ABS March Challenge

I was really inspired by the colours in Marc Franz' "Deer in the Forest" painting.

I used a beautiful hand made heart focal from Ema K Designs and threaded it on a hand forged copper torc with other ceramic beads and coloured lavarock-like beads and added my own copper spiral bead and bead caps for accent. There are 2 copper birds in flight where the chain attaches to the piece.

Colour Challenge Reveal!

Thanks to Bonnie of Jaspers Gems for organizing this blog hop. There were a choice of three different colour palettes and it was difficult to pick just one but I kept returning to this one after much trial and error. I've always loved day lilies and the colours in this were so cheerful and sunny which is much needed this time of year when we're all anxious for sunshine and warmer days.

I made a necklace and earrings that I think capture the colour palette and the delicacy of the flowers. Hope you like!

Happy Easter Bunnies

Aren't these the cutest cupcakes ever!

Made by Stephanie , wonderful girlfriend of my wonderful son! They taste as good as look.....lemon cake with a center of lemon curd! I had to take pictures before they all disappear. They go very nicely with tea and BSBP7  viewing! I am having so much fun seeing the first reveals but it has made me nervous. Talk about setting the bar high! Fabulous creations. I won't be getting any chores done today!

Jewel Envy

I attended a fabulous workshop yesterday at Jewel Envy in Toronto. We learned how to make sterling band rings and it was so much fun! Our teacher was the very talented

Chia Chen Tsai or Ellen as she goes by. Great instructor.....patient and encouraging.

My ring!

 It was like magic to see how we went from a small rectangle of silver to a beautiful finished ring in 5 hours. It was an amazing workshop where we learned metal piercing, sawing ,annealing, soldering, filing, finishing, shaping and polishing.

I can't believe how much we covered in one day. Great studio space and every tool you could ever want for jewelry making. They have fabulous classes and I'm already deciding what my next one will be. It's a toss up between bezel setting or enameling or maybe another band ring class to practise the skills I learned yesterday!
It sure was a humbling experience to work among professional jewelers and realize how much work goes into each piece of jewelry. I doubt if I'll ever reach the level of these jewelers but it's great to have their example as inspiration.

This is my class......My friend Meg; Joanne and me! Another great day in the Roncesvalles neighbourhood!

Well today I'm hunkering down to finish my challenges for next weekend reveals.
I've made a piece for Jasper  Gem's colour challenge and for the monthly Art Bead Scene challenge so I better get to it , also I'm working on all my pieces for Bead Soup Blog Party : reveal date April 13th. Stay tuned!

iCraft.ca

I've just registered on icraftgifts.com to try to sell some of my creations. I haven't posted anything yet but hope to do so over the next few days. It's similiar to Etsy and Artfire except it only sells handmade items and it's based in Toronto and I'm nothing if not a Toronto booster. I also like the fact that it's a smaller site (so far!) so not as much competition and much easier shopping experience since there's not so many items to scroll through. My store is Wired Nan Studio..... here's hoping this venture works out for me.
I'm feeling a little blue today since I was sent home from work because I can't do the work anymore due to severe osteoarthritis in my hands. I'm a nurse in a very busy endoscopy unit and use my hands all day long. Anyway my Dr. has ordered me onto modified duties and the hospital has sent me home on paid sick leave until they figure out what to do with me. It's a bit depressing since I will have to leave my unit and colleagues and start over in another job which won't be my choice of where I want to work. I had hoped to stay where I am until I can retire in a couple of years so this has really thrown a spanner in my plans! If they can't find a suitable position for me I may have to go on total disability! More time for jewelry making but less money.

Bead soup from Toltec Jewels

Here's my lovely bead soup I received earlier this week from Toltec Jewels.
Beautiful colours and gorgeous lampwork beads. I've been staring at it all week and dreaming of possibilities. I'm also working on the colour challenge from Bonnie at Jasper's Gems. It's so much fun playing with other peep's colour choices! Reveal for Bonnie is March 31 and my reveal for BSBP7 is April 13 so I'll be busy the next few weeks. Next weekend is GemExpo in Toronto and the week after that I'm taking a ring band workshop at JewelEnvy so I better stop blogging and get to work!

Bead soups are delivered!!!

Bead Soup I sent my partner for BSBP7

Still waiting!

I'm so looking forward to receiving my bead soup from  my  BSBP7 partner, Toltec Jewels. She says she's waiting to open hers until mine arrive so I'm anxious to see what she thinks of what I sent her and to see what she sent me. this whole experince with the bead soup blog party has been great so far. I've met some fabulous jewelry designers and art bead makers through Facebook , Etsy and various blogs. I've joined several groups including Self Representing Jewelry Art Designers(SRAJD), Bead Swap USA to name a couple. I've connected with Margot Potter and many others. Unfortunately I've been spending so much time reading blogs that I've neglected my own jewelry making!!! Back to work today since I have a few projects on the go and once my bead soup arrives and several other packages I'll be overwhelmed with possibilities. Ordered some nice items from Etsy from  Scorched Earth  and a fabulous handmade pendant from Beadiest of All and a few other goodies!!!! My Paypal account has been heating up !!!!!! Lots of trips to the post office coming up.