We love FREE!

Time to post another giveaway! Here's a chance to win an awesome candle, and find another great blog to follow! Mrs. B. over at Confessions of a Pagan Soccer mom, is giving away a candle from Auntie Di's De-lites! Go and get you some! http://silvermoonwitch.blogspot.com/2010/03/giveaway-from-auntie-dis-de-lites.html

Wedding Wedding : Update the first!

I got the chance to spend some time with my darling Maudie today (my mom, Deanna; hence Ma Dea = Maudie) She informed me that for Little Sister's wedding in July, the flowers will all be purple. WELL..that makes it easy now, doesn't it? The wedding jewellery will all be amethysts, and I am thinking just for fun, throw in some peridot accents on each piece! This is good for a couple of reasons: One; I have lots of amethysts already in stock. It's one of my favourite stones!

See?  These babies were a particular fave.

Same small rondelles on the bottom, slightly larger ones on top.

I have lilac amethysts too.

So I have a place to start from, and that's as good as anything...

Wedding Wedding Wedding

I am thrilled to have been asked to create bridal and wedding party jewellery for an event on the 31st of July of this year. I am particularly thrilled because I get to keep one set for myself since I am the sister of the bride! Congrats to Micha and Rob! 


In our earliest discussions, we've talked about doing an identical style for all 5 girls (4 bridesmaids and a soloist) but with different stones in them according to each girl's taste. I've also mentioned picking one stone and having 5 slightly differing styles to suit each girl. I figured that way I could really maximise the quality of the strands of stones I was using without having to necessarily buy a lot of stones to make it! I don't want to charge her up the wazzoo for it: she is my sister after all! However, since Micha is giving these as gifts to her attendants, I want something that each girl will wear forever as a reminder of her friendship with Micha and of the day...

More on this story as it develops, but meantime...thoughts? Opinions?  If you were in the wedding party would you prefer a piece of jewellery in your favourite stone, or in a stone you maybe hadn't had a chance to wear before in a style that suited you???

Inquiring minds want to know!!!

Giveaway!

My dear friend Auntie Di of the Tempting Tart, Auntie Di's De-Lites, et al, is having a great giveaway on her blog! Check it out here:http://auntiedis.blogspot.com/2010/03/life-is-too-short-for-mediocre-candles.html

Another Monday, Another Feature!

I'm the featured Etsian in another great blog! Check this out! http://auntiedis.blogspot.com/2010/02/wildheather-beat-monday-blahs-give-away.html

Lazy Sunday: WildWildlife

I have a section of my Etsy shop that is reserved for one of my other big passions: wildlife photography. I feel blessed to call one of the most beaufiful places in the world my home:  British Columbia. I haven't been lucky enough to visit the whole province yet, but I am confident that in all its vast biodiversity, there are visually stunning landscapes to be found in its every corner! Today, I'd like to share with you one of my favourite places and one of my favourite species to photograph. Again, I feel blessed to be able to see these so abundantly in the wild that, around here, people take them for granted, when there are places in the US and Canada where people have only seen them in sanctuaries and zoos. I am talking of course of the incredible majesty that is a bald eagle.

The resident bald eagle population in BC is thought to number about 20,000. During the winter months, this swells when some of the Alaska population comes south to breed. Although bald eagles are naturally opportunistic feeders*, they are classed as a sea eagle, so their preferred habitat is close to the ocean. This location fits the bill nicely. It's an abandoned Canadian Forces Base located in Boundary Bay BC. It is home to a number of species of birds year round, as well as to several family groups of eagles. Yesterday morning, we ventured out to see how many we could see. We were very well rewarded, spotting no fewer than (and possibly more than) a dozen individuals. In fact, when we first arrived, we were greeted by a sentry at the entrance to the base. It was a very large mature individual in full immaculate plumage; probably a big female (Interesting fact: bald eagles are sexually dimorphic: the mature females are 25% larger than the males.)

Isn't she stunning? She sat there all morning long, completely unconcerned about any of us with our cameras, barely even deigning to look down upon us. My dogs she ignored completely, dismissing them as too big to bother with. This spot is very popular with local dog owners, and owners of small dogs have told me that they are keeping their dogs closer than usual, as the sight of a smaller dog will often put the birds up in the air to circle overhead; opportunistic feeders indeed? Why wait for a wily young rabbit to flush when you can snack on  a nice juicy Chihuahua instead? 

At another point we saw a pair of young juveniles in a tree. They appear to be first year juveniles; their plumage is still all dark, as are their eyes, but the cere of the beak is yellow already, as are their feet. 

It continually amazes me that I can walk almost up under them, until they decide they have had enough. Then, if you are REALLY fortunate, you get a shot like this...

This print, entitled TAKEOFF, will be available for purchase in a limited edition 8 x 10 metallic black & white print,suitable for framing, in my Etsy shop. It will sell for $35 plus shipping, and $7 from every purchase will go to Delta Orphaned Wildlife. You can also enter to win a limited edition colour 5x7 print by visiting Auntie Di's blog, here....http://auntiedis.blogspot.com/2010/02/purdythings-beat-monday-blahs-give-away.html where I will be this week's Beat the Monday Blahs featured guest!

Other things...

So, besides jewellery, and cooking, I love to knit. Specifically, I love knitting scarves and shawls, because they're easy and uncomplicated, and I find the repetition very soothing. Almost meditative. Since I've been off work, I have knit myself 3 scarves and a 'prayer shawl' that I love (but Mr. Wild* calls me "Granny" when I wear it outside the house) plus one scarf for my sister in law. I've knit all but one scarf in Lion Brand Homespun, because I love the feel and texture of it, and that it's machine washable and dryer safe. I also love the 29 or so colourways that it's available in. In fact I love it so much that all 4 (and the 2 unfinished/ongoing) finished projects have been in different colours!

A scarf is one skein, the shawl is 3 (though the pattern says 4, I disagree). The latest scarf is done in a colourway called Waterfall, and in seed stitch. It is cast on in an uneven number of stitches, and then knit1 purl 1 every row until it's the length you want. Add a fringe, and presto!

Clearly, Willie approves.

*NOT his real name, clearly, However, using his real name to 'talk about him on the Internet' is verboten.