custom projects to tingle the taste buds

Just finished this gorgeous sea glass bracelet, a custom project for an Etsy buyer. It's very like the necklace I made for myself using sea glass and wiring for the first time (see blog post here).

The bracelet is now listed at ebb and flo so I get to sit all nervous in front of my screen until the transaction is completed.

I've never acted professionally (as in on the stage or in films!!!) but have heard that each performance can be like putting something of your personal life out there in the open. I get the same feeling whenever I complete a custom project. No matter how controlled or free reign the design is, I still feel that sense of worry, "Will they like me/it?"

This is another custom project completed today (and requested today too!). It's a wire crochet necklace using sea glass and incorporating pearls, white howlite, glass, green jade, aquamarine and some shell beads. And yes, I'm still just as nervous about this one even though the buyer has already ordered and bought one from me before!

Hopefully she's picking it up this evening.

I call this kind of wire crochet design "constellations" since it holds the tiny bead and charms in orbit around you.

... and PS

if this has whetted your appetite for wiring up your own sea glass creation then check out the chunks I have listed at ebb and flo

woot! woot! treasury time .... again!

Yesterday I was in three treasuries on Etsy at once!!!! I'm always completely tickled by this, that someone out there has seen my stuff and like it enough to put it into their list. So three yesterday was pretty amazing and they were all gorgeous, well thought out treasury lists. Big thanks to glass maestra liskidder, the awesome cindyg and purpleflowerdesigns.

.. and so today when I take my wander thru treasury I see another big fat gold star! UniqueDeb has put my sea glass pendant on her wish list and included it with a bunch of other amazing Etsy goodies in a stunning list. Big thanks Deb! You made my day today.

PS: more screenshots and treasury thoughts here.
PPS: just listed a custom sea glass wire crochet choker from my constellations range in my Etsy shop tonight.

homegrown

homegrown
Originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

I'm having a love/hate relationship with this cufflink order right now. I've never worked so intensively with sterling silver wire before and it is freaking me out. I got wholesale rates so it's actually less expensive than the first plated wire I bought from a craft shop but there seems to be so much more to it. I've also been torturing myself looking at other cufflink designers and their work, and then looking at my amateur attempts! Oh my!
I've also had a tortuous relationship with the stones choices I suggested. Carnelian has vanished from the face of Vancouver and my other choices no longer come in the shapes I wanted. Ya boo.

Does anyone else look at their work and hate it?

(but i'm very pleased with my herbs planter - apart from the basil everything else is thriving)

PS: just got an email back from the customer and she's going to look over my suggestions this evening!

PPS: click on the flickr links to get back to the original pic for some explanations of what you can see

man in motion 2007

man in motion 2007
Originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is Rick Hansen wheeling himself up Thermal Drive in Port Moody, BC on the 20th anniversary of his round the world man-in-motion tour.

Thermal Drive is bl**dy steep and I certainly wouldn't want to cycle up it (or down it come to think of it) let alone wheel up it like this.

When Rick was 15 he broke his back in a car accident and has been a paraplegic ever since. He has dedicated his life since then to raising awareness for spinal cord injury research and rehabilitation.

The wee guy and I went out today to see him 'celebrate' his homecoming final leg from 20 years ago.

I am humbled (and the wee guy thinks Rick is cool)

my favourite time of day?

bedtime story from mum's POV
Originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

bedtime stories with the wee man, pyjamas all round and toasty toes.
good night and sleep well

what the best dressed mannequin is wearing today

what the best dressed mannequin is wearing today
Originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

(I am sooooo loving the new-to-me "blog it' function from flickr!)

Introducing Lisa, my model and muse. She patiently waits while I drape all manner of goodies around and over her, infinitely adjusting and fussing with them as another "design" takes shape. She never complains or fidgets, and at the end of the day is happy to act as a bag or hat stand, clothes rack or necklace design board.

Lisa - I salute you!

detail from Is it spring yet? necklace

fashion file: Lisa is currently wearing a handmade couture (!) halter neck evening dress in peachy mock silk topped with a thrufted linen mandarin collar jacket in bue chambray, accessorised with Is it Spring yet? opera length necklace and annihilation polymer clay and blackstone choker. Outfit completed with upcycled jeans bag, lined and zipped with external cell phone pocket accssible thru the fly!

addendum in response to a comment;

The necklace was inspired by another Etsy seller on the Etsyseller yahoo group who was aksing about lengths for an opera length necklace she had been asked to make. That and the expiring of a necklace listing gave me enough push to try a long necklace. The day I started was excessively cloudy and raining - and I had given up on spring. Hence the 'white' theme in the beads used, all spares or new acquisitions, and some odd lengths of chain. Once finished it looked too white! There was no focal point until a couple of amazonite beads rolled to the front of the tray - perfect for the longed for green shoots of spring.

the Vancouver Etsy chicks coffee and chat afternoon

the Vancouver Etsy chicks
Originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

What a blast I had this afternoon with these amazing and vibrant ladies!
We met at The Grind on Main and put the world to rights.
Thank you to tanisalexis, cicifactory, patchworkpottery (who won the nametage competition), seejayneknityarn, cindyg and quirke for a great afternoon off from preschooler-taming (and big thanks to The Man for some babysitting!)

summertime ...

Summer is officially here!

I have a pot of basil growing on my windowsill (but for how long??)

I wish this was scratch and sniff cos the plant smells divine. I love basil and always try to have fresh for the summer. Wish this little plant luck! though it's not too desparate as the local garden centre is getting stocks in thru out the summer. We'll definitely be back there almost weekly as the wee guy has fallen in love with the koi carp in the pool there. They almost hurl themselves out at his feet in excitement of a possible feed (not sure if they want him or just the pellets he's been given by the shop owner).

Incidentally, basil was Herb of the Year in 2003!

fibre porn ........

Had lunchtime with the awesome Tanis, one half of mwahcreations and solo 'half' of her new venture on Etsy and the most inspiring fibre queen in PoMo!!

We chatted, nattered, gossipped, discussed and bitched (only a little) and generally put the world to rights.

Before she left she replenished my fibre porn stash ............ aaaaaaaaaaaah! Click the title for more details.

rufusandroxy's extra beads ........

may 13 beads 083
Originally uploaded by rufusandroxy.

...... and all I can think of is how nice it would be to roll around in them!

rufusandroxy makes the most amazing lampworked glass beads. i have several pairs in my stash so i'll post pics when i know what i'm going to do with them.

calamansi

calamansi
Originally uploaded by nadiralamrad.

Apart from making my mouth water when I look at this (sucking a lime or lemon in front of a clarinet player will cause them to drool and thus lose embouchure) I just love the composition and colours in this picture!

See more in this week's theme in Dramatic Colour - Bold, Bright, Intense! on flickr.

another out tray post ..

Well, I thought you might be interested in what I do with my crafty time!!! You don't have to read or anything if you don't want

(pouts)

On Sunday I worked on a cufflink order (click on the title of this post for details). I had the house to myself as the wee guy and daddy were out on a mammoth bike ride. So it was just me, some blackstone, seaglass and other assorted beads plus 20 feet of half hard sterling silver wire. After about an hour my fingernails looked like hey had been working with half hard wire. On Tuesday I'm heading off to Mountain Gems for some soft to complete the wiring!!

In the peace and quiet I worked out some new wiring patterns to cope with some other shapes of gemstone and beads. Used silver plated artistic wire for the mock ups which was a lot easier on the fingers and the results were pretty good too.

My out tray for today!

It's not good to start the day with a grrrrrrrr so here's what's in my out tray for shipping today, a collection of polymer clay flower pendants and some matching cards heading off to my mum for her garden openings in June and July. Hopefully they'll raise some funds for the two charities she and dad are supporting this year.

Otherwise feeling a bit gloomy today cos of yesterday's news, hoping to pick myself up with a haricut this afternoon and maybe some sun.

Stay tuned!

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ............................

OK rant time.

On Tuesday I completely screwed up the whole family's evening by attending the jury for the upcoming Coquitlam Farmers' Market (as well as taking a sizeable chunk of time away from my normal domestic duties to prepare for it too). I arrived on time, nervous, handed over my basket of goodies for judging and was told to return at 7.30pm instead of 8pm when jurying should be completed.
DH, wee man and I toddled off to a local pizza place for dinner.
At 7.30pm I was back at the jury room. At 7.50pm I eventually got my basket back and yippee! I was approved!

Happy dance! A regular selling venue for the summer ....... so I bought a new folding table and stocked up on some chocs for the market on Mothers' Day which I had signed up for.

Made my banner ("sellers will be warned for not having a banner") and thought about some new business cards. Feverishly made some more inventory. Turned down an offer for a table at a craft fair this weekend in Vancouver. Got excited.

Then this evening the market co-ordinator phones. "We're sorry but all our dates are full for jewelry so we don't have any space for you."

Well thanks a bunch. Thanks a big fat f***ing bunch!

It turns out that the market takes bookings from the previous year's sellers first before opening up for other vendors. So when I juried earlier this week jewelry was already full. What a huge waste of time.

So I'm expecting to get my cheques back real soon but probably no compensation for the market I turned down because I thought I was committed elsewhere. Stoopid me!

get ebb and flo goodies fresh on mintd ....

... and there I am, snuggled up to such mighty online personae as liskidder, simonewalsh, supastarr and brookemedlin - all amazing Etsy sellers too, to name but a few!

I'm still trying to work out what to do with the ebbandflo Mintd store and what to put in it. Currently it has five items, one Etsy reject and four new Mintd exclusives. Stay tuned ....

Today I've also been working on a new business

card design. Being muted on Etsy last month was a big kick in the pants to get my eggs out of the one basket they currently reside in but it does now mean that I need some new promtional stuff. Right now this entails using the blog as a central linking area for my online shops.