A Time for Giving

I don't know about you, but our e-mail box has been jam packed full of all kinds of sales and advertising lately.  It is a busy time of year and we have been too busy to have a sale and felt it would be swallowed up in all the mainstream advertising wave.  We do, however, still want to pass on some savings to you and will be having some cool sales over the next month.  If don't want to miss any of them, I would suggest signing up on our blog to receive our posts straight to your e-mail box.

This time of year we think more about giving.  We are a proud supporter of the Samunnat Project in Nepal (click on the link to read more about them if you are not familiar).  We help raise money for their project by donating a portion of our Dremel Buffing Pad sales.  So to kick off our holiday sales,  we will be donating an even larger portion from each pack that is sold in our online store from now until the end of December!

And to mix it up a bit, we have added a new color!  Yes we have something for all you purple lovers!  Dremel buffing pads in a fun purple color!  These work exactly the same as our regular pads -- but just in a fun shade of purple!  But hurry as we only have a limited supply and when they are gone they might be gone forever!

So stay tuned for some upcoming sales -- the first one starts tomorrow and each one is for a limited time!

It's a Cinch! Scarf Clip

We presented our new It's a Cinch! Scarf Clips (Interchangeable Fashion for your Scarf . . . in a Snap!) at the Christmas show in Kamloops last week and they were a huge hit!  People loved how they could use them on any of their scarves and were so easy to use.

We have a wide range of colors available in our online store and you can also select your preferred clasp and cord end "metal" colors.  (They are actually nylon plastic but look like metal)

The beauty of this clip is that the snap base allows you to switch out the designs and interchange them so you can use it with more than just one scarf or outfit.  Any of our decorative snaps will work on the "It's a Cinch!" Scarf Clips, including the larger sizes.  We suggest, however, selecting the size of snap according to the type of scarf you will be using.  For a lighter or thinner scarf, a smaller size snap is more suitable and for a heavier or thicker type scarf, a larger snap will look more balanced.

We are finally getting around to adding some of our new larger style snaps to our website.  These textured and layered pieces shown here were created using some of the shape templates adapted from Helen Breil's Magnetic Pendants tutorial.  Instead of using magnets, however, we have added a snap for interchanging within our Snap Decisions Collection.  This way they can be added to a scarf using our "It's a Cinch!" Scarf clip, or worn as a necklace using our snap necklace base in either stainless steel or antique bronze finish.

We also have some gorgeous scarves that compliment our handcrafted items and for your convenience, have listed them as an add-on option with our "It's a Cinch!" Scarf Clips.

We carry several types of scarves:

A - Crinkle Cotton -- The colors are rich and the scarf is soft as well as light weight.  It is a nice choice if you do not want anything too heavy around your neck.

B - Linen -- These are beautiful scarves in luxurious linen that have been pre-washed and are super soft.  The colors are gorgeous and they have a slight open weave making them comfy for cooler days but not too heavy to wear.

C - Cotton-Viscose Blend -- These are a little heavier and have metallic threads woven in to give them a fabulous shimmer.  A little heavier weight than the linen but perfect for winter!

Our scarves are not sold individually but only as an add-on option with our handcrafted items.  We do have all the colors listed here and they are also listed individually in our Shop by Color section to make coordinating our pieces easier.

A New Twist on an Old Scarf Clip

A few years ago I introduced a scarf clip finding that you could add your polymer clay designs to.  The supplier who had those clips no longer carried them and the search was on to find more.  About a year later we managed to locate some that were similar from another wholesaler.  I was again disappointed when I returned to order more and discovered those were no longer available as well.  After a lot of searching I decided to give up and proceeded to brainstorm and work on a whole new concept instead.

I am excited to tell you about our new style of scarf "clips" that are a part of our Snap Decisions Collection -- 

Interchangeable Fashion for Your Scarf . . .

 . . . It's a Cinch!

* Easy to use!
* Adjustable
* Fits any scarf thickness
* A snap base for interchanging designs
* Style your scarf in various ways

It is easy to add even a large decorative snap to a scarf as an accent like these Holy CaBezels.

It is so easy to use.  Slide the scarf through the open loop placing the open snap base to the front.  When it is in the position you want, cinch it up to hold it in place.  Finally add your decorative snap to the snap base.

The cord is very strong yet soft and gentle on your scarf.  We have them in a variety of colors to coordinate with your scarf and several metal colors to choose from.  They are now for sale in our online store and will be available with a selection of our decorative snaps and luxurious scarves at the Kamloops Craft-A-Fair this Sunday.

New Interchangeable Snap Necklace Styles

We recently added some new interchangeable pendant styles to our Snap Decisions collection.  All of the decorative snap base pendants have our unique "easy clip" for interchanging.  You can clip them onto a necklace chain or onto any of our scarf bails to wear on a scarf.

These new pendants along with our other styles are available in our online store and we will also have them for sale at the Kamloops Craft-a-Fair this Sunday.  If you can make it we would love to see you there.

Our Snap Decisions Collection is also sold at the Silhouette Fashion Boutique.  We are excited to announce that Silhouette Fashion Boutique recently opened a second location at the Village Green Centre in Vernon.

I thought I would share this video that was made by Roxy of Shuswap Events featuring our Snap Decisions Collection and demonstrated by T.J. the owner of the Silhouette Fashion Boutique.

The Silhouette Fashion Boutique has such fabulous clothes with most of them Canadian made.  They are having their fall fashion show at the Vernon store location this Thursday which you need to book in advance.  To see other events and specials, you can follow them on facebook to stay informed.

If you are not able to shop in their store, you can find all the fabulous clothes they carry in their online store.

Lots of New Scarf Jewelry for Fall

Over the past few months we have been working overtime to create some new scarf jewelry for fall.  I have been teaching Linda, our assistant, how to make them with me in a sort of production process and so we were able to create a wide range of designs and have some fun at the same time!  These take a fair bit of work to make but is one of my favorite items to create.  The bails are handcrafted from clay and then we hand-shape sets of clay beads to match.  After baking and finishing all the pieces, they are put together with unique charms and beautiful beads to create a balanced necklace.

Our scarf jewelry is one of our most popular selling items.  We have had a difficult time listing them online as they would sell so quickly.  This time we managed to document and photograph these latest pieces before we take them to our Christmas show coming up in less than 2 weeks.  We will be at the Kamloops Craft-A-Fair at the Sandman Centre on Sunday, November 5th.  We will be in the same location as past years (on the concourse - turn left at the main entrance and down a bit on the left hand side).  If you are not able to attend, we have a wide selection listed in our online store and also adding some select designs to our Etsy shop.

Our new classic collection is in a wide range of fall colors.  You can add one to your own favorite scarf or they can be purchased with one of our soft and luxurious linen scarves in your color choice.

Creating with the Liane CaBezel Jewelry Mold

The Liane CaBezel jewelry mold is another new design from the CaBezel mold series created by Wendy Orlowski.  It doesn't have a hole like in the Holy CaBezel molds but does come in three sizes.  I loved playing with these molds and trying out various ways they can be used with a snap mounted for interchanging.

These are several arrangements out of many that can be made with the beads created from the molds.  The interchangeable beads on the necklace in the above photo were created using the medium-size (center) and small size (outside) in the Liane CaBezel mold.  In the arrangement below I used the large size (center) along with the medium size mold (outside beads).

The arrangement below is a combination of the small size Liane CaBezel mold for the 2 outside beads and the center bead made with the Fab Focals # 2.

I also created a large Liane shape with a curve and really like how it came out.  You can see a comparison in the photo below.  

Bead on the left was baked on a curve and bead on the right baked flat

The curved shape works especially well in the longer necklace design with the chain tassel.

 

And the beauty of it on a snap is that it can be easily interchanged and worn as a short necklace.

  

We create the art . . . 

. . . you choose how to wear it!

Large Interchangeable Snaps in Faux Stone

I really love creating clay designs with the CaBezel jewelry molds.  These pieces were made in our faux red stone and on a snap for interchanging to be worn in a variety of ways.  I filled the center hole in the small designs with a bit of faux white stone to add a bit of contrast.

The new 'Holy CaBezel' jewelry molds come in three sizes.  I really like the variety as even if you created a pendant from them, not everyone prefers the largest size so it provides more options.  Shown below is the smallest size of the 'Carolyn' design (my favorite -- not just because it is named after me!) that is on a snap and worn as a necklace.

Here is the same snap combined with the large size and a small 'Sue' design to create a three piece interchangeable snap necklace.

And a few more ideas as to how to use this size of art bead.  It could be used as bracelet links or in this case a snap added to one of our new wrap bracelets.

It is also the perfect size for adding to a shawl or hair stick.  We make our own clay covered sticks with a snap base for interchanging which are available in our online store as well as several yarn shops that sell our work.

And if you like chunky rings, the small size CaBezel can be worn as one as well.  Having it on a snap allows one to choose the ring base they prefer for a proper fit.  We have a selection of rings with a snap base in our online store.

So even if you aren't into making interchangeable snaps, I hope this can give you a little more inspiration on using the CaBezel jewelry molds created by Wendy Orlowski which are available only at Shades of Clay.