Lots of Shop Orders!

Thought it might be a bit slow after Valentine's Day and then 7 shops ordered last week! Usually it takes several weeks to make an order but I was well stocked on inventory and able to get 5 out this week. Now I'm looking forward to working on some new designs in the studio today and for the next few days. 

For T. Karn in Telluride, CO

For Trinket in Burlington, VT

For The Shoe Horn, Montpelier, VT

For Nest in Brunswick, ME

For Earth and Wears in Dallas, PA

It Is Very Very Cold...

...that is all.

Finding Inspiration

It was good to get out the other day, leave the Burlington bubble. It seems like thick gray clouds have been hanging over Btown and heading south we pulled out from under it and saw a beautiful sunset. 

We headed to Fuller Hall in St Johnsbury to see two of my favorite musical acts.

I first saw Zap Mama at the old Higher Ground. Antibalas too. Both shows were mesmerizing and their music has made up much of the soundtrack to my life and infused my work. Last November I bought tix as soon as they announced this tour. I couldn't believe they were going to play together. I've never been front row center before and it was AWEsome. The show filled my cup back up. I hadn't realized how depleted it was. 

Marie Daulne is a such stunning, fierce force and bringer of positive vibrations. The combination with the huge band and rockin' sound from Antibalas made for a perfect, harmonious collaboration. Some sunshine and soul shine in the midst of a long cold winter. So many friends in the crowd feeling it too. And then we all got to pop out of our chairs and dance and then Marie joined us in the aisle and I got to dance with her. Zap! 
We even made a night of it and stayed up that way at a little B&B. The next day we awoke to crazy sunshine and blue skies.

So good to take these little breaks and rediscover yourself and the world and the things that make you happy. I felt recharged and ready to work when we got home. I finished up a ton of jewelry for a private Valentine's day show. Very excited for it and for the break that will follow... I don't really feel like last season's holiday train has stopped and I can't wait to take things slower and to work on new designs.

Checking out NY NOW

This past weekend, Nicole (of Nicole's Threads) and I headed to the big city to check out the Mothership of all wholesale trade shows: NY NOW. The first step of deciding whether you want to exhibit at a show or not is by doing a walk through to scope it out. We got to be buyers for Nicole's mom who has a lovely shop (she carries my work!) in Dallas, PA called Earth and Wears (thanks Lyn!). Still we felt totally out of our element and like we didn't belong there. Talk about being a tiny minnow in a vast sea. Everything about this seemed overwhelming. It didn't help that we flew there on the 6am flight and had to get up at 4am, setting the tone for the trip as a bit of weary one. 

Blurry eyed and heading to the airtrain at 7:30 am

It was cold and dreary but exciting to be in the city.

Our room at Yotel was like living in an Ipad. Very funky and futuristic. 

Ready to hit the show!

This awesome erector set thing is the Yobot and it will store your stuff for you at Yotel. So cool.

We enjoyed this little cafe on the way...

This is one corner of one floor of the show. The aisles go on forever and each floor of the Javits center is GIANT. Sensory overload to max.

Found my friend Tabbatha (Tabbatha Henry Designs) in the Handmade section. So cool to see her all set up there and killin' it.

Also finally got to meet and hang with Christine of Chocolate and Steel who was also killin' it. So great to spend time with her later and pick her brain. Had fun meeting up with friends Rachel and Nicolette from Sweet Lady Jane and Trinket for drinks and getting more advice from the buyer's perspective. Now Sweet lady Jane is going to be carrying Christine's work - yay for networking! 

Our plane got cancelled due to weather so we had an extra night and got to spend time chatting with friends and folks at the bar. We met Fran and Jim from Rich Frog in Winooski - small world!

Now just trying to process it all and then the decision of whether to apply to the show...

Our flight was rescheduled for an entire day later and we needed to get back so we rented a car and headed home but we did make one small (big) stop at IKEA to buy desks! I finally bought the standing/sitting desk I've been looking at and I can't wait to put it together.  Check it out:

Gonna be doing some rearranging to replace my desk and make it fit in my studio... so much to do and so much to think about! 

Busy Busy and Contest Winners! (Updated)

Things have been much busier than a usual January, mostly because of shop orders, 5 this month! I've also been spending time sketching out new ideas, can't wait to do more of that in a few weeks. I'm very excited to finally pull together an idea I've been waiting to try... charm bangle bracelets! Many of my smaller pendants are a perfect size to adorn simple forged bangles. I made some in brass with a sterling rivet and some in sterling with a brass rivet. I love the way these came out and they'll soon be in my Etsy shop and available for stores to buy. The Chakra Bangle is in my shop now on brass or silver.

Restocked Trinket with this large order. They will be all set for Valentine's day!

Just finished this order for The Shoe Horn, love the mix of shapes and colors!

Got this sweet, small order together for Common Deer.

I sent out an earring order to Pure.Original last week, love how they're displaying them. 

I've had 17 lovely entries for my Instagram contest! (Blog post has been updated) The 3 winners each won $75 credit for my Etsy shop. Winner of most Instagram likes from Lyn: 

It was tough for me to pick my two favorite entries. So many kind words! Ultimately I decided that if the image was of someone wearing my work, I wanted to be able to see the jewelry. I chose Lea's, I really loved the Bohemian vibe of this one too.

If the photo was an image of just jewelry, I wanted it to be a strong photo of the jewelry. Also from a graphic design standpoint, I wanted to be able to read the words. So in thinking of those criteria and also the words used, I chose Sara's. Thanks so much to all who participated! The rest of the entries follow below.

New Instagram Contest!

I've been meaning to do another contest and I wanted to come up with one that didn't require owning any of my work to enter. I've also been trying to come up with some new words to say about my work. These two things have formed together to create this Instagram contest.

It could be a photo of you in my jewelry with the quote written in the negative space or a photo of a piece or pieces you own with the quote overlaid. It could also be as easy as writing something on a post it (good penmanship helps!) or creating an image with funky fonts in Photoshop or an app... 

I'd love to know how my jewelry makes you feel. I'd love to hear a snippet of a story. That's all. The image with the most likes will win (so tell your friends!) as well as 2 of my top favorite images. Each winner will win $75 in credit for my Etsy shop. 

So excited to see and hear what people come up with!

Back in the Swing of Things

It's always hard to get back into the swing of things and to get into the new year. Especially cause I savor the time to reset, regroup, rest and recoup. But it's slowly happening...
I've cleaned and organized my studio and now I'm figuring out my next steps. 

One thing that's helping me with that is my new Passion Planner. Check out this video...

I love the idea of implementing the bigger ideas/goals into everyday life and reflecting on the progress all within a day planner. 
I'm currently geeking out on excel spread sheets. I've pulled all of my data from wholesaling to shops last year and now I'm using it to figure out what sold best and how to use this info for the future. I will be tightening up my wholesale line while planning on adding to it and making a new catalog. 
I'm also taking an online course on wholesaling and loving it, it's just what I was looking for!
There's not much time now to really delve into all of this since Valentines day is right around the corner so I'm looking forward to more fully pursuing this in a month from now. 
Meanwhile I have 4 store orders to work on and mail out for Pure.Original, Trinket, The Shoe Horn and Common Deer. So I've been busy making orders and getting back to production.
I'm also getting ready for a private Valentine's Day trunk show.
Whew. It's been good to catch up on reading and seeing friends and taking things a bit slower. 
Hope your 2015 has gotten off to a great start!