First; this itsy bitsy, 3mm (approx. 0.25ct) raw conflict free
diamond, bezel set on a solid silver casting of an adorable
heart-shaped leaf pendant,  will be coming later today to my Etsy shop.
Yay! :D
(Yep, I'm excited ;) ) 

Second; For anyone who hasn't yet, please pop over to my
Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/BirchValleyStudio
for a chance to win a customised version of this wonderfully
sparkly, mixed metal (solid silver, textured with granite from
my own back yard, with a copper accent ;) ) bangle bracelet.
Good luck! <3

Hello again from deep in the wilds of Sweden! 

Let's see... So far Spring and Summer have been a flurry of activity, ranging from building planting and nurturing my very first veggie/berry garden, (during what is now apparently one of the chilliest Summers in a while, so I think the only thing I may get is a load of salad and peas, but still, omnomnom ;) ) to painting more 'pet portraits and some fantasy art, setting up the studio in the old guest house, designing and making a new line of jewellery using quartz found in my own back yard, making silver pieces textured with granit, (also from my yard, and SO sparkly ;) ) and experiments involving spray paint and flowers from the garden and hedgerow. (Whew! That was a mouthful! ;) ) I also took part in the first ever Hyltekonstrunda, and the local fair and BIG outdoor market Unnarydsdagen, and yesterday I was interviewed by a lovely journalist from Hallandsposten, for an article on my hobbies and creations, to be published next week. Exciting times! :D

Below are some of the projects/creations/madness I've been working on...I hope you enjoy, and I'll see you here again soon! <3 <3 <3

Since it didn't seem fair to have done a portrait of the puppy and not 'The Girls', here they are! :D

A lovely custom pair of bangles done for the sweetest of people. Other custom pieces this season included twiggy engagement rings... So romantic. <3

The studio all set up for the Summer and ready for visitors! 

One my new local quartz pieces, paired with a raw sapphire. Mmm...Rock candy. ;)

Last week was pretty busy with me making new jewellery pieces, starting a couple of new paintings, and getting the house back in order after the Holiday madness, as well as getting a slew of new 'likes' on my Facebook page, (thanks to the cuteness of the puppy-face, I'm sure ;) ) so I thought I'd take the wee hours of Saturday morning to catch up on here...

Below are pics of just some of the rings and pendants I've been working on as part of my 'Botanicals' line of jewellery, as well as some earrings that I'll be finishing up later today. I'm having great fun experimenting, and if you'd like to see more, please pop over to my Facebook page of more 'up to the minute' posts. ;)

Not shown are the bracelets and rings I'm working on, using local quartz and stamped with Runic inscriptions. A very exciting new 'Viking' inspired line I hope to show you more of in the coming weeks.

Thanks for looking and I hope you have a wonderful weekend! <3

Green Apatite and sterling silver leaf ring...

Raw Garnet and sterling silver twig ring...

Azurite ball and sterling silver twig ring with 'bubbles'...

A lovely rainbow moonstone and sterling silver twig ring...

A 'Celestial' pendant in sterling silver, and set with a yummy looking chunk of quartz from my back yard. A very fun piece that I think may inspire it's own line. ;)

Blue Apatite and sterling silver twig pendant...

Pink Sapphire and sterling silver twig pendant...

A sweet little forget-me-not pendant in sterling silver...

Rose quartz and sterling silver, stamped with a lovely curly heart... (Valentine's Day is coming...;) )

Two magical looking twiggy bar pendants, one set with a greeny-blue flashy Labradorite, and the other set with a dreamy Tanzanite...

Just a few of the earrings I'll be finishing up. <3

Aaaand here he is! All mounted on a deep canvas, varnished and finished off. This was such a fun project. I definitely have to do more pet portraits. :D

Alright...the living subject of this pice is demanding that I step away from the pencils, so I'll call it 'done' for now. ;)  I'll try and get some good shots of the mounted and varnished piece up soon. Have a great weekend everyone, and please do let me know in the comments what you think, or visit me on Facebook. <3

Starting off the New Year with a mixed media painting of my little studio helper. ;) Not too sure if it's done yet, but here's the progress so far...
Mechanical pencil, watercolour, coloured pencil and white paint/ink pens on 180g paper. (done from a photo of Zho-zho I shared earlier.) Approximately 15x15cm

I had just begun blocking in the colours and deciding depth and light sources in this one...

A little more shading and detail...

And this is the 'finished' painting.
(I still have to mount in on a small square canvas, and varnish it. I'll take another pic when it's really, really done. ;) )
I hope you enjoyed! It was great fun to paint, and I definitely have to do more in this size. <3

Hello again! :D I know, it's been a while... :P It's wonderful to be back, and (finally) settled in my new workspace, (in the commandeered dining room of our new home. ;) ) so I'm going to make this post full of all the 'catching up' and goodies that I've made since the last post. Here we go...! ;D

 July and August were spent in a flurry of unpacking, building studio storage and placing furniture throughout the house...

September saw my first ever giveaway on Facebook. I figured I'd go with a sparkly 0.5ct raw, Conflict Free, diamond bar necklace set in sterling silver. (Awesome for those upcoming Holiday get-togethers. ;) ) A whole lot of fun, and very happily won by a lovely woman from my home province of Manitoba! :D Keep an eye out for future giveaways, as I'll definitely be doing more. ;)

Also during September, I made up a wonderful variety of new jewellery, which I made available in my Etsy shop, and much of which has been now sold. (Yay!) Shown above; 1ct total of raw, Conflict Free, diamond and silver earrings. Some of the other creations from August/September are shown below...

A 'Manifestation' Herkimer Diamond, (A complete crystal within a crystal) set in a deep sterling silver setting that just begs you to dive into it...

A Herkimer and a green Tourmalinated Quartz cab pendant. Like a  sunny Summer's day... ;)

A very fun setting experiment gone right, with an Almandine Garnet and sterling silver...

A sparkly, rock candy like Herkimer ring. (One of two that I made. This one having been sold almost immediately.)

Hessonite Garnet and a Herkimer. A really lovely Autumnal combination that was instantly adopted from my shop.  :D

A Labradorite, Tourmalinated Aquamarine, and Black Tourmaline in silver pendant. (Added to my personal collection. ;) )

A Herkimer and Peridot combination that reminds me of a storm cloud over a green field. I was very inspired by the mossy, forested world surrounding me for these latest creations.

After making all those lovelies, I realised how difficult it was to find tools when I wanted them, (from within the pile of chaos I'd created in my cupboard) so I used a Saturday afternoon and some wood scraps from the basement to make this spiffy jewellery making tool rack. (Yep, I'm proud. ;) )

This past week, and the week before was taken over by beginning to carve a walking stick for a customer in Florida, having the flu, then carving some more and working on all my lovely new gift boxes for shipping orders out during the coming Holiday Season! :D

All this while working on re-doing our roof!
So now you can see why it's been so long since my last post, but I'll try and keep them more current as things settle down a bit.
I hope everyone's had a wonderful Summer and I look forward to sharing the coming Autumn and Winter seasons with you! Thanks for reading and sticking with me. Your support and interest makes it all worthwhile! <3