elaine ho

souk@sat

2014-11-26T23:19:00.003-05:00

come see me. thursday - sunday.
i have jewelry.

status magazine

2014-07-18T14:42:00.000-04:00

a sweet write up in the july issue of status magazine. thanks for the street cred. xx

BRUTALISTE

2014-06-11T00:07:00.002-04:00

new collection available online

shop.elaine-ho.com

lookbook photos | matt atkinstall matkinstall.com

styling | audrey cantwell ovate.ca

model | maude prud'homme

i never know what to name my collections, so this might be the first collection with a real serious high fashion like name instead of a style number or just a boring name like "woven" for the collection of woven jewelry. bo-ring. i was pretty proud of myself for adding the "e" on the end of brutalist, (also the french version of the word) until i realized that i was probably inspired to do so by the movie zoolander. derelicte??? brutaliste???

is this thing on?

i don't update this blog very often, but you can find me on instagram for more frequent work related updates and way too many staged photos of my cats = less words.

press the fashion magazine

2014-05-16T13:42:00.000-04:00

um, thought i should put something jewelry relevant on my blog instead of having a video of my cat puking as the top post for the past 5 months. keeping things professional you know. my caged crystal necklace and earrings & bracelets from an upcoming collection in this great webitorial from press the fashion magazine.

merry christmas, love poofy.

2013-12-27T14:41:00.001-05:00

help bring victoire to toronto!

2013-12-21T23:25:00.000-05:00

lil 14K yellow gold cat ring specially made for for you!

really small skull pendant

help bring Victoire to toronto! only 10 days left in their indie gogo campaign and they're almost at their goal!!! a $350 contribution will get you a special edition SOLID 14K GOLD cat ring (handmade by me), if you don't get this, you don't really love cats and $45 will get you the tiniest skull necklace ever and there are also plenty of other locally made goodies available at different price points. help out this amazing store & get stuff! win win.

smart design mart!

2013-12-05T00:40:00.000-05:00

smart design mart is here! well, almost. starts this friday and the facebook event is here!!!

this one is the biggest and best one yet, about 130 local designers and artists in a 35,000 square foot industrial space in the heart of mile end, and the space is HUGE so it won't feel too crowded. you won't find me at my space, because i'll be busy shopping. we have amazing home decor, housewares, jewelry, clothing, accessories, bath products & food and everything is locally designed and almost everything is locally made as well. shop local! i mean don't get me wrong, i do love a good mall, but this is where the magic happens. you're actually buying something DIRECTLY from the person who made it. it's like travelling back into time, or maybe it's the future. whatever. deep right??

check out smart design mart blog for a preview of the line up of talented creators, and make sure to "like" on facebook for (not too frequent) updates. being one of the organizers and running this event has completely taken over my life for the past few months and i'm super proud of how it's turning out, vendors are going all out and their set ups are amazing. the amount of effort, hard work and creativity being put into turning their spaces into something that really showcases their work is crazy!!! set up started today i was like, omg, i'm not sure i would even put in that close to that much effort, i'm so impressed! i just put up some wrinkled curtains covered in cat hair and plan on throwing my jewelry on a used door i found in my basement. anyway.

so i'm looking forward to a great weekend, please stop by!!! maybe buy something and support local makers instead of buying your mom something plastic at the dollar store. jk. ok, so i'm not really joking because we have an ATM and many of the vendors are able to process credit cards, so there's no excuse to not buy anything or to use double negatives.

souk@sat

2013-11-26T18:41:00.003-05:00

i will be at souk@sat this week----weekend! lots of new one of kind pieces and nice things for gifts etc, cause grandma has always wanted a caged quartz necklace right? right? come visit. thur & fri 12-9, sat & sun 12-7. come for a visit i won't force you to buy anything. but fyi, they accept credit card, debit and cash. just sayin. here's the facebook event with full details. maybe bring me a pair of orthopedic grandma shoes or crocs cause standing for 7-9 hours/day on a concrete floor in fashion shoes is gonna be brutal. but don't spend all of your money in once place cause i'll be hitting you up the following week at smart design mart. hah. later!

oldwig xmas edition

2013-11-18T13:49:00.003-05:00

i make jewelry full time, but i'm also obsessed with buying vintage. sometimes i buy too much vintage, especially when in comes to vintage pyrex or mid century stuff. there are six typewriters visible in this photo alone and how many wooden crates does a person need? ALL OF THEM!!! i will be selling some sweet vintage goods at the oldwig xmas edition, including some of my precious west german pottery collection and fur collection, i need to make more room to buy more stuff. btw my favourite tv shows include storage wars, american pickers and hoarders.

bain mathieu, 2915 ontario east

thursday november 21, 5-10pm

friday november 21, 5-10pm

satuday november 23, 1-8pm

here's the facebook event

lots of amazing vintage vendors, for clothing & housewares, and other fun activities. it's a really unique venue, so come for a visit! credit cards & interac too, but no layaway you jerks.

fries in a bag.

2013-10-25T12:47:00.000-04:00

speaking of french fries. i carved a french fries in a paper bag ring. i guess i'm now aiming for a super niche market. 2 for 2 because i'm also making a rather large hot dog ring with black diamonds. i was going to set a line of tiny rubies for ketchup, but realized i didn't like the colour red, and went with black diamonds instead. you can never go wrong with black diamonds. except for maybe in a hot dog ring.

diamonds on a french fry

2013-10-25T12:38:00.000-04:00

blue/grey rough diamonds on a half eaten french fry. was eating a poutine and planning out some simple diamond studs, and thought why not combine them both. i was originally going to take the photo with the diamonds on my finger, but my fingers are in worse shape than the fry because i haven't been moisturizing and won't wear gloves because i refuse to acknowledge that summer may be over. i think i'm losing my tan.

waxy

2013-10-25T12:32:00.003-04:00

wax sculpt, this will be a ring. kind of looks like a transformer. can't wait to see it in metal. part of my ring a day series, something i've been too lazy to blog about and am currently too lazy to elaborate on. laterz.

sale at craft & culture!

2013-10-25T12:29:00.001-04:00

loveliest on-line shop ever. my jewelry, including one of a kind pieces are included in this sale. shop!!! use code.

drawing night

2013-09-23T13:02:00.001-04:00

i wasn't able to attend drawing night, but my wonderful friends were kind enough to gif the eff out of their amazing cat drawings & send it to me while i was out of town! CATS ARE THE BEST!!! friend are ok sometimes too.

smart cat

2013-09-17T22:30:00.001-04:00

went to an auction in vermont. bought very small antique school desk for cats. taught cat new trick. also bought another cat sized oak chair, and old american flag with the stars sewn on, and really heavy old tool box full of super heavy old wrenches that i'm probably never going to use. impulse buy. if i wasn't able to make jewelry anymore for some reason (broken hands, missing eyes, fingers etc... knock on wood) i would buy antiques all day long and maybe make an real effort to sell them instead of hoard them. i mean that's kind of a bad plan too, because i sort of strongly dislike driving, and i feel as though you really need to drive around to properly antique. and possibly drive large vehicles because you're buying a lot of stuff. or i could keep buying miniature furniture. problem solved. anyway. life plans. also, ignore the stuff all over the floor, it's cardboard bits from a cardboard cat scratcher.

eames LTR + me = true love

2013-09-17T22:10:00.002-04:00

ok. no big deal. I'VE ONLY WANTED ONE OF THESE LITTLE TABLES FOREVER!!! eames. LTR. low table rod base. birch. zinc. designed in 1950. the real deal!

i went to the flea market. wandered into a room full of old antique furniture, took a look around and wandered back out. this part of the flea market is indoors, and the prices are a bit higher, stock is nicely organized and displayed, and they're set up all year round, not like the summer sellers with stuff on tables & the grass outside. antique furniture, but not really my style. i left & went to the ATM to re-up on cash, to spend on stuff in the outdoors part of the flea, then i had a funny feeling and decided to go back into the room i had just been in. i walked to the back of the room, where there was a pile of junky discarded stuff that was not even on display, found this little guy upside down, pretty much on a pile of trash. let's just say, i had enough money in my wallet even before going to the ATM to buy the table. it's in pretty rough shape, two of the corners look like it's been eaten by dogs, and the birch veneer is missing in several parts, but i love it, i think it's perfect. i've wanted an eames LTR for so so long, (ideally with white or black laminate & ply & black base, but who cares!!! ) i don't like reproductions, (why buy a new & readily available, there's no challenge in that!!!) copies/knock offs are absolutely out of the question, and i hadn't found a vintage one at a price i was willing to pay. and this one was definitely at the right price. so happy!

and yes. those are chickens & a very small goat behind my prized LTR.

kitten

2013-09-17T21:43:00.002-04:00

played with a kitten today. it followed me home. well, that's a lie, i heard it outside and lured it to my porch. it's really friendly, meows a lot & is extremely affectionate. not sure who it belongs to, probably the neighbours across the street, they always have small animals running around their front yard. i'll keep an eye on it just in case it's a stray. i have a feeling it might be, because my other neighbour has been leaving offerings of half eaten chicken drumsticks on a little plate nearly everyday on his porch. who eats that many chicken legs anyway, it's not right. also, this super dirty and jumpy stray cat seems to be it's mother, she was keeping a close eye on me when i was playing with the kitten. i feel a bit itchy.

tube

2013-09-17T21:37:00.001-04:00

apples!!!

2013-08-31T15:49:00.000-04:00

my apple trees finally established this year! i've had them for 3-4 years, i can't really remember. i've had weirdly small apples every year, but they've never this big or nearly this many. they are perfectly round and delicious. one tree has apples with a thin translucent yellow skin- those were ready a few weeks ago-

and they were delicious! the red ones need maybe one more week, some are ready now. yay. free fruit. i didn't think the apples would work out because i had a massive aphid problem this spring. i kept spraying them with a very watered down solution of delicious smelling citrus essential oils with mild biodegradable dish soap, and it seemed to work. this year i also grew raspberries & blackberries & blueberries as well this year. planted some kale (eaten by groundhog), broccoli (eaten by groundhog), peppers (groundhog left teethmarks in every single pepper, guess he didn't like them), many kinds of tomatoes, ground cherries, celery, herbs, onions, and i think there might be a watermelon in there too. yay for outdoors. i kind of want a beehive, but i think my neighbours are too close. next year i want to try planting carrots and beans.

#1616 quistgaard for dansk

2013-08-31T15:34:00.000-04:00

i've always wanted to collect vintage dansk peppermills but i never ever find them while thrifting. this is my first one!!! it was super dirty with decades of kitchen grease and dirt, it look closer to ebony than teak. it took a lot of scraping & cleaning with orange oil (nothing else was even close to making a dent in the sticky grease) to get it back to it's original colour, and then a coat of lemon furniture oil.

i mean i could always buy pepper mills at full price on ebay or something and make a collection but there's no fun in that, and i'd rather pay my electricity bill than buy a stupid beautifully designed pepper mill. i did a bit of research, and this one seems to be #1616, not a super rare one, but it's a nice design and nice and chunky. this is an earlier version with the metal peugot grinder mechanism, probably from the 1960's. the newer ones have dumb plastic grinders. i've been using a grinder from muji, it's beautiful, but honestly it kind of sucks, the top falls off all the time and then you get a plate full of stupid peppercorns. gross. quistgaard, you're a design genius, and i hope to add more of your pieces to my hoard.

oh right, the best part? it was 50 cents. FIFTY CENTS. way to raises money for your charity, charity thrift store. you can't even buy a donut for 50 cents. um, not that i'm complaining, please never raise your prices i love you.

hochelaga dreams

2013-08-31T15:19:00.002-04:00

my friend amanda on a giant tree stump. we wanted to take the tree trunk & slice it into a bunch of tabletops for a hochelaga tavern/duplex dream. our neighbourhood is the best!!! (even though i have to carry pepper spray because people think i'm a prostitute, like all the time.)

stacking eames base with writing desk

2013-08-31T15:16:00.001-04:00

my favourite eames base. mine!!! given to my by a friend! surprisingly, narrow mount, i've just assumed that stacking bases were all wide mount, but this is not the case. i have three shells without bases, two wide mount and one narrow mount, so will have to figure something out. i'm not a fan of repro bases or removing & repositioning shockmounts. i want one in the living room & maybe one or two in my studio. it would be kind of fun to bring out out into the backyard, i don't know if i have super weak wrists or something but i can't seem to hold up a book, i need to rest it on something. ok, i do have super weak wrists because i can barely do one push up without them collapsing. i have strong hands and arms, but useless weak wrists like a t-rex.

chairs chairs chairs

2013-07-31T11:32:00.002-04:00

so two pretty exciting things. i finally got chairs for my backyard. i've been holding out for matching chairs. i'm not that into random crappy backyard chairs, if i'm going to get cheap chairs for outside, they better be cute and matching, my backyard is messy enough as is. these vintage chairs made in canada and i love them! $15 each! the other exciting thing is that my neighbourhood just got a bunch of hybrid communautos so i got to drive a prius for the first time, really fun car. but i'm a big fan mostly because when you fold down the back seats, you can fit 8 chairs. and possibly more. if i popped the seats off the bases, i think i could fit at least 15. just thinking ahead.

hello canada!

2013-07-13T11:11:00.000-04:00

my weeklong fab sale just started last night! my jewelry is featured in the "canadian shop" along with some other fantastic canadian designers! i have a limited numbers of canadiana themed jewelry & some other geometric jewelry at special sale pricing until july 19th. shipping to the US & canada too. free shipping for orders over $75 so start shopping.

sputnik

2013-07-10T12:44:00.002-04:00

one of my favourite light fixtures, vintage 1950's brass sputnik by lightolier. i just moved it from the hallway to the bedroom, and it's hard to find really really low wattage mini globe lightbulbs, so i've settled for some 25W and some are 40W, and i added it up it's probably close to 400W of bright blinding light, not dissimilar to staring into a car headlight. will have to do something about this eventually because it's absurdly bright and hot. i can only seem to find 5W and 10W bulbs in the little pointy chandelier bulbs, and i'm not the biggest fan of those. anyway, first world problem. also, i wish crappy companies with no original ideas would stop making cheap ugly bastard copies of this light. suck it. copycats are the pits. also, my walls look really dirty, but it's a lovely combination of drywall, plaster, primer and white paint.