You’ve gotta check out one of our recent Insta video clips showing off the new front yard. Gillian Batcher’s hubby has been working throughout the summer to revamp the yard and redo the fence that had started rotting out (with some painting help from ya gal). It is looking so great I had to take some garden shots of the latest goldsmith to join the Jewel Envy ranks, Aurora Simmons of Handmade Revolution.
In August sunflowers are going to be blooming across Ontario. If you want to visit some sunflower fields scroll down to check out an upcoming Market in Mapleton, Ontario to wander through sunflowers and shop some jewellery from glaciale goldsmith along with other vendors. Now back to my bench to make some hoops!
<3 Alexis
Raven Pendant by Aurora Simmons of Handmade Revolution.
Vasilisa Ring by Aurora Simmons of Handmade Revolution.
Silver Branch Earrings by Aurora Simmons of Handmade Revolution.
Ya girl rocking a bomb eyeshadow look.
Alexis Kostuk of glaciale goldsmith will be participating August 8th
Sunflower fields, farm tours, and vendors are awaiting you in Mapleton, Ontario.
I’m Rex, I am a Chinese artist and jewellery designer based in Toronto and I recently joined Jewel Envy!
I graduated from from the Material Art and Design program from OCAD University, where I discovered my passion of making jewellery.
Rex Feng
With an interest in both jewellery and sculpture, I blend sculpture into jewellery design. I believe jewellery can be wearable sculpture pieces.
“Squareness”
My current practice focuses on 3d modelling, hand-carving, and fabricating unique art jewellery pieces with aesthetic value with clean and balanced designs.
“Two hands ring
I also enjoy playing with the colour and texture through patina to reflect the passage of time and life.
The best-smelling, cleanest, most beautiful, put-together people you can imagine, usually have the grimiest jewellery repairs.
Without getting too graphic, let me remind you of what the tops of sunblock bottles, hand lotion tubes, and jars of face creams look like, right around the edges, where air dries out the build-up. You got it.
These same products get up under watchstraps, diamond settings, earring backs, and absolutely everywhere. The oil that makes them so great for moisturizing, also makes them great for sticking. To jewellery. And for collecting every speck of dust, dander or dna to form enough layers, that one may wonder if the wearer had taken a pottery class recently. But it’s not recent at all. Much the same as the the product containers I’ve mentioned, the buildup is slow. If people realise at all, it’s usually not until they are getting a piece back from their jeweller, and noticing how much bigger their cleaned diamond looks, or how shiny everything is. Only the goldsmith knows what was in there, and they will never tell.
Other culprits of jewellery harassment are perfume and hairspray. Along with the products mentioned above, these items can be assassins when it comes to your favourite pieces, especially for pearls. Each layer of nacre that gives a pearl lustre, strength, and beauty, is a delicious lunch for the oils and chemicals in beauty products. Without proper care and timing, pearls will become dulled or even distorted, and need replacement.
I say all of this, because an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. There is lots and lots of advice online about cleaning your jewellery, and a lot of it is pretty good. However, if you don’t know how it becomes dirty/damaged, or you don’t know what you have, you risk anything from wasted money/effort, to further damage.
Here are a couple of safe, preventative measures that could save you and your jeweller, some stress, money, and heartache:
1. Last to put on, first to come off. If you wait to put on your jewellery (especially pearls!!!) until at least 10 minutes after your last poof of perfume, slather of sunblock, or hiss of hairspray, your pieces will be OVER the dried product, instead of UNDER it. When it’s time to wash or change, remove the jewellery first, to avoid soaps, make-up removers, creams, etc.
2. Gentle maintenance. Warm water on a soft, damp cloth, or a very soft baby toothbrush, then dried with another soft cloth, can be just enough to keep products from building up and causing trouble.
3. Get friendly with a goldsmith. One of the many things goldsmiths are good at, is troubleshooting. If you show us a ring that seems to be catching on your favourite sweater, we will show you where the prongs have worn down to the point which you are about to lose your diamond. Before that happens though, most of us are happy to give your pieces a quick once-over and let you know what you’ve got and how to take care of it. Just ask!
Bottom line – If you are putting a lot into being beautiful, make sure your jewellery stays beautiful too!
The morning of my first in person Art show happened a week ago and I cannot be more thankful for having participated in an in person gathering that felt safe and got me talking to more people than what felt like more interactions in the last year combined. Check out the my work here.
Alexis
Me: choosing a recently made necklace to wear (of which I have 4 available for sale) and adjusting me signage/selfie. Work that was for sale July 4/5th in person at Stakt Market and some of which is now available at Jewel Envy.Relaxing drink at the end of the show.Follow soap ghosts advice and continue to wash your hands and I’ll add in wear a mask!
I am resisting the urge to be negative about my lack of social media build promoting I could have done to bolster activity and instead choosing to celebrate that I pushed through my anxiety about participating in person and being so extremely grateful to all the friends and family that helped me set up and kept me company <3
I’m doing retail this week, but I’ve managed to fit in a bit of work in between visitors, so I spent some time setting stones in this pendant I’ve been working on. I thought I’d share some process pics.
pendant mounted to start the setting-when stone setting, you need to immobilise the piece. I like to use this thermoplastic (which is reusable), it holds nicely, and it is easy to work with.
checking the fit and arrangement of the stones
The final pendant! I used London blue topaz (I love that smoky darker blue!), and green peridot. Now I just have to figure out a chain for it!
Hello from the Big Blue House in Roncy on this very fine Saturday!! We’re still pretty virtual as far as summer shows go, but the annual fixture that is the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair is still happening (as I write – both virtually and a small, rotating exhibition at the Stakt market). Celebrating 60 years this year, the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair has a long tradition of showcasing amazing Canadian art.
Yes, people, it’s happening now! I’ve browsed the artists, and there is, as usual, some really cool work, both on exhibit and for sale! I highly recommend it :).
There are four of us taking part this year, from the studio-myself (Robin, House of Cassady), Alex Kinsley Vey , Alexis Kostuk and Alessandra Pompei. Visit the artist galleries through the links above, to see the exciting work we’ve put up for the virtual exhibition. Plus, if you’re feeling adventurous, both Alessandra and Alexis are participating in the in-person exhibition at the Stakt market venue this Sunday (tomorrow) and Monday! If you’re there, stop by and say hi!
There’s lots of interesting virtual programming happening for the show, which you can check out here.
Whatever you’re doing this weekend, hope to see you soon!
