Show Schedule

Find out what Oracle Gem Designs handmade jewelry is all about.  We're planning to exhibit new work this holiday season at these upcoming Toronto area shows:

•  Sat.Nov. 21: Orchard Villa Christmas Bazaar, 1955 Valley Farm Road, Pickering, ON, L1V1X6 10-4pm Free Admission
• Sat.Nov. 28: Brooks Road P.S. Christmas Craft Sale, Brooks P.S., 85 Keeler Boulevard, West Hill, M1E4K6 10-2pm Free Admission
• Sat.Dec. 5: Not Your Granny's Craft Sale & 21st Annual Christmas Artists' Market @ Beach United Church West, 2002 Queen Street East Toronto 11-4pm Free Admission
• Sat.Dec. 12: R.H. McGregor Holiday Art & Craft Sale, R.H. McGregor P.S. 555 Mortimer Avenue East York/Toronto 10-3pm Free Admission
• Sat.Dec. 19: Not Your Granny's Craft Sale & 21st Annual Christmas Artists' Market @ Beach United Church West, 2002 Queen Street East Toronto 11-4pm Free Admission

Drop by and say hi! 

Personal versus online shopping:

• Free bonuses or other online promotions are not available when shopping in person.
• At personal appearances/exhibits not every item currently available for sale in our online shops will be on hand.  If you are planning to attend one of my shows in order to examine a particular creation then kindly email me in advance and I'll bring along whatever you're interested in.
• Sometimes purchasing online via custom request is faster, easier and even cheaper.  Drop me a line for a prompt quote.   
• To avoid the crowds and get your shopping done from home, just email me with your ideas.  I can usually replicate any design within a day or so (both current and sold items if the materials are still available in our inventory).  I'll reply with a prompt quote and your goodies can be on their way to you in no time.
• Using our PayPal payment gateway a PayPal account is NOT required.  You may bypass PayPal login.  Payment with any major credit card is fast, easy and totally secure.
• Buy with confidence because with us no sale is ever final!  This means if you require an adjustment, repair, replacement, exchange or refund just contact me. 

Upcoming Events- Christmas Bazaar at Thorntonview

I'm pleased to announce that I am invited to show my work at the Annual Christmas Bazaar & Craft Sale scheduled for Saturday November 14th at Thorntonview Long Term Care Residence (186 Thornton Road South Oshawa). Thorntonview is situated across from the old Oshawa Civic Auditorium, the former home of our Oshawa Generals.

This event is near and dear to my heart because my daughter Kate resides at this long term care facility where she receives fabulous care and plenty of loving support. So I'm looking forward to another fun day shared with Kate as well as the opportunity to make new friends and attract new fans of my handmade jewelry. All proceeds from this craft sale support the Thorntonview Residents' Council.

Sponsors are asked to provide a donation so I'm designing a special piece that Thortonview will use as a door prize, raffle item, etc.

This venue is warm and intimate, but the beautiful Tea Room located in the new Corbett wing will again be serving hot beverages and delicious festive sweets so please drop by to say hi.

I'm particularly pleased to announce that this year we're bringing a large selection of brand new & very affordable pieces - many items priced at $20 or less!  Shown above are fun and funky bracelets featuring colourful lampwork glass beads embellished with my cold forged brass findings (only $6 each!).  Shop early as quantities are limited.  

Hope to see you there!

FREE Bonus with ANY Purchase

That's right!  While quantities last receive these adorable brass charms with ANY purchase at Gahooletree Supplies on etsy :)

Seem too good to be true?  Well I must admit this IS a really good deal and there are no strings! Purchase any item from this online bead and finding outlet, and I'll ship your bonus asap!

I purchased these beautiful charms from a recognized eBay Power Seller and then imported them directly from Hong Kong.  When they arrived here in Toronto I was astounded at the gorgeous quality of these beauties.  The stampings are of a very high quality!  I was so happy to have found something this cute because these heart shaped charms work perfectly for my handmade jewelry designs. 

SO I purchased a large quantity of these findings from the same eBay power seller (their feedback score is 20,000 plus) because I just knew that this item would make a wonderful addition to my online jewelry supplies business -- jewelry designers were bound to just love them!

But I've recently been banned from selling these on one of my sales sites because a US based manufacturer insists they hold the copyright for this design.  Being accused of copyright infringement is totally unfair in this instance.  I'm not a US firm and hence cannot be legally pursued in the courts AND I legitimately purchased and imported these into Canada. 

Anyhow, the US based findings co. obviously has gaps in it's supply chain and they're taking their frustration out on anybody they can.  So take advantage of this situation and grab your bonus while quantities last!!!
 

Calling all Copper Wire Artists to Join Us on Ning

Working with Copper Is Fun!



Find more photos like this on Copper Wire Jewelers

Stay Tuned to Win!

Get ready because we're rolling out the Christmas Cheer...

At eSMArts our team of independant artists and crafters has prepared a Christmas Gift Basket full of unique items to warm your Holiday!

Full details to follow so please check back and be sure to
Enter to Win! 

Black Mauve and Grey Bracelet With Lampwork Glass by SassyDLite on Etsy

Mauve is my pick for accessorizing black & grey this season. Grunge, Goth or Glam... the mauves have my vote!!

Moss Amethyst Faceted Nugget Necklace by SassyDLite on Etsy

So many shades of grey.
Another fashion forward design from the Fall 2009 SassyDLite handmade jewelry collection

Lavish Labradorite Drops by SassyDLite on Etsy

Grunge, Goth or Glam... another fashion forward design from the SassyDLite Fall 2009 handmade jewelry collection!

Larvikite Double Strand Bracelet by SassyDLite on Etsy

Grunge, Goth or Glam... another fashion forward piece from the Fall 2009 SassyDLite handmade jewelry collection

ONLY $29!!!!!

Amazing Larvikite Healing Necklace by SassyDLite on Etsy

Fall 2009 must have.
larvikite aids weight loss and improves brain function

TCM Widget

Kate will be so pleased to see that I finally made time to grab the TCM widget. But I'm gonna have to change my layout template for this gadget to fit perfectly because the narrowest version I could find was 300 pixels wide.

Maybe I've done something wrong! LOL because I added this gadget to my Gahooltree blog and it fit perfectly even though that blog has a 3 column layout.

Please Vote for a Winner of the eSMArts August Challenge

Our etsy street team called eSMArts participated in a fun design challenge last month. The design theme was Nature/Natural.

Above is a studio pic of my Design Challenge entry: black leather fronds embellished with Thai hilltribe silver and featuring prehnite, brown quartz and moss aquamarine gemstone accents suspended beneath my long slimline sterling silver hand forged ear wires.

In our team competition you'll see a picture of this earring sitting atop a knarly piece of bluish green soapstone.

Overall, group involvement in this activity was low :( but please take a look at the entries and cast a vote to help us determine a winner! Here's the voting link:

Poll: (revised 9-7-09) Who Should Win the eSMArts August Challenge? The theme is Nature/Natural

I didn't intend to list this item for sale on etsy right away... but last night Anna, jewelry designer and owner of BellaDonnasJoy of Nova Scotia (a fellow eSMArts team member and etsy seller) brought to my attention that etsy sellers can now rearrange their shops in a variety of new ways to achieve visual appeal... SO, you'll find this creation called Warm Earth Black Leather Earring with Aquamarine, Prehnite, Quartz and Thai Silver now duly nestled within our selection of 'greenish' pieces :)

VivaLaModa Handmade Fashion Magazine

We were featured in the first issue of VivaLaModa! Viva La Moda is an online fashion magazine whose mandate is to demonstrate how quality handmade and vintage items are truly fashionable.



One of my men's items (Ammonite pendant and leather cord) was chosen for a Father's Day feature on page 31 of VivaLaModa's premier issue. Thank you so much Ainhoa for your careful consideration. Keep up the great work with VivaLaModa!

Glass Menagerie Cupola Blossoms

Inspired by the lovely blossoms that are at last putting on an awesome display of beauty here in Southern Ontario, I'm pleased to announce a handful of limited creations along the "Glass Menagerie Cupola Blossoms" theme.

Shown here is Coral Bells, a whimsical floral earring composed of copper earwires, base metal, austrian crystals and pretty Czech glass.

My ArtFire studio is located at:
http://www.artfire.com/users/AnnaLee


If you're a lover of handmade jewelry, please stop by my ArtFire shop and tell me what you'd like to see added. What colours? what gems? what theme? materials? or components?. We carry a vast array of materials and we'd love to hear your feedback or if possible, present info & pricing on custom creations.





Some of these earrings are shown with sterling silver earwires. Some however, are the modern base metals and patinas.

But because I cannot wear base metal earwires (they irritate my skin considerably) all our base metal earwires may be swapped for sterling at NO upcharge!

Glass Menagerie Cupola Blossoms pieces are part of my new Vintage Metalworx line - a stunning spring/summer collection with all the value and precision craftsmanship that you've come to expect from Oracle Gem Designs.

Blue Bells from our NEW Glass Menagerie Cupola Blossoms collection on ArtFire

Originally uploaded by cdnallie

This item is NOW available in my Artfire studio for $9 USD!!

As part of our NEW Vintage Metalworx line we're releasing a handful of limited creations along the "Glass Menagerie Cupola Blossoms" theme.

Shown here is "Blue Bells", a whimsical floral earring composed of copper earwires, base metal, austrian crystals and pretty Czech glass.

Our ArtFire studio is located at:
http://www.artfire.com/users/AnnaLee

If you're a lover of handmade jewelry, please stop by our ArtFire shop and tell us what you'd like to see us add. What colours? what gems? what theme? materials? or components?. We carry a vast array of materials and we'd love to hear your feedback or if possible, present info & pricing on custom creations.

Because I cannot wear base metal earwires (they irritate my skin considerably) all our base metal earwires may be swapped for sterling at NO upcharge!

Age is just a Number Bracelet

Age is just a Number Bracelet
Originally uploaded by cdnallie

This is my third solid copper bracelet. I want to keep this piece for myself, but it just might get cloned and offered online at some point.

Featured on the tage is a stamped quote from my friend who is always quick to point out that chronological age has no bearing on either a youthful (or conversely ancient) body, spirit or mind.

I'm particularly pleased with the stamp set that I got at Princess Auto for $7.99 CAD and how well it worked here. btw, the text was intended to roam from a straight path! :)

The stamped tag was polished using blue compound/rouge which also came from Princess Auto and works exceedingly well on this copper. I love Princess Auto. They carry inexpensive rotary tool attachments too (which is a good thing considering I broke a few drill bits before I realized I needed to reverse direction! LOL)

In future, I'll try our floor model drill press if I need to drill holes of this size in any heavy gauge metal sheeting. Achieving these four holes took all the patience and skill that I could muster..

Over the past few weeks I've had the pleasure of meeting up a few times with fellow eSMArts member and new friend Beth Ann Russell (Duchess of Wire/Wire Dutchess). We live a few dozen miles from one another but we meet each week in Port Perry at Tim Horton's to hang out, chat about jewelry and discuss our marketing ideas.

Beth Ann (who hales from the states) is teaching me all about HarborFreight, PepeeTools and weird stuff like Renaissance Wax, which apparently might make a good coating for this copper.

Most of you likely aren't bothered by the aroma of oxidising copper, but I have a nose like a bloodhound, and for my purposes, the Renaissance Wax might just do the trick to squelch that irritating odour.

Beth Ann and I plan to take a field trip in early June to MetalsPlus (was The Metals Supermarket) located on McEwen Drive in Whitby to source more metal sheeting. And when I figure out how to rig my hydraulic system up to a punch (for churning out dogtag type pendants) I'll do a blog feature on it. In the meantime, happy creating everybody!
~Anna Lee

My second solid copper bracelet

I'm still playing with 2mm solid copper sheeting and here's my hammered solid copper ladies bracelet (shown below Van's mens wrist wrap).

I really get a kick out of working with new materials and this piece (designed for myself) was sheer heaven to forge. I went with another timeless styling and am enjoying this adornment as a staple addition to my jewelry collection. It looks great worn alone but also (surprisingly) stacks well to make a fashion statement when combined with other sparklies. Yep, I love wearing lots of bracelets!

Look for a few solid copper pieces in my SassyDLite shop soon (TBA). Tomorrow I'll blog about my third copper creation. I like it even better than these two. This copper stuff is addictive :)
~Anna Lee

spotlights on By Hand.Me

On www.ByHand.me you can create spotlights of your favorite items. They can be your favorites, or your own creations - or any combination of items already existing on many commonly used handmade sales venues.

Once your spotlight is saved, you can view it the dropdown under "My Stuff" in your ByHand.Me account. Beside each saved spotlight is an world/globe icon that allows you to invoke several spotlight layouts (like the mini shown here) and their corresponding html for pasting into various web applications.