Tag: annapolis valley

Baby it’s (getting) Cold Outside

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Latest Creative Projects

Autumn is in full swing here in the Annapolis Valley which means change-of-season chores before the snow flies, and I’m in denial that it’s November! How can Christmas be next month? Weren’t we just swimming in the pool and picking veggies in the garden?

I know a lot of people like this time of year, but I feel sad that summer is over. Shorter, colder days are ahead. Plus, I find the adjustment to less natural vitamin D a struggle.

Handmade Birthday Cards

We’ve had 2 birthdays go by and I forgot to share the handmade elements from each. I figured I’d at least share the cards I made. I customarily do that on Instagram, but I’ve been enjoying my time off social media. More time to create & connect to people in real life, and less negativity and drama!

This is the card I made for my youngest’s birthday. She loves cats and it seems every birthday has a cat theme. I used a stencil to lay color with a sponge ink tool (I love Ranger Distress Ink). Then I added flower decals and sticky rhinestones to add some 3-dimensional texture. The little cat holding the “Happy Purrthday” sign was stamped, then colored in with watercolor pencils. I also made him a little party hat, and I think the different sized googly eyes really make the image.

I wasn’t happy with how this card turned out. I’ll admit I left it too late and was rushing, but I knew my youngest would love it, just the same.
I was much happier with how this card turned out, for my oldest who is into sloths. These sloth images are from 3 different stamp sets. I love how they are just hangin’ out on the front of the card. I colored them with watercolor pencils, and a stencil formed the white leaf pattern in the negative space. The sayings “Hang in There”, “You’re my favorite to hang with” and “take it sloth” round out the card beautifully on a brown paper background. The textured green leaves and white/pink flower were cut out using a die cutter

What’s New on the Home Front

I pulled these carrots out of my garden this week, now that we officially have frost. I love that it’s November and my garden is still giving! I hope to expand on the gardening next season. The kiddos helped me get the garlic cloves in the ground last week. Hubs expanded the garden plot for me, hopefully we’ll have double the garlic next year.
We had a couple of nights with light frost so I had my kiddos pick the garden huckleberry. They are the perfect dark purple color, and it’s my first time growing them. I hear that when cooked they taste like blackberries. High in antioxidants, I can’t wait to make a sauce out of them. I
We are learning first aid, and it seems the cats want in on the action too! Do you think we could teach Osuna how to do 30 compressions, followed by 2 breaths? He looks ready to learn! This is more of a refresher for me. I have taken first aid before, but many things have changed so it’s nice to get caught up.

Here’s the latest new products

I’m trying to clear up the back log of products, but it’s slow going. Currently there is 13 new skeins or yarn sets to get listed, and numerous pieces of jewelry. I’ve decided to put spinning on hold until I sell more skeins and use the time to get back into knitting and crocheting again. Maybe this year, I’ll get more Christmas projects made!

OM (Aum) Pendant necklace
This is a revamp of the original design. Instead of having the stone hang from the side I’ve decided to freshen the look by attaching the gemstone bead directly above the culinary grade pewter pendant. Choice of smokey quartz, amethyst or moonstone faceted gemstone. The necklaces come in either silver or gold, and you have a choice of length of sterling silver or gold-filled chain.
  • boxing glove necklace with choice of motivational word
Sterling Silver Boxing Glove Necklace

This is a revamp of the “Survivor” awareness ribbon and boxing glove necklace. I am officially out of the ribbon charms, and won’t be stocking them. So I decided to re-work this piece to spotlight mental health, though I think the words could be meaningful for many reasons to the owner.

These are trying times, and this customizable necklace comes with choice of inspirational word charm (Live, Power, Honor, Health), and letter charm, that I will engrave at time of order.

Funny story, the day I took the photos for this piece, I could not get a great shot. I was perplexed, as it was shot under the same lighting conditions as any other piece of jewelry. All photos looked far away, with not the greatest detail. So after editing and putting up the listing, it dawned on me: the macro lens was not on my camera!

When I take photos of my yarn I use a regular lens, because macro tends to show too much detail and it doesn’t fairly represent the yarn. But macro is an absolute must for jewelry shots, to get nice close ups and show greater detail. It’s certainly not perfect. I’m an amateur so my photos aren’t the greatest, but I think they are adequate and showcase the pieces with the vibe I want. I may retake these photos, but for now, onwards…

  • sterling silver engraved butterfly symbol necklace with letter charm
  • engraved butterfly charm with letter charm and choice of pearl
Sterling Silver Manually Engraved Butterfly Necklace with choice of Pearl

I have offered this necklace with just the silver charm and back engraving for a few years now, and it was…well, boring me. To freshen it up I decided to nix the back engraving and pair it with a letter charm in my fave font, Curlz (engraved for you at time of order). I also decided to ditch the Swarovski crystal accent. While it was pretty and blingy, I felt that something more natural matched the vibe of the piece better. There is a choice of 4 colored pearls: white, peach, grey and dark iris. I also engrave the butterfly charm by way of template.

  • engraved lotus charm with letter charm and choice of pearl
Manually Engraved Sterling Silver Lotus Necklace with choice of Pearl

Much like the engraved butterfly necklace, I decided to refresh the lotus necklace in the same manner. I manually engrave the lotus flower symbol on a sterling silver blank, that I then hand punch into a charm. Instead of back engraving I’ve paired it with a Curlz font letter charm. I chose 4 freshwater pearls that I thought best represented the lotus: choice of white, pink, magenta purple or pale blue iris.

I’m off to work on my current sweater and try out some new dish cloth patterns. My hubs mostly does the dishes (lucky me) and he prefers my handmade ones over the store bought ones.

Until next time…

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Maker, Mom, Empath.
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Knitting Handspun by the Fire…

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P1010595

I’ve been going at a pretty steady pace lately.  Jewelry making/orders, pricing my handspun yarn, working on packaging for yarn & stitch markers…oh yeah and running my busy household on top of it all. It’s no surprise it all came to a slamming halt as soon as we arrived at our Nova Scotia residence.

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I’m trying to work. Reeeeeally I am. But there is just something about the atmosphere of the Annapolis Valley – I grew up here so I know it all too well. It’s not that I’m not motivated, it’s just the pace is slower, and I came to realize just how tired my brain really is. So I’m curled up by the fire, knitting my handspun. This is a mohair/wool blend, and I’m loving the feel/texture. Officially hooked! Must put mohair at the top of my shopping list for the Rhinebeck wool show next month…now if you’ll excuse me… 🙂

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Jewelry Inspired: What Summer Means to Me

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Butterfly

Artbeads offered us bloggers a chance to try out some supplies* & design a summer theme. My first instinct is to gravitate toward blues, yellows, pinks, white: bright colours & pastels. Then I stopped myself. That is my assumption of summertime jewelry. But what does summer mean to me?

I grew up in Nova Scotia, so the ocean was never far away. But I grew up in the Annapolis Valley – so the ocean was not the prominent landscape. Now that I live in Québec, I live near a lake. So there is indeed water, but like the muddy banks of the Bay of Fundy, it is not the crystal clear blue/green water you will see in the Caribbean. It has more of an earthy quality.

Thinking of where I spend most of my time in the summer months, I like to be outside in my garden: either working with the dirt or relaxing in the shade when it’s too hot. I like to observe the plant life and insects as they exist in harmony with one another.

In the summer, you will see me in a lot of khakis, earth-toned capris & shorts: tank tops – very simple & casual. If I go out to an event, chances are you will see me in a simple black dress and black thong sandals. So it occurred to me – what summer means to me: spending time connecting with the earth & casual socializing.

After this contemplation, I decided to choose two pendants from Artbeads that I thought most represented me in the summer months.

This 18x25mm onyx pendant is hand painted with a butterfly by a Russian artist. Butterflies are very symbolic for me: they represent beauty in nature, as well as transformation – something I strive to do many times in my life. This pendant would be perfect in a casual outfit or little black dress.

As mentioned in my last post, I had a hard time choosing colours for this piece. I just have too many hues of yellow & orange in my vast stash of beads! I ended up going with just a splash of colour with these 4mm jade beads. Too much colour with the black onyx and it would look too halloween-ish or bumble bee-ish! Plus I wanted the beauty of the pendant to take center stage & not get lost in a sea of bright colour. So I used mostly onyx beads (6mm and 4mm), sterling silver chain & bead caps.

When I approached the design for the second pendant, I didn’t have to look far for the perfect matching component. Something about this stoneware pendant reminded me of a particular bead. Was it wood? No. It would have to be a stone, with many different colour layers. Then it hit me: Moukite!

Moukite (or mookaite, “mook jasper”) is a type of jasper found in Australia. I love this stone for it earthy colours & broad patterns – anywhere from reddish-brown, gold, white, or even mauve/pinks! It was the perfect compliment to this pendant, which is made of glazed stoneware clay.

The pendant easily accommodates the 10mm beads. I decided to break up the bulk of the beads & add interest with these 8mm sterling silver twisted rope jump rings, mainly because they reminded me of the pattern of the white flower in the pendant.

I thought I’d share a tip: I wanted the rings to lay flat on the neckline. In order to achieve this, I had to pay close attention to the pattern. I noticed that I had to twist the loop wraps around the single beads (the group of three beads have their loops facing the same direction). I had to make sure that the wrapped loops on the single beads were alternating: meaning, instead of them facing the same direction , I needed to have one facing outward. Here is a picture that hopefully will illustrate what I mean (sorry it’s a bad picture):

I held the loop to the left with my fingers, then gently twisted the loop on the right with my pliers 90 degrees. This variance in the loops means the rings laid flat against my neckline instead of sticking out uncomfortably.