Art Bead Earring Swap

I decided to sign up for Suburban Girl Studio's Art Bead Earring Swap, and my swap partners are:

Jan Onipenco of Molten Mayhem - Etsy shop:  Lakeside Creations

Jan creates amazing lampwork...I'll let the pictures do the talking:

Love these!!

Amazing, right?

Love the bright colors of these!

Lesley Watt of The Gossiping Goddess - Etsy shop:  THEAtoo

Lesley works with metal clay...and goodness knows I should take a few lessons from her...my metal clay work leaves a lot to be desired!  But take a peek at Lesley's:

Ack!!  I need this!!

My favorites!!!!

Another favorite...

Geez...such talent between these two ladies...I better get to putting on my thinking cap!

Come back and see our swap reveal on June 7th!!!

New Listings!

Just a few new listings today in my Etsy store!

Expect to see more of these in the future!!  Happy Wednesday!

Heart of Virginia Festival 2012

This was our 2nd year participating in the Heart of Virginia Festival in Farmville, VA (yes, there really is such a place).  While it is a down home type atmosphere, I love it!  You'll find such an eclectic mix of artisans, crafters, and shoppers.  Being from the surrounding area, it's a great venue for us!  It still humbles and amazes me that people are willing to spend their hard earned money on my creations.  The accolades, gushing, and praise will always embarrass the hell out of me though.


Our booth this year:

If you look really close you'll see Moobie Grace herself!  She was such a trooper!  She was up at 4:45 a.m. (and yes, I did write that down).  Her and I had my van unloaded by ourselves before my oldest or husband even showed up!  Now, maybe she moved so efficiently because of the anticipated "end of the day reward!"  Yes, I bribed her with a treat in exchange for manual labor...WHATEVER...you know you've done it too! :)  I did catch a few looks when I kept calling her "Moobie", and I had to explain more than once...

New photography banners we used instead of the tent side panels.  Worked like a charm!  Love that we still had a little privacy, yet keep the tent from being too dark and HOT!  Also my new suitcase (that still reeks of "oldness" after a week of sitting out in the sun airing out and a can of odor out)...no one complained thankfully.  I wish I would have thought to take a few close ups of the assemblage necklaces I had...they seemed to sell pretty quickly!  I was really surprised as this isn't exactly a shabby/boho/vintage crowd.  I did however get one...

Not the best photograph (I'm guilty of fiddling with Pic Monkey)  Vintage silver plated spoon bowl, hand stamped and stitched on to a shabby, wide fabric cuff, with crocheted trim and vintage buttons/fabrics.  I LOVE making these, and will list the 3 I have left in my Etsy store some time this week!

Just a snapshot of an array of necklaces

Upcycled easel with our store sign...which needs to be updated!

Awesome oval window frame, repurposed in to a LARGE earring display.  It sits on the corner of our booth, and draws people in...mission accomplished!

A few of the antique silverware hooks made by my sweet husband.

All, in all, it was a success!  Granted, there were obstacles to overcome, but despite the all day drizzle, sales were better than I expected, I made a few new contacts, and we all came home exhausted, but happy!  

See you next year Farmville!!!

Kick Off Of Craft Show Season!! (So Much For Having An "In House" Photographer!)

I'm so exhausted I can barely string a coherent sentence together!  Festival was packed despite the all day drizzle!  I was happy that my oldest just received her "I bought it myself" SLR camera, and she was more than willing to snap pictures of the show...although I should have been more specific with my instructions.  I came home, and as she was walking out of the door to go to work, she handed me the SD card.

Here's what I found...

Our dog makes his debut...I'm not even sure when she took these...it was still dark when we left this morning!

Mandatory shot of the notepad, calculator, phone and pen

Obviously, no craft show is complete without a few shots of her Toms...

Vendor assignment tags and sister's foot are required!

Vintage travel sticker on my vintage suitcase...kinda meant for her to photograph the ENTIRE suitcase...

She tends to become a little distracted!

Silly self portraits must pass the time...and EVERYONE must take an upside down shot!

At least this is cute...

"The Mike Tyson"  Yep, that's what the design was titled face painting.

By this point, I've completely forgotten what we actually did today....

Oh...that's right art & craft show...I finally found a few shots!

Finally a shot of the modified suitcase display...whoever G.E.H was I sincerely thank you for the awesome case...complete with travel stickers!

Now it's off to crash for the night!  More on the show tomorrow!

Stress? What Stress?

I despise that first show of the season, and mine is less than two weeks away!!  ARGH!!  I'm beginning to stress, to say the least.  I *think* I have enough inventory made, but  I still need to sew (first I have to measure, cut, and dye the fabric) three table coverings, fix the large displays and signs that got tossed by gale force winds at the last show, tag/price/label everything, and I ordered large banners that I need to grommet.  Oh, and still waiting on the Mr. to construct some risers...that will need to be painted!

And, I REALLY hope folks like copper!  I usually try to have 1/2 mixture of copper & bronze, and 1/2 silver...not this year!  I've been bitten by the copper bug, and it's quickly replacing brass/bronze!  We still have lots of silver plated flatware pieces, so I'm crossing my fingers that will suffice!  It's a big risk, that there's no going back on now!

I've also slacked off on the amount of clay pieces I've made.  While there are still LOTS, I've also went with some kitschy, vintage, modern and assemblage...as if I wasn't a little "here there and everywhere" before, it's definitely noticeable now.  Enter new displays to feature said already created vintage/assemblage pieces, while also fitting into our booth's teal & orange color palette!

This weekend we browsed our local antique/consignment shop, and I happened upon one of these:

The bigger one...

Photo credit:  Dew Drop Daisies

Inside (minus the ties)

Photo credit:  goantiques.com

Mine is complete with vintage travel stickers!!!  For $8!!!!!  It smells funky, and I need to add some hooks (already re-glued some of the satin that was coming loose), but it will be transformed in to an assemblage necklace display some time this week...because I didn't have enough to do!

I might be MIA for the next week or so...I'm still around...just slave driving myself!