New Pieces For The Shop

We have been very busy of late and while it's nice to see your work being appreciated and leaving with a happy customer, it means I have to get back to work.

Right now I'm working on cabochons I made, creating upcycled copper bails in a manner so they can be interchanged to suit the customer. I have an amazing stock of Mexican Crazy Lace Jasper and here are a few finished pieces.

 

As you can see, the colour and patterning on these is absolutely stunning! And these stones are rare since it is now difficult to obtain new material.

But we have beautiful local rock as well. We have a rock called Stilbite that can be very colourful and exhibit amazing patterning. Here's a great example:

And of course we have amazing agate and jasper.

These can be purchased in our shop or online. Hope to see you soon!

The Rock Cutting Has Begun!

 Summer is here!

And it's finally warm enough for me to work in the shop with water. So the saw is humming and we've had some pretty awesome cuts so far. Here's a stone with a lot of copper oxide on the surface.

 And sure enough, the inside didn't disappoint.

You can even see a spot of native copper just to the left of the thumbnail. We also cut some very nice vein agate.

And some awesome plume /moss agate.

I just love the patterning and colour on this one so there is a really nice cabochon in its future.

Stay tuned with more cuts to come. And if you are in the neighbourhood, stop by and say hi and pick up your free tumbled rock. Take home a piece of "The Neck".

The Process

 I am not a jeweler per se. I am a lapidary. To me the most important element in any piece is the stone so settings are created to best show the stone and keep it safe. In this particular case, I was working with a stone exhibiting amazing patterning so the challenge was to create a setting that didn't cover it up. Step #1 was the design.

I positioned the stone on the paper and located the three shallow tabs where they would be clear of the best patterning and yet keep the stone secure in all directions. I cut the paper (roughly) and repositioned the stone using 2 sided tape. Then I folded the tab extensions up and drew the tab shapes and lengths. I used the square outline to cut a piece from my upcycled copper sheet and then cut the copper plate to fit the design. Then it was a matter of doing a LOT of filing until the plate matched the paper outline. At that point, I switched to sandpaper (400 grit -12,000 grit) to create burnished areas and other areas where I left the patina and character intact. Using a metal punch, a hole was made in the top extension to accommodate  the jump ring. At that point I carefully bent the 3 prongs until the stone was firmly held everywhere.

This agate is really amazing and I thought it deserved a special sliding bail. So I created this one and even added a little copper bead to "cinch" the neck.

The real problem was getting the colouring right on the picture. I can assure you it is much more dramatic in person (a photographer is another thing I am not!). Next step was to choose a complimentary premium leather cord and choose the length. I settled on a dark red to pick up the red in the stone and a length of 52 cm. (20 inches). The stone was hung on the leather and I finished it with a hand made decorative neck clasp.

I think the final piece is a real show stopper! Available on line or in the store and remember, I sell cabochons so if you would like to work with some beautiful rock, just let me know.

See you soon.

By the way, I have just passed 130K (non bot) page views on this blog and I would like to thank all of you for being part of my adventure.

Busy Times

 Things have been pretty hectic recently at The Artists' Mark.

 The Yarn sale on our hand dyed yarn ($15/ skein) is in full swing and while over 100 have been sold, we still have plenty left!

I must say that apart from being obsessed fanatics (you know who you are, heh,heh), knitters are some of the nicest people who come into the shop. And apparently they don't just like yarn. Recently I was concentrating on making new inventory but it hasn't gone all that well since uncaring thoughtless people keep buying it, forcing me to make even more. 

here's what I mean.

All sold!

I still have a few new beauts, however.

I'll be in the studio making more this week so if you're looking for a fantastic deal on hand dyed yarn, knit goods or rock jewelry, come on by.

Just a note: we'll be closed Wednesday afternoon because of an appointment.

Going To The Big City

Since we will be leaving early Thursday morning to see our daughter in Dartmouth and not returning until Friday afternoon, the shop will be closed all day Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and will reopen on Saturday.

The yarn sale is in full swing and pretty much everything else in the shop is also on sale so with the weather improving, it's a great time to come on by, walk the beach and check out the deals!

Hope to see you soon! 

We Finally Have a Name.

 After a wonderful decade in paradise, we have finally decided to give this great house a name!

It's actually a little bittersweet because we are thinking it might be time to move into a smaller place closer to our daughter in Dartmouth. Let me tell ya, it ain't gonna be easy!

Something about this old house (and it is OLD- but modernized) just captures your heart and fires the imagination. But we're both well into our 70's and perhaps it's time to slow down a little. But it will be hard to not have these sunrises.

And we're sure gonna miss these views from the deck.

Not many places have a walk on sandy beach just across the street but sadly, since the multiple hip replacements, the walks are few and far between. So, as they say, life does not stand still and neither should you. One door closes and another opens and we're already making plans for our next "excellent adventure"

The house is huge and has two separate art studios as well as its own gift shop (see other blog posts). It has a new roof but needs some repairs and rather than do them ourselves, we're going to let the next owners put their own stamp on it. So if you have a sense of adventure (especially if you are an artist) and like the idea of living in your own slice of paradise with beachcombing and whale watching nearby and St. Mary's Bay across the street, get in touch.

And because of this change almost all items in the store are at least 20% off so come by and get some great deals!

 And no, I'm not crying- I just have something in my eye!

Junk Journals are not...Junk Journals!

 Junk Journals have become one of the hottest art forms of late. And while there are lots of variations, there are some common threads.

These journals come in all sizes and shapes and are generally made from found or upcycled materials. They can be used in a variety of ways. It may be to record memories, ideas or events and as such become a work of art in itself. But they can also be used to inspire.

As such, they then become a sort of "prepared canvass" that allows other artists/ scrapbookers to complete the creative process in their own personal manner.

So whether it's used as a piece of tabletop art, a creative gift or a starting point for your creative efforts we have a great selection put together by a mixed media artist who, trust me, has one of everything!  

Inside, you might find original art, ephemera, fabric- you name it!

The pictured ones are priced between $95 and $125 and remember, we ship. So if you see something you like and want to see more pages, we'd be happy to send them but if you are local, come on by and see and feel them for yourself.

Hand Dyed Yarn at Amazing Prices

 Well, we announced our sale late last week and had a very busy opening day. The Knitters were out in force to pickup our world famous Seawall Fibres hand dyed yarn which we are selling at $15/ skein. 

And while our inventory went down a bit we still have over 500 skeins left. Here are some examples:

We still have plenty of minis left as well.

But there's more good news! In getting our inventory sorted out, we found another large supply of premium yarn from such names as Fleece Artist, Sugarbush, Holst Garn, Malabrigo, Madeline Tosh, Habu, Shibui and Stolen Stitches Nua.

We are offering these as well for 50% of our cost.

So make plans to take a day trip or get a group together. We'd love to see you and promise you will go away happy with a free gift whether you buy or not.

Calling All Knitters- A Chance of a Lifetime!

 For the last 10 years, we have sold our premium Seawall Fibres hand dyed yarn from our little shop in Digby Nova Scotia and shipped it to satisfied customers all over the world.

 

However, since we are getting up in years, we may not be able to keep the shop open past this summer. We have an inventory of over 600 skeins of beautiful hand dyed yarn in different weights and have decided to sell it at 50% off- that's just $15 a skein! Knitting accessories and finished pieces are also available.We are closing the web site so the yarn will only be available from the store although if you want a particular colour, we could send pictures but shipping is very expensive now.

Additionally, most other items in the shop will be discounted so get  a group together and come on by early for the best selection. We will open on April 22.

Don't drop your purls and we hope to see you soon!

We're Open (Almost)!

 With the weather getting steadily better we are planning on opening on Monday, April 22.

This is shaping up to be a very special year. First off, we have a ton of new items, many featuring jewelry made from local stones shaped in my lapidary shop- The Lap of Lapidary.

Here's a pendant made from an amazing piece of local jasper, with a unique copper setting and a premium leather cord.

Another great pendant made from local agate with a sparkly quartz core.

We also have a whole new line of earrings featuring my own copper filigree design with premium beads and crystals. Here's how they look in real life.

We also ship so if you see anything you like or have a particular gift in mind, just let us know.

Soon the machines in the lapidary shop will be humming so if you have ever wondered how rock is cut and shaped and find yourself on Digby Neck, come on by.

And now for the really exciting part. Because we are getting up in years (way up!) we realize the shop can't keep going for ever. So if you visit, you will note that most items are discounted!

We look forward to seeing you if your travels take you to the unique part of Nova Scotia known simply as "The Neck"

Have a great summer!

Lots of New Pieces For The Shop

 We'll probably be putting our sign back up and opening the shop soon so we've been really busy creating pieces to fill the empty spaces and I thought I'd catch you up on a few.

I made this set from a large piece of red jasper that a customer sent so the Real Artist could use it for paint pigment. It turned out beautifully- a little too perfectly as it turned out as it sold as soon as I posted it on Instagram!

I wanted to create earrings using a copper filigree bead cap I have and this was the first pair. They also sold as soon as I posted them so I've been making more (pics will follow in the next post). The stone is a beautiful piece of local agate/jasper and I hung it on a very special sterling silver chain. It's still available.

This is another local agate that I set using a perimeter groove so as not to disturb the gorgeous patterning. I used German silver (non-tarnish) wire and hung it on a really nice sterling silver chain.

This (local) piece of plume agate is one of the most beautiful pieces I've ever worked with. It seemed to call for brass wire to compliment the colour of the stone so that meant that I had to make a set of brass findings and a neck clasp. Whatever it takes I say.

 

 The patterning and colours are outstanding but again I made the mistake of posting it on Instagram and it also sold!

Next time I'll post a few more including the Boho Earring line I've finished.

Hope to see you at the shop but if you see something you like, we ship!

We're Creating!

 Life has been very busy of late but we were finally able to carve out some time to spend in the studio and I had the privilege of working along side the "Real Artist".

I decided to start the creative period with a real show stopper. The stone is local but quite rare- a mixture of amethyst and white chalcedony. Our local amethyst tends to be pretty light but this piece has beautiful purple colour. A few  small indentations on the side were just in the right place to enable us to create a very unique setting.

I used non tarnish German silver and hung it on a complementary white buna cord that really highlights the white chalcedony and the topper are a couple of cool druzy pockets to add some sparkle.

The "Real Artist" has also been busy. This piece s called "Nor'Easter on Brier Island" and while not large, it has tremendous energy.

Both of these pieces are available in the shop and we also ship. The pendant is $40 and the painting is $80 with shipping extra.

Stay tuned to see more great pieces.

PS: This year I will also be selling cabochons, some drilled and grooved so if you want to create your own pieces, get in touch.