Catching up in pictures

Funky Ferndale deserves it's own pictures...

Jon Hecker was next to me with the Tattoo Dreams booth so there are a couple shots of his booth. Notice the great hanging beads that Pat's now doing! Becka Strachan got a customized Tattoo Dreams table and looks pretty happy!

Then there's a picture of the space behind my booth at the show. This fit with the whole theme of the show perfectly!

My favorite - the balloon man was making balloon collars for all the big dogs...

I'm not funky...

It's now for certain. According to the Funky Ferndale show, I'm no longer in the "funky" group.

Had great fun at the show with Jon Hecker in the booth next door (Pat was home very sick), showing their Tattoo Dreams. And the people watching was fantastic! But I felt either old or just out of my element. My work didn't fit into the show or the people there. But it was FUN!!!

Next up for me is the wonderful Cottonwood Art Festival in Richardson Texas, a suburb of Dallas. This is a relatively new show for me and I absolutely love it! Everyone is so very nice plus people actually like my jewelry!!! And I get to see the great jewelry photographer, Marilyn O'Hara!

It's all good...even if I'm no longer funky...

I have found my true calling...

I want to be an art fair roadie! This past weekend I did just that when I went to Fourth Street Festival in Bloomington IN with Michael as his roadie. Now my motives weren't pure since the Hecker's live there and were showing their Tattoo Dreams work in the booth next door. I was seeing social time ahead. And there was!

As a roadie there's no stress before the show. Nothing to get ready, nothing to make, nothing to worry about. Pack up your clothes and go. No maps to print, no show info to read, no wondering if you're on grass or pavement or if it's going to rain. None of that. Just sit in the seat and ride! Stop for gas and someone else pays for it. Oh, this is sweet!!!

Setup was pretty easy since again, I had no worries. I got to move Michael's work around the way I liked it even though he moved some things back. I didn't sweat the parking situation, even though it was perfect there. Pat and Jon knew all the greatest places to eat so we ate really well and I could even eat garlic, which I love. If I had a booth I'd be way too close to people to get away with garlic breath but not in Michael's.

I made the first sale in the booth on Saturday which was fun. Later in the day, Pat needed a booth break so we left the guys in charge of both booths and we went to catch up in Starbucks, only coming back 2 hours later because they called us. We had lots to catch up on!

The show does people counts once and hour and I volunteered for a shift each day which was great fun since it was new to me. So if you read their estimates of attendance, they should be more accurate than most. I did some booth sitting for friends that were by themselves since I know how much I appreciate it when people do it for me.

Oh, the freedom I had was wonderful! I could somewhat come and go. Drank lots of coffee and met wonderful people at the show. Got very wet walking around on Sunday when I actually got to see the show. That never happens when I have my own booth...

So I've now found my true calling. I just have to find people to actually pay me to do it!

Etsy Workshop

I want to sell my jewelry on Etsy. The problem is that there's a learning curve and all kinds of things to be aware of and different ways of doing things and on and on. I'd love to say that I don't have time to deal with it but that wouldn't really be the truth. I chose not to take the time to learn it all. But I still want to sell on Etsy.

Luckily, there's help for people like me! Thanks to Jon and Patricia Hecker, I don't have to take the time and effort to learn it all on my own. They have culled all the information I need into a 90 minute workshop which they are presenting. Luckily, they brought it to Kalamazoo the night before the Garage Sale Art Fair!

Although they've been helping me get my Etsy site up and running all along, I still came away with 2 full pages of notes. All kinds of things to do or use. What I really loved were all the little tips and tricks that they've picked up over time. Pat spends time on the different forums and came up with all kinds of things I had never even considered which will help my site get noticed and hopefully sell more work. Once I actually get work up there!

So look for my jewelry on my Etsy site soon!

This is their official disclaimer - “The term ‘Etsy’ is a trademark of Etsy, Inc. This workshop is not endorsed or affiliated with Etsy, Inc. It is being conducted by two experienced artists who have maintained a steady presence on etsy.com”

The perfect box!

As I'm sitting here in frigid Michigan alternating between freezing and stripping everything off for a hot flash (brought on by my lovely new cancer fighting drugs), Patricia Hecker sends me a link to the perfect box for women.

Hopefully I'm not breaking all kinds of rules but I'm copying what she wrote as a description of the box since it's hilarious!

Please go buy the box since otherwise I will!

"Description For all my sisters........I present to you ....The Bitch Box!
Yes, you read that correctly! The Bitch Box........perfect for all of us going through 'the change'.......
Nothing prepares one for the emotional upheaval, the internal fires, the ups and downs associated with menopause.
Makes having a period look fun!

This cute box will hold dearly all your medicinal and herbal elixirs to survive PMS and the bitchy days ahead of menopause!
.........Everything except a bottle of tequila!

So if you relate to this box, you owe it to yourself to buy it!
Now!
Yes, NOW!
Like a box of bon bons on the couch while watching soap opera's, or half a pan of macaroni and cheese..or cake batter off the beaters......
make this yours..........

By this point, I hope you're laughing!
You know that 10 minutes later you may be crying, so hit the button now, toss it in your cart, unstrap your bra and throw caution to the wind! In a few days, this fun box will be arriving to your door while you're still in your jammies polishing off the last of the Haagen Dazs!

It's 6" wide, 6 1/4"deep and 6 1/2" tall. It has a sliding lid, 2 tone charming (unswollen) pink feet and sexy black velvet lining the bottom."

PS - She now has another box...

Catching up with pictures

I finally downloaded my pictures and discovered how much updating I need to do here! This was my booth at the By Hand Cleveland show with Patricia and Jon Hecker of Tattoo Dreams next door, at their very first show with this work. Great neighbors of course but also a beautiful booth stocked full of beautiful pieces!

And this is one of my favorite pictures of Pat and Jon, in their Tattoo Dreams booth!

The pictures below are of my corner "display" in my booth at the show. It won an award! I was so proud!!! It was given to me by my next door neighbor...



This show, By Hand Cleveland, was really a fun event. If you're in the Cleveland area, be sure and look for it next year!