May 11, 2017 · 2:00 pm

Sometimes my brain doesn’t work

Non-arty content ahead…

Sometimes when I’m preparing for a trip, I do silly things.  The packing for this trip to Italy was no exception. One of the items I bring with me is a small adapter to plug my camera’s USB cable into my iPad so that I can edit and post pictures. Apparently a vintage phone cable looks similar to the adapter cable. Sigh. So I don’t have a lot of pictures to share, as I forget to use my phone for pictures. Hopefully I’ll track down one of the connectors, but until then here are a few pictures of the ground floor of the place we’re staying in Naples.

Entry

It’s an unusual place.  When our cabbie dropped us off, it was across the street at a fairly posh place (similar name) – that wasn’t where we had booked. One of the hotel guys walked us over to where we would be staying, and there was a little culture shock at the entrance. It’s a wonderful, crumbly old place, that gives no indication of what the B&B we’re staying at is like.  The B&B is modern, clean and lovely and we’re all very content. The elevator takes one person at a time, but yay – there’s an elevator!

More pictures to follow if I either find a cable or remember to use my phone.  Ciao!

Lovely arches everywhere

More arches

Pleasing doorway

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March 12, 2017 · 6:56 pm

Easter Eggs Part Two

Have you been swithering about whether or not you want to take a workshop on needle felting Easter eggs?  Good news – while the April 1st class is full, another has been scheduled for April 8th.  As always, space is limited. Drop by the Beehive or give them a call at 250-385-2727 to register. Hope to see you there!

Easter Egg

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March 7, 2017 · 2:29 pm

It’s easier than dyeing…

Needle felting eggs, that is. It’s definitely less messy… well, maybe less messy. Hmmm… forget what I just said. The mess is easier to clean up, well, unless you have a cat – that can make it challenging.

All this to say there is a new needle felting workshop scheduled at the Beehive Wool Shop on April 1 from 10:30am – 12:30pm. We’ll be making and decorating eggs – all supplies provided. It will be up to you how detailed you want to get, but I will show you how to layer colours for shading, and how to add dimension to your creation. The egg can be displayed in a variety of ways – in an egg-cup, propped against something or hanging like an ornament.  Space is limited (six people), so sign up by calling (250-385-2727) or dropping in to the Beehive (1700 Douglas Street). Hope to see you there!

Easter Egg

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March 2, 2017 · 6:52 pm

Sometimes it’s the little things…

…that provide a whole lot of joy. In this case it is the feeling of accomplishment. I have finally opened my Etsy shop! [insert me doing a happy dance here] Secondly, thanks to lovely family and friends (who move quickly – thanks guys!), I have made my first two sales.  At this time there is only jewellery, but needle felted items will be added soon.

Look – it’s my site!!

One of the mental barriers I’ve faced (real or imagined) while setting up shop was the issue of mailing items out. Canada Post has a great section on their website regarding sizes/weights/pricing, but it thoroughly overwhelmed me.  Based on an Etsy recommendation I went to the post office with a mock-up of what I would be sending out. The woman who assisted me was incredible. She walked me through a variety of different sending scenarios, and helped me come up with a plan. I’m still not 100% confident – I’d put myself more at 32%, but it’s better than it was.

Today I sent off my first package. The woman at Canada Post decided it was letter mail (she needs to be there every time I send something!) which equals MUCH cheaper shipping costs. During the test run it was a bit of a judgment call as to whether the package was letter mail or not, so I tried to minimize packaging as much as possible, while still keeping it attractive. I have now learned how easy it is to refund excess shipping fees to the purchaser, and I’m feeling great. [insert another happy dance here]

There’s still a lot to learn and do – I found some flaws in the packaging (items always look different when I pack them only in my mind), so I want to figure that out and then prep so packages are easy to assemble.  I’d also like to keep improving my Etsy site with more images in the “About” section and strengthening some of the descriptions.  I have to tell you though, I feel such an incredible lifting of the spirit to have finally gotten motivated enough to take the chance and press the “go live” button, ready or not. I can spend far too long inside my head trying to sort out the best way to do things, but in this case I think it was better to just do them and iron out details as needed.

Thank you to everybody who has been so encouraging and supportive and not nearly as nagging as you could have been – I appreciate you all!

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January 16, 2017 · 6:23 pm

Stampity Stamp

Wow, it has been a very long time since my last post.  First things first, Happy New Year!  Since last writing I’ve taught a couple of Christmas ornament workshops, but alas, I have no pictures to share.  I’ll smarten up on that front!

Now on to the subject at hand – metal stamping. There is so much that can be done with metal stamping… words, images, a combination of the two. Alas, I generally have a tough time figuring out how to make them work properly.

I have a metal stamp with my initials on it to sign my jewellery, as well as a .925 stamp. I have learned not to stamp directly onto the jewellery, as it doesn’t always come through strongly, and there is no way (that I’ve found) to have a decent do-over. Instead I stamp little scraps and attach them. I like the way it looks (very finished), and if it doesn’t work, well, that scrap will become something else.

It would have been very difficult to stamp directly on this piece due to the shape.

It would have been very difficult to stamp directly on to this piece due to the domed shape.

I’m happy to report that I may have figured out how to make the stamp work for me and not against me. I was in the studio the other day, and changed up my hold on the stamp and the hammer I was using, and I was able to (miraculously) produce a very strong image. Yay! Fingers crossed that this is the first of many, and not a once in a lifetime event.

Success!

Success!

I certainly have a new appreciation for those who make stamped jewellery with whole phrases/sentences… it’s not just the lining up of the individual letters that would be tricky (and it would be VERY tricky for someone like me!), but the actual stamping technique.

I think perhaps a course is in my future… I do have some other stamps with patterns on them, and it would be nice to actually put them to use!  Respect the stampers – they’ve got skills!

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