two new pairs of earrings.  The first set could go nicely with the pendant with the indigo pearl, since it also features silver-plated copper wire and indigo pearl dangles, though I added a vibrant pink seed bead for a touch of contrast. $39

Here they are again hanging on a mug.

This next pair of earrings is probably my favourite pair of beach glass earrings so far.  They are copper wire on white beach glass dangling below an indigo pearl, which looks lovely against the copper.  I also feel like the double scroll in the wrap somehow ends up looking a little like a heart.  $39

And hanging from the mug:

And that's it for today, but I will have more news of venues and events for you soon.  Just comment or email to let me know if you'd like to see more of something.

New Pieces Ready for Acres of Art

As promised, I am posting some pictures of new pieces I will have ready for the Coast Collective's  Acres of Art show on July 12th (details in a previous entry).  Many of them are familiar designs in new colours, but there are a couple new designs or new variations on old ones.

Let's start with new colours in familiar designs.  I've done a bunch of new colours in my pearl bracelets.  As you'll see, I've expanded into some brighter colours for the summer months.  These are made with glass pearls and seed beads and have lobster claw clasps so I can add an extender chain and make them adjustable if need be.  They are $20.

The first is a combination that makes me think of August in the Okanagan, of multitudes of grasshoppers singing in the sun baked hills.  It's caramel pearls with gold-core green seed beads.

The next bracelet features the same gold-core green seed beads but has green pearls.  I suppose it's the June or July to the previous bracelet's August.  Or more of an herb garden.

The final piece using these seed beads has violet pearls and is definitely more of a flower garden or summer meadow.  I really love this combination.  I'll almost definitely do a necklace in it at some point.

  

 

And here's the three of them together because I'm considering doing a multi-strand necklace in these colours.  They also happen to be Mardi Gras colours, which is fun.

Sticking to the violet and green theme, I also have a set with green pearls and some lovely oily-finish violet seed beads.  Kind of a reversal of a green "vine" with violet blooms.

I also did one with those same oily-finish violet seed beads with lilac/lavender pearls.  This one is cooler in tone.

And to finish off the range of purples, I have one with the violet pearls and iris seed beads.  The violet pearls really bring out the pink iridescence in the finish on the iris beads.

The next few bracelets all feature navy blue pearls.  The first one is relaxing, deep and cool with silver seed beads.

The next features a bit more contrast -- in fact, its opposite on the colour wheel -- in the form of clear copper-core seed beads.  I feel like the copper makes the blue pop more vibrantly.  And I don't know why, but I feel like copper is the metal of summer.

The final navy blue piece features blue copper-core seed beads which give a more muted version of the previous design while adding extra depth through the second shade of blue.

I'll fess up I did also do a few more neutral pearl bracelets.  I noticed when posting my previous batch of photos that I was out of white with silver, so I made one to go with the necklace I have.

I also decided to try a white with iris.  I was delighted by the result.  It's very delicate and feminine and airy.

I also brought some colour to white pearls with the icy blue seed beads I've come to love.  You've probably already seen them with dark grey or black pearls, but I can't believe I didn't mix them with white before, because it's gorgeous.

Which brings us to necklaces, because I loved this combination so much that I made a necklace in it.  Here it is on my snazzy new bust.  Like my other single-strand pearl necklaces, it's $39.

I also have a couple new multi-strand designs to show you. 

The first is in sun-kissed gold tones.  It's an asymmetrical two-strand design of white pearls with bright gold seed beads and caramel pearls with clear brown seed beads.  I have a few shots so you can get a good sense of it, and a close-up of the filigree box clasp.

The next is a triple-strand center with a single strand chain.  It's a design I came up with to make a triple strand necklace more manageable in terms of time and materials.  The single strand chain is a new design featuring white pearls and grey-silver core seed beads.  This is attached to a lovely silver-coloured three-to-one connector which is in turn connected to light grey, dark grey, and black lines of pearls with iris seed beads.  It's quite long and I need to get a larger bust to display it properly.

That's it for pearls.  I actually have a couple more bracelets to show you.  They are two versions of lace stitches with seed beads.

The first is done with grey silver-core seed beads and is horizontal lace.  Because of the number of beads in each loop, it ends up curling or ruffling, which I'll fess up was by accident but I thought it was pretty fun so I kept it.

The next one is more of a cuff.  It's vertical lace made with pink pearl-finish seed beads and edged with black pearl-finish or hematite-finish seed beads.  It looks really fun emerging from a long sleeve, but I think it could be pretty funky summer-wear too.

Back to necklaces.  I have another familiar design with new colours.  It's a daisy chain with bugle bead leaves in blue.  So it's a forget-me-not chain.  here it is on my new bust and then a bit more of a closeup on my old flat stand.  Like its violet sister, it's $30.

 

And the final piece I want to show you isn't new at all, but I am forever trying to get a good photo of it.  Here's my latest effort, on my new bust: Treasures of the Deep.

And that brings this really long entry to a close.  I am busily at work on new beach glass pieces for the show as well, since everything I've posted photos of before is over at the Maritime Museum.  I may or may not have time to post photos before the show on the 12th, but even if I don't get pictures up, they will be there.

New Photos of Earrings

As mentioned in my previous post, I will be at Coast Collective's Acres of Art show on Saturday, so this week I'll be posting pictures of some of the pieces I will be selling there. 

I'm going to start off with some earrings that you've seen before if you're a longtime reader.  I'm much happier with these photos though.  As always, you can click on the images to enlarge them.

First up are some of my tassel earrings.  These are made with silver-plate ear wires, bright silver-plate tulip-shaped caps, iris seed beads, silver bugle beads, and blue E-beads.  They're $20.

I have another pair of tassel earrings in cool tones.  These are made with silver-plate ear wires, dark silver coloured tulip-shaped caps, turquoise seed beads, silver bugle beads, and blue E-beads.  They're $20.

The final pair of tassel earrings I have are in gold tones.  These have gold toned ear wires, gold toned tulip-shaped caps, green seed beads, brown silver-core seed beads, and gold bugle beads.  They're $20.

Next up are a set of fun freeform coil earrings.  The first pair are done with copper wire and pale green beads with a lovely inner banded shine.  They're $20.

I have another pair made with copper wire and the same green beads, but these ones feature a scroll or spiral on the bottom.  These are $25.

I have a freeform coil pair designed to go with my harlequin necklace and bracelet designs.  They're made with silver-plated copper wire and glass pearls in white, grey, and black.  They are $20.

I also have some freeform coil earrings that use miracle beads.  Miracle beads are those really snazzy ones that have a sort of layered look as though there's an inner bead beneath a shimmery transparent outer layer (and unfortunately, photos never seem to do them justice).  This first pair is fantastic for summer, featuring silver-plated copper wire and a refreshing cool blue set of miracle beads.  These earrings are $25.

The next pair features gold-plated wire and cherry-red miracle beads.  They're $25.

These final earrings are a pair of donut wraps done on shell hoops.  They feature silver-plated copper wire, blue and purple E-beads, and some interesting pink rectangular beads.  They're $35.

And here's another picture of them because I thought that they made my glass look like an owl and that amused me.  (See, they're like the owl's big eyes?)

And I think that's enough for today.  Tomorrow I'll post pictures of some of the new necklaces and bracelets I've been working on.

Acres of Art at the Coast Collective on July 12

Hello all, exciting news today!  Next weekend, on Saturday, July 12, I will be out on the rambling grounds of the gorgeous Coast Collective property for their Acres of Art show from 12:00-5:00pm. 

The Coast Collective is out on Esquimalt Lagoon, and if you have never been there, I highly suggest you visit, even if you can't make it for this show.  They have gorgeous galleries as well as a multi-room shop selling handcrafted pieces of art in many many mediums from oil paintings to sculpture to jewellery to textiles to hand-blended loose leaf teas.

Tomorrow or Monday I will post some pictures of the pieces you can expect me to sell at the Acres of Art show.  For now, just mark it in your calendar, and if you didn't already, scroll down to check out my posts about my beach glass in the Maritime Museum of BC, and especially to view the photos of earrings I posted today.