Taking Flight

I live on the side of a hill, across from a small lake. It's a beautiful view and as fall as comes to Northern Ontario I've been watching the birds leave for the winter. Except the chickadees, of course, who spend their days eating the remainders of my sunflowers.

I think that is where my recent obsession with wings is coming from. I don't like winter. I don't enjoy the snow, the cold, the ice. I want to fly away from here. Somewhere warm would be perfect.

Each morning at dawn I wait for the bus to take me to the dreaded day job and I can hear the geese on the water. One morning as the sun was rising, I could feel the goddess Eos touching the earth with her rosy fingers. I imagined this necklace and had to create it:

EAST Strikes Again.

Announcing the winners of the Earthpath Artisans Autumn design challenge:

Click me!

Congrats to the winners.

Something Witty This Way Comes

Let's talk something besides design. Let's talk TV, my companion while I sit on my couch at night constructing wearable art.

This year my love belongs to Pushing Daisies. This is by far the best show I've seen in a long time.

Ned the piemaker, who restores life with a single touch, with unfortunate cosmic implications. Chuck, his resurrected childhood sweetheart. Emerson, the caustic knitting PI. Olive, the hopeless devoted waitress. All held together by the unmistakable voice of Jim Dale.

It's unique, funny, slightly macabre. Everything I look for in a companion.

Watch. Become hopelessly devoted.

In the Spotlight

That's right. Today I was the Crafts Spotlight on Talent Database. How exciting is that? My first press, preserved forever with a screenshot.

(runs around gleefully)

I just really had to share that. And now I must go and wrap a pair of earrings for shipping.

Stardust

I recently became a Neil Gaiman fan after reading "American Gods". (I suspect that book may be where the idea for my bracelets came from.) And I loved the movie Stardust so much I needed my own star.

So I bought this bag of assorted charms on eBay. Rather disappointed with what I received to be honest (nothing like the picture in the listing). But in the bag was a singular vintage silver star.

And the Stardust necklace was born:

EAST

I haven't really been on Etsy long, only a few months but I love it. I have to profess my deep admiration and respect for the Etsy community and especially for EAST, the Earthpath Artisans Street Team.

For those who aren't familiar with Etsy, a street team is a group of like-minded members who choose to get together, based on either location, or interest, to network and promote each other.

That really doesn't describe everything we are as a team though. EAST's membership is primarily made up of earth-based religions which means alot of our work is goddess and nature centered.

But even more important is the friendship, support and camaraderie. Every day there is a new thread and about 20 of us get together to post. Together we celebrate every sale with cheers because if one of us is successful then we all are. We have hugs for each other and positive feedback and constructive critism. And tons of ideas.

So check out my EAST sisters: a group of incredibly talented, generous and beautiful artisans.