Squishy Halloween!

Well, my really cool spider cut gemstones didn't arrive in time for me to make the amazing spider rings I intended, but I'm still going to be at the Squish Artists Market on Saturday. With some new rings. Just not ones with spiders cut into the bottom of the facets (they look soooo cool!) If I have time to make them before next weekend, I'll put them up in my Etsy shop. But don't hold your breath.

I have a lot of stuff to do and get made cause I have shows every weekend until Xmas... and I never got around to making my fall collections, so I have to hustle a little bit... and make some swag for IndieMade too... ya... I think I'll be lucky to get my laundry done!

I just added a bunch of stuff to my Etsy store though - that I meant to put up like a year ago - and have a few more things to list this week and next week and the week after. So keep your eyes peeled for new listings... or, if you twitter, you can follow me and get tweeted every time a listing gets added to my store so you know exactly what's new ... And you can find out when I post new pictures to my Flickr page... And when I put up a new blog posting. Like this one.

Ok, well, I have to get some stuff made and try to clean up my hovel a little bit today, among other things, so I better leave it here.

Hope to see you at Squish Saturday (1-7pm 3rd Street, Brooklyn) and maybe at some other shows and markets in the near future too. Thankfully, none of them will be outside - did I mention I got sick from being out all day in winter weather last weekend? Well, it was pretty out... and I did get a lot of fresh air... and met some nice people... and lost the feeling in my extremities and slept all day the next two days...

This is my tent at The Fall Foliage Festival in Highland Falls last Saturday, BRRRRR!

(this picture has been lightened and brightened; it was really cold and dark that day; it sleeted!)

Yay indoor markets!

New Hudson River Market

[Another quicky... this officially makes the most blog posts I've ever written in one week...]

The NewNew and Hudson Valley Etsy Street Teams teamed up with Paper Presence and are having the Fall Calvalcade in Beacon on the same day as the next Hudson River Market. So, I thought I'd better put up a big notice for the 5 or so people who read my blog and live close enough to come down and help make all our days - on the lawn on Main Street - next Saturday!

That's next Saturday, September 12th, from 11am-6pm; just like the sign above says. [Click on the post title for a Google Maps link to the actual location, and on the poster image for the full size to print for your collection]

Thanks in advance, and I hope everyone has a great long weekend!

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.

Writing For And About Others...

Guess what I did this week? Go ahead. I'll wait...

Ok. I'll tell you:

I wrote an intereview for Smidge. The Canadian website/forum/blog about all things Etsy cool and fabulous, and it's up there right now. It's on/with Jessica Pierce who created Spidercamp and it's all about her rude little rabbits - and pocket bacon - and why they exist. Oh, and about how super cool they are and how nice and talented Jessica is... ya, it's a bit kiss ass, but I really like her stuff (I got two of her rabbits for Phil, I'm looking at the little "poop" one now - I was the first one to get a tiny version, by special request, cause I'm so cool!;) 

I already know who I'm going to ask to do the next one too... the intereview on that is... but I'll let you know when I get a go ahead from subject and publication alike. 

Speaking of which, I have a spot in the Etsy group ad in the June issue of Bust Magazine that comes out today - well, probably just to subscribers - so peel your eyes for that and wish me money well spent! That would be another form of good luck...

I used this for my section of the ad:

But I haven't seen the ad yet... hopefully I'll be able to grab a copy soon and check out how it came out. Haha, I  just looked at the site and they have a single issue for sale, so I thought: I'll just have it delivered! Not going to happen! Cost me almost exactly the same price for shipping as the mag! Which would make the single issue cost, appropriately enough since it is the 15th anniversary issue, $15+! 

Crazy, I just checked out the bottom half of the online Bust homepage (under lady pink) and there was a picture of this past weekend's Beacon art event, Electric Windows! I missed it cause it was the exact hours the shop was open, but it looks pretty good. I'll definitely have to wander down and have look in person soon! Hmmm, seems you can let them know about special events right from and onto the website. I'll have to remember that for my next opening/special event! 

Ok. Got a lot to do and get done for the day so I'll leave it here for now and you guys go click around and check out and read and leave comments and have a fun day full of bad words and other things that start with the letter "B". I'm off to clean the bathroom! 

It's All About the Blog...

Talking with my significant where would I be without the other day and the topic of Blogs came up. As it does so often in the news and on comedy shows and other places in daily life these days, blogs just come up. This particular conversation started out:

Where did the name "Blog" come from?

This question is much like the question:

Why do they call them "Biners" in the U.S. and "Crabs" in Oz? 

It's the kind of question that leads to the pondering of such things as:

If they were made famous in another country, would they be called something else? And what would that something else be? (this is the cue for you all to jump in with pithy comments!)

The answer to the Q. that started the whole thing is inevitably: It's short for web log. As far as I know. But, people were doing this long before it was common and commonly known as a blog. So, what was it called in the early incarnations? 

Web Diary. Blather. Newsletters. Letters. (another perfect place to add comments and ideas about)

As many of you have already read, or knew before, I'm not really partial to the blog moniker. It sounds like a verbalized euphemism for online diarrhea... or vomit... which, I guess, in some cases it is. 

Personally, I prefer to think of it all as a kind of cathartic release. A silently verbal pressure release valve. (another cue for comments right here)

When I join the forums and read the advice for why and how you should blog when I'm roaming Etsy, they all seem to allude to the "promotion" issue. Ok. Some are just straight out saying: Blog to promote! I'm not really in agreement with this advice. On the whole. Obviously, there is some shameless self promotion featured prominently on my blog site. There is also some promotion of others and recommendations of things I think are fun and entertaining. However, I don't feel inclined to use the wordy aspect of the blog medium for shameless mememeness. 

Ok. The whole thing is not always about me, but in general, it is my thoughts and what I'm doing. THAT is the point of doing this though, isn't it? To express thoughts and ideas to and with people you don't connect regularly enough with or who you might not connect with otherwise? My intention for starting this was to allow my friends and family a place to check in to see what I'm up to and get a feel for what my life is like when they aren't around (which is, with most everyone I know living in another state or country, unfortunately most of the time). Sometimes that includes stuff about my jewelry (which then pertains to my Etsy shop); sometimes it's just random thoughts expressed on the computer (which is aimed primarily at my friends). Depends on where my head is at the day I sit down to write and what pops out through my fingers when I actually get into the act of spewing. 

Well, yes. Spewing. That is definitely the way it feels, AND, definitely the kind of thing that fits right into the sound you get when you talk about the thing you are now reading. They do call it a BLOG; and what sounds more like an onomatopoeia for spewing than that? 

The Revolution May Very Well Be Online

Whew! This running three business things is taking it's toll. I'm ready to go back on the road. Waaay more relaxing! 

Just opened another Etsy store for pearldaddy Wed. Extra pearls and clasps and things like that for sale. Right now, supplies. More pictures taken and some jewelry will get added in the next couple weeks too. So, I've been doing as much promotion online as I can - mostly while at the store - and trying to get all the things that keeping that place open entails too. Which is a lot. Have a couple custom orders I have to get to next week. Had to order some things for that so I have a week before I can really get started. 

Big art opening on Saturday at pearldaddy too. Party with music and all planned. So, there is still that to prepare for. Just finished the store newsletter today and'll get that cleaned up and off in the virtual mail later tonight. I also added a new listing on my regular Etsy site today. Spent the morning editing the photos and writing the description then did a bit of promo surfing. In the Treasury, leaving comments. In the forum joining in conversations and leaving links. Going to blogs and commenting there. (oh, I've got a pendant and chain in the Smidge May Giveaway; if you want to leave a comment there for your chance to win it: http://smidge.ca  OR you can always just get one from my Etsy store below)

My whole week has pretty much been spent in front of the computer. AND, I'm looking to pick up another part time job that will require an additional 10 hours or so infront of the computer. One of those do from home things working for someone else with an online store presence. 

I added a bunch of new links on this blogsite too. Some fun stuff to do and great places to look for cool stuff. Some Etsy related and some not. Look around and see what you can find. I'll probably be rearranging it as you look so don't freak out if you come back from a link and the link is somewhere else. I think I'll spend the rest of the week changing the blog layout around. Just so I can burn the hell out of my retinas! 

I don't think it's possible to spend too much time on the computer, no matter how nauseous it makes me feel. No matter how much my arms and wrists hurt. No matter how much my eyes burn. The computer is where it all happens! I have to be where it's all happening! 

Heck. I think I'll just set myself up with a table and a tent and hit the road! 

See that blaaahhg later in the year;}

It Comes Down to This

Recently, I was asked by an old friend (hi Bronco Billy!) to write for a Blog he was setting up with some other old friends. Music, politics, travel, fiction of our own; those would be the topics plus favorite's and recommendations. I opened up the (at that point empty) link I was sent and couldn't figure out how to join in. Turns out, all I had to do was bookmark the page. Guess, there isn't much else you can do. But I couldn't figure it out. 

Expressing this failure to the friend, I received  the response to book mark it. I thought there should be something more and, being extremely busy and not really thinking I would have time to blog anyway, I took it as a sign. 

That blog is now up and running and full of muted testosterone. Very interesting, very those guys. I thought, as I perused the entries, I don't really fit in here right now. I haven't been able to travel for some time and don't get the chance to listen to a lot of new music. Haven't written any fiction for a long time either. Don't even really feel any particular way about politics - that doesn't make me want to stop my head from exploding - and what more could I say that I haven't already expressed at great length over the past 7 years? These things are not inspiring me to write at this time in my life. 

So, I decided to start my  own blog. Even though I still don't really have the time.  

I just moved a store I was managing and now run as a partner. My former boss and new business half is the non-working half so I'm doing absolutely everything in the new location. I even had to manage the move on my own. It's effectively my store. Though, to call it a store is not really accurate. It's a boutique and fine art gallery. 

We (that is to say I since there are no employees and my business partner doesn't actually do any work) sell jewelry - that I sometimes have others make but mostly make my myself - and textiles - that one of our regular artists makes - and have a rotating exhibit of artists showing works in many mediums. 

I write a monthly newsletter, do all the marketing and PR, book and organize the art shows, buy, sell, make, book keep, organize, re-organize, advertise; take the photographs for advertising, newsletters, and the website; I even do most of the physical labor involved in any remodeling and setting up for exhibits. Heck. I did most of the physical labor involved in setting up the new location; including hand sanding and finishing the floors! 

All I really want to do is make creatively beautiful things and write. And listen to good music and see a few good shows and dance. I haven't gotten to dance in a very long time. 

Recently, as if I didn't have enough to do, I started an Etsy store to sell the jewelry my business partner thinks is too out there for his original concept. Well, the idea behind pearldaddy (the name of the boutique and gallery aforementioned) was, and still is, freshwater pearl jewelry. I have a brain (and boxes) full of designs that do not incorporate pearls. So I set up the Etsy store and spent all my time on my days off taking pictures and editing pictures and uploading pictures and descriptions. 

Apparently, I'm at a point in my life where I feel the need to over extend myself a little. You should see how much laundry I have to do and the state of my work desk at home! 

Oh, and - once again, just to add to the number of deadlines and stresses - I also decided to start writing for actual publication again. Yes, that is to say I am a published author. Though, it was just music reviews and interviews for the Daily Alibi in ABQ; about 10 years ago now. Technically, I suppose the press releases I get printed now might count as being published, but I don't really think so. So, I just sent off a true life tale of late nights and sobriety tests to The Sun. No, not the paper. The literary magazine out of NC with no advertisers. Great publication. Highly recommended! 

Right now, I'm supposed to be finishing a necklace I started and working on something for a friend for her birthday party this weekend and for my sister, who's 40th party I'm going to have to miss because I can't afford the $500 to fly out West. Last minute notification of a party that I was told last month wasn't going to happen. If I can get a good last minute deal next week I still might go, but it's not looking good. So, I have to figure out what to make her that she'll actually wear (she registered for housewarming presents and returns things she's asked for if it isn't EXACTLY the one she asked for). I've never seen her wear any jewelry I've given or made for her. I'm going to try again.

I think I'm hungry and all blogged out now. So, I will endeavor to do this again next week. 

I've decided on dedicating at least an hour on Tuesdays to this blog until such time as more time can be assimilated, created, found, mustered. Sleep is inevitable - eventually. As this is my first one, I still have to figure out how to finish this post and upload images and set up my profile - which I thought would come before the blog box, but whatdoIknow?

So; friends, family and strangers alike; until next week I bid adieu.