Off With Their Heads

I can't resist these "dolls of the world." They always focus on the main stereotype we have of the country we are thinking about....blonds being Dutch or German. These were all in a bin for one Euro each in Paris. Dusty and unwanted...I turned them into a book assemblage for me.

Here are my Sunday links from the beading gang!

About.com Jewelry Making Silver Threads Web Videos - Watch Jeanne Rhodes-Moen make some gorgeous filigree jewelry.

Art Bead Scene Art Bead Scene's The Bead Biz offers up a "less is more" philosophy to selling your work.

Carmi's Art/Life Carmi's newest pendant is inspired by the forest floor.

About.com Jewelry Making Silver Threads Web Videos - Watch Jeanne Rhodes-Moen make some gorgeous filigree jewelry.

Art Bead Scene Art Bead Scene's The Bead Biz offers up a "less is more" philosophy to selling your work.

Carmi's Art/Life Carmi's newest pendant is inspired by the forest floor.

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Easy Beading volume number 5 is out this month and is as great as always--check it out on Jean's blog!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton Andrew discovers the online jewelry supply store, Auntie's Beads, and was inspired to create a summery pair of earrings.

Nature's Good Wishes

The weather has been so weird lately.

Yesterday it was sunny all afternoon. About 7pm it got suspiciously dark. I expected a heavy downpour and prepared myself for some possible thunder. Thunder means hanging out under the table in the studio with my very scared dog. No thunder was heard and just before 8pm we saw the strangest light in the back yard. It looked like there was a spotlight focused on our tree tops and there was the most amazing rainbow I have ever scene. My little camera doesn't do it justice...but I think seeing this was better than anything that was on television last night.

Faux Stained Glass

This is our kitchen sun room. We have always really liked it. It is warm and cozy.

But there was one thing we both hated.

The sheer drapes on the door.

Don't ask me why, but we lived with it for years.

That is until yesterday.

I went to the hardware store and found this cool window covering!

You apply it right to the glass with a little soapy water.

Instantly the room was the way we wanted it.

And, I can change the image anytime I like.

For now, we have these beautiful stained glass flowers to enjoy

The Forest Floor Pendant

I have a brand new pendant to show you this week. It was inspired by my trip to Alaska.

The best thing about being on vacation for me is carrying my camera with me.

I take the time to find unusual pictures. This wooden fence is a great example of a texture I love. Grey and weathered. Hard to duplicate with paint.

But the knot in the wood was a peep hole too. I tried to take a picture of the wood and the forest floor you could see through the hole...but my camera would not focus on the whole scene.

Instead I got this great shot of the wood.

And then this great shot of what you could see through the hole in the wood.

I tried more than once to get the whole image and then kept on hiking. Who can tell what you have until you load it onto a bigger screen anyway? I liked both images, but more importantly it inspired me to recreate the knot of wood and the scene through the hole when I got home.

I set out this circular wooden bead/donut and then I printed out the scene from the peep hole. I glued this paper image to the back of the bead.

Then I pulled out a few items that would help me to recreate the forest floor that the image captured. Pebbles, a bit of branch and some dried leaves. (Yup, were already in my stash.)

I glued all the embellishments into place, poured in some resin and VOILA!
My forest floor pendant.

I think it looks great on my red shirt!

Karsh Exhibit - Until June 28

"Karshed": Yousuf Karsh Selected Portraits

January 31 to June 28, 2009

McMichael Art Gallery

I have been meaning to remind you all that the Karsh exhibit is on for just another month.

Our little town of Kleinburg is such a nice place to visit...and the grounds of the gallery include a 5K walking trail. It really is a pretty spot.

I am sad to acknowledge that I will never be "Karshed."

Cafe Du Monde

This was such a surprise. My hubby received this as a gift at work.

A Cafe Du Monde coffee gift set. The graphics have changed a little, but it is not unlike the gift bags I handed out myself 7 or 8 years ago.

Cafe Du Monde is a New Orleans tradition.

During the Katrina hurricanes I realized that while I really didn't know anyone who lived in the area affected by the storm that I was very attached to New Orleans. We had a wonderful vacation in this city and it's connection to Napoleon has kept it on my "would like to go back" list.

During the Katrina aftermath I sent an email to the Cafe du Monde info site. I hoped that they were okay and that they would recover quickly. I received a very nice email back weeks later when power and Internet service was restored.

So this can of coffee and cup are special to me. It means that some things are back to normal.

It is time to make plans to return to this great city so that I can sit at the cafe downtown myself.

I will eat a plate of fabulous beignetes and enjoy this coffee in the place it tastes the best.

It Is Nice To Have Friends

A few weeks ago I blogged about the huge blank canvas in the back yard that was going to be our outdoor summer project. I finally gave up on the idea of having a wild flower garden in this space. So we are starting from scratch and plan to only plant perennials so that we will have a very pretty flowering garden and vegetable patch. Nancy read about my project and immediately emailed that she would have some plants to give me. I missed her hosta sale last year so I had been hoping that she was potting up her extra plants for sale again this spring.

Since I was travelling this month I asked if I could swing by on Monday to pick them up. I didn't want her to have to babysit the plants for a long time.

Luckily I took my van!

Look how many plants I received!!!

This is a garden in a van!

Perennials already grown in a garden and then split always do so well when you transplant them.

I can't thank her enough.

If you want to take a peak at her amazing garden I linked it here.

It is good to have friends. Especially when they are as generous as Nancy.

Back from Alaska

We are back from a holiday in Alaska.

It was an incredible opportunity to see a part of the world that was on my life "to-do" wish list.

Glacier Bay was a real highlight. Nature truly is an awe inspiring artist. The image below could never really be captured by a camera. The closer we got, the quieter it became. All I could hear was the sound of tiny waves and the occasional crash as some ice fell into the water. I am really counting my blessings this morning.

The Future Look Good

I am going to take a week off blogging.

I hope everyone is enjoying the Canadian long weekend.

I'll be back next Sunday!

I'll leave you with these great links though!

About.com Jewelry Making Jewelry and taxes, ick! But maybe these tips will help you navigate through this beader's nightmare.

Art Bead Scene We all need a little bit more organization. Here's a nifty organizer for your tools.

Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts Barbe talks about her love of Egyptian Jewelry.

Bead & Button Magazine Lesley shares tips on getting organized from her and the staff.

Carmi's Art/Life World Carmi prints her favorite images onto cotton to create a new fiber necklace.

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Melanie ponders the beauty and symbolism of butterflies and lets herself fly free with a new pendant.

Jennifer Jangles Blog Katie Hacker designed a fabulous necklace using some of Jennifer's pinwheel beads.

Jewelry & Beading We've been concentrating on organic materials for jewelry making this month, and Cyndi has rounded up a few of her projects that fall into that category!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Come read Jean's review of this super new book by Kim Gover: Designing Jewelry with semiprecious beads!

Strands of Beads Melissa discusses shopping opportunities for unusual stone-wrapped chain.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton Finding inspiration in an unlikely place, Andrew creates a necklace based on a Jell-o dessert.

Embellishment

How I love this simple but stunning bead work!

I took this picture in NY and just rediscovered it while deleting files from my computer.

Clearly it was something I meant to remember and try to do on my own once I got home.

Another summer project when there is a moment.

Inspired Idea

The Purl fabric store in New York has the cutest little store front. I have been on their web site many times and somehow this little store seemed to represent them perfectly.

Unfortunately or fortunately if I think of my wallet....the store was closed when I was in the neighbourhood.

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I absolutely loved how they displayed samples of their fabric. It inspired me immediately. I want to recreate this in my studio this summer. This way I will always have a sample of my favorite fabrics.

The Bird Housing Crisis

There was a crazy windstorm in my neck of the woods yesterday.

The kind of wind that whips everything around.

After dinner I found this little nest just sitting in the middle of the backyard.

It looks absolutely new. I have found old "lived in" nests before. This one is soft and all the straw is fresh.

It really is amazing to see a nest up close. The birds know that they are weaving walls.

Somewhere out there is a pretty mad bird. He's going to have to start from scratch to build a nest or maybe he'll move his family into a old one.

5 Minute Projects - Cell Phone Dangle Necklace

From a distance all you see are the colourful beads.

Perfect for summer t-shirts.

I was in a store last week that sells inexpensive items from Japan when my eyes rested on these cell phone dangles. The reminded me of tiny Russian nesting dolls. I loved the little flowers on the doll bodies. They look hand painted. So they were cute, cheap and available in a half dozen colours.

I thought I was making a necklace for a child....but in the end I could not resist keeping it after seeing how pretty the necklace looked on a crisp white shirt. I congratulated myself on resisting the urge to add more beads and baubles. (Well I did, but it looked awful...)

Giant Blank Canvas

There is only one blank canvas that makes me pause. It is always garden related. This is my 2009 summer project.

I have tried for years to turn this space into a wild flower garden. Usually it just looked like weed heaven. Millions and perhaps even billions of wild flower seeds never produced the effect I was hoping for. So the space is all dug up. We still have some rototilling to do and then the soil needs some help before I can start planting anything. This time I am going to only put in groups of perennials on the large half and my hubby is responsible for a vegetable patch on the other side. I also plan to make my own path pouring some cement and embedding tile etc. This will be fun! But I'll be busy outdoors like a lot of you gardeners so there may not be as many art posts for the next few weeks.

Here is my salute to perseverance.

Asparagus.

When we moved here almost ten years ago the owners were happy for us but sad for themselves because they had planted asparagus in the vegetable patch but never got to eat any. I think they take 2-3 years to actually become asparagus.

I can't stand the vegetable.

We have rototilled and turned over this bed many times...and yet here is the asparagus again. I don't think it will look nice next to a hosta plant...but what can you do? It wants to live.

I looked out yesterday and thought my Mom would have gone out and then made herself a nice lunch.

Keeping My Eyes Open

I am in classic spring mode.
So many projects to keep my eyes on.
I have some help this week so would you believe we worked on my curtains for the Christmas One of A Kind? An all day project finally checked off my "to-do" list!

Inspiration

There is a company in the United Kingdom that I discovered while in Paris. Thay are called "Monsoon Accessorize" They have the most beautiful brochure which I picked up in the jewelery section of one of the main department stores. I loved their colours for 2009 and because I had already bought so much jewelery decided I better just take the brochure and then maybe make a purchase online later on.

Unfortunately, they do not ship internationally.
Maybe that is a good thing. I am sure I would have these two items in my cart already.
Their descriptions are what I really enjoy reading. These pieces are called "statement jewelery" and I think they really would stop traffic.

So here is a link for you to go to if you need a little inspiration today:
Monsoon Accessorize

And here are a few other links you might enjoy from the bead bloggers.

About.com Jewelry Making
Hook up with a cute little fiber flower charm and necklace project! Combine your crochet and jewelry making skills.

Art Bead Scene
Hello Spring! Goodbye self-control!

Art jewelry magazine
It's video madness at Art Jewelry and Addie gives you a peek behind-the-scenes.

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi sews crocheted flowered into a soft new collar.

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
A special event inspired a special neclace, which now appears in a special issue of a bead magazine!

Jewelry & Beading
Combine wirework with seed beads for a one-of-a-kind necklace!

Katie's Beading Blog
Try your hand at tubular peyote stitch with Katie's free beading pattern, Delicious Donut Lariat.

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Like Art Nouveau? See this lovely book by Judith Durant and Jean Campbell who explore great works from that period in jewelry projects!

Strands of Beads
Melissa shows off a few beautiful fossilized coral beads.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Andrew shares the new additions to his bead stash.

Magnolia Tree Nearing The End of It's Glory

It was a strange day in my part of the world. 20 minutes away there was a hail storm and people were showing off their golf ball sized ice pellets. Its so tempting to start planting flowers early in Ontario...but really, you have to wait until after the Victoria Day weekend. We had a down pour that was incredible accompanied by some thunder and lightening. I was a little worried about the magnolia tree. I am just getting to day 10 and hope for a few more portraits....but the wind sure did some damage today. The sky was dark grey at 1:30pm when I took this video and today's picture posted at the side of my blog. So many magnolia petals are scattered in the grass now.

Things I Only Seem To Do In Paris

I never think to take my camera downtown to take pictures of windows. Yet in Paris I snap all day long. This is a good example since I am reflected in the window. I knew when I took the picture that it would not be a great photo. I can't control the sun of the in store lighting...but I knew that the simplicity of the birds painted on the glass would be something I would like to remember. It sparks many great ideas in me right now.

Crocheted Flower Collar Scarf

I know I know.
This floral collar is over the top. It started out as a bag of crocheted flowers.

I am not sure when I got this idea for a floral scarf/collar. All I can recall is buying a scarf a few years ago...because of these crocheted flowers. I cut the flowers out and have kept them in a plastic bag ever since. My original idea was to felt the flowers. I experimented with one using my felting needles and it worked...but the end result was too thick for what I had planned.

Funny that the flowers on their own have become a mini scarf. I sewed the edges together by hand to create this mini length of wool.

A quick look through my button bin resulted in me using these two buttons to complete the collar. It is very soft...and very warm. I have a trip to a cooler destination coming up...so I'll still get a chance to wear this collar this spring.

Major Project - Part Two

Almost Full!

Major Project

Clean, reline and load up my jewelry display cabinet.....

I have to stop pushing the button that makes the trays go around and around.

Shiny Things

It is hard to photography shiny things.
It is even harder when you are taking a picture through glass on a sunny day.
This store in Paris had a wonderful window. I loved this display head.
At first I zoomed in to photograph the head....and then I realized that it was showcasing a necklace.
Hmmmm.
I wonder how expensive that necklace is?
So in I went.

The head quickly lost it's crown.
The necklace was so inexpensive that I argued a little with the sales girl.
I was convinced that the price was wrong and that she would get in trouble for selling it to me. But she insisted.

I have the necklace at home now.
It is still hard to photograph!
The metal is very heavy and the glass you see is deep purple.
I need to find some place special to go so I can where this!

The Collection Is The Art

I am still unpacking all the little things I bought in Paris.

I like to keep the collections together for a few weeks.

Collecting is an art form.

This set of plastic ballerinas and beads comes from the oldest bead vendor in the big antique market. I usually spend a lot in this booth...but it is pricey. You get a little cup and it costs $16 Euros no matter what you put in the cup. You should see how crafty everyone is filling their cups to the brim. My ballerina legs were sticking out of the cup...but I thought that was very fair. Last year I filled 4 or 5 cups....but since I didn't use those items I limited myself this year.

These little items are also from a market. They were in a dusty old box and the vendor threw in the gold pin. I am itching to use them...but for now I will just admire them in this little grouping.

My Silhouette!

This is me.
Well me on a casual day.

There was a time in my life when I would not be caught dead in my glasses.

Oh, and my hair is long. For photo opportunities I normally have it loose and styled.

But 9 3/4 days out of 10...this is me. Glasses and hair up in a bun.

So I thought it would be fun to see what a silhouette artist would see.

Every time I go to Paris I make a little list of things I want to do or see. Last year I kicked myself when I didn't have a silhouette cut in Montmartre. Montmartre is sort of a tourist district. If you can walk by all the people trying to sketch you at the main entrance...you enter this wonderful central square where there are many many talented artists to see and shop with.

This gentleman asked very quietly if I wanted my silhouette cut. I instantly liked him and said Yes. I really didn't know what to expect. He stood by my side and for the next ten minutes all I could hear was "snipsnipsnipsnip....." It was the strangest feeling because the scissors seemed so close to my ear. He really did capture me. Even the little wisps of hair that result when there is humidity in the air. I am going to use this image as my face-book picture and maybe as my profile picture on blogger too!

Here are some interesting links for this week. Happy Sunday!

About.com Jewelry Making Tammy has some knotting jewelry tutorials for you, as in making jewelry with fiber. It's an often inexpensive media that can add a unique twist to your jewelry designs.

Art Bead Scene Wings are the backdrop for a visual treatise on creativity.

Carmi's Art/Life World Carmi turns a dried crab apple into something wearable.

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Melanie shares her thoughts on ethics in art and an example on how she used inspiration from another artist's work in her own work, finding her own expression with the idea without copying.

Jewelry & Beading Use antique optical lenses to make wonderful mixed media jewelry!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Kim Miles is on the road and she is giving away beads as she blogs! Check it out!

Coffee

I would like to sit outside and have a few of these delivered.

My magnolia tree is about to burst into floral flames. I usually have a 12 hour window to photograph the flowers. I am watching it for the perfect moment!

(Coffee served in Bruge, Belgium)

Bright Colours on A Grey Morning

I really wish this was my work.

Even better, I really wish this was a room in my house.

I think this idea for magazine and book pages as wall paper is brilliant. The hot pink cupboard is pretty spectacular too.

Perhaps one day I will do something similar.

I wanted to post something light and bright today because I am writing this on a grey drizzly morning.

I found this image on the cover of Marie Claire Idees magazine. I manage to pick up two issues last week in Paris. I have not found this import magazine it in Chapters in a long time. Buying it local sure cuts the price...but I had to fly overseas to get it. Every page in this magazine does give me an idea.

Check out these HUGE YO YOS!

You know I love yo yos. This is such a great idea for using up lots of old fabrics to make a show stopper comforter. This is definitely on my "to-do" list!

I always purchase a piece of resin jewelry from a certain artist in Paris. This year the pieces were not to be found in the two stores that usually carried her wares. So I was a little disappointed. But on the last night we went on a walk after dinner and spotted a shop with late night hours. I found this necklace. The only one of it's kind in the store.

Another bright spot in my day today.