The Love Story Necklace Gets Married

Last Spring I launched a little competition. I asked brides-to-be to tell me their love story. The winner would receive a custom made Love Story Necklace - inspired by their personal love story, made just for them to wear on their wedding day.

I ended up picking two winning love stories.

Gracie - who fell in love with Steve, two years after she experienced an incredible heartbreak when her fiance called off their wedding just 3 weeks before the day. How do you bounce back from that and risk your heart again?......I'm not sure. I have such great admiration for Gracie's ability to trust and open her heart completely again. Love although amazing, is such a risk.

This past year I have been healing a broken heart myself.......our ending was mutual....but only because of something that couldn't be solved while staying together........ so we fell apart. I know I'm through the worst of it, but it is still hard to not look back. I have moments where I just feel stuck. A friend of mine told me that it is okay to feel stuck and that one day when I'm ready I will just take a step because it feels right, and something inside of me will change. I know I've taken lots of little steps, and even some incredible crane like swoops. I think there is a secret beauty that sits in heartbreak and only those of us who have sat deeply in the pain get to know that beauty.

I can only imagine how tough it would have been for Gracie to take that blind step, to let herself move out of the heartbreak and trust enough to fall completely in love. She's incredible and I was so honored to make her Love Story Necklace. She looked beautiful in it.......




Then there was Amanda - who fell in love with Matt and he was right by her side when she faced the fear of finding a lump in her breast. Life is incredible - the highs are heady and delicious....the lows are crushing and cold. I've had some complicated health issues myself for the past few months.....our careers, our travels, our fun, our connections are all very important to a balanced life....but having someone there who will stick by your side when you're scared and at your lowest is magic. I was moved by Amanda and Matt's strength as a couple and I was thrilled to have The Love Story Necklace be a part of their amazing day. Amanda looked perfect in it........






Gracie's photos www.selectphotography.com
Amanda's photos www.johndudak.com

Pretty Things.....

In January I get to look at pretty things. I have time to catch up on fashion shows, read magazines, and start pinning up all of the pretty things that will inspire me to design for the next year.
Here are some of the oh so prettiest.......

Marchesa Spring 2011 Ready to Wear - amazing and sculptural...they are so incredible that I sort of forget to keep breathing when I look at them. If I had one I would wear it freaking everywhere.




Dolce & Gabbana Spring 2011 Ready to Wear - soft, white, lacy, very girly - I love.




All photos from www.style.com

The Sketchbook Project - What I've learned

Many Months ago I wrote a post on the Sketchbook Project. I was very excited when I found out about the project. I chose my theme of "Facing Forward" and my enthusiasm spread to many of my friends in my creative community. We all jumped on board and started sketching......well sort of....You see the deadline to send in the sketchbook is approaching. It needs to be postmarked by Jan 15th. I'm going to be very honest with you here....I finished 2 pages in 2010 and there is a whole lot of pages.

It was a struggle for me. I'm a perfectionist. The jewelry that I make has to be just right before I send it out my studio door. I doodle, I sketch, I make a thousand mistakes but no one sees those. As an extra kick in the pants I was asked to blog about my sketchbook process on the Doodleheads blog. I did one post about my fear of just letting go and starting the sketchbook. Then I let go...........or so I thought. I sketched two pages and then the little book stared at me for months and months. I continued to sketch in other books, but not my sketchbook project book.

2011 hit, I had 15 days to finish about.........60 pages. I called my good friend Simone Richmond and told her I didn't know if I could do it. She gave me a pep talk, told me I could do it and that I could also glue some of the pages together so there would be fewer pages.....both brilliant pieces of advice.

So, Jan 3rd I sat down in front of my sketchbook and I didn't stop until It was finished. I sketched, I glued, I used my fun new Japanese masking tape, I got creative and let go. The results.......well........It is not perfect, far far from it. Some pages I like, others I cringe at, but I reached my goal and I'm mailing it back to them this week.

By the end of the book I had learned something really valuable. In my sketchbook quest of "facing forward" and trying to answer the question "Can you face forward while being self reflective at the same time?" I realized something big. On the very last page of the book I wrote this:

Be Today.
Call someone and tell them you love them today.
Get out of self reflection,
Move beyond facing forward
and
Be content;
where you are,

who you are,
because you are.
xoxo pkk

What the Avro Arrow Has To Do With Love and Jewelry Design

Recently a friend of mine poked a little fun at me for not knowing what the Avro Arrow was........Yup I had no idea. I'm also sort of guessing that there are many people like me who don't know. Well.....for those who are interested it's an aircraft designed by the Canadian company Avro and it was pretty fancy. It was designed and prototypes were built, in the 1950's and aircraft enthusiast's were pretty darn excited about it. Unfortunately for them our very conservative government at the time pulled the plug on the whole operation. For financial, and political reasons they ended up cancelling the whole project, many jobs were lost, and many aircraft fans hearts were broken.

Knowing nothing about an aircraft is not surprising to me. I would never pretend that I was well read on the subject. Or well read on many other subjects...there are lots of things that don't hold my interest and I don't know about and that is okay. But I do know a thing or two about design and I like to think I know a little teensy bit about love.

I was reading an article in the New York Times written by Tara Parker-Pope on "Sustainable Love" The article suggests that we are looking for partners who make us more interesting people. They talk about the " “Michelangelo effect,” referring to the manner in which close partners “sculpt” each other in ways that help each of them attain valued goals." We want relationships where we teach each other new things, share new ideas, expose each other to new thoughts, friends, and adventures. "People have a fundamental motivation to improve the self and add to who they are as a person,” Dr. Lewandowski says. “If your partner is helping you become a better person, you become happier and more satisfied in the relationship.”

Which brings me back to the Avro Arrow. I will never know a lot about aviation, or war aircrafts, but I can look at the Arrow and see beautiful lines in in. I see shapes that move, I see metal that flows, I see something different. I take what I know and I make the arrow work in my world.



New Earring design inspired by the shapes of the windows.


New necklace design inspired by the shape of the tail.



So, although I will likely never be able to teach someone on the history of the Avro CF-105 Arrow, I will be able to teach someone how to spend a day playing. How to put away the "I shoulds" and dip your toes into your creativity. How to push your imagination, how to find that piece of your soul that makes you swirl, and how to feel incredibly alive.



image credits
1 www.airliners.net
2 www.flickriver.com

Okay, for a much more accurate history of the Avro CF-105 Arrow you can check out wikipedia here or just google it and zillion sites will come up.

To read the very interesting article on Sustainable Love "The Happy Marriage is the Me Marriage" from the New York Times click Here.

Patsy Kay Kolesar Design In the Media

Patsy Kay Kolesar Design - Some of my more famous moments........


I was chosen as 1 of the 5 cool Culture Crawl finds......such an honor! You can click on the picture to link to the full article or you can scroll below to read the lovely write up about Patsy Kay Kolesar Design.

Patsy Kay Kolesar Design (The Onion Studio [1103 Union Street])
This Vancouver Community College jewellery-art-and-design grad indulges her love of colour and pattern in a unique mix of enamelwork and metalsmithing. She sifts enamels through silkscreens to achieve the scrolling patterns on the discs and ovals that typify her artful pieces, which somehow end up looking ancient and contemporary at the same time. What’s new: As well as her ready-to-wear pendants and earrings, look for stunning one-of-a-kind pieces, like the She Said Yes necklace, replete with twisting sterling silver, damasklike enamel, and pearls in pink, white, and chocolate brown. “They’re all exploring love and the complications of love stories,” Kolesar explains of her pieces. Price range: $45 up to $450 for the most elaborate one-off creations.

My beautiful photo used in this article was taken by Abbye Dahl.


September 2009 - One of my images was chosen for the Vancouver One of a Kind Show's marketing campaign. It was used on billboards and buses. This photo was taken by the very talented Fashion Photographer Mike Lewis.


This is a close-up of my name on a billboard.....no big deal....really, just my name on a billboard, whateves.

The She Said Yes Necklace was chosen to be part of a national exhibition in Toronto, at the Zilberschmuck Art Jewellery Gallery. The exhibition was entitled "Connection". Jewellery Artist's were asked to create a piece reflecting on the word "Connection". I created the "She Said Yes Necklace" Jewellery Magazine did a little write up about the exhibition.