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Today I had an exceptionally great session of soldering. It was going so well that I may have soldered the most I ever have in one sitting. I find that soldering can be somewhat iffy at times, and it seems there needs to be the perfect mix of temperature, humidity, wind from the fan, solder iron heat, the aligning of the planets, and my mood. And today apparently they were all spot on! There are times when I sit down, planning to finish a sizable batch of soldering, only to have to abandon that intention after two pieces because something in 'the great balance of soldering' is off, and everything is going wrong. The tape doesn't stick, the solder gets totally chunky, the flux doesn't do it's job. It's all a loss. Best thing in that case is to just put it all down and try again some other time. Like today. Today was beautiful.

By the way, notice the orientation of the pendants above? They are an additional style I started to make pendants in. I am absolutely thrilled about the way they are coming out. Up until now all my rectangle pendants have been vertical, but these pendants will hang horizontally, with the chain going through two rings instead of the single one. These should be added to the site some time soon, but they will be at shows with me as soon as I have them cleaned up!

As I finished up soldering today I got inspired by one of the vintage wallpaper pieces (I think you'll be able to tell which one) and decided to have a go at designing my own pattern. The idea had been in my head after reading in several blogs about Spoonflower. The idea of being able to get fabrics printed in your own patterns just makes me so giddy you won't believe. But I have never made a pattern before so had to do a bit of googling to get myself acquainted with the process. With the rushed search I performed I didn't find any one great place to spoon feed me the info, but I got the gist of it by looking at a few sites and adding 1+1.

This is what I cam up with. Isn't it sweet! I made lots of mistakes on the way, and this particular version would be sacrilege to ever send to an actual printer, but isn't that the way to learn best! Making mistakes, figuring out where you did what wrong, and trying it again. So even though I totally messed up here several times, I wanted to share it, because it makes me a little bit proud. (I am easily pleased)

Speaking of learning, I am working on a pendant soldering tutorial to post on this blog here soon. So if you are into that kind of a thing, check back later!

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Well, it seems that this tropical storm Hannah is going to be me messing with my shows schedule these next two weekends. This weekend I was looking forward to setting up at the Wilmington Art and Antique walk, but the city had to pull it's license for that show as it's outdoor, in the path of the storm, and it's going to be awfully wet and windy right around that time, they just didn't want anybody getting hurt while getting some artful goods.

Fortunately they did re-issue a permit for allowing the show to instead happen the following Saturday, but I am already signed up to to the Designers Downtown Market at that time. I am going to have to be creative with this situation. I want to be at both, but there is only one of me. What to do.

While I figure this out, I do want to wish luck to all the people who are going to be (more) seriously inconvenienced by the buckets of rain and unavoidable flooding that this will most likely cause. I hope all will stay safe, dry and I hope the flooding will not ruin all you've worked for all year!

On a lighter note, today I have been furiously photographing all my stock of the Made of Money earrings, and began listing a few in the Etsy shop. Something tells me they will soon get a more permanent spot on the website, but for now the Etsy shop will do.

At my last show the Made Of Money necklaces were my best seller BY FAR! I don't think I have ever had any specific style sell as well as these necklaces did, I sold TONS! Which really excited me as it's so nice to know that when I think I am on to something I actually am! I am not crazy after all. Well, not all the time anyways.

Lastly, back to hurricanes- if you'd like a fun little tool that shows you this years hurricanes paths, past, current, and predictable future, find it here. Careful it's a little addicting. Then again maybe that's just me.

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I went ahead and added all the vintage wallpaper rings I currently have in stock to the website. Until now they were only available in the etsy shop, but I am so in love with these rings and I know they are going to be a staple in my collections so they need their own permanent section on the site.

This is one of the things I really enjoy about maintaining a etsy shop even though I already have an active website. My reason #1 is that Etsy has risen so much in popularity among shoppers as a destinations to find great handmade products that I would be stupid not to create a level of visibility there, but secondly it's a great little spot to get some exposure for new creations and get a feeling for any reactions they get.

Even though Etsy itself doesn't offer any stats yet aside from item views, (hopefully this will change soon) I love to use this little place to monitor reactions on each piece, and seeing how some items are more instantly loved in relation to others. It greatly helps me in making decisions in what to keep up, and what to let go.

Anyhow, go check out the rings I have in stock now- they are only $25 and make a GREAT gift.

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So I can't seem to get this idea of project 365 out of my head, even though I have tried it twice before and both times I stopped a small while into it. If you re not already familiar with p365, it's a project that I found on Flickr (where I host the bulk of my pictures) where you take a picture everyday for a year, and share them online. There is a slew and ever growing number of people that participate in it, with a great range from snapshots, to amateur, to proffesional photographers. I'd like to think I am of the 'snapshot to amateur' photography range. I really admire professional photography, and I really enjoy tinkering around with my camera, so I suppose more accurately I am a 'snapshot photographer with a dream' And so p365 is a great way to go through my day exercising a little bit of a photographer's eye, while at the same time getting an opportunity to play a little with my camera settings, while hopefully growing more comfortable with the lesser known settings.

I'd really like to succeed in at least one run of p365, but I need to find a way to keep me motivated. And I think I've got it figured out. I am going to try to set a 'theme' for each week. For instance this week1, the theme will be 'school', conveniently enough as my son is starting kindergarten. I'd love to have your help in picking out themes for the remaining 51 weeks in the next 365 days. And themes can be anything really as I am planning on keeping my interpretations of the themes fairly loose. So it can be a feeling, a thing, a color, a word, a book, a country, an animal, an object, a season, a name, a concept, absolutely anything at all. I'd really love it if you gave me a theme (or 2 or 9) to help me keep motivated with keeping the p365 going, and help me by switching it up every week. Comment below to tell me your theme suggestion(s)

I am going to be keeping all my 365 pictures on a separate page this time around, see here if you want. Or for all old and current attempts, see the flickr folder.

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Today is Nolan's first day of Kindergarten, and so I have been enjoying a day of quiet uninterrupted cleaning, work and music listening. I have loved toting around town with my little man all summer, and soaking up all the goodness summer has to offer with him by my side, but MAN what a thoroughly enjoyable time is to be had when he is at school for several hours every day! Last year, towards the end of his first (and only) year at preschool I had started to take the peace and quiet and therefor extremely productive days for granted. I did not realize this until summer started, and preschool ended. I vow now to NEVER take this for granted again.

Other than the peace and quiet (did I mention this already?) I also really enjoy the days that Nolan goes to school because 1- Nolan L.O.V.E.S school. He loves the attention, the activities, the kids, the teachers, the play time, the learning, the reading, and whatever else he comes across during his school day. So it's obviously a much more stimulating place for him compared to at home where I only have limited attention, energy, and time for such exciting things. And 2- By the time he comes home I always feel like I can be so much of a better rested, focussed, and not-yet worn down mommy to him. And that feels good.

So what have I been doing with my (uninterrupted ) time today? Before Greg even came back from dropping Nolan off I had cleaned the kitchen, picked of all of the 200 toys around the house, and made both beds! Then I was able to go straight into work (WOW), got orders ready to ship, made a special order, took pictures of all the new vintage wallpaper earrings, edited every single one of them, listed a few on Etsy (more to be added later), added songs onto my play lists, got to spend a few minutes on facebook, and here I am now, I even have time to update my blog before Greg brings Nolan home again. Pure Bliss!



Now this is Nolan's only day of school this week due to staggered entry, and he is not going back until Tuesday next week, but consider me one rested and recharged mommy already!

The Handmade Market: Because "MALL" Is a Four-letter Word

Shop for unique handcrafted goods and support independent designers at The Handmade Market in Raleigh, NC.

 

October 15, 2007 (Raleigh, NC) - The Handmaidens (http://www.thehandmaidens.com), a collective of North Carolina artists and designers, are pleased to announce the fourth installment of Raleigh, NC’s The Handmade Market (http://www.thehandmademarket.com).

 

The Handmade Market will be held on Saturday, November 3rd from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. at Vintage 21 (117 South West Street in downtown Raleigh). The Market has moved to a new and much larger space to accommodate more vendors and provide a roomier shopping experience for all our loyal and new customers.  Whether you're looking for a unique holiday gift or a special treat for yourself, you're sure to find what you're looking for (and more) at The Handmade Market. Over 50 participating designers were hand selected to represent a diverse group of handcrafted goods including jewelry, apparel, fashion accessories, housewares, photography & fine art, items for babies and kids, paper goods, and much more. Many of the designers are local, but others are traveling from as far as Florida and Michigan to participate in The Handmade Market.

 

In lieu of an admission fee, shoppers will have the opportunity make a donation to Hospice of Wake County (http://www.hospiceofwake.org/), a local organization that provides physical, emotional, and spiritual care to those living with an advanced illness, their caregivers, and those who have lost a loved one. The Handmaidens are featuring this
charity to honor their dear friend and fellow artist, Stephanie Acai, who passed away in 2006 after a long struggle with brain cancer.  Shoppers purchasing a raffle ticket are eligible to win goods and services donated by local and national businesses.

 

About The Handmade Market: This event is presented and organized by The Handmaidens (http://www.thehandmaidens.com), an NC collective of nine artists, designers and crafters.  The Handmade Market is a semiannual shopping event that features a selection of the best and brightest emerging artists, independent designers, and crafters from NC and beyond.  For additional information about The Handmade Market, including a complete list of participating artists, designers, and sponsors, please visit:  http://www.thehandmademarket.com 

Call For Vendors: The Handmade Market in Raleigh, NC

Raleigh, NC's The Handmade Market is set for Saturday, November
3rd from 11 am until 5 pm.

 

This show is our 4th semiannual event, and it's going to be our biggest one
yet! Our brand new and much larger venue in downtown Raleigh can accommodate
more designers and will provide a roomier shopping experience for our customers.

If you think you've got what it takes to be a vendor at The Handmade Market,
hop on over to the Website to learn more about our show and to submit an application:
http://www.thehandmademarket.com

The application deadline is September 23rd at 5 pm Eastern time.

Also visit our Website for information about becoming a Sponsor, Volunteer,
or to make a Donation to our Charity Raffle to benefit Hospice of Wake County.

Hope to see you there!

The Handmaidens,

Producers of The Handmade Market

http://www.thehandmaidens.com

http://www.thehandmademarket.com

The Handmade Market is set for Saturday, May 5th from 11am until 5pm at Vintage 21 (209 Oberlin Rd. in Raleigh, NC).

Mark your calendars, and join us for some spectacular shopping from emerging artists, independent designers, and crafters.

If you think you've got what it takes to be a vendor at The Handmade Market, we encourage you to hop on over to the website to submit an application.

The deadline to submit your application is Saturday, March 17th, so don't delay - get your application in right away!

In addition to vendors, we're also looking
for volunteers, sponsors, and donations for our charity raffle to benefit The Women's Center of Wake County. Please drop us a line if you're interested in any of these opportunities, and we'll send you the details.

For a while now I've wanted to make 'crafty reminders' that I could put on etsy so artists and crafters can use them in their own projects to remind themselves, or their friends to do the things they love. There's even an option for completely custom pendants where people can choose the word(s) and color(s) they want. Well, I finally made them as sterling plated resin filled pendants and I put them up last night. Go get 'em crafters!