Red at the Coast Collective

Hello everyone!  I am pleased to announce that I will have four pieces in this year's Red show at the Coast Collective!  They even chose a picture of my earrings for the show's poster, which is absolutely thrilling!

The show runs until February 26 during the Coast Collective's regular Wed-Sun operating hours and features work by a large number of artists in a whole variety of mediums.  It's a great place to buy unique locally handcrafted gifts for your sweethearts for Valentine's Day.  Or to pick up something for yourself if, like me, red is one of your favourite colours.

I have four pieces in the show, which they've displayed beautifully.  I'll be posting pictures from the opening on my instagram (@whisperedreams) if you want to check those out, but for now, here are the pictures of my pieces which I submitted for jurying purposes.

First, the earrings as seen in the poster:

They're made with tarnish-resistant brass wire and cherry-red miracle beads.

Next up is another pair of earrings.  I'm really excited about these because they're the first finished piece I've made with a new tool, a jig.  It lets me make a greater variety of wire forms than I could with just pliers and pens or dowels.  They're a flirtatious and romantic pair of chandelier earrings:

They're made from tarnish-resistant brass wire, glass bead drops, and Swarovski crystal bicones.  I look forward to making all sorts of snazzy things on my new jig in the future, so keep your eyes peeled!

I also included a necklace and bracelet of the beaded pearl variety, in my hematite-black seed bead and burgundy glass pearl colour scheme:

The bracelet for the show is actually a little different than the one pictured here, because I decided to make one with a heart-shaped clasp.  With the hearts, I call this design Dark Romance.

I hope you can make it out to the show to see my pieces in person, as they really are lit beautifully.  The rest of the show is gorgeous as well, with a whole variety of mediums represented.

Next post should feature a bunch of bright colours as I get ready for spring.  I already have some beautiful violet miracle bead freeform coil earrings I need to photograph in some nice sunshine, and hopefully I'll manage to put together some items in a floral theme.  Follow me on instagram for more frequent updates!

It's finally here!

I am absolutely thrilled to finally be able to announce the launch of my new website at www.whisperedreams.com!  I've worked really hard on it, and I hope you will find it just as beautiful a showcase of my work as I do.

To celebrate the launch of my new website, and to help you out with your Christmas shopping season, I'm doing a celebration event in my Etsy shop!  I'll be posting 10 items over the next 10 days, and the whole store is 10% off!  To take advantage of this celebration event, simply enter the coupon code WEBB10 on your selected items and receive 10% off of your purchase.  If you want your items to arrive in time for Christmas, please buy them soon.

The first item for my 10 day event is this lovely sea glass pendant!  It's $25 (but you can get it for 10% off with WEBB10!) and features tarnish-resistant brass wire over white Vancouver Island sea glass and a cute sea shell charm:

My shop also has a few other pieces available, also for 10% off, of course.

A seed bead and glass pearl necklace for an original price $39:

A seed bead and glass pearl bracelet for and original price of $20

Some beautiful donut wrap earrings featuring tarnish-resistant silver-plated copper wire, Swarovski crystal bicones, freshwater pearls, and shell donuts for an original price of $39

A lovely deep green sea glass pendant wrapped in tarnish-resistant silver-plated copper wire for an original price of $20

And a warm and earthy necklace in rich brown seed beads and caramel glass pearls for an original price of $39

As I said earlier, these are all 10% off with the coupon code WEBB10, and I will be posting 9 more items over the next 9 days, (for a total of 10 over 10) so check back frequently for new pieces!

I'll try to keep you posted here, but the first place to check will be the Etsy shop.  You can also follow me as whisperedreams on instagram or facebook.  The links are all at my new website of www.whisperedreams.com along with many more pictures of my work, info about events and venues, a new artist's bio, FAQ, and much more, so please check it out.

As a result, this blog will soon start behaving less as an informational hub (my website will be the core of that) and more as a place where I post progress and design thoughts, as well as info about events.  So you can look forward to more informal insights into my process.

I hope you're all as excited about this as I am! 

Small Treasures 2016

Hello Everyone!  I'm excited to tell you that one of my necklaces was accepted into the Small Treasures show at the Coast Collective.  The opening reception is tonight, November 4th, from 7-9pm, and I will be in attendance.  If you cannot make it tonight though, the show runs until November 20th.

The piece I have in the show is my lovely sea glass pendant on a braided beaded chain:

As stated in a previous post, this piece features a silver-plated copper wire wrapped piece of Vancouver Island sea glass with a large starfish charm hanging on a braided, four-strand chain of seed beads and freshwater pearls.

It closes with a lobster claw clasp paired with an extender chain to make the length adjustable to suit various necklines.  I'll be selling it at the show for $99.

Small treasures is, in the words of the Coast Collective, a "Gallery exhibition of smaller works of fine art perfect for gifting."  The opening reception is tonight from 7-9pm at the Coast Collective's Wale Road location.

The Small Treasures show runs from November 2 until November 20th during the Coast Collective's normal operating hours.  While I only have the one piece in the show, I have recently restocked my gift shop inventory at the same location, so you can look for me there as well.

I hope you can make it out and enjoy all of the beautiful artwork on display!

New Pieces and Big News

Hello Everyone!

I have some new pieces for your perusal and a big announcement, which I may as well get out of the way before we get to the pretty pictures.

The announcement is that I will soon be launching a genuine website for WhispereDreams Jewellery.  There you can view a large gallery of my work sorted into useful categories instead of scrolling through archives of blog or clicking on the label tag cloud on the side here.  I'll also have info and links on shows and venues, although I will of course still post about those here.  I've also launched a facebook page for my business, which I will endeavor to keep updated with new pieces on a regular basis.

I'll post again once the website goes live.

In the meantime, here are some pictures of pieces I've been working on lately.

The first is a new sea glass pendant on a braided chain made from seed beads and genuine freshwater pearls.  I love the challenge of wrapping all the different shapes and sizes of sea glass I find, but it does make me miss working with colours, so I plan on making quite a few chains like this.

 This one blends iris seed beads with silver-core icy blue and silver-core clear seed beads for a cool and liquidy blend that matches nicely with the silver-plated copper wire, the silvery starfish charm, and the white sea glass.  The dark freshwater pearls add a nice contrast.

I've finished it off with an extender chain to make the length adjustable.

I also have a few new pendants without chains.  The first two are silver-plated copper wire on white sea glass:

The next is made from gunmetal brass wire over white sea glass:

And the final piece is copper wire on white sea glass:

I'll post again soon, once my website launches, and also to announce my fall/winter show schedule.

New Pieces at Fort Rodd Hill

It's been a busy and delightful summer.  I've met so many interesting people from all over the world out at Fort Rodd Hill, and I look forward to meeting more. 

I promised I would tell you my schedule, and I have been somewhat remiss, but here are some of my upcoming shifts.  Hope to see you there!  (If you do come visit me, let me know you've seen my blog.  I have no idea if anyone but my mother reads this, haha.)

Coast Collective: August 16
Fort Rodd Hill: August 19 & 28, September 12

I've also made several new pieces for people to check out.  Here are some pictures.

The first is made with a lovely piece of deep green sea glass, and features an elegant wrap of graceful lines and smooth spirals in silver-plated copper.  I know this glass is from the ocean, but this one makes me think of mirror-smooth lakes surrounded by tall trees.

The next is already sold, sadly, because it's one of my new favourites and if it hadn't sold this summer I would have definitely kept it for myself, haha.  It's a large white pendant with silver-plated copper wire in pairs of wiggly lines that echo its wiggly outline and the faint swirls you can see in the glass.

I also did another gunmetal on white piece.  This one is all irregular shapes and was really fun to wrap.

I also did a few new pieces with charms.

The first up features a leaping dolphin over the deep green waters of the pacific, with silver-plated copper wire.

The next is a wiggly freeform wrap of silver-plated copper wire on white sea glass, and features a large starfish charm.  It's also already been sold, sorry.

I've been lucky enough to find more coloured sea glass lately, so here is another piece htat features it.  This one is a rich dark brown colour, a bit pitted, so I wrapped it with silver-plated copper wire in ripples to mimic wavelets ruffling sand, and put a large sand dollar charm on it.

The final silver-plated copper piece features a lovely violet freshwater pearl.

I also did a new piece with brass wire and a light rose freshwater pearl.  The simple lines gently frame the pearl dangle.

I thought this pendant might go nicely with the new pair of earrings I did.  These also feature brass wire and pale rose freshwater pearls, but I added golden Swarovski crystal bicones, which gives them a really elegant touch.

I actually can't take full credit.  One of the artists in residence suggested the golden crystals.  (The artists in residence are really great.  There's one up there each week, and they often do workshops and are always happy to tell you about their medium and style.  It's been really wonderful getting to talk to the ones I've seen during my shifts in the gift shop.)

Here's another picture on a white background so you can see the effect of the colours.

And in case anyone is curious, I've been working on some beading projects lately too.  A few people have commented lately that my pearl necklaces with the white and silver look somewhat bridal, so I thought I'd extend my line of bridal options in those.

Here's the first, which is made with white glass pearls and iris seed beads for a really airy and lacy look.  I don't currently have this on sale anywhere, so just send me a message if you're interested.

And here it is tumbled on glass.

That's it for now, but hopefully I'll have some new pictures ready soon.  I have some exciting earring ideas I'm working on.

Long Time! Some Commissions Unveiled

Hello faithful readers and new visitors!  It's been a long time since I posted last. 

The Christmas season with Gifts for Myself and Others and the Gifts and Wishes show at the Coast Collective was a delightful whirl of activity, and the winter months thereafter were a quiet time to review my inventory and begin work on new projects.

I'm working on building an exciting exciting light box before I photograph any of my new projects, so those will be posted some time in the weeks to come.  For now though, I'd like to share with you some photos of commissioned work, now that it has been safely gifted.

First up is a necklace I was commissioned to make using a wolf's tooth.  My client had found a lovely freshwater pearl and shell necklace she wanted it attached to, and she wanted me to echo the spiral/helix in the shell in my wire wrap.  She also wanted me to incorporate a second freshwater pearl and to work with sterling silver wire, which was a somewhat challenging experience as the sterling wire behaves quite differently from the silver-plated copper I am used to working with.  In the end, I managed to find a pearl that echoed the one in the necklace quite nicely, and to come up with a design the customer was happy with.

Here's a picture of the full necklace:

Attaching the pearl and wolf tooth pendant to the original necklace proved a bit challenging, but I was able to wrap silver wire around the two loops at the top of the shell, and add a bit of the more organic twisted metal to the sides there to help unify the design between the smooth setting of the top part and the wrapped wire of the bottom.  Here's a side view:

Another commission I worked on was for a set of wine glass personalizers.  I sent out the the prototypes for different ways of attaching them to wine glasses, and my customer told me she liked the clip on style rather than the spiral style.  I doubled up the wire to add to the strength and durability and made a set of clips.  So then the task was to figure out how to make a set of 6 memorable "tags".  I opted for a set of visual puns using double charms.  The double charms worked out really well as the weight pulls the open end of the clip down away from the stem so it's even less likely to fall off. 

But "What are these visual puns?" you ask.  Without further ado, I introduce you to...

A starfish:

A goldfish:

A catfish:

A bluebird:

A blackbird:

And a bullfrog:

(Studies have shown that we remember funny things better than bland facts like "mine is the green one" and puns are totally funny, right?)

The final commission I have to show you is more in my usual vein.  I had an Etsy customer request a sea glass pendant with a dolphin charm.  Voila!  (Now it's in Australia. How cool is that?)

And that is it for this post.  Hopefully I will have assembled my light box soon and will have exciting new pictures of new pieces for you to admire.  Until then, keep an eye out, because spring as arrived and I may have news about shows and markets coming up.

Gifts and Wishes at the Coast Collective

Hello everyone!  As promised, I have info about my second Christmas show of the year.  It's out at the Coast Collective, where I also did a couple summer shows and have items in the gift shop.  Unlike the summer shows, Gifts and Wishes is a multi-week show in the main gallery.  It runs from November 26 to December 21st, with the grand opening tomorrow (Saturday the 29th). 

I'll be popping in briefly for the grand opening, and I will be there from noon until 5:00 on Sunday November 30th if you want to chat with me personally, but my pieces will be there for the whole show.  There's also free tea and cookies, with all sorts of extra special goodies for the opening, so you should check that out.  (I will be bringing two types of home-baked cookies over the two days.)

I have a bunch of my sea glass in the show (pendants and earrings) and some of my beaded pearl necklaces and bracelets.  I also have a bunch of the freeform coil earrings I made for this holiday season (though they are beautiful to wear all year long).  I think these earrings go really nicely with the beaded pearl jewellery I make.

The first are made with silver-plated copper wire and white glass pearls.  They are cool and classic with a modern twist.  $20

 The next also use silver-plated copper wire, but they feature glass pearls in white, pale grey, and dark grey for an ombre effect.  They would go very nicely with my harlequin pearl necklace and bracelet combo (necklace now on etsy).  Earrings are $20.

For people who are more keen on gold tones than silver, I also have some freeform coil earrings made with non-tarnish brass wire and glass pearls.  This pair with the classic combination of gold and white pearls is classy, timeless, and sophisticated.  $20

I also have a pair with brass wire and white and caramel glass pearls for a bit of added flair.  The combination is honey-warm and glamorous. $20

And for anyone who would like a bit of colour instead of neutral metal tones, I have a pair made with silver-plated copper wire and icy blue miracle beads.  These beads are hard to capture in photos -- they seem to have an aura around an interior bead, or the shadow of a second bead inside the first.  The earrings are lovely and cool and catch the light beautifully.  $20

For anyone who can't make it out to the Coast Collective but who would like some earrings like these, I have the supplies to make up more pairs like them (except for the ones with miracle beads -- I'd have to go shopping for more beads like that) and post them on my Etsy.  Just send me an email or a comment and I can make them for you.  (Or in any other colour combo you'd care to dream up.)

I also have a pair of donut wrap earrings out at the Coast Collective show.  You've seen them before, but I have a new photo, so here it is.  These are $35.

I made a new donut wrap pendant as well.  This one is fun because instead of doing the wrap and bail separately, I worked them into one asymmetrical design.  It features brass wire on a pale green stone, with E-beads, Swarovski crystal bicones (turquoise and violet), and glass bicones (orange).  This pendant is $35.

 

 

Hope to see some of you at the show!