Confessions of a Junque Junkie

Is it? Maybe? Yes, I think it is...SPRING!

2011-04-02T09:55:00.002-04:00

oh thank goodness...I was starting to think it was never going to arrive.

"...always winter...but never Christmas" ~ Chronicles of Narnia

I'm working on a few lighterweight necklaces...a little dainty, a little pretty, a little ornate, a little romantic...I started with this one.

and then this one with a leaf....

but I have a few more versions and directions percolating in my head...just need to carve out the time to work on them! :-) isn't that always the way it goes?

~brenda

Grabbing Opportunities

2011-03-27T09:44:00.000-04:00

It's a quiet Sunday morning, I'm sprawled across the loveseat, coffee at hand, dog at feet and I really don't feel like moving too much...
For some reason (maybe all the hard work done by all the creative people in the area?) I've received a fair number of invites to be a vendor at craft shows, markets and outside festivals this summer.
It's flattering and exciting ( a couple years ago there were maybe 2 or 3?) but I can't be everywhere & do everything and still run an online presence...oh and make stuff!
plus I really want to work at home...like plant a garden....hang my laundry outside...maybe get a few chickens again. Hit yard sales on Saturdays... :-)
So today, I'm taking the morning to go over the opportunities, picking my favourites,filling out applications, sending my regrets & dog-earing seed catalogs.

~brenda

"Body of Work" vs "Freedom of Creating"

2011-03-17T12:03:00.003-04:00

I don't pretend to be an expert in the 'art world',
I don't have a degree in art history, I'm not even sure I could distinguish between an 'impressionist' painting and a ...well, any other kind of painting.

But I do like entering shows & exhibitions, especially if I can push the envelope by entering an assemblage or a mixed media piece like jewellery that also works as a wall art piece like this piece below...

There seems to be this thing called "body of work'....from what I've read, it's apparently supposed to show that you have fully mastered whatever medium you like to work in.

Sometimes (IMHO) it translates into a cohesive 'look' by which your fans and admirers can recognize your work without peering down in the corner to see if your signature is there.

Sometimes (IMHO) it translates into 'oh look another ______ by ________' ( think of the repetitious lighted cottage paintings by ~~Thomas Kinca~~...you know who... and you'll get what I mean).

I have given up on having a 'body of work'.

I have given up on working solely in one medium.

I have LET IT GO...

I like to think that my lack of art education doesn't hinder me, it frees me. I get to try everything and discard what I don't want without prejudice.

I don't have to do something a certain way because 'that's how it's always been done'...I have the freedom to get messy, make mistakes...to stick a moose tooth in a precious metal setting next to a faceted gemstone...because I like how it looks.
I have the freedom to leap joyously (sometimes frenetically) from making jewellery to gluing ephemera to a canvas to sewing felt food for my grandson and not feel like I should be churning out 500 pieces that all look similar so I can appease the 'art jury gods'...

to experiment...to play...to enjoy...to be creative...

and really..isn't that what art should be about?

~brenda

Step by Step Beeswax Collage - I Am The Door

2011-03-11T20:32:00.002-05:00

There is something soothing about scraps of vintage paper, a reminder perhaps that even when a person is long gone, a snippet of them remains behind in a letter they wrote or a book they owned.

I had a prepainted 9"x7" stretched canvas sitting around, I felt like doing a quick collage so I dug through a couple bins of paper & pulled out pieces in a mixture of sepia & beige.

After I tore edges, arranged and re-arranged and glued down with matte gel medium. Some torn scrap of a mesh bag, vintage pattern tissue & a piece from a handwritten invoice c.1850...

A good start but nowhere near finished. I decide it needs circles. Lots of circles in a dark brown acrylic paint...and then in white. An easy way to make a paint circle? Dip a cup into the paint and press it onto the canvas. easy peasy!

Taking the same dark brown, then the white and drybrushing along the edges and over the textures of the collage adds depth and helps to try the various papers together.

It's working...but there's a lack of focus, your eye bounces around the canvas without a place to rest. Usually I tend to use a vintage photo of a person or a collage of words as the focus but I wanted to try something different for this one.

I rummaged around till I found this door. I think it should work but not like this....

After trimming the image inside & out, I glued it down just over the snippet of the New Testament page on the left.

I could have stopped there and had a perfectly acceptable (if a little boring) collage but I decided to kick it up a notch.

Out came a chunk of natural beeswax and my melting pot.

I had forgotten what a pleasure it is to to use beeswax in collages, between the warm honey scent to the tactile feel of sweeping melted beeswax over the paper to the depth & glow it gives to a collage.

The finished collage below shows how the layer of beeswax just adds a richness to the collage, how the papers meld together and the paint is mellowed by the yellow/brown tinge of the natural beeswax.

It also smells AMAZING! :-)

Buy It Here...

~brenda

Lost Flowers Sterling, Garnet Necklace- Art Every Day Month #5

2010-11-15T23:31:00.001-05:00

I'm definitely better at creating then I am at blogging...number 5 in the Art Every Day Month.
I've had a couple scrolly sketches in my idea book, a possible series of jewellery that blends my loves of vintage, paper and metal.
Using original photographs that I've collected over the years from antique stores, I always feel like I'm 'rescuing' them...I so treasure the family photos that I am the keeper of that I'm saddened by the thought of them languishing in a dusty shop.

Thus the title 'Lost Flowers', I used a family photo, from a picnic maybe? All the cousins together, under a layer of glistening mica and a coat of resin. Sparkle added by a small faceted garnet.

~brenda

Art Every Day Month- #4- Keep a BirdHouse in Your Soul

2010-11-05T14:24:00.001-04:00

You thought I missed yesterdays didn't you? ;-P No, but this one has taken me a bit longer.

I had a pile of WIP's (works in progress) that has been shifted from one part of the studio to the next, started, stopped and lingering...

I had this BRILLIANT idea for a series of collages with ladies as flowers and plants, got as far as the lady faces and a rough outline of the plant and then lost steam so I decided to just grab one and play. As I shuffled through some bins of found paper, my satellite radio (tuned in as usual to First Wave) played Birdhouse in Your Soul by They Might be Giants....hmmm...birdhouses...soul...

"...and while you're at it, keep the nightlight on inside the Birdhouse in your soul"

~They Might be Giants.

There just might not be anything sadder than languishing half-finished art...

It was a major tv night so I decided to just grab a few essentials and multi-task...

I liked the basic background of the WIP I grabbed so just added a few things like a birdcage cut from a poetry book, some punched vintage map and book circles, some coloured pencils and my ever-present charcoal pencil....lots of texture and scribbles later, I took the photo below...see my studio assistant in the background? :-)

I really thought she was done last night (other than a frame built around the outside) but I think she needs some words somewhere, I know that can be overdone but sometimes I think it's necessary to involve the viewer. I WILL finish this today though either way...

~brenda

Art Every Day #3

2010-11-04T00:16:00.001-04:00

Here is #3 in my Art Every Day Month, you can read more about AEDM here...

You can find it listed here....

~brenda

Art Every Day Month- #2

2010-11-02T21:22:00.002-04:00

You can read about it here. Art Every Day. One artistic piece each day. just one. I can do this.

#2 (well, my #1 since I just found out about it today)...

I decided to just push myself a little bit more with this.

1 hour, no waffling, no procrastination, no 'well, maybe I will leave it for another day to finish'...no hours searching for just the right paper or embelllishment.

1 hour.

I found this phrase (cut from a book) laying in a pile of papers on my desk. I decided it was a good one to start with.

I have quite a little stash of pretty girl images to choose from.

I chose this pensive looking miss...

A background to pick (I happened to have a bunch that were pre-painted or prepped). I decided she needed some sort of halo around her head so slipped a large circle cut from vintage tax reports behind her.

nope, neither worked for me, the Bingo card was too large, the music paper too bland.

the dark brown painted 4"x4" was just right.

My weapons of choice: gel medium (matte finish), charcoal pencil, micro pen, acrylic paints, a little darkening aorund the edges, a little yellow on the halo, a little white smudged in for atmosphere. Charcoal pencil sketchy-scribbled along the edges and around the halo adds a little emphasis.

Micro pen to sign the corner. A spray of matte finish and...

Voila!

time? 45 minutes, enough time to photograph and clean up my workspace.

You can find A Canter with Pegasus here.

see you tomorrow!

~brenda

I'm a Lazy Blogger

2010-07-22T22:45:00.001-04:00

I am, aren't I?
Don't even LOOK at the date of my last blog post, it'll make you roll your eyes.
That's why I'm going to invite you to become a fan of me on my Facebook page, cause THAT I keep updated.

and here's a little something new....

Available in my Etsy Store.

~brenda

Wordless Wednesday- Bloom- Modern Tulip Sterling & Sugilite Brooch

2010-03-31T18:30:00.002-04:00

View Here...

Blog Candy! Coptic Stitched Hand Bound Book Giveaway

2010-03-25T10:28:00.002-04:00

Sorry to keep you waiting! :-)

Recently I was asked about possibly doing a class locally on bookbinding, intrigued by the idea, I dug around in the archives (aka my studio) and uncovered a few coptic stitched books I did a couple years ago. I'm still debating about the classes but thought I'd offer up a book to my blog and Facebook readers!

handmarbled paper covers, 8 signatures of 8 double pages sketch book paper, black coptic stitched spine, 3"x4.5".

How to Win

Leave a comment on this blog post OR leave a comment on my Facebook Fan Page (under the post for this blog entry) for 1 entry.
Leave a comment on this blog post AND my Facebook Fan Page...get 2 entries.
Make a post on YOUR Blog and share my blog post...get an additional entry.
Share my Facebook Post on YOUR Facebook...get an additional entry! For each Share you do!

The Fine Print:

if you use different names on blogger and facebook, make sure you let me know it's you!
make sure I have a way to contact you when you win!
Giveaway is on for 2 weeks from today, so April 8th, midnight EST.
that's about it! so what are you waiting for? comment! ;-)

~brenda

Wordless Wednesday- Hand Dyed Butchers Twine

2010-03-24T18:11:00.001-04:00

Hand Dyed Cotton Butchers Twine

Wordless Wednesday- San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico

2010-03-17T13:51:00.001-04:00

Stay Tuned! Freebie Alert!

2010-03-14T21:57:00.002-04:00

A Ring A Day #14

2010-03-14T14:35:00.001-04:00

just for the record...I LOVE these rings! Surprisingly wearable and if you are a fidgeter (like me) sliding them back and forth is very tactile.

Stack of 3, I wanted to explore a non-round ring, with a beaded in between a square wire and a round. Comfy...coming soon to the shop. :-) These ones are shown fresh off the soldering pad (well, actually still ON the soldering pad) and not cleaned or polished...

Free Collage Images

2010-03-05T12:32:00.001-05:00

I'm posting a few new FREE collage images in my Emporium today, so I'm going to archive the ones I already posted here in case you missed them!

If you use them in published artwork and credit either the blog or the Emporium, let me know...I got a little gift for you! :-)

~brenda

Button Flower Bouquet

2010-03-04T22:44:00.002-05:00

(a little tutorial)

I bought a bunch of salt shakers a couple weeks back at a flea market but didnt notice till I got them home and went to run them through the dishwasher that one of the shakers still had salt in it AND the lid was so corroded from the years of salt and moisture that it was damaged. I couldn't even remove it to use the bottle itself. Now a lesser person might consider this garbage fodder but as we know already, I never throw anything away... :-P

Off to my button stash, I am just OCD enough to separate out my mother of pearl or shell buttons from the rest of the buttons, they're just special you know? I gathered them up along with some fine copper wire and my trusty pliers and cutters...

I found the copper wire was just a little too new and shiny looking next to the creamy coloured shell buttons so I mixed up a small batch of Liver of Sulphur and blackened the wire...no LOS?

If you boil an egg, crumble it up inside a plastic bag and lay your wire inside, you can get a similar effect, it just takes longer, sometimes a day or two.

I cut the wire roughly 2x how high I wanted the button 'flowers' to be, folded the wire gently in half, slipped the wire through a large and smaller button holes (you need to use either the 2 hole buttons or the 4 hole and go on an angle) and gave it a good twist under the buttons...keep twisting right to the end and snip off the ends to make it nice and neat.

Slip your flower stem into one of the holes of the salt shaker lid (I then eye-balled the length, I wanted a variety of heights to the 'flowers' so cut some wires shorter than the others etc)....fill in with more button flowers till you're happy with the arrangement!

I wasn't done yet ( of course I wasn't!)....to dress up the outside of the shaker, I cut a piece of vintage woven ribbon, used brown ink and letter stamps to spell out FLOWERS...I used a bit of doublestick tape to adhere it to the shaker, adding a couple vintage shell buttons as well.

in the end, I had a cute little item to sit on my shelf!

Are you needing shell buttons for your creations?

Keep an eye on my Emporium, I will be adding tons of new goodies in the next few days including vintage shell buttons! sweeeeet!

~brenda

Treasure Box in Pink

2010-03-01T10:04:00.002-05:00

A treasure box full of pink deliciousness for your crafting pleasure...

Check it out here!

everything but the kitchen sink! :-)

~brenda

ATC/ACEO Ledges Tutorial

2010-02-26T22:51:00.002-05:00

I guess not really a tutorial but more like a Show & Tell...
I have a bunch of these ledges from collecting old scrabble games at flea markets and yardsales for the scrabble tiles...rather then tossing them out, I try to find some unique ways to re-use them. I've shown you a couple in the past.

I used them to hold scrabble tiles for little inspirational messages in our bedroom here.

and I used them here to hold an ACEO of Bentley the Beagle...

I'm still adding artwork to my office/shipping room and saw the potential in the ledges for holding lightweight art like ACEO's, 4x4's and tags...to find the perfect way to adhere them to the wall, I sought out the glue aisle in the local Home Hardware and found double stick tape that can hold up to 11lbs!

A few tabs on the back, a mini level and presto! 3 tiers of ledges on the wall, room for a a few ACEO's or other slim artwork. And a couple more ledges out of a bin...

I'd like to see how YOU use the scrabble ledges...

~brenda

Itty Bitty Blue Egg Basket

2010-02-25T12:36:00.001-05:00

Remember the eggs from a few days ago? This is the idea I had for them!

Wordless Wednesday - ACEO by Christy DeKoning

2010-02-24T11:22:00.001-05:00

commission your own here...

Are they done? not sure...

2010-02-22T12:22:00.002-05:00

I'm just not sure....
I started these collages AGES ago...as in probably at least a year ago. I like to do a bunch of basic backgrounds at a time, set them aside then pull them out when inspiration strikes. So last night I dragged them downstairs along with a big jug of gel medium and a few little treasures I've had forever...the tintypes, pages from an antique photo album and a couple odds and ends.

Last night when I set them on the windowsill to dry, I thought they were done (other than building a frame around them)...I planned on framing, photo-ing and listing here today....now I'm not so sure.

I waffle between lavish abundance and restrained minimalism....I'm debating about adding some perfectly awesome rusty wire 'holding' the photo pages onto the canvas. Is that too over-the-top?

tell me? are they done?

~brenda

Today is PINK day!

2010-02-20T19:28:00.002-05:00

Remember yesterdays post? where I said I was looking for salt shakers? I had the day to myself and I decided to go to a flea market which is about an hour and a half away...where I haven't been since last summer....

and I found THESE! *heart goes pitter patter!*

PINK TOP salt shakers?!?! *dies a little* brand new, never been used, metal topped... I'm all in a ditther, should I keep them, should I sell them? My daughter told me to fill them with pearls or rhinestones and sell them that way...maybe I need to just look at them for a while longer.... ;-P

The theme today must be pink...I found these too!
Little 'daily bread' shaped PINK Bible verse cards...in FRENCH!?! how sweet!

I made this yesterday.... a little altered cardboard photo folder.... it has pink on it too.

the outside....

what colour was your day?

~brenda

Thrift Store Finds!

2010-02-19T18:45:00.001-05:00

I have really been a 'good' girl, one of my goals for this year was to edit my studio stash and limit myself at the thrift store. Other than a few little random things here and there, I havent really 'thrifted' in a while....like months! Considering at one time I did a weekly Junque Jaunt, that's pretty good! :-P

I've been on the hunt for more salt and pepper shakers like the ones that I use to keep my German Glass Glitter in, they look so pretty and the shaker tops make them handy to use.

So I thought I'd just check the local Goodwill and see what they had. Just for shakers...really...

No shakers were found but check out this 2 piece vintage blue lotus bowl set ... I intend to resell either in my Etsy store or in my new Emporium....but as I really, REALLY like the shape and the blue colour, there's a distinct possibility that you may see these holding paper clips on my desk or business cards at one of our CK Etsy Street Team trunk shows...

I am on the constant lookout for clear glass storage jars, I need to be able to see my goodies like ribbons or trims in order to actually use them!

So I was excited to find a lidded glass apothecary style jar for the whopping price of $1.49....I filled it for the photo below with the cutest blue and pink mini styrofoam eggs, I found them (and had to have them!) at Dollarama...

I have an idea for using them that I will share later in another post! But for now, they're in the perfect storage jar...

uh oh....I feel a "Junque Jaunt" coming on!

~brenda

Indie North Feature: Decadence 2

2010-02-18T12:53:00.001-05:00

Take a little run over to Indie North....an awesome website dedicated to profiling Indie CANADIAN businesses...

I'm honoured to be one of their featured businesses! how cool is that?

Click here to go to Indie North

~brenda

Wordless Wednesday - Velvet Ribbon

2010-02-17T14:45:00.001-05:00

A Ring A Day- Prey Turned Predator- Ring #13

2010-02-12T18:16:00.001-05:00

I'm now so behind I will never catch up but still...finding a new technique, a new style, a new material to fasten a ring from keeps me poking along...

#13. Prey Turned Predator features a short, blunt section of a deer antler and sterling silver.

(*note: deer SHED their antlers each year so no deer were harmed in the making of this ring!)

~brenda

Rested, Re-charged and Rarin' to Go!

2010-02-01T20:18:00.002-05:00

Where did January go? I have to admit, I spent most of it in my pajamas with hot cups of tea or coffee beside me. I even spent quite a bit of the month on the couch.

but...I wasnt lazing around, no siree-bob...I (as the title says) rested and re-charged!

I spent a fair bit of time fine-tuning an inventory system to keep track of where all my goodies were, I have a few local consignment contracts (see store listings to your right) and really didn't have a great system in place to know what piece was where (the hazard of having one of a kind items!)...so I sat on the couch, drank copious amounts of tea and watched way too many episodes of House, NCIS and my new fave NCIS LA....re-labeled every single pair of earrings, every necklace, pin, ring or bracelet with new packaging and tags and inventoried (with photos!) every single item on a spreadsheet on my laptop. phew!

See why I was in my pj's a lot?

I also separated the business from the pleasure...in my studio that is. My studio (isnt that a lofty sounding word?) is one of the bedrooms upstairs in our house, that room has been everything, once a livingroom for the apartment that was up there, then our master bedroom, then our daughters room and now my studio.

I had my shipping table and all my supplies for packaging and shipping in one corner....which was ok at first but now that I buy supplies in bulk like boxes and envelopes and want to leave my laptop up to work online...well, it just wasn't working anymore.

So I stole my son's old room, he had moved out last year and we had repainted but really hadn't decided what to do with the space, it's the usual type of room in these old houses...small! But we had put in a nice sized closet and a desk area for him and I could see the potential of a an office/shipping room.

I moved in last week, I love it already....my laptop sits on the desk, I have artwork, both my own and things traded in swaps or bought from other artisans, displayed over the desk on my shelves. All my finished items are stored here waiting to go off to their new homes....and I have a table just for packaging.

I'll post some more photos later but here is one of my manikin, she's wearing one of my mothers 50's party dresses and in the back you can see the window frame that used to be in one of our gothic windows....so cool!

Sometimes I even type out my Thank You's that go in my outgoing packages on the old typewriter...

~brenda

a few more photos of my new space....you can find these and more at Decadence 2

A Ring A Day - #10 & #11 & #12

2010-01-19T23:44:00.001-05:00

paper, copper, sterling, melted and fused glass...

~brenda

Dream It

2010-01-16T21:33:00.003-05:00

I keep a wooden bowl full of scrabble tiles on my dresser in the bedroom. When inspired to, I find a word hidden amongst the letters.

The bowl I found buried deep in a box that had come from my grandmothers house, it's entirely possible that it was made by my grandfather, a master woodworker...even if not, it's beautiful and useful...

~brenda

I posted this earlier, went about my evening and while putting away some clothes in the dresser, found this....

my husband had left this afternoon to go to Toronto (he flies out to Mexico early tomorrow morning for work) and I guess he thought he'd leave me a love note. :-)

~brenda

A Ring A Day - #7 #8 #9

2010-01-10T20:46:00.007-05:00

yeppers...already running behind...

it's really not the making of the rings, its the photography, editting and uploading to flickr and here on the blog that is bogging me down! I could happily make, make make all day...if I could only hire someone to actually put my stuff out there!

Ring #7- made from Faux Bone (tm), a unique product made from the same plastic in PVC pipe. I purchased the Faux Bone (tm) quite a while ago but this was my first opportunity to work with it, it was very different, I can see trying out some new ideas in the future.

Ring #8. A variation on the plexiglass ring, this one is in a different wedge shape and I deliberately froste the lower half of the ring and polished the upper for contrast. believe it or not, I can make a sterling silver soldered and forged ring faster then a plexiglass ring!

Ring #9...I had this sketched out forever...a tuft of silk fabric captured with a freshwater pearl in a bowl of sterling silver...yep, this one is going in MY jewellery box! :-)

~brenda

A Ring A Day - #5 & #6

2010-01-07T23:11:00.003-05:00

Ring #5 - Garnet & Sterling Silver
Ring #6 - Plexiglass
~brenda

A Ring A Day - #3 and #4

2010-01-05T10:53:00.003-05:00

Ring #3 Chocolate and Gold Ring

Royal Purple Icy Square Chocolate and 14K Gold wire...spontaneous design...

Ring #4 - Grandma's Modern Vintage Ring
Vintage wooden and crocheted button with copper and sterling silver...
~brenda

A Ring A Day - #2

2010-01-02T22:23:00.003-05:00

A Ring A Day.....
Day #2's ring is coiled from one continuous strip of embossed and flattened sterling wire.
I found the strip in the scrap pile on top of my bench, that's where I throw bits and pieces that still may have some usefulness (the real scrap sterling goes into a box for recycling!)...the ring is soldered at the overlap and oxidized and brushed for highlights.

A Ring A Day

2010-01-01T23:46:00.005-05:00

I never do this....but I did.

I signed up at a group on Flickr called A Ring A Day.

The premise of the group is to create a ring each and every day of January.

The rings can be made of anything, can be for sale or not...it's really an exercise in creativity and also to get motivated to create, I don't know about you but January is full of the blahs for me. So I jumped in, skidded in just before midnight with the first thing I have made in 2010...

I like it...it's on my finger and I may not take it off for a while.
~brenda

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-29T12:04:00.005-05:00

Thank you for being here, may the next year be one of peace, happiness and joy...for all of us!

~brenda

Caged Heart Pod Necklace- Coral and Oxidized Sterling Silver

2009-11-30T11:16:00.006-05:00

Woven from sterling silver.

one of a kind. just like you...

~brenda

Holiday Trunk Sale @ Eve Chocolatier

2009-11-21T19:07:00.005-05:00

This coming Thursday you can find me here!
The Chatham-Kent Etsy Team is hosting a Holiday Trunk show at Eve Chocolatier @ 14 King St West. Pick up a few chocolatey goodies and browse through a plethora of goods from local crafters & artisans!

Besides MOI with my sterling & gemstone jewellery, there will be crocheted gifts, tote bags, bookmarks, gifts for children, holiday ornaments and gorgeous artwork available and much more...

To meet the rest of the CK Etsy Team, slide on over to http://ckhandmademarket.blogspot.com and see who's who.

Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter, sent out about once a month, easy to read and chockful of new items to peruse, tips and updates....signup box to your right. --------------->

~brenda

FREE Sterling Silver Hoop Earrings

2009-11-03T21:32:00.004-05:00

Each and every purchase in my Decadence 2 online store receives a pair of Modern Sterling Silver Hoop Earrings (value $7.00) for the month of November!

A nice little treat for yourself or a bonus Christmas gift for someone special?

~brenda

Scarves, Wraps and Neckwarmers

2009-10-18T22:56:00.007-04:00

I had to do it. I opened a new store on Etsy just for my crocheted and felted wearables! I really felt (no pun intended) that they needed their own store and as I like to say, I don't like my peas and carrots to touch!

So, introducing WARMLY....my store full of soft, warm, snuggable wraps and scarves.

~brenda

Opulent Artisan Textile Cuffs

2009-10-13T15:20:00.008-04:00

I have 3 creative loves....metal...paper...and fabric. I've had the itch to play with fabrics lately, must be the cooler weather (or the piles of fabrics in my studio?). Newly fresh from tattered and well-loved textiles are these cuffs, available only in my PurplePeony store....

I hope you like them as much I liked making them! :-)

I love collecting little bits of fabrics and trims and lovely little broken, tattered pretties and treats...and combining them in something unique and one of a kind!

~brenda

FREE Sterling Silver Stacking Ring

2009-10-02T11:02:00.006-04:00

*October Special*

For the month of October, I'm offering a FREE Sterling Silver Stacking Ring for every purchase over $25.00 in value (before shipping and taxes)! The ring is valued at $12 alone.

Why not start (or finish?) your Holiday shopping early and get a little treat for yourself?

or as a bonus gift?

(please tell me your ring size in the 'message to seller' box when checking out)

and yes, I will honour this on my regular website as well (http://decadence2.com/).

Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String...

2009-08-14T18:36:00.006-04:00

...are one of my favourite things....

which is why I picked this for my new packaging...along with a pledge for more 'eco' packaging without compromising my rather persnickityness (sure it's a real word) for eye-pleasing prettiness....

inside...your next piece of jewellery wrapped in blue tissue (my persnickityness).

outside... 100% recycled kraft coloured jewellery boxes tied with butchers string (the eco)...

Simply Beautiful...

~brenda

Lavender Fields Forever

2009-08-10T10:28:00.005-04:00

I finally got out to harvest my lavender a few weeks ago...it was starting to take over the doorway to the boutique and needed a little trimming back.

There is no way to mechanically harvest lavender so it forces one to slow down, clip each stem, inhale the fragrance, admire the tiny perfection of the flowers and listen to the lazy drone of the bees.

Laid out in our front window to dry, the lavender was piled high....and this was from 2 plants!

I have 11 more out in the garden (planted last fall)...I may be in the 'lavender business' in a couple years at this rate! :-)

~brenda

Altered Art Jewellery on Etsy

2009-07-29T09:53:00.005-04:00

It's been a while but my piles and piles of broken jewellery has been beckoning to me...I have lots of 'plans' in my head for my treasures, I wish I had the time to go along with my plans!

I did manage to finish a few WIP's (works in progress), pieces that I've started and put on the back burner for one reason or another.

I now have one of my worktables buried in broken shoe clips, strings of rhinestones and various other jewellery debris....*sigh* I guess the Studio Cleaning Faeries aren't coming again this week!

Most of these can be found in my JustaBrenda store...there are a few shown here that I haven't listed yet...but I will! :-)

It's kind of fascinating to sort through old jewellery, I imagine most of what I have is anywhere from the very early 1900's to around the '60's or so. I can remember sitting on my mother's bed while she got ready to go out with my dad to a dance or banquet. She'd pick out her dress then sort through her jewellery box for just the right pieces to wear.

Do we spend that much time today to dress? I don't know about you but most days, I end up pulling on a pair of jeans (you know, the ones that fit) and whatever t-shirt is handy.

Jewellery? Well, confession here....even though I MAKE jewellery, I don't tend to wear much....except rings....rings excite me, especially now that I can MAKE rings that fit my tiny little fingers!...

I think maybe if I could wear and fit into a dress like the one on Esmeralda here (one of my mothers teen dance dresses from the 40's), I would do my grocery shopping in it! lol

~brenda

Studio Tour- Version 1

2009-07-21T22:52:00.005-04:00

My studio is my sanctuary...when life gets rough and I retreat to my room, even if I am too wound up to work on a project, just re-arranging all my little bits of tinsel & treasures seems to have a calming effect...like a little reassurance that 'this too shall pass' and 'life goes on'...

Not too many people have been inside my studio. I think my family is afraid of it. They tend to stand at the doorway and talk to me, on the rare occasion that a family member comes inside, they shortly get a glazed over look on their face and I've caught them mumbling something that sounds like 'fire hazard'...and...'tooooo much stuff'....

How is that possible?!?! To have too much stuff???? I don't think so! ;-)

~brenda

Relics- Desmond Art Show Submission

2009-07-01T11:55:00.005-04:00

I submittted yesterday...with less than an hour to spare...when I dropped off the photo cd and information I was informed that (not surprised- artists are notorious for being procrastinators) I was not the only one submitting last minute!

I did NOT get my 2nd submission done, it never made it past the 'collect the artifacts' stage...oh well, it'll be done for next years show (or perhaps I will finish it and submit it to ARTspace)...

As promised, here are the photos of Relics, the piece I DID submit (please note: submitting doesn't mean I'm automatically in the show, matter of fact, I expect to NOT be in the show this year because of what I submitted...a 'craft' rather than a 'fine art' piece.

There is still a thought that art should never be useable or practical, that it should just 'BE'... we'll see.)

Sorry for the kind of blurry first photo, our house has NO white walls! I had to hang printer paper (almost put 'typing paper' how old-skool!) and it wasn't easy getting even a halfway decent shot...

Relics consists of two pieces of work that display together:

Relic No. 1: A necklace made from recycled sterling silver, beach pebble, vintage photograph and a watch lens.

Relic No. 2: discarded fence post, silverware and a vintage brass overall clip...

Artists Statement:

'I watch the ripples change their size

but never leave the stream

of warm impermanence

So the days float through my eyes

but still the days seem the same'

~David Bowie

Summers filled with swimming, pebble skipping, collecting, sand castle building.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Glimpse Into The Past- Desmond Art Show Submission teaser photo

2009-06-23T12:37:00.006-04:00

I'm definitely a 'last minute Lucy'...it doesn't matter HOW much I plan to not procrastinate, I usually end up with a deadline looming and either work into the wee hours of the night desperately ...or I give up and let the deadline pass....again.

I now have 7 days before the deadline for the Desmond Juried Art Exhibition & Sale here in Ridgetown ......I have 2 works that I wanted to submit...one is totally done (not photographed yet though) and the other is still slightly in the conceptual stage.

I thought I'd post a teaser photo of the finished one.

I told you it was a teaser! ;-P
I'll just say it combines my love for found treasures, repurposing, vintage AND wearable art.

Welcome

2009-06-23T12:31:00.003-04:00

Greetings and Salutations!

Welcome to my new blog, a fresh direction, a little swerve off the main drag, rumbling down the sideroad and across country...need a ride?

You can still read the stale stuff HERE.