all set for another craft fair

Summer has well and truly arrived here in Lower Mainland (just in time for Canada Day yay!) so ebb and flo summer goodies will be making a local appearance at the Mommies on Main craft fair weekend in Vancouver BC.

Check out the awesome flyer on the left and have a peek at who's selling by visiting the website too.

I've got a frothy concoction of summery wire crochet in blues, lime and pink to complete your summer wardrobe and will be introducing some of my newer metalwork pieces, inlcuding the fine silver artclay 'ebb' range.

Drop by and say 'Hi' if you're in the area. Admission is only $2 (children are free) with a dollar of that going to YWCA programs for single moms.

PS: Let's hope this summery weather is here to stay for a while, I'm getting tired of rain!

what does ebbandflo sound like?

making art clay slip or paste
Originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama

Well, you know what her fingers look like - so play the video and find out what her voice sounds like!

Here I'm crushing (or recycling) a piece of dried art clay silver for my slip or paste jar. Nothing is ever wasted in the art clay world, even dust can be collected from filing and added to the slip jar.

From here, the slip can be used to 'glue' on bails or help embed wire into a design, to fill in cracks once a piece is dry or to cover a leaf or seedpod in paste as seen in this finished piece.

For instructions on how to complete this similar project see Tammy Powley's excellent new book, Picture Yourself Creating Metal Clay Jewelry . Tammy is also selling some of her gorgeous fine silver creations in her new Etsy Crafty Princess shop,

poppies by the cottage

poppies by the cottage, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

another picnicked photo from flickr

(but aren't holidays always meant to be so much more colourful than real life?

let's go fly a kite

let's go fly a kite, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

A rare picture - me on holiday.

Rare because I'm usually in charge of the camera (and mr ebb rarely takes photos of me, or rarely takes pics of me which i would make public) (but not for those reasons oh ye gutter dweller).

PS: I am not saluting or trying some strange yoga pose - I'm flying the world's most unbalanced pocket kite in a fairly stiff breeze. And it won't stay up!*

Still having a great holiday.


*Oh gutter-minded one - grow up!

BC ferries in Active Pass

BC ferries in Active Pass, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

still on holiday and still relaxing!

passing the time either hiking, eating, swimming or giggling over the latest etsybitch post

nice to check in every now and then to see that the Etsy world keeps turning in its wacky little orbit while I'm offline.

making a splash

making a splash, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

It was warm enough to spend the afternoon in the pool. The wee guy perfected his diving and splashing routine, and mr. ebb tanned the baldness that covers the top of his head.

He is now a beacon of light and I will probably get no sleep tonight.*

So far (day one and counting) the holiday is going well. We're staying in a gorgeous little cottage on a cliff above Otter Bay. This morning we went to the local farmers' market (where everything for sale is maked, baked or growed on Pender Island) to stock up on yummy goat cheese from Iona Farms and delicious Polish cheesecake from Ewa.

Sadly, the bottle of red wine is no more.
Even more sadly, the chocolate cake vanished in a trail of crumbs last night.

I've started knitting a stripey jumper for the wee guy's bear, expect to see progress reports every now and then.



* This will be light-induced, glowing skull insomnia rather than any other kind of insomnia that ye of filthy minds are thinking of.

wine and chocolate = on holiday

wine and chocolate = on holiday, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

At last, I'm on holiday.

Normal service will not be resumed for a while but meanwhile stay tuned for some vacation posting.

Bon appetit.

slainte

so not a domestic goddess

so not a domestic goddess, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

... or possible Kali in her destructive form?

this is what happens when you twice bake peaches!

= toffee

I hope my dishwasher can get the resulting goo off.

gluten-free rich chocolate cake

Just finished making this as a birthday cake for Mr. ebb and thought I would share it with you. It's gluten free since the flour is replaced with ground almonds.

ingredients;
9oz plain chocolate
6oz butter or marg
4oz caster (fine) sugar)
7oz ground almonds
4 eggs, separated
5 tbsp apricot conserve

Preheat oven to 350F/180C/gas 4
Grease and line an 8½ inch cake tin (spring form if poss).
Melt 6oz of the chocolate.
Cream 4oz of the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy, then combine with the ground almonds, egg yolks and melted chocolate.
Whisk egg whites until stiff and fold into the chocolate mixture. Pour into the tin and bake for 50-55 minutes until firm to the touch.
Leave for a few minutes in the tin then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
Coat top of cake with apricot conserve.
Melt remaining butter and chocolate together. Beat smooth and coat top of cake, allowing mixture to run down the sides.

Bon appetit!

if you have a spare female elephant beetle ....

..... please get in touch with Linton Zoo in the UK.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7433077.stm

Thank you

withered flower

withered flower, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

for a new series of sentimental cards "thinking of you ....." which are along the same lines as the abysmal fridge poetry series ie. a thinly veiled insult

other cards in the series will feature a dying ornamental pepper plant (from the "i tried but it died" gardening series), cat poo (!) and some mould from my aquarium.

no home should be without a set (eventually)

faberge earrings

faberge earrings, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

in copper wire crochet and fabulous freshwater pearls

now for sale here.

Yes, I've finally opened my Big Cartel shop - and it was incredibly easy. I loaded a banner, store avatar and a couple of products all in two hours with very little scrabbling around for information or help.

... and it looks quite sweet, with the same kind of minimal uncluttered look that I love about Etsy (but without the hassle, politics, policies, frustrations, etc. which I hate).

The matching cuff is for sale here.

Wh faberge?
The first faberge cuff I made was for a charity auction. When I checked the photograph the first thought which sprang to mind was how much like a bejewelled faberge egg it looked .... and the name stuck!

reflections part 1

reflections part 1, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

..... or my quest to photograph my shiny projects (or push me into making everything with a matte finish) continues!

I took these using a masked off flash (used an opaque piece of white plastic over the flash bulb). Turned to the side, this method worked as there was very little glare back into the lens and more of the copper fusing detail is apparent.


When I tried the same thing in my very primitive white box (ahem, it's not yet even a box but I'm working on it!) the flash really bounced back - either mask out the flash more or work on another work around methinks!

sterling silver posts with fused copper inlay and facetted glass dangles (not quite for sale yet - must get off my butt and list some pieces!)

studio reorganisation - this is where I work

studio reorganisation, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

... and I'm hoping this leads to better productivity.
Ho ho ho!

I've taken away the huge tower which overshadowed my computer desk and made some more accessible storage.

I can dream I suppose!

In reality I'm up to my armpits in trying to sort out credit card processing for pomo mama design. The last craft fair I took part in hammered home that my realistic pricing is now out of the 'cash in pocket' bracket and into the 'need to use plastic' department (at least I'm hoping that's what it is!). I've been wading thru merchant agreements, deciphering contracts, sourcing knucklebusters and searching for low cost chequing accounts. I think I'm ready to take the next step.

Wish me luck!

yay for babysitters!

We finally found a babysitter for the wee guy.

correction: we were finally brave enough to get a babysitter for our wee guy

in translation: Mr. ebb and I finally went out on a date to the movies together to watch something other than Charlotte's Web (which was a great movie BTW - I've never cried over a spider before) or Happy Feet (also a good movie but with no pecs to drool over).

... and what did we choose to go see? It was a close run competition between the new Indiana Jones movie and another unfeasible fantasy fest

Marvel comics won out in the end, and quite rightly too!




... and the wee guy adores his babysitter (thank you C if you are reading this!) so much that on the morning after her first visit he scoured the house looking for her and was inconsolable at not finding her!