New Stuff

I don't have a ton of new stuff for the PSIA sh0w, but I seem to have more than I have ever had in one spot before. I also think I have done a better job of organizing and displaying my work than I ever have before, especially for taking the totality of my inventory (which normally fills a 10' by 10' booth) and scrunching it down onto a 6 foot by 2 foot table (which is a much larger table than I have used in the past, BTW). I have shutters to display the earrings, and risers to put under my table coverings to give my display some height. I'll try to get pictures, but they always seem to come out yucky when I take them at shows. We'll see.

So...the new stuff. Also posted as my "Sun Challenge" entry. The Sun and Moon Pendants. I really like these.

Getting Ready!

My first big show of the season, the PSIA/EtsyRain Edmonds Show on May 10th (see my previous post for details) is coming up in exactly one week. I got the nicest write up in anticipation of the show from Kayce at World of Whimm on her blog (thanks Kayce). I am frantically getting ready. Creating, packing, redesigning my display, deciding on whether or not to scramble and order a banner, its enough to exaust even someone who doesn't have a full time job and a family!

To top it all off, those who know me well will tell you that to call me organizationally challenged would be extremely generous. My work is scattered hither and yon, and it has been a major undertaking to unearth all of the its and bits I need for a show that haven't seen the light of day since the pre-Christmas Season. All day long it was "have you seen the bracelet stands?" or "where in the heck did I put the marbles for the martini glasses?" Hopefully we have found most everything now, and all that is left is to finish the last bit of packing during the week.

I even tried to take some pictures of my work area with its glorious dissaray of earrings and bracelets before they all got bagged, tagged, carded and packed. Unfortunately none of them turned out.

On a better note I have gotten some great ideas from our EtsyRain group about displays and I just took a great class from Marlo M. of IMakeCuteStuff on selling at craft shows, so I feel better prepared than I ever have before.

I'm very excited about the show, just in case you haven't figured it out already. I just wish all the tedious, mundane details would be done with, and the fun part could begin!

A Show, A Show

On May 10th, I am going to be participating in a great show in Edmonds, WA. There will be 25 EtsyRain/PSIA (Puget Sound Indie Artists) participating, showcasing everything from jewelry to fine arts to dress-up clothes for kids to fabulous textiles. I'm getting very excited.

I think the best part is the Gift Bags that will be given away to the first 50 people to come to the show, and to one lucky show-goer every hour. Most of the vendors at the show and several other PSIA artists contributed. These are not your typical, filled with flyers, magnets and business cards gift bags, but will hand-made bags (some by yours truly) stuffed full of goodies lovingly created by true artisans. I made something totally new for me, and don't worry, there will be some for sale at my table for those who aren't lucky enough to get a gift bag.

I only hope that I have enough time to do everything I need to do in order to get ready for this show. Luckily I have a wonderful husband who will help me.

I hope to see a lot of you there!!!

Crafting with Friends

Today I had a chance to get together with my really good friend Elli, and spent most of the day crafting. It was absolutely wonderful. We took pictures, bounced ideas off of one another, laughed so hard my tummy hurt, and worked so hard my hands are still sore. Elli makes the most fantastic semi-precious stone jewelry. It was wonderful. I'll post pictures of what I made as soon as I unpack everything from my outing. I can't wait to do this again!

Sushi, Sushi Everywhere, but not a Roll to Eat!

My crafty mother-in-law, Kristine, struck gold again last weekend. When we went over on Sunday morning, there was a small pile of strips of felt, and I was intrigued. She gleefully informed me that the strips were to become felt sushi! Even better, she had stopped by Fusion beads and we had "roe" to add to the top of some of the rolls.

While I worked on the earrings I had to finish, Kristine and my daughter worked on cutting strips of felt, rolling them into tight rolls, and stitching the rolls closed. There was red for tuna, orange for salmon, yellow for yellowtail or radish, green for wasabi and avocado, white for rice, and black for nori. They stayed busy for hours.

The whipped cream and cherry on this whole project was the roe that Kristine sewed to the top of two of the sushi pieces. It was a wonderful project. The inspiration came from an article printed in The Seattle Times on Monday, April 7th.

Two Piles of Earrings to Be...

I'm in full production mode for Summer. For me, that means making about a dozen different styles of earrings in about twenty different colors, give or take. I find it amusing that at one stage I have a pile of earring dangles that don't look anything like earrings. In these piles there are Fairy Wings (my latest), baby Byz (short for Byzantine), Peppermint Love Knots, Clovers, Flowers, and probably some I missed. I also inlcuded something new I'm trying -- gold accents instead of silver on some earrings.

Ick, Blech, Yuck

I feel the need to whine and complain a bit. Maybe even more than a bit. I came back from a spledidly wonderful anniversary trip in San Francisco last weekend to one of the worst weeks I have had in a very long time. The first thing we noticed Sunday night and Monday morning was how cold our house was. We thought the thermostat has just gone wonky, but that was not the whole story...more on that later.

Then Monday, I started to feel awful. I couldn't keep my eyes open and my whole body ached. I wanted to go home, but with my commute I knwe I had better wait to carpool with my husband. I ended up going straight home and climbing into bed. I didn't really get up again until Thursday. It was one of the worst cases of the flu I have had in many, many years.

During this time, my hubby did determine that our furnace -- in our five year old house, no less-- was totally on the fritz. NO HEAT! And we are having one of the coldest Marches on record. In fact, when I went back to work on Thursday, there was 3 inches of snow to be scraped off of my car. This whole thing is more than crazy.

Well, things are starting to look up. We are going to get the furnace fixed, I'm feeling much better, there is no more snow in the forecast and there are really no lasting effects to my terrible week.

I'm sure next week will be better!