Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I know (as my son in South Korea reminded me) that I have been absent for the last two months. In my defense, a lot has been going on, mostly positive. I have been very busy with jewelry commitments. I decided to participate in the Sheltowee Art Fair in early November. I did horrible last year, but have learned a lot since then and decided to give it another go. Well, it went much better and gave me a renewed sense of purpose and confidence. Thanks to all that visited me there.

First we bit the bullet and bought a tent. I do think it made a difference.We also added more lighting. I Think we may even add some more, made a big difference. I Think we may also add one more banner with some more color.

This is a two day show (Saturday and Sunday) Danny helped me set up on Friday and sell on Saturday. We were fairly busy on Saturday so I thought Sunday would be calmer. Wrong, and I gave Danny a break and he just came to help me tear down. I was extremely busy and felt like I could not devote enough time to everyone that stopped. One big surprise was my zipper pulls they really sold well. Everyone was wanting them for stocking stuffers. There were not as many artists as usual at this event which was a little disappointing, hopefully next year artists will come back, the more the merrier. Here are a few pieces that I made for this show:


After that show was over the marathon began. The local guild, Mountain Heritage Artisans, had a awesome opportunity to open a holiday shop in downtown London. We were offered a building that needed a whole lot of work. Everyone pitched in and we were down to the last few days and the roof litterly fell in with a hard rain. We moved everything and started over down a block. Actually some things happen for a reason, this ended up a better location. This venture took a lot of my time but was well worth it. We were open every Friday and Saturday in December through Christmas Eve. This venture netted several custom orders and I loved the challenge. I got to demonstrate on one Saturday for 3 hours and loved it. With this exposure I was asked to make some custom pieces and I love custom orders. They usually force me to think outside of my comfort zone and that can lead to some new discoveries. Some of the custom work that people wanted for Christmas were:
This is a pile of beads before etching and prior to assembly. I absolutely loved them unetched and even etched.



I was so pleased how these turned out. I hope the the individuals that received them as gifts were as pleased.

I wish to thank all of my family and friends for their support in this endeavor, I could not do it with out all of you and I am enjoying every busy minute.