Sterling, silk and a little bit of family.

After a few weeks of spring-like weather while visiting my parents, what a big reality check to fly home, right into the biggest snow storm of winter so far.  

I'm actually a big fan of snow, just not snow in the city.  

If you're sitting indoors with a steaming cup of cocoa watching it fall and blanket the grey concrete jungle, it's all very nice and quite lovely.  But you know that at some point you'll have to venture out there..where the traffic is horrendous and half the population have yet to install their snow tires, lulled into a false sense of security by our milder than usual winter this year.  

The temperatures have gotten a little milder over the last few days but the heavens have given us nothing but dark overcast skies.  

Just when the sun seems to have won the fight and warmth starts to spread through the city

the clouds roll in once more, darker and heavier..it's been downright dreary.

I was starting to get a little nutty for colour so I went and bought some tulips.

On our many walks around the city, I've been on the lookout for happiness in the form of some much needed colour therapy.  

It's such a welcome sight amongst the droves of darkly dressed city slickers, 

fantastic splashes of colour worn in such a helter skelter way that it brings a smile and perhaps even a giggle to one's day.  

There was a girl standing at the bus stop yesterday who was such a marvelous blinding sight! 

Dressed from head to toe in shades of pink and purple, lavender to magenta, aubergine to fuchsia..all matching her crimson hued locks perfectly.  Leo had his pointer finger out (it's his new thing lately, pointing at this thing and that all day long, it's been terribly difficult trying to stay attentive and responsive to all his pointings...) and this girl laughed out loud and waved at him as we passed by her on the other side of the street.  

We need more people like her in this city.

So in an effort to being some colourful cheer into our home, last night I dug around in my sewing room and finally found the bundles of vintage Japanese kimono silk my mother gave me many years ago.  The pieces are all too small and scattered to make anything of substantial size but I finally have the perfect little project.

Made of sterling, coral and vintage, crimson kimono silk.  

A wonderful combination of metal and silk, steeped in some family history.

xo Blue Gnome

Sterling, coral, vintage kimono silk

xo Blue Gnome

Celebrating the Chocolate Bunny

The long weekend is almost here and our weekend looks like rain, rain, rain!  I guess I should really just be thankful it's not snow..we had quite the 'sideways' snow storm last weekend, rain..snow..sunshine..then snow again..it was quite the spectacle.  I suspect Mother Nature was having 'one of those days' that we all have once in a while, but when she has a 'bad day' we all get snow blizzards, trees toppling over and angry rain coming down sideways.  And it's in mid April.  Lovely..

My neighbor came by last night to ask me if I could grab his mail for the next few days, he's meeting his wife and baby boy in Paris or a few days..ooooh, la de dah!    Of course I'm green with envy, I think I've figured out why this winter in particular seems so long and endless..it's because I haven't been anywhere this past winter, last year this time I was in sitting on the beaches in Thailand...ahhhh..

 Can't you just feel that sun?

This was me a year ago.. Sigh!

Okay, moving away from the subject of hot and sunny destinations on this cold, damp afternoon, I just wanted to post a picture of this stunning vintage pencil-lined dress on Etsy.  The whole thing is covered in horseshoes..I love it!  Unfortunately, the opportunity to wear this has yet to present itself for me, so it's currently up for grabs for anyone who's into looking fabulous and "Mad Men"-like.  Can't you just see yourself poured into this outfit??  Available currently here.

www.tokyofirecracker.etsy.com

And finally, in celebration of Easter and all things bunny related, I leave you with my latest necklace..my favorite so far.  Made entirely of sterling and a ethereal example of prehnite, it's the second of my Folklore Series necklaces.  

Sterling, Prehnite

In many mythic traditions, the rabbit or hare were archetypal symbols of femininity, associated with the lunar cycle, fertility, longevity, and rebirth. But if we look a little deeper into their stories we find that they are also contradictory, paradoxical creatures: symbols of both cleverness and foolishness, of femininity and androgny, of cowardice and courage, of rampant sexuality and virginal purity. In some cultures, Hare is the messenger of the Great Lunar Goddess, moving by moonlight between the human world and the realm of the gods.  He is the messenger of a female moon deity and the guardian of all wild animals. 

Just some food for thought as you nibble on some chocolate bunnies this weekend - hope your weekend is long, relaxing and full of good things.

xo Blue Gnome

The Hare and The Moon

  I've always grown up looking for the rabbit in the moon.  I remember being confused as to why none of my other friends knew about the hare..instead, they always referred to the "man" on the moon, which just confused me even more.

My mother is Japanese and I grew up hearing stories from my big hardcover book of Japanese Folk Tales, supplied by my grandmother in Japan, who no doubt, didn't want me to forget about my Japanese roots living in Canada.

My all time favorite folk tale was "Kaguya Hime", the story of a bamboo princess who is found by a poor farmer in a bamboo grove.  As the baby grows up, she becomes the most beautiful young lady in all the land.  However, as more moons pass, she becomes increasingly sad and withdrawn.  Finally, one night on the night of the full moon, she tell her adoptive parents that she's in fact a princess of the moon, and her time has come for her to return.  As she speaks, the clouds part in the bright night sky and a beautiful procession of maidens glide down to earth on moon beams.  The chariot awaits.  As the princess bids farewell, she give her parents the gift of a long life and all the wealth they could ever hope for.  I remember imagining how beautiful that sight must've been..and recall wrapping my mother's colourful silk scarves all around me and dancing about the house,  pretending I was the moon princess.  So as you can see, my fascination with the moon started a long time ago.

As such, and with 2011 being the Year of the Rabbit, I've designed and created a ring close to my heart. An ethereal moonstone set in sterling, hand sawn, oxidized and satin finished for somewhat of an industrial look.  So we say good bye to the Year of the Tiger..and welcome a year of artistic creativity, imagination and ambition!

xo Blue Gnome