Let there be light!

I must wax poetic about my new light box and photo-editing software. First of all, get ye forth and download XnView. It is dreamy, easy to use and (my favorite) free! And oh my. My pictures look so professional now. (The light adjustment was done automatically and when I saw the difference, I squeed.)

My new peacock jewelled collar, Hera, looks so beautiful. Not as good as in person but still lovely and the pictures are so clear and perfectly lit.

Before and after:

Warm Up for the Holidays.

It's snowing here already. I'm not a fan. But that does mean the holiday season is coming.

With that in mind I've decided to have a sale in my shop. Until November 30th, take 10% off all necklaces (even the beautiful Juliet) and 15% off all bracelets. Just wait for the revised PayPal invoice.

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: