Craft Show Success!

Lots of earrings!

One of my mini tree earring displays

Mini artworks and wire trees in upcycled crates

I just got done with a craft show over the weekend and I'm happy to report that it was a pretty darn good show and it warrants a bit of bragging time!  I was a little worried over the wet and gloomy weather but it didn't seem to dampen the crowds one bit!  I usually only do a few shows a year and this one is by far my favorite and I have a wonderful time every year!  It's the Eskymo Christmas Craft Show in the Escanaba High School that's on every year in early November.  I love meeting up with other vendors I've seen at past shows and getting to know new ones as well.  It's also wonderful getting myself out there in the local community and getting great feedback from fellow locals.  It's a pretty special feeling knowing that my work made a perfect Christmas gift for someone's family member and it's even better when customers tell me they bought from me last year and they want more!  I'm sure many of you who also sell handmade items know that warm fuzzy feeling! 

My shutters and white ceramic platter, aren't they just sweet?

More table displays

My handmade tea dyed mannequins, I get tons of compliments on these cuties!

Made a display out of a cardboard tube and pretty fabric

As for my display, I completely remodeled my look from last year.  I sold all my black velvet displays that I was never fond of last year and I bought all new displays with last year's show profits.  Of course being the crafty gal I am, I made many of the displays myself as well.  I just cannot resist and I must make my display just as unique as my work.  It certainly pays off considering the loads of compliments I received!  I found some great display items earlier this year such as a white vintage cupcake display which was just darling as a bracelet display (I HAD to have it the moment I saw it and it was such a steal!  Not to mention the adorable little yellow flower detail) and a few sets of little wooden slatted shutters from a thrift store, which I just LOVE!  I even had a few customers that wanted to buy my little handmade tea stained mannequin displays!  Well now you've seen my displays, is there anything special you do for your displays at shows?

Bracelets and some of my nature inspired decor

Oodles of Scrabble pendants!

Tophatter Auction Coming Up!

Tweet Tweet Little Birdie, in the auction

I wanted to let you all know that I'll be in a Tophatter auction sponsored by HowDoesShe!  I'm very honored to have been chosen to participate in this and you can score some of my necklaces for a great price (starting at $4 and $5 opening bids) along with lots of other goodies from others also in the auction!

Sweet Birdie's Nest, in the auction

The auction is slotted for Wednesday, October 24th at 8pm ET, so mark your calendar! To RSVP for the action, click here!  If you're not signed up for Tophatter, no problem, just click the link and sign up, it's free!

Poppies Scrabble Necklace, currently in standby. Place a bid on it once the auction opens to put it in the auction!

Don't want to head over to Tophatter but still interested in getting some of my jewelry?  I have these plus lots more over at my Etsy shop!

Do You Wanna Score Some Swag From my Shop?

Yup, you read correctly, free swag from my shop! I'm in my first ever giveaway and I excited about it! To enter make, sure to check out Megan's blog post for a chance to win this beautiful dragonfly scrabble necklace, a $20 value!  So hurry on over and check out my interview and enter the giveaway by clicking here!  You have till midnight (Pacific Time) on Oct 10th to enter.  Good luck!

Keep The Creativity Flowing

If you sell handmade then you have probably dealt with "creative rut" at some point in time.  Thankfully at the moment for me, this is not one of those times!  However, when my brain fails me (usually at the least convenient time) there are a few things I have up my sleeve to muddle towards the light at the end of the tunnel.  I'm sure a few of these things can help you too!

From photo.

To sketch.

To design. Dragonfly Summer Necklace

Jot down everything.  I keep a sketchbook or a notebook handy pretty much at all times.  If I'm out of the house my phone is always with me and I use my notebook app for any ideas that hit me.  Don't ever allow yourself to come up with a great idea for a new project and then not write it down because "you'll remember it later".  Fail!  If you have a camera on your phone take pictures of things that inspire you.  Nice color combos, shapes, patterns, etc.  All these things can get those gears turning later.  I take it one step further and I have an "inspiration journal" full of said photos that I've taken, magazine clippings and doodles I've done that can help me come up with new material when the creativity is just now flowing like it should.

A page from my inspiration journal

Stockpile.  This goes hand in hand with what I said above.  When you are in a creative mood and thoughts and ideas are flying through your head, take note of each and every one even if you don't have a complete thought nor the time to build upon them.  These are the seeds that can be grown later.  I always have several half drawn (or failed) jewelry and painting ideas in my sketchbook from one of my mad brainstorming moments and they have saved me more than once when I had little motivation to think of new ideas.  If you do have the time to make your thoughts come to life then create, create, create!  I almost always have more items on hand than I actually have listed in my Etsy shop.  Why don't I list all them at once?  For starters, I don't like flooding my shop with 10 new items all at once and then have to spend God knows how long promoting each and every one of them without appearing spammy.  I keep all new items as draft listings in my shop and I'll publish 2-3 a week and this gives me enough to work with and keep things fresh for about a month without me having to work my butt off to keep up.  If a new item falls out of season before I get to list or I create a a summer item in the winter, then I just wait till that season comes up and I list it then.

I don't see a bee on a flower. I see an awesome color combo of orange, yellow and olive

Look around you.  Pay attention to everything.  I draw most of my inspiration from nature and I'm a highly visual artist, so I see the world in terms of color, texture and form rather than an object in its entirety.  I take photos of everything, which annoys my husband when we're trying to take a walk (he no longer waits for me).  I've also been known to stash away ridiculous amounts of paint chips from the paint store when there was no painting project in the works.  Those paint chips are wicked awesome for planning a color theme for a new design.  However, I've found an even better alternative (that won't annoy the paint mixing clerk, who acts like you're taking from his personal paint chip stash) with a site called Design Seeds with ready made palettes for you to download.  Hi, my name is Heather and I'm a Design Seeds addict.  I'm beyond help I'm sure.

Spring Blossom, colors picked from a Design Seeds palette

Ask and you shall receive.  Another way to get ideas is to simply ask for them.  Ask your fans and followers on Facebook and Twitter what they'd like to see more of from you or if they'd like to see different colors in a particular design, etc.  Your fans and followers are the people who have made your business possible,  so give them an opportunity to become part of your design process.

Are there any other tips or tricks you use for your creative process?

I'm Having a Sale!

Triple Rosette Necklace

I wanted to let everyone know that I'm having a sale in my Etsy shop!  Use coupon code SUMMER during check out in my Etsy shop and get 15% off your entire order!  The sale runs today through July 31st so if you've had your eye on something, now is the time to get it!

Copper Leaf Earrings

Recent Listings in My Shop

I've got a few new things I wanted to share with you!  Now that summer is officially here, it's time to break out those bright and fun summer colors!

My Turquoise Coils Necklace is a simplistic and rustic wire wrapped necklace featuring turquoise magnesite with wire wrapping and coils on each bead.  It ends with some hand forged copper chain and a shepherd hook style clasp, making this necklace adjustable from 18"-22".  The warm robin's egg blue of the magnesite is just the right amount of color for your summer outfit!

My Asian Floral Bangle Cuff Bracelet has a lot of love and time invested in its intricate brass wire coil design.  It features a lovely focal wooden bead with a pretty Asian style floral design artfully printed on it along with other exotic wooden beads and pretty antique brass bead caps.  It has been oxidized and polished for a beautiful vintage look.

These rosette necklaces were such fun to make that I couldn't resist making another!  The Triple Rosette Necklace features three sweet little sari silk rosettes hand sewn together to make up this piece.  The sari silk is just a wonderful myriad of soft colors with the two grey rosettes with wisps of violet and olive and the pretty blue one with swirls of olive.  I used blue felt on the back of the pendant to tidy it up and make it more comfortable to wear.  This is a beautiful piece of fabric art you can wear everyday!

Recently Added In My Shop and a Craft Show!

I've been working on new spring and summer designs to put in my shop and I've got a handful to share with you!

Mossy Bucket Necklace

Tiny and whimsical, this Mossy Bucket Necklace is filled with real dried moss! I attached the moss using a bit of hot glue and sprayed it with a touch of lacquer to make it more durable. I kept this simple and sweet and it’s a unique gift for that nature lover!  This one has already been sold and re-listed!

Strawberry Shortcake Necklace and Earrings, sold separately

Charming and simple, these vintage style brass Strawberry Shortcake Necklace and Earrings are sweet! Along with the strawberry charm is a cream colored glass flower like a strawberry flower and a little faceted red glass bead charm for a pop of color on the necklace.  The earrings feature little red glass connectors for a touch of color above the charms. These are a sweet for summer!

Secret place Locket

This shabby chic antique copper locket, Secret Place, is perfect for your tiny treasures! I’ve attached a beautiful salmon pink resin mum cabochon to the front of the locket and added little pink and ivory glass flower charms and a turquoise magnesite drop as well. This is a charming addition to your vintage style jewelry collection!

Be Free Photo Charm Necklace

Be Free is a sweet little antique brass and copper bird and cage charm necklace features a photo charm so you can carry your favorite photo around your neck! Included with the little copper photo charm is a bird cage topped with sparkly Czech glass beads and a brass bird charm as well. The little bird is so happy to be free of its cage!  This one also has been sold and re-listed and the one currently in my shop will probably be the last one!

Green Earth Anklet

Green Earth is a romantic and earthy three-chain anklet that is a perfect excuse to break out those cute shorts or skirt this summer! I created this anklet using three different kinds of chain in both brass and copper that harmonize beautifully together. Spaced throughout the chains are 3 wooden art beads with a decorative design, 3 faded olive green wood beads, and 5 links made with genuine shell heishi.

Green Harmony Anklet

Green Harmony is an earthy beach ready anklet featuring lime green dyed mother of pearl beads, white shell heishi and beautiful exotic wooden beads! The sizes vary but the larger mother of pearl beads are about ¾” wide and ½” tall. This is one of a kind since I won't be making any more of these!

Lastly, I have a craft show coming up this Saturday, May 19th from 9-3 at the American Legion in Rapid River, MI.  I'll have just about everything there with me along with a handful of new creations not yet listed in my shop!  If you'll be in the area I'd love for you to stop on by!

Tophatter Auctions for This Week!

This is in tonight's auction at 8pm EST!

I'm excited to be in two auctions this week!  I have an auction tonight were you can snag my bird nest necklace pictured above for an opening bid of only $11!  Retail price is $25!  The auction is tonight at 8pm EST, RSVP here!  After you've reserved your spot you can set a text alert for my necklace here!

Next up I'm super stoked to be a part of Handmadeology's Mother's Day auction on Saturday May 5th at 8pm EST!  This is a private auction but you're all invited!  RSVP here!  I'll have a Poppy Scrabble Tile and 20" ball chain, pictured below (your choice of blue or yellow), up for grabs for an opening bid of only $6, regular price is $12.25!  You can set a text alert for it here if you'd like!

Poppies Scrabble Tile for auction May 5th 8pm EST

I hope to see you there and make sure to stay awhile, there's lots of great items up for grabs!  You can also check out Tophatter to see what other auctions are going on this week.  If anyone would like a no wait invite link to become a member, visit this Handmadeology post and look for the no wait link!

Tophatter Auction!

Sweet Birdie's Nest Necklace

Cafe Scrabble Pendant

I'm super excited to be a part of Handmadeology's Tophatter Auction this Thursday, April 19th at 8pm EST! 

I've recently become a part of Tophatter's auction community and even sold my first item, a Cafe Scrabble Pendant during this past Saturday's auction!  I just wanted to give it a whirl before getting overly excited and blogging about it right away. 

For those of you who have not heard of Tophatter, it's sort of like eBay but it's live and it's more tailored to the handmade, vintage and supplies communities like Etsy is.  For me, it's a perfect way to sell off some extra inventory pronto!  It's a good way for other sellers to quickly shed some inventory as well, so long as they are ok with selling under retail prices.  For you buyers out there it's an awesome place to score some great stuff at big discounts!

Copper Leaf Necklace

If you'd like to snag either my Sweet Birdie's Nest in white (retail $25) or my Copper Leaf necklace (retail $21) make sure to RSVP here!  Their opening bids are only $9 and $8! 

If you're not a member of Tophatter already, you can request an invite on the main page (it takes a day) or I can send you one, I have 10 invites left to give out.  All I need is your email address if you're interested in joining.

I'm super excited and can't wait!  I'm hoping to see you there!

New Sari Silk Wraps!

I thought I would try my hand at making sari silk wraps since I've got a mountain of sari silk ribbon begging to be made into something beautiful!  I love trying out new things and since I hadn't worked too much with fabric I thought I would give it go and besides I can't say no to the luxurious buttery soft fabric against my skin!  the best part about these wraps is that they're long and can be wrapped around your wrist, ankle or neck!  You're essentially getting a 3 for 1 piece of jewelry!

Mosaic Sari Silk Wrap

The one pictured above is Mosaic.  A large and earthy turquoise magnesite focal bead is surrounded by lux sari silk ribbon in a beautiful peacock blue color with wisps of violet and olive.  I've left the ribbon  un-edged for its raw and untamed beauty!

Charmed Sari Silk Wrap

Charmed is a luxurious sari silk ribbon in a gorgeous iris grey with wisps of purple feature a collection of wing, rose, heart and key charms to name a few for a romantic and vintage look.

By The Sea Sari Silk Wrap

By The Sea uses silk ribbon also in a peacock blue and features several ocean themed charms including a genuine shell and pearl! Also included are a seahorse and little starfish charm ready for the beach!

Turquoise Pebbles Necklace

Lastly, I've got two more new items in my shop, Turquoise Pebbles Necklace and Earrings.  I've always enjoyed the simple beauty of bar necklaces and the tumbled nuggets add a wonderful rustic element to both the necklace and earrings.  They are both hung on delicate brass chain and are versatile enough for casual wear or with a pretty summer dress!

Turquoise Pebbles Earrings

Exciting New Designs

I recently got a shipment of sari silk ribbon in and it is absolutely gorgeous!  I'd been working on a design, Dragonfly Summer, the moment I ordered it and I'm so happy about how it turned out as well!  I love dragonflies and it was a joy to create this little guy with sparkling green eyes out of solid copper and brass wire.  He's hanging happily from hammered solid brass chain, genuine azurite gemstone links, and sari silk ribbon in a lovely peacock color with wisps of plum and olive.

Also new are the Bohemian Night Necklace and Earrings.  Sparkling Czech glass drops in stunning luster finishes hang from filigree teardrops for a unique boho chic style.  I just adore the black beads with the peacock luster finish in the middle!

Last but not least in my shop is Vintage Glamor.  These glamorous earrings feature genuine Swarovski crystal pearls in a rich and shimmery plum color.  The antique copper lacy caps and beads add a vintage touch to these dainty earrings.