Bead Soup!

I'm really excited to be a participant in the very talented Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party. If you haven't heard of it, here's the scoop. Lori pairs jewelry makers from around the country and the world, they swap beads with their Bead Soup partner, and then make something with the beads they've received. On the day of the Blog Party everyone posts pictures of what they've created. The idea is to meet other jewelry designers and stretch your creativity using components you might not have chosen yourself. It's also an opportunity to discover new blogs and see what others have done with their Bead Soup components. (I'm sure I'll have many, "Hey! why didn't I think of that?" moments.) This Soup has 362 participants!!! That's a lot of pairing and organizing Lori! My partner is Geneva Collins and her blog is called Torque Story. Can't wait to see what she sends.

We're not allowed to show what WE sent yet, but here's a little tease of what I shipped to Geneva.

It's really nerve racking to figure out what to send. Sort of like dressing for a first date. What should I send? Fancy? Casual? How much? Will she like it? Is it enough? Too much? I guess that's part of the experience too. The exercise really forces you to look at your bead stash from a different point of view. As in, "Why do I have so many green beads? I'm kind of in a color rut..."

Look for pictures of my beads from my partner very soon! I know they'll be wonderful.

More Vacation Photos

Just downloaded more pics from my trip. It was so nice to be on vacation and be able to take the time to see the great images all around. These are from a trip to the mall with my girls & a night out on Franklin St, Chapel Hill, NC. Love the fountains!

Leaflet Board

Fountain Boy Sitting

Fountain Boy Closeup

Fountain Boy Backside

Store Window Display

Molly skipping

Ice Cream on Franklin St

Stairway View

Pizza Place

Plane Back to Denver

 

More Vacation Jewelry Making - Shot on my Mom's cutting board!

www.mjanedesigns.com

Vacation Photos

This post is at least 2 weeks overdue, but since we got back from our east coast summer trip it's been nonstop at my house. So here's the "better late than never" vacation photo post!  I take plenty of family snapshots too of course and I treasure those memories, but these "artsy" photos are my little piece of zen. Enjoy!

Jack in my Dad's MG

Highway Redemption

Awesome old comic rack

Good to know...

Gator teeth & a storm coming

Marooned Mermaid

If only it were that easy

Pier

Vacation Jewelry Making

www.mjanedesigns.com

Vacation Jewelry Making

Good news: I'm on vacation on the beautiful coast of NC. Yea! Bad news: I have a 2 day show the week I get back and I'm low on inventory. Ouch! Gotta squeeze some jewelry making into my trip. What to take? What to carry it in? I can get myself and 3 kids packed up without breaking much of a sweat. But pack up my jewelry making supplies? I was breaking out in hives!

To carry my supplies, I ended up using a travel organizer toiletry bag that I already had. It's sturdy and is big enough and has enough pockets  to give me room and organization. I brought a set of letter stamps and a few design stamps: No wonder that these were checked by the TSA, huh? They look a little suspicious!

Stamps

Assorted Pliers and Cutters

 

Blanks and Dapping Block

Cleaning, Polishing and Buffing Cloths

Beads and Stones

Wire - of course!

Components Pre-made at Home

Findings

Guess what I forgot? Clasps! Hard to finish any jewelry without them. Luckily, Raleigh NC has a great store for beads and jewelry making supplies called Ornamentea. Great excuse to make a creative supply pit stop!

Ladybug, ladybug

Every July we trek to the garden center for annuals and end up getting talked into adding ladybugs to the cart. (Actually, I love this and it doesn't take much convincing.) They come in a plastic tub that is generically marked "ladybugs".

You are supposed to wait until dusk to let them out, which only adds to the kids anticipation. You release them, along with the food in their container, near low plants and hope that they will make your garden their new home. In the process, the ladybugs crawl and fly onto everyone.

 I don't know if they make the garden grow... but they grow some good summer memories.

www.mjanedesigns.com

Giant Jewelry?

I just added some sweet photo enlargements to my booth display. My daughter said my banner should now read “I make giant jewelry”!
They came like this from Nations Photo Lab
I went to my local FastSigns & they put grommets on the corners. Then another trip to Home Depot to figure out how to hang these big suckers from my booth back wall. I ended up with zip ties at the top, attached to cable wire. (jewelry makers: the thingy you use to hold the cable in a loop is a giant crimp tube!)

I hung the pics from the top rail of my tent using Bongo Ties, love these!

Here’s how they look “in action”



Next show will be Sunday, July 10th,  Sundays on the Streets, Southglenn Mall!

Simple Craft Show Tricks

I’ve been doing A LOT of outdoor shows this season, and I thought I'd share a couple of tips I’ve picked up along the way. None of these are rocket science, but if you’re new to this crazy business of setting up shop in a 10x10 outdoor booth, they might help you out.

TUB TALK

Try to consolidate the items you carry to shows into containers, like these storage tubs. Before you go to your show, while you have them all neat and organized, take a picture of what goes inside each tub & tape it to the inside of the box lid. Really helpful when you’re tired & packing-up at the end of a long day.  Also great if other people are trying to help you and don’t know your system.

RISE ABOVE

If you’re selling small items, like jewelry, you’ll want to raise your tables higher than standard height so customers have a better view. (Also helps to deter curious little fingers!) I’ve tried several methods to raise my tables and these bed risers are the easiest to use and transport. Pick them up at any retailer that sells home goods, Target, Bed Bath Beyond, Wal-Mart, etc.

HOLD ‘EM DOWN

If you’re doing outdoor shows, the wind is your enemy. Actually, even a light breeze can even wreck havoc on your display. Behold the table cloth weights! These beauties are nice looking, inexpensive and HEAVY. I clip them on my displays, table covers, side walls…I might clip them on you if you stand still too long! I bought these on Amazon. Here’s the link: Amazon, tablecloth weights
DISPLAY DIVA
A good display really can make the difference between customers stopping or walking right on by. It takes a lot of work to get it looking fantastic. If you’re doing shows frequently, you aren’t going to want to reinvent the wheel every time. I have a pic in a plastic sleeve of my basic set up, without merchandise:
and with merchandise:
Boy this is helpful. Because sometimes I’m running late, or I’m tired, or I had an extra glass of wine the night before. Or sometimes all three…and I need a little memory crutch. The booth still changes a bit every week, ‘cause I’m kind of a perfectionist. But having the basic framework at hand is fantastic.

Have a great show!