2023 New West Cultural Crawl Inspiration

I started thinking about this collection after my travels to Europe in April. My favourite part of travelling is wandering aimlessly finding architectural treasures and magical little specialty shops, spending several carefree hours people watching and drinking coffee at quaint little cafes, and finding street art that tells a cities stories through bright pops of colour.

The collection I created makes me think of magical mysteries; delicate two-toned pieces weaved together by magic, or larger pieces with an energetic pop of colour. I think of twinkling lights over small alleys that take you to secret little patios. I think of twilight (the time between sunset and dusk - not the movie!) and hidden smiles.

Most of my work is fine jewellery; gold with precious gems in polished, symmetrical pieces. My cultural crawl collection is made of sterling silver with tiny gold details and semi-precious stones. It is much more organic in its shapes, textures, and symmetry. My creative process for each piece in this collection was similar to how I wander when I travel: wandering around and full of wonder.

The colourway for the collection is vibrant and full of life! I’m using sapphires, turquoise, prehnite, tourmalines, tourmalinated quartz, leopard opals, black onyx, moonstone, and a few more depending on how inspiration hits me.

The collection will be available October 14 and 15 during the New Westminster Cultural Crawl. I will be located at Good Omen on 6th street. I hope you will come visit!

See more inspiration photos on my Pinterest board here.

Holiday Hindsight

Not going to lie…I came back from our European holidays exhausted. And when you’re exhausted, then jet-lagged, and then have to catch up and get back into work/life mode, it’s hard to truly appreciate the fun times you just had. And thankfully, I worked my ass off before I left for the trip so I could have a week when I got back to find brain cells to rub together. If I hadn’t of done that, oh boy!

But now that the dust has settled and I’m culling through all the photos to make photo books, I’m really starting to remember the details that made our trip special. I’m remembering the things that made us laugh, what the coffee on my quiet little patio in Mykonos tasted like, the smell of roses in Madrid, the sound of the waves gently lapping at the shore in Methoni…

Actually excited to plan another holiday! Whenever that might be!

Unique bi-colour amethyst

Sometimes I get these ideas and they won’t go away. Is it the universe trying to tell me something?

My customer wanted a ring with both of her daughters birthstones: April (diamond-white) and February (Amethyst-purple). I designed several rings that had two stones and was searching for the right colour purple. Then I stumbled upon this bi-color amethyst that is white AND purple.

I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Literally. As soon as I thought of my customer and her ring, I thought of this stone. I had to show her! If she didn’t want it, I would order it anyways because the symmetry was so unique and beautiful.

Turns out she loved it too! We had started off with the intention of making a different ring and then ended up with this gorgeous power ring. It’s so cliche…but sometimes you just have to trust your gut. One of my fave rings of 2022 for sure!

An aquamarine for me!

My oldest boy’s birthstone is aquamarine and I’ve been holding on to this moss aquamarine for awhile waiting to make myself something with it. I was planning on making a ring but since I already have so many, I decided that a pendant would be a great choice!

He was really excited that I made myself a pendant with his birthstone. He thinks it’s for him! One day buddy!

I don’t often have time to make myself jewellery but this year I’ve made myself a ring with my younger son’s birthstone and this pendant with my older son’s pendant. Lucky me!

Many, many years ago....

My dad was recently cleaning out his office and he found a bunch of old photos. Among them was this gem!

Me sitting at my dad’s bench many years ago not realizing that one day it would be my bench! My dad sits at the other chair. So now you know what I mean when I say that we literally work two feet away from each other!

Monday Gratitude: IRSSS Donation

I was able to donate $180 to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society thanks to all the orders I got during my mid-year sale this weekend! Thank you for supporting my business and desire to do good in the world ❤

Planning for 2021

Anyone else like to end the year with a semi-organized desk/calendar? Did some planning this morning which included compiling a stack of sticky notes onto a calendar for next year! I already have 21 jobs lined up for next year! Very excited to get started on them!

Out with the old!

Today I took apart jewellery I've made that hasn't sold or that I no longer like. I do this every year! I finished organizing a few odds and ends and now my bench is ready for a new year and all the jobs I have lined up for next year! But first, a few days to relax!

Tradition: Yearly bench clean up!

Traditions: cleaning my bench on my last day of work before Christmas! Everything I don't want to deal with gets stuffed into those drawers. Plus this year my office is also extra chaotic! I'll work a day or two before the new year but it'll be to finish sorting and organizing everything that didn't get dealt with this year. Then onto next year's jobs! How exciting!

Forest 2020

I often make jewellery with neutral colour stones yet I’m always drawn to green stones, especially in Spring! It’s is my favourite season! I take extra long walks to admire the beautiful greenery.

This past winter as I counted down the days to spring, I started sorting my green stones and set aside a couple to make a collection of jewellery with. Enter March 19 (first day of Spring) and the stones were still on my bench.

One day I went for a long walk and all the plants seemed extra bright and alive. When I got home I drew up a spring collection of just a handful of pieces and called the collection FOREST. I’ve started working on it. It’s going to be done closer to summer than spring but that’s ok, better late than never right?

WINTER 2016 INSPIRATION

Photo by: Rishad Daroowala

Greens, blacks, whites, and grays. Crisp mornings. Woodsy scents.

THERE ARE NO WRONG PATHS

The new year is upon us. For some it's just another year. For some it's a new year, new you.

Personally, I don't make new years resolutions. I do however, remind myself to dream big and take risks: if you succeed, you’ll be happy; if you fail, you’ll be smarter. Win Win.

I recently came across a video of Oprah speaking at the Stanford School of Business. She talks about career, life, and leadership. The last minute is what resonated with me most. I’ve paraphrased it for you…

“There are no wrong paths. There’s no such thing as failure. Failure is just [life] trying to move you in another direction. You get as much from your losses as you do from your victories. The losses are there to wake you up. When you understand that, you won’t allow yourself to be completely thrown by a circumstance. Your life is bigger than any one experience. Relax…it’s going to be ok. You’ll know you’re on a detour when you’re not at ease with yourself. That is the cue that you need to be moving in another direction. The way through the challenge is to get still and ask yourself what is the next right move.”

Life is about learning and you can’t learn if you’re dwelling on what was or what you can’t change.

So with that in mind, I wish you all a happy new year. I hope that instead of making new years resolutions, you choose to simply live life to it’s fullest potential.

GANDHI'S TOP 10 FUNDAMENTALS FOR CHANGING THE WORLD

I've been trying to put these fundamentals to practise. In doing so, I’m finding it easier to tap into the creative energies of the world. I told a good friend about this and she said that she doesn’t believe in “blocks”. She thinks creative energy is always around, sometimes we’re just more in tune with it than other times and we need to learn to harness it when we need it.

1. Change yourself

2. You are in control

3. Forgive and let go

4. Take care of this moment

5. Without action, you aren’t going anywhere

6. Everyone is human

7. See the good in people and help them

8. Persist

9. Be congruent, be authentic, be your true self

10. Continue to grow and evolve.

GOLD FLAKES

Panned gold comes in different shapes and sizes.  We recently made a ring for someone using gold they had panned themselves.

I don't know what it was about the flakes but they inspired me to make more nature-inspired jewellery.

It seems silly to keep mining when we already have so much gold. And people don't buy gold the way they used to. It makes so much more sense to use what we have. Melt what you don't wear. Turn it into something you will wear and recognize it's value.

EPIPHANY

I had an epiphany this weekend. It’ll sound like a glaringly obvious realization, but it’s one of those things that you need to realize on your own.

I was looking at photos of jewellery my dad’s made over the years when I thought to myself, I hope that one day soon I can make jewellery like my dad. Then the light bulb went on and I realized that if I can’t make jewellery like my dad, IT’S OK. Furthermore, I don’t care to make certain types of jewellery, and that’s ALSO OK.

It’s normal for humans to pressure themselves to live up to someone else’s level of excellency. And although we should definitely try to reach those levels, it’s ok if we don’t. Not reaching them doesn’t mean we haven’t worked hard or produced amazing things.