The Road More Traveled

So... I'm on my way to GA. Day one - the longest drive - is behind me and it's all still long ways each of the next, but not as and more winding... Plus they lead to friends at the end of the day ;}

Then... I get a day of rest and visitation and then a nice Red Eye to London... Yay! More friends (long time haven't seen them) and catch up with Swans for 4 dates of the UK tour. Really looking forward to that! I'd see every show Phil ever played - if I could.

Back on Halloween (I'll be wearing the mask of exhaustion) and then make, make make to get ready for the Peachtree City Jewelry Expo on the 6th and the Calico Arts & Crafts (Moultrie) on the 13th & 14th.

THEN, I get to jet up to PA (Macungie and Philly) for a couple of Jewelry Parties and then up to Minneapolis to visit my Dad; THEN back to Utah for more Jewelry Parties and another weekly Market. New one indoors on State Street.

Well. That last one is still tentative...

Anyway. I still have room for more Jewelry Parties on the way back. So... if you're on the way to Minnesota from Philly (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, or Minnesota anyone?), drop me a line and get yourself penciled in for November 21st or 22nd (depending on how far you are from Philly/close you are to Minneapolis) or 23rd or 24th if you're on the way from Minnesota to Utah (Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Far Northern Colorado).

So, if any of those places/dates describes you... and you want a nice little custom made hosting gift and a percentage of the party's earnings in free jewelry and a discount on everything else you want - like gifts for other people maybe - either leave me a message here, OR e-mail me.

I'll post again when I get back from London and just before Peachtree with some pictures for you to drool over (or come get, depending on your position in the states and inclination as a drooler;).

Have a great Halloween and see you here in November... if I don't see you somewheres else...

Home, home, not on the range...

Well, I made it cross country and all is just as I left it... sort of.

All my stuff is just as I left it but, there are no more weekly Saturday Markets in Beacon. Going to be the Second Saturday only now. So, I'll be there on September 12th. Which means I'll be at the Mower's Market in Woodstock a little more regularly until I start doing more jewelry parties. Oh, and I'm going to be at the first Squish Art Market at the Arsenal in Brooklyn on Sunday August 30th.

I'll have some more jewelry in different retail locations around by next month too.

But more about that later. I want to tell ya'll about the trip back across to NY.

I met up with my dad in Denio Junction and went hunting for Opals. That was fun AND I found a few too. They're all Opalized wood and some of them are pretty cool. Of course, that means I have a lot of partially Opalized wood AND plain old fossilized wood too. We also went to a place where there were supposed to be Fire Agates on the way out and I found a piece of rock that looks like it could actually be Fire Opal OR, a really nice Banded Red Agate or Carnelian. Not really sure since I haven't found any pictures like it or someone to tell me what it is. Let you know when I figure it out.

We're already planning another trip out there for next year though. Til then, the Opals will be curing and then I'll figure out what to do with them. (Dad took all the pictures on that leg, so I got nothing for you. Sorry).

After the Opal hunting, I drove up to Missoula to visit Bill. We hiked and saw some high mountain glacial lakes (it was raining so, again, no pictures) and then went to Gem Mountain and found some Sapphires. Only two were deemed ok for cutting, but they said it would take 6-9 months for me to get them back, so I took them home with me. Along with the smaller and fractured ones AND a couple Garnets and a nice little pebble of Hematite. Oh, and a bag of bigger rocks too.

That was fun too.

I love digging around in the dirt for nice rocks. I have a LOT of them to wrap and polish and play with too. Guess I know what I'll be doing this Winter;}

Oh, and here's a picture of the Gem Mountain part of the trip.

The rest was DRIVING, driving, Driving. I saw some great things - as I drove by - and got stuck in a LOT of construction traffic past Illinois. Probably would have been back a few hours earlier if it weren't for all the stopped dead then 15 miles of 20 MPH driving that occurred from Indiana to NY. Road rage did also ensue (after 9 hours of driving through that kind of thing, it is really inevitable).

One of the really amazing things I saw I couldn't get a picture of. No place to pull over and then it was dark. Along my right side there were plateaus as far as the eye could see AND it was raining on that side (not where I was or the other side though) and really wide rainbows were coming down - STRAIGHT down - from the clouds and landing on the plateaus. I saw a double one with lightening striking to the side of the smaller second one.

Really beautiful and amazing! Wish I had that picture!

Wish I was still in dry heat with cold mountain nights too... well, I never did like the humidity much and it's been raining a lot with high temps so, it's pretty much like living in a sauna. Not my favorite place to live....

Ok. So I'm ready for Fall, what can I say? That IS my favorite season.

Blah Blah Blogging... In Utah

Well, we made it to Utah.

Tomorrow is the first Park Silly Market for me. I'll be on Main just below 7th on the left side heading toward 9th (orange row, number 9) under the umbrella.

No Arkansas diamonds revealed themselves to us, unfortunately. Lots of Arkansas Jasper did though. We found some nice Rhodonite, Mica Schist and Agates in the Rocky Mountain National Park too. Stayed in the Manor House at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park (not really haunted where we were at least, but a bit run down and very squeaky doors for effect - we assumed) and got up to 12,000 plus feet above sea level. Beautiful Alpine Meadows and a little sleet and wind burn. Very nice.

Oh, and we ran into some almost tornado clouds in Kansas. There was a warning where we were going to stay, so we drove up a little further and the skies cleared. Phil took a bunch of pics with his new iPhone. So, here are some of the pictures from our trip so far:

This is at the Precious Moments Chapel in Missouri just north of Arkansas (we had to get Bethany a wedding gift there. You can ask her about it:). It was kind of like a big eyed children smurf place. Kinda creepy and kind of inspirational all at once.

Lots of people were hoping to dig up some diamonds. No one did while we were there:

The storm clouds over Kansas. They were really beautiful! Didn't manage to get any pictures of the lightening though.

Oh yah. They had the Shining channel at the Stanley. There was a Stanley Steamer one too. They just played the same thing over and over. Obviously, this is from the Shining channel.

The beautiful Rocky Mountains. We got sick on the first day of hiking. Not sure if it was altitude or heat. We went from 8100 feet straight up to 9500 in less than 3 miles of hiking. Strenuous, high altitude, bright sunshine heat hiking. Man, we're out of shape!

The next day we drove out through the park and stopped a lot and did the views and short hikes. This is wayyyyy up there, but not quite the top.

Oh, yah. We stopped at the Dinosaur National Monument when we got over the Utah border. The Visitors Center was closed for repairs, but we got to take a short walk and see about three fossils in the mountains next to it. This is one of them.

So, today we're hanging with my sis and taking a walk around the wonders of Park City. Hiking wonders. The rain is coming so maybe we'll find a few Quartz Crystals washed down the trails. Been a while since I was able to walk around here and find any, but I have a lot of them from back then.

And, that's the trip up to now.

Oh. There is an update on show dates... if you're in the Salt Lake area...

Cousin Matt hooked me up for another independent craft show on Sunday, August 2nd. It's called the Craft Sabbath and runs from Noon till 4pm at Nobrow Coffee and Tea, 315 E 300 S in Salt Lake City. So cool, they were voted best of the Beehive for 2009 by Salt Lake Magazine! I'm really honored to be included and I'll have mostly $50 and under goods with me and probably a lot of new stuff that I'll be making next week (since I plan to sell most of what I have at that level tomorrow;).

Trekking Cross Country, Wanna Meet Somewhere Along the Way?

Hey Everybody!

Just a week before I leave for the vast expanses of the great SouthWest. Stopping in Arkansas for Bethany's wedding and then on to dig up diamonds and get a good scare! Yep, dig up diamonds. Crater of Diamonds Park is just a short (relatively speaking) drive south from Fayetteville and they let you dig in the dirt and keep what you find (for a small fee) so Wish me Luck!

If I find anything good, I'll make something out of it... I like the look of raw diamonds. Oh, and if it's really good, I might just pay off some CC's... That would be nice too.

Then, we're off to Colorado to spend a night at the Stanley Hotel and see if we can get Phil to see a ghost. I've already seen a few and he says he won't believe it til he sees it, so Wish him Luck too.

Then, we're across to stay with my sister for a couple days in Park City before my first, ever, Park Silly Sunday Market. If you're around there on the 26th, I'll make sure to say hi! ;}

Phil has to leave to come back to work right after that and then I'll be on my own - with just my family and friends - for two more weeks before driving back. One more Park Silly before I go and then maybe I'll be stopping at your place for a Jewelry Party?

Somewhere inbetween I might even head NorthWest a bit more and join my dad for a day of opal digging too. Have to get the rest of my Utah party schedules finalized before I know if and when though.

So, what's up with you?

Oh, and here's a picture Phil took of some of the jewelry I made with his miniature watercolors - all originals and some are going to Raindance in Beacon and the rest are going with me to Park City:

All The Cool People Were in the Garden at Hatch Market

Well, I'm finally back from Georgia and I had a great time. 

As with most first time events, there were glitches, but I'm sure they'll get it all sorted out by next year - I'm totally up for a next year it was so much fun! 

I actually got bumped to a different location than I was told due to the glitches, but that was a much better spot so I totally lucked out that way. 

The Garden, where I got bumped to, was cooler in temperature AND in vendor population! We all got along famously and, even though we didn't have as much foot traffic, we all made our money back and then some. We even did a little bartering at the end of the event too. 

There were pergolas and a fountain and we weren't out in 80 degree weather on asphalt! We made new friends and had a good laugh. We all sold enough to make it worth being there. PLUS, I got to catch up with my simply wonderful family friend whom I hadn't seen in twenty years! She's actually the reason I went to Griffin for the show, since she lives close to Griffin. And, to show you how amazing she is, Carol asked ME if she could be my assistant at the Market! What more could you ask for?

Pictures you say? 

Ok. 

This is my table:

This is our neighbor, Jessie, with her father in law and my good friend Carol. We traded a necklace for some hand painted martini glasses. She has cool customized note cards too:

This is Erin and crew (this is from the Mother's Day day so part of the crew was her mom;). Her soaps smelled sooo wonderful, I traded her a pair of earrings for some:

Joy and Tiffin shared a pergola just behind us and to the left. That's Tiffin on the right and um, a Scoop lady I didn't get her name on the left in the green Hatch Market Scoop Magazine shirt and apron. Tiffin had cool hand painted lamps:

This is Amy. She's the manager of The Clothesline in Griffin and coveted much but couldn't trade me for her bosses goods. She is hooking me up with a friend of hers who has a shop in Little Five Points in Atlanta though:

This is most of the gang on the left side of the garden, you can almost make out Amy in the pergola on the right, and the fountain before we got it gurgling on Sunday. I can't remember the name of lovely lady in the front. Darn. She was so quiet, but had some great prints and paintings and was really nice and talented. I didn't get her card though. Not sure she had any:

These lovely ladies are sisters, and were knitting together on Saturday. Kathryn (on the right) had her husband buy her a pair of earrings from me - they looked FABULOUS on her:

They were behind the fountain. After we got it gurgling, a woman baptized her baby in it. Well, we had a church on either side of us and it was Mother's Day, so we all just assumed that's what she was doing. At least she wasn't drinking from it like the two boys the day before: 

So, that's the cool crew from Hatch. Plus, since Erin is on Etsy and so is JoyAnn (who I didn't get a picture of but was in the back pergola behind and to the left of my table with Tiffin), and I'm also on Etsy (and that's how I found out about the show), I will now give you their shop addresses: 

Fabulous smelling soaps plus: (E! La! La!) erinlala.etsy.com

Repurposed vintage jewelry:   joyajewelry.etsy.com

Plus there was someone else just outside our fence who made recycled clothes and purses and such who's also on etsy who was pretty cool. SoSheSews.etsy.com:

You can barely see her just to the left of the gate in the way too bright and hot pass through to the wonderfully cool Garden... the beginning of which, next to the asphalt lot, is where I was supposed to be. 

Ok. To be fair, there were a lot of nice people outside the Garden too. Hutch was the coolest. He was roasting coffee beans in the main area to show people how his coffee is done in Griffin. He also knew people under the tent with us and kept coming back to say hi. Plus, I met a lot of great people who weren't part of the show too. Some of whom were friends of Jessica's and a lot of her husband's friends. Saturday was like a receiving line next to us with all the people he knew coming by to say hi. He was also friends with one of the bands that played on Saturday so it was a party at their table all day. 

Of course, there were some Really wonderfully nice people in attendance too! 

Not to mention the wonderful Scoop Magazine ladies who made the effort and got it done! AND especially all the event location ladies who worked til late Friday night to make sure the tents and tables were up!  

Thanks ladies! 

So, that was Hatch. 

I've got a custom ring to make and send and have to send some e-mails to the Hatch people and get ready for the Hudson River Market on Saturday as well (wish us a sunny day cause it's supposed to rain). So I gotta go and get to it now. 

Ta Rah.

There Ain't No Party Like a Family and Friends Jewelry Party!

So, I'm doing a jewelry party a week from Tuesday. Excited, and stressed about it all at once. 

This is my first one so it's going to be the test and the big learning curve event for all parties to come. Plus, financially, I kind of need the party to go well. ie: I need to sell a bunch of jewelry. I have no idea how many people are coming to buy jewelry, so I don't know how much to bring. I need to bring enough for the people who are planning to buy, but I don't want to bring too much either since it's pretty far away. I don't really have a way of displaying anything except by loose display in the boxes they come in either, so I'm hoping that won't be a problem. That's the stress part. Which isn't really too bad as far as stress goes - except for the financial need part. 

It should be a pretty big party, but I know a lot of people (family actually) who are coming later, just for the party part and not buying anything. Though, I have had some requests for somewhat specific things people want, so hopefully, that's a good sign of success to come. I'm planning to take custom orders while I'm at it too, so that will hopefully help with the financial success part.

Been thinking about doing a craft show or two as well. Of course, I have to buy or make a lot of displays to do that. It also seems that most of the ones listed near me are all juried. I don't know that I have a good enough photo of anything, let alone several things, to be included in a juried show. Or that my jewelry is actually appropriate for a juried show. Though, to be fair, some of the photos in the lesser know "juried" shows' websites don't show anything that's really that daunting as far as getting into the show. The whole thing is a bit daunting though. I'd really like to find a small local one to get started with or someone to share a table with at a bigger show. Someone with craft show experience. 

I really need a vacation from the store. I really need the store to start being more successful in the new location too. And support from my "business partner". I'm mostly stressed about what's going on with that right now. Ah, the Happy Blahg;} Blahg. Ha. That's funny. I need a vacation. 

The Spring in Your Bling

                                                               

Well,  it might be threatening to snow later in the day, but my amaryllis have leaves and Mourning Doves have started cooing me awake each morning, and I felt like changing my blog to lighter colors so, I think Spring is imminent! To prove it, I've been making things with leaves and flowers and rocks and watery stones. Then photographing them to show others - who may eventually want to give me money to have it all to themselves...  or to give to someone else they'd like to have it more. 

I've also been making things with gemstones that look like those other things mentioned above (which I'd show you, but I'm  having trouble getting the images to upload and move around properly. Apparently,  it's only all in the same alignment or they load in the different arrangement on top of the blog and can't be moved around. hmmm. can't find any help issues that address this so I guess you only get the one image today and my blog will not be as planned. Looks like I'm going to have to learn a little more HTML so I can make it do what I want - any help with this problem would  be appreciated!)

Oh, and I did my bead Spring cleaning last week. Anyone else Spring cleaning? Inclined to? Know what I'm talking about? The car gets it tomorrow. Oil change, tire rotation, a good vacuuming... tune up when it's actually warm outside and I don't have to stay in the waiting room cause I don't want to brave the weather to walk down to the store and back while they're working on my mode d'transport. 

Yes, Spring is coming. 

The legs are getting fidgety to take long walks in the woods... inspiration from nature leaps to my mind and into my fingers and voila, creation... the ideas are pouring into my brain so fast they're practically keeping me from sleeping! Unfortunately, I'm having to file most of them away for now as the other menial but necessary tasks of life must take precedence. Noh? Well, they do if I want to have a roof from under which to work! 

Ah, life on the road. Those were the days. Not a care in the world - except the car. Hoping this year is the turning when I get to rome around the country plying my wares. Anyone who wants me to come visit them better be ready to host a rockin jewelry party so I can afford to come out! Rockin? With enough people ready to buy some jewelry that my trip is paid for AND the bills for that month. Work will have to be missed after all...

Anybody? I'm ready! 

Falalalla Spring....