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.

pseudo spring cleaning

Spring Cleaning. Can you still call it that when it doesn't much feel like Spring?

I guess you could call it Pseudo-Spring Cleaning. That's what I did yesterday in between going to the zoo and out to dinner. Boy, does it feel good too!

I had some great inspiration from the latest edition of Studios magazine. Not so much in how to organize my things, because most of the artists featured were fiber artists or sewers, but moreso in the process and how to let go of things. I've always been a hoarder of things, up until the last couple years when I started a regular purging process (of things, not food). It feels very liberating, clarifying, and keeps my life so much simpler. And I find that the best part about getting rid of things, is that it makes room for more things ;-)

Here's a few photos of the end result. Unfortunately (or thankfully) I did not take before photos- it was quite a disaster in here! My next goal is to fix up my office area, and set up a photo station for when I need to take pictures of my jewelry. The other thing I need to do is work on getting some color on those walls! I might save that for next Spring though ;-)

hammering it out...

well, so we didn't get the retreat weekend we had hoped for-- my mom and I had planned to go to Westridge Shores resort in Alexandria to do some major jewelry production work. We're getting ready for a craft show May 2nd and needed some uninterupted time to work. However, mother nature decided to interupt. My mom lives in Fargo and they're currently battling the Red River floods, so we are postponing for a couple of weeks.

But I did find time to hammer out some ideas, literally!

Do you ever seem to have so many ideas, you feel like your head is literally going to explode?? That's how I felt Friday and after putting Jaxon to bed, I went down to my studio and got to work. I played and played all weekend, anytime I had free time. I can't say I made any finished pieces, but I did have fun playing and experimenting with my torch, patinas, and hammering. And I think I got that little bug out of me so my head won't explode now.

It seems a lot of the blogs I read of other jewelry artists, most of them are full-time jewelry artists. If there's anyone out there who is a part-timer, has a 16 month old and an equally busy husband and volunteer and work life, I would love to know how you balance it all! I think that's why my head sometimes wants to explode... thank goodness for hammers!!!

the journey...

Today I went to the Twin Cities Bead Bazaar. It's a fairly small show, but we don't get too many that we don't have to travel to, so it was nice to get a bead fix. It also reminded me what a huge pool of talent there is out there. Wow. I was both inspired to create and at the same time had that tiny negative thought in the back of my head- who do you think you are? You're not a metalsmith. Or a bead maker. You don't belong in this arena.



But then I remembered one of my favorite quotes: the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.


So I bought some beads.


Here's a photo of my purchases- I was very restrained as I had Jaxon with and he always keeps me multitasking so I'm never quite able to spend as much. Which is good.



But, I did find some interesting pearls, I'm hoping to use in something, perhaps a new earing design I have in mind. I also snagged some silver charms from Hip Chick Beads. I love her stuff. It's so fun and whimsical. I also bought a triangle mandrel. Not sure what to do with it yet, but I couldn't go to a bead show without buying tools!



Look for some more photos after next weekend's getaway-- it's jewelry retreat time!

top shelf

Well, it has been forever since I've posted. Geez, what have I been doing? Well, aside from wondering if anyone even reads this blog (other than my mother who's somewhat obligated), I've been busy dreaming of working part time and building a jewelry business. Okay, I did say dreaming. But a girl needs to dream right? My friends would tell you I have been having this recurring dream for a little while now... BUT, I have been able to check one item off my New Year's Resolution list (okay from last year and this year). I recently brought in a bunch of our WaVu Designs to Dabble, a super cute, trendy and fun gift shop in NE Minneapolis (think Patina/Bibelot Shops, only WAY tinier and much more locally made goods). They will be selling our stuff on consignment for us. And, I just went in the other day and couldn't be happier with our placement in the shop. We're on the Top Shelf! If you happen to be in the area (28th and Johnson St.) you should check it out. Here's a sneak peek for you though!