The results are in.

Overall, I would have to say that New Freedom Fest was successful for me. My booth was located just 2 blocks from my house and so most everything was transported via Amish built wheel barrow. Charming, right? Yes. Low carbon footprint? Yes.


Although I did make money, sales were not what I expected. I thought, given the fact that the economy is not great and that people are unfamiliar with polymer as a medium, I would mostly sell low cost pieces such as $12 posts. Much to my surprise, most sales were over $25 and several people bought several pieces. Who would've guess?

Yes, thats me there. My daughter took all the photos and, bless her, she made me blurry!


The response from people, even from those who didn't buy, was really positive. Many people were very surprised ("This is polymer clay? I didn't know polymer clay was cool?"). It made me think back to an email I got from Ronna Weltman not long ago. She explained that polymer is still "an unknown quantity". People's unfamiliarity with polymer as a jewelry medium affects their willingness to purchase something made from it and especially so online. Lots of people really wanted to touch the jewelry, to "investigate", if you will. (Two pieces got dropped, surviving completely unscathed. Yes!)

I haven't done a craft show in about 10 years and admittedly I was exhausted by the end of day. But it was good to get the word out locally about my work.

Hey...

...aren't those my beads?


Well, they WERE my beads (the 3 earthy green ones) or I should say I made the beads but then Lorelei Eurto purchased them, worked her magic and voila! This bracelet is already available in her Etsy shop.

Don't bail out

My rectangular watercolor pendants have not been one of my biggest sellers. I haven't actually put it out there and taken a poll but I wonder if the design just fell short with the old style wire bale. It looked like it was an after thought rather than part of the overall design.


I found these new plated tube bails at a bead show and, lo and behold, they are easier to use AND they fit the overall design much better.

Must...keep...going

School is in full swing and for the first couple of weeks especially it will take up a lot of my time and my thinking.



Repetitive disk bead pieces will be great to work on right now. They were made with leftover bits and pieces of color clay and so I may call them Flotsam and Jetsam. Disks are of course the same as my Reef bracelet with the hole at the side instead of the center.

Back to school

The kids and I are on day three of a complete cleaning and re- organizing of the classroom in preparation to start school on September 2. Time management is not my strength. I thought for sure two solid days of work would complete the task. But alas...we continue. Perhaps by the end of the day today we'll be done.


The UPS man has been a frequent visitor with boxes of supplies arriving daily. I mourn the fact that full days in my studio are coming to an end for the year but the kid's excitement for the learning that lies ahead is infectious!


In celebration I am offering a BACK TO SCHOOL special in the Etsy shop. August 28-September 2 all $12 post earrings are 1/2 off with any other purchase. (applies to any $12 posts already in my shop)

A confession...

...I am an avid doodler. As a child such behavior was called play. As a teenager amoebas and flowers adorned my notebooks and I was called a daydreamer. As a young adult it may have been said that I was wasting time.
Now, at 41, I preempt any negative labeling by telling people I am a trained artist and I am creating charming, hand-colored, one of a kind, handmade stickers with custom backgrounds and high quality, top of the line, colored pencils ;-)



But in my heart...I'm still playing ;-)

To bead, or not to bead?

That was the question.

Then I noticed (and where had I been?) the interest there seems to be in artisan made beads. So I'm experimenting with beads. Stamped beads. Swirled beads, rolled beads and spacer beads. I like where I'm headed.


I don't have a handy-dandy bead roller yet so everything is totally rolled/shaped by hand. I am quite picky about the holes being cleanly pierced through and have purchased some long, sharp needles that do the job quite well.


I will probably have some for sale in the shop soon and at New Freedom Fest next month.