Li'l Bouquet 2017 Catalog

2017 Catalog...

Cottage North Soapworks...and a bathroom makover.

Oh wow, I wish I could copy-paste the fragrence of this stop from my weekend adventures!

Found on Main Street in Port Dover, Ontario, Cottage North Soapworks produces all their own soaps, and carries a selection of other locally handcrafted items, including my own Li'l Bouquet jewellery, and a specially commissioned Li'l Art framed sculpture to fit with the colour pallet of their collection.

I LOVED the way they displayed my work, with "Is It Just Me, Or Are They Dancing? II" center stage just behind the sales desk, accompanied by a Li'l Bouquet "petal pouf" hydrangea necklace on the ceramic bust.

And here's the rest of the Li'l Bouquet jewellery collection in store.

In fact, the whole store is styled beautifully!  Full of soft, watery shades that remind you of the cottage, beach (which is just down the road by the way), and summer!

All those beautiful soaps, I couldn't resist picking up one myself, though oh so hard to choose!  There were "beach glass" ones that I loved (you can kind of see them on the center table, front left in the above picture), but I opted for this soft green soap with bicycle relief (as a nod to the hubby's cycling obsession!).  And isn't this just the cutest bird bath soap dish?!!


Go to Port Dover and stop into Cottage North Soapworks, a must see...and smell!

Cottage North Soapworks
359 Main Street
Port Dover, ON
1-877-742-7475
www.cottagenorthsoapworks.com

P.S.  You may notice all the paint chips.  We've had to renovate our main bath (ceiling replacement), very difficult work that my husband has taken on all by himself (much appreciated)...the upside, I get to change up the decor!  As you see, I'm thinking teal for the walls, just not sure how light or dark to go. The floor tile is the same as the beige accent wall tile.  White subway tile, esspresso vanity, and a couple beautiful prints of my husband's photography.  On the one hand, I want to go light and spa-like, then on the other I want to go dark and rich!  Thoughts?

P.P.S.  So I decided to throw this one into the mix, "Pick Me II".  I may have to keep it for my new bathroom!  Hmmmm....does this mean I have to find a new home for "Itty Bitty Kitty"?...I'll keep you posted.



Subtle Details designed and handcrafted out of polymer clay by Karen Pasieka

Colour Story - the best of Li'l Bouquet jewellery in ...Orange!

So I started off this past weekend having a little more styling fun with a photo shoot.

I have a lot of beautiful Li'l Bouquet jewellery pieces sitting here in my studio, and I simply have to share them with you!  So while I muse over potential ramblings for their Etsy listings, I'll present to you this orange colour-themed selection...

how do I do it?...and how you can do it, take my polymer clay workshop!

I don't normally do this, tutorials that is, but many of you have questions about how I make...well, everything!

I'm not going to show you today how I make everything (that would take way too long!), but as I recently went to the effort to photograph some of my work-in-progress for a show application, I wanted to share it with you!

Some of this you may have seen me demonstrate at one of my craft shows...but for those who haven't, here's a quick overview of how I make my Dozen Roses necklace:

One of the more fun & recent designs is my Ranunculus brooch.  I'm so happy with this one, and the bonus is that I get handy-dandy canes in the cut offs that I can use to create whimsical miniature flowers for my Li'l Art designs!
 










Now, this technique is no secret, you can find how to videos on Youtube of how to make the colours blend from one to another, but I'm really pleased with the demonstrative nature of these work-in-progress photos.

Hope you enjoyed this little peek inside my work process!

- Karen Pasieka


Learn how you can do this & more in one of my 
polymer clay workshops!
The next scheduled workshop is:

Saturday, August 16th
10:00am - 4:00pm
5 hours of class instruction with a 1hr lunch break (bring your own or lunch at one of the lovely nearby restaurants)

Organized through the Town of Richmond Hill
You do not need to be a resident of Richmond Hill to register.
Register here:  https://ereg.richmondhill.ca/InternetRegistration/Start/Start.asp
Enter course code:   458466 

the creative process...

so I had an idea that I've been wanting to try out since I created this:

"waiting"

...notice the little pink flowers, ranunculus.

this modern looking flower was abundant at last year's The Wedding Co. Spring Show...and I simply fell in love with it!

So I wanted to take it further.  I thought, how about a brooch?

Ok, well, I'm sharing with you the process.

You see, it's one thing to make a miniature version, it's another to bring the design up to a larger scale.

So here are the results...

...hmmmm, no

...definitely not

...not quite, but better

...aha!  that's it!

from start to finish....

They're each about 1" in diameter.  I'll be adding brooch backs to them shortly, up for sale soon after that :-)  What comes next?  I'd like to try making them bigger.

Oh, and the added bonus?...

Oh yeah!

Simply in love with this piece, entitled

"is it just me, or are they dancing?"

Yes, that's right, those tiny little "radiant orchid" (this spring's it colour according to Pantone) coloured flowers, and the even tinier white flowers were made from the almost accidental canes that came out of my large-scale ranunculus brooches!

You can expect more Li'l Art pieces like this coming your way soon :D!

loving this vintage dress buy for my wedding jewellery prop

So after much on-line Etsy searching, and even some local vintage store browsing, I finally decided on buying this little '70's/'80's number from Westfirst https://www.etsy.com/shop/westfirst?ref=seller_info

It had nearly everything I was looking for, and at an affordable price...after all, I was just going to be using it as a bridal prop (for photographing & staging my booth), with the eventual goal of using it in a staged "bridal" shoot with models, bouquets, a bridal party, and of course my jewellery (will let you know how that goes, when it goes)!

Light, airy, lacy, and just a little casual...this tea-length dress was just what I was looking for to compliment my Li'l Bouquet bridal jewellery (and my hopeful spring-flower-field setting).

Thankfully, it arrived just a couple days in advance of the wedding show I did last Saturday, The Wedding Co Spring Show at The Drake Hotel.  I think it dressed up (no pun intended) my table quite nicely.  After some adjustment, deconstructing, and accessorizing, this was the result:

A subtle transformation with big impact, IMO!
Thanks so much to Tara from Westfirst, who was so helpful with all my many questions prior to making the decision to buy, I'm so glad I did!

BTW, the necklace featured in this picture is "Dahlia Dream", a stunning 18" composite sterling silver, Swarovski pearl, and Li'l Bouquet "Dahlia" brooch with Swarovski rhinestone centre.
price:  $350

purchase here on Etsy:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/130839911/polymer-clay-pearl-bridal-necklace-with?ref=shop_home_active

New Design!

dare I say it?...

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!
ha, ha!  just in time for Valentine's Day :D

Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I'm simply thrilled with my latest design.
"Cascade" (below) is a look I have been flirting with for some time now, but not quite meeting the mark...until now.

 In fact, I've borrowed the name from a much earlier design, a once made & never repeated prototype (right).  In actuality it bears little resemblance to the original manifestation of the idea, but it encapsulates everything I wanted from the beginning in a far simpler way that better showcases the heart of my work, that is to say, the polymer clay flowers.
One down (and sold, much to my delight), another heading for the oven, and a third in production...you can expect to see plenty more of this one!

Like a calming sigh of relief...

another necklace was born!

It's been so long since I've taken the time (well, fought external forces to make the time) to make something, anything...and that it should be business related was all the more sweeter!
Well, not exactly business related, unless you count that it was a new design, so in that respect it was progressive for my repertoire and creative juices.

To explain a little why I've been away so long (seems as though I'm having to do this quite a bit...sorry!), I'm taking some time to look after my two little ones.  One which I believe I've told you about, my now 21 month old son Evan, and my second son Lucas, who just turned 7 weeks old yesterday.  Needless to say they keep me busy!  And while I do have loads of help from my husband and my mom, between trying to "catch up" on near sleepless nights and the daily grind of toy-clean-up and other such mundane things of life, there's been little to no time for work...so far.  I'm beginning to see the light at the end of that tunnel though, and just this past weekend felt a little of that light shining on me when I took just a few hours to flex my creative muscle.

My muse was a children's necklace for a friend's daughter's "princess" birthday gift.

A little about the design:  I thought to myself that I needed to create something really different from my usual designs, something far more whimsical and fun.  Taking my inspiration from a dollar store gift bag (yes, you read that right!), I set out to make a piece that was full of bright colours and bold flowers.  I quite literally pulled the colours out from the image of 6 or so Disney princesses imprinted on the bag, and bearing in mind that this was to be worn by a little 6 year old, I set out to make 3 different, small, single-flower polymer clay beads that would be durable for everyday wear.  The other thing I wanted to experiment with was larger scale single flowers (you may have noticed that I usually work with miniature clusters of flowers of varying kinds).  I thought this to be more appropriate for a little girl, in that I could give more attention to detail to each flower, increasing that "whimsy" factor!  Before I even began making the pc beads, I already had in mind how I would string them together to form the necklace.  I knew that I wanted to use some of the coloured memory wire I had on hand, making sure to add lots of princess crystals of course!

This design was all about colour, lots of it, and whimsy.  I loved the freedom of creating something that didn't have all the restraints of a mature, more subdued piece.

What I took from this experience?  Well, a few hours of baby-free time for one, and a resurgence of that long-forgotten, incredibly satisfying feeling I get when I create something beautiful and new.  I'm inspired and encouraged that routine will again fall into place, and I will be back to my old self...nestled into my little studio, happily playing with my clay.

Karen Pasieka
Subtle Details

whew! another busy weekend...

not this past weekend, but the one that preceded it. I had so much on the go two weekends ago that I needed a full week to recover, which is why this post is being made today and not last Monday.

Where to start? In a nutshell, Friday was packing, Saturday was Mom-to-Mom sale shopping, Evan's baptism and celebratory dinner, AND loading of the car, and finally, Sunday was The Original Wedding Soiree.

The Original Wedding Soiree, Subtle Detail's first bridal show since January of 2009.

You always meet the nicest of people at these events!

Among them are Jennifer Arp of Cakeaholic, Stephanie Casino of The Press Fine Stationery, and Shiri Shapiro of Focus Studios. I "tasted" many of Jennifer's mouth-watering mocha-hazelnut sample cupcakes through the day...that's probably what inspired me to make some of my own cupcakes yesterday, though nowhere near as good (no offence Betty Crocker).

Shiri was kind enough to photograph my booth.

She captured in a few seconds what I can never get in hours of snapshots with my little camera.

The photos in this post are hers

(with exception to one, my last).

I've added all three to my links page on my website:

www.subtledetails.ca

Someone who's been on my links page since it's inception, my own friend and cake designer Julie Tan-Ramos of Yummy In the Tummy Cakes. Julie kindly lent me one of her displays for my Li'l Newlyweds cake toppers. I just love the delicate pearlized white flowers and leafy scroll on this canary yellow 4-tier cake! I've been wanting the opportunity to display my toppers on a real cake for some time (please, if you're one of my customers and you're reading this, SEND ME YOUR PICTURES, I'd love to see them!), and this did not

disappoint. My "Simply Beautiful" sample Li'l Newlyweds settled in nicely amongst the fondant flora, and the yellow complimented the purple roses perfectly.

There's so much more that I could mention, like a chance encounter, show prep. and show setup agrivation, but this post feels like it's getting a bit long in the tooth (where did that phrase come from anyways? *shrug*)...another post, another day...

An eventful weekend to be sure.

The vendors mentioned in this post can be found at the following:

www.cakeaholic.ca

www.the-presse.com

www.focusstudios.ca

www.yummyinthetummycakes.com

So excited about these recently uploaded YouTube videos!

Hi again!

My husband finished these off yesterday, and I'm thrilled with the results!

Li'l Bouquet jewellery by Subtle Details...



Li'l Newlyweds wedding cake toppers by Sublte Details...



Thank you Peter, you're awesome!

-Karen

New to blogging!

Hi! This whole blogging thing is new to me, I'm not quite sure how to start it off!
Where shall I begin? Introduce you to the ever changing, ever evolving Subtle Details traveling show? How about a little rant about my struggles with jewelry display? Or should I write about how flowers (a.k.a. Li'l Bouquet) aren't just for the spring & summer?
What do you think?
Be back soon...