Our Product now in Cottage North Soapworks, Port Dover, ON!

I sent this order out just before leaving for our family vacation at the end of last month, so I'm a little late getting to this blog post.  Normally I would've just posted a pic of everything & posted it to Instagram, but I was short on time to be fussing with a massive photo shoot, so I have an assortment of pictures to show off the lot!

"button blooms" polymer clay & sterling silver necklaces

"petal pouf (hydrangea)" polymer clay pendants with sterling silver chains

"button blooms" polymer clay & sterling silver earrings in post & teardrop styles

"ranunculus" polymer clay brooches

It should be noted that, in discussion with the customer, their desired colours sounded very similar to what I saw in this product picture from their website, and so I used it as my reference for their Li'l Bouquet custom jewellery order...

 

Nearly forgot!...

They also really wanted a Li'l Art piece that complimented their jewellery order, so I made them this piece...

"Is It Just Me, Or Are They Dancing? II"

...that uses the resultant canes from the Ranunculus brooches from their order.

I think it all ties in nicely together, don't you?

Cottage North Soapworks is in Port Dover, Ontario, Canada.

www.cottagenorthsoapworks.com

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 

A great weekend in Cabbagetown

This past Friday, Saturday, & Sunday (Sept.6-8) was the Cabbagetown Art & Crafts Show, and it was FABULOUS!

Aside from a little hiccup of some rain (well, lots of rain really) on Saturday, a little help from my spare canopy walls kept my Li'l Art pieces dry, and my spirits were high all weekend!
We had lots of visitors, and lots of customers!

As per usual, my booth was at least a little different from the last event, getting a little better with each one, and I was gratified to hear from several people how bright and cheery they thought my display was!

Here's a little of what we had in store...

"button blooms" teardrop earrings
polymer clay & sterling silver

"Sunflower"

polymer clay

10"x10" frame

"Cascade"
polymer clay & art wire pendant on sterling silver chain



Want to throw out a HUGE thank you, hugs & kisses to my husband and my mom, without whom I could not have done this event.  <3 p="">- Karen

my inspiration...

Finally found the pics of the inspiration dress for my latest Li'l Newlyweds sample cake toppers:

Thanks to Randy to the Rescue, which I was watching earlier today while working on one of my Li'l Art pieces, I got the name of the designer and the dress...leading me to this...

"Sherbet" by Lazaro

stunning, stunning, stunning!

I've seen it several times, as mentioned in a previous blog post, on some of my favorite wedding shows.  So this time, when it surfaced again, I payed special attention!



Here's how it compares to "Blushing Bride (& Groom)"...bearing in mind that I was working purely by memory of this gorgeous gown at the time!

In retrospect, I don't think I did too bad eh?  :D

Want to have your gorgeous gown modeled on your very own custom wedding cake topper?

Contact me!

www.subtledetails.ca,
www.facebook.com/subtledetails,
www.subtledetails.etsy.com,
karen@subtledetails.ca

-Karen Pasieka

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

about the artist

A while ago I was spending some time over in my Etsy store. Feeling a little more verbose and deciding that a change was needed, I wrote a new autobiography. I'm pretty happy with this new, more personal and heartfelt description of my life and work and decided to share it with you here today:

"Hi, I'm Karen Pasieka, designer and polymer clay artisan.

I started my business, Subtle Details, in 2007, when I was laid off from a position I held in an architecture firm for over 4 years. That had been my dream, my training, since I was only 13 years old.
I had always been a creative child, experimenting with various materials and craft. From crochet, to paper, to clay, I rotated from one to the next and back again, whatever suited my fancy on the day. But when first introduced to the concept of architecture (and being an architect), it seemed real to me, something concrete that I could say: "when I grow up, I want to be an Architect". I loved my education, and the goal of being an architect gave me focus, but the reality of the profession quickly tarnished the dream. It took me a long time to admit to myself that the dream that I had so long cherished was not the right fit for me, but once this fact had become clear, the answer was easy....craft!

The one medium that I always returned to was polymer clay. I experimented with and perfected my techniques year-after-year, creating Christmas tree ornaments for family and friends. Then as my friends got older, I was inspired to create the bride and groom ornaments (cake toppers) which I now affectionately call Li'l Newlyweds. This was a wonderfully intricate challenge that I was more than happy to take on. My jewelry line, Li'l Bouquet, was inspired by the delicately sculpted florals of the bridal bouquets from the cake toppers. Now my Li’l Bouquet designs are an ever evolving blend of soft feminine florals, Swarovski crystals, sterling silver, and base metals. The latest of my products, Li'l Art framed sculpture, was developed as a project that I could use to teach my students, as I have started running polymer clay classes. I love making these little tile scenes because the potential for themes are endless!

Whew! There you have it, my crafting history in a nutshell!

I hope my designs bring you joy, as they do for me everyday!"


...I would only add to this that, being a significant and most dear part of my life, my son Evan came into this world on October 28th, 2010. He is both the most precious and most demanding piece of the pie that is my life! With him, work is challenging, without him, life would be meaningless.

He is also the reason why I beg for patience from you if I appear to be absent from my work at times. :-D



- Karen Pasieka
polymer clay artisan, entrepreneur, mom