I think I finally understand the appeal of making treasuries on Etsy…  It’s like shopping but without spending the money!   

Curating a treasury is more satisfying than just browsing through shops.  It allows me to go get the item and place it alongside other items that I truly find beautiful and love!   They become mine in a way.   

Nabbing a treasury today was a bit of an adventure and a surprise.  I had nothing prepared, not even a theme or a title.  So this one is the result of looking through the shops of some sellers that I have in my favorites list.  I really do wish I could have one of each of these items.  They are all very beautiful on their own and I hope that people like the collection of items together.

I curated a treasury on Etsy today.  I really love this one.  It’s called Morning Frost.

How did I come up with this one?

I was browsing through my team’s items (SATeam) looking for inspiration.  It wasn’t happening.    Then I thought about one of our team members who often creates treasuries.  Caron from beadsire curates the most wonderful treasuries.  Each one tells a story and is beautiful.  Her treasuries have even been featured on etsy’s front page.  So I decided I would find inspiration in her shop.

There were several possibilities in Caron’s shop, but the item that most caught my attention was a beautiful white necklace called “Milk” (first column, second row).  I immediately thought of “From the Land of Milk and Honey”, but wasn’t certain if that should be the theme.  But I started looking for other white items from team members.  I found several lovely ones.    And then I came upon Elven Princess Necklace by Danagonia (bottom right corner).  And my theme was clear.  It would be Morning Frost.

This week we had our first frosty mornings.  That’s quite early compared to the norm.  And it feels a bit sad too, as it seems that fall is ending quickly and that it will soon be winter (and a long winter, if this early start is anything to go by).  But those frosty mornings really are beautiful.  We have such vivid fall colours this year, and when the ground and the leaves are tinged with frost, it add such sparkle and light!  Yes, it is the passing of the seasons, but each season offers something special.

I love heat.  I sometimes joke that I am part reptilian because I love to go bask in the sun.  I don’t complain that it gets too hot, I just enjoy it.  And I’m not terribly fond of the cold.  So sometimes winter can seem long and difficult.  But I really love living in a place where we have four distinct seasons.  Each is beautiful.  Each is special.  And as one ends, we are ready for the next to begin.  Even though the colours of the fall signal the end of summer, so many of us look forward to that special time when the fall colours are at their peak.  We would miss it if it didn’t happen.  And as fall storms happen, and the wind and the rain will strip the trees of their leaves, we will begin to think of winter and what it will bring.  And that first snowfall of the year, even with all the troubles that it can bring, will seem magical to many.  Children will rush out to make their first snowman of the year – often using up all the snow in the yard to make it.   :)  And we will dig out our skates and our skis from the basement, itching to get out there.  And we will enjoy the opportunities that winter brings to us.  And so the seasons will change…

It’s been another tough week, as I was still sick for the first part and we got some bad news midway through the week.  Nonetheless, I was able to make at least one item most days this week.

Monday September 7th was a good day.  Made these two pairs of earrings.

Lampwork Glass Disc Earrings #1

Lampwork Glass Disc Earrings #2

The week continued well on Tuesday.  I made this pendant using a conglomerate stone bead and some copper wire.  I love the stone!  It has such great colours and patterns.  I think it’s perfect for fall.  This is a natural stone, not man-made. 

And the back is just as attractive as the front! 

back side of pendant

Wednesday was not such a great day.  We found out that Greg will be laid off in mid-November.  We were expecting it, but it still took the wind out of my sails and I didn’t get any jewelry done.

Back on track on the 10th.  Made these great black labradorite (larvikite) and sterling silver earrings.  I think they are really cute!  And they have a swirl on the back side too.

And yesterday I made this lampwork disc ring.  These rings are really fun! 

I also experimented with heat patina on copper.  I made this copper bracelet a few weeks ago, but I thought it would be really interesting if it was treated with a heat patina.  I love the colours that can be achieved on copper, the only challenge is that it’s hard to control and things never turn out the same way twice!  But I like the warm colours this bracelet now has.

I’ve been so busy photographing and editing today that I haven’t made anything yet.  Hum, what shall I make?  You’ll have to come back next week to see the results!

Several members of one of the forums I belong to (Starving Jewelry Artists) have been challenging themselves to do jewelry related tasks each day for several months.  I decided to join them for the month of September, specifically to make at least one jewelry item per day. 

At the end of August I also found a few Etsy shop owners who had also decided they would make one craft item per day.  And so, the One a Day Craft Challenge was born.

The month started off quite well.  On September 1st I made 2 simple pendants using lampwork glass disc beads. 

Unfortunately, my challenge took a nose dive from there.  I’ve been pretty sick this week, so making jewelry was just not possible for 5 days.  The will was there, the body simply couldn’t do it…  I’m feeling somewhat better today and I did make 2 very simple pairs of earrings (photos to come later). 

So I am 5 days behind on my challenge.  So maybe I will extend it to the first 5 days of October…

I’ll update here about once a week with what I make.  I use morning light for my photos and as I work Monday through Fridays, weekends are the times for my photo shoots. 

Check out the others who have taken the One A Day Craft Challenge (OADCC).

The orginator of the OADCC, Ashley from Ashley Amanda Designs 

juanitatortilla

tilt

top knot creations

anjeannette

juliann

Jen D.

Labour Day weekend has always marked an important time, a time of transition.  

As a child Labour Day was bittersweet.  It was the last day of summer vacation.  My friends who had spent the summer at the cottage usually came home that day.  And the next day was the first day of school!

Oh, how I loved the first day of school!  I looked forward to seeing my friends again after a long summer off.  And I had new pencil crayons and a new pencil case.   Everything was fresh.  And I so wanted to show off some of my new clothes that Mom bought for me in the children’s department at Sears, but I never could wear it that day because it was always to warm out for that fall/winter clothes.  

Back to school was fun!  I didn’t worry about homework, I was too excited about a new year beginning. 

Even as an adult, Labour Day marked the passing of the seasons.  Working in the tourism industry, back to school time meant summer staff leaving, students going from full time hours to part time, and the number of visitors decreasing dramatically.   It also meant that any final prep for school programs had to be completed before teachers started bringing their students in around the end of September. 

Now that my job is no longer directly linked to students, teachers and visitors, Labour Day doesn’t signal a transition in the work that I’m doing.  But it still marks the end of summer for me, and fall feels different than summer.  It’s not about being light and carefree.  The things that are put aside during summer call out for attention in fall.  It’s time to get back to work and to routine…

It started back in March.  I became involved in a big project at work with virtually impossible deadlines that had to be met… 

I was working like a fiend all day and by the time I got home, I didn’t have the energy to get dinner on the table, let alone make any jewelry.  It was really frustrating because I had great ideas, but no energy to make anything. 

Within a few weeks, I no longer had design ideas, all I wanted to do was sleep!

The project thankfully wrapped up April 22nd.  I was so grateful as I had a craft fair coming up on Mother’s Day weekend and I was not a prepared as I wanted to be.

That’s when life really threw me a curve ball…  We had a family crisis at the end of April that was very stressful and exhausting.  We  began to function in crisis management mode.  I was completely drained.  Everything went by the wayside.  The house wasn’t clean, we weren’t getting laundry done on time, making meals was a challenge and going to work each day was very difficult.  I didn’t have energy for regular life stuff, so I certainly didn’t have the energy to take care of a jewelry business.  Oh the guilt!  I felt that I was letting others down.  Even worse, I felt I was letting myself down!

Eventually, I gave myself permission to neglect my jewelry.  After all, making jewelry started as a hobby.  It was a way to relieve stress.  The jewelry shouldn’t be another source of stress.  I had plenty of that already!  So I let it go…  I didn’t make a single piece of jewelry for almost 6 months.  And I was no longer dreaming up new pieces on my bus ride to work or in those minutes before falling asleep at night.  That was probably the hardest part.  Not even being able to come up with ideas for future pieces.  But it was something I had to accept.  I was too exhausted to do otherwise…

And then, a few weeks ago, I saw a design for a ring in a jewelry magazine.  It was a simple design, but the rings were fun and flirty and free.  And I was inspired!  I wanted to make one of those rings too!  And I had ideas for pendants and earrings that could be made using the same style of bead. 

I searched through my stash to see if I had any beads that would work… Nope, none…  So I found some online and ordered them. 

And I made a ring!

Yes, it is a simple ring.  But it’s more than just a ring.  It is a new beginning.  It is inspiration.  It is my creative energy coming back after a long hiatus…

I have new ideas for pieces each day now.  And slowly, I’m finding the energy to make them.  These 2 pieces have been in my head for about a week and a half.  Yesterday I sat down and made them.  And I really like them!  And I feel there is more inspiration to come…

We spent the weekend at my sister’s cottage and I finally felt like it was a proper summer weekend.  We had such terrible weather in July that it didn’t really feel like summer.  But while at the cottage, I realized that it wasn’t just the warmth of the sun on my face I had been missing.  What  had really been missing were the sounds of summer…

Cicadas!  A fabulous summer sound!  Such small insects, such big sound!  I heard them this weekend and realized they had been missing all summer.  It just hadn’t been warm enough to get them going and to hear their buzzing sound. 

When I was a kid, I would hear the buzzing sound and I thought it was the telephone wires making the sound.  I thought it meant someone inside was using the phone…  And people seemed to use the phone a lot in the summer!  What can I say?  As children, we often try to make sense of the world around us, we just often don’t have enough information for things to really make sense!

I also heard my favorite summer sound this weekend.

Click here if you want to hear the Common Loon call

I love loons.  They seem to be on every lake in Northern Ontario.  So often have I been out kayaking and been able to paddle quite close before they dive.  They seem so calm, and majestic.  Well, when in the water that is.

I heard the loons around 5:30 am.  They just went on and on…  Waking up to loon calls is such an integral part of summer for this girl from Northern Ontario.  Now that I no longer live close to a lake, I had forgotten just how haunting their call is.  It was nice to hear them this weekend.  I felt closer to home.

So what are the sounds of summer for you?

Last evening, Greg came to me and said “I think a bird got into our house.” 

What?!?

He said it sounded like there was a bird flapping and scratching in our furnace! 

I immediately went down to the furnace to check this out for myself…  No sound…  So I tapped lightly on the furnace, still no sound…  At this point I’m thinking Greg has imagined this (which is what I’m hoping) or that we now have a dead bird in our furnace…

Greg starts opening up the different parts of the furnace, looking for a bird.  I have no problem helping to catch a live animal, but recovering a dead animal from the furnace (possibly from the motor) is not high on the list of things I want to do. 

Finally, Greg sees something…

Yep, it’s a chipmunk, and it’s alive!   It’s in the bottom compartment of the furnace. 

So now the tricky part…  Catching it!

The chipmunk was terrified, so it was staying crouched in the back part of the compartment.  I tried to lure it out with some peanut butter and some peanuts, but nothing doing, he wasn’t going anywhere.  We finally  ”persuaded” it to get out using a hockey stick.  I tried to catch it, but it ran right past me and into the rec room.  Had you been a fly on the wall looking at Greg and I chasing this chipmunk round and round the room, you would have had a good laugh!  I’m sure we looked ridiculous! 

At one point, the chipmunk ran up the stairs, with me in hot pursuit…  I caught up with it, so it turned around and leapt down the stairs.  It took all 12 steps in one jump!  Good thing it went back down, because the door at the top of the stairs was open, and just beyond the door were…

Oreo

Shadow

Yes, the cats… 

If the cats had seen the critter, it would have been a merry chase indeed all around the house.  And the cats would likely have not been successful at catching it as they are declawed. 

So, I rounded up the cats, locked them into the bathroom where they yowled at the indignity of it all, propped open the outside door and went back down to the rec room to try to chase the chipmunk back up the stairs, and hopefully out the door. 

Chippy was hiding under the couch, so a bit more “persuasion” with the hockey stick, and he was out, and racing up the stairs with me right behind him.  Luck was finally on our side because he beelined straight for the open door, down the steps, made a sharp right, ran through the neighbour’s flower bed and then headed straight to the backyard. 

I wonder how far he ran before slowing down…

It’s been a while since I have curated a Treasury on Etsy, but I have the day off today and checked out the Treasury about 25 minutes before it was due to open, so…

 Seriously, curating treasuries is addicting!  I really love this one! 

What is a Treasury you ask?  Treasuries are like a collage of beautiful items that are chosen among all the items available on etsy.com.  Each treasury contains 12 items and the curator often has a theme.  They are like temporary, mini works of art.  The treasury list is a constantly changing list of eye candy!   Anyone who has an etsy account can curate a treasury.

I have a special offer for my icraft store until June 25th.  You can get 20% off any jewelry you purchase (excluding shipping) when you use coupon code “20SMILES”.  Just put the coupon code in the “notes to seller” upon checkout and you can wait for a revised invoice.  If you prefer to pay right away, I can do a Paypal refund for you instead. 

If you enjoy buying handmade items, then you will want to check out indiesmiles.com  They have a coupon directory and you can find special promotions for all different kinds of hand made items.  The coupons change every 2 weeks. 

Several sellers from icraft.ca are currently offering a special coupon.  Icraft is a site where crafters and artists sell their handcrafted items directly to their customers.  If you haven’t discovered icraft yet, now is a good time to go check it out!