glittergoods

oh, there you are

Hello, blog.

Much as I would like to say that I have been, oh, sleeping, or otherwise something very restful lo these many days since last we met, mostly I have been doing the usual stuff, except the tired post-show pre-holiday version.

I didn't mean to leave in the middle of a cliffhanger for so annoyingly long, like Lost, though now that I am reaching for a hyperbolic Lost comparison I realize that it has been SO long since that show was on that I don't even remember what was last happening, whereas I have only been out for a little over a week, plus it's a pretty safe bet that I was, have been, & will continue to be, elbow-deep in glitter & little bits of fabric while trying not to make the one time-management misstep that will cause my entire life to instantly unravel, so it's not hard to catch up.

ANYWAY.  First thing that happened was Urban Craft Uprising, which was mighty fine as ever this year.  Being way off to the side meant that I never got the huge crush of people that I saw in past years, but it also meant that there was never such a huge crush of people at my table that I couldn't confidently leave my husband there while I wandered around shopping, so I picked up some great stuff from people like Double M Ranch (she's doing wrapping paper now, so great), Fused Glass House (excellent modern fused glass),  Ilee (such lovely letterpress work!), Red Boots Design (screenprint tees, love the espresso & pedal designs), Starjuice Aromatherapy (mmm bath salts), Texture (yes, another skirt), Torus Leather (reclaimed leather wristbands, v. excellent for the vegetarian who happens to enjoy a big leather cuff bracelet, ahem), Vintage Creations (reconstructed cashmere sweaters!), Uzura (organic screenprinted tee), Hansigurumi (ridiculously awesome knitting patterns), & Die at the Helm (the screenprint tees never end at these shows).  That is an embarrassingly long list, much more stuff than I usually come away with, but like I said, there was time to walk around, & there was also some excellent vendor trading happening.

This is the only picture I managed to take all weekend, pre-opening on Saturday, & it cracks me up because my booth is so forlorn looking, all under-the-stairs gloomy at the far reaches of the show.   That spotlight shining directly down on my glitter was pretty handy, though, &, really, in the end I realized that the show only felt mellower to me, since this year was even more successful than last.

The next weekend we packed the kids into the car & headed north (snow!  ice!) to give a show in Bellingham a whirl.  It was a slow day, but I met some nice people & we were well-supplied with tiny peanut butter crackers & our drawing pads, so I actually thought it was kind of relaxing.  (My husband, being in charge of the packing of us plus also the driving on the icy roads, was somewhat less relaxed.)

 

There is a gift project soon to be in the works around here, so my girl & I were talking about what makes a house a house.  Her answer seems to be a lot of windows.

One benefit of a slow show is that I finally have a chance to really stock up the etsy shop. 

Trying to take advantage of scant natural light for the pictures is slowing me down some, but I'll be listing a few new things daily through the weekend.  Pillows, pouches, rings, dot necklaces, bobby pins, & my new little charms.  Megan over at not martha is putting them on her sweaters (also note:  I have seen one of her sweaters in person, & it really is a great pattern), & another customer of mine has ordered some to put on her boot zippers, which she may not thank me for spreading all over the internet but I totally think is a genius idea, thus:

(That's my girl's boot, which photographs far more daintily than my own exponentially larger ones.)

So this week I'm working on etsy & on stocking up my local stores (speaking of which, locals can find my bobby pins in Pioneer Square at Violette now too), & then next week I am going to turn my focus to the gift-making.  I have a short, but significant to-make list this year, & suddenly here it is, mid-month.  The cry of crafters around the blogosphere, hm?

 

pillows, buckles, pouches

There are a few pieces from this weekend's show up in my etsy shop:

Can you tell that I'm still locked in photographic death match with November lighting?  I promise, in real life all sparkly bits are every bit as sparkly as they should be. The belt buckles are listed without belts attached, but I do have belts available for a bit extra, if you like. 

I'm trying to hit the right balance between offering things online & saving things for my upcoming shows, but I do have a few more things that I hope to put in the shop later on this evening.

it's done!

The show was great.  WHEW.

I had this whole plan about how I was going to take pictures of the entire show floor to share on the blog & to use on the show website, but instead I was way too busy to do anything but take a couple of last-minute snaps of my own booth.

And, really, artistic-ego wise, being busy with customers the whole show is vastly preferable to having the time to be a roving craft show photojournalist, but I do wish I could show you some of the really lovely things that were there.  Also, while on the subject of my ego, thank you so much to everyone who came out to say hi -- I am immensely flattered, I enjoyed chatting, & I hope I wasn't too scattered.

Anyway, our goal this year was to turn a little preschool church-basement craft bazaar situation into a  good-sized modern craft show with community appeal, & I'm really proud of the way it turned out.  Proud and tired, did I mention tired?  (And kind of already looking forward to 2008.)

I do have some pillows, belt buckles, & pouches to list on etsy, but I have not yet won my photographic rumble with gloomy windy rainy November light, so it'll be a little bit.  I will announce here when they go up.

In the meantime, I am trying to hit the ground running (the relentless holiday season is here!  Next show is coming up!  Then another one right after that!), & I remembered a couple of things that I wanted to post about before they become lost in the mists of me not ever having any time:

The sparkly heart princess crown now has a companion.  King?  Superhero?  Superhero king?  I had two requests for a "boy" crown come in at almost the same time, which was clearly a sign.  Personally, this one is way more my style than the girly heart one.

These shirts are a custom design for a new little local business called Jurnee.  They're a new baby/big sibling gift set, with an organic toddler tee that says "seedling," & an organic baby tee that says "sprout."  I am in love with them (especially with the dark chocolate brown ink I custom-mixed).  I'm not selling them myself, but will be sure to share the sales info when I get it. EDIT: For purchasing info about the seedling/sprout shirts, email jurneeproducts@gmail.com

In other news, I am pretty convinced that my girl managed to get her temp up to 101F at preschool today by sheer force of will, since now that she's home with her brother (who has no school today) she is FINE.  In case it has ever occurred to you that I protest too weakly against her plans for all pink, all the time:  see what I'm up against?

Queen Anne trunk show tomorrow (alternate title: up to my elbows in glitter)

Saturday's show has come together in a way that I'm really excited about.  The postcards say 20+ artists, but in the end I think we're at 30+, with a really great mix of goods.  Fairy skirts, amazing local clothes & jewelry from Petaline's designers, cool bags, my favorite local  soap, amazing cut paper work, so much other stuff.   Also:  word has it that the bake sale is going to be very brownie-heavy, which is, in my opinion, fantastic.  I love a good homemade brownie.

I've been experimenting with the wire inlay in my belt buckles, just to see if I could, not because I am obsessive about that loop pattern or anything, no way.  (Last night I went to a little free-motion quilting class at The Quilting Loft with my friend Kirsten, & the very first thing we did was loops, ha.  Well, only thing, the class sort of descended into a vortex of horrifying stitch tension & nobody with the right presser feet, so the whole thing got rescheduled.  But that makes the loops even more important, being the only thing.)

Since we're on the subject of loops, I'll mention that I'm bringing the whole batch of pillows with me to the show, along with a bunch of belts, a few rings, some dot necklaces, & of course a whole big whack of kid tees, crowns, & bracelets.

Oh, & these pouches.  Remember pouch-mania, way back before pillow madness?  They'll be there too.

Leftovers will go up on etsy, but wouldn't it be so much more fun to come to the show in person?  See you tomorrow!

I didn't want to cook tonight anyway

Being interviewed by my friend Megan for design*sponge's guest blog is definitely the internet highlight of the day (the bunny-in-a-cup photo randomly pasted into chat about dinner plans by husband comes in second, so that tells you what kind of internet day I've had).  Her whole series of interviews with crafty businesswomen is really interesting, so check them out if you haven't already.

I was thinking about the materials-sourcing question Megan asked me while looking at the case of pillow forms in my kitchen today.  The box had been hanging out there for a couple of days, unopened, because I was pretty sure that once I cut the strapping tape, any hope of reasonable pillow containment was out the window.  Also, you would be right to point out that "reasonable" might not be the exact word to describe my storage system of keeping the box in the middle of the kitchen, taking up half the floor space (to be fair, the kitchen is small.  But still.).

I finally went for it yesterday, knowing that I needed to get the last few pillows of show prep finished & out of the way in order to move on to other things.  The pillows were vacuum-packed, which, you know, yay for packaging efficiency, but is pretty daunting when the pillows that are already filling up half your kitchen are promising to double in size.  And never fit back in their box again.

I like to think that I have, over the years, adjusted to the idea that wholesale pricing means bulk purchasing, which means bulk storing, which means lots of trips to Ikea & no hope of spare elegant minimalism ever in our little house.  However, most of the things that I have stored, up to this point, have been individually smallish &/or flattish.  Not so when it comes to the bag of condensed pillows that starts off, before reinflation, larger than my four year old.  Ordering wholesale supplies is already a little bit of a leap of faith, where you have to believe enough in your product to think that you will actually need 50 pillow forms or 6 dozen shirts or 40 belt buckles, that putting the money up front is worth it, that you won't burn out on the idea, that you won't discover a better product at a better price the minute you've pushed the order button; it doesn't seem fair that it should be so physically awkward, too.

I mean, it's not like they won't fit in the garage (I think), but it's also not something that people warn you about when you go into business, that one day, there you'll be, in your best pair of work-clothes pajama pants (I totally confessed to this in the interview), wading through a sea of blank pillow forms just to get to the coffee pot.

have camera, will obey six year old

Oh, right, work.  This giant pile is heading over to Venue, just in time for their extended hours during the Ballard Seafood Fest this weekend.  Kid shirts, baby hats, & a few crowns, plus a whole bunch of bracelets, bobby pins, & necklaces.  Phew!

While I was sorting & tagging, I heard this from my son: Mommo!  I have something for you to take a picture of!  I am always ready to take a break from sorting & tagging, which I kind of hate, so I got the camera & headed upstairs to find that he had very carefully set up a victory vignette.

Not only did he expect me to take a picture of it, but he expected me to lie down on the floor to get the best shot of their little Playmobil faces (I did, of course).  He also told me that if the final print was good, he'd need a frame for it, please.

I guess he does pay attention to what I do all day.

 

springtime sun: resin 1, children 0

I think it's pretty daring of me to take on -- in my Seattle basement studio -- a medium that does not dry properly with moisture in the air, but happily I hit a weather sweet spot over the last two days & my latest batch of resin is gorgeous & will be coming to the Maker Faire with me this weekend.  Of course, today, with early school dismissal + big bubble-blowing, popsicle-eating park extravaganza planned, it's chilly, cloudy, maybe rainy.  I think:  phew!  better today than yesterday!  when I should be thinking:  oh, my poor disappointed children! 

I am particularly happy with the new belt buckles, since I like the shape of these blanks much better than the first one I tried.  (As gratified as I am that the weather held off, just a little sun for pictures today would have been nice.)

I've also got new rings, pendants, & bobby pins, plus a few crowns & a bunch of t-shirts will be going with me too.  (Whatever I can cram onto beautifully & stylishly display on my little 8-foot table, really.)  Since glamscience.com is still down for the count, resin leftovers will be showing up in my etsy shop sometime next week.

(Fun as this all is, what I really want to be doing is making big plans with the new books I got from superbuzzy the other day.  Soon, my lovely little japanese sewing patterns, soon.) 

Friday WIP, also this mothering thing finally starts to pay off

I need to make a whole post about the excellent princess party we had last weekend, with special mention of the fantastic strawberry frosting I made, but I am still resting up from all that PINK.

Today I received my first ever ugly-beautiful glazed coil pot at my son's kindergarten mother's day "tea" (I put it in quotes because my daughter is incensed that we call it "tea" without actually serving actual tea.  She now refers to her tea as "the fake tea party we're having at my school for mother's day."), & even though yesterday I was rolling my eyes to my husband about it, oh good, here we go, today I could not love it more.

I especially love the tiny white bowl he made for me.

As for work in progress, I am finally coming to grips with the fact that I've got a show next weekend (Baz Biz at Maker Faire!), & so I've got quite a bit going on,

like a zillion bracelets to sew together. 

Oh, also, I finally decided to start up an etsy shop.  The idea (at the moment) is that it will be a place to put things that don't quite belong on my official website, plus I am increasingly impressed with the quality of work I'm finding on etsy, so I wanted to join in the fun!  It's pretty bare right now, but I did list a few crowns

& some bobby pin sets.

I am grateful that spring is here for many reasons, not least of which is that I can finally get some decent picture of my glitter again.

I went, I worked, I shopped

Last year, Urban Craft Uprising was in a cramped art gallery down in SoDo:  smallish group of vendors, great crowd, extremely challenging space.  This year, the organizers doubled the size of the show & moved us to the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall, which made all the difference in the world.  Plus, it was pretty cool to see URBAN CRAFT UPRISING up on the marquee there.

Saturday was jam-packed with people, Sunday was mellower but with pretty steady traffic, & my booth was plenty busy.  I really enjoy interacting with customers at shows, so while it was an exhausting weekend, it was also a lot of fun.  My resin jewelry did well, even with all of the other super cool jewelry [ok, the last one isn't strictly jewelry, but I'm nuts for those belt buckles] at the show, so that was very satisfying.

I love watching which colors go first when I sell these bobby pins.  In Seattle, it's always blue & green, with mostly pink left at the end.  Chicago loves pink the most, & LA loves them all, the glitzier the better.

Usually at shows I am so wiped out when I get a chance to walk around that I miss out on all the cool stuff, & then really regret it after the fact when I see pictures of the amazing things other people found.  Especially when there are lots of vendors (& I'm wandering around totally dazed at 4pm on my first break of the day), it's easy for things to just turn into a big sparkly felty blur, so I'm feeling extra pleased with my purchases.

Those letterpress prints are from Double M Ranch -- she's a graphic designer by trade, & does prints on the side, with a mix of carved lino, custom plates, & antique type.  I love the prints so much that after I bought Palms Read on Saturday, I went back & picked up the chair on Sunday, which was also when I discovered those fantastic magnets.

Two things here:  a little carved lino donut print from Sewdorky's Stuart, which I love as much as I love the stuffed donut I got from him at last year's UCU (a lot).  Up on top is a little Seattle magnet from Cyncity, who has a cool series of map magnets & pendants (& she does Seattle neighborhoods, too, so fun!).

Vintage button ring from Schmancy.  I particularly loved this color combo & the big red flower button, but I will tell you, sifting through all of her rings & just looking at the buttons she uses is almost as much fun as wearing the one I finally picked.  (I attribute this purchase to my involvement in the craft blog community, because while I have admired these rings several times before, never have I been so completely enchanted by the whole vintage button gig.)

I can never slow down enough to really pay attention to clothes for myself when I'm working a show, but Texture's booth caught my eye with her simple shapes & great, rich, colors.  I particularly like this tee, but ended up settling on a fabric-scrap scarf instead. [The site only shows a fraction of the colors she offers -- check out her booth at the Ballard Market for a better selection.]

Other work I particularly liked:  Kimberly Sun Designs (hand-tooled leather cuffs, belts, & headbands), Construction for All (wonderful messenger/diaper bags), eight3one (excellent screenprinted baby/kid tees, check out the banana seat bike!), ilee custom invitations (beautiful work, plus an amazing little letterpressed calendar that I don't see on the site.  I know Venue carried last year's calendar -- locals, keep an eye out for it around town!), Jamie Irene (beautiful felted bags), & Mishmash (vinyl bags, but oh, she finds the best vinyls to use).  I know there was tons more great stuff at the show that I missed, so do check out the vendor list to see who else was there.

here comes the weekend

Here's where I'll be all weekend:

[I don't think Beth Ditto is actually emceeing anymore, since they've got someone else listed on the site now.]

If you're local, come by & check it out -- there's going to be lots of great crafty talent at the show.  I'll be there with glitter dot jewelry & penguin (plus others) shirts (even a few in grown-up sizes), glittery letters & cards, & (lord willing & the creek don't rise, assuming the resin cures in time) a whole bunch of sparkly bobby pins.

Even with the scheduling craziness of this week (I am so glad the snow is gone), I managed to get a big batch of rings + a few new pendants made:

I think my two favorites in this batch are the lilac/fuchsia (R row, 2nd back) & the olive/sushi* (L row, 2nd back).  In the middle of working on these I had what might be a great idea for a new little resin thingy (isn't that always the way, you get a great new idea that you're dying to try out right when you're in the middle of a pressing deadline?), but I managed to forge ahead & get the job done.

Today on my way home from buying a bigger table for this weekend, I stopped at Kmart because it was right next to the office supply store I'd been to & because I honestly did need a little mirror to take to the show, but believe you me there was a spring in my step because that meant I had legit excuses to see the Martha holiday deco, & I was not disappointed.  I know Tord has been all the rage on the blogs, & those paper cutouts + their general aesthetic are lovely indeed (& it's not like I don't flip over photos of Amy's garland + red deer or Stephanie's little red button wreath, don't get me wrong), but this year Martha gets me where I live.  Oh, the glitter!  I just love how sparkly everything is this time of year. 

*it's the greeny black nori color I mixed for my sushi card design.