 |
| Four of these slate ulu reproductions are heading to Port au Choix |
 |
| The ground slate bayonet in the middle of the photo and three of the lances are also on their way to the Northern Peninsula. |
 |
| Fibre Optic Cufflinks. |
 |
| These four obsidian flake necklaces are the most recent addition to the "Lost Stone Series". |
These Elfshot obsidian necklaces and earrings will be available through Heritage Shops in Newfoundland and Labrador in the summer of 2011. I'm not sure which of the dozen or so Heritage Shops they'll wind up in, but the shop at Port au Choix always has a big selection. 
I make these from flakes of obsidian that are the byproduct of knapping larger stone tools. Usually flakes like these are discarded, but it seems a shame to lose all these beautiful translucent flakes. So I save the most remarkable pieces and turn them into these necklaces and earrings. I call them the Lost Stone series.
Its been a hectic week of preparation for my run in the Fine Craft and Design Fair at the Arts and Culture Centre in St. John's next week. I've ran into a couple of people who said that they thought the fair was this week. It is, but I won't be there until next week. It runs for 5 days this week and 5 days next week, for a total of 10 days. There are a dozen or more exhibitors attending for the full 10 days and 60 or so exhibitors attending either the first 5 days (Nov 4-8) or the last 5 days (Nov 11-15). You can see the full list of craft producers and the days they'll be attending here.
The reason for the move to the Arts and Culture Centre is the Convention Centre downtown kept raising their prices on us. Every year we had to pay more and it was impossible for the Craft Council to break even on the event. There is no comparable sized venue in St. John's. We needed a place with room for 70-100 booths. We picked the Arts and Culture Centre, for a lot of reasons, but the smaller floor space meant that we needed to create two back to back fairs to fit in all the booth holders.
There are some really big benefits to the Arts and Culture Centre for everyone. One is the parking - there are hundreds of free parking spaces, which was a big issue for a lot of people at the downtown location. Since its a public space and so much cheaper for us to rent than the Convention Centre, the admission is free. You can come as often as you want and it won't cost you anything. Although, if you are in the Christmas Spirit, the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador has partnered with the CBC and the Community Food Sharing Association and there will be locations for donating non-perishable food items or cash at the door.
The 2009 Fine Craft and Design Fair at the Arts and Culture Centre in St. John's starts next week. The fair is 10 days long this year with a switch over in booths after five days. I'm participating in the second half of the fair so I have just under 2 weeks prep time left.
They aren't the sort of pieces that I like to be working on at the last minute and if something goes wrong I want as much time as possible to fix them. In the next couple of days I'll switch to smaller jewelry. If there are colours or materials that you'd like to see at the fair let me know ASAP and I'll be sure to have some on hand.
There are a couple maple handles in there from some left over hardwood flooring at Lori's parent's cabin, a couple pieces of yew from this summer's bows and a couple moose antler handles. I don't think I've used any of these materials in knife handles before so the fair will be a chance to see which materials and styles appeal to people. I like the moose antler tines more than I was expecting.
The Lost Stone necklaces are different every time. It looks like I'll only have 6 ready for the fair, so if they appeal to you come see me early between November 11-15th. Parking and Admission are free this year so you can come check out the show as many times as you'd like!
For the next day or two I'll be working on obsidian Lost Stone necklaces and earrings. These are a relatively new product for me -- I made the first ones in 2006 and started wholesaling them in 2007.
obsidian or flint, which are also translucent, like Ramah chert. I call them Lost Stone because they are made from flakes, which I normally don't keep. They are the by-product of flintknapping. Each flake is simple and somewhat random, so the jewelry I make from them emphasizes the colour and pattern in the stone more than the shape imposed on it by the flintknapper. I make the necklaces in two sizes, large and small -- small necklaces have 5 or fewer pendants - large necklaces have more. Small flint or obsidian Lost Stone necklaces retail for $115 tax inc and large necklaces are $155.25 tax inc.
e series today. I had a very confusing week last week and I'm trying to get as many small jobs out of my head as possible. I got two wholesale orders finished and out the door last week, plus the remainder of the sandbox dig items heading to Gros Morne. I received a couple new wholesale orders to fill in June and we had a few visitors to the house last week who stayed anywhere from an hour to 3 days.
PDF
