Craft show....hmmmmm

Last weekend was my first craft show - I had only shown my work at home shows in the past.  Wow - what a difference!  I had armed myself with all information available on what to bring to a craft show, how to display your work, etc.  I have to admit I did not forget one thing!  Here is a pic of my table:

 

Click on pics for a larger view

 

 

This was a 2 day craft show - Saturday from 9:00 - 2:00, continuing at 5:30 - 8:00, and then Sunday from 8:00 - 2:00.  It was held in a church Parish Hall.  There was NO HEAT.  NONE.  It was very cold last weekend and the room temperature felt like it did not rise above 45 degrees the entire weekend.  Brrrr..  And...it was slow.  Very slow.  The busiest day was Sunday - after each Mass.  But in between each Mass was an hour-long lull. 

 

The upside is that I met some of the nicest vendors!  They all noted that sales had been down for them...way down...all year long, including this show.  People just don't want to spend money right now.  I did fair - I did not expect to sell a single thing, but I did.   It was a great experience - especially since I have 2 more shows coming up next week.

 

Here are some pics of my table.  I bought the coolest necklace and bracelet displays from Last Summer Treasures - they are handmade from bamboo!  I got several compliments on the bamboo.

 

I bought this pretty papered box at Michael's with a 40% coupon - I don't think I paid $8.00 for it.  Well, my mother had matching deep purple satin, so she made me a little pillow to fit inside - Thanks Mom!

 

I had made my own earring cards and tags, and I bought this nice earring stand from Rio Grande - it holds lots of earrings and it's made of solid oak.  I found that people actually lingered a little longer at my table and looked at every single earring! 

 

 

My back and legs did not fare well, however.  I am still suffering from the affects of my bulging disc, which is pinching my sciatica nerve.  I stood most of the time, as sitting was just NOT. COMFORTABLE.  I go back to the Doc on Tuesday...we'll see what he says.

 

All I can say is I felt every day of my almost 52 years by Sunday night!  The weeks worth of prep work involved - plus just the added anxiety of having my first craft show - well, let's just say I was overly tired and achy!  I am not sure if I will do this show again next year - 2 days in a row and it was so slow - I will wait to see if the economy improves first!

 

I will end this post with some pics of my newest designs.

 

I love this bracelet - handmade bronze clasp by Lesley Watt of TheaToo, peeled paint beads by Jeannie Dukic, and ceramic beads by Marsha Neal.

Another bronze clasp by Lesley Watt of Thea Too, bronze accent bead by LeAnn Wieh of Summers Studio, and polymer beads by Humblebeads

I swear - this bracelet was the most popular of any of my other pieces!  I am surprised it did not sell!  Vibrant polymer beads by Barbara Bechtel of Second Surf.

I love how this necklace turned out!  I used lamp work beads by Javabead and Sue Kennedy of Sues Beads.  It's wrapped with silver filled sterling, antiqued, and tumbled for shine.

I made another Elemental Bracelet, which I learned from Stacie Florer at ArtBliss.  This time, I intentionally made it "big" - in silver.  It fits so well - like a cuff.

A close up of the bracelet - I soldered a tiny little silver bezel with turquoise on one of the links.

This necklace is my favorite and I am keeping it - it took me six straight hours to make!  It is based on a design by Kerry Bogert from her Totally Twisted Book - double stranded, and it includes her beads that I bought at ArtBliss.

Thanks so much for stopping by...what a long winded post! I enjoy reading your comments, if you are so inclined to leave one!  I hope you enjoy your weekend!

My New Love...

It's Copper!  I have been really playing around with copper lately - wire, sheet, I don't care - it all works!  I am inspired by the many artisans blogs and facebook pictures.  So today's post is about what I have created lately with this marvelous metal.

My niece had a Home Party in July - she sold her Thirty-One line of bags (I bought a ton!), and I sold some jewelry.  Rachel is a teacher, and many of the attendees were also teachers.  Well, one of the teachers brought her sweet 11 year old daughter, who has a blood disorder called Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, or ITP. Commonly referred to as Low Platelets, ITP can lead to an increased risk of severe bleeding.

 

Her daughter is a what I like to call a "girly-girl".  She had on a pretty dress and wore a pearl bracelet (the total opposite of how I dress)!  Anyway, her mother asked me if I could come up with some sort of a design for a Medical ID bracelet for her daughter, who did not want to wear a medical ID bracelet.  I could certainly understand not wanting to call undue attention to oneself by wearing a bracelet emblazoned with a caduceus.  So, I told her I would look online and try to find something appropriate.

 

I am an avid online shopper - I would rather pay shipping than walk into a store.  That makes me sound lazy, which I am not, I just don't enjoy shopping.  I searched everywhere and could not find anything even remotely close to an design that did not scream "look at my medical ID bracelet".  (I thought about posting photos and links on my blog of some of the bracelets I found, but the thought of copyright infringement stopped me). So I came up with my own.

 

In searching through my endless jewelry supplies, I found some 22 gauge copper sheet metal, bought a caduceus stamp, and stamped away.

 

 

 

I intentionally DID NOT line up the lettering - I wanted it to look "wonky".  I textured the sides and ends of the blank, gave it a bath in  liver of sulfur, buffed it, and tumbled it for 2 hours.  A coat of Renaissance Wax and some final buffing really made it shine.  Then I set off to make the bracelet portion.  The bracelet has two lobster clasps on each end.

To entice her to wear it even more often, I made a few extra bracelets - one can never have too many bracelets, right?  I was sure to include lots of different colors, as well as silver and copper - variety is the spice of life.

I love the idea of having options.  And, though not cheap per se, I made sure to use inexpensive beads - I did not want her to feel bad if one of the strands broke.  I am told she likes her gift and I hope she wears it!

I have also been playing around with my disc cutter - I replaced my old one (which I gifted!) with a Swanstrom Disc Cutter - WOW!  This thing is awesome!  I spent an entire day at my bench just making bead caps and discs.  Here is what I have actually put together....so far....

I added some ceramic charms by Elaine Ray and Marsha Neal to these earrings

Beads by Diana P. at Suburban Girl Bead , small ceramic shard by Marsha Neal, and handmade bead caps and claps.

Gorgeous ivory/neutral lampwork by Glass Bead Art - handmade bead caps and clasp.

Porcelain beads and pendant by Yolanda's Clay - handmade bead caps and clasp.

Wow - I just noticed that there is a definite woodsy, earth-toned theme to all of these pictures....my favorite season (next to winter) is almost here!

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I love to read your comments, if you are so inclined to leave one!  Have  a great weekend!

Art Bead Earring Swap - The Reveal

Diana Ptaszynski - who not only makes incredible jewelry components from clay (her shop link)  - but also finished jewelry - is hosting this very cool blog hop today!  Participants were placed into groups of 3 and created 1 pair of earrings for each partner. Each earring must contain at least 1 art bead, and the ear wires were to be made of sterling silver - unless your partner had no preference (I did not!)

When Diana emailed me the names of my partners, I was truly petrified (that is a little hint about my lack of self confidence!)  My first partner is  Mary Harding - an extremely talented artist who makes ceramic beads from clay.  Just look at the details of this pendant - I have a hard enough time "staying in the lines" using a crayon and coloring book!  I could stare at this artwork all day! 

Photo courtesy of Mary Harding on Etsy

First of all, Mary's packaging was like Christmas and Birthday rolled into one:

I should have snapped a picture before I opened the package, but my excitement got the best of me!  On the gorgeous ribbon securing the box is a tiny handmade charm in the shape of a heart.  When I opened the box, my goodies were surrounded by orange tissue paper, which totally matched the orange of the handmade charms and Swarovski crystals on the fabulous earrings! 

These are the most perfect earrings - and she even made the ear wires!  Not only do I have these fabulous earrings and a charm, but she also included this gorgeous handmade toggle clasp:

Each piece received from Mary was tied with this silky smooth ribbon and attached to her cards, with a description of the item.  These little touches did not go unnoticed - and I felt so very special!!!  Thank you, Mary!

My second partner left me feeling equally petrified - Ms. Erin Prais-Hintz!  I have been reading her on-line journal (let's face it - she is not a run-of-the-mill blogger - she is a writer!) for some time now.  In addition to her own blog, she is also a contributor to the Art Bead Scene and Earrings Everyday - both of which I read daily.  The pictures she shares of jewelry designs are descriptive in and of themselves.  However, she always includes the story behind each piece, which makes the design even more spectacular and special.  In addition to her jewelry, Erin creates her Simple Truths pendants and charms.  I recently purchased one for my niece to wear on her honeymoon - Happily Ever After (you can read about that here). The pendants themselves are gorgeous....I want one of each!  Anyway, here is what Erin sent me:

Of course it has been re-wrapped as I tore open the package as soon as I got it, so my awful picture does not include details of the ribbon, which includes her signature "key". Even the box identifies the goodies contained inside - truly a "Treasure Found"!  She also included a lovely note!

Gorgeous tiles made by Marsha Neal and vintage (1948!!!!!!) lampwork beads!  I absolutely love these!  She wrote the "ingredients" for the earrings on the back of her unique earrings cards- love these!  She recently wrote a post about her packaging on one of her blogposts and it was so cool to see them in person!

I cannot thank Mary and Erin enough for these gifts - I am humbled!   And thank you, Diana, for hosting this swap!  I not only enjoyed making my earrings for these special artists, but received something special in return!  And now, I need to rethink my packaging for my own jewelry!!!

Please be sure to visit all of the participants and have fun hopping!  Thanks for stopping by!

Diana Ptaszynski http://www.suburbangirlstudio.com

Jan Onipenco http://moltenmayhem.typepad.com/

Patti Vanderbloemen http://myaddictionshandcrafted.blogspot.com/ <- You are here!

Mary Harding http://www.maryhardingjewelrybeadblog.blogspot.com

Diane Hawkey http://dianehawkey.blogspot.com/

Lesley Watt http://www.thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com

Jenny Davies Reazor http://www.jdaviesreazor.com/blog

Melinda Orr http://www.orrtec.blogspot.com

Cilla Watkins http://www.tellyourgirlfriends.com

Stephanie Haussler http://www.pixybugdesigns.blogspot.com

Sally Russick http://www.thestudiosublime.com

Susan Kennedy http://www.suebeads.blogspot.com

Amy Freeland http://www.copperdiem.blogspot.com/

Marla James http://marlasmudmoments.blogspot.com/

Pam Sears http://crazycreativecorner.blogspot.com/

Tania Spivey http://www.moobiegracedesigns.blogspot.com/

Kathleen Lange Klick http://www.modernnaturestudio.blogspot.com/

Lori Bowring Michaud http://artfullyornamental.blogspot.com/

Erin Prais-Hintz http://www.treasures-found.blogspot.com/

Gail Barnett http://www.atlastanewyearsresolution.blogspot.com/

Linda Landig http://www.lindasbeadblog.com/

Sharleen Newland http://www.shaterraclaystudio.blogspot.com/

Dee Elgie http://cherryobsidia.blogspot.co.uk/

Mary Shannon Hicks http://uptwnsh-fallingintothesky.blogspot.com/

Lisa Johnson http://whimsyswonders.blogspot.com/

Shelby Foxwell http://sundownbeaddesigns.blogspot.com/

Keri Lee Sereika http://www.pinklemonade.typepad.com/

Cheryl Brown www.dragonflybeads.ca

Linda Younkman http://www.lindysdesigns.blogspot.com/

Kari Asbury http://hippiechickdesign.blogspot.com/

Fay Wolfenden http://www.torchfairy.blogspot.com/