White Peacock for Winter

Well, the cold is upon us, for real this time. I've been busy at work in other areas, but I thought I'd share one of my favourite creations of mine this season: the White Peacock Necklace.

This awesome thing is made of polymer clay, strung on a wire with big white pearls and little colourful gemstone rondelles. Every little swirl and feather was made by hand and attached carefully, and then the whole pendant was covered with a double layer of protective sealant. It's hard to catch the look of it just right in photographs, but you get a good idea of the shine and intricacies in this pic. Like it? I'm quite pleased with how it turned out =)

Stay warm out there, folks,

GM.

Hallowe'en Yummies!

You would think that with 2 more days til Hallowe'en, I would have photographed some of my fun seasonal things already. I haven't, since for me Hallowe'en is pretty much all the time. What I did do, however, was photograph some delicious skull-shaped cupcakes I baked all by myself (if you don't consider the premade mix cheating). Huzzah, baked goods!


Okay, I am aware that they look as much like evil snowman heads as they do human skulls, but you get what you get. C'mon, premade mix.

I realized, in my image-browsing, that I can show you a bit of my process for the scary goods. Behold. process!

You are looking at the workstation I set up, on the fly, at my sister's place. FYI, the bird illustration is my own, and I think it looks quite smart in its pendant.

That's all for now, folks! Enjoy Hallowe'en if I don't get to ya first!

Some More....Stuff!

Fall is back with even more cold weather than is seasonal, so I guess it's time to bring out some of the new autumnal pieces. Behold, the Diamond Mine necklace!

I named it the Diamond Mine because the flakes of sparkling silver in the black labradorite remind me of the subtle shimmer in certain rough rocks. The beads are smooth and cool, wired together firmly with sterling silver and hanging from a length of sparkling silver cable chain.


Matching sets are fantastic, so in that spirit, I present the Diamond Mine bracelet and Diamond Meteor bracelet!

Made with the same cool smooth black labradorite stone, in the same style as the Meteor and Black Lab bracelets of summer, these pieces are perfect for fall and winter. They make a somewhat bolder statement than their summer counterparts, but they do mix and match equally well with them. Nothing says style like black and silver.

That is that! Hallowe'en is nearly upon us, and I have lots of awesome fun stuff to do - carving pumpkins, making caramel apples, working on my costume, AND making spooky jewellery. I'm excited. I will post pics of my progress soon.

Until then!

GM.

As Soon As I Get Excited About Fall...

...the temperature rises to 24 degrees with a humidex of 30! It looks like swimming season might not be as over as I thought. To celebrate that now instead of the crispness of fall and all that, may I present some ocean-themed jewellery.

First up is a necklace called Pale Moonlight, featured at right. The pink and purple pearls are so cool and inviting. The centerpiece is a mermaid cameo set in a vintage brass setting with a backing of complimentary fabric. Beneath that, a long crystal teardrop hangs from more luminous pearls. Beautiful, unique, and limited.




Next we have another unique number called Golden Sands. This one is warm and elegant, draping nicely at about 20". This one also features a mermaid cameo, this time in a different brass setting. Bronze pearls, gold filled chain and a small asymmetrically placed toggle clasp make this necklace a one-of-a-kind.



So, what kind of weather will we have tomorrow?

GM.

New Things for Fall!

Hello there!

Fall is upon us (in a few days, officially), and here in Ontario things are really cooling down. This summer was pretty fall-like itself, actually, but there were a few weeks in August that really made me think about swimming instead of long sleeved sweatshirts. Alas, those times are over, and now I get to think about things like Hallowe'en and that apple orchard I visited in Kindergarten. To celebrate, I've made some new stuff!

Behold above, the Autumn Apples necklace! It combines cherry quartz with freshwater pearls and lots of other things for a luxurious and distinctly fall look.

Presenting a cool counterpoint to the Autumn Apple necklace is the Night River necklace. Blue goldstone round beads lend the appearance of the night sky while fancy cut labradorite nuggets with plenty of flash remind one of tumbling gray waters. Plenty of other things help to make up the cool uniqueness of this necklace, from tiny garnets to dark pewter freshwater pearls.

So this is what fall will look like! More good news is that the more distinctly summer pieces in my store will soon be on sale, so if you've had your eye on something fun and colourful for a while, mosey on over and check out the sale section.

See you soon, and happy September =)

-GM.

A Poodle

Hi folks, sorry for another delay. I've been hard at work on my new mysterious line of jewellery, and also caring for this cute little guy!


His name is Lambchop, and he's currently our foster dog. He's a poodle-spaniel, and we think he's the sweetest little thing ever. He's quite different from Joanie (our previous foster dog whom we loved, and who died of heartworm complications); he hasn't had the tough life she did, so he's better socialized to living with humans. We're having a wonderful time living with him.

As soon as I get a suitably obscure detail of some of my new work done, I'll post pics of it here for you to examine and marvel over. I know you do that. Even if you don't...you will be blown away by what's coming next from VL. I'm excited! =D

See you soon,

GM.

Forewarning!

I am now working on a new jewellery line, seperate from Vera Luna. It may end up a part of it after all, but from the plans I've got now, it's pretty different from anything I'm doing under VL. I'm going to be all annoyingly secretive today, but I can tell you that the new line will combine two of my favourite things (which I can't define because it would be as good as spilling all the beans).

I'll let slip more details soon!

-GM.

Because in Ontario, spring is the new summer.

Printemps Necklace!

This necklace is a sweet study in springtime and summer. Delicate sterling silver chain leads to a textured brass ring, from which a bright green resin leaf hangs next to a cranberry-coloured Czech glass flower. Total length is about 20”.

I made and sold the first version of this back when summer was just a crazy dream. Now that summer is more of a subtle disappointment here in Ontario, I thought I'd release it to the public. Now we can all get excited about semi-warm rainy days instead of sunny heat and beaches, since it rains every day :\

I also apologize for my long absence. I should have posted a warning about it, but I had a family situation that needed tending to.

Thanks for reading, and see you again soon =)

GM.

Okay, this is awesome.

ArtFire made a few changes to their basic accounts, and so I now have RapidCart on this blog! It allows people to buy directly from here, without going over to the ArtFire site itself. I haven't bought anything on it yet, but it looks smashing, doesn't it? I haven't figured out if I can change the prices to CAD from USD, so if any Canadians are interested in something just message me and I'll send you the correct price in Canadian dollars.

It's right over here ================================>

Huzzah!

GM.

Terror in the Craft Basin, for real this time

Okay, here's that article I wrote for Handmade News. And for fun, here's a photographic representation of what that terror might look like:
The soul-darkening, mind-shattering unearthly horror of Cthuhlu in kitty form! One of his lesser-known manifestations, but still deadly to the collective sanity of mankind. Humanity, look upon the face of your doom!

See you soon,

GM.

Vera Luna on ArtFire!

I've been writing some articles for HandmadeNews.org for a while now, so I thought I'd wander over to affiliate ArtFire to check them out. Turns out, they're pretty cool! So I've opened a studio there too.

I'm slowly listing things there as well as on Etsy. Shh, don't tell Etsy.

Look here!

Also, my next article will be published tomorrow, I believe, and I will post a link here as soon as it happens (maybe or maybe later)!

Off to snooze,

GM.

Sad News =(

Sad for me, anyway. To explain my absence of late, here it is: my foster dog Joanie, whom I was going to adopt as soon as she got back from her visit to the vet a week ago, died while she was there. She was only a year and a half old, and I had her for a month. I'm telling myself that she had a happy home with us for the first time in her life, and that maybe our purpose was to help her see that not all humans are bad, but I'm still really sad. I've been grieving, and therefore not doing much blogging or jewellery-ing. It's been a few days, and although I'm still heartbroken, I'm afraid grief doesn't pay in the monetary sense, so I'll get back down to work soon. Who knows, maybe it'll make me feel better.

See you soon,

GM.

I've been featured!

A lovely girl named Janet, of JeByJa on Etsy, has featured me on her blog! She updates every day with new artists on Etsy, and it's something we can really use these days. Thanks Janet!

In other news, I made some big sales today. I did some custom pieces for a lovely woman named Sylvia, and she loved them, but I took a spontaneous nap before I got the chance to take any pics. Just believe me, I do awesome work (I'm totally cool). Here's a pic of the poly clay pendant in-process:

He's a lizard! This is before he got his yellow spots and his gold bronze pulver....uh, dusting, but I'll show you his cool little face too:

Neat-o, huh? I'm pretty pleased with the way he turned out. You should see him fully dressed! I'll find more pics soon, but really, pics don't do him justice.

And that's pretty much all for today. I had a good day, how about you?

GM.

Edit: Oh, maybe you want me to link to Janet's blog? Duh! Here it is!

Yard Sale + Art Sale = Yart Sale!

(Blueberry Bird Necklace)

Yart sale!
I didn't make that up, folks. As anyone who's been browsing Etsy will know by now, they have decided to make a vaguely uncomfortable pseudo-word into a five-day Etsy-wide sale that anyone selling there can participate in. So, some of my stuff is on sale! I already marked the prices down, but just trust me: you'll be saving monies and supporting a good cause (me). So go check it out!

Here's a few pics of some of the things in my sale section!


(Lemon Meringue Bracelet)


(Stegosaurus Necklace)
(Eclipse Necklace [Lunar])


I've knocked a few dollar signs off these prices, so come take a look. It's a very temporary sale, and then we're going back to the way things were, see? Or maybe I'll have rotating sale items every week....

See you soon,

GM.

Whiskey Flower Bracelet

New listing! This one's a tribute to Whiskey, the best friend that ever came out of a bottle. Way better than a genie. Sure, Whiskey has terrible judgment and is all too gifted at convincing you otherwise, and you never wake up after a night spent with Whiskey without a headache, but come on. Just saying...wearing this bracelet is far safer than drinking it. So here it is!

This bracelet is a sassy shot of warmth with a bit of bite and a smooth finish! Flat smooth ovals of grey labradorite are linked together with gold filled wire and a gold filled toggle clasp. A warm whiskey coloured Czech glass flower dangles from one end.

Drink up! You won't regret this one, I promise.

-GM.

From Beyond!

That was another short story by H.P. Lovecraft, also made into an awesome and semi-ridiculous Stuart Gordon movie starring the always enjoyable Jeffrey Combs. From this cornucopia of inspiration, I drew these:

They look simple to the naked eye, but if you stare into the shimmering depths of the stone too long, it's quite possible you could slip between dimensions and discover horrors undreamt of til now. They are also quite lovely for both fancy occasions and casual days.

I recommend the movie From Beyond to anyone who...well, just anyone. It's nice to see a young Jeffrey Combs play something other than a lunatic/genius. Oh....wait....just watch it anyway.

See you soon,

GM.

Terror in the Craft Basin

I'm going to write another article for Handmade News! For those of you who ignored my earlier blog post, I wrote an article about the link between soul-crushing depression and boyfriends creativity that was posted on the main page there. This new one will be about the soul-crushing horror of being involved in an artful demographic that looks with suspicion at newcomers. I'm talking in my geographic area, folks, not online; somehow, although not being able to see someone's face often ends with increased rudeness in other arenas, in the handmade world, people have been welcoming and supportive to me. Stay tuned for the details! And, an Etsy store update in my next post!

Regards,

GM.

Beaches Bracelet

Hey, I listed something else! I'm also in the process of changing a lot of my pics. I've found a cute little white porcelain cup that really highlights the goods. And now, behold!

The Beaches bracelet!

Summer calls with this bright and beautiful bracelet! Blue swirls of seawater curl around the sun-warmed sand, with glimmering silver findings setting the light, easygoing mood. Featuring turquoise and sand lampwork beads with bright blue jade rondelles. Fastens with a sterling silver toggle clasp. Size can be adjusted, just convo me. Currently measures about 7”.

If only it were warm enough in Ontario for it to be June, like, in our hearts as well as on our calendars.

Sincerely,

GM.

The Colour Out of Space!

That's a pretty wicked shortish story by H.P. Lovecraft, an American weird horror writer who published it around 1925. It involves a meteor crashing on a farm, and the substance of it creating some very strange, horrible effects in the crops, then the livestock, and finally the family who lived there. You should definitely read it. I've been trying to get my boyfriend to for months, but he's been dodging me with workout routines and video games. I'll get you next time, Gadget! NEXT TIME!!

Anyway, here are the earrings I made after reading this awesome story:

Say hello to creatures from long ago and far away with these earrings! Glimmering dust from the oldest stars flashes inside the foggy light gray stones, and the purple flower dangling alongside is just a bit too big and bright to be normal. Featuring fancy grade nuggets of labradorite in colours not found on this earth. Dangling behind are three tiny labradorite ovals bound together with silver wire. Purple Czech glass flowers finish this otherworldly combo off. Earrings hooks are sterling silver. Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, but reading weird stories not required.

Not that Lovecraft was much of an earrings-wearer. I thought the labradorite looked otherworldly. Here's a link to the story! That's right, you can read it free online now! I paid money for mine.

Catch you later,

GM.