Blossom Earrings -- Blue Agate

It's the last day of September and I have no idea where the month went...

Each month since I started this blog, I have been trying to highlight a piece of jewellery featuring the birthstone for that month. Many times, the real stones are outside of the MoonRox price range, so I find items in that colour or an alternative stone associated with that month. Sapphire is the traditional stone for September, but agate is the mystical birthstone. At least that is what the internet says, so therefore it MUST be true!

Even though September is hours away from over, here are the Blossom Earrings in Blue Agate with a Tiny Pearl. They feature a faceted pretty blue agate stone combined with a small pearl. The beads are hand-wired to vintage brass blossoms. These earrings are available for purchase in the MoonRox Etsy Shop HERE.

Jellies!

I have sported my fave jellies for a couple years now. They make me feel like it's the early 80's all over again! Sadly, they are on their last legs. I am on a search for some new ones... Melissa, a Brazilian company, makes so many great pairs. And, I would not be limited to only wearing jellies in good weather. They have taken injected thermoplastic shoes to a whole new level. Here are some samples, many of which are collaborations.

Melissa + Vivienne Westwood

Melissa Vinyl

Melissa + Campana

Melissa Joy + Alexandre Herchcovitch

I wasn't able to find a photo of the flocked pair I saw the other day. They look like velvet shoes! Too fun. Apparently all of their shoes are recyclable. For more plastic dreams, go to their website HERE.

Photos grabbed from www.melissaplasticdreams.com.

One of a Kind Show website

I was excited to hear that the One of a Kind Show shot some of my work for use in this year's ad campaign/website/gift guide. I didn't know what they would use the shots for, but J. let me know that she spotted a few MoonRox on the website!

This is the image from the page that lists the participating artisans. The three Orbit Rings on the bottom right look amazing! The two images below are part of a series of changing pictures on the welcome page! Look for a Bubble Bauble Bracelet and a Shimmer Ring and a Bakelite Bracelet and an Orbit Ring.

The One of a Kind Show runs from November 26th to December 6th this Fall. I'll keep you posted on more OoaK news in the next couple months. There is lots of work to do!

Images taken from www.oneofakindshow.com.

Crafting a camera case

Aunt L. asked me to set up her new digital camera. She had no idea where the lens was or what the screen did let alone where the memory card (that she was calling a sim card) went. So, since the camera didn't come with a case and I was feeling crafty, I thought I'd fashion one for her. Time was short so I cut a few corners (like ironing) but it turned out pretty well. I chose two green fabrics that I had kicking around, measured the camera and cut out two elongated rectangles.
This is a photo of the strawberry pin cushion I made on a visit with Aunt G. when I was a kiddo. I just found it again! Pretty cute.

So in a few short minutes, I whipped up the camera case... few pins here, a button there, an elastic loop...

a few hand stitches inspired by the strawberry...
and voila! A lovely tweedy camera case! The camera is snug as a bug in there.

Address file

While perusing the big ol' www for today's dose of "window shopping," I also came across these address files by British Columbia based Lovely Design. The maple one is in stock, but there is a waiting list for the dark walnut. I cannot decide which I like better... Each is filled with lovely re-cycled papers combined with papers adorned with prints created by the designer. I think it would be lovely indeed to have one of these to flip through on my desk! I'd fill the cards will all of my MoonRox contacts, of course!

Photo taken from www.lovelydesign.com.

Great tote

I like this tote bag by forestbound. It's made using canvas salvaged from a WWII military duffel bag. I always like a bag with both hand-held and shoulder wearing options. It looks sturdy and I like the worn look of it, especially the leather components. Think of the stories one could make up about the history of the original duffel!

Photos taken from www.forestbound.esty.com.

Stunning photography

These images by Camille Seaman are so beautiful. I have to go to Antarctica to see these massive stunners before they are gone. In her series, The Last Iceberg, Seaman has done an amazing job capturing these icebergs with little colour manipulation. She says on her site that sometimes she even reduces the saturation of colour.

The photographer also has a series called The Big Cloud and big they are indeed. So massive and magnificent!

Check out more on Camille Seaman on her website. There are so many amazing images and there's a great FAQ section.

The gorgeous images above were grabbed from www.camilleseaman.com.

My Friend's holiday

The sister and W. took My Friend along with them on their holiday. Looks like a good time was had by all! I was rolling with laughter at these...

They went to all the hot spots in Vegas,

stopped at Hoover Dam,

visited the House of Chan,

stared in awe at the Grand Canyon,

enjoyed some pool time at the hotel,

soaked up the scenery,

caught a ballgame,

and saw the Golden Gate Bridge!

Good times! Now it's back to real life for My Friend.

Woodcut prints

Whenever I come across any woodcut prints, I always take note as Aunt L. has become a huge fan. Not sure if this one would be for her, but I quite enjoyed it. It's a limited edition print called Picnic Party and is part of the Life of Leisure Series by Tugboat Printshop. Looks like a nice spread and I especially like the gramophone! I could handle a sampling of all that!

Last year I picked up this woodcut print calendar for Aunt L. from coqumaho. I can still remember how it was so lovingly packaged and with each month individually printed on beautiful paper. The 2010 one looks really nice too!

Biz cards

I just wanted to share how awesome I think VistaPrint is! On Tuesday night I ordered 1000 business cards. I always get my cards from VistaPrint so I just had to re-order. I chose glossy and premium card stock and added a colour backside. (The colour is jumpy in the pic above as it's in CMYK.) Along with the cards, I picked out a bunch of their free products. I got a pad of note paper, 10 thank you cards, a pad of sticky notes, 140 return address labels and a pen! And... all of these were personalized! I chose the slow 21 day shipping option and all together it came to $56.65 USD. I use the US site even thought they have a Canadian site as I have found the prices are better. Anyhow, the crazy part is how they came in lightning fast time. They were all waiting for me when I came back from Collingwood on Friday! FAB! I was down to 5 lonely business cards, so they are here in perfect time.

More yums

G. and I popped into the Big Fat Burrito in Kensington the other day. I was so happy to see owner Lisa when I peeked toward the back. We know each other from our days as fellow designers at Fresh Collective. I have had several of their burritos since their opening about 4 years ago, but I am embarrassed to say that I had not actually dined in! I had the chicken one and it was extremely satisfying and yummy! Better than all the other burritos I've had around town. G. and I had a couple Boylan Bottleworks sodas which were a really kind treat! I liked the bottles so much I took a picture.

24 hours spent up north

Well, we weren't that far up north. A. and I went up to Collingwood so we could visit G. and A.'s Granny at her retirement home. While up there, we drove by some of the damaged homes from the tornadoes a few weeks back. So sad to see them.

In the evening we drove through Meaford on our way to dinner. The town was decked in autumnal goodness! Every street lamp post had pumkin-headed dudes hanging from them in the most hilarious poses.

We had dins at Ted's Range Road Diner, which was DELICIOUS! We could not stop ranting and raving about our meal. We did halvsies on a prime rib with Yorkshire pudding and a sea bass wrapped in rosti. The photos below do not do it justice. Both were cooked to perfection. The prime rib was tender and perfectly flavoured in a peppercorn sauce. The Yorkshire pudding was lovely. The fish was moist and flaky while the rosti was crispy and delicious. The sides were ideal compliments. (Ranting and raving continues...)

The place was just one big ball of hokey goodness. Yum.... will have to go back there soon!

Then we headed back through Meaford and went back home to A.'s parents' place. I still can't believe how much effort has been put into the decorations around town.
After one more visit with Granny the next day, we were on the road back to Toronto again. Stopped at Lynn's Attic where I picked up some sparkly fabric with which I plan to make a skirt. The place is busting at the seams with all sorts of finds. It's on the property of a former motel, so even all the former motel rooms are filled with furniture to root through. Craziness!

Now I am back in the city. Off to the Queen West Art Crawl to check things out.

Happy weekend-ing!