I Heart Handmade Gift Show

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I'm getting ready to head out for a short vacation, but I wanted to let my Seattleite friends know about the I <3 Handmade Artisan Gift Show going on this Saturday (February 6th, 2010) from 1:00pm - 6:00 pm at East Shore Unitarian Church in Bellevue.

The show will be held in Spring Hall, in the education building on the church’s campus, which is located at 12700 SE 32nd Street in Bellevue. Free parking is available in the church parking lot, as well as along the neighboring streets. Handicapped parking and access are also available.

This event is being put on by one of the members of the local arts group that I mentioned before, EtsyRain. This is a powerhouse group of talented artists, so you'll definitely find some cool stuff. If I hadn't already made vacation plans, I would certainly be selling there this weekend.

A portion of the booth fees paid by each artist will be donated to Eastside Domestic Violence Program, (EDVP) an organization that has been providing domestic violence services since 1982. Please get out and support this event - it'll keep your valentine happy, support local artists and contribute to an important community resource, in one fell swoop ;o)
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FP Anyone?

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Woot – my work was included in another treasury!

As much as I enjoy it when someone chooses to feature my work, I think that one of my favorite things about these treasuries is simply seeing how (and why) different people make their selections…

 Some of the treasuries that I've seen combine items that I'd never imagine together, but they totally work (like this one, which includes items found using the search term "wicked"). Others connect diverse works by using themes or colors.  

This treasury is in the latter group - the curator (Flahwiz) selected items done in soft lavender. I love her choices - the pieces in this collection blend and compliment each other nicely,but they still stand out as separate and unique works.

 

Thanks Flahwiz!  I really appreciate that you included my work, and I hope this act of consideration comes back to you tenfold.

Blasts from the past...

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Over the past year, I've had the pleasure of reconnecting with a group of old deadhead  friends that I used to be very close to. This community was colorful and eclectic, and I learned so much from them. Being a bunch of hippies they naturally loved beads, so I also learned a lot about beading. In fact, I would say that some of the best beadwork I've ever seen came out of the the deadhead parking lot scene.

My fascination with cabochon beading - and also my love for antique microbeads - probably began during my deadhead years. I'd been doing beadwork, and even collecting beads before I got into the Grateful Dead, but those years really fueled my interest. I was exposed to the work of talented bead artists like Nome May, and of course, selling my work was a great way to support my gypsy lifestyle.

A few of my friends still have some of the pieces that I used to sell to fund my travels. I was delighted when they shared pictures of these older pieces with me.  This one belongs to my beautiful friend Janna, who grew up to be an inspiring yoga teacher. It was made in 1989, and it features a large chrysacolla cabochon with a small (I think) raw emerald cab below it. The blue-green stones are tourmaline, and the quartz crystal at the bottom used to be a much longer, crossed/double terminated point, but it broke at some point over the last 20 years.

This barrette belongs to another amazing old friend, Hollie Rose - Java Goddess and owner of Klekolo Coffee in Middletown, CT. It was made in 1988, and it features 3 teensy opal cabs and 1 aquamarine cab set with size 18/o vintage micro seed beads. The funny thing is - I remember exactly where I was and who I was with when I made this (I still have some of the beads from this dye lot!)

Seeing these pictures reminded me of just how long I've been creating beadwork. It's interesting to me that even though I've learned many different techniques over the years, I am still drawn to the same types of materials; such as cabochons and vintage beads. This picture of me beading was taken when I was about 15 or 16 (gotta love that goofy Guatemalan shirt! ;o) Who knew that my love for beadwork would last a lifetime, and ultimately play such an important role in my life?!
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My thoughts on SoopSee

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People keep asking me about the new look of my website  and what I think about the company that I used for it, SoopSee. I thought I'd do a review of the service here,  so that I can answer everyone in one shot ;o)

First, let me give you a little bit of background info on my site and what I'm trying to achieve with it: I launched beadmask.com in 2002 (prior to this I had free sites which just looked ugly and unprofessional) . My friend Julia helped me by creating a simple template so that I could learn some basic HTML and put my site together. The site featured my masks and beadwork, along with a small sampler of the vintage beads and cabochons that I collect and sell. But my pictures were lousy and it wasn't very easy for people to find what they wanted.

I realized that I would probably do better with two separate sites - one for the beads and one for my work. This time I just hired Julia to design it for me - as you can see by her site, her web design skills are far superior to mine. The site that she designed for my beads  is gorgeous ( it'll go live soon, I'm just finishing off the product listings) but I realized that the moment I launch this beautiful bead site, it will outclass and out-date my original site. So instead of simply creating one site, I was suddenly scrambling to finish the bead site AND  overhaul the mask site.  I was toying with some basic design ideas for the mask site (color scheme, background, layout) but it would a lot of time to complete, in addition to the work needed for the bead site. I was beyond overwhelmed...

Then I discovered SoopSee which is a tool that serves to integrate all aspects of your web presence (such as an Etsy shop, blog, twitter) into one cohesive website. It's in beta, so you can use this service for free or opt for a "premium" membership for a whopping $5/mo. I chose the latter, as it seemed to offer more design options. The design process only took about an hour or so - I used the background & colors that I'd already been working with for my site and blog, and it just pulled all of the content from my Etsy shop.

The completed website was hosted on Soopsee (you can see it here)  and it looked pretty cool there - but when I uploaded the code to my own site, it looked awful. All of the customization that I'd done was lost, and it had a generic look that I absolutely hated. Fortunately, I know just enough CSS that I was able to tweak the code to my liking  ... no idea if SoopSee allows this, but if it's going on my domain it's gonna look the way that I want it to! The end result is what you see now - which is more attractive and functional than what I had before.

I really like Etsy, but it is NOT the sum of my business and I don't just want a website that funnels people to my Etsy shops. In that regard, SoopSee is not ideal for my needs. However, it is an excellent band aid until I'm able to launch the bead supply site and overhaul the beadwork & mask site. The color scheme and background are similar enough to what I have designed that I should be able to transition to my own code pretty seamlessly when I am ready. It affords me some much needed breathing room :)

Bottom line, I think it's a great deal for the price. It's not perfect ... If you're hoping for a website that offers much more content than your Etsy store, or one that allows your customers to purchase directly from you, you will probably be disappointed. Also, I found the templates to be sort of boring - their prefab color schemes looked a bit generic to me. That said it is probably ideal for folks who don't have a website yet and only sell through Etsy. I think they will even host and help you register your own domain name (looks to be around $15/year, but I didn't really explore this). All told, it's a quick, easy and affordable way to build an instant web presence - like an online business card. I would certainly recommend it to anyone who wants to set up a simple site with minimal hassle.
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Bead Embroidered Holiday Card

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I forgot to post this earlier ... It's the image that I used for my Christmas - Solstice - Hanukkah - Kwanza- holiday cards last year. They weren't mailed till New Year's Eve (I blame the flu bug that had a death grip on me for most of Dec.) but I know that the recipients felt the love and intent behind them, so I'm okay with that.

At first, I was less than thrilled with my dove (I think she looks a little more like a hummingbird ;) but now I like her in spite - and because - of her imperfections.  I may even make this an annual tradition .

Talent in Turquoise!

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I'm writing on the fly here ... but I wanted to mention two things:

Thing one: the Etsy rain treasury that I posted about yesterday? It made the front page! Maybe it's a little silly, but I was excited/happy about it :)

Thing two: I found out that my beadwork was featured in another treasury today. This treasury features a gorgeous collection of seedbead work and polyclay in turquoise hues.

Thank you, Dreambeadweaver for including my barrette in this beautiful collection! :)

Love is in the air

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Over the last 6 months I've started listing more of my work on Etsy . As a frustrated eBay veteran, I've been pleasantly surprised by the Etsy community. I've met some of the coolest customers there, and I've been very impressed by the way that the sellers seem to support one another.

I've often wished that I could find that kind of creative community in real life... So I was delighted to learned about a "team" of local artists called Team EtsyRain. It's a Seattle based group of Etsy sellers that aims to support each other locally and virtually. I recently joined, and I'm excited to be a part of it.

This treasury showcases the work of this talented and diverse group of artists.  Check out the  hip, eco-friendly clothing at RevivalInk, and the original upcycled cuffs at TrilbyMade. If it weren't for this treasury I might not have discovered Nikki Wheeler's gorgeous fiber art, or SilentGoddess' original jewelry designs.

I encourage you to explore the featured artists' shops. Maybe you'll find the perfect Valentine's day gift - or even something special for yourself. Many thanks to onawhimm , who curated this fabulous collection!