garlic festival

This weekend was the annual GARLIC FESTIVAL in Lac Le Hache, just north of 100 Mile House. John and I went out for some fun in the sun, listened to live music, ate fair food (Garlina’s Inferno Burger and a ‘Rotato’) and perused the vendor booths. I picked up some some strawberry syrup, local veggies & a super amazing GARLIC BRAID,  plus we saw GARLINA (the festival’s mascot) egging on the participants of the garlic eating contest. Good times out and about on a gorgeous summer day.  

get drunk and get organized

Do you have a messy studio and are always having trouble always finding essentials like scissors, gluestick or a paintbrush? Do you drink too much beer and are tired of making weekly trips to the recycle depot? Don’t worry my friend, we can turn it around into something positive! I, like you, have a knack for making messes, misplacing supplies and tripping on the recycling pile that is overflowing out of the pantry. I knew there had to be a better way to live, and thus the beer inspired DIY supply carrier was born: Find yourself an empty 6 pack box – one with a carrying handle in the middle. I was particularly fond of this box of honey bear lager with a super cute illustration of a bear having a snack. If you don’t like any of the designs on the boxes kicking around the house, you can always paint it, collage over it OR you could just go to the liquor store & treat yourself to a brand new 6 pack with a fancy label you love! The box now needs to be stabilized, as most of them fold flat on their sides. Plus all the cracks/holes must be sealed so your supplies don’t fall out. To do this you need some more cardboard from your recycling pile or you can use some left over scrapbook paper like I did. Hold the paper up to the bottom and mark the width of the box. Then cut the paper to width. For height make sure you have about 1-2 inches; enough so that when you fold it in half, you will have a good sized flap to wrap around the edge of the box. Make another flap for the other side of the box as well. Now adhere your flaps with tape, ensuring that you thoroughly tape down all 4 corners of the flap. Now the box is stabilized, stronger and will resist the urge to ever fold. The final step is to create flaps that will go inside the 6 slots, so that the holes and spaces inside the carrier are covered up so that your supplies stay in their proper section.Hold your paper up to the box and mark the width of 1 slot. Then across the mark, do a precise fold and then accordion fold the rest of the paper, back and forth. Then cut your accordion down into just 2 folds (L-shapes). Then cut these 2 fold strips to the height of your box or slightly shorter. You will need at least 4 of these (for each corner slot), or you can make 6, (one for each slot) depending on how many spaces are in the middle of your box. Add your L-shaped folds to each slot with the folded corner always facing inwards to the box (ie: don’t line the outside corners with paper, there are no spaces needed to protect, you want to cover the inside corners!) Secure the L folds one at a time with a bit of tape. You are now ready to organize your messy desk and often mis-placed supplies. For one side of my beer box carrier I put all of my cutting tools: x-actos & utility knifes, paper & fabric scissors and decorative-edged scissors. On the other side, in two slots, I have all of my brushes and the last 1 has 2 glue-sticks & a roll of scotch tape. I might have to make a carrier friend for my cute honey bear, to organize my sharpie markers & coloured pencils. The beauty of this carrier is that it cleans up your studio space, re-uses & recycles, and it can be easily moved or transported if you’re doing art on the go, or if you need extra desk space. I was inspired to share this crafty idea when Jeannine Saylor tweeted about possibly doing this cool tutorial by Cynthia Schaffer which shows you how to decorate collected tins & mason jars & place them on a lazy susan to make a rotating supply carousel. However I don’t have tons of desk space or many spare jars and tins, nor do I own a lazy susan… So, I made use of things that were actually laying around my house. I hope you enjoyed my beer-induced version of this DIY studio project. Happy drinking & happy organizing!

feathered fancies

Back in the fall of 2009 I noticed a trend in fashion, and a lot of late 70′s and early 80′s trends were coming back into style. One thing that I had spotted in magazines but not in any shops were feather earrings… and mostly, to be honest, I wanted a pair for myself; so I started on an exciting venture that utilized my knowledge of color & composition, explored my love of nature and allowed me to learn new skills in jewelry making. I created & sold my first dozen pairs at Blackstar Gallery and Pynelogs within a matter of weeks and realized I was fulfilling a need for this new demanding market while also prettying up my ears at the same time. Now since a few years have passed, I hadn’t been making as much feather jewelry because other artists have caught onto the trend. In 2010 Blackstar started carrying 2 other feather jewelry-makers & so last year, I restricted my market and sold them only at Pynelogs. The response as always was completely positive, and after a lovely lady contact me about them, a good family friend ask for a new pair, and having almost another sell out summer this year (only 1 pair left) in the Pynelogs gift shop,  I knew it was time to get the feathers and fixings out onto the studio desk again and start creating.  

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Now that my etsy shop is open, I finally have the right place to sell them. Although there are thousands of other jewelers on Etsy, it is a craft of mine that is nature-related, adorable and affordable, so I am proud to add them to the naturesmyfriend shop. As shown above, I listed 16 brand new pairs of feather earrings today to tickle your fancy all of which are only $18-$20 CAD and one of a kind. You can find them in the Jewelry & Accessories section of my shop. Also, I plan to add my hand-cut plastic acrylic necklaces, earrings and hair pins (some examples below) hopefully by next week so check back at the shop often!