its a bloomin great show

I have received applications from so many wonderful vendors for this years Bloomin Earth show, and i cant wait for you to see … here is a quick sneak peek…

(click on the photos to visit their website)

Penela’s Earth

Dashe Designs

Kiki Creation

Sarah Apple

Glossy Glass

Pretty Bird!

This Little Bird

Fani Song

My Girl Thursday

SallyGirl Designs

Rock On Accessories

Kuku Caju

GreenBaby

Mr. Skona

new handmade finds

KINDLING twig handled textile art BASKET x by thekeepershouse $25.00 Amoeba Brooch x by seapod $10.00 Semi Charmed Kinda Life in Pink and Blue, Necklace x by TheArdentSparrow $28.00 Six Miniature Paintings x by sylviagrantins $125.00 Pretty Girl pin set/gift tags x by blacklilypie $4.25 letterpress stationery card printed on recycled paper – alphabet letters illustration x by sweetbeets $5.00 Pebble Ring x by kateszabone $185.00 Girl Power Pendant – blue x by nivenglassoriginals $28.00 printer’s device mug 4, custom x by fieldguided Sold La Petite Forest Stationary Set x by jellybeans $9.50 Large Seed Headpiece x by ConverseWithFlowers $7.99 Balance x by anntbun $30.00 SALE – Upcycled Pillowcase Wristlet – Cranberry Olive x by loscann $25.00 Rainbow Love – Free shipping x by inbloomdesigns $60.00

a sneaky peek at the HOLIDAY SPARKLE artists

A little enticement from some of the artists who will be at the HOLIDAY SPARKLE craft show (december 6th at the Grist Mill in Waterloo Park 11am-4pm) …

Creations by Kiki

These bright and funky aprons will be the talk of the kitchen along with her brightly patterned fused glass platters, wine bottle toppers and pendants. Such exciting and colourful creations –you really dont want to miss out.

Pretty Pennie

By melting, hammering and sawing sterling silver pieces, this young artists creates stunning + glamourous jewelry, or works of art, for all occasions. Her one of a kind pieces are pierced, hand cut or carved from wax and cast using a lost method, making every one a little different than the last.

Stone Cottage Industry

By using as many preloved materials as possible, Stone Cottage has found a fabulous way to create quirky + fun upcycled jewelry and accessories. Perfect for that person who claims to have everything. If floral jewelry is not your thing, perhaps you would enjoy her recycled wool sweater mittens.

Craftabulous

Unique, cute, funky, stylish .. u name it, she makes it. Everything in fact, from mini crochet facial roses, to tape measure flowers, to beaded earrings and felt accessories. He tiny works are so cute and simple they attract your girlish whims, and totally make you fall in love.

My Girl Thursday

Operating out of a small apartment/craft studio/superhero lair in Peterborough this funky artists offers a diverse and ever evolving product line, including handmade accessories, journals & agendas, quilts, tote bags and upcycled clothing. In fact, almost everything is infused with an element of upcycling! Reincarnation isn’t just for the pious anymore!

WombForge

Hailing from Ottawa, Matthew began his artistic career as a pianist, composer, and music student. He decided to expand upon his skills and recently added working with copper and silver jewellery to his repetoire. Since most of his work includes reclaimed copper wire and other junk metals it demonstrates a certain aesthetic ruggedness, but also an organic, intricate feel.

housewares from bike parts??

Today is the day i have deemed inspiration day. Mondays are always a bummer, and being inspired to craft is my personal motivator. What luck to have found an email waiting for me from a new artists looking for an outlet for his work!

This is Gilbert from Godrich, and these are his creations made from recycled bike parts. I was amazed at the all around quality of his work, and the professional look. So impressed i had to ask a few things… of which may turn into a regular question answer on inspiration days….

Why bike parts?

Bike parts became the central theme as I’m an avid cyclist.  Couple that with being male you end up with lots of tools, parts and extra bikes around the garage.  Last winter I was snooping around the internet and found a site that showed many useful items made from recycled items.   A light went on in my head and away I went to my shop to start welding.  As I struggled to build the first one many ideas for other designs came to mind and I had a month of fun putting together many of the tables you saw on my flickr site.  Since then a few more ideas have come and smaller articles like the tire belts and bottle opener are available too.  My favorite is bike man though.  That came 100% from me and took many attempts and trials to get him to look the way he does.  I have another idea in my head for a second version but I need some time to get it made.

Where do you find parts?

I find my bike parts from friends with old bikes hanging around.  So far I’ve not had to look to hard as almost everyone has a bike or two that they don’t know why they still have it.

What kind of additional training do you have that helps you create?

Ornamental blacksmithing has always been an interest to me.  Farming is my career so welding and creating happens as part of the job.  so putting my welding skill together with some artistic energy that has been building up inside me has made this an enjoyable process.

Why recycled as opposed to new?

As a farmer, looking after our earth is always on my mind.  I want to leave this a better place for my children then how I received it.  That’s my general platform for recycling bike parts or just in general.  It has been fun looking at an old bike and seeing a table or a cool belt where others just see an old bike that should be junked.

When I get a bike that is in pretty good shape I’ll just fix it up and give it to our local woman’s shelter.  Many families go there leaving everything they own behind.  The kids and moms can use a bike to get around on or just to have some fun.

(Belts from bike parts)

The need to sell my creations came when my wife told me she didn’t need 10 or 15 bike table around the house so I better come up with a plan to sell them.  We had a booth at the local Goderich arts and crafts show this summer and had good results in selling the bike tire belts and candle holders and sold 5 or 6 table.  It was a good eye opener to the limitations of my art (decor of a room is limited with a bike table) and what people liked and disliked in my stuff.

Well, I could go on and on but I hope that gives you a sense of what I’m doing here.

Thankyou so much Gilbert,

and good luck in all your ‘experiments’ to create beautiful one of a kind pieces.