Frekkel Designing

 All lines are supposed to have variations. Planned, market-tested, intentional, multi-tiered options. However, in my world, I often go by "Oh! This would look good!" In this spirit, I present to you a variation on my Love Bubble Earrings... The chain hangs low as it wobbles to and fro...  It is fixed! So the chain stays balanced and in place. Thank you to fellow Goldsmith Jamie,  of Jewellery By Rosario for modelling As yet, they are a unique pair, as I wait to see how popular they are, and if I should make more.

I have been working on a new line of “dream driven” rings, which are now available at Jewel Envy in Toronto, and soon online. This line is based on a simple idea – stay focused on your dream. Many of us have vision boards, or other ways to inspire us and remind us of the things in life we want to manifest. However, once those visual reminders are out of sight, they can be out of mind. My vision is two-fold. One, a beautiful, easy to wear ring that helps to stay focused when making decisions about time, money everyday, all day. Two, a constant reminder of love and support as a loved one works towards their dream.  The rings follow a motif, but are elegant and subtle, leaving it up to the wearer to share the deeper meaning with those they deem worthy. Our dreams and goals are varied and individual as we are, but the Focus line has launched with three rings which look beautiful with or without the aspirations: Focus - Writing a Book:  This is designed with the aspirations of some...

Love Bubbles. Would you like to live with Bubbles of Love? From me to you From you to her From you to you May bubbles of love Surround you and lift you. 

 Through the pandemic, much cleaning was done.  Many boxes discovered, and their treasures revealed.  Treasures like old rings (too small), brooches (too outdated), and necklaces (too broken).  You may, like me, have wondered why treasure chests in the old movies always seemed to have loose gems in them.  There could be a terrible, historical reason for that I can cover in a another post, or it was just theatrical drama, but I think many people these days have similar stashes because they simply do not know what to do with them.   Over the last few decades, there have been literally tons of silverware and ornate jewellery deemed gaudy and melted down for money.  Diamonds get reset into new engagement rings.  But what about pearls?  How do you know if they are real, if they are worth anything, do they need to be treated in a special way, and what can you do with them? 1. Real pearls have a subtle, grainy texture.  Experts will look f...

Fall colours are beautiful for their differences. I once flew east over Canada at this time of the year.  The steady red sea of fiery maples was breathtaking, but for the most part, I enjoy how the yellows, greens, reds and oranges vibrate together along autumn country roads. The stones of October have similar traits - modest hues, variety, and gorgeous, breathtaking beauty. Traditionally, Opal has been the October stone.  Its silica and 10 percentage of water brings out lovely colours the way a good rain before a sunny day brings out a rainbow over a Fall feast of foliage.  We know White Opal, but there are also the deep greens and blues of Black Opal, and NOTHING does red or orange like Fire Opal. In modern times, we also consider Tourmaline an October stone.  Most birthstone displays will show a pale pink sparkler, but Tourmaline can show an array of pinks, browns, greens, yellows, blues, and even combinations within a stone. Which of these gorgeous gems says...

 I love watching custom car reality shows.  I like watching the team pull various talents together, I like the resourcefulness, and I like to watch an idea become reality.  But, I really, really, like the look into what it's like to pull thoughts from a client's mind, to shape those thoughts with hints of what they enjoy, to fuse everything with what will actually work, and, hopefully, create something fantastic.  This is really what custom is supposed to be about - adventure.  Like most adventures you embark on with a stranger, the first custom project with a new client or artist is exciting, full of possibilities and hidden expectations. Clients have come to me with an idea for an engagement ring, a pendant, earrings, brooch or something innovative and new.  No matter the item, the conversations we have about musical tastes, favourite people, most memorable travel spots, and dreams for the future are what give me the information I need to create something...

I could end it right there.  There is enough going on, why not space aliens?  But let me explain... August is the month of heat, and last hurrah's, lions, dried grass, earlier evenings, and the stone that sums it all up - peridot.  I say "pear-ih-doh", but some people say "pear-ih-dot", and google translate agrees with them.   There are only 2 green birthstones.  One is Emerald, which is famous, and has ties to other stones in its Beryl family, like Aquamarine.  The other is peridot, sometimes called "the evening emerald" because it keeps its glowy green essence in low lighting, like an... alien?  No, not yet.  Stay with me.   Peridot gets its green from its iron content, which is unique in stones.  It comes in many shades, but no other colour, and is linked to no other gems.  It is a loner, a maverick, an outsider.  The world used to get its peridot from the Red Sea, but now peridot is mined from Pakistan to Arizona....

  I have a truth to tell. The best-smelling, cleanest, most beautiful, put-together people you can imagine, usually have the grimiest jewellery repairs.   Without getting too graphic, let me remind you of what the tops of sunblock bottles, hand lotion tubes, and jars of face creams look like, right around the edges, where air dries out the build-up.  You got it.   These same products get up under watchstraps, diamond settings, earring backs, and absolutely everywhere.  The oil that makes them so great for moisturizing, also makes them great for sticking.  To  jewellery.  And for collecting every speck of dust, dander or dna to form enough layers, that one may wonder if the wearer had taken a pottery class recently.  But it's not recent at all.  Much the same as the the product containers I've mentioned, the buildup is slow.  If people realise at all, it's usually not until they are getting a piece back from their jeweller,...

Know your "why". Someone told me, not early enough in business, that to be able to withstand the turbulence of entrepreneurship, I need to hold on tight to my "why".  As a creative, I think this is especially important.  Our selves are so much a part of what we do, that losing the "why", would really be more of a symptom than a catalyst, of something going wrong.  Do you have your "why"?  Do you post a reminder of it somewhere?  In what way does it influence your "how", "what", "where", and "whom"?  Because it definitely all connects. When I decided that I needed to develop a healthy business where I could optimize my skills and talents to provide for my family, I made a list of everything I am able to do, everything I like to do, and things I would like to become better at doing.  I made note of where those things intersected, and started my dive into why I do what I do.   In every intersect, no matter the...

“Is this real or fake?” is a big question in jewellery.  There are a number of answers, and without a little knowledge about how gemstones are made and sold, you can feel like you are being taken for a ride. Jewellers use terms like Genuine, Mined, Imitation, Simulated, Synthetic, Lab-grown, and Enhanced. Once you have a general understanding of the choices available for gems in the market, you will be able to make the best choice for yourself.  I have been thinking about this a lot, and have decided to break down the terminology using popstars. Imagine one of the biggest stars of all time is called “Sapphire”. They’ve also had success as “Ruby”, but their real name, given at birth, is “Corundum”. So, it’s Corundum on their driver’s license, but Sapphire on some albums, and Ruby on other albums. Same popstar. People cannot get enough, so Sapphire/Ruby is EVERYWHERE. Concerts sell out, streams are prolific, and even impersonators make a good living at tribute shows. ...

Jewellery is often with us during special moments, experiences, and milestones. Sometimes it is given to us by a special person, or in a special way, or at a special time. Our jewellery pieces carry these memories for us, even when we didn't mean them to. Sometimes, there are experiences so personal, and so common, that we keep them in our own special way, and only share them with certain people, when we feel the time is right. It might be through a song, a poem, sculpture, or painting, and this is often the way that artists touch us in the deepest way - by channeling, sharing and expressing our stories. As a goldsmith, my poetry and sculpture is precious and portable. I am acutely aware that I am always creating vessels that may carry memories and emotions which haven't happened yet, but sometimes, I also get to design pieces that can carry an emotions someone has been holding alone. This is a special connection we artists have, and always have had, to the human experie...

Cassandra Bazos is a jewellery designer from Oakville, Ontario.  She lives with a neurological disorder called Tourette Syndrome.  Tourettes is an inherited disorder that is characterized by multiple physical tics and at least one vocal tic.  Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada estimates that as many as 1 in 100 people may present symptoms of the disease.  The cause has not been established, although current research presents considerable evidence that the disorder stems from the abnormal metabolism of at least one brain chemical (neurotransmitter) called dopamine. Very likely other neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, are also involved.  Despite the apparent frequency of this disease at mild to severe levels, there are many misunderstandings and mysteries surrounding the symptoms, which have created a stigma.  As we think about courage, it's important to look at the type that emerges from our own fears, and in the face of the fear of others....

The first thing I would like to say about this topic is that it has taken me a long time to differentiate between courage and recklessness.  I will forgo posting wikipedia definitions of each, and say that I believe the deciding factor is in the measurement, concern, and knowledge of risk.  I have come to believe that if a person has no concern of any risk, or refuses to consider it before throwing himself into a ridiculous situation, he is reckless.  As adorable as it is, I firmly believe it does no good but to serve as a warning to others.  Courage, for me is when you know the risks, you know how hard it is going to be, but there is a lot depending on your success, so you push through a ridiculous situation, trying to cause as little damage as possible, with your drive focused on a larger good.  My confession is that my greatest moments of courage have come after moments of recklessness, when I've been clobbered with the consequences of my actions and had to w...

Lindsay Bess is a visual artist from Scarborough, ON.  She is also an Art Teacher who has worked with local community initiatives (Elevated Grounds, Por Amor, CKLN 88.1FM) for over a decade, and is fully vested in the uplifting of her audience and her students. The work she does is never very far removed from the issues going on locally and internationally, and shes consider her work to be functional, artistic social commentary. She has done work all over the world, mostly murals – and shes believes mural-making to be one of the best ways to engage the public in art making and appreciation. Lindsay Bess lives by an aphorism, “The artistic education of those unfamiliar with art relies on its practitioners and how well they convey their ideas – and that is a reflection on how well the practitioners understand themselves and their roles as artists.” What/who inspires you? Many things inspire me, but right now it's my late mother. All of her struggles with l...

 What have I been up to?  Here is what I've been up to: This is Maehem, bgirl/owner/instructor/awesome person, and now, pendant.  She is doing a freeze on one hand while holding her foot with the other hand.  She is made of Sterling silver and is suspended from a Sterling silver cable chain.  To make mini-Maehem, I started with a sheet of silver, a few pics of the real Maehem, and her permission to use her image.  Then, I released her from her paper prison...  And glued her to the silver sheet.   A-sawing we will go.  Very, very carefully, the edges needed to be filed and smoothed with emery paper.  No snags required or desired. Both front and back also got the emery treatment, and the front was polished to a mirror shine. After I pierced the pendant, I used wire to create tiny rings that could attach the pendant to a Sterling silver cable chain.  The rings need to be soldered to ensure strength and du...

Gillian E. Batcher owns Jewel Envy, a collaborative studio, where she designs and makes jewellery. In addition to making jewellery she teaches classes from her studio, George Brown College, and the Ontario College of Art and Design. She has a degree in Psychology from the University of Western Ontario and a certificate in Jewellery Arts from George Brown College, graduating from both with distinction. In addition to studying at George Brown she took an intensive jewellery course in Florence, Italy. Upon completing her training she was accepted into Harbourfront Centre’s   residency program where she worked as an artist in residence for three years. She has participated in numerous art shows and exhibitions in Canada and the United States and has been the recipient of various awards for both technical and artistic achievement. Her work is about re-establishing a connection to the roots of craftsmanship. Techniques previously used for their working properties are used today ...