Wildish

This brooch is hand quilted with bright fabrics and embellished with an old school radio which I drew, copied and transfered onto a shell bead. The  seed beads are strung on silk thread for strength and durability.  It has a regular sized bar pin back.

 

This little briar is made of bits of lace sewn together with freshwater pearls. It has a small bar pin back.

 

A little Maple Seedling:

This time of year diminutive baby maples are unfurling their first leaves in the grassy stretch between streets and side walks. They’re existence is usually hardly noticeable since they don’t last past the first day of mown grass. This year I am going to harvest as many as I can, plant them, feed them and bring them to the craft fair for another chance at life.  Plant one at your place or in a secret spot around town to enjoy watching it grow and mature. It also makes a great gift. You could also plant it to commemorate the birth of new family members or in rememberance of our connection to those who have past.

Trees give us shade, shelter, oxygen, privacy and happiness (among many other things).  The world could use more of them.

 

1$ for each little tree all ready to plant! Buy 5 for 4$ May 2nd-3rd at the North Street church.

This is it’s parent reaching it’s lichenous branches to the sky!

Click here to learn more about maple trees.

Today my mother and I went for a spring walk around the neighbourhood.  I was struck by the beauty of life in the state of renewal and decay. There were so many glowing spring blooms poping up close to the ground, but still the buds are not quite ripe and last years blooms still flutter in the trees.

The other thing that struck me is the blatant waste, privatization and comercialisation of the landscape in this area. The greenspace is slowly being eroded, huge condos are going up and houses in the area are being bought up and torn down to make mega houses.  The areas that surround them are left disturbed and strangely barren.

We walked around for an hour or so, and at that point I realized the only public place we had found to sit and relax was on a piece of  discarded concrete on a damaged (and yet to be sold) stretch of land on look off lane.  We still hadn’t come across one garbage can. It seemed there were no crosswalks where there should be. The city of Halifax needs some serious help! By that I mean the seemingly impossible dream of being planned and governed in an ecologically and socially responsible way.

Our journey in photos :
click through the photos for more details on the walk.

 

Black blooms dangle from freshwater pearls and glass beads. The edge of each lace bloom has been hand stitched for durability.

I have so many earrings almost ready to go!

I made these today for my mom.  They are very easy to make and very satisfying with coffee. I make these with lots of good stuff and they are lower in fat and sugar than most cookies out there.

Ingredients:

dry:
1 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup all purpose flour
100 g of walnuts
1/3 cup oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp fresh ground cardamom
wet:
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp molasses
2 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp butter
2 eggs
(optional : 1 to 2 tsp of milk to bring ingredients together if it seems a little too dry).

Grind or chop the oats and walnuts. I usually throw them together in a little electric  chopper for ten seconds or so. Wisk this together with the rest of  the dry ingredients and set aside. In a seperate bowl wisk together the wet ingredients. Make a well in the center of the flour, pour in the wet ingredients and stir  together.  This dough will seem dry compared to most doughs, but it should still hold togther when shaped. If it still seems a bit too dry you can add a little bit of milk and press it  into domed shapes . Bake for at 350 for 20 minutes, or until golden. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool for a few minutes. When they are cool enough to handle cut them into slices and bake again for another 15 minutes. They will be crunchy and perfect for dipping in tea or coffee.

I found this lovely little square of black lace while sorting out some fabric the other day.   I cut out the small shapes within the fabric and transformed the pieces into mini- brooches and earrings.  I’ll be uploading the photos over the next couple of days. This small piece won’t make very many one of a kinds, so if you see anything you’d like and you can contact me before I put it up in the shop through email (kellyday@kelly-day.com).

Black Lace Mini Brooches: 5$ each.

 

Flower Mini- This Brooch is constructed of buttons, reclaimed earring parts, lace florets stiffened with a light wash of acrylic medium. It has a small bar-pin back. They measure 1 1/2 in diameter .

Feathery Mini- this is made of two black lace leaves, vintage buttons, a floral sequin, freshwater pearl and a teeny glass bead. It is handsewn together with a bar-pin back.  Would look sweet on a beret, lapel, or even in your hair if you attach a bobby pin to the bar pin back.

Black Lace Earrings: Photos coming soon

leaf-cellular-floral-stem-feathered-

Hair Pins:

They are mounted on large bobby pins. It is also easy to replace the pin with a new one if necessary.