Pelicans, mung beans, and pendants, oh my!

Well, we survived our first outdoor craft show!

It started out as a very windy morning and to be quite honest, I was getting really nervous- as we were setting up, everything kept blowing over and off the tables. I wasn't quite sure how we were going to manage. But we got a little creative with some painter's tape and booth layout and figured it out.

Here are some photos from the weekend.

This is me at the end of the day... you can't tell, but I'm actually really exhausted. My back hurt, my head hurt, I was tired of explaining all the jewelry. Ah, the life of an artist.

Some shoppers, checking us out...

These are my new pendant design. These are glass beads riveted onto a piece of sheet metal that's been textured, filed, and polished in a tumbler. I just love them ;-) Most of the glass beads are made by Nikki from Thornburg Studios.

Here's a quick glimpse of the booth. Needs some tweaks, but overall, a vast improvement from our last show!

Here was the hit of the booth design. Not the jewelry (though the tagua nuts were popular). But rather the mung beans. Only cost $3 for all the beans and they really drew a crowd. I don't think Pelican Rapidsians had ever heard of mung beans judging by the blank stares I got when I told them what they were...

All in all, this was our most successful show so far and we really had a ton of fun. Now I need to decide what I'm going to treat myself to for all my hard work... a flex shaft? a new stamp set? a drill press? hammers??? How's a girl to decide??

Hope you all had a great weekend too!
~B

booth design... bleh

Booth design.

It's probably why most people stay away from craft shows and just stick to online and house parties. We spend all this time, energy, and effort, (and put lots of love into) making our handcrafted jewelry pieces so that we can brighten someone's day or inspire someone with a word, a charm, a sparkle.

All of that, and we have to design a booth??

Okay, I'm putting way too much pressure on myself (some would say that is typical) for our upcoming show. But it's our first outdoor show, and I'm hoping a good one, and since our last one was sort of a bust, we really want to do well.

I've been out and about at art fairs this summer-- not to shop-- but to snoop. There are so many creative booth setups out there-- I've been really inspired, overwhelmed, and excited by the booths alone, so I'm hoping ours is halfway decent. I even had my husband take a photo with his phone of a booth I really liked, pretending he was taking a picture of me.

Here are some photos of the booth in progress (in my garage):

This will be the main focus- our silver fused pendants.

Tagua nut pendants laid in a tray of mung beans. We made a trip to the asian market. I bought three bags of mung beans and three bags of a yellow bean, can't remember what it's called. The guy looked at me funny. Not sure why?

My lovely new rings that I adore ;-)

This table has all our earrings and river rock pendants.

Sort of hard to get a feel for it without being able to see it up close, but if you have any thoughts, suggestions or ideas, I'm open! Our show is July 25 in Pelican Rapids so I've got time to tweak it. And obviously I will not be using these table covers and more of the jewelry will be velcroed onto the floor tiles ;-)

Thanks for looking and wish us luck!

Oh, and we keep meaning to update our etsy site-- one of two things that was posted sold (wow!) so there's just one lonely pendant on there. So, look for more on our etsy site after we get through this next show. If there's anything you're dying to see more photos of though, let me know, I'm happy to share!
~B

One Lovely Blog

I always get such great excitement when I look at my posts and see that someone commented on my blog post. But what an even greater surprise, when a couple weeks ago, I was picked by Catherine Witherall of Happy Day Art to recieve the 'One Lovely Blog' award.

First, I want to thank the Academy... okay okay. Now, I'm not really too savvy with all these blog awards, but I'm going to give it my best shot here since I'm just so darn tickled that I was chosen for this award. Seems prettty simple really.

To accept the award:

Post it on your blog and give acknowledgement to the person who awarded it to you. Now, pass the award on to 5 other blogs that you have discovered and contact them to let them know they've been chosen. Got it?

Here are the 5 blogs I've chosen to recieve this award, on behalf of the Academy...

Krysten Halek Photography Blog

Stacie Florer, Nomadic Creations

Zoa Art Blog

A Metalsmith's Journey

Freshie and Zero

They're all very unique blogs that I love visiting regularly. I hope you do too!

What a tool!

Well, when I left for Milwaukee, I ended up pulling a couple hammers and a sweatshirt out of my bag last minute because my bag was weighing in at 49.6 pounds on my bathroom scale. I was thinking, where am I going to put all my new beads I buy? I better save some room for the return flight!

I did buy plenty of beads-- those are not unpacked yet as they require much more organization. But the tools! Ah, the tools are all unpacked. Before I put them away, I took a quick shot of all my new little darlings. A wise woman once said, a woman with tools is a smart woman. Okay, I just made that up. But it seems to be true.

My favorites include the new bonsai shears- that red and white pair that stand out. They're very sharp, hence the protective cover. They cut much better than my black shears and at $6.50, can't beat that. I also treated myself to the 'Fat Daddy' cutters from Beaducation. These are on the top left. They are amazing flush cutters when working with a heavy gauge wire. I'd been borrowing my mom's every time we got together and almost thought about sneaking them into my tool bag a couple of times. It was time to bite the bullet on that one. My other treat, okay there were several-- I bought a new pair of Lindstrom chainnose pliers (LOVE!), a Fretz riveting hammer (sight unseen- never even riveted before this weekend! LOVE part two), and a Fretz Raw Silk hammer for texturing (LOVE LOVE LOVE).

Let's see, what other random spontaneous tool purchases did I make- a burnisher, a plastic mallet, a ring holder??, a jewelers' saw with bench pin, some sort of polishing pen, a spring-loaded punch, and a few other miscellaneous things. Most of these were not on my shopping list, but when a vendor or teacher says, you cannot live without this tool, I tend to believe them. And they just make me feel, well, powerful. And artistic. And smart. Some people wear glasses to feel smart; I buy tools.


Okay, on to one of the actual reasons we went to Bead and Button. The classes.

There are something like 500 classes taught over the week long Bead and Button show. It is quite amazing actually. It's one of my favorite parts of the show. So, we took three classes. These are not in correct order, but then, you don't care about that anyway.

Friday night was a three hour class called Maniacal Rebar Wire with Brenda Schweder-- we used rebar wire, which is a carbon coated stainless steel wire. Here are a couple of my products. The pendant is finished but the other piece is just a link that I'll be using to make a necklace. The other pieces I started aren't even close to finish, but I'll definately post a follow-up.

These were from our all day Thursday class, called Time to Say it, with Kim St. Jean. Kim is a southern gal, from South Carolina. She is a great teacher, very creative, and super helpful. I hope I get to take another class from her soon! I made these riveted earrings and this watchface pendant in her class which I was pretty proud of. I really like both these pieces and can't wait to wear them.

This is an unfinished bracelet, that I worked on in Tracy Stanley's Cold Connections class on Saturday. Tracy's class was great. She is an amazing teacher, artist, and person. I love her work and she always makes you feel like you're work is just as good. She'll tell you that there are no mistakes and it's perfect just the way you made it. I can't wait to finish this baby up and make a matching pendant or earrings. It's just a fun piece and has a nice little swooshy metal sound when you wear it! Gotta love that!

Okay, time to unpack those beads and get organized. I have a lot of work to do the next few weeks for our next show. I'll try to post some photos after my projects are done and of anything I make with my new tools! Thanks for stopping by.

B

Milwaukee in June...

nothing sounds sweeter, right?

Exactly! It's the Bead and Button Show and I'm busy packing my tools, sorting through beads, printing out the show floor map so I can be more organized than my mother this year, and of course, trying to decide which jewelry to bring!

It's funny. I think 80% of the ladies who attend the B&B Show pack their clothes around which pieces of jewelry they are going to wear, rather than the other way around. I know I do. It's the one time you get to really show off what you've been working on all year and know that someone is going to comment on your pieces at some point.

You'll hear, 'Is that an Anne Choi? Did you get that from Wendy Wichner? How long did it take you to make that? Was that a great class or what?' People from all over the world will join in, and say, 'beautiful piece of jewelry you're wearing'. Whether you're into wire, metal, or seed beads. Looming or weaving. There is truly something for everyone and I think at least for myself, there is a true appreciation for the art and style you see on each and every person's neck, wrist, finger, or ear.

Ain't that sweet...

See you at the show!

Wings of an angel

Well, this weekend I decided on a last minute getaway to West Fargo- who could resist, the lure of sandbags piled up on the side of the road, 25mph speed zones, and my mom's home cooking? Did I really just say that? Anyone who knows my mother, knows she does not cook. It's sort of a long standing joke. Sorry mom. But she actually made us a very tasty lunch this weekend- I was rather impressed.

But alas. That is not the point of this post, nor this blog.

I wanted to share a photo of one of my new favorite personal lovelies. We make lots of stuff to sell, but seems we hardly ever have time to make favorites for ourselves and just play. We each had bought one of these angel wings at the Bead and Button Show two years ago and the poor thing has just been sitting there, wanting to fly. I love the simplicity of this design, with the delicate chain and chunky metal feel of the wing. It's made by a husband-wife pair, from Zoa Art. I just checked out their etsy site for the first time, and think we'll definately be making a stop at thier booth at the upcoming show in June. Such beautiful stuff. I've added their site on my link so you can check it out.

Well, off to celebrate mother's day. Happy mother's day mom and thanks for the fun weekend, and the delicious lunch! Looking forward to more of your 'home-cookin'.

~B

Taking the good with the bad...

Well, we had our second craft show this weekend at the Elk River Arena, all day Saturday.

The Good: I got to spend some quality time with my mom at the show and both my parents, brother and niece after the show at the circus that ensued at our house.
The Bad: We didn't have as great a crowd as we expected and therefore did not have as high of sales as we anticipated. It was actually REALLY slow. But we had a few customers who were really fun, appreciative of our work, and great to meet!


The Good: We learned a LOT from fellow vendors- everything from booth setup, to staying motivated, to earning customers. One of our favorite new vendors, doing fused glass jewelry was called 'One Peace at a Time'- I will find her card and add her info here- I'm blanking at the moment!
The Bad: We could not shop much at other vendors since we did not earn much.

The Good: We have excess inventory to bring to our etsy shop and Dabble, the gift shop selling on consignment for us. And, we really really like the new line we've created with fused silver pendants, so we really really think they'll do well in the shops.
The Bad: We have no way of knowing this for sure.

The Good: We're planning our next show for late July, hopefully at one of the lakes area 'art in the park'- likely Pelican Rapids or Detroit Lakes. Beyond that we're not sure, possibly a holiday show and focusing on our etsy and consignment shops.
The Bad: We are way behind and most of the good shows' deadlines for application have past. We learn and we learn...

The Best: Doing something we love to do, making new friends, and being creative.