Christmas at the Forum

Inspiration

How do I get through winter? If there was a hibernation option, I would take it. I can't tell you how good it feels to be back on the beaches, warm sun on my skin, hair whipping about my face, icey cold saltwater on my toes.

And sea glass hunting.  Spring is always the best time, gathering the baubles that winter storms have laid bare. My kitchen counter is spread with my favourite finds over the last two weeks. I want to admire them for as long as possible before they are added to the collection or made into jewelry. But I guess its time to clear the counter. Keith was away for work this week, and made the comment that the glass thats there now looks like the same glass that was there when he left, only more of it. Um, well, yeah. But I fed the kids when you were gone. Really, I did.

A few of my favourite pieces. The smallest red piece has the markings characteristic of a tail light from an antique car. The pottery piece with "Nordic blue" on it is patterned on both sides, here's the other side:

 

Beautiful, isn't it? I will have a good week creating.

Whats New...

We did the Saltscapes Expo on the weekend, and it was a blast. Local foods, wines and beers (with samples mmmmmmmmmmm), travel information, local musicians and of course great maritime products. It was the most fun show we've ever done, can't wait til next year. I've been busy since then, finally beginning to restock my sadly neglected etsy shop with lots of colourful baubles like the blue crackle glass sea creature above. Crackle glass is usually formed when sea glass is heated, like in a bonfire, and then cooled quickly by being quenched in the sea.

Spice sea pottery- this is the second piece of pottery we have found with this pattern. This piece is quite large, a couple of inches in length.

Reflections- a drop of cornflower blue dangles against a sterling silver disc, stamped with Ocean Beach Sea. I do have a one track mind.

And finally, a fun pair of earrings, little lime green jellybeans on sterling silver earwires. Have a good week everyone!

Halifax Farmer's Market

The Halifax Farmer's Market has been a favourite Saturday morning destination for more than 150 years. Its the oldest continually running market in North America, established in 1850. Thats a lot of Saturdays. Currently located at the Brewery Market, its fun to stroll through the maze of rooms, taking in the beautiful sights, the wonderful smells, and the local music. Its great to see so many people dedicated to buying local and supporting farmers and small business.

The musicians above are fairly new to the market. I don't know their names, but I've never seen musicians draw a larger market crowd than they did; vendors abandoned their booths to watch and listen.

The market will be moving to its new location, the Seaport Market at Pier 20 on the Halifax waterfront in July. The building is eco friendly in design, with reclaimed building materials, recycling of rain water, and a roof garden. The larger space will foster accessibility and community. Full markets will run on the weekends and on Wednesdays, with some vendors being open 7 days a week. Click on the picture below for an architectural concept video.

What I'm working on...

Its been a good week, lots of fun happenings and lots of time to create. My other half was in the USA on business all week, which logically should result in me having less time, as I pick up "his jobs" and run the kids around more often. But somehow it doesn't work that way. Which I must admit I kind of like. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that :)

I picked out a few special pieces of glass from my collection this week, gorgeous colours that were sick of sitting in a bottle on the shelf, waiting to be framed and adorned. The piece above came from one of the Hawaiin Islands-a couple of summers ago I traded some finished pieces of jewelry for sea glass gathered in Hawaii by  a gentlemen from Lunenburg. The piece above is a beautiful orange red with a little star on top, so very like a sunset.

These little earrings were forged from silver wire, and are meant to be leaves, although they turned out a little less leaf-like than I had in mind. Next time I will include a vein in the centre of the leaf.

I'm still in love with brass, and it photographs beautifully, contrasting with the aqua glass.

And finally, my favourite, a calla lily hand forged from sterling silver cradles a drop of brilliant red sea glass, this one from a Nova Scotia beach. Its been fun making the flowers, and I plan to do lots more botanical jewelry over the next few months. Here's hoping this week will be a good one for us all!

What I'm working on...

Well, its finally finished after a couple of false starts. The cobalt blue I had originally planned to use chipped when I was drilling it (sigh, it happens more frequently with bonfire glass than regular sea glass), and I originally replaced it with an amber, but  the blue was so much more lovely. I dug through my collection again and found this lighter blue, with a bit of white fused at the top. And was happy. I'm really enjoying working with brass. Here are  some other pieces to come out of the studio this week.

Sea Lily, turquoise glass

Brass in Pocket earrings

Cobalt Sea Lily necklace

White sea glass and brass earrings

Etsy Atlantic Team Treasury

Beautiful job, ArtoftheMoment, on curating this etsy treasury of Atlantic Canadian artisans. And thanks for including our newly listed sea pottery jewelry set. You can see more work by Atlantic Canadians at the Etsy Atlantic team blog here.

Iridescense

An unusal piece of sea glass that we found on a Halifax beach during the summer of 2008. The piece is dark brown, almost black with a beautiful play of iridescense on both sides. I've never found a piece quite like it. After staring at it for a year now, I'm finally ready to turn it into a necklace so it will be making its way into my etsy shop within the next few days!

Citrus Orange

I love orange, and orange sea glass is a rarity. We found this big beautiful piece this summer on our Nova Scotia shores. I think the glass was originally the rim of a bowl or decorative plate, it is slightly ridged, although that is almost worn away. I was going to bezel it, but couldn't bear to cover up any of the glass. It is a beautiful clear day, and I'd love to hit the beach, but have to go to work at my Other Life job. Sigh.

The Garden

Over the last two days, I've spread 300 kg of compost in the garden. My flowers are singing. My arms are like jello. Someone I know but see infrequently drove by and stopped. Always nice to see someone you haven't seen in a year when you're wearing (and reeking of) compost. Of course, she was totally put together. But my flowers are singing.