new vintage cutlery necklaces

Just a quick post about my new vintage cutlery necklaces. Here's a shot of them after I've saw'd, sanded and drilled. I'll do another post once they've become necklaces. Photo Cred - Melanie Pyves at The Streets I Know thanks Mel!

Lilith Fair 2010

Yesterday the Lilith Fair tour made it's stop in Toronto and as you can see from the sea of umbrella's, it was wet for most of the days events, but it was still a great time!!

My favorite part was of course the Court Yard Hounds - if you don't know who CYH are, they are Martie and Emily of the Dixie Chicks, they're doing their own thing as a side project, which is awesome, because the Dixie Chicks latest album was a little "pop-like" and I was kind of disappointed with it. I love their more old-style country and bluegrass pickin' sounds, and I think Court Yard Hounds are trying to bring it back! Martie & Emily are VERY talented musicians (fiddle & banjo for the most part) and I'm excited they are making music again.
The thing I love most about music festivals, is discovering new music, and Lilith did not disappoint. I discovered Lights. Great music and local too! Not normally my kind of music, but I really enjoyed Lights live, and she even did a small acoustic set. It was fab.
Anyway - unfortunately, I let my camera at home, and was only able to take a few bad shots with my phone, but I grabbed this shot from someone else so you could have a quick view.

nothing better than some cottage time!

After an extended weekend at the cottage we took a serious amount of pictures. We can't help it, we've now got an awesome camera and it takes beautiful shots! Anyway, here are a few of my 4 legged furry boy, Marty. We can't keep him out of the water - the cottage is his favorite spot in the whole world. Here's to the beauty of Georgian Bay!!

It's Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day!! Etsy has a lovely front page today - a shout out to my fellow canucks!

I LOVE vintage cameras!

I bought an antique camera not too long ago and it just arrived! I love it, can't wait until we're done the basement reno so I can put it on display! It's a Brownie #2 and it's pretty sweet.

New Piece!

Happy New Year to everyone! With a new year, comes a new piece I've created. I made this one to look like Queen Anne's Lace, I just love the way it looks like it's blowing in the wind. It just sends me back to my childhood and the Queen Anne's Lace that used to grow along the side of the road near my house. Hope it brings you back to a happy place too.

It's almost Christmas!

and I've been busy in the studio! Here's a custom order I made for a friend, customized hand cut and stamped sterling silver. It turned out really well and both he and I were really pleased! I'll be adding these to my shop in the new year.

It's December!

and that means Christmas cheer is everywhere! Thought you guys might enjoy this video I found on YouTube to ring in the season!

">

It's October...

...and that means it's Breast Cancer Awareness month. Last winter, my good friend, Corrie, lost her battle to cancer. Today is her birthday and she would have been only 34. So in memory of her and in line with breast cancer awareness month, I created a new line of jewellery and thought it would be awesome to launch this line on Corrie's birthday. You can check out the entire line at Melanie Cronyn Designs. All of the Corrie line is made with pink rock quartz which is a beautiful sparkly clear stone. It's really a stunning stone! I've posted a couple of pictures to give you a taste. The first is a necklace, the rock quartz is dangling in the middle of a sterling silver hoop.



Check out this pair of sweet earrings, made of the same rock quartz, but hanging from a sterling silver hoop ear wire! These ones are my favorites!



So, in memory of you, Corrie, this new line of pink jewellery is dedicated to you - you are missed!

how to get your pet out of an emergency...

...with the Pet Emergency Evacuation Jacket of course! And for mere $480 (US) it can be yours...errr....or your pets. This jacket is fancy though, with flame retardant fabric and a carrying handle (because that will come in handy when your cat is attacking you for even thinking about putting that thing on him/her). It also includes pockets for holding tools and supplies...that's right, so your cat or dog can help themselves get out of these emergency situations when the tools are right at hand.
For your viewing pleasure, check it out...



now that you get a good idea of what it looks like - check out the cat model....champion cat I have to say, for putting up with that. Hope he got a lot of treats.



In case you'd like to get your christmas shopping started, you can purchase this bad boy at Japan Trend Shop

I was included in a Treasury!

I can't believe it, my spooky spider necklace was included in a treasury! I really hope it makes it to the front page! If you have time go and check it out to get the views up!
Here's a sneak peak

Just listed new stuff!

Just a quick note because I've been so busy making and listing new stuff on my webpages. Here's a sneak peak....



these are orange carnelian drop earrings - super sweet for fall! Pumpkin inspired!



and this is my famous vintage key necklace - only this time I added a sweet copper locket in the shape of a book! Super cute!

You can check out all my new stuff at Rock On Accessories and Melanie Cronyn Designs

Upcoming fall wedding!

Over the weekend I got back on track and made earrings and a bracelet for my best friends sister - who is getting married in a few weeks. Here is a quick picture of the earrings.


I also made all her bridesmaids earrings as well. I think they turned out beautiful and I never would have thought to put all these colours together if it hadn't been the colours used in their dresses.


I can't wait to see them on the girls on the big day!

Also over the weekend I booked some studio time and did some silversmithing, I'm not quite done polishing what I made, but watch for those pictures over the next few days - I'm really happy with what I came up with.

Next up...baby!!

I'm am terribly sorry for not writing in ages, but I have a bit of an excuse, I'm pregnant, and for the last 5 months I've been exhausted! It was debilitating, I can't even tell you! I would come home from work, and flop on the couch until it was time to go to bed! thankfully my husband does all the cooking in our household, otherwise I would have starved because I just would not have had the energy to make anything!
Here's a 3-D image of the baby, it's a boy!

Anyway - all the tiredness has passed now and I'm back on track and ready to get on with making jewels and preparing for this baby!
I'm making jewellery for a friends wedding and should have some pictures in the next few days! They will be a beautiful mixture of fall colours! I'm off to get started on them!

Mondays Suck Animals Don't!

So sorry I'm late! I know it's Tuesday but check out Glory anyway! Here's what her owner tinyrainclouds has to say about her:
Her name is Glory. She's 50% cocker spaniel, 50% jack russell terrier, and 100% fat. I love her a bunch. She loves cookies, sleeping in sunbeams, and short walks to her food bowl. She does not like strangers, babies, or getting stuck under blankets.
And really, who can blame her for not liking strangers or getting stuck under blankets...nothin' wrong with that!
Here's Glory!

Stand By Me...

It's almost Friday! yay! Lots going on this week. First if you are in the Kitchener area you will be able to find Rock On Accessories at Rare Funk on Duke St very soon. Super pumped about that - Tamara - who owns the store is super sweet and fun and I can't wait to start working with her. Also if you are in Leslieville in Toronto you can find my stuff at Nathalie-Roze & Co. It's a cute little indie store right on Queen St just east of Pape. Keep checking out the blog for more places to find me! I'll keep posting as they come up.

Courtesy of my husband, I think you should all check out this video. It's so cool how this was put together. If you haven't heard of Playing for Change, you should definitely check it out. According to their website "Playing For Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music." So, they started out in New Orleans and did one recording of each song, then they took those recordings and toured the world asking musicians along the way to add instruments and harmony to the original recordings. It's awesome and really does show how powerful music is and how it brings us all together no matter what language we speak or where we are in the world. Check out this recording of stand by me, it rocks!

Mondays Suck Animals Don't!

What a busy weekend! Rock On Accessories was at the Bloomin' Earth Eco Fest in Kitchener Ontario. It was a successful day for all, plus since it was so beautiful out, the market opened the doors and allowed some of the vendors outside! So of course that's where you could find me - as soon as it gets warm I want out! Met some great people - I love the conversations that get started from the slogans on the shirts!

Anyway - back to the animals! Check out how cute Spanky is! He was rescued from Almost Home for Hounds in Colorado by fellow Etsian Gothic Creations. Here's what she had to say about her beautiful boy "He is 6 years old and I've had him since he was just over a year old. he was born into the racing industry but due to an injury as a puppy never raced."
Looks like he loves to hang out with is blankies. Check him out!

How to help save Mother Earth...

In honour of Earth Day I thought we should talk about some ways to help our planet attempt to get back on track. I'm not talking about the same old recycling and composting and re-using ways to help (although those are all still very important!!!). I'm talking about some things you might not have ever heard of before, like 'drain water heat recovery systems' created and produced by RenewABILITY in Waterloo ON and 'passive solar air heating system alternative energy', created and produced by a company called Envirosponsible in Whitby, Ontario. But don't be discouraged by their locations, because below you can watch videos on how these systems work, and make them yourselves, or purchase on-line.
The Drain Water Heat Recovery System called Power-Pipe™ raises the temperature of incoming cold water by recycling free heat from wastewater going down the drain. About 90% of all hot water energy goes down the drain, allowing the Power-Pipe™ to recycle as much as 60% of the wasted heat. Watch this video to see how it all works...



A Passive Solar Air Heating System is also a heat transfer type product, except this one transfers hot air. In short, this system is set up in a window, it sucks the cool air from your home into the window where the sun heats it and it is pushed back through your home. Check out this video to get a better explanation...



What I love most about these products is that they have no electrical moving parts (the fan in the air heating system is solar powered) and they save on energy consumption, which helps the earth and your bank account, and who doesn't want to save money?
For those of you who are really handy - you can also learn how to make your own rain barrel, I have a rain barrel and love it.



I hope I have inspired everyone to try something new and save some energy! Happy Earth Day!

Mondays Suck Animals Don't!

Sorry this is a little late in the day, but don't kid yourself, Mondays still suck!
So, I know I've been posting a lot of cats lately, but this guys deserves special mention! His name is Bubba (best name ever) and he was rescued by an Etsy friend of mine named Anna from West Tennessee. She found him on the side of the road with a completely maimed leg. Thankfully Anna did find him because I'm sure he was in a lot of pain. After trying to save his leg, Anna's vet could do no more and it had to be amputated. So now he's a 3 legged wonder. He's a cutie I'll tell you that much!
Here is Bubba with a cast on his leg before they amputated it



and here is is laying around with is friend Suzie (I love when dogs and cats show their love for each other! so cute!!)



and here is in all his glory! he's a handsome devil!



Thanks Anna for sharing your lovely Bubba with us!

Dog lovers take note: I need more pictures!

If there are any dog lovers out there - I need more pictures for the Mondays Suck Animals Don't feature! So Please send them along so I can post pics of your canine love! thanks a bunch!