I'm Flyin' !!!

In just one week i'll be preparing my bags for my trip to North Carolina. Honestly, i haven't been very many places, especially since most of my travels have been past family vacations. I'm so lucky to be able to take time off, and jump on a plane with a good friend to stay with some more brilliant friends. It's surely going to be an interesting adventure.

If you are from NC and have some places you suggest i visit, please let me know!!

Thanks!

A Letter A Day....

Letters share so much, and yet have the ability to hold such truth and secrets. Hand written letters truly take time and thought in a world where everyone wants everything yesterday. Nothing says "Hello" or "Goodbye" like an envelope. So, when i saw Liz's swell envelope jewelry, i was hooked. Liz has a shoppe called Look A Jewelry.



How long have you been crafting?

I've been creating and making things with my hands as long as I can remember. As a child I loved making home-made gifts, especially cards, and putting together my first solo art 'exhibitions' in my parent's hallway! Coming from a creative family my parents and brothers really encouraged and supported making things from hand and together we could make almost anything!



Did you always craft in this genre?

No, I've been working with metal/metalsmithing for the last 6 or so years.
I was first introduced to jewelry & small metal work sophmore year of art college and instantly found a medium and techniques that felt awesome to me.
I always admired artwork/jewelry made from metals, but before I took my first class it all seemed so mysterious to me.



Who or what inspires you?

I am inspired by artists that have something to say and artists that can live off of their art/work. I feel inspired by many many things: contemporary art jewelry, nature, metal itself, collections, tiny things, penmanship/handwriting, correspondence, Frida Kahlo, my pet bunny (lenny rabbitz),miniatures, ugly things that are almost pretty, old books..it's always something..it's always changing too.





What challenges have you found while taking your craft into the business world?

Well..I am just starting on this journey,
I guess having made a lot of "art jewelry" (more sculptural/less actually wearable jewelry) in school my biggest challenge was really thinking about wearability and creating everyday pieces other people might also be drawn to. Because I don't know much about photography/ graphic design that can sometimes be a challenge for me when trying to get stuff out there (but luckily I have some very talented friends!) Pricing can also be difficult for me... so I try to ask a lot of people's opinions and check out other artist's prices online.



So, if your hand writing is so horrid that you don't like to write, or you just can't sit still long enough to write a proper letter, then this jewelry is for you. Show your love with a handmade envelope necklace! :)

Faux Cakes, Faux Calories

When i saw Jenni from Jenni B's shoppe, my 1st two thoughts were "Hey she has my name!" and "Aww cherry cupcakes!!" so why wouldn't those two facts give me enough reason to blog about her? The funny part is that i never realized how large of a fan base Jenni has. Martha Stewart herself asked Jenni to come and show her audience how to make faux treats. Isn't that amazing?



I've been crafting for a long, long time! My mom ran a seasonal craft fair when I was young and she would let my sister and I make crafts to sell. We thought it was a good deal because she would buy the supplies and we'd keep the money! I think my grandma really bought all of our items because she'd feel bad if we didn't sell anything. As far as faux food goes, I've been making it for less than a year.



I get my inspiration from lots of things! I try to get new ideas every day. My mom and I love to look at magazines together and get fun ideas. I've been looking at a lot of cookbooks to find pictures of yummy desserts. I also love shopping and going to craft stores so I just keep and open and creative mind when I'm out and about. My mom also comes up with new and fun ideas once in awhile that she'll share with me.



Selling your products can be so intimidating!! I think because you make them you have a personal attachment to them. And when someone says something critical about something you've made, you definitely take it to heart! After I finished making my first batch of faux chocolate truffles and cream tarts, I thought they were the cutest things in the world! I thought they belonged in every store! I thought up a list of some of my favorite local stores and set out to sell my wares. My mom was even nice enough to come with me for encouragement. We were out all day. And we weren't getting any takers! I was turned down time and time again. But guess what? The last store I went to (as it was closing up) had the nicest owner. She loved it all and bought every sample I had with me and I walked away with a $200 order for more! You never know what's going to happen.




My advice for anyone starting out with new products is to just believe in yourself and what you have to offer others. Make it a great product.

Back in October I had some items listed in my Etsy shop. Nothing fancy and photographs that were, well....lacking. But I thought my products were cute, even though I didn't have any buyers. Then I got an email from a producer of The Martha Stewart Show. I was sooo ecstatic! That was the biggest compliment I could ever receive for my product. She requested that I call her. Two months later I was on the set of the Martha Stewart Show, meeting Martha herself, and showing her how to make my products on LIVE National Television. Wow! I now have my own local crafting show and have been requested to teach some educational classes next Fall.

You really do never know where your path will take you. Carpe Diem (Sieze the Day)! That's my favorite saying right now. Take the gifts your God has blessed you with and use them.





Your are more then welcome to contact Jenni via her Etsy side or her personal website, www.jenniboriginals.com. :)

Parties for Grandma's!!

Grandma Party is an event usually held early in the year. It's for local artists to self their handmade crafty items, and hopefully get some great exposure. Last April was my 1st Grandma Party and i honestly had no expectations to sell anything. I did wonderfully. This year, i had slightly higher expectations but i was a lot more prepared and organized. Although it was a rocky start, i did quite well, and for that i am very grateful.

I recieved great feedback too! So many people gave me AMAZING encouragement, which is brilliant! One girl even said i had the best quality, another said my jewelry was one in it's kind, that no one had anything similar to mine. Thanks for all your kind words folks! I appreciate them!



It's driving me crazy that i can't post my table picture, so above is the "fitted" version, and below is the real size one. :) My friend Devan made my Cherry Runway sign. Isn't it stellar!!!! She is amazing! She also made the cream colored boards my jewelry is on, but that might be hard to see.



I had the two coolest helpers a gal could ask for. Lindsey is great at talking with people and helping me convince them they need some Cherry Runway jewels, and Riley tried to help one poor slightly tipsy guy that if he gave a random girl a necklace maybe he'd get a girlfriend. :) Seriously, though, they were super awesome and supportive and great company.


Lindsey


Riley



This is the flyer for this year's Grandma Party. To my amusement, there actually were quite a few Grandma's wandering about this time.

Art by an Inspiration.

Naomi has a shoppe easily remembered as Art By Naomi. When i 1st saw Naomi's posie paper clips i was immediately excited. BUT when i saw all of the other amazing things she created, i knew i had to message her. Naomi is such an inspiration! All of her work has such great flair, and admire how many genres of art she creates in.




1) How long have you been crafting?

I can't really remember a time when I wasn't making or creating. As a child I loved paint, paper, glue and the snip, snip sound of scissors cutting paper. Both my mother and father were creative folks so our home was a very stimulating and nurturing environment to grow up in. I especially loved making my own paper dolls from the sears catalog. My creations were really quite organic, I'd cut out the models glue them to cardboard and create lovely crayon fashons for them.



2) Did you always craft in this genre?

I firmly believe that one genre very often leads to another so no I didn't always incorporate collage elements in my art, I started out as a painter and loved creating greeting cards. Collage and mixed media just naturally evolved from card making. It's only been the last five years that collage has been a major focus and outlet for me. I still love to paint and haven't put my paint brushes away yet.




3) Who or what inspires you?

Well the list could go on and on when it comes to inspiration. When it hits you it's more of a spontneous coming together then a well thought out formula or method, at least that's been my experience. It could be anything from the color and shape of a pear to the bigness of the sky or the smallness of a dew drop. Inspriation for me is usually made up of the things I love, am drawn to and curious about, color and texture play a huge part in that mix.



4) What challenges have you found while taking your craft into the business world?

Of course the biggest challenge at the start is believing in yourself and your product. It's been my experience that we tend to rely heavily on human approval. This is not bad or good, it's just a learning and growing phase of our creative development. Any serious artist tho, has to grow from this place to finding their own voice, trusting it and being satisfied with their own approval which includes giving oneself permission to fail.
The next challenge for me was in the area of pricing, not getting to caught up in the dollar value of my art but also not degrading it by underpricing myself. There's definately a huge learning curve in staying passionate about the art without seeing it merely as a product or a means for profit.



So, go up to the links above and check out her work. She makes even more goodies of all kinds on her etsy. Check um out! :)