jake + cleo

Guacamole

2012-03-09T22:41:00.000-06:00

Corina and I have been to known to enjoy a healthy serving of guacamole. Corina makes a slammin' mix, but I don't know if it's this good...

Good things come in threes

2012-03-01T09:00:00.011-06:00

After a blog hiatus of a few months we have quite a bit to share with you! Do you see a difference with our blog? Em has spent countless hours honing her HTML skills to tweak this theme to our liking. We hope our new look will inspire us to get back to blogging more plus we think it fits our brand better.

And now...some fun and an opportunity to win prizes...we are sponsors of rikrak studio's Handmade Olympics again this year. You may remember that we were part of the 2011 event. Part of the 'games' requires the blog's readers to go to our shop and leave a comment about which item they like. So while we didn't have an influx of sales from participating last year we did find that it was worthwhile for the exposure and feedback. Maybe one of our readers will be the lucky recipient of the $50 shopping spree in jake + cleo's online shop! We'll set up a link once the 2012 Handmade Olympics begin on March 19th.

Speaking of shopping....we have an announcement to make! We have just launched our new online shop and website, jake + cleo. We'd love for you to stop by and peruse our jewelry collections. There are several new styles available for purchase that have only been sneak peeks on our facebook page until now.

Those are three things and they are all good! We have a few more tricks up our sleeve...stay tuned...

An Update

2012-01-20T19:15:00.000-06:00

We're going to let the cat out of the bag. er...we mean we are letting one of the cats out of the bag.

There are some exciting things going on behind the scenes here at jake + cleo. Monumental happenings. Big changes. We had a wonderful holiday season, and the new year has started off fantastic for us. So to keep the momentum going, we're doing "stuff".

Did you really think we were going to tell you more than that?

Holiday Shop

2011-11-28T18:00:00.000-06:00

jake + cleo is hosting a HOLIDAY SHOP this holiday season in our studio!

THIS Wednesday, November 30th from 6-9PM you are welcome to visit the jake + cleo studio for an evening of shopping, mingling and sipping hot cider. Please visit and like our Facebook page for more information!

modern • handmade • ecofriendly

We've invited a couple of local, handmade peeps to join us for a more varied shopping experience...like a mini artisans' market! Imagine finding the perfect gifts for your friends and family while shopping at our open house in a relaxed atmosphere...no hassles, no bustle...just friendly, smiling faces. Doesn't that sound much more pleasant than mall shopping?! Plus, you'll have the opportunity to meet & talk to the people that made the products, right here in Winnipeg!

The Holiday Shop will also include local & handmade goods from:

one-of-a-kind beaded jewelry

reusable fabric pockets for snacks & sandwiches

handmade natural & affordable skincare

fabric accessories & ruffled notecards

Please remember to support local artisans and buy handmade this holiday season wherever you are!

Frederick Art Walk 2011

2011-11-08T09:00:00.000-06:00

Once again we are heading to Kitchener, Ontario to participate in the Frederick Art Walk. We've been gearing up for this event, making and assembling our silver jewelry, for a few months already.

The event is located in the Frederick Street neighbourhood where the brick houses have character and the streets are lined with trees. Many artists, crafters and designers live in the area and each year they open their homes to the public to show and sell their wares. Some people come to gawk at houses, many come to buy gifts, a few come to buy for themselves and still more come just to enjoy the day walking through the neighbourhood. We are looking forward to an even bigger crowd this year as it seems that the popularity of this event keeps growing.

Em has actually already flown to spend some extra time with her family there. I'll be joining her on Wednesday which gives us a couple of days for last minute preparations before the big show on Saturday. We'd love to see you there! Our house is the first on the list as House A at 49 Brubacher Street.

House A is also hosting Jamie of Batty's Bath, Emma of Emmaline Designs (fabric bags & pillows) and Emily is bringing her line of beaded jewelry, gEM's, and her new venture of fun, fabric pockets, emms pocket shop.

Wish us luck! Hope to see you there :D

Handmade in Winnipeg: Gift Idea

2011-11-07T09:00:00.000-06:00

jake + cleo is thrilled to partner with Winnipeg-based eco-friendly producer of handmade, natural and affordable skincare Just the Goods to create the perfect customizable gift set!

Share your affections with lavender imprinted jewelry produced with 100% recycled silver, while charming additional senses with one of three carefully selected all natural perfume oils. Adding a soft and thoughtful finish, your custom pairing will be packed in a beautiful handmade, organic cotton gift bag.

Our earrings and pendants are handmade using silver clay and the lavender grown this summer in our very own garden. The base shapes of circles, ovals, rectangles and square are imprinted with lavender by hand to ensure each piece is a one-of-a-kind original.

The Just the Goods perfume oils selected for this gift set reflect the many moods of jake + cleo:

Romantic Neroli and Ylang Ylang is a love affair between two smoldering florals. Breathe deeply and be transported to into something extraordinary
Warm and moody Wild Woods is a complicated blend of essential oils derived from exotic woods and deep florals with a touch of sweet orange for context
Aromatherapeutic Love and Rage includes peppermint, rosemary, lavender, ylang ylang and a touch of honeysuckle to help you stay clear and energized while focusing on building a better world

Perfume & earrings in a gift bag $40.00

Perfume & a necklace in a gift bag $48.00

Perfume, earrings & a necklace in a gift bag $77.00

When placing your order, please indicate your choice of fragrance and base shape for the earrings &/or pendant. We have individual listings for each shape and combination of gift set available in our Etsy shop. These sets are also available by contacting jakecleo [dot] silver [at] gmail [dot] com or via Just the Goods. The opportunity to view (& smell) these sets in person will be made available at the Frederick Art Walk (house A) and at our Holiday Shop.

Shameless Self Promotion

2011-09-26T14:05:00.000-05:00

Do you use a reusable snack bag? How about a wipeable and reusable bag for carrying sandwiches? Do you pack litterless lunches in your house?

If you answered "yes" to any of those questions, than you need to add one of my bags to your arsenal. If you answered "no" to any of those questions, than you definitely need to add one of my bags to your arsenal!

It's me, Emily. I have temporarily hijacked this blog to tell you about my new Etsy shop, Emms Pocket Shop

I currently feature 3 styles of pockets:

1) Zipper pockets are great as a change purse, a place to organize gift cards, keep your lipstick and lip balm at the ready, corral those stray hair elastics and bobby pins, or even a small i-pod!

2) Sandwich pockets feature designer fabric on the outside, and food safe nylon on the inside. I use a button and loop closure so that it is easy to open (and doesn't make that annoying velcro noise) for people of all ages and abilities

3) Cookie pockets are the perfect "handy" size (complete with designer fabric and food safe nylon). I use a thin and flexible strip of velcro to keep the tiniest snack food well packed.

Sandwich and Cookie pockets can be washed in the washing machine (just turn inside out, and wash in cold water). You can iron on LOW if necessary.

Some Zipper pockets feature upcycled denim.

Upcycled. Reusable. Fun.

be eco. be organized. be happy.

inspiration to create

2011-09-13T19:04:00.000-05:00

Modern architecture.

Rietveld Schröder House

Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye

Nature.

wild daisy

wild grass seed

What inspires you?

What Do They Eat?

2011-08-24T09:00:00.002-05:00

Corina's Studio Lunch: Hummus and Veggie Wrap

All I need for a satisfying healthy lunch on a busy studio day is a multi-grain tortilla shell, hummus and veggies. There is no secret recipe and the picture tells all. Any veggies will do! The day I took this photo I had snap peas, tomatoes, orange pepper, avocado and spinach but grated carrots, cucumbers (blech!) and kale would be good too. I sprinkled a small amount of the best vegan cheese* ever invented, smeared on a dollop of hummus** and rolled it all into a yummy bundle of goodness.

*yeah, that would be Daiya cheese in cheddar or mozzarella...so good when sprinkled sparingly

**hummus is easy to make but if you are lazy (like me) and live in Winnipeg, the best store bought hummus is the house-made stuff at Organic Planet in Wolseley. Nummers!

Do you have a 'go to' lunch?

The Lake

2011-08-20T09:00:00.001-05:00

The usual suspects

enjoying the lake

every summer!

Summer Memories

2011-08-08T20:16:00.000-05:00

Summer memories, unlike the memories of any other season, are foremost in my mind. Maybe it's because my birthday is in the summer, or maybe it's because I love being in water (where else do you spend time in the summer?)

Another summer memory (and overall love of summer) is the abundance of fresh fruits and veggies. Fresh green beans are the inspiration behind this post. I was standing at the counter last night, snapping the ends of off some local wax beans when I had a flash back to doing the same "chore" with my Grandma. The beans would have come from Grandma and Grandpa's garden. I can still hear the sound created when I tossed the beans into the old tin pot.

It's different now: beans tossed into a corning ware casserole dish don't sound the same. But the feeling is the same. And if I was shelling peas, I would be stealing some to eat while doing my "chore".

Snapping beans and shelling peas...my summer memories.

Product Love - Dry Shampoo

2011-08-04T21:06:00.000-05:00

It's time to share some love...some product love.

Up on the pedestal is 100% Natural Dry Shampoo by BattysBath on Etsy

Let me start by saying this is not the first dry shampoo that I have tried. I have tried the fancy coloured spray from the hair salon, and the salon-quality spray from the drugstore. Obviously, these didn't quite fulfill my needs (or had some downside) that made me want to try Batty's version.

I am so happy that I tried it! I was skeptical: could Batty really make a product like this in her home lab? And if she could make it, would it work?Well, she nailed it...and now I will tell you why.

Two feel good reasons to try it:
1. it's handmade AND it's Canadian
2. it comes in a great little bottle

When I compare it to it's predecessors (located at the back of my cupboard) this is why Batty's 100% Natural Dry Shampoo is tops:

(Five awesome and practical reasons to use it)

1. it didn't change the colour my hair
2. it didn't flake, giving me "dandruff" and leaving impossible to get off gunk all over my brush
3. it lasted all day
4. it didn't doesn't have a smell
5. it didn't leave thick and unnatural "pieces" of hair: my hair felt soft and flexible after I worked the powder in

The most important reason to use it:

1. it soaked up the oil!

I should mention that I have super thin and super fine hair.

What Do They Eat?

2011-07-27T11:00:00.001-05:00

Okay. So you may know that our partners are both named Jason. When the four of us get together, it can be confusing. It can also be confusing when we eat together: we are a plant based eater, a pescatarian, a "I prefer to eat chicken" eater, and a "I love red meat" eater.

*cue The Breakfast Club final scene

It's one thing to figure out dinner on any given day the four of us share a table. While Corina follows a vegan inspired diet, her partner Jason eats what she eats, unless he chooses to enjoy some fish or cheese. And while Emily isn't a huge red meat eater, she will eat it once in a full moon, making her husband Jason very happy. But what do we eat when we are on a mini vacation together, to a cottage...away from any restaurant that could accommodate our four various diet requests?

Well for starters, how about some pancakes? Homemade pancakes, mango, pineapple, strawberries...and vegan margarine. A pleasing feast for all four of us.

But we can't eat pancakes for three meals per day, eight meals in total. So what else is on the menu you ask?
How about burgers (that should please the red meat eater) with oil and vinegar potato salad and veggie sticks? Or maybe some burritos (refried beans), salsa and guacamole (make it into a taco salad for the plant based eater). Let's not forget skewers of veggies (peppers, tomatoes, onion, pineapple and potatoes) with a skewer of chicken (yay for white meat), a skewer of fake chicken and some grilled asparagus to stay with the "stick" theme.

Life is good. If we ever take a winter mini-vacay, we will give you a rundown of our non-BBQ meals. But don't run away just yet, we have one more thing to share. What vacay (or even non vacay) is complete without snacks? Freezies, potato chips, popcorn and cookies! Vegan choco chip cookies to be exact.

Oh Canada Team - Treasury Blitz!

2011-07-26T09:47:00.001-05:00

Being part of a community on Etsy is good times! We receive support from our fellow Canadian Etsians on the Oh Canada Team forum and so today we are celebrating. Our team is having a 2 day treasury blitz to help drive traffic to our shops...and maybe, just maybe landing a coveted front page feature on Etsy.

Here's one I did:

This one is from our talented & treasury prolific friend Alisa from clonehardware:

This treasury is from another talented friend, Jen from jensdreamdecor, who is a former 'pegger...which makes her automatically cool in my books:

And one more from our talented friend and resident celebrity, Isabelle from IGbijoux:

If you have an Etsy account we would love for you to stop by the treasuries and comment & click on any items that catch your fancy.

Tell Me a Tale

2011-07-24T17:18:00.000-05:00

I love pretty much any music my talented younger brother Mark recommends. This song and video seems perfect for a gorgeous Sunday afternoon like today.

coffee shops, outdoor concerts, flea markets, bike riding, snuggling in the park, fair rides...perfect day.

ok. ok. I would not be caught dead on that carnival ride but some people like 'em.

Quality vs. Quantity

2011-07-15T09:00:00.003-05:00

I think my parents accidentally instilled in me that quality is more important than quantity. High school was a label fashion show but my mom wouldn't pay for Benetton and Ralph Lauren. If I wanted that ubiquitous Benetton rugby shirt I had to use my hard-earned babysitting cash to get it.

ahhh. Benetton memories...

[ image via ]

Since then I've preferred to have a few nice things rather than a lot of cheaply made things...even when I'm on a budget. It takes longer to get the things I want but I know that I'll appreciate them more when I do. Now that I am part of the handmade community it has become important to me to support other handmade artisans when I can. I try to buy handmade gifts, handmade body products and handmade jewelry. Handmade clothes are harder for me to find because of size but I do have some favourite local designers.

laughing it up in my Voila bamboo dress at our launch party

I found this gorgeous dress by Adrienne of Voila when Mozy Rue Eco Collective was still open. I wore it to our launch party last September. Andrienne's line of eco-friendly bamboo clothing can be found on Etsy in her MJAnne (now changed to Voila) shop. I love that she screen prints images of her father's artwork onto her clothing.

tamara modeling a tshirt from her Lady T Tees line.

My friend tamara rae biebrich is an artist that screen prints her artwork onto tshirts. I have a Lady T Tees tshirt that traveled the world with me last year. I bumped into tamara at a craft show and quickly snapped up another tee for me and one for J too. I wear both of them all the time. I love her retro ladies.

I also have it in the back of my mind to ask local designer/seamstress, Melanie Wesley of dizzy dame to make some custom clothes for me once I lose a few pounds. I admire her style and wish I was as skilled and creative as she is with her fashion sense.

What about you? Do you prefer quality over quantity? Or maybe you have the means to buy quality AND quality...

Pepsi Taste Test

2011-07-13T20:44:00.000-05:00

One of us (coughcorinacough)is a Pepsi Cola addict. Pepsi from a can - a cold can, poured into a tall glass, and garnished with two ice cubes. The other half of "us" prefers Pepsi over Coke, but for health issues, drinks mostly Coke Zero. A cold Pepsi is a wonderful thing...don't you think?

So of course, when Pepsi released the Throwback Pepsi...made with REAL SUGAR...we just had to try it.

Rather than simply cracking open a can, we opted for a blind taste test, and also enlisted "Jason" (one Jason drinks Pepsi, the other prefers beer) to help. Would these highly experienced cola palettes be able to distinguish one from the other?

Before I let you in on the result, why not enjoy this throwback Pepsi commercial:

Pepsi Cola and the 1980's - Michael Jackson, Michael J Fox and Madonna were all a part of the New Generation.

The Results:

Emily could distinguish the Throwback, twice.
Jason could NOT distinguish the Throwback.
Corina could NOT distinguish the Throwback.

For me (Emily) it was the extra sweet and even a bit watery aftertaste. Could the fact that I consume more diet pop have something to do with it? Possibly. But I do love regular Pepsi, and have maybe a can per week.

Anyway, Pepsi Co. please don't mess with your formula. Don't be a Coca Cola.

The jake + cleo Garden

2011-06-17T19:53:00.000-05:00

If you have been following us, you know that we love to use natural plant materials in our designs. If you are new to jake + cleo, you now know that to create our "green" imprints, we use real herbs and grass ... no plastic foliage texture plates here! Last November, we collected our first herbs from the gardens of Em's sister & mom and stored them in the freezer for use of the winter.

But this spring, we are able to plant our OWN herbs! To add to the excitement, our first four herb seedlings are not only grown in Canada, but they came in eco pots! Coco husk pots come from a sustainable resource (coconuts) and are totally compostable! We just peeled back the sides and planted the herbs. Now the pots will be torn into small pieces, and added to the composter. If Em's other flower pots weren't already filled, we would have used the torn coco pots for drainage.

Here are our herbs as of June 17:

Where Are They?!

2011-05-19T19:32:00.001-05:00

Have you been wondering what is going on with jake + cleo? Well I'm going to tell you!

Let's begin with our most recent mental mash-up*. Our on-hand pieces of completed jewelry has dwindled. Between stocking Rare Funk in Kitchener, a wholesale order from Tara Davis Studio Boutique in Nelson, and various requests to peruse our stock for gifts, we are in desperate need of a stock boost! We discussed which favourites we should remake as well as discussing some new ideas (including jewelry for men!).

Two of our most popular pieces!

*a mental mash-up is when Corina and I spend time discussing our business affairs: who, when, what, where and how are we going to pay for it.

Corina has been busy with freelance design work, and I have been busy recovering from fundraising for my Multiple Sclerosis Walk Team. The Walk was on May 1st (a snowy day in May) and I always need recovery time afterward.

Corina, Myself, My Sister

So the secret is out: we don't spend all of our time sanding and polishing. But we do spend a considerable amount of time checking out what accessories women are wearing, and making mental notes.

In the coming weeks, we will unveil some "old" shapes with new purpose, returning favourites, and some BIG ASS pieces! Hold on to your sunhats!

Earth Day Giveaway

2011-04-29T09:55:00.000-05:00

Have you heard? Last week we were featured on TV as part of an Earth Day eco-friendly and made in Canada morning show segment. We were approached by Melissa Thibodeau, a brand ambassador, who promotes Canadian-made products through her website In Country with Melissact, Facebook, Twitter. She also features made in Canada products and Canadian companies in her various TV appearances.

Dill medallion

Unfortunately we don't have our TV segment to share with you yet, but Melissa blogged about her Earth Day appearance. The good news is...

To celebrate our Earth and jake + cleo's first feature on television, we are having a giveaway! We provided Melissa with a Dill Front Toggle necklace (similar to the above photo) to give away to one of her lucky blog readers. It could be you!

Enter by May 1st at 5 PM ET to win the jake + cleo giveaway!

A couple of things about Emily

2011-04-28T11:47:00.000-05:00

If you haven't figured it out yet, Emily is my best friend. We go good together. Emily challenges me to think, not just feel. Emily laughs at me, in a good way. Emily listens to me. I can be myself with Emily and she still sticks around!

There's something else you should know about Em. She lives her life everyday with MS. Some days are better than others. Whatever the day, Emily stays positive. She believes there is a cure. There is a cure for Multiple Sclerosis in the near future!

Do you believe in a cure? You can help raise awareness and funding for research by donating to the MS Society of Canada. Each year at the MS Walk our team, Em's Slackers, gathers to walk in Winnipeg. You can sponsor the team or either Emily or me (Corina) and help us reach our fund raising goals.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
~corina

An inside look: from clay to silver

2011-04-08T09:00:00.027-05:00

Here is a sneak peak at some of the pieces we are currently working on. You may recognize a few of them as we are replenishing our stock for upcoming events. We've also created a few new pieces so that we can expand our Etsy shop offerings. We added a new plant-imprinted earring style that is a small, narrow rectangle. We've added some pendants and earrings that are imprinted with letters, including a style that can be personalized with the initial of your choice.

The green bowl in the photo below is chock full of clay goodness waiting to be sanded to perfection before firing.

Instead of sanding all the pieces at once we tend to work in stages. We like to have pieces in various stages of production so that we can add variety to our days. We're less likely to over-sand or crack a piece of silver clay if we move onto other tasks every couple of hours. Once we purchase a second shelf for our kiln we may have to re-think this strategy, but for now it's working for us.

The silver clay pieces are put on the ceramic-fiber shelf once they are ready and loaded into the kiln.

The kiln door is shut and the power turned on. After a series of beeps and button-pushing the kiln starts to heat up to the recommended temperature. The digital timer and thermometer keep track of how fast the kiln will heat and for how long it should hold that temperature. The kiln clicks as the heating element turns off and on while maintaining the appropriate temperature. Finally, the kiln beeps that it is finished the firing process. We usually wait for the kiln to cool slightly before opening the door since there are furry critters in the house that might be curious to see inside. We remove the shelf with the fired silver pieces and allow them to cool to room temperature. As you can see in the photo the silver is a matte white when they first come out of the kiln.

And that is how our silver clay creations turn into fine silver ready to be polished & assembled into jake + cleo jewelry.

An inside look: from our backyard

2011-04-06T09:00:00.003-05:00

Back in fall we collected plant material to get us through the winter of imprinting our silver clay creations. We picked a couple of handfuls of grass from Em's backyard since our Green Like Grass collection has been one of our most popular. While we were in Kitchener we foraged the gardens of Em's parents and sister to stock up on herbs. We found lavender, dill, rosemary, and various random flower buds, weeds and leaves. Recently, we added store bought sage and thyme...perhaps a Scarborough Fair collection could be in our future!

Our stash of green stuff is kept bundled in Em's freezer for safe keeping until we need it. We take out what we need and let it thaw and air dry and then refreeze it until next time. This past weekend we made some pieces with our only strand of wheat. The kernels are falling off each time we press the wheat into our clay. We may have made our last Sweet Wheat License Plate pendant until the next harvest later this summer.

Luckily for our recent customer, Christine, we were able to make one last edition just for her.

An inside look: our new studio

2011-04-04T09:00:00.012-05:00

A few weeks ago we decided that we needed to set up a more permanent location for our studio. Until now we've been moving our supplies and tools around with us wherever was convenient for us to make some jewelry. Emily's kitchen table was a popular spot as was the Mozy Rue work table. The problem with working in Em's kitchen was that if we didn't quite finish our pieces within a day we either had to pack everything up or take the table hostage. We would often divvy up the clay or silver pieces for sanding or polishing so that we could work on them individually. It became stressful as we would wonder who had what, where so it just made sense to work out of one space.

Em already had a room that was partially dedicated to her beaded jewelry making. Her husband, JR, graciously allowed the second desk in the room (once the home of his desktop computer) to become jake + cleo's work surface. And the jake + cleo slash emmsgems studio was born! We pulled out all of our supplies and tools and organized everything into baskets on a trolley beside the desk. Now when the work day is done we just lay a towel over our works-in-progress (to discourage paws from flinging silver clay around the room) and our mess doesn't disturb the goings-on of the household. Plus, the less time we spend unpacking and searching for our tools means more time creating!

Do you have a space allocated for your creative business or hobby?

Custom silver: for Carla's mom

2011-03-31T12:28:00.002-05:00

A couple of months ago we were commissioned to do a custom piece for Carla for her milestone birthday. She loved her gift and asked us to design a necklace and pair of earrings for her mother. She wanted a special gift to thank her mom for helping her adjust to life with twins.

Carla looked through our Etsy shop with her mom to find out what she might like from our existing collection. The rectangle earrings with a square cutout were deemed a favourite so that is where we started our design process.

We sketched out some ideas and sent them for approval. One of the designs had the names of the twins Norah & Nella as scramble letters on a rectangle pendant. Another had square mini pendants with N's imprinted along a chain with the word Love imprinted on a larger rectangle pendant.

The design that was selected included a rectangle Green Like Grass pendant with a rectangle pendant floating in front. The floating rectangle had two square cutouts so that the grass imprint behind would show through. The squares themselves were the same but the random grass texture would give each square it's own unique character...like twins!

The design paired beautifully with our Rectangle Square Cutout earrings which Carla knew her mom loved.

This design also allowed us to try out some new tools that we recently acquired. We used our new lettering system to imprint the words "Thank you Mom" on the back of the Green Like Grass pendant. Our new kiln has proven to be a valuable tool. The silver clay rectangles stayed level and straight when fired in the kiln. If we had used a torch we may have experienced some warping because of the imprints and cutouts.

We have so much fun telling a story through our designs. We hope to receive more requests for custom jake + cleo silver in the future! Do you have a wedding coming up? Perhaps we could design something for your bridesmaids to wear. Or be that something new to wear!

A generous spirit: Part Two

2011-03-21T12:57:00.001-05:00

If you follow this blog regularly you've already read about the generous spirit of our Etsy friends, the Oh Canada Team, in our post A generous spirit: Part One. The donations didn't stop there! I also mentioned Ian's fundraising social to some family and friends. These are the donations from the artists in my life.

My talented residential designer friend, Tamara Eckstein, is also a potter in her spare time. She started taking pottery classes when we were in Environmental Design together at the University of Manitoba over six years ago. She still spends her Saturdays in the pottery studio creating one-of-a-kind bowls, sculpture, plant pots and more. Tamara donated a gorgeous green and blue bowl and a bird sculpture to the silent auction for Ian. If you are interested in seeing more of Tamara's pottery or requesting a commission piece, please inquire through our email: jakecleo [dot] silver [at] gmail [dot] com.

A well-known Winnipeg musician/producer and DJ, Cyclist (aka my brother Mark), donated 3 CD's from each of his music projects. Under his DJ moniker Cyclist, Mark has released the single Prime Cut and the EP Double Dip. I've always been a fan and supporter of his music but I'm extra proud of him for this latest solo venture. Check out this video for Prime Cut, directed by Lena Franford and Troy Giesbrecht. If you're a 'pegger you may recognize some of the places/scenes from the video.

If you'd like to hear what Mark has been working on lately, check out his Cyclist SoundCloud profile. You can also find Cyclist on Twitter, facebook and myspace. Mark is also a founding member of the bands Moses Mayes and Lebeato.

I am surrounded by many creative people. My personal favourite is artist Jason Petroff (aka my life partner and bestest friend). His best work is hanging in our apartment or carefully hoarded for future use. However, Jason has boxes upon boxes of abstract paintings from when he attended the School of Art at the University of Manitoba. He has slowly started to add his artwork into his Etsy shop GeeDeeArt if you are interested in viewing/purchases his work. Jason is currently working on a commissioned triptych for Tamara and her husband.

BTW, the fundraising social on March was a great success! Over 300 people came to the social plus the funds they raised with beverage sales and the silent auction. Thank you to all of you that so generously offered your support. For those of you that would still like to contribute please visit www.teamsalkeld.com to find out how you can offer your support.

My small space series: upcycled, project one

2011-03-16T11:26:00.001-05:00

This is an easy, inexpensive project that will add a pop of colour to your walls. One of the limitations of living in a rented apartment is the lack of colour on the walls. Most of the rooms are a creamy white, also known as builder's beige...yuck. Our kitchen is stark white as in there was no pigment added to the paint whatsoever! The cabinets are beige. The floor is beige. The horizontal blinds are white. The counter top is beige and white. Not a very exciting colour palette.

Little by little we are adding colour to the kitchen. I found these foam mouldings at our local ReStore for $2 a piece and thought they would be perfect for shadow boxes on the wall. They were primed white but I primed them again just to make sure the paint would stick to the smooth surface. I took paint from existing liters that I already had for other projects (a chair and table makeover that will be revealed soon) to paint the mouldings with a burst of colour.

Painted in an intense orange and pea green the shadow boxes really pop off the white walls. They are a fun way of displaying some of our small things. The top cube houses an art piece by J's friend Mary, the middle cube showcases our sake cups and for now, the bottom holds our chopstick holders.

As I add more posts about our apartment you may notice that I like orange and green. I like to think that I am creating a cohesive palette for our small 500 sq ft apartment and not that I can't decorate with any other colours.

Do you have favourite colours that you always gravitate toward when decorating?

Jake: his life in pictures

2011-03-13T14:26:00.000-05:00

On March 3rd we had to say goodbye to Jake, our eldest cat and snuggle buddy. He was the best cat you could ever hope for and I am so fortunate to have had him with me through the majority of my adult life. You can read all about him in my post about The cats behind the name. Here is his life in pictures.

jake as a kitten.

I got Jake when I was newly single, living alone in an Osborne Village bachelor apartment. He was great company and would snuggle into my neck to sleep at night. We spent many hours playing 'catch' with his ghost (a dishrag tied around another balled up dishrag).

he was the sweetest thing

adolescence

We moved into an apartment in Corydon Village 6 months later with a friend of mine. He had a new kitten friend Charlie to explore and play with. When the window was open he would squeeze himself up between the outer and inner window panes. Crazy cat.

patiently posing

Four years later we were back on our own in a one bedroom apartment in the North End. His favourite afternoon spot was the sun room at the south end of the house. I was taking a photography course at the time and he patiently watched as I snapped photo after photo.

lounging on the futon in the sun room

Six months later we found new roommates to share a large apartment in Osborne Village. He still loved the sunniest place in the apartment...the living room window sill.

catching rays

We met Jason, fell in love and bought our first house together. A few months later we brought Midge home so Jake would have some company during the day while we were at work.

around 12 years old in our first house

We sold our first house and left Jake and Midge with my parents while we traveled for 10 months.


still a handsome fellow at age 14

Finally, back at home we all moved into our apartment and settled in. We were worried that after having a big house to explore the cats would be unhappy in our tiny one bedroom apartment. They both adjusted quickly and found that they still enjoyed snuggling together. We are so blessed to have had this last year with Jake.

Snuggles in the sun

Midge taking care of Jake on his last day with us.

We'll miss you Jake, baby, sweets, little buddy, Jacob, Jakey...

Help us get blitzed!

2011-03-05T18:20:00.002-06:00

The Oh Canada Team is getting blitzed this weekend...with treasuries of course. To help our team get noticed on Etsy I've made a few collections for you to admire, comment on and click!

I made this one first thing on Saturday morning...still half asleep with a kitty cat curled up on my lap. The drawing entitled "whispering" by pretty woman 101 was the inspiration.

Shhh, be very quiet.

I'm kind of a fan of green. The inspiration for this treasury was the Vanilla Lime Goats Milk and Honey bath and bar by bovine bubbles. The colour of the bar is amazing and reminded me that spring is near!

Buy local - the Canadian edition

A recent Etsy fashion guide highlighted Oscar trends that include one shoulder dresses, tassel earrings and other frilly things. Obviously the song "Do your ears hang low" came to mind. If you sang this song in your elementary school yard, you've probably also replaced the word 'ears' with 'boobs'. The last item in the treasury is an ode to that. The colour palette came from the gorgeous dress by Jillian Lanier.

Can you throw them o'er your shoulder?

Will you help us get on Etsy's front page? All you have to do is follow the links in the above treasury captions. We'd love to hear your comments too! If there is something in the treasury that catches your eye just click on the photo and you'll be taken to their shop.

Happy shopping :)

Sort of a Book Review

2011-03-04T09:00:00.005-06:00

I can't wait to read this book! And yes, without reading it, I'm suggesting that you should read it too! I pick up so much from daytime television, and today, Gillian Deacon was on one of my fave Canadian lifestyle shows, Steven and Chris . This is Deacon's second book, the first being Green For Life: 200 Simple Eco-Ideas For Every Day. She has also written for Chatelaine, Green Living, and Canadian House and Home magazines. I own her Green For Life book, and I might just read it again: it's practical, non-preachy, and yes, even a bit shocking.

Her new book contains do-it-yourself ways to reduce your exposure to harmful chemicals. After watching Gill and Chris mix up a few bathes on television today, there is no doubt that I will try a few myself.

To watch the show, follow this link and slide the time bar
Season 4 Episode 94 Approx 33min In

A generous spirit: Part One

2011-03-02T12:13:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago I was asked by a school friend to make a donation of jake + cleo silver to a fundraising social she was helping organize for Ian. Ian is a guy I've never met but I did go to the University of Manitoba with his girlfriend, Leanne, and his brother, Clayton.

Recently Ian was diagnosed with an inoperable Diffuse Pontine Glioma Tumor tangled in his brain stem. He is now undergoing intense treatments of chemo and radiation. Along with his family and friends, they have the hope and determination to beat this. He can do it!!

I reached out to the handmade community to see if I could gather more items for the silent auction. Immediately people from Etsy's Oh Canada Team responded with generous offers of their handmade goods. I love the generous spirit of this team.

Heather of Heather Lair Designs dropped off fabric postcards and bookmarks that are so colourful and each one is a work of art! The fleece mitts are so soft and beautifully crafted. You can see more of her work on her website and connect with her on facebook.

Joannie from Joanniel Creations sent this gorgeous pair of silver plated earrings. I'm still not sure how she bent the post and strung the beads on these earrings. You can see more creations on her website, read her blog and connect with her via facebook.

Norma from Junquete's 5 & 10 Variety stuffed as many pairs of earrings that would fit into an envelope and mailed off her donation! The photos above are only 2 out of about 15 pairs of earrings.

Marijana from The Silver Bobbin sent 5 of the reusable sandwich and snack sets that she sews with much care. I love her fabric selections! I mentioned that the social crowd would be made up of many designer and architect types and these graphic prints will be perfect.

Thank you so much teammies! Your generosity is amazing.

Stay tuned for Part Two...more donations!

My small space series: ongoing projects

2011-03-01T09:00:00.003-06:00

Here's what we've been working on to make our small dingy apartment feel more like a home.

A donated table from J's parents' house will become a brightly coloured side table in our living room. I love the clean lines of this small table. The drawers will be a perfect home for stray remote controls and for hiding my secret chocolate stash (sshhh!). The pulls are simple but we're not sure if we should replace them with another style. What do you think? The table is already sanded and primed so please don't say 'keep the wood'.

A couple of cheap finds at Habitat for Humanity's Restore will become shadow boxes and black boards to hang in our kitchen. We've primed wood cabinet doors so that we can paint the middle with chalkboard paint. The outer frame of the doors and the 'shadow boxes' will be painted fun colours to add some much needed energy into our bland beige/white kitchen. The chalkboard panels will be hung in front of the ugly breaker box above our range.

Stay tuned to see the results!

A cold winter day

2011-02-25T09:21:00.000-06:00

A cold winter day in Winnipeg means I play the game "Last year, at this time". Last year at this time I was traveling with J in Vietnam. It was so warm. We'd been in warm, humid temperatures for so many months that I think I might have been complaining about it.

I'm not sure how I'll survive next winter. Perhaps I'll have to change the game to "2 years ago, at this time". Or move.

Feature of a Feature Wall

2011-02-23T10:53:00.000-06:00

Two important principles of design are emphasis and proportion: principles help to guide elements of design such as line, form, and colour. Architecture, web design, interior design, jewelry design...good designers and good designs are mindful of balance and proportion.

The above image is a focal wall in my home: a bold example of proportion, line, colour, emphasis and thorough planning.

I sketched this wall to scale, using graph paper and pencil crayons, six times before I accomplished my desired look. I live in a new, open concept home. High ceilings, angles, and short walls are the architectural details that make my home more than just a square box. But these details still require a bit help to delineate the space while still making it flow (and unify)

What makes this wall work?

Number one - the colours on this wall are the colours used in neighbouring rooms. The white on the barcoded wall is the main colour in the house (white is a wonderful and clean background for the other bold colours). By using white in the feature, your eye carries on: there isn't an abrupt halt at the feature wall. The peanut colour is used in a cantilever to the left of the wall, and the green and red are in the neighbouring kitchen.

Number two - even though there are five colours, and various widths of stripes, the wall isn't cluttered. The bottom stripe is scaled not only to the height of the wall, but to the height of the stools: the stool is encased within the bottom stripe, avoiding visual clutter. Also, the top stripe is straight, rather than following the slope of the ceiling: the angle is treated in the important yet inconspicuous white.

February Long

2011-02-21T10:09:00.000-06:00

We're having a holiday Monday today in Manitoba in honour of Louis Riel.

So in lieu of writing a post this morning I'm sending you over to Design*Sponge to read a wonderfully written & extensive guide to Winnipeg.

One of our biggest blog supporters, talented upcycler of furniture (she did Corina's dresser) and copy writer by day, Lenore Hume of Lather Creations wrote it. Amazingly she's only lived in Winnipeg for the last three years yet she nailed it. Plus jake + cleo and emmsgEM's got a mention!

If you are in Manitoba we hope you enjoy your extended weekend. Make sure to get some maple syrup and snow at the Festival du Voyageur!

We took the plunge

2011-02-18T09:00:00.001-06:00

and...bought a kiln. Whoa. The kiln hasn't actually arrived yet and the charge is still sitting on my visa so saying it out loud makes it...kinda real.

Here she is! Ain't she a beaut? We chose the Paragon SC2 because it is "especially designed for the studio jeweler". That's us! With this new piece of equipment we will be able to grow our silver clay jewelry line to include more rings, larger pendants and even hollow pieces. Our creative process is no longer restricted to the limitations of a butane torch.

bronze clay hollow whistle by Donna Penoyer

[image via]

Just think of all the possibilities...our jewelry designs can now include co-fired silver clay & gemstones, adding colour with enamel, co-fired sterling and silver clay, and adding glass to our silver clay creations.


enameled silver clay earrings by Vickie Hallmark

[image via]

Some of the handy features of this kiln include the ability to stack 2 shelves for a larger quantity of clay pieces being fired simultaneously, a digital thermometer and timer, and it plugs into a regular household outlet. Firing silver clay in a kiln versus by a torch gives us more control over the temperature and sintering of the silver resulting in a stronger finished piece. Boring to you perhaps, but unbelievably exciting for us!

Sharing some love

2011-02-16T10:25:00.000-06:00

I loved this Woodland Vegan Woodland Gypsy Scarf by co-Oh Canada Team member, The Art of Zen...Crochet so much that I was willing to duke it out (cyber duking) with another team member to get it. Luckily, Chriss had enough material to create two...one for each of us. Peace is restored on the Oh Canada team :) Here is another version of the scarf if you must have it too!

I've admired Pegg's work, found in her Five Forty Etsy shop, since seeing one of her handwoven rag rugs in front of Em's kitchen sink. The colours in this upcycled merino wool rug are a gorgeous earthy palette. Funnily enough, the description that Pegg wrote in her Etsy listing includes those exact words! I love it when a work of art speaks to me so clearly.

I recently 'met' Marijana from The Silver Bobbin when she answered my request for donations on the Oh Canada Team Forum. She has offered 5 sets of the reusable sandwich and snack bags (in various patterns) for the silent auction fundraiser. Her generosity is much appreciated, as are the donations from other Oh Canada Team members. I'll highlight all donations in another post once they all arrive.

The proceeds of this fund raising will go to support Ian, who is battling an inoperable brain tumour. I attended design school at the U of M with Ian's girlfriend, Leanne and his brother, Clayton. So while I do not know Ian personally, I know people connected to him. It is important for me to help raise this money because I know first hand what it is to support someone you love battle cancer. To learn more about Ian's story, please visit the website his family and friends have set up: www.teamsalkeld.com. Please let me know via email, at jakecleo [dot] silver [dot] com, if you would be interested in providing items for the auction. I am collecting donations until March 1st.

Spread the love.

The mysteries of Etsy

2011-02-15T09:00:00.001-06:00

We have our 2nd sale through Etsy.

Rosemary License Plate

Let's just say it's a good thing jake + cleo haven't relied on this online market place to sell our silver jewelry! It took 4 months of listing products on Etsy, promoting ourselves through Facebook, Twitter and this blog, linking back to our shop, renewing listings, making a treasury or 2 (deep breath)...to make our first sale.

I must say that since Christmas we've been less stringent on our listing renewals and general social media promotion to what end? Our second sale only a month after the first. I just can't figure it out. Do everything Etsy tells you is necessary to get views and sales in your shop and get no sales. Do less of what Etsy tells you to do and make 2 sales. Huh.

I thinks some serious reflection and analysis is needed to figure this out. What are we now doing right? And how do we keep the sales coming!!

Closing Shop

2011-02-11T09:00:00.003-06:00

It is with a heavy heart that we have to tell you this news. The Mozy Rue Eco Collective is closing the storefront at 531 Osborne St as of February 20th. The shop had a great holiday selling season in December but it wasn't enough to keep us all in business. Some members had a difficult time covering their rent payments from their sales some months and others didn't have enough time to commit to the project.

Setting up shop in July 2009

When Jody of Mozy Rue planned the opening of the eco collective this past summer, she envisioned 10 partners in this venture. At the peak of our membership we only had 7 members, which meant that the profit from consignment sales were just barely covering the balance of the rent.

Shop full during jake + cleo launch, Sept 30th

There was some talk of moving to a more foot-traffic-friendly neighbourhood like the Exchange District but, of course, that means even more rent to cover. For now, the collective will stay in touch with each other and arrange for pop-up shops during events and festivals. We'll keep you informed on where and when you can find us this summer.

All emmsgEM's are 20% off

On SALE - Mozy Rue Skateboard belt buckle

Several of the collective members are having sales in their sections in the shop to clear stock before closing the doors. All consignment goods are 20% off, emmsgems is 20% off, jake + cleo has select items at 20% off, Mozy Rue has marked down goods from 20-50% off and Kelly Ruth has select 'wearables' marked down.

Kelly Ruth's Wearable headband 20% off

We'd love to see you at the shop before Feb 20th so we can go out with a bang!

P.S. Many of us have Etsy shops, are sold in other Winnipeg shops and/or frequent the craft sale/festival scene so we won't be disappearing! Watch this space and the Eco Collective's blog for upcoming dates and events.

What's your slogan?

2011-02-09T09:00:00.012-06:00

I found this fun website that makes slogans via Twitter. Just type in a word or phrase into the box and it spits out a slogan! I thought the one above was perfect for jake + cleo's Valentine's Day marketing.

Well it's true!

You can wear jake + cleo fine silver jewelry anywhere...all the time!

Is there a better way?

You'll turn heads wearing our ecofriendly, modern, silver jewerly :)

This site can be addicting. You've been warned!

My small space series: a new dresser

2011-02-07T09:00:00.047-06:00

In October 2010 my partner J and I moved into our small one bedroom apartment. We had limited furniture since we'd spend the previous five months living at my parents' place and the 10 months previous to that, we'd been traveling. A few precious items were put into storage or 'stored' in our friends' and family's spaces.

Luckily J's Dad is an amazing wood worker and had started on a tall dresser before we left. We came home to a gorgeous solid maple highboy to use in our bedroom. We fit most of our folded clothes into that dresser but there were still 2 storage totes worth that had no home. Finding ourselves getting more and more annoyed at having to open lids, unstack and restack the totes to sort through our sweaters and long johns, we decided that another dresser was a necessity.

Enter Lenore Hume from Lather Creations. I found Lenore via Twitter. I don't remember how I started to follow her but Twitter led me to her blog Lather. Write. Repeat. After a couple of months of exchanging tweets, reading and commenting on each other's blogs I read a post about some items Lenore had pulled out of her cousin's garage. The small dresser was perfect for the space we had in our bedroom and just big enough to fit the clothes left in our totes.

Once I confirmed with Lenore that the dresser was still available J and I began the hunt for the perfect paint colour. At first I thought I wanted something bright and fun but then remembered what Lenore had written about the piece. The dresser is made of good quality solid maple so we selected a colour that would endure future bedding patterns not just the trendy orange and brown one we currently use.

With the colour chosen we knew that we didn't want to match the knobs to the highboy's hardware. The satin pewter would not have been attractive with the khaki grey of the small dresser. Lenore suggested some white knobs that she had picked up at Anthropologie and we loved them. The knobs add a pop of white and whimsy with the black graphics, "pull", "open", "discover" and the face of a timepiece.

We took the opportunity of moving and shifting things in our bedroom to make room for the dresser to add other items to the decor. To balance the height of the highboy, we placed my Dad's photograph of a cobblestone street in Europe above the dresser. We had to keep the chair in the room as there is no place in the rest of the apartment for our cat Midge's favourite "scratching post". We've draped the chair with a tapestry that we purchased from a weaver during our travels in Peru for the photo only. It's a bit too precious to us to have our cats use it as a blanket. The tall black and white object in the photo is an old door from Habitat's Restore that I modge podged my photos of doors from Winnipeg's Exchange District. I like the placement of the door because it is visible from all the way down the hall.

When I look at the after photo I feel like something is still missing. It lacks colour. Unfortunately because we live in an apartment I can't paint the walls...but I will be on the look out for a colourful object to place on the dresser...maybe add some art above the chair. I like to change things around a lot so I'm sure this wall will evolve over time.

Custom silver: for Carla

2011-02-04T09:00:00.013-06:00

My sister-in-law, Karla, has been living in Vancouver for about 7 months with my brother and their girls. It's ~~probably~~ temporary, but it's been long enough that she has missed at least one very important event back at home. The birth of beautiful twins to her dear friend, Carla. She was so excited to come home during Christmas holidays to meet the twins. I think it was the first stop they made after landing in Winnipeg!

jake + cleo were asked to create a special gift for Carla for a milestone birthday, a necklace that would represent the 5 kids in her life. YUP! Having twins plus 3 existing children equals 5. Five amazing kids to love and nurture.

I talked over a couple of design ideas with Em and then sketched a few options for Karla to see. She liked them all! Of course. But we narrowed it down to the rosemary silver medallion and the silver nuggets. After some emails back and forth she made her decision...DO THE NUGGETS!

I made 7 nuggets in all. The larger 2 nuggets strung along the chain with 5 smaller nuggets stacked on the pendant. Each silver nugget unique in it's shape representing the individuals of this family. Two parents that have come together to create a loving family unit.

This necklace is unlike any of the pieces we've made before. It's been a fabulous learning experience for me as a new jewelry designer. Em taught me how to make loops with silver wire so we could add the nuggets to the chain. I forgot one of the little guys at home on my desk so I had to take this lesson and apply it to the pendant making. I did that all by myself :)

It feels amazing to grow, to be challenged and to be entrusted to create such a meaningful gift.

Risk or Opportunity

2011-02-02T10:00:00.008-06:00

Sometimes you don't need a specific font to tell your story, or sell your brand. Like many before it, Starbucks, the coffee giant, is going to drop the text from their logo.

Starbucks is going to drop their name, and focus on their logo

I'm not a coffee connoisseur, but the logo on it's own doesn't work for me. What does the mermaid lady have to do with coffee? Is she not selling hair products? Change isn't always a good thing, just ask The Gap. They took their look from modern and stylish, to cheap underwear. Luckily, the change didn't last long - it didn't even get out the United States.

Or how about Tropicana: the winds of change were not in their court. Pepsi Co, owners of Tropicana discovered that it was not wise to adjust the visual mix.

Not all logo changes are bad for business. Just ask Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola, Ford or Kodak. Change the logo, alter the colours, and for some companies, ADD some text!

For more successful corporate logo changes, look here

What's in a Letter?

2011-01-28T09:36:00.001-06:00

I don't know about you, but fonts have always been a big part of my life. Okay, well maybe since the dawn of the personal computer. When I needed to stretch the page count on a school assignment, I didn't think harder, or research more. Rather I fooled around with the font: typeface, bold, italic, point size. Only once was I asked to stick with Times New Roman (the professor got a headache while reading my essay in some random font). We are surrounded by carefully selected fonts - as stand alone words or as part of logos.

But what I never attempted with my academic font parade was what fonts are often designed to do: tell a story. Maybe if I had created a mood, or set the stage with a blackletter or more historical appearing font, I would have done better on those essays. The right font can help to define a brand, provide memorable and positive association with the words or a product. And if that isn't powerful enough, an ugly font may help you learn.

What if jake + cleo had selected a different font? Instead of being uncluttered and modern with a hint of whimsy, jake + cleo could have been traditional and goth with a hint of adolescence.

But beware of the wrong font. Not only can it send out the wrong message it can sometimes read as a completely different word. Again, sorry moms .

Think that you know everything about fonts? Can you recognize a font?

Test Your Knowledge on this Website

Blog Crawl: Oh Canada!

2011-01-26T09:00:00.013-06:00

jake + cleo is part of the Oh Canada Team on Etsy. It's been fun getting to know the creatives behind the shops on the team's forum. The team has a blog which highlights team members in Friday Finds and fosters friendly competitions with treasury challenges.

In order to learn more about the women I spend time chatting with on the Etsy forum and oogling the beautiful products in their shops, I decided to visit a few of their blogs.

A life designed by RJ is written by RJ, the woman behind the Esty shop RJcharms. You may notice if you try to visit her shop that she is on maternity leave. She's having her baby this week! The blog focuses on the renovations of her home (getting ready for baby, etc.), gardening (in the summer) and some yummy looking recipes.

bstudiodesigns is written by Brenda, the woman behind the Etsy shop bstudio, an interior designer with a passion for silk. She creates jewelry, cards, sachets and pillows using silk ribbon and silk ribbon embroidery. The blog focuses on the development of her Etsy shop with a personal post added in once in a while.

The Art Of Zen...Crochet is written by Chriss, the woman behind the Etsy shop of the same name, The Art of Zen...Crochet. Chriss uses eco-friendly yarns to create crocheted hats, scarves, fingerless gloves, hemp produce bags, and more. The blog focuses on how she is making changes in her life to be more environmentally responsible.

My Everything Corner is written by Andrea, the woman behind the Etsy shops Blue Jeans Jewelry and The Crafty Bug. Andrea offers vintage jewelry and handmade jewelry with reused vintage pieces, stones and beads in one shop and stationery in the other. The blog is a nice balance of her personal experiences as a craft loving mom of 2 and her Etsy businesses.

I hope you've enjoyed getting to know some of our Oh Canada team mates...perhaps you'll add a blog or two to your reading list too.

Grand Opening Event

2011-01-24T10:34:00.000-06:00

Deborah Wasny from Savoir Faire has invited us to be part of her shop's Grand Opening. As one of the jewelry designers featured in Savoir Faire we are pleased to participate in this event. A recent article in The Herald has helped to promote Savoir Faire and the shop is gaining momentum and visibility in the community. Now that Deborah has dropped 5000 postcards in the mail, more interest in the shop and the Grand Opening will be generated. It's fantastic to see a new local business gain recognition and be supported by Winnipeggers.

Please join us! Bring in a copy of this postcard and receive 20% off jake + cleo + other beautiful products. Come meet the artisans at an Open House on Thursday, January 27th from 4-8 PM. jake + cleo will be there with additional stock and we'd love to meet you!

2011 Paint Colours

2011-01-21T09:00:00.002-06:00

In a previous post, we introduced you to Pantone's Colour For 2011 - Honeysuckle - a vibrant, and rich pink hue. But you may feel that such a saturated and bright hue isn't quite right for your walls - but never fear, we can still help you stay current and on-trend! Introducing, the 2011 Paint Colour Trends, or at least a small sampling of them.

Hague Blue from Farrow and Ball

Image from Odi et Amo blog

We poured over decorating and design magazines, clicked away on our laptops, and selected these colours for you. We were happy to see that Honeysuckle IS hot for walls (and not just for your Visa card), and provides a striking contrast with white (yes, white...say goodbye to taupe!)

Royal Flush by Benjamin Moore

The hues are bold - dark - saturated - slightly muddy - cool - and even a bit fun (lime green, hot pink, teal).

Night Shade by Valspar

So what colours didn't we see in our research? Red, chocolate, orange (sorry C.), taupe (whew.), charcoal, or turquoise. We also didn't see black as a colour trend, but we did see black as a trim and accent colour in related articles.

Wasabi and Vintage Wine by Benjamin Moore

If you don't want to commit to a whole wall of Wasabi (or similar fun hues), keep in mind that any surface is paintable (with proper preparation). You can paint a feature/accent wall (just don't sponge paint it!), or highlight a piece of furniture.

Amulet and Wasabi by Benjamin Moore

Genesis White on trim - Smoke on walls

Have fun!

Thursday's Treasures

2011-01-20T09:00:00.006-06:00

Each month we will be participating in the Oh Canada Team treasury challenge.

Darkride, the winner of the last challenge, selected her purple chained bohemian necklace as the item from their shop to use as the starting point of this month's challenge. At the end of a 2 week period the treasuries are voted on and the winner is selected. It's great exposure to be the winner since the next month your item will be in several treasuries. We always see an increase in views to our shop and to the specific items in the treasuries. Hopefully...eventually...increased views will mean increased sales in our Etsy shop!

What do you think of our purple and peridot collection?

Valentine Collection 2011

2011-01-19T12:00:00.001-06:00

Valentine's Day is quickly approaching! Yay! Another excuse to eat candy and chocolate! Cinnamon hearts, candy hearts, heart-shaped chocolates, red foil wrapped Hershey kisses...oooh, and red and white jelly beans!

We have another reason to celebrate. From now until V-day we are offering 25% off any pair of jake + cleo earrings when you purchase a necklace. If you make the purchase through our Etsy shop we will refund the 25% off the earrings via Paypal once we receive your order. This offer will also be honoured at the Mozy Rue Eco Collective in Winnipeg.

Now's the time to start dropping hints to your sweetheart ;p

2011 Olympics?

2011-01-18T11:13:00.001-06:00

Vancouver hosted the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and the Summer Games aren't being held in London until 2012...so what are the 2011 Olympics?

Rikrak Studio is hosting the 2011 Handmade Olympics: "where the handmade world comes together to celebrate making things"!

This is your chance to show off your creations, nominate other creative people and win some prizes. You can enter various events in several ways. It's a great way to show the handmade world your creativity plus get your shop and your favourite shops noticed by the well-known judges.

jake + cleo are a proud sponsor of the 2011 Handmade Olympics Event #3 : our favourite eco friendly handmade goodie.

There are over $2000 worth of amazing prizes to be won! Enter as many events as you like to increase your chances to win.

Happy Monday!

2011-01-17T10:33:00.001-06:00

We love this song and video "Getcha good" by Jenn Grant! It's Canadian. It's fun. It's colourful! Perfect to chase away the Monday morning blues.

Notice Jenn's paw print mittens and cute boots...all she's missing is a pair of jake + cleo Dimples earrings...she's that cute!

feel better?

The making of an ad

2011-01-14T11:18:00.000-06:00

For the months of November and December we had an ad on the rikrak studio blog. The ad brought more traffic to our Etsy page, especially during her "I love my sponsors" contests. It's great exposure for our budding handmade business as the blog appeals to a wide audience not just other handmade business people.

Recently, rikrak put out a call for entries to be sponsors of the 2011 Handmade Olympics. We've agreed to provide a $50 gift certificate as part of the Olympic prize packs. If the 2010 prizes are any indication, these games will be worth playing! Since jake + cleo will be featured as a sponsor we had to provide an ad button and one sentence that sums up what we do.

jake + cleo is handmade, eco-friendly and modern fine silver jewellery, merging clean lines and whimsy, organization and free-thinking, squares and circles.

When we don't want to ask another favour of our graphic designer friend, Colette, we turn to this site, Picnik.com to design ads. It is so easy to use! Em has a one year membership which gives us access to the premium features but you can upload and edit photos for free too.

Here's what you do:
1. Go to the site, Picnik.com
2. Sign in or register
3. Upload photos

We uploaded these images:

4. Edit your photo: If you haven't already done this before uploading, you can still crop your photo or adjust the image. We cropped the above photo to a square as that is what rikrak requested.

5. Create: This is where you can add text, add a frame or add some special effects. For the simplicity we desired in our small ad we selected rounded corners and a frame, which we also rounded. For text we used our jake + cleo logo in jpeg format by dragging it from our uploaded photos in the photo basket at the bottom of the screen. We had to drag the corners of the image to change the size of the image. By selecting multiply in the photo properties menu the logo background of white disappears and blends into the photo of the heart and necklace.

optional 2nd image with border

6. Save: Once you have the effects and frames you want just move on to the save & share tab to save the image to your computer. This is where we changed the file name, adjusted the image size to the 150 x 150 format that rikrak specified and saved the image.

We used Picnik to create this grouping for this post

7. Have fun and experiment with all your photos! We like to tweek some of our photos used in this blog to add interest and whimsy.

What do you think? Will our sponsor ad be eye-catching enough to draw people to our etsy shop?

Art For All

2011-01-13T10:33:00.002-06:00

Art, according to Wikipedia is "...the product or process of deliberately arranging symbolic elements in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, photography, sculpture, and paintings."

Some of us grew up with the idea that "art" is the painting hanging on the wall, and when you purchase it, you are making an investment. The person that created such "art" did so to create or evoke emotions.

But this post isn't about the philosophy of art, the life of the artist, or what "is" art. This post is to tell you that you can buy art on-line, on great sites like Etsy . And for simplicity, this post is going to limit "art" to the one dimensional piece.

Original Watercolour and Ink Drawing by Jessica Doyle

There are two kinds of "art" that you can purchase: original or print. An original is just that - it is the piece that the artist created, the paper (or other paintable surface) that the person worked on. A print is a copy of the original. Sometimes the artist may limit the number of prints created. In my viewing experience, artists most often use top quality paper and ink to create their prints, which means you can enjoy all of the depths and layers that are on the original piece, and it will last for years.

Fine Art Print by budanART

Originals and prints are available in all sizes, matted or not. When we think of sizes, we often limit our thoughts to the standard frame sizes available at the local shopping mall: 4x6, 5x5, 5x7, 8x10 etc. But there is a new size that makes collecting art, or introducing art into your life (or someone else's) even easier. The ACEO - Art Card, Editions and Originals are the size of a modern sports card: 2.5" x 3.5". The artists featured in this post all offer ACEO's in addition to their pieces that fit common frame sizes.

ACEO Original by emmarts

ACEO's will fit in standard card collector pockets - collect 'em or trade 'em (but please don't put them in your bicycle wheel spokes). Frame them in a standard size frame, creating instant gallery style for your wall (large mat, small feature). Or like Em, leave them out on a wall shelf, dispersed with the knick knacks.

If you take anyway anything from this piece, let it be this: art doesn't have to be expensive, and you don't have to limit it to a big piece that you hang over the back of your couch.

The collective

2011-01-12T09:00:00.091-06:00

jake + cleo have been a member of the Mozy Rue Eco Collective since our launch party in September.

MREC is located in Winnipeg at 531 Osborne Street South (near Morley Avenue). We are currently 7 members strong and hope to grow that number over the next few months. All of the eco-conscious goods sold in the shop are handmade right here in Winnipeg and the surrounding areas. There are so many talented artists, crafters and designers in Manitoba and you'll find many of them in our shop! The members of the collective are Mozy Rue, Everything is Ticketyboo, emmsgEM's, jake + cleo, dconstruct, Kelly Ruth and As Nature Intended Skin Care.

dconstruct resin wrist cuffs

You'll also find handmade products by Outcast Concrete, Periwinkle Dzyns, Just the Goods, Lennard Taylor, Voila, Peggy Cole, Tijit, Dandee, Velvet Vixen, Marathon1981, Dizzy Dame, Shiver Soaps, Dallas Jasper, and many more!

handmade by marathon1981

The Mozy Rue Eco Collective now has a facebook page and we'd love it if you 'liked' us! If you have purchased any items from the shop be sure to add a photo to the fan photo album. We'd love to hear from you! When you hit the like button you'll receive updates in your facebook news feed about our upcoming events and activities, new arrivals and collective news.

Thanks for your support!

Baby it's cold outside

2011-01-11T09:00:00.002-06:00

The Red River is not far from my place in St. Boniface, Winnipeg. Having moved into the area just this past October I haven't had much time to explore my new hood. Craft sale season and Christmas have kept me inside and too stuffed full of food to move. I've made a resolution to change that! In the face of winter, I sneer and say, "Ah hah! You can't keep me inside any longer!"

It was a sunny day and perfect for my winter walk initiation. Following the river bank I stopped to take photos of my favourite bridge and some hoarfrost on the bushes. When I finally arrived at Whitter Park I noticed the ice climbers on the man-made ice peak. Sheesh. I thought I was hard core just being outside for an hour and a half!

That's the thing about us Winnipeggers...or cold climate Canadians in general...we're a tough bunch!

A Valentine sneak peak!

2011-01-10T09:01:00.001-06:00

We have a few more pieces to polish before we fully launch our Valentine 2011 collection, but we are too excited to keep this piece underwraps!

We will be offering this pendant as shown in the photos or with a faceted pearl accent. Both options will soon be available in our etsy shop.

Organize!

2011-01-07T09:00:00.004-06:00

Are you like us, and find yourself itching to organize? It is the beginning of a new year: a great time to resolve and organize! Or are you like Em and find that you have SO much jewelry that you need a better way to sort through it? You do want to look good in 2011, right?

Necklace hanger from sarahlizzytish on Etsy

Jewelry organizer by bluebirdheaven on Etsy

And what about scarves? Or socks? Stashes of fabric? Magazines? Enough about our needs, do you need organizing assistance? Check out these fabric bins that can sit on the floor or a shelf. Add a punch of colour with fabric or go for some rustic flair with burlap.

Fabric organizer bin by baffinbags on Etsy

Burlap and fabric organizer bucket by happygirlzdesigns* on Etsy

And for your special jake + cleo treasures, how about a special jewelry box?

Wooden jewelry box by thebubblelounge on Etsy

Happy organizing!

*Happygirlzdesigns would like to offer a 10% discount to any of our U.S. readers who purchase any of their Burlap storage buckets! A refund will be sent through Paypal after purchase. To get the discount, type: "Happy Girlz 2011" in the Message to the Seller, when you check out.

Custom silver: for Danielle

2011-01-06T09:00:00.125-06:00

There is nothing more satisfying as jewelry designers than designing for a specific person in mind. Just before Christmas we had the opportunity to do just that!

We had the chance to meet the recipient of our custom made piece during Mozy Rue Eco Collective's "get STUFFed" event. We'd been Twitter pals for a few months so it was fun to meet the person behind the 140 character blurbs of @Bistrogal725, Danielle. Danielle picked up a gift for someone that night but Corina noticed that she had also been eyeing our silver earrings.

modern Dill earrings

Seizing an unique opportunity, a hint via twitter was sent to Danielle's husband, @ChefAlex. Alexander came into the Eco Collective shortly after and not only purchased the modern Dill earrings but asked if something could be made for especially for Danielle. He liked the rectangular shape of our Green like Grass pendant but wanted something bigger...so that's where we started.

our design process

Here is the resulting piece of jake + cleo silver:

custom design for Danielle

We are so excited to have our jewelry appreciated by such a vivacious woman like Danielle! She loves her one-of-a-kind piece and wears it often to their Osborne Street restaurant, Bistro 7 1/4.

This was such a rewarding experience and we are looking forward to making more custom pieces in the future.

Twenty eleven for jake + cleo

2011-01-05T12:00:00.021-06:00

As a new business the arrival of a new year brings many questions, much anticipation and an overwhelming desire to make this year better than the last.

How can we make jake + cleo thrive in 2011? How will our eco-friendly jewelry design evolve? How can we better ourselves as jewelry designers and as small business owners.

We are looking forward to expanding our networking circle through engaging people through our blog, facebook and twitter. Meeting artisans and designers who are excited to be apart of the handmade community was inspiring and we want more! Expanding our wholesale business to include more locations in Winnipeg and across Canada will be integral to our growth.

There is so much to think about, act on and improve! Thanks for being part of the journey as we design, live and evolve as jake + cleo.

What are some of your goals for 2011?

We're having a sale!

2010-12-17T13:56:00.000-06:00

Please join us for an afternoon/evening of last minute shopping and mingling.

This Sunday, December 19th, we are having an open house at the Mozy Rue Eco Collective from 3-7 PM and would love to see you there. We are offering a 20% off jake + cleo jewelry sale to those of you that attend the event.

This is a great opportunity for us to clear out our inventory so that we can create new designs for our Spring 2011 collection! This is a great opportunity for you to buy jake + cleo fine silver for a reduced price. Remember that jake + cleo not only makes a great gift but our silver will add sparkle to your New Year's Eve outfit too!

Mozy Rue Eco Collective
531 Osborne St (@ Morley)
Winnipeg, MB

1st Wholesale Order

2010-12-14T12:00:00.067-06:00

Groovy circles - Now available at Savoir Faire

Some leg work has resulted in our first wholesale order! Whoohoo! We met Deborah of Savoir Faire at the Bling: Fashion and Accessory Show this past November. A follow-up email was sent but it kept coming back as not delivered. So, last week when Corina was at her parents' place doing laundry (embarrassing, but true), she decided to pop across the bridge and visit Savoir Faire in person. As a result, we sold 9 pieces of jake + cleo fine and sterling jewelry!

Groovy Square Necklace - Now available at Savoir Faire

SOLD!

Deborah ordered 4 pairs of earrings and 4 necklaces at first but a customer, wandering through the shop, snatched up a pair of earrings while the receipt was being written up. "You might as well add another pair to the order, Corina", said Deborah.

modern Sunrays - Now available at Savoir Faire

Please stop by Savoir Faire at 241 Henderson Hwy and support this new, local business that in turn supports handmade artisans like jake + cleo. Deborah has a wonderful assortment of home, garden and fashion accessories by Canadian artists.

get STUFFed

2010-12-13T12:00:00.003-06:00

Mozy Rue Eco Collective is having a friends and family open house on Sunday, December 19th from 3-7PM. Just in time for all your last minute jake + cleo gifts and stocking stuffers. You'll have a chance to meet the members of the collective, as well as, other artisans featured in the shop.

Consider yourself invited! Please join us for treats and tunes...and more...

The collective would also like you to bring in warm socks and waterproof gloves or mittens for donating to the Agape Table. We are accepting donations from now until the 19th of December. For each pair donated you will earn an entry to a draw for a handmade sock monkey courtesy of "Everything is Ticketyboo"!

THE Colour For 2011

2010-12-10T21:11:00.001-06:00

'Tis the season, for Pantone (the colour gurus) to announce THE colour for 2011. Are you ready? This bright hue joins Peapod, Beeswax, Blue Curaco and Lavender for the top colours in Women's Fahsion for the coming year. But of all the top colours, this one is for walls, fashion and accessories:

HONEYSUCKLE is bold. Energizing, attention-getting, encouraging, uplifting...that is the reddish pink hue that is honeysuckle. Paint a room (well, maybe not the entire room), drop down some accent pillows, try it in your wardrobe, or dangle it from your ears!

If you think that a piece of clothing in Honeysuckle is too much, you can still have a hit of it somewhere in your day. Check out these finds from Etsy:

Jenni20 Eastern Sky Boutique Karma

When you are shopping for decor, fashion and gifts in this bold hue, you will be able to use your new Pantone Visa card in Honeysuckle! How's that for exciting?

Will you be adding some Honeysuckle to your life in 2011?

Spread the word!

2010-12-09T10:29:00.000-06:00

The hardest part about starting our new eco-friendly, handmade business, especially with a product like jewelry where the market is very competitive, has been getting the jake + cleo name recognized and remembered.

For the months of November and December we advertised on the rikrak studio, a popular blog in the handmade community. Each month she features blog sponsors in a giveaway for a $25 shopping spree. There are many ways to enter so please stop by and find out how you can win the I love my sponsors giveaway. The giveaways and the ad we've placed have increased our views in our Etsy shop but, as of today, have not lead to an online sale.

treasury by clonehardware

We spend many hours on Etsy, tweaking our listings, understanding Etsy SEO, renewing and adding new listings, participating on the Oh Canada Team forum and participating in the Winnipeg Esty Street Team events. At times it feels like these efforts are futile as we have not had a sale on Etsy yet. However, jake + cleo has been in some beautiful treasuries lately, which is a great way to attract new potential customers. If you are an Etsy member please follow the links below the treasuries and leave a comment. If not, consider joining or just enjoy the themes and colour coordination of the treasuries.

treasury by CarlaDyck

As a business owner, how do you increase awareness of your product/business? What has been a successful tool for you? As a customer, how can we stand out to you?

Craft Sale Wrap Up

2010-12-07T12:32:00.000-06:00

The craft sale season of 2010 has drawn to a close for jake + cleo. This past Sunday evening, we lugged our suitcase through the snow for the last time. We set up our eco silver jewelry for the last time in 2010, counted our change, and stacked up our organic cotton gift bags that come with a purchase.

In the studio

We were loaded and ready for the onslaught of TAYGS craft sale shoppers. Not wanting to run out of product, and wanting to make sure that we had something special for this *new* shopper, we spent hours (and hours) making new silver: modern earrings, medallion necklaces, "chat" necklaces and earrings. To help us sell and best serve the swarm of potential buyers, we enlisted the help of Jay. All of the bases were covered.

"I can haz necklace chain"

And in the end, our final sale was a disappointment. We didn't need Jay (but enjoyed his company), and we certainly didn't need extra stock. The amount of people combing the aisles was enough, but it wasn't the expected mob. From what we heard from other crafters, the people weren't spending their money. jake + cleo weren't the only brand that spent hours in the studio in anticipation of big sales.

Our display mock up

Luckily, j + c can carry excess stock, and sell it in the new year, but for some, the excess stock may be a waste. Popular local skin care line Just the Goods, a line of affordable and preservative free body products, has cases of extra product left.*

*you can purchase Just the Goods at the Mozy Rue Eco-Collective in Winnipeg

Blog Crawl: the 'peg

2010-12-06T13:12:00.001-06:00

Well, we are zonked. Last night was our last scheduled craft show of the season (more on how that went later). So, today we hope you will enjoy some blogs of other designer/crafty types in our first ever Blog Crawl. Following our passion for buying local and handmade, today we will feature Winnipeg bloggers!

[ image via tijit ]

Can you tijit? - Tijit just put some screenprinted pieces in at Mozy Rue so we checked out their blog - hilarious, moving, honest.

Everything is Ticketyboo - zenbecca...one of our favourite Winnipeg peeps is a blogging/social media machine. She maintains this blog as well as a food blog, the blog for Mozy Rue, plus she writes for Try Handmade.

Freckled Nest - a Winnipeg blogger/crafter/designer success story. Follow along as Leigh-Ann expands her business and opens a new office.

[ image via Lather. Write. Repeat ]

Lather. Write. Repeat. - Lenore is a furniture upcycler with a great eye for form and colour. Check out her blog for P.I.Y. tips, her furniture makeovers, inspiration and sometimes even yummy recipes.

[ image via Marathon1981 ]

Marathon1981 - Corina got to meet Kami last night at TAYGCS and bought one of her monster rabbit handmade creatures. So adorable! Check out her blog for her latest creations and some cool vintage finds too.

Enjoy!

This Ain't Your Grandma's Craft Sale

2010-12-03T14:10:00.000-06:00

We are busy in our studio making new silver pieces for the upcoming craft show on Sunday evening. Here are some teasers from our new 'Chat' collection to entice you to come out, buy local and buy handmade!

eco for the environmentally friendly minded

fu (sorry moms) for the snarky minded

lucky #7 for the suspiciously minded

Since this is our last craft sale of the season we are hoping to finish with a bang. We are offering all jake + cleo pieces at reduced prices for this night only.

Please join us at TAYGCS at the Park Theatre on Osborne from 6-10PM, this Sunday, Dec 5. There will be food and drinks (alcohol!) available for purchase and music to entertain you as you shop all evening long.

See you there!

Eco-friendly Holiday Ideas

2010-12-02T12:39:00.001-06:00

Have you thought about buying Christmas gifts already? Is your home needing some holiday cheer? How are you packaging those gifts? We'd like to encourage you to think about the affect you have on our planet as you get caught up in the holiday shopping and decorating madness.

Here are a few ideas on how you can eco-up your holidays:

image via [ SewnNatural ]

This garland found on Etsy is made from an upcycled silk kimono is sure to add a pop of colour to your mantel. Check out SewnNatural's online shop for more eco-friendly, Canadian-made ornaments.

image via [ rikrak ]

Made from ecospun felt, these stockings from rikrak are ready to be stuffed with goodies and gifts! You should also check out rikrak studio's blog for amazing giveaways and fun posts. She's Canadian too!

image via [ nisseworks ]

These adorable eco-felt owl ornaments are made right here in Manitoba by our Twitter pal Stacey, aka @nisseworks.

image via [ zenbecca ]

Locally handcrafted by Mozy Rue Eco Collective member, Rebecca Hadfield, these upcycled domino pins are always a hit at the shop and craft sales. You can find a variety of blurbs on cool backgrounds for just about anyone on your list. You'll enjoy reading about Rebecca's crazy crafting experiences on her blog, Everything is Ticketyboo!

image via [ clonehardware ]

This colourful bracelet by clonehardware reuses computer ribbon wire that would have otherwise found it's way into a landfill. Pretty cool, right?

image via [ PrairieThreads ]

And what better way to wrap your handmade gifts than with eco-friendly, reusable gift bags in bright, cheerful colours by local fibre artist, Prairie Threads!

Questions and Woes

2010-12-01T12:00:00.002-06:00

Display woes, style woes, and quantity woes. Woe is jake + cleo.

With the upcoming TAYGCS being the last show of the j + c Christmas season, ending the year with a BANG would be wonderful. With a large mob of shoppers expected, the possibility of running out of product is possible. But with a higher price point, and a 4 hour show, is running out in the cards? And what about the shopper demographic: will jake + cleo meet a whole new market and will we have product that suits their fancy?

Maybe this new market is interested in something different, something we don't have, but have considered adding to our collection. Is TAYGCS the place to introduce some new j + c designs? Or should the available product be "gift for other" friendly?*

*In j + c lingo,"gift for other" friendly refers to a pair of earrings at an entry level price point

So if you haven't guessed it by now, after reading the posts from the last two days, jake + cleo are two anxious cats.

Display dilemma

2010-11-30T15:00:00.017-06:00

This Sunday evening we will be participating in Part Two of This Ain't Your Grandma's Craft Sale at the Park Theater in Winnipeg. Corina has attended as a shopper but it is completely new to Em. Rumours are flying about TAYGCS. TAYGCS is frenetic, it's crazy, shopping madness overtakes usually sane people, vendors make tons of cash, vendors sell out of stock! Oh, if it were to be true!

photo via TAYGCS

Thing is...the Park Theater is a crowded venue. There are movie theater seats where there are tables. There are the narrow aisles that potential customers have to navigate to find you. The lighting is poor (think movie theater lighting before the movie begins). On top of that, to pull in the cool and hipster crowd, there is live music and DJing all night long. Potential for disaster, but it works somehow. Add alcohol and watch the money fly!

photo via TAYGCS

Our worry is our display has been a flat-on-the-table type which will be difficult to view if it gets as crowded as it's rumoured. Brainstorming has begun on how to get jake + cleo more vertical and more visible. If we are in the theater seats area how do we entice people to squeeze down to see us. Should we mount everything to lightweight boards that can be handed out like menus to those waiting on the fringes? Help!

If any of you have shopped this craft show and have advice on what made a good display, we would welcome some advice. If you've had a table at TAYGCS and want to help a newbie out, please leave us a comment. We can use all the help we can get!

Dude! That's so totally gnarly...

2010-11-29T09:00:00.013-06:00

So apparently there are more people concerned with proper spelling and having the silent G represent than letting our vocabulary slip into the wasteland of street (or beach) speak. The name of our controversial license plate necklace has hereby been changed on jake + cleo's Etsy listing to Gnarly License Plate. We could get into a whole new debate as to whether 'license' should be 'licence' since we are a Canadian company. And we certainly wouldn't want to dredge up the 'jewelry' versus 'jewellery' thing either...just sayin'.

jake + cleo are proud to present the newly, correctly spelled, Gnarly License Plate Necklace:

Not to be outdone, here is our Reverse Gnarly License Plate Necklace:

Don't forget that today is the last day of our Black Friday - Cyber Monday 15% Off Sale in our Etsy Shop!

Made in Canada: meet Julie from elliven

2010-11-26T12:00:00.011-06:00

We just did...meet Julie, that is. Em followed her on Twitter, then discovered she lived in Winnipeg. What a small world! When we set up jake + cleo's Twitter account @jakecleo_silver, we followed a few Tweeps?...Twitterers?...Tweeple? that Em already followed as @emmsgems. Julie's friendly and positive attitude shines as she tweets a nice mix of her business and "kiddos". It was through Twitter that we found out that we would be at the same craft sale this past Sunday. Meeting Twitter friends in real life is kinda cool, don't ya think? You can follow Julie as @ellivenstudio on Twitter too!

Here's your chance to find out a little more about the creative behind elliven...

j + c: How are you crafty? Tell us about your stuff! What inspires you, how do you pick fabrics, how did you learn your craft...?
Julie: I can't even begin to tell you how much fun I have choosing fabrics. I am so thrilled to have found a way to make products with such lovely prints. I choose fabrics that catch my eye, ones that truly make me gush and that I get giddy over (yes, I do get giddy over fabrics!).

I've chosen the items I sell carefully, selecting those that I would use on a daily/frequent basis. The receipt/coupon holder keeps me from overstuffing my wallet or throwing receipts into the bottom of my purse. The mini card wallet is great for when I bring the kiddos to their sports games in the summer, no need for a big, bulky purse as it fits perfectly in my back jean pocket. I couldn't find a pen while I was flying to Hawaii and needed to fill in my customs form, that lead to me designing the passport holder...pen and passport all in one spot! I write to my husbands grandmother and needed stationery, that lead to the birth of the stationery line!

I love to sew, I love to create, but even more, I love to make products that I know can help organize someones life. I've always loved to sew, so to me, sewing items together is pure bliss!

j + c: Who is your favourite Sesame Street character or Muppet?
Julie: I've never really thought of this, but when I read the question, the first character that came to mind was Miss. Piggy! Not sure why....maybe because she was just so glamorous?

j + c: What TV show did you watch behind your mother's back?
Julie: Oooh, Saturday Night Live.....I felt like I was such a rebel staying up late to watch it!

j + c: How are you green?
Julie: In our everyday life we recycle, reuse scraps of paper whenever possible and we carry cloth bags with us to the stores. In my shop, I use my fabric scraps to make the gift tags and cards in my stationery line.

j + c: Do you wear black or brown?
Julie: I bet many would be able to answer this question so easily....not me. I'm tend to wear more grey. If I had to choose either black or brown, I guess black, but don't hold me to that!

j + c: If you could go anywhere...
Julie: Such good questions. Okay, I'll pick Barbados, but New Zealand is a close second, Europe too (can you tell I'm an indecisive person?!).

j + c: Who in Canadian design/crafting/art inspires you...or do you admire?
Julie: Love Robert Bateman's work, always have....I can't wait to get one of his larger paintings.

other lovely sellers in Canada:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/smidgebox
http://www.etsy.com/shop/modernemotive

j + c: What is your favourite jake + cleo piece?
Julie: How I love the Orbit Necklace. Simple, yet unique. Love how it's slightly off set, gorgeous!

Thanks so much for this fabulous opportunity!

Be sure to visit Julie's blog, elliven studio, to read more about her Black Friday sale! If you like what you see here you can see more and place an order through her etsy shop.

Black Friday to Cyber Monday Sale!

2010-11-26T08:00:00.001-06:00

We're having a 4 day sale starting right now! Traditionally, the day after Thanksgiving in the United States is the biggest shopping day of the year. It's the day that retail shop sales are finally in the black. Cyber Monday is the online equivalent.

So visit our Etsy shop and save 15% when you enter the code BLACKFRIDAY15 at checkout.

Ode to the Cupcake

2010-11-25T12:00:00.000-06:00

What's not to love about a cupcake? You can eat it with your hands (and you get to lick your fingers when you're done). They are colourful and sweet, big or small. And when they have zero calories, you can enjoy one everyday without the guilt.

Check out these "Ode to Cupcakes" that you can enjoy everyday:

Sweet!

measuring spoons, timer, individual teacup cupcake pans, icecream cone cupcake pans, coffee table

Looking forward

2010-11-24T12:47:00.002-06:00

jake + cleo is looking forward to another craft sale event! This time it's Manitoba Craft Council's Handmade Holiday Sale. This year TAYGCS has joined forces with MCC for the Friday night portion of this event and that is how we got involved.

Friday Night 5-10PM at the West End Cultural Centre

It seems like just yesterday that we set up our booth in anticipation of a great day of selling our designs. Well, it was just a few days ago at the Creative Collection Craft Sale this past Sunday. Yet, we are ready to get back at it! We'll take what we've learned and apply it to our next event with smiles and positivity radiating from our inner selves. We will rock this show!

Rosemary License Plate Necklace - New!

It would be lovely to see you all there! We've heard rumours of cakettes by cake-ology...

She said, she said: gnarly vs narly

2010-11-23T14:02:00.000-06:00

jake + cleo just listed a new license plate necklace on Etsy. Em designed it and named it while Corina photographed it and listed it. We didn't discuss how to spell the name beforehand but now that it's up on Etsy there's some discussion happening via Twitter. The jakecleo_silver blurbs are Corina and the emmsgems blurbs are Em.

And that's how we decide things here at the jake + cleo studio. Let us know how you'd spell gnarly/narly. We've conveniently added a poll to our sidebar for you to vote. And don't get all righteous about proper spelling here people. We're taking about waves, surfers and beach language don't forget!

Creative Collections Review

2010-11-22T12:14:00.000-06:00

One thing we've discovered about craft sales...they're fun with friends around! Yesterday's Creative Collections Craft Sale was infinitely more entertaining because we were across the aisle from the always-on zenbecca of Everything is Ticketyboo. At one point in the afternoon Rebecca and her son, the Mascot, did a rendition of Ozzy Osborne and Sharon hollering to each other.

zenbecca setting up for the day

To add to the mix Susan from Kiddlebug, who is a bunch of laughs bundled into a tightly wound package, would turn from her table, grab zenbecca and dance to the Christmas tunes for us. Built in entertainment! Curious how Rebecca came up with the zenbecca moniker though. Does she look zen to you?

Em with her namesake mermaid from Kiddlebug Kids, Emily

What we've learned from the past two shows we've done still holds true...jake + cleo silver is not an impulse buy. Our first sale of the day was Kiddlebug's sister who had been admiring Susan's square^2 necklace for a couple of months now. She purchased a piece for herself and one as a gift.

jake + cleo at Creative Collections

Was the Creative Collections Craft Sale a success? Depends who you ask...depends what your criteria is. If you look at our sales for this event we sold more and to more people than we did last weekend at Bling. However, we sold more at the Art Walk in Kitchener at the beginning of the month. So overall we gained more exposure, met more people (possibly future buyers) and worked the crafty network a bit more.

sharing a table with emmsgEM

We didn't leave the sale elated by our success but we are happy that jake + cleo is being recognized for its simplicity and beauty. We received many compliments and promises to find us again soon at Mozy Rue Eco Collective.

What makes a craft sale a success for you? As a shopper or as a vendor...

Our Winner

2010-11-19T15:00:00.003-06:00

And the winner is...

Oh wait, I almost forgot, let's listen to "The Girl From Ipanema" by Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz (1964):

Now let's get back to business. Through our grueling photo array, the winner came up with 6 correct answers, one less than our top guesser of Erin, who tallied 7.

The winner of jake + cleo's first ever Around The World In Six Photos contest is...

Zenbecca!

Way to go Rebecca! And to everyone who guessed correctly, and even to those that didn't guess correctly -you did one better than Emily did, who thought that the photos/places were too difficult.

Time's up

2010-11-19T12:00:00.003-06:00

The location of the final photo is Ipanema Beach, Rio, Brazil easily recognizable by the "Two Brothers" peaks in the skyline. Congratulations to those of you that guessed correctly. This was your last entry to our draw.

Wanna know what you've been playing for?

jake + cleo Bellybutton Everyday Necklace

jake + cleo will now review all of the correct guesses from the six travel photos in the game and enter your names into our virtual hat. Thank you for playing along with us. It's been fun sharing these photos with you. Good luck!

We'll go tally the votes...

Check back at 3PM for the announcement of our winner!

My small space series: living room before

2010-11-18T12:00:00.001-06:00

It's been a few weeks since Corina moved into her new 500 square foot apartment with J + 2 cats. Let's see how she's making out with making over.

Well, the living room pretty much looks the same as it did when I took the "before" photos shortly after we moved in. In part because I was in Ontario for 9 days but also our caretaker painted most of the walls in our apartment. The state of the walls when we moved in was dismal. We didn't notice how dingy and dirty the walls were when we viewed the apartment so I'm very happy that the caretaker agreed that the walls needed paint. Unfortunately, the paint is still builder's beige and he didn't see the need to paint the trim. He was willing to leave wall and trim paint for us to finish up what he deemed unnecessary. It's funny though...the scuffed baseboards and patched walls left to paint don't bother me as much as they did when we first moved in. I mean, we don't own this place so why should we care if the baseboards are scuffed. But since I don't have a real job, jake + cleo is barely paying for itself and my freelance kitchen design career is slow to take off, we're gonna be stuck here for a while. I like clean. I like fresh. It makes me happy. So the remaining walls and scuffed trim will get a coat of paint.

Winnipeg has an incredibly low vacancy rate for apartments. It's something like 1% or less. We had a difficult time finding a place within our budget, in a neighbourhood we liked and that wasn't swamped with applications. The previous owner of this apartment stipulated that people that were interested in buying some of her furniture would get first dibs. When I responded to the ad I mentioned that we had just returned from traveling and didn't own much. She had an entertainment unit that she wanted to sell so we said we'd buy it...even though it's not really our style. We really just wanted first crack at the apartment. And so there sits the unit with bare shelves and empty drawers. We still don't like it and refuse to load it up with our books and CDs. As fate would have it, I happened upon an Ikea TV bench in the basement hallway. It was just sitting there waiting for me. And it was free. We have our replacement for the oversized entertainment unit we don't want.

There is a slight dilemma in all of this. We have no place to put our things. Our books and papers, our CDs, my drafting tools, J's art supplies, jake + cleo's tools are all just laying around in piles and in boxes on the living room floor. The plan is to sell the big entertainment unit and buy some bookshelves for either side of the desk. Or maybe, just maybe, we can scavenge another freebie or two.

Wanna buy a really nice, really big entertainment unit?

A Learning Curve

2010-11-17T12:00:00.008-06:00

This past Sunday, jake + cleo participated in our first Winnipeg Christmas season craft sale. The organizers of the ever-popular Scattered Seeds Craft Show assembled local jewelry and accessory designers for the first annual Bling show.

Often, sharing booths at such craft sales is frowned upon by the organizers, but jake + cleo were permitted to share a double booth with four other Winnipeg Etsy Street Team members: Periwinkle Dzyns, Zenbecca: Everything is Ticketyboo , M-agination, and emmsgems . Geek-ware, crocheted accessories, upcycled t-shirts, recycled glass, and fine silver. Something for everyone, for sure!

Here are some key things that we picked up on while at Bling:

Exposure? Check.

A show like this can attract shop owners: people looking for goods to sell in their store. And for jake + cleo, two such "shoppers" stopped by with an eye for handmade silver! Kitty cat fingers crossed!

Set-up Experience? Check.

Our Bling table featured white tablecloths, but silver jewelry looks better on black. And lights are a good thing!

Shopping habits documented? Check.

For future shows, allowing adequate space for shoppers to try on necklaces is important. So far, it appears that purchasing a j + c piece is not an impulse decision, so making the customer comfortable (physically, emotionally, and socially) during their experience is key.

Winnipeg show number 2 is this coming Sunday November 21: Creative Collection Craft Fair at the Crescentwood Community Center 1170 Corydon Ave 10-4pm

Around the World in 6 Photos: #6

2010-11-16T12:00:00.048-06:00

And here we are at the last photo of our game. This is your last chance to play with jake + cleo and potentially win a piece of their never-seen-before silver jewelry. Do you need any hints for this one? This place is currently featured in a popular brand's commercial and there's a song about a girl who's from here.

If this is your first time visting our blog you may want to read The Rulz to find out how you can join this game already in progress. It's still not too late to play!

The location of the fifth photo is Oia, Santorini, Greece. This popular tourist destination in the Aegean Sea was the epitome of the Greek Islands with gorgeous beaches, cute whitewashed buildings and blue-domed chapels. Although, the sunset didn't live up to the hype, especially if one compares it to a Manitoba prairie sunset.

Congratulations to those that guessed Greece or Greek Islands. Your name will be entered into our virtual hat for the November 19th draw for a piece of jake + cleo silver jewelry! If you were specific and guessed Santorini Island or Oia, Santorini, your name will be entered twice. You only have until Friday at noon to cast your last entry of the game. Remember you have two guesses per photo.

It's time to vote!

RareFunk

2010-11-15T12:00:00.000-06:00

You can now buy jake + cleo fine and sterling earrings and necklaces at RareFunk in Kitchener, Ontario! RareFunk is a shop where you will find "funky gifts for all ages made by Canadian artists".

This eclectic store just moved to a larger location on the more commercial street of King Street West in downtown Kitchener. Owner Tamara Minns says that while she has retained her customers, the new location provides better foot traffic and a wider clientele. The selection at RareFunk definitely has personality and jake + cleo will appeal to those looking for simpler, more classic designs.

We are excited to have our jake + cleo line of fine and sterling silver in this funky shop along with some of our Etsy peers and Manitoba creative types, like WillowCat and SewDandee.

Approaching a shop owner with your designs can be intimidating but Tamara at RareFunk was warm and friendly from our first visit to the shop to the signing of the contract. It's difficult as a new company to be confident as we fumble through the process of getting the jake + cleo name and product out there. It really helps boost enthusiasm when people openly appreciate your effort and creativity.

We hope to share more stories soon as we explore wholesale and consignment opportunities here in Manitoba. For now you can find us at the Creative Collection Craft Sale at Crescentwood Community Center on Sunday, November 21st from 10AM - 4PM. And when our stock isn't tied up in craft sales we are in the Mozy Rue Eco Collective at 531 Osborne St.

Around the World in 6 Photos: #5

2010-11-12T12:00:00.045-06:00

Even if you've never been here you've probably seen it before. This town is the most photographed and promoted in travel brochures and ads for this country. It draws thousands of tourist's every night for the sunset view. If you don't recognize the view you may recognize the iconic blue-domed buildings in the background. You don't need to tell us the town or area in the photo, just the country. BUT if you do name the town/area, we'll give you an extra entry to the draw.

If this is your first time visting our blog you may want to read The Rulz to find out how you can join this game already in progress. It's not too late to play!

The location of the fourth photo is Edinburgh, Scotland. What a gorgeous city!

Congratulations to those that guessed correctly. Your name will be entered into our virtual hat for the November 19th draw for a piece of jake + cleo silver jewelry! Keep guessing each Tuesday and Friday for more entries. You have until Tuesday at noon for this week's photo. Remember you have two guesses per photo.

It's time to vote!

Coming home

2010-11-11T09:19:00.001-06:00

We are excited to come home today. It's been a busy time in Kitchener and there will be no rest once we get home either. Sunday is our first craft show in Manitoba at Bling. You can see our post Where you'll find us for show information. We have new silver pieces we made in our portable studio and a new style of chain from our buying trip in tdot. Stop by on Sunday to have a look! AND...soon we'll post about our first foray into consignment.

It's Remembrance Day. Take a moment today to remember those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom.

The Portable Studio

2010-11-10T13:57:00.000-06:00

For some people, this is the time of year to begin holiday shopping. For jake + cleo, it's the time of year to worry about their amount of inventory: a tight schedule of craft sales, maintaing stock at Mozy Rue, and a consignment opportunity (more news to follow!) means a thinning out of stock! So to combat depletion anxiety, jake + cleo assembled a "Portable Studio" for their current trip to Ontario.

The essentials of the j+c take-with-you studio are: clay, sandpaper, shape cutters, blades, and the dust/scrap collection jar. Transporting a butane torch, and associated combustable materials is frowned upon by airline regulations, so the much-necessary torch was left behind in Winnipeg. This means that a flight without turbulence is in order for our hand-carried, pre-fired, fragile clay pieces to make it back to Winnipeg in one piece.

The setting for the Ontario jake + cleo "clay day" was perfect: blue sky, ample space, Pepsi in the fridge, and crushed ice at the ready! But the "clay day" environment isn't the only important element to our silver: inspiration and raw material is key! And did we hit the mother-load: a garden of fresh herbs!

We can't wait to fire up these new license plates and front toggle pendants featuring rosemary imprints!

Around the World in 6 Photos: #4

2010-11-09T12:00:00.052-06:00

How could you not fall in love with a capital city like the one in this photograph? This city is known for it's festivals, it's castle and it's innovative parliament building.

If this is your first time visting our blog you may want to read The Rulz to find out how you can join this game already in progress. It's not too late to play!

The location of the third photo is Goreme in the Cappadocia region of Turkey. For more photos of this moon-like landscape go to this in2travels post, out of this world. If you visit Turkey you will not want to miss this region for it's amazing landscape and cave hotels.

Congratulations to those that guessed correctly. Your name will be entered into our virtual hat for the November 19th draw for a piece of jake + cleo silver jewelry! Keep guessing each Tuesday and Friday for more entries. You have until Friday at noon for this week's photo. Remember you have two guesses per photo.

It's time to vote!

A success!

2010-11-08T18:22:00.000-06:00

We've been in Ontario for the past week visiting Em's family and selling our wares. Our first sale event was at Em's parents' condo on Thursday night in Kitchener. We sold 2 pieces. Em didn't have much better luck with her gEM's line either. A little bit disappointing as she has done well in past years.

jake + cleo display at the Frederick Art Walk

It was rainy and cool most of the week but we woke up Saturday morning, the morning of the Frederick Art Walk, to a crisp sunshiny day. We felt it was a good omen. There would be crowds of people swarming the Frederick neighbourhood looking for wonderful gifts and treats for themselves!

gEM's display on a gorgeous wood dining room table

We set up in Em's sister's home, a beautiful home full of character and charm, on newly completed built-in cabinets. The carpentry garnered as much attention as our jewelry! There were 2 other vendors in the house with us Emmaline with cosmetic and travel bags and Batty's Bath.

Emmaline travel/cosmetic bags

Batty's Bath set up in the kitchen

The day started off fairly slowly for jake + cleo. We had people admiring our pieces saying "I love this for myself but I'm gift shopping today", some criticizing our prices for "recycled" silver, and others promising to come back once they made the rounds. It's difficult to stay optimistic when everyone around you is making sales and no takers for your own stuff. If people like it, why aren't they buying it?? Around 3 PM some people we'd seen earlier started to come through again. We made 6 sales in the last 2 hours of the walk. PHEW!

SOLD!

At least one person was shopping for themselves! The stingray earrings above sold to a woman who had commented on them earlier in the morning. She remembered them and came back.

Do you shop for yourself during the holiday shopping season?

Around the World in 6 photos: #3

2010-11-05T12:00:00.041-05:00

Here we are at the half way point of the game. If you haven't had any luck yet perhaps this distinct (would you even call it PG-13?) landscape will be easier for you to spot. If you are really smart, you'll have figured out that Corina blogged about her travels and that's how you are finding the correct answers.

If this is your first time visting our blog you may want to read The Rulz to find out how you can join this game already in progress. It's not too late to play!

The location of the second photo is Barcelona, Spain. The architectural hint in the photo was The Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia designed by architect Antoni Gaudi. Sagrada Familia has been under construction since 1882 and is not expected to be completed until at least 2030. To see more photos of Gaudi's work in Barcelona you can visit the in2travels post, i'll be back.

Congratulations to those that guessed correctly. Your name will be entered into our virtual hat for the November 19th draw for a piece of jake + cleo silver jewelry! Keep guessing each Tuesday and Friday for more entries. You have until Tuesday at noon for this week's photo. Remember you have two guesses per photo.

It's time to vote!

What's in Your Wallet?

2010-11-03T15:00:00.004-05:00

Do you need one more place to carry a photo of your beloved fluffy, or that crazy week-end in Winnipeg? Then check out what's new in personalized credit cards: there is the Capital One Image Card or the Photo Expression Card from Bank of America . How is that for putting some fun in spending?

But if you want to reserve sharing your personal images for flashing your i-phone, you can at least make sure that your plastic money matches your wallet, and even more! Thanks to the colour-forward folks of Pantone, and the people at Visa, you can have a coloured Visa card that matches your personality (provided your personality matches one of the fashion colours predicted for Spring 2011). Find Your Colour Here

If you are a "Firecracker", have a look at this wallet from Mud Puddle Designs

If you tend to be more insightful and intuitive, then the "Lilac" card is for you, and you will love this frame wallet from Field of Roses

And if you want your new personalized Pantone card to stand out, there is always the go-to black wallet or clutch, like this one from Upstyle

Around the World in 6 photos: #2

2010-11-02T12:00:00.055-05:00

Are you ready for round two? The photo below is one of Corina's favourite cities in the world because of the abundance of unique architecture. (hint, hint)

If you are wondering why we are posting travel photos on a blog about handmade silver jewelry, or it's your first time visiting, then check out The Rulz. You can still join in the game!

The location of the first photo is Angkor Wat, Cambodia. The statue in the photo was a god holding the body of the Hora in front of the Jayavarman VII gate. Feel free to visit in2travels post, Angkor Wat, the 8th wonder, for more photos and information.

Congratulations to those that guessed correctly. Your name will be entered into our virtual hat for the November 19th draw for a piece of jake + cleo silver jewelry! Keep guessing each Tuesday and Friday for more entries. You have until Friday noon for this week's guess. Remember you have two guesses.

Em and Corina are flying to Toronto, ON today to take part in the Frederick Art Walk on Saturday, November 6th. If you live in the Kitchener-Waterloo area please stop by at 49 Brubacher Street between 10AM - 5P to say hi and to see our modern, eco-friendly and handmade silver jewelry. Hope to see you there!

For now...It's time to vote...

Made in Canada: meet graphic designer, Colette Boisvert

2010-11-01T12:00:00.082-05:00

When we decided to ask for help with the graphic design of jake + cleo's logo, business cards and jewelry tags we immediately thought of Colette. She's a local graphic designer with a few years of experience under her belt, she's passionate about design and we like her. Here's your opportunity to get to know the creative behind the design.

j+c: Who is your favourite Sesame Street character or Muppet?
cdot: Slimey. Or Don Music, the guy who always slams his head against the piano when he forgets the lyrics.

j + c: What TV show did you watch behind your mother's back?
cdot: I don't think I hid the fact that I was watching 90210 when I was younger, but had my mom realized how "risque" it was, she might have told me to stop watching.

j + c: How are you green?
cdot: I'm a rampant recycler. My mom drilled that into my head at a young age. I also use reusable bags instead of plastic ones. There are some really cute, compact reusable bags now and I keep a couple in my purse.

j + c: What is your favourite jake + cleo silver piece?
cdot: I love the simplicity of the Dimple earrings and I also really like the new front toggle necklaces.

j + c: Do you wear black or brown?
cdot: Black. Always black. It never fails.

j + c: If you could go anywhere...
cdot: Of course I want to go everywhere and see everything, but I would really love to spend more time in NYC. I didn't get nearly enough time there when I visited a few years back. There are so many iconic things to see and do there.

j + c: Who in Canadian design inspires you...or do you admire?
cdot: This is nearly impossible to answer because there is too much, but let's go with Marian Bantjes. She blows my mind. www.bantjes.com

j + c: How are you crafty?
cdot: I love to knit and crochet. I've picked up cross stitching again and I've been dying to learn how to quilt. I like using these traditional methods to do fun and unexpected things (think amigurumi or www.subversivecrossstitch.com). I just love the act of making things so I'll try any means necessary to get all the crafty ideas I've got out of my head.

If you are in need of Colette's graphic design expertise, please send us an email at jakecleo [dot] silver [at] gmail [dot] com and we'll put you in touch.

Around the World in 6 photos: #1

2010-10-29T14:30:00.000-05:00

Come on in, guys! We hope you will enjoy playing this game with jake + cleo. This is the first of 6 photos from around the world that will be available for your guesses.

Here's how it works. A correct guess guarantees one entry into our giveaway draw. You have two guesses per photo but only one correct guess per person will be entered. Make sense? For more detailed information on how the contest will work you can check out The Rulz.

You have until Tuesday at noon to enter your guess into our comments section. It's time to vote...

The Etsy Treasury

2010-10-28T14:09:00.000-05:00

When I first joined Etsy, the online shop that connects sellers and buyers of handmade and vintage goods, I had no idea what a Treasury was. What it's purpose was. I understood the concept of showing a collection of items that worked together within a theme and/or with colour but I didn't get why people would spend hours making Treasuries.

Corina's first Treasury on Etsy

Etsy explains the Treasury feature as their shop windows or galleries that their members curate. Sellers on Etsy get to play curator for a day and show you their favourites or special finds within their collections. The admin of Etsy will peruse the Treasuries and select partial or full collections to be featured on the front page ('fp' in Etsian dialect, not to be confused with 'fb'). jake + cleo was in a Treasury by paisleybaby that hit the fp and that item's views skyrocketed. Buyers have the option of shopping via a Treasury link under the heading Ways to Shop. It's easy to get lost in the enormity of this online shop and the Treasury collections give buyers access to the cream of the crop quickly. If your treasury, or one that you are in, is deemed 'hot' you will be at the top of the list and will get many unsolicited views.

At the bottom of the Treasury featured members leave warm fuzzies all over the place

So it's obvious why you would want to be included in a Treasury as a seller on Etsy but why would you want to make one yourself? While it's not forbidden, including your own items in your Treasury collections is frowned upon. The admin will either not use your list for the fp or they will remove your item before they use it. The best reasons to make a Treasury are to foster community among Etsians, make friends and karma. Include someone's item in your collection and they might return the favour someday. And even though your items are not pictured in the collection your avatar is. Many people check out the curator's shop and while they are there...they might just buy something!

FYI: As I was writing this post I received a message that jake + cleo is in a Treasury made by kiddlebug...who was featured in our collection above...and so it begins.

In case you missed it...

2010-10-27T14:54:00.000-05:00

Last month we launched our silver collection at Mozy Rue Eco Collective in Winnipeg. You missed a great party if you couldn't be there. We had Corina's talented brother Mark, aka Cyclist, provide the grooves which set the mood for browsing and buying. Em's cousin-in-law, Alan, made homemade salsa and hot sauce in promotion of his new business, Alzy's Kitchen. Corina made whoopie pies and cookies with her mom. All in all, it was a great success!

Luckily, Lena Franford was there to capture it all on film. Lena is a budding video artist who is currently studying Digital Media at Red River College. She agreed to photograph and film the event for us basically because she is the sweetest girl you will ever meet...and she's Mark's girlfriend.


Alan Ramm of Alzy's Kitchen


Is this for sale? Why yes, yes it is!

Ali wearing a jake + cleo Stingray necklace


Cyclist spinning in the shop window


People lining up to buy stuff ~ Yay!

Good times!

Hey! That's us...

Thank you for your continued encouragement as we launch and grow our new silver business. We are grateful to all of you who support local, green and handmade products like jake + cleo.

Corina & Em

The Rulz

2010-10-26T12:00:00.006-05:00

jake + cleo would like to play a game with you! We'll call it Around the World in 6 photos.

eg. Mount Fuji - Japan

How to Play:
On Fridays and Tuesdays (don't let the order of the days of the week confuse you...Tuesday still comes before Friday but the game starts on a Friday so...I guess it's a bit like the chicken and the egg. We could philosophize all day long about what comes first a Friday or a Tuesday...hunh.) we will post a photo taken during Corina's recent world travels.

You will guess WHERE that place is and leave a comment on the post. IF you answer correctly you will be given ONE entry into a draw. You are allowed TWO guesses but only ONE correct answer will be awarded. That means if you are right on your first guess you can't say the same thing twice and get two entries but if you are wrong on the first guess you have another try to get it right. Incorrect guesses will not be entered into the draw...obviously.

We will tell you the correct answer on the following photo day which will be either a Friday or a Tuesday. Once the correct answer is posted the comments will be closed on the previous photo post. That gives you 3 days to put in your guesses.

The game will run for 3 weeks (6 photos) and the draw will take place on the morning of Friday, November 19th. We'll announce the winner in our post later that day...we usually post between noon - 3 PM.

Want to know what you're playing for? (I stole that line from Jeff Probst, host of Survivor)

~a newly designed jake + cleo piece not yet available in stores!~

Worth playing for?

Come back this Friday to see the first photo and play along. Players ready?

The Cats Behind the Name, Part 2: Cleo

2010-10-25T15:00:00.002-05:00

Here she is: Cleo

Emily's fluffy baby, also affectionately known as Pattycakes, Princess Patty, Baby, and Cleopatra is a solid kitty. She is also Emily's solid best friend...14 years and counting! Having lived in 9 houses in those years, Cleo has learned just what she likes: sunshine, open front doors, a view that offers surveillance of the entire home, full belly rubs, and tuna juice. A quiet kitty by nature, that is until you get her motor running (which isn't hard to do) then you may need ear plugs.

Oh yes, and if you want to play with her, it's important to know that she prefers the stick, not the feather.