What I’m Doing!

This is the time of the year when I experiment with new activities…things I generally don’t have the time to work on during the rest of the year.  

I’ve tried my hand at painting and drawing, I’m impatient…I want to be descent right away…obviously  that isn’t going to happen…it was too frustrating for me as I saw the finished product in my head but I couldn’t translate it to paper so to speak.   As for drawing I took a great online class on drawing a face and surprisingly enough I was able to draw the individual facial features  to my liking, but couldn’t for the life of me put them all together to make a respectable face…just isn’t my forte I guess?   Either that or I need more patience to practice, practice, practice!

I think I mentioned before, I take photos of my jewelry for my website and blog, have for 7 years, always disliked the job.  I always thought of it as a huge chore, which I tended to put off.   This often meant I didn’t get a photo of a piece of jewelry as it sold before I took the time!   Part of the reason I disliked taking jewelry photos is I couldn’t seem to get the photos the way I thought they should be…they were too blue, too yellow, too dull, too whatever, you get the picture.   Definitely a pun intended… there is that patience thing again!

Having said all that I found I enjoyed taking photos of other things, in particular water, sunsets, trees, nature shots…I don’t find practising frustrating or annoying…I enjoy it!  Since October, I’ve been taking photos when I go for my daily walks…well missed a couple of days last week as it was just too darn cold…

As a result most of my shots right now are around the area where I live…snowy & cold, if I can say that about a photo, but some great blue skies, if you like blue skies…check out my photography website… www.heathercote.com

If you would like to see larger photos, take a peek at my website...I put them on there a bit larger as I think it shows the detail more...

I’ve also added shots from Key West…to change it up from a continuous stream of snowy shots…

Thanks for reading…

As always if you have a question send me an email at hjcote11@hotmail.com or leave a comment on my website above.

Have a great week…

 Cheers

Season finished …

It’s that time of year…at least it is for me.  I did my last show of the year…

This past Saturday was the City Streets Artisan House Tour…as you know; it was my first year doing the tour.  To be honest I wasn’t sure what to expect as it was also the first year for the house I was in.   I’m pleased to say it was a huge success!  We had a steady stream of people until around 1:30, from then until 4:00 we saw people sporadically, having said that people who came out were there to shop, either for themselves or for Christmas gifts.  I was very impressed as everyone I spoke with said they did the whole tour, which was a wonderful thing to hear being an artisan in the tour.  That is what you hope for but aren’t sure it will happen!  So… a heartfelt “thank you” all the wonderful people who spent much of their Saturday supporting local artisans!!!

I’d also like to thank sisters, Janet and Jean Butler, Butlers’ Bobbins, for allowing Claudette Jesso, “the Bag Lady”, Lori Costello, Bella Hill Maple Syrup and myself to be in their home for this incredible day!   I’m friends with Claudette and Lori and very quickly became friends with Janet and Jean…we had a most enjoyable day.

I just realized that I didn’t take any photos yesterday!  I’m so annoyed with myself as I wanted to post a couple here as well as on the City Streets website, I even took my phone out and put it on the table then completely forgot… nothing I can do now!

My shows may be over but not the work, I’m always available for custom orders, don’t hesitate to contact me if there is something specific you are looking for…I’ve orders right now, but there is always time for more.

My intention is to continue on baytoday.ca with the Birthstone of the Month and articles on subjects think you will find interesting.

 I know many people enjoy crossword/word puzzles so I thought it might be fun to give that a try.  Of course it will be related to what I do or the season, etc., feel free to send me a request and I’ll see what I can come up with.    This first puzzle is “Birthstones”… it will be very simple to complete, especially for anyone who does crosswords regularly.   This is my first attempt at making puzzles, while not difficult to do it becomes time consuming the more words used, which is why the first one is very simple…I didn’t have the time to come up with something challenging.   I’ve included a crossword puzzle and a word puzzle.  If you would like the answers send me an email.  You should be able to right click on either puzzle, choose “save image as”, when the “save image” box comes up choose where you would like to save it, I always choose my Desktop to save anything to, makes it easy to find it, then you can print the crossword allowing you to do it when you have the time…if you have any problems saving it send me a email, I’m happy to help.  Have fun with it…again…feel free to send any suggestions.

I've added the puzzles to the blog for anyone who enjoys them...I'm hoping to improve my puzzle making skills as I go along...

 

As always leave a comment on my blog or send me an email at hjcote11@gmail.com, I’d like to hear what you have to say…enjoy the week.

Cheers

"Puzzle made at puzzle-maker.com"

Short and to the point!

I’ve decided to keep this ­­­­­­ post short and to the point…I had a couple of things I needed to mention and didn’t want make the post long and drawn out.  As many of you know I can be long winded when I find a subject of interest. 

This weekend it was brought to my attention I forgot to share my post last week with my Facebook friends.   I had a few people ask me if I’d chosen a name for my jewelry line.   For those of you who didn’t see the original post…the name I chose is “Silver Luxe”.   Definition of luxe:  “of special elegance, sumptuousness, or fineness; high or highest in quality, luxury” …I think it fits nicely!  The author of the name is Diane Estrella, you can find her here,  www.dianeestrella.com.  I thank Diane for having such a high opinion of my designs.  I will be making a pair of earrings for her and once she receives the earrings she will send me a photo… which of course, I will share.

 The Davedi Show was very busy, crowds of people on Saturday, but then I’ve never experienced the show when it wasn’t busy on the Saturday…Sunday has a tendency to be a bit slower, as with most two day shows.  This Sunday was more than a “bit” slower…but… still had a good day!  The wonderful women of The Ladies Auxiliary of the Davedi Club offered great food and baking for sale…definitely a good event for vendors and customers alike!

My next show is this coming Sunday November 11^th; it is the “30^th Annual Christmas Craft Show” at the Best Western, 9:00am to 4:00pm.   I’ve never been in this show before but the opportunity presented itself and I decided it was worth a try.

FYI:  I took an order in to Soul Sister on Oak Street last week…if you are looking for Christmas presents or something for that special occasion and can’t make it to the next two shows stop by Soul Sister and have a look.   Or… simply send me an email or give me a call, I enjoy working on custom orders!

As always if you have a comment or question, don’t hesitate to send me an email or comment on my blog…

Have a great week!

Cheers

Heather

- Poster designed and created by Heather Cote, information courtesy of Kelly Besner, Craft Show Co-coordinator.

-Graphics courtesy of © Mira Bavutti - Fotolia.com

Broken Heart...

NOTE:  After reading the comments on this post I realized I forgot to mention the reason I make the "Broken Hearts"...so for those who aren't aware of why I make them...

Heart disease is prevalent in my family, my father, both grandmothers, my paternal grandfather, died from heart disease, one of my twin brothers had a major heart attach at the young age of 43...he is good now but my other two brothers have high blood pressure. I decided to do my small part to help the cause, so when I make anything with a heart I give a donation to the Heart & Stroke Foundation...the "Broken Heart" is my signature piece for this foundation...each and every one I make is made with love!   

It's that time of year again...Valentine's Day is just  around the corner...

Here is one of my Broken Hearts... all hearts are hand cut, then cut in half and mended.  This one as you can see has been hammered with two different textures for a bit of detail.    I used to mend the each heart with rings but the last few times I've used sterling silver wire...I rather like the difference...the wire makes the heart more sturdy, less floppy.    The heart previouse to this one was mended with a 26g wire but I wasn't completely happy with it so this one is mended with 20g argentium silver wire...it does take a bit of pulling but I think the outcome is nicer and cleaner looking...I even added a little curly cue on the right hand side!

This particular heart can be found at Soul Sisters on Oak Street, here in North Bay!

Enjoy your day!
Cheers

A busy few days ahead!!!

Time passes so quickly...this weekend is the last of my "craft shows" for the 2010 season...a three day show! Very busy but a great deal of fun! For those of you in the North Bay area stop by...it is a fabulous show with amazing artisans/crafters/producers!

There is a $5.00 admission but it is good for the three days...enter the draw for an electric fireplace...perfect prize for this time of year!

I've other things in the works and I'm doing another of my own shows but not until December 1st...more about this later!

Enjoy the rest of the week...
Cheers

"One in a Million"

My next show, as you can see from the above poster is tomorrow evening!
Hope to see you there!!!

Cheers!