Recycled Bottle Glass Picture Frames Green

A few years ago, in an attempt to recycle wine bottle glass, I came up with the idea of making various glass home decor items with the discarded, bottle glass.  I came up with a few designs that really turned out quite nice and I think you will enjoy it as well.  I sell these particular picture frames mostly as gifts for those who appreciate everything handmade and for those who appreciate wine as well.  

Each frame is a labour of love.  With much patience I must assemble each piece together as a jigsaw puzzle and fuse them at  a very high temperature in order for them to become one solid piece.  These picture frames are my unique creation.  They're classy and elegant and they make great gifts for him or her.  Click here for more information.  

Handmade Jewelry for the Hair

As a jewelry designer we often focus on whatever is normally classified as your typical jewelry, such as rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings and anklets.  But if we step back for a moment and look outside the box, there is another facet of jewelry making that can be explored, such as hair accessories and tiaras.  We don't always think about hair accessories as being jewelry, but it is.  In fact, hair accessories may be made with the same materials as jewelry designs are made up of:  pearls, gemstones, precious metals like silver and gold.  There is no end to what beautiful hair jewelry you can design.

I've done just that with the hair barrette below.  I used thick .925 sterling silver wire and after forming and hammering and adding gemstone beads to create this sterling silver hair vine accessory.  The gemstones are petrified wood with red sponge coral.  It's a beautiful hair accessory.  Great gift for a lady with long, thick locks. For more information, please click here.

Handmade Fused Glass Napkin Rings Set of Four

My first love, a part from my husband, is by far jewelry making, but I have come very fond of glass work as well.  In some instances, I'm not too sure which I prefer.  It fascinates me to see the changes that happen when glass is introduced to high heat.  Although my goal is to one day learn more about blowing glass, fusing glass is a wonderful introduction to me becoming better acquainted with its properties.  Working with glass can be very tricky and your piece easily ruined if you don't know what you're doing.

The technique used for making the napkin rings below, is quite interesting.  It's actually made in different steps with multiple fusings in the kiln.  The brown decorative part is made separate and then added to the main ring.  In order to make the napkin ring rounded, I needed to work in the kiln with heat resistant gloves and special a special tool to form the strip of glass; let me tell you it's quite intimidating at first.  How often does one stick their hands in a heated kiln??  It is a long process.  I can only work on one ring at a time, because each ring needs to be at a certain temperature, which I need to hold, before forming (curving it) and then, each individual ring needs to sit in the kiln, with the cover, to gradually bring down the temperature up to the cooling time.  I do admit, it is quite a feat, but it's so worth it in the end, don't you think?

This beautiful set of four shiny napkin rings in warm tones of green and light brown are very classy and would make anyone receiving them happy as can be. Absolutely lovely for the person who loves to entertain!!  Click here for more info- 

Decorating my Guest Room

Finally, I'm just about finished emptying out my "Cat-astrophy" room (that was the name given to one of my work rooms.)  The room was originally my son's room, and I haven't painted it since he left a few years ago.

This year, in between my business and my life, I've succeeded to gain control over certain aspects of my life, such as my arts and crafts rooms which were just way out of control; they were taking over my house...  It has taken me a few months, but little by little it's all coming together.  I must say, it's so refreshing to have almost everything neat and tidy again.  I often asked myself: how did this happen?  I was the type of person that couldn't stand a cushion to be out of place... Never let your business take control of your life - that's all I have to say.  Take control and with discipline keep it in subjection.

Anyway, we decided (hubby and me), that it would be lovely to have a nice, cozy guest room, because we love to have people over. I'm very excited about designing the whole thing from scratch.  I've chosen the paint colour which is just gorgeous:  Colonial Aqua. I've added a colour swap for you to see - Isn't it beautiful??

 I want to give the walls an antique / Tuscan feel by lightly adding joint compound all over with a trowel before  adding the primer and then finish with the Colonial Aqua.  I'm beginning tonight and I will keep you posted as to my progress.  I will add pictures of the end product.  As of now, the room is dark kidney bean colour... it'll be quite a change!!

Full Moon Photograph - Supermoon of March 2011

Do you remember that night?  The night where everyone was in expectation because something special would be in effect; something we would have the privilege of witnessing only a few times in our lifetime.  Do you remember now?  No.  It wasn't an eclipse, and no, it wasn't a flying saucer...  It was when our beautiful luminary, our moon would be a "Supermoon" as astrologer Richard Nolle coined it.

Interesting facts about that particular night of March 19th, 2011:  Usually, the moon passes by the earth every orbital cycle at a distance of 364,397 km, but on that night of March 19th, the moon was much closer at a distance of 356,577 making the moon appear much larger and brighter in the sky.

Being from Eastern Canada, I had anxiously watched as it slowly, but steadily climbed up over the horizon,  as if a giant lampadary, illuminating everything for miles.

The first thing I did was gather up my camera gear and tripod and headed for the back yard.  After setting everything up, I was able to capture one of nature's incredible phenomenons, both beautiful and awe inspiring!!  I've decided to share this beautiful photograph with you.  Please click here for more details.

Great Memories from our Newfoundland Trip!

Last year, we had the awesome privilege of visiting Newfoundland- It was the most fascinating trip of my life!!  The rugged terrain varied from one end of the island to the other.  Although we did not get to make it to St-Anthony because there were no icebergs at that time (weather was too warm), we did get to see Gros Morne which was breathtakingly beautiful!  A drive definitely worth our while!

With my brother and his family, who have been living in Newfoundland for over six years now, we walked on the main streets of down town St-John's, which was cold, even at the end of June.  It was interesting to have the down town life to one side and the ships in the harbour on the other; in a distance we could see "Signal Hill" reminding us of St-John's rich history.

My brother and me were walking side by side with our cameras strapped around our necks and our gear firmly attached to our bodies and held our cameras at all time ready to shoot that one shot we would boast about later. Being a newbie, I didn't really know what I was doing.  Nevertheless, I think I got some really nice shots and this particular one is from a bronze sculpture representing different facets of the arts.  I photographed two of the representations, and this is one of them:  The Violinist-  I love this picture!!  It's a wonderful interpretation of classical music!!  This is a perfect gift for any classical music lover!!    Go to my Etsy Shop to see more of my photographs.  As of now, I'm offering 10% off my entire store with coupon code: BAYSAVE10 at checkout.  Click here to go to my store.

Take Advantage of Free Shipping

A friendly reminder to all of my loyal customers and new customers as well:

I'm offering free shipping on most of my smaller items, thus most of my jewelry.  Basically any one of my items that fit in a bubbly envelope and is thinner than 1" will be eligible for free shipping.  I do my utmost to offer you the best possible shipping price and if by any chance I overcharge you with my default shipping price, I will, I guarantee, refund you if there is more than $1 difference.

I also want to remind everyone that I'm offering a 10% discount on all of my Etsy shop.  Take advantage now and start shopping here- Go to my Etsy Shop Bayside Wire Designs

Description of Handmade Turquoise Jewelry Necklace and Earrings Set: Turquoise, Moonstone and Petrified Wood in .925 Sterling Silver with large Mabe Pearl Shell Pendant and glass seed bead work on softflex (the best beading material available and will not wear easily.), finished with a solid .925 lobster clasp;  Earrings are short and dangle from a delicate stud earrings in .925 sterling silver.

Recycled, Up-Cycled Antique Silver Fork Earrings Etsy Shop Handmade

It's not too rare to see recycled, antique spoon jewelry these days.  I have my own little collection of these as well, but what about the forks??  These make for beautiful and unique pieces of jewellery.  I decided to make a collection of cool earrings with the individual fork talons.  I sawed each one of the talons off the main fork piece, drilled a whole in them, added my handmade .925 sterling silver o-rings and hammered ear wires and there it was:  a minimalist style earring that could be worn be either women or men.  Go to my etsy shop to view my other recycled, up-cycled antique silver spoon and fork, silver jewelry:  Click here.  Please don't forget to register to follow my blog.  You can follow my blog by email now.  Check it out in the bar on the left.

Ice and Snow

As I look through the window of my office, I see the Maple trees struggling to hold on to their bright, yellow leaves while snow is ever so lightly being tossed about in the wind.  The day is definitely colder than usual.  This cool day in October reminds me of my "Ice Necklace."

 Inspired by a winter ice storm we had a couple of years back, I designed this beautiful collection.  I absolutely love the look of branches weighed down by the heavy snow with crystal clear icicles sparkling in the sun.  Each part of my necklace represents beautiful features of this ice storm:  the .925 sterling silver work represent the trees and the branches; the genuine white pearls represent the crisp white snow; the quartz gemstones represent the ice; and the sparkling crystals represent the sparkle.

I designed this necklace for a bride, but it could easily be worn for any event.  This is a one of a kind bridal necklace.

Sea Glass, Beach Glass and Mermaid Tears

When I started making jewelry over 7 years ago, that's when I really discovered sea glass for the first time.  Not that I had never noticed it before when I was walking bare foot in the sand, but I never thought of it as something precious.  To be honest, I would be frustrated because in my eyes these were pieces of garbage scattered on the beach; a display of negligence and selfishness .  With time and a little bit of research, I've come to appreciate sea glass as being beautiful, frosty gems, gently tumbled with the tides of time; little pieces of coloured history as it may.

Every time I find sea glass, especially a rarer colour such as blue, aqua, mauve, orange, red or black, I ponder and try to imagine its journey. The Bay of Chaleur is so rich with history that one cannot help but wonder if some of this glass wasn't from an old English Ship, a French frigate from France, an Oriental cargo ship, or perhaps it was from the local lobster fishermen who after finishing their favourite drink, hid the evidence at the bottom of the Bay.  As you can see, the possibilities are endless.  Why don't you let your imagination run free the next time you spot these multi-coloured gems in the sand and come up with your own story; a romantic one.

Here is one of my pieces of wire wrapped jewelry with a beautiful greenish-blue colour of sea glass in .925 sterling silver wire.  Click here for more info on pendant and chain.