Revisiting Some Old Favorites
Bring on the Holiday Season!
KIWI – Oxidized brass triangle with ruby zoisite and gold glass beads
Most people are incredulous at the sight of Christmas lights in stores in late September. Yes–late September this year. (I wonder how early retailers will dare to go in the coming years…) Me–I love it. I am a huge sucker for anything holiday-ish (fun fact: I listen to Christmas music whenever I dang well feel like it–mid-February, Fourth of July, right now).
Aside from the magical feelings that anything Christmas-y induces in me, this year in particular, I am radically excited about the holiday season–yes, radically–because this will be my first holiday season as a full-time maker! 😀
HALO – Double terminated quartz crystal on brass ring
Before this year, the only craft show I’d ever done was Crafty Wonderland. I used to do the Spring and the holiday ones, but, because I still worked a full-time job at the time, I downsized to just doing the holiday one (except for last year, when I stupidly missed the application deadline).
This year, so far, I have vended/am vending at: the Portland Saturday Market, Urban Craft Uprising, First Thursday, Alberta Street Fair, and Urban Air Market. And it has been ridiculously fun. And crazy. And fun. And more crazy. [I will be posting more on each show in the future, so you can decide which ones you’d like to try!]
Which is why I am super psyched to experience the holiday season. So far, I will be at Crafty Wonderland’s holiday show and the Portland Saturday Market; I am on the waiting list for Urban Craft Uprising, and am waiting to hear back on a few others. (Dun-dun-dunnnn!)
[Jewelry pictured above available at Travel By Sea, my Etsy shop.]
Fall/Winter 2014 Collection
(Above: PEARL necklace, CRUZ layering necklace. Model/photograph: Mariya Moore.)
Wow, it has been a crazy past several months. Since my last post in March, I’ve designed and produced a few more collections (including CITY LIGHTS, my Fall/Winter 2014 collection); become waaaay more comfortable selling at different craft shows; and I even have an email subscriber list now!
(Above: KL necklace. Photograph: Mariya Moore.)
I’ll be sharing my experiences about becoming fully self-employed making and selling art and jewelry, because it is absolutely amazing, and I want to help other people do the same. I feel incredibly fortunate and grateful to be able to do what I love for a living; I also feel equally humbled and astounded! For now, I want to share these pretty photographs by a lovely person I had the pleasure to meet at Urban Craft Uprising in Seattle, Mariya Moore. Mariya is herself a creative; she makes gorgeous paper flower bouquets, cool thread artwork, and is a talented photographer as well. (See her Etsy store, Dream Like Trees, and her blog, Like Dreamers Do, for more of her work.)
(Above: J.B. necklace. Model/photograph: Mariya Moore.)
To see the rest of my CITY LIGHTS collection, visit Travel By Sea! I will be posting more over the next few weeks.
Spring Comes and Goes in Portland
In honor of spring, I wanted to share some old* photographs of springtime in its ravishing (and occasional, since spring usually doesn’t stick in Portland, Oregon) glory. (Some still have my old copyright on them… I wonder where the originals are. Hmm.)
A few of the various locations where the following photographs were taken: Farmers’ Market, Tualatin Wildlife Refuge, and Fort Stevens.
*And by ‘old’, I mean, 2010-2012… I think.
The Joy from Creating
For all my fellow artists and crafters… I know you know what I’m talking about when I say that it feels good to see the end product of something you have designed and created–whether it’s a photograph, a ceramic bowl, or a knit scarf.
I recently finished my newest collection, Origins, for my jewelry brand. This is REDANG, a pair of earrings, from said collection. I etched, polished, sanded, and painted the brass triangles, and added chain fringes. I’m absolutely ecstatic with these guys!! 😀
Available for sale here.
Sneak Peek of My New Collection, Origins!
I’m so excited to start unveiling my new jewelry collection! These are necklaces featuring brass pieces that I have etched, polished, sanded, and painted.
I love color (you need only visit my other Etsy shops, YellowcakeCrafts.etsy.com and TeaPartyAnimals.etsy.com, to see that!), but I wanted to visit the basics. Thus, Origins is a simple but striking black and brass collection with geometric graphics and patterns.
Coming next… Earrings!
This Means Business
My business cards arrived today! 😀 I did double-sided this time, with color on both sides, so you can just imagine how smashing fancy I feel. 😀 I am SO excited to start giving them out. I’ll add a coupon code on the ones I carry around (so I can direct them to my shop when someone compliments something I’ve made!).
Bring the sun back!
It rained today, which made me feel very, very lazy. (Amirite??) I did, however, get some new design templates made for my jewelry. 😀 AND we got caught up on Walking Dead. Also read a little bit more of 1421: The Year China Discovered America, which is vastly interesting. Must do more research into this.
A productive day, after all.
[Photograph taken at Smith Rock State Park summer 2013.]
Spring is here!! (I hope…)
It has been uncharacteristically sunny and warm the last several days here in Portland, Oregon. Absolutely lovely, actually! Too bad I’ve been holed up inside–BUT it’s for something good. I’ve been working on more jewelry designs, trying to figure out this whole social media marketing shebang, and hangin’ with my cats. They have a level of cool I can never hope to achieve. (And one has a level of cuddle-able-ness that I hope never to attain. As in, he’s a fat-a** cat.)
Although we did go for a hike in Forest Park today, so I feel good. 😀
[Photograph taken at Japanese Gardens.]
travel by sea 