New Chakraluscious Chakra Bracelets...

Here are my two new Chakraluscious chakra bracelets ready for the market tomorrow at the Woodstock Farmers Market at the fairgrounds on Nellis Street. Come and see these bracelets and more between 7:00 a.m. and noon tomorrow and every Saturday morning.

Both are stretch bracelets with genuine moonstone, garnet, carnelian, gold rutilated quartz, nephrite jade, lapis lazuli, iolite, amethyst and labradorite beads, finished with either white rabbit jade or black lava beads and brass findings.

I make custom jewellery to fit your budget. I also do simple repairs: replace clasps or earwires and restring items.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope to see you tomorrow. Happy Canada Day, everyone!

Good Market Today & New Chakra Bracelets...

...and a new score: I found this cone-cut carnelian and glass necklace at a junque store last week. Probably paid too much for it, but I couldn't resist.

Then I was playing with other toys and I'm still wondering if this is a stoopid combination.

Finally got around to making more chakra-style items, and made these two bracelets yesterday. I'm trying to play with brighter colours, and yes, several of these beads are dyed, but the very brightest were deemed today to not really work, in particular that orange jelly bean horror. Better to tone it all down with carnelian instead... Except it's pretty. Maybe these size beads would work better as a necklace.

I've been doing a lot of restringing for Liane the Vintage Lady at the market. She buys bins of miscellaneous jewellery at auctions and has no idea what's she's got until she starts going through it -- at which point lot of the strung items disintegrate at that point. I swap interesting doodads in exchange for the restringing. Today I restrung a double strand graduated fire-polished crystal choker into a single strand because even with the extender it was chokingly tiny. Some of the vintage jewellery looks like it was for dolls, not humans. I'll try to remember to photograph it next Saturday. It came out quite nicely. Some of the beads were missing so I made a pair of drop earrings with the extra beads.

After the farmers market I went downtown to Streetfest and visited with a lapidary pal. Scored some beautiful semi-precious skulls -- and I picked some weird ones. Woweeeee... I've been looking everywhere online for decent skulls other than the dyed howlite ones and he can get me as many as I want.

Another view of the onyx skull to highlight the druzy swoop:

I reeeeally went to Streetfest to get myself a treat from Let's Eat Cake. Make that two treats: a fresh peach cheesecake square and a small tub of Rene's killer pasta salad.

Thanks for looking!

Father's Day Gift Bracelets...

...well, bought by a guy, at any rate.

These stretch bracelets are consuming me. I made several more while at the farmers market today. The first two sold immediately (yippeee!!), but I can make more and/or variations on these or any others I've posted in the past. These glass beads I've been using are terrific. I've seen them labelled as small pony beads; I think they're 2/0 seed beads. But what's really cool is they have a great hole -- easy to thread onto 1.5mm leather cord. Just about any of these bracelets can be made into adjustable chokers or regular necklaces. I can also make them larger to be worn as ankle bracelets.

Black glass beads, etched 2-eye agate bead, copper skulls, copper jump ring spacers and coil. 

Black glass beads, copper jump ring spacers and an etched 9-eye carnelian dZi-style bead.

This bracelet is made with dark dusty blue Picasso 2/0 seed beads (small pony beads) with a silver-plated feather and spacers and a pewter horse, bird and turtle.

These all fit kind of loose medium to large. I got a guy pal to try one on and he said it was very comfortable. Prices are as marked, shipping is extra depending on where you live and your need for speed. I take PayPal and Square, and within Canada bank eTransfer. Email me for information on these or to make a special request.

Thanks for looking!

Mystery Beads...

I dug out these old hand-carved matte mystery beads that I would like to mix with either large chunks of turquoise, chrysocolla or even some rough chunks of black tourmaline. I think they might be carnelian, certainly agate -- but the buttery yellow beads are throwing me, if they have a different name possibly. Looking at them under bright light, you can clearly see banding inside.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks for looking!

New Bracelets going into the One of a Kind Antique Mall, Woodstock, TODAY...

Apologies for not posting more, but I have been doing nothing but typing for almost three weeks, and it has NOT stopped coming in. That's good, right? Well... not when I'm having to turn work down, it ain't.

Meanwhile, I'm having great fun with Stretch Magic, my new fave material. Remember those stretch crystal bracelets I posted a few weeks ago? They're almost all gone. 

These bead soup bracelets, along with some necklaces, are all going into the Antique Mall (showcase 800 over in the showcase area to the right of the cash desk) in Woodstock, Ontario, later this morning. (FYI, the Antmall will be closed December 25th and 26th.) They are all one of a kind. If you see something you like, I can drive there and get it (if it hasn't been sold in the meantime). I can't guarantee that it will arrive before Christmas, but... between Canada Post overnight service at megabucks per package, ya never know. (Or you can pretend you're Italian and you have until January 6th to give gifts!). Please email me for availability and handling/shipping costs. Right now, it's ***around*** $5 regular surface mail in Canada and ***around*** $10-$15 to the US for small thick envelopes and/or parcels. 

As an FYI on shipping costs, if it's shipped in a flat bubble wrap pack and fits through that plexi "mail slot" gadget they have at the post office, it's not too expensive to ship, $3-ish for Canada, BUT it ends up being "automatically" sorted which means it goes through umpteen rollers in the mail plant, so fragile beads or wire-wrapped work could get squashed. Upgrade to a thicker wrapping or flat box, and you're in the $10-$15 range for regular shipping, but the parcel is hand-sorted and you might have to drive to your local post office to pick it up. My price to mail includes the cost of the envelope/appropriate packaging, and trust me on this -- it often takes as much time if not longer to pack and drive a purchase to the post office than to make the item in the first place. Each time I see "$25 shipping" even for a tiny package of beads coming from the US, oh, man, it hurts so, so much! -- but I do appreciate all the work that goes into packing items and getting them to the post office, often within hours of me clicking on "Buy Now". 

This is so pretty. 

Note that the citrine is not that richly yellow. It's just my crappy photography.

Roman glass bracelet with aquamarine rounds and pewter daisy spacers.

Brilliant peacock blue titantium-coated hematite:

These bracelets are comfortably loose on me, so would fit about a 7-7.5" wrist. As always, if you see anything you like but you need a custom size or want to commission a custom piece, please don't hesitate to email me. 

On other fronts I've signed up for The Gem Expo coming up on March 13th-15th and booked my hotel. I WILL be there this time with lots and lots of new turquoise including some beautiful hand-carved skulls and buttons. I'll have a great selection of Roman glass, matte lapis and really nice hand-cut carnelian in unusual colours: yellows through yellowy-oranges and reds to almost chocolate purple colours from Afghanistan, plus different sizes and shapes of old chevron beads from Nepal and some great Dzi-style beads. If you have anything on your wish list, I will try to find it for you and bring it to the show. 

Thanks for looking!

Nephrite Jade, Carnelian & Black Cinnabar Necklace & Earrings...

Hah -- with reference to a discussion with Lisa Yang two posts ago, I had to take apart old jewellery to get one more carnelian bead for the necklace and then, while I was at it, tore apart an unsold bracelet to get two 6mm beads for the earrings. I figured I should make earrings now because the long bicone shape of the jade will be difficult to ever find again and typical customers in my mind's eye do like earrings.

'Scuse also the bad colour -- these really are a dark and dullish jade on the yellow side of the spectrum and the carnelian is a deep orange: not this Christmassy. I will try rephotographing tomorrow.

Necklace is 25.5" long. $125 for the necklace and earrings. I take PayPal and Square. Shipping and handling extra. Please email me for availability.

The inspiration to make this necklace was pure procrastination -- a highly underrated tool, at least in my creative arsenal -- and which came about as I was restringing and pricing bead strands for The Gem Expo. Hard to believe, in seven days I will be packing my truck for the show, and one week tomorrow, unless the forecast changes, I will be driving through snow and whatnot to get to Toronto. I'm really looking forward to being in Toronto. The drive? Mmmm, not so much.

Thanks for looking!

The July 2014 Gem Expo... More Pictures

I stole these pictures from The Gem Expo Facebook page and from Ruth's page. That doi-oi-oingy blue thing around my neck was supposed to be for my keys which I kept misplacing, but it was so stretchy I thought the keys would end up around my knees. It was sure a lot of fun to play with... probably why it was finally taken away from me.

Ruth's stunning wire-wrapped amethyst and pearl necklace. A quickie little wire-wrapping tutorial at the Gem Expo last summer on a slow Friday afternoon is how Ruth and I first met. Now I can't do the shows without her. The second necklace is mine and is made with particularly nice labradorite rounds and pewter beads with a carved soapstone focal.

An out-of-focus wire-wrapped chunky carnelian necklace by Ruth. This got a lot of attention and admiration throughout the show.

As a follow-up note to the suncatchers I posted a few weeks ago, I just found out that one finally sold in the last couple of days, whoo hoo! While I was in Toronto I bought more crystals to make rainbow chakra-style suncatchers. They're sitting staring at me now on my table. Meanwhile, I'm watching Suits at night and pounding away on a wire-wrapped pale pink seed bead and skull necklace commission that needs to be ready for Saturday's market. This morning I'm pricing pure copper and mixed copper/brass bangles from Katanga Province in the Congo that I acquired from Nharo! at the Gem Expo. They'll be ready to go into my showcase at the OOAK Antique Mall later today and also be available at the Saturday market. Great price, too: $15 each. I'm already getting rave reviews on how pretty they are and how comfortable they are to wear.

Thanks for looking -- and hope to see you at the November Gem Expo!

New beads...

Here is a sneak preview of the treats in store for you at the shows this fall that have been arriving all week chez moi.

Hidden in this hand-painted Afghanistan spice pot are more raw lapis and turquoise, jade rondelles and the most beautiful carnelian I have seen in my short jewellery-making career. If you make tribal/ethnic-inspired jewellery, you will love these beads.

All week I've been restringing recycled glass beads and trying to restrain myself from eating them. They look just like old-fashioned sugar-dusted hard candy. And the really great thing about these handmade beads is that the holes tend to be quite large, perfect for stringing on leather. Here is a tiny, tiny selection:

Now to go and have lunch... and spend the afternoon making new jewellery.

PS: I'm hoping to be set up in my new studio space by mid-to-late September where I can host visitors (email me first). In the meantime, I'll bring a small selection of the new beads to the Grand River Bead Society meeting in Guelph on I believe it will be Monday, September 16th, and for sure I'll see you at the GRBS show October 5th and 6th in Guelph, as well as The Gem Expo in Toronto on November 23rd, 24th and 25th. Check out both groups' Facebook pages for updated information on all the great vendors. Email me, as well, if you want me to bring anything in particular to the September GRBS meeting.

Thanks for looking!

Green Vintage Button Necklace & Kingman Turquoise Bracelets & More Market Necklaces...

Well, my green vintage button necklace was a hit. My customer was extremely pleased. She certainly looks happy!

My two new -- finally! -- Kingman turquoise nugget bracelets. The beauty of the large clasps is they hold the bracelet in place, i.e. if there is a focal bead, it will remain on top of your wrist where it can be seen.

My favourite of the two -- the bird is free to move, a bonus for fidgety people who like to play with things.

And a pile of necklaces, the front bits designed by Nancy, tweaked and finished by me and ready for sale.

Thanks for looking!

The Jewel in My Crown & A Chakra Necklace...

My jewel, aka Max, in our moveable garden...

Been busy today, finally got around to making this chakra necklace that I've been meaning to do for a while. It's based on a free design from Mama's Minerals, an online store based in New Mexico.

Chakra Necklace:

From the centre, the beads are garnet (also the focal), carnelian, citrine, peridot, turquoise, iolite, amethyst and moonstone, with a sterling silver lobster clasp, "Tibetan silver" beads, 21 inches long. I can add a sterling extender chain or doeskin ties to lengthen this, $5.

$70 (plus $5 for extender) plus $5 shipping and handling. Please email me for availability, or for a different configuration of beads. I have many beautiful focal stones that would look great in the centre.

I have many more stones of all sizes and qualities, particularly if you are interested in something tailored more to your needs or related, for example, to your zodiac sign. Mama's Minerals has an interesting chart showing some of the many different stones associated with each chakra. I spent a couple of days last year going through all my books to compile an Excel spreadsheet cross-referencing stones with zodiac signs. Email me for a copy.

Thanks for looking!

Choker to bracelet

Playing with beads again... gack. Made a choker and pulled on it to tighten a knot and the whole thing went flying all over the room. Remade it, tried it on, took photos. Ick. Don't like all the knots and frayed bits of cord. Remade it again as a bracelet, and I think it works a little bit better.


Dzi-style carnelian bead, facetted Hubei turquoise, copper beads& spacers,
base metal beads, waxed cotton cord.



Dzi-style carnelian bead, facetted Hubei turquoise, copper beads & spacers,
base metal beads, hammered copper clasp

 Now, this is interesting. I checked to make sure that I'd spelled dzi correctly and found a page of what each dzi bead means. Check them all out at one of my neighbours, so to speak:

http://mydzi.blogspot.com/2008/02/dzi-bead-meanings.html

หินทิเบต(ดี ซี ไอ) TIBET DZI BEADS -9 eye : Builds up a lenient and caring heart for you, helps you gain fame and benefits. Increases the owner’s wealth. 9 Eye is one of the most sought after, believed to represent the 9 planetary systems and its essence. This Dzi is touted as a window to wisdom. The 9-Eyed Dzi bead endows the wearer to expand his intelligence and wisdom. This type of Dzi bead is also well documented in modern Asian circles for its "mysticism" and "power" by several people who wore them and survived near death experiences. This bead is often considered the unofficial wealth bead. The 9 eye Dzi bead may assist the owner of this bead to become rolling in wealth. The wealth will be gained through one’s own work. This bead attracts attention and assists in causing fame to increase. The nine eyed Dzi assists the entrepreneur in finding their ideas and strengths.

The nine eyed Dzi bead assists its owner to Gather Wealth, Achieve Good Health, Success, Gain Power, Compassion, Glory, and Expelling Evil & Acts as a Protector. It is believed that the 9 eye Dzi bead is able assist its owner in achieving the Nine-fold Merits. The Nine-fold merits are compassion, glory, everlasting brightness, fame, dignity, authority, control, reputation and the removal of obstacles. Accumulation of meritorious virtue, increases compassionate, separates from suffering and gains advantage. Gathering the Nine-fold Merits, ensuring the growth in compassion, power and glory thus bringing about immense benefits.

I need to work on refining the cording I use. I priced a dark brown leather cord at Bamiyan the other week -- I think I will get a roll of that to play with. 1.5mm seems to be a good weight, as well, which of course I don't have in the waxed cotton.

Back to the drawing board. But not tonight. It's 9:40 and I have to pack up the last bin for the market and get to sleep. 4:30 comes awfully early.