What crawls, freaks most people out, and usually has eight eyes and eight legs?

Spiders of course! Even the scarediest of scaredy cats can appreciate the aesthetics of a spider around the time of Samhain - or as us Westerners call it, Halloween! I've created some new lovelies with a new design that I call "Itsy Bitsy Spiders" which are significantly smaller than my other beaded spider designs. These Itsy Bitsy Spiders are around 2 inches in length and about 1 inch in width and can be made into a pin or a necklace. I've even added pedipalps (mouth parts, actually kind of like legs that pull the food into the mouth of the spider)!

Although my Itsy Bitsy Spiders do really try to mimic the aesthetic qualities of their real-life counterparts, I've also gone and created some other spider-inspired accessories which dwell in the realm of pure make-believe. They are actually kind of cute, in a Kawaii sort ot way. Kitchy, creepy in concept, yet kind of cute. So how about it? Do you want a scoop of "Spiders and Cream?" The ice cream cone is made of felt which is embellished with blanket stitching around its edges and glass seed beads have been individually sewn on one by one to create sprinkles - Hand-sewing; not a fan, let me tell you! It also features a tiny version of my beaded spiders which has also been hand-sewn onto the felt. The ice cream cone has been backed with 2 layers of stiff felt and features a safety brooch pin which has been hand-sewn (yet again) onto it. This is definately a way to wear spiders in a cutesy way. Even the arachnophobe in your life can wear one of these without squirming.

Pet Portrait Charms!

It's no secret. I am an animal lover. I'm a visual art major. I am also a Pitbull owner in Ontario, Canada - essentially "no-man's land" for these dogs. So I've combined my passion for these things and decided to offer pet portraits on a smaller scale using good ol' fashioned colored pencils, shrink plastic, and a quality sealer. When I first finsihed up my major in Visual Art, I was a bit put off by anything related to drawing or painting. This may have had something to do with the fact that I was producing at least 3 pieces a week which was creatively exhausting. When you are forced to pour out works that usually aren't interesting to your right brain, you get tired of it pretty fast. Drawing pets has really helped me rediscover that visual artist that I thought was either dead or suffering from some kind of depression deep down inside my mind.

The great thing about these pet portraits is that you get to wear them close to your heart as a pin/brooch or on a necklace. Your child can bring a little momento of fido to school attached to his backpack zipper as a charm. Better yet you can even get a portrait of your pet for your keys or your rearview mirror which I can assure you will leave you guilt stricken whenever you leave the house and leave your furry friend behind.

I've also decided to donate a portion of each sale of these to the Dog Legislation Council of Canada's legal fund which has been established to fight the Pitbull ban in Ontario, Canada. To date I have been able to donate over $127 solely through the sale of these. It may not seem like much, but it's definately something!

Soldering: They key is to not touch the hot part!

It has been raining a whole lot lately. Rain and creativity have always gone hand in hand for me. That might have something to do with the fact that I don't much feel like going out on rainy days so I would rather stay in and make something! So I decided that this weekend was the weekend that I would try my hand at soldering jewelry. I fired up the soldering iron, cut up my copper foil tape into strips, clipped a few sticks of solder, and got my flux all ready to go. I had my spot all set up like a pro. Then I very clumsily ran my hand into the smoldering hot tip of the soldering iron! Ouch! Regardless, the show must go on and so it did. It was jolly good fun but here's an important tip for those of you who are thinking about trying this out at home: Don't touch the iron because it sizzles your skin like eggs on the pavement on an August afternoon! Yikes. Another great tip is to head on over to your local Canadian Tire (if you're Canadian eh?) and check out the clamps section in one of the tool isles. They sell this really neato little clamp with a suction cup at the bottom which is perfect for holding your piece as you solder. They'll run you about $2 CAD.

I also went ahead and tried soldering around some etched mirror pendants I was dying to get started. It was a great success! High five!

I even got so bold as to dable with textures such as little droplets of solder on the seahorse, the fish, and the ship pendants. I see much more of this kind of stuff in my future.

Got coin?

After my first little experiment with using pennies in jewelry, I became inundated with ideas that taunted me and would continue to taunt me till the day they would be realized. Pennies here, pennies there, pennies can be found everywhere! They really can! The penny, in Canada, is probably the lesser used of all the coins, yet you can almost always dig one out of your wallet to scratch that lotto ticket or find one lying on the sidewalk possibly dropped by someone fumbling for change in their pockets or purse. These pennies may have been cherished by the child who once collected them in his piggy bank or used in a coin toss to determine who would start the parking lot baseball game. They may have been dropped in a Tim Horton's Send a kid to camp collection box, or used in a drinking game by college friends instead of studying for their big exam. Some of these pennies may have been thrown over a shoulder into a fountain in hopes of a wish coming true and later picked up by the homeless man who washes in that fountain. They may have been used in a silly game of bloody knuckles in the schoolyard at lunch or put in the mouth of a baby who has not yet grasped the concept of germs.. Which gets me to thinking... Thank god I washed these pennies before turning them into jewelry! These goodies and more like them can be found at http://souldier.etsy.com/.

A penny for your thoughts

"Here's a penny for your thoughts, a quarter for the call, and all of your momma's love." I could still hear my mom singing the song while standing over the stove watching the chocolate chip cookies as they bake and eager for them to be ready so that her children could relish in their ooey-gooey yumminess. She still sings it from time to time and it, in my opinion, represents everything she is to me as a mother. Always willing to listen, stubbornly wanting to lend a hand, and full of love. Yesterday as I sat in my new little studio space, that I share with the spare bedroom, this bit of song played over and over in my mind. So I decided to stamp it out with a little creating! Ha! Not a fan of country music, but I do have to say that I am a fan of my mom. Mama's girl you say? A little.