What's Up?

Hello there!

How's your week been? Mine's been pretty fabulous, actually. Lots to get excited about!

Early this week I found out I am doing yet another craft show this season! It's the Sassy Little Craft Show on Sunday December 1, from 2-8 at The Central (by Honest Ed's). You can get more details regarding which shows I'll be at under Upcoming. So much to prepare for! Of course I want to overhaul everything I did at my last show. We'll see what the next fews weeks allow.

Monday was an absolutely glorious day so my friend and I took a stroll through Cedarvale Park. It was stunning.

One evening this week my friend Dana and I took a trip to Biko's sample sale held in her gorgeous studio! We had a ton of fun ogling (and buying) her amazing pieces. And letting Corrine know just how much we love her.

Earrings...all $5!

Our shared shopping tray.

The lovely Dana, modelling a fierce necklace.

Studio HEAVEN.

My spoils. Including the studded earrings I won from her Instagram contest!

This weekend I am trying out a wicked new sewing attachment and will report back soon with sneak peeks at new pieces you'll be able to check out at craft shows this holiday season!

Until then...

Designer Crush: House of Harlow 1960

I love Nicole Richie's House of Harlow jewellery collection. I love everything about it so hard. The shapes, colours, materials, all perfect. I could make this into a picture post with all my favourites but I would likely go overboard, so I'll keep it simple and tell a quick story instead.

Despite my love I only have a couple pieces (the black pyramid station necklace making regular appearances in my Etsy listings). They're a bit pricier and with shipping, duties and exchange rates, I must choose my pieces carefully. However, yesterday I discovered that not only is there a store in Toronto that carries HOH jewellery, but that it's walking distance from my home! WHAT. How did my frequent Googling keep this crucial knowledge from me? I had quite an emotional reaction when I realized that the jewellery I was browsing at Poor Little Rich Girl was ALL House of Harlow because I was just that excited. Maybe I overreacted, and maybe I'm overreacting now by blogging about it but dayum, gurl, I was thrilled. Imagine! The novelty of being able to shop a favourite brand in person. The shop owner released the kraken when she told me she'd order any pieces I wanted if they didn't have it in stock.

Anyways, I collected myself and left with a modest purchase of a pair of earrings and what was left of my dignity. But I'll definitely be making monthly visits because it would be unreasonable not to.

Pic swiped from shopbop.com

Happy girl!

DIY Spike Necklace

When a good friend of mine was visiting recently we made it a priority to visit Queen West which, for those who don't know, is Toronto's craft mecca. Tons of stores dedicated to fabric, beads, yarn, buttons and ribbon...mmm... My friend spotted these spikey beads in one of the stores and bought a few in gold. I thought they were so fabulous that I had to follow suit and voila! A DIY was born.

What You Need:

Pliers, wire cutters, small spikes, large spikes, jump rings and a clasp.

We found these spikes at Arton Beads in Toronto. They came in gold and silver, plastic or metal. These ones are plastic so the necklace is light and less of a weapon. Each pack came with roughly 25 beads at only a few bucks a pop. Not bad!

Cut two lengths of chain: 17 inches for the short spikes, 18 inches for the long spikes.

If you think you might want a different length for this necklace, always always always cut more chain than you need. Then you can trim to your heart's desire.

To attach the spiked pendants to the chain, you'll be using your pliers to open and close the jump rings.

Starting with the smaller spikes and the shorter chain, string the pendant onto the jump ring and slip it through one of the links in the middle of your first chain.

I started from the middle and worked my way out to ensure that my cluster remained centred. It's a massive pain to do all that work only to have to redo it!

Space them out about two chain links. The spacing totally depends on the size of the links of your chain so test it out. For my chain, I found 1 space left in between looked nicest.

Try to keep your chain as flat as possible when attaching your spikes.

Keep going until you have 2.5 inches of spikes (17 spikes), or, really, however many you want. You don't actually have to listen to me ;)

Once you get a ton of them on the chain they start to fall into a big cluster.

Move on to adding the longer spikes to the longer chain. Repeat the steps above in attaching the pendants however this time I left 3 spaces in between spikes, having a total of 3.5 inches of spikes (13 spikes).

When you are happy with how the spikes are looking, use two more jump rings to attach the chains (again, careful not to twist them) to your clasp and pow!

Ways to change it:

- Increase the number of spikes per chain.

- Increase/decrease the length of chain, creating more a different shape in the final necklace.

- Add a third strand of spikes, maybe a different colour.

- Paint the spikes using a bright nail polish.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

Designer Crush: Unearthen

Spotted recently on Honestly WTF, I fell hard for Unearthen. I am a sucker for bold colours, gorgeous stones and pointy, intimidating jewellery in general so this entire collection made me gasp out loud. Here are some of my favourite pieces:

Triarch Cuff

Volantis Ring

Pyxis Cuff

Apatite

All photos credited to www.seeunearthen.com. 

Wednesday Wishlist: Earrings. Finally.

I stretched my ear lobes in high school. Ten years later, I am only just letting them go back to normal. It was such a struggle/commitment to stretch them that I wasn't ready to let them go. That plus I liked the subtle silver tunnels I wore—people rarely noticed that they were able to see straight through my ears haha.

Goodbyeeeee!

My obsession with stud earrings took over and one morning I took the plunge and removed the tunnels (silently screaming NOOOO the whole time). Then I went out and bought earrings that I had been coveting for weeks. And then ordered a bunch more. And then started making some out of buttons. I want them all!

1. Barn Owl Post - Handy Maiden

2. Forget Me Knot Earrings - Juliet & Company

3. Rose Gold Pyramid Studs - Tiny Armour

4. Morganite Gemstone - Madelynn Cassin Designs

5. Gold Dipped Mint Green Studs - Petite Co

6. Tiny Silver Druzy Studs - Rachel Pfeffer Designs

7. Gold Druzy Studs - Rachel Pfeffer Designs

8. Alanna Stud Earrings - Dara Ettinger

9. Geometric Peach Circle Stud - Vivid by Esther

*I've totally already ordered the last ones :P

Favourite DIYs Lately

There are some seriously fabulous DIY tutorials out there. Here are some of my favourites:

Honestly WTF—DIY Pearl & Safety Pin Necklace

Design Sponge—DIY Wall Organizer

For the Makers—Fitzgerald Floral Embroidery

Swell Mayde—Gold Gilded Geode Ring

Of course there's always the one unattainable DIY. A friend has promised that when he wins the lottery and becomes a carpenter, he'll make me a piano desk. Until then… Until then…

Apartment Therapy

There's already a B on it and everything. Just be mine!

DIY Short Necklaces

This past week I have become obsessed with short, beaded necklaces. Inspired by gorgeous spring jewellery collections, I encountered two problems: poverty and wanting things immediately. So bring on the DIY.

I bought many of my beads (including those lovely turquoise stones) at my favourite bead store in Toronto, Chaton Beads BUT just this weekend I learned (the hard way) that Chaton Beads is no more. Sadness. Yes, there are a dozen other bead stores on that same block, but this one was The One.

Anyhoo, this DIY is waaay quicker than my other necklaces and adds a lovely pop of colour to any outfit. Also it really doesn't matter what beads you use so if you can't decide, just make several! I set out to only make one, but clearly went overboard. Nothing new here! *blush*

What You Need:

Beads (whatever you like, enough for a 2-3 inch strand)
Fishing line (beading string)
Pliers
Wire cutters
Small crimping beads (Full disclosure: the ones I used were way too big so they turned out quite wonky. I'll likely redo them at some point because I can't deal with wonky.)
Jump rings (4 per necklace)
Chain (2 strands at 8.5 inches each*)
Clasp

The finished necklace measures 19-20 inches, dependent on your beads. *My advice regarding the chain is to always always cut a bit more than you think you need and clip it later once you've tried it on.

Step one. Decide on a pattern. Honestly, this part always takes me ages. AGES.

Cut several inches of your fishing line.

String your crimping bead and a jump ring onto the fishing line. Loop the string back through the crimping bead, leaving a tail. Pull tight, and smoosh the crimping bead shut with your pliers. Your string should be trapped.

String your beads onto the fishing line, tucking the tail through the beads as well, effectively hiding it.

When you come to the end, string your last crimping bead and jump ring on the fishing line and this time when you double back through the crimping bead, string your fishing line through a few beads only and pull the end tight. Smoosh the crimping bead. Trim the tail. (I realize that was a tongue twister.)

You're done the strand! It was so quick and easy that I made several. Whoops.

Using jump rings (and pliers to open and close them), connect your chain strands to the clasp and to your beaded strand.

Wear it.

Insta-Weekend

Yesterday was crafty-errand day. Did some serious supply shopping (while it was hailing, I must add), discovered my favourite bead store—Chaton Beads—closed forever, then checked out the glorious City of Craft and was so overwhelmed with inspiration that I went home and made way too many necklaces.

Find me on Instagram @owlswakeup to see the rest of my pics!

Leather and Sewing Supply never fails to get me drooling.

Looking for the perfect strap for a tote bag for my friend.

Some truly amazing artisans at City of Craft! Something to aspire to ;)

The bead obsession in full swing.

New clutches and another necklace DIY coming soon!

DIY Collar Necklace

Hello again! Time for another DIY!

The Peter Pan collar trend is still going strong, although I must admit I wasn't always on the bandwagon! I'm still not 100% convinced that I could rock one of these collars on a blouse, so I made a more subtle one in necklace form. Also, if I had a cameo she would be right smack dab in the centre. But alas I do not. Maybe you do??

What You Need:
Beads (I used 66 for this project), eye pins, jump rings (3), clasp, round-nosed pliers, pliers, wire cutters.

String your first bead onto your eye pin. Using your pliers, bend the wire at a 90 degree angle.

Using your wire cutters, clip the wire so you are left with just under 1cm.

Using your round-nosed pliers, bend the wire to form a loop. Leave the loop slightly open. Set aside.

Repeat with your next bead. These beads are going to be linked together to form the "chain." Slip your second bead's eye pin loop through your incomplete loop to connect them. Using your round-nosed pliers, close this loop. See photo for illustration:

Continue these steps until you have two lengths of 19 beads each, and two lengths of 14 each.

Note: the numbers of beads listed is simply what I used for this project. Feel free to make it longer or shorter dependent on the size of beads you use! It's up to you!

The two longest chains are connected with one jump ring. Two more jump rings are used to connect the beads to the clasp. Use your pliers to open and close your jump rings.

Here is where the jump rings should be attached:

The final step of this necklace DIY is attaching the shorter bead lengths that will serve as the loops of the collar. One end of each also connects to the jump ring in the middle (as shown in the photo below) but the other two are to be connected in the middle of the longer chain. I have connected mine after the 9th bead from the front jump ring.

Note: changing this position will change the shape of your collar so feel free to experiment to find what style you like.

Using your round-nosed pliers, open the loop just enough to slip it through the loop from the bead's eye pin that you're connecting it to, then close securely. That was a bit of a mouthful, so here's a close-up of what this connection should look like.

Do the same for the other side. And you're done!

Not the greatest photo, but here's what it looks like on!