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!

More Stretch Stacker Bracelets...

As of today's writing, these bracelets are all available at the One of a Kind Antique Mall in Showcase 800, just past the cash desk.

 

Vintage chevron beads, vintage brass spacers, glass.

Translucent agate, pale green serpentine(?), blue etched agate, pewter. Both $38.

Email me for availability, shipping and handling extra. I can also remake these in different sizes; as a default I make most of them in a loose medium fit.

Thanks for looking!

March 2014 GEM EXPO Photos... finally

I've had to take my computer in to have XP wiped and 2007 installed, and forgot to transfer all my edited photos to a thumb drive so I could load them onto my new backup laptop, a refurbished and fully loaded Dell Inspiron that I got for a real deal from Anibal at PC Farm in Toronto. Personally, except for the all-important portability, I've never seen the point of laptops. To see the screen, the computer has to be elevated so high I can't type on it, I have to add a keyboard so I can achieve some blistering speed, not to mention a mouse, which equals even greater speed and accuracy. And there's my footpedal and head phones, and by the end of it, I seriously don't see the point. To lug all this around would require a suitcase on wheels at least.

Blech. But it works.

In the meantime, here are the pictures from the March 2014 iteration of The Gem Expo, which was a total hoot. Many vendors predicted a slow Friday, but attendance was way up and continued all through the weekend. I saw many familiar faces and made new friends and I hope customers for life. I got the sense that we all did well in terms of sales -- I sold out of several styles of beads and quite a few pieces of my jewellery which was truly gratifying.

I stayed again at the Strathcona Hotel on York Street (across the street from the Royal York, which is itself across Front Street from Union Station) and walking distance to the main tourist and sports venues, if anyone is planning a home game weekend). The Strath Pub grub hit the spot each night after a full day on my feet.

To me there is nothing in the world like an icy Alexander Keith's...

Crispy Coconut Shrimp with Thai dipping sauce...

Neither of which lasted long... These are soooooooooooo good!

The shrimp were Friday night. Saturday night I was debating whether to have the lobster quesadilla again, but I finally decided to try out the Strath Hamburger. It was very, very good, with a profound grilled flavour. Yes, I ate the whole thing, I was that hungry.

Also good enough to eat are my beads... On the left is Ruth's mother's homemade chicken and rice soup with cilantro, and shredded vegetables. I ate so healthily at this show thanks to her mom and for which I am profoundly grateful. Anyone who does away shows knows how difficult it is to eat properly. Those luscious blue beauties are ginormous chunks of raw lapis with very clean 2mm holes. Imagine blue chocolate... that's how delicious these look.

I was given the loan of a magazine with an article documenting the lapis lazuli mining process as it is still conducted today. Absolutely mind-boggling. The photo shows a man about to hike a day or more down the mountain with a 100 kilo chunk of lapis on his back. And we complain about how tired we are after a day sitting in front of a computer. Us and our first world problems, eh?

The sense I got when I received these chunky lapis beads from Nelson Gemstones was that I was holding the mountain in my hands. They really are something.

Shots of the table as you would see it coming from three different directions. I was kind of up at the top of the T when you come in the ballroom door...

The layout of the grids was perfect. This is definitely the way to do it. People can get right up to the beads, and there was sufficient lighting, as well. I also used the bed risers on the tables, as well. It also helps to be situated near another vendor who has really good floodlighting -- that glow of light you see on the table coming out from the wall is actually from Rainbow Beads, who in terms of lighting were still a considerable distance along the wall, but that's how powerful their floodlights were.

Shots of some of the beads... this is my loose bead table.

Detailed photos. If there's anything that looks intriguing to you, email me for availability/price.

Thank you again to all my returning and new customers. You really do make the show for me and I look forward to seeing you all again. Email me with any questions and comments.

Thanks for looking and see you at the July 2014 GEM EXPO!

The Gem Expo Countdown...

EIGHT days to go until next Thursday evening when I'll be in Toronto at the Hyatt Regency setting up my tables for The Gem Expo. Friday, November 22nd, the doors open at 11:30 a.m. I'm already packing up turquoise, lapis lazuli and glass beads, pewter pendants and other goodies including skulls -- this time, I have a few drop-dead gorgeous resin crow and raven skulls in various sizes and finishes -- and finished jewellery, with many items -- and beads -- particularly appealing to guys, a somewhat under-served market.

Here are pictures of a few of the many beads I will be bringing:

Beads will be available in full and partial strings, as well as individually.

Turquoise:
Campo Frio, Nacozari, Kingman, Castle Dome, Sleeping Beauty, Hubei, Ma'an Shan, Tibet, Afghanistan

Glass, Stone, Shell, Bone:
Fair Trade African, Indonesian reproductions, blue Hebron, shell heishi, chevrons, etc.

Metals:
Brass, copper, pewter, coin silver, sterling silver, PMC silver

Skulls & Fetish Beads:
Turquoise, bone, pewter, copper, base/plated metals, sterling silver, resin, ceramic

Friday, November 22nd: 11:30 a.m.-9:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 23rd: 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 24th: 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.



http://www.thegemexpo.com/index.php/2coupon

See you at the show!

Happy Customer... Happyhappy Me!!!

I've been making and selling jewellery for about six years now. It's one thing to sell in person where you can chat with customers maybe over several weeks, get to know them and what they like, their lifestyles, they can try different items on, and you can easily make adjustments to make something fit perfectly. But it's a whole 'nother ball of wax posting a picture online that will never be able to truly convey the colour, texture, luminosity or beauty of the stones, the weight or delicacy of a piece, and forget sizing entirely. That's a total crap-shoot.

I had posted this glass skull, pewter and enhanced lapis lazuli bracelet on the blog about a month ago.

Out of the blue -- sorry. Couldn't resist -- last Saturday, which was a long weekend here, came an email from the US wanting to buy it. After the initial whoo-hoo and happy dance, my guts went into overdrive. What if she doesn't like it? What if she's disappointed for some reason? What if the post office loses it? All the what-ifs... I packed it carefully in layers of bubble wrap and mailed it Tuesday morning. And waited.

Then I got another email late Saturday night/early Sunday morning:

OMG.  Here I've been carrying on and what I meant to tell you first thing was that your bracelet came today.

You are really, really good at all the stuff I avoid!!!!  I'll need to take another look at it, but I was impressed with the metal work.  I just have never gotten the hand of wrapping loops or working with wire, period.  I'm a klutz.  

But there's a balance, a symmetry that's very appealing to this bracelet.  The crystal skull just makes it.  And  I totally underestimated the effect of the lapis beads.

Very, very, nice.  Thank you so much.  I think my friend is really going to love this.

Whew! To Nancy LaB, thank YOU for trusting me! Go Canada Post and USPS! It took just five days to get across a border and half way across the continent.

Back to the jewellery table. Again, if you ever see something you like, please email me for more information.

Stocking up on lapis lazuli & turquoise... & musing on a new design technique

I've already started stocking up on turquoise and lapis lazuli beads to replace what I sold at The Gem Expo in Toronto in July. Here's a sneak peek of two items in the parcel that just arrived. Christmas and my birthday all rolled up together in August!

Outrageously blue, raw, flattish natural lapis chunks with lots of pyrite, hand-polished, with very clean 1.5mm to 2mm holes. The beads average about 1" / 25mm in length. These would be particularly great for stringing on leather or wire-wrapping. Some of the beads have sawn-flat backs which would lend themselves to beaded bezels or wiring flat to metal shapes or used with leather bands for cuffs or attached to leather pouches, etc.

Blue to slightly greenish-blue turquoise nuggets with and without matrix. Each bead is about 1/2" in length and softly triangular/pyramidical -- is that even a word? -- in shape. Except for hand-polishing to a velvety-soft matte finish, these turquoise nuggets are not stabilised, dyed or enhanced in any way. Being more accustomed to stabilised turquoise, I noticed right away when I hefted them that the strings feel quite light for the size of bead, which means the stabilisation process adds considerable weight to turquoise beads.

I will bring a selection of the new beads to the September meeting of the Grand River Bead Society in Guelph if anyone wants first dibs before the GRBS show in October or The Gem Expo in November in Toronto. Fetish and skull beads in various materials and a great range of Fair Trade recycled glass beads are on their way.

I just got word yesterday that Square now allows us to accept debit cards here in Canada, so I will be able to offer debit, Visa and MasterCard, prepaid Visa and MC, as well as generic cash cards at the shows and at the GRBS meetings. If anyone is contemplating using Square, it's cheap, it's fantastic and works beautifully wherever you have cell phone coverage... well, 99% of the time. And, no, nobody is paying me to say this!

I've had the occasional wonky card that the card reader didn't like, but in that case I can enter the card number by hand and it will go through (for a slightly higher fee, of course), or, as happened at the Gem Expo, my Square reader flat out wouldn't accept either of one customer's cards -- yet it had worked fine with a previous customer's card 20 minutes before. She ended up going to the hotel ATM. Later on, we tried the card again that she'd used in the ATM, and this time it worked with no problem. Who knows what happened? Computer bug. Bug went away. Customer -- and me -- happy.

NOTE: Always check and double-check you've packed your phone and peripheral whatnot chargers to the shows with you! And then check again before you pull out of the driveway. I actually did remember to bring mine (it was other stuff I forgot), but another vendor didn't and their POP machine took a special type of charger. Luckily, someone was able to help them out but it was a last-minute scramble to find one.  

I'm very happy to report that the new jewellery designs that I've been posting this spring and summer are selling well. Credit for these goes entirely to my pal Nancy who seems to have broken the design logjam in my brain. In fact, it occurs to me that the easiest way to get out of a stale design rut would be to invite a non-jewellery friend or kid of your acquaintance over to play with beads, give 'em some fishing line to string with and see what they come up with. Believe me, there are some real ah-hah moments to be had.

If something you like here has been sold I'd be happy make something similar or in different beads. Or, if you'd like a bracelet version of a necklace -- or vice versa -- or coordinating earrings (or you're looking for a particular type of bead), email me and let's see what we can come up with.

Stay tuned for lots of new jewellery -- and beads -- and thanks for looking!

Lapis Lazuli & Quartz Crystal Bracelets...

I was rather pleased with the way the glass skull looked combined with the enhanced lapis lazuli the other day, but fearing that people might not share my love of skulls I made two more bracelets in the same style but substituted faceted quartz crystals for the skull.

Enhanced lapis lazuli, pewter coin flower beads, brass spacers and a faceted quartz crystal bead.
7-3/4" in length, $55.00.

Enhanced lapis lazuli, pewter coin flower beads, pure copper spacers and a faceted quartz crystal bead.
8-3/4" in length, $69.00.

If you are interested in buying or commissioning a bracelet, necklace or earrings -- or the beads themselves -- please email me.

I hope everyone is staying cool these few days until the heat breaks -- which is supposed to be on Saturday. There have been some pretty interesting stories in the news this week about the ferociously high temperatures we're experiencing -- at the same time as it got to below freezing in Alberta. This is the latest:

A cop bakes cookies in his car while he's at work:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/07/17/toronto_weather_cop_bakes_cookies_in_his_car_during_heat_wave.html

A few years ago, they tried to roast a roast in a car. Scary hot temperature inside the car even if it wasn't quite successful:
http://www.thestar.com/news/2013/07/17/in_car_roast_beef.html

If this infernal heat is getting you down, meditate instead on cool ocean breezes. This picture of the Islay Mist was taken July 5th by my brother's friend -- who my brother was picking up. Talk about customer service. Contact my younger, smarter brother Jim to book a cruise off the west coast and go hang with some whales...

See you at The Gem Expo at the Hyatt in Toronto next Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Thanks for looking!

More Cleaning Up, Organisation & Storage -- & LAPIS!

Lynn McLean came again yesterday morning to organise me and help me with cleaning. I should have taken before shots, but oooooh, boy, nasty. The kitchen table was piled a foot deep with the detritus of pricing and restringing beads for the show -- gee, a week and a half ago. I was and still am typing like a mad fiend since and hadn't touched the table. Here are pictures of my (temporarily, I assure you) tidier place.

Yeah, yeah, a plug for Royal Canin -- Max developed massive hair loss all over his back and sides in an extremely bizarre pattern in the spring, and instead of plunking down several hundred more dollars for a second round of blood tests, the vet suggested changing his food first. Now, I had noticed that my previous dog food company had changed their bag designs, deleting the particular dog food version entirely that I had been buying and feeding Max with no problems for, oh, ten years maybe? After the bag change, he started losing his hair. Maybe they also changed the formulation, d'ya think? I shudder to think where the ingredients came from and I wonder if Max was the only one to suffer this type of hair loss. In the meantime, I had had him shaved for the summer so it was very easy to see that within a few weeks of starting him on the Royal Canin his hair was starting to grow in and now there is only one tiny half-baldish spot remaining. I am amazed.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my almost pristine table at 5:42 a.m. this morning...

Doesn't take long, does it? 8:15 a.m. after photographing lapis beads...

My somewhat cleaned up bedroom. No before picture. It was grotty to the Max... Poor Max, gets blamed for everything. Silly I guess to have a white duvet with a mostly black dog living in the country, no paving, just mud as far as the eye can see. The little staircase I'd bought at a flea market, and were stairs for the owner's late dog to get up onto their bed. Alas, Max is too gimped up for them, so I keep my mattress on the floor and now the stairs make for even better bedside storage, far more useful than the table I had there previously.

Now we're back to normal. This table had been almost completely clear about three weeks ago.

But this is still pretty tidy and working well for me. Note there are ever-more bins...

Oh, all right, just a couple of lapis pictures. This is pretty much the true colour of all the lapis here in this first picture. As with my turquoise pictures, I'm finding it almost impossible to get the blue right. It is a true dark ultramarine with plenty of pyrite.

And Max again, just 'cause he's so beautiful...

Thanks for looking!

A thought about sites like Pinterest... and Nelson Gemstones

I wonder if Pinterest or similar sites have taken off in other countries like it has in the US? I wonder if there's a correlation between the high level in North America of "shopping culture" and other countries where consumerism, for various reasons, hasn't taken root? I find I'm using Pinterest as a substitute for shopping-shopping and also for bead shopping at the moment. Appeases my hunter-gatherer instincts. Certainly I can afford to hoard much nicer pictures of things than I could ever afford to buy, at least in this lifetime.

Any thoughts on this?

But I did buy these... and they showed up two days ago. Got 'em from Nelson Gemstones. Joanne's got quality gemstones in most of the sizes of rounds for most of the popular stones, as well as her own jewellery. My order was her first time shipping to Canada and any form-filling-out bugs were successfully dealt with. Also, back orders are processed very quickly. Worth checking out especially if you're looking for those elusive sequential rounds.

Mmmmmmmmmmm lapis...

Thanks for looking!