studio thursday: Canada Day prep

Just a heads up for all you locals - I will be plying my trade/selling my creative works in the Artisan Village at the City of Coquitlam's annual Canada Day celebration around Lafarge Lake on Friday. The festivities kick off at 12 noon and culminate with a grand fireworks display at 10.30pm. Local businesses will be providing food and information, and there is oodles of entertainment on tap :)

I'll have the fine silver maple leaf pendants for sale, as well as some of my new wire and fibre mixed media art pieces.
Hope to see you there.

Full entertainment listing here.

wordless wednesday: scribbles

Bloom Fort Langley

Bloom Fort Langley: "Bloom Fort Langley: '

The Bloom Market runs again in Fort Langley on Sunday, 19th July - Father's Day!
I'll be there with a host of other amazingly talented indie artisans.
Come celebrate the start of summer :)

Market opens at 11am in the Fort Langley Community Hall at 9167 Glover Road, and runs until 5pm. Admission = $2 for adults (children free).

'

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Go Canucks, Go!

Go Canucks, Go!: "

from Sunday's face painting with Kristal

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Don't Forget: Father's Day Is Coming Up

... and a peek at what other artists in my community are doing (from the blog I run as part of the co-operative)

Don't Forget: Father's Day Is Coming Up: "

Still Creek Skiff by Tracy Riddell, wood intarsia puppy by Del Holbrook

Don't forget, Father's Day is coming up soon (that's Sunday, 19th June to be precise). Although dads can be a little trickier to buy for, not all of them want a laz-e-boy recliner (or however it's spelt in the flyers arriving since mid May) or golf equipment.

by Pat de Couto

Why not take a trip to your friendly neighbourhood artisan artist co-operative gift shop (yes, that's us) for some truly original one-of-a-kind handmade gift choices? We have some great wood intarsia art, stunning driftwood carvings and even some classy sterling silver cufflinks on offer.
As your one-stop gift buying experience, we also have re-usable cloth gift bags and a selection of art cards to complete your purchase.

by Amanda Maxwell

Happy Father's Day - we're better than furniture!

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Music in the Park, Sunday June 12th

...and when I'm not making jewelry or working on a mixed media piece, I make simple websites and design posters!
If you're in the V3H this morning and don't know what to do, why not come down to Blakeburn Park for some music :)

Music in the Park, Sunday June 12th: "

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Bloom Fort Langley

The Bloom Market runs again in Fort Langley on Sunday, 19th July - Father's Day!
I'll be there with a host of other amazingly talented indie artisans.
Come celebrate the start of summer :)

Market opens at 11am in the Fort Langley Community Hall at 9167 Glover Road, and runs until 5pm. Admission = $2 for adults (children free).

fibre friday: cotton for the summer

studio portrait thursday: june 9th, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

Experimenting with some cotton and silks crochet on bubble chain - necklaces should be ready for the Bloom market in Fort Langley on Father's Day :)

studio portrait thursday: june 9th

studio portrait thursday: june 9th, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

It's all about prepping for class today. On the bench, notes, notes and more notes for my upcoming teens' summer classes at Place des Arts. Five days of hard work, three different jewelry-making techniques and quite a few projects to tackle. Whew!

wordless wednesday: World Oceans Day

1. beach bracelet jellyfish (fine silver charms, glass, pearls and argentium wire), 2. ACEO beach scene - mixed media sketch on wire mesh, 3. life's a beach pendant (scottish sea glass pendant with fine silver shell charm, 4. tidepool embrace brooch (mixed media with claw-set scottish sea glass on nickel silver)

In honour of World Oceans Day, a $5 donation from each sale will be made to a local sealife rehabilitation program charity, the Marine Mammal Rescue unit of the Vancouver Aquarium. Please leave a comment below if you need further information :)

beach stranded bracelet ($85)

"life's a beach" ACEO (mounted on a 6x6" cradled panel, $75)

"life's a beach" scottish sea glass and fine silver pendant ($85)

chain length

16 inch 18 inch

tidepool mixed media art brooch ($55)

Please note, shipping is extra (please see my Policies page for details).

friday forte: giving on empty

from my other blog, and some of the digital art i'm exploring :)

friday forte: giving on empty: "

One of the worst things about not knowing what I want to do and not having a clue about how to go about it anyway, is spending every day at home, trying to stay busy and maintain purpose. I had a huge drop in confidence, wondering what the heck I was thinking of so I quietly let the intern idea just die a slow, unnoticed death. Since then, I've been trying to get as much chocolate into me as possible in an effort to make some sense out of my world. Yes, I know I'll have to bite the bullet and push myself Out There into the land of work experience and 'real work' but till then I'll hide away.

One of the best things about not having purposeful aka salaried employment is having time on my hands. Earlier this year, my son's former ECE teacher was diagnosed with rapidly progressing ALS complicated by fronto-temporal dementia. She's 29 years old and dying. She has three children, the oldest is five years, and a loving husband wondering how on earth he's going to cope. Melissa and I lost touch when my wee guy started kindergarten, but another friend, the amazing Tammy, kept up the friendship and since learning the news has become a one-woman fundraising machine. She's already achieved over 1088 orders for cookie dough pails, and has a Zumba evening, silent auction, and Music in the Park day lined up.


... which is where little old stay-at-home me comes in. I donated a website, 4melissa.blogspot.com, so that Tammy can centralise the event information and keep her volunteers updated. I've also added a Donate Now button and linked it to a new PayPal account. If I can't donate money I can still give my time and skills to help a couple of friends. Good luck Tammy. Good luck Melissa.

So go! What's stopping you? Check out the website - see where you can help too.

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fibre friday: something light for the summer

wire crochet cuff with organza and silks embroidery overlay

Something fibre-y for the weekend, for this weekend's craft fair to be exact. Felted fibre doesn't fit the bill for summer - too dense and whiskery - so how about some delicate organza on an airy wire mesh cuff? The organza is wired and embroidered to the meshwork beneath, or you could wear it reversed! The embroidery is a cross between skookumchuk whorls and floral garden embroidery (seems to be a recurring theme this year!).

Care Notes
The organza is unhemmed, meaning it will fray slowly, giving the piece a gentle shabby chic look over the years. Wash gently by hand if necessary.

This cuff is, so far, one of a kind. It will be making it's debut at Fab Fair tomorrow. (warning: it's a small).

studio portrait thursday june 2nd

A glimpse - if you can spot it under the beads and WIPs - of my bench as it is today. This is the result of dismantling one exhibit in the middle of prepping for a craft fair. I have pieces which need to be inventoried and inventory which needs to be labeled for sale. There aren't many new pieces, though you may spot some new beaded mesh cuffs lurking near the pearls. My creative block seems to be lifting - it's like shafts of sunlight creeping into a room. I have some new ideas I want to try out :)

wordless wednesday: yes, there's another craft fair this weekend