Saturday, November 21, 2009

Lakewood Elementary Show- a little lucky, a little loopy!


At last weekend's Lakewood Elementary show I had the pleasure to meet many more nice customers, gift vendors, and artists. Our booth was located in the kindergarten hall, decorated with handmade Thanksgiving turkeys and lists written by students that started with "I am thankful for..." Artwork done by kids, it's the best! 

For the first time I had my new brass letter stencil ornaments for sale.  They were a hit and I sold several.  It's always fun when folks enjoy the new stuff, as I have such a ball making it.  See photo above! 

I was privileged to meet Shelly and Mark Hearne who also had a booth at the this show. They have a beautiful 14 year old daughter and she handmade many things in their booth, including amazing tie-dye shirts. (One of these will soon be under our Christmas tree with my daughter’s name on it!) Shelly and Mark own Random, a gift shop in Dallas, and they will now be carrying my art! WOW! I am very honored and excited. Random is located at 5370 W. Lovers Lane, Ste. 328, in the Inwood Village Shopping Center. Check them out! 

Okay, now for the loopy part of Lakewood. That would be me and my absent-minded brain, ugh. In my first blog last week I said those who visit an upcoming show and mention the blog will receive a complimentary holiday collage card. Sounds good, right?? Well, several very kind folks did in fact tell me they had seen the blog. YAY! I was pumped. And then it occurred to me later that I had forgotten all about the card offer, yikes! So if you are reading this and I owe you a card, I apologize!  Please email me and I’ll drop one in the mail to you. And the offer’s still good for upcoming shows and all online orders- a free card with an online purchase, and OF COURSE, for those who mention this blog, too!  As I hang my head in shame, I promise to do better! :)

Friday, November 20, 2009

A Plan Interrupted... Hit by the Flu!

After last week's show at Lakewood Elementary, I hit the art room, rolled up my sleeves, and prepared to crank out more goods!  I was scheduled to be in the gift show at Lovers Lane United Methodist Church this weekend.  This is the first time I've had shows on weekends back to back.  I've been a "maker of stuff" my entire life, but I'm still new to the business of selling my wares.  It seems I will always be trying to figure it out!

My adorable daughter is in 1/2 day kindergarten, and she is my main "employer".  :)  She pays me daily with hugs, 100 "I love yous", and eyes so bright they light me up inside.  I am so lucky to be her mother.  And I am also hopping, as I try to keep up with her ever-busy, ever-chatting self, as well as find time to work on my art! 

So, this week started well.  I was plugging along, in the groove, making new collages, ornaments, necklaces, assemblage pieces.  Then it hit.  It started with aches and fever.  Next came my little girl telling me she is tired, words we NEVER hear from her mouth.  We have the flu.  I had to withdraw from the show.  My plans came to a hault, time to regroup, time to get the family well.  Luckily my sweet husband is not down yet, fingers crossed.

I apologize to those of you who were planning to stop by the Lovers Lane show.  A few mentioned plans to pick up a gift or two for folks on your holiday lists.  I will happily send pictures of anything I've got or that you have in mind, or I can custom create something for you as well.  You can also find me at the Silverleaf Arts and Crafts Festival in Denton, December 4 and 5.  More details to follow on this show soon.

Here's hoping that you and yours are staying well these days.  My daughter, who has always been healthy as a horse, has been sick 3 times since starting school this fall.  Ugh.  Today was a better day for us both, so hopefully we are on the mend.  :)

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

I appreciate you!


This is the very first entry of my new adventure in Blog Land!  I am not a writer, nor a "computer person", so please bear with me! 

Thanks for checking out my new blog!  And for your support over the past year, wow!  I have met so many kind folks and fellow mixed media lovers.  Thanks to all who have come to the shows, written kind emails, and made the first year of our tiny business one I will always remember.  We have learned so much over the past year, and slowly but surely, we are growing!  

Our recent show at Huffhines Art Trails was our best yet!  Thanks so much to the awesome customers there who made purchases or just stopped by to chat.  We saw several friendly faces of customers past, and it was an honor that so many of you remembered us from other shows, and made a point to find us again.  It's hard to believe, but we've done sixteen shows this year!  Visiting with each one of you, at every single show, has been a joy.

We have three more shows this fall.  Next weekend we will be at the Lakewood Home Festival Market in Dallas.  This will be at Lakewood Elementary, November 14-15.  Saturday's show is 10-5:00, Sunday's is 11-5:00.  We also have two more shows in the works, so stay tuned!  Or check our website for dates and times.

I have been working on new pieces, and lots of fun things will be for sale at the Lakewood show!  We are also happy to take online orders, and custom orders, too.  We've had several folks place orders for Christmas gifts, and those have been so much fun for me to create.  We can take any heirloom photo or family treasure and turn it into art!  We can also take a special quote, use favorite colors, take any ideas you have and incorporate them into a collage or assemblage piece.  We are taking custom orders until December 1, and will deliver in time for Christmas.

This week I'm in my artroom, finishing up more Frozen Charolette Angels, collages on canvas, book cover collages, new nichos and grapevine cross assemblages, spoon ornaments, watch face necklaces, and much more!  I am also working on a new project, made with antique brass letter stencils and old photos.  These will make their "debut" at the Lakewood show next weekend!

As a way to say thanks, we will be giving a complimentary greeting card of your choice to anyone who places an online order, or stops by an upcoming show and mentions this blog.  These cards are all handmade, blank inside, and have an original Christmas collage design on the front. 

We so appreciate all of you- our family, friends, customers, and fellow artists.  Your support and encouragement means the world to us, and we look forward to seeing you soon!