On My Path

Fun, Beautiful Weather and Great People

After sleeping a bit extra today, I thought I'd tell you about vending Saturday. It was the kind of event that makes me so happy to live where I do. There were about 8-10 vendors for this small event. We had a very yummy homemade lunch put on by the Garden club. The weather was beautiful if a bit warm, but I did have my canopy and a pretty decent shady spot under a tree. I sold a handful of pieces including Cheshire Moon, which is pictured above. That one went to a fellow vendor and herbalist who I really like so that was pretty cool. I don't have photos of the other pieces I sold -- mostly smaller pendants. I also put out an assortment of rocks for people to fondle and buy and sold a few of those. Folks tended to like the ammonites the best. And the people... well I love them. That's pretty much what I love about this town of 1100. Well that and the river and mountains. The people are so wonderful though - strong independent women (and men of course, but this was a highly women oriented gathering). Of all sizes and shapes - some with tattoos, piercings, dreadlocks, kids, partners, doctors, farmers. I don't find myself using words very well right now, but suffice it to say that I love the eclectic nature of folks around here. Lots of herbalists, hippies, farmers, ranchers and everyone in between. It's a community that's rather invested in sustainability and being kind to one another. I really appreciate that, and while I sometimes yearn for the city life and all the culture and activities offered there, I'm happy to call this town my own. Yep.. good old Laytonville, CA.

I got to meet some new people and vend with others that I've known for a bit. There was an open mic with people playing guitar and singing. There were little workshops on composting and the medicinal properties of everyday herbs. The crowd wasn't very big, which could have been better, but the event had gone on a break last year and I think people weren't very aware of it happening. I think next year will be more attended and advertised.

Today I'm utterly exhausted. I did a lot of running around getting ready, then the loading and unloading twice in a day was pretty trying. On top of that I had to get my partner's wheelchair on top of the car because inside it was full with my set-up and merchandise, so by the end of the day, after I was loaded up and getting her chair up there, I was ready to fall over and sleep. It's all worth it though!

I got nice compliments on my set up, which is always great to hear. I'll post some photos of it soon. It tends to change every time I vend because I do it so infrequently. This time, I added some slatted boards - I can't even think of what they are called right now - but they hold dowel rods from which necklaces where hanging. I was thinking it's a bit too busy looking, but I got a number of kind words about them and they were great in the breeze (not falling over). One thing I did better this time was to have my merch all priced before the show. You'd think that's common sense, but I never seem to get there. Well, okay, about 10 things weren't priced but I can handle that! This time Jesse and I got to sit back and watch people more. One thing we noticed was that the big piece of malachite I have was a serious guy magnet. They liked to pick it up and explore it. The women, which is my primary customer, looked around a lot. They tended to come into the booth and look at the left wall first. I'm not sure if that is the natural tendency or if it's because of that side having the sterling silver items, while the other was more gemstone necklace type stuff. I think it's probably the natural tendency. I know someone had talked about how one shops and which way their eye sweeps - but I can't remember which way it is.

Almost everyone who took the time to examine the hanging necklaces went to two of my Goddess pieces - both of which are primarily white and silver. I found that very fascinating. These are the two:

My favorite part of the day though, was at the end. I had decided that I wanted to let go of some of my older wraps - primarily copper wrapped single stones and sea glass. I contemplated selling them cheaply online, giving them to another beginning vendor to sell, and giving them to my local second hand store. Then I realize how much fun it would be to run around and tell everyone that I was letting go of some of my older work for free, and boy was it fun! Some were customers, some were older friends, most of the vendors, and a handful of new people I met. I'm not even sure of how many pieces went because I was running around telling people while Jesse was showing which ones. I'd guess though, that about 20 people or so went through the pile and took at least one thing - sometimes 2 or 3 things. Yey! That made me SO happy. What a perfect way to end the day huh? Of course it left me wishing I could just give my pieces away, which I know is not an unusual thought amongst sellers. I'm still trying to work on that idea - to figure out how I can sell things at a lower price or donate more or something that will get them into more hands and bring smiles to their hearts. I've always wanted to do giveaways, so hopefully that will be one way to go about it. I have a huge grin on my face just remembering the giveaway and the way people's faces lit up when I told them what I was doing.

Okay, on that note, I've got to go throw some dinner together.
Hope you are well!
Shay

Vending this Weekend

Long Valley Garden Club

Alright! Well I'm taking a trek off the mountain this weekend to show my jewelry at the Long Valley Garden Club in Laytonville, CA. The show is on Saturday from 10am - 4pm and while I don't think any of my blog readers are in the area, you just never know eh?

I've been in a whirlwind of activity going through all my vending supplies and merchandise. It's been a few years, I think, since I last pulled out the EZ up and all. Last night I polished lots of earrings and chains, thought about how to set up, and finished a couple of pieces. Today, I have so much to do I can't even think clearly yet. I guess first stop is to make a more orderly "to do" list so that I can get my butt in gear! It's so crazy for me when I vend so infrequently. I usually don't do it because of the issues with my hands and not being able to haul stuff around, but thank the Goddess they are doing relatively well right now. Woo Hoo!!

The problem with not vending much is that I never have my S**t together. My displays are not quite satisfactory to me. I'm always trying to figure out how to take less stuff and be able to set up and tear down more quickly. In the past, I vended at festivals that were 3 days long so it was a little easier to take a couple of hours to set up, but for a 6 hour show, I'd like to have a simpler design. On top of that, I have too much jewelry to fit in my booth and since it is all one-of-a -kind, I hate to leave something out. They all want to come out and play - you know?

It's been fun getting ready though. I have 3 new types of pieces that I haven't even shown anyone yet because I haven't photographed them. They involve skeleton keys, sea glass, and little miniature bottles with pretties inside (not necessarily all together, but sometimes) . I've been inspired by all of these things for awhile so it's been fun to finally be able to get into creative mode again. Over a year ago, I puchased something from a fellow Etsy seller that came in the cutest tiny little bottle, so of course I had to search and find some so I could create with them. I've had them in my supplies for about a year or so. I'm calling it the "California in a Bottle" series, as they contain lots of things that are special to me about being in Northern California - sea glass, redwood tree needles and bark, local flowers that I collected and dried, lichen, kelp and more. Fun! I'll be sure to post some photos when I get a chance. OH!... I just realized that I do have an image of the bottles. Lets see... ... looking... okay, got it. Here you go:

You can't tell from the photo, but that smallest bottle is only about 3/4 of an inch tall. Too cute!

Okay then... back to work for me.
Love ya,
Shay

Wonderful Tutorial Deal from Perri of Shaktipaj Designs

Okay peeps,
This is one serious deal for anyone who loves to make jewelry from wire. It's coming to you from Perri Jackson of Shaktipaj Designs and she is offering a $200 value for $35 to a limited number of folks. The tutorials are instantly available for downloading once you make the purchase.

I jumped on the deal myself because Perri is a great detail oriented artist with clear descriptions and a style that is completely her own (and a great woman as well!) The photo above shows just 6 of her 21 tutorials. She's got lots to teach us! Here's the link to check it out for yourselves:

Shaktipaj's Awesome Deal - thanks Perri!

Have fun!

Bead Soup Blog Party!

Hey Friends,
Here's another fun thing I just signed up for. If you want to join me and a bunch of other creators, click on the image and check it out. Sign ups end tomorrow though (Aug 3rd), so don't wait!

New Etsy Listings

Desert Dreamer

I thought I'd share some photos of pieces I've been listing on Etsy over the past days. They are mostly in the Goddess Series and the Winged Ones. It's strange to be listing pieces that I created quite awhile ago, but that's what happens to me sometimes -- I create something then it sits in a basket until I get to photographing and listing it. I tend to call myself lazy, but in reality it is more of a depression thing that stops me. I sure do love these times when it's not holding me back.

The piece above is called "Desert Dreamer" and boy did I have fun making her. I enjoy making everything I do or I wouldn't be doing it, but something about these eclectic Goddess pieces that have lots of goodies and energy are sometimes especially fun. They put me in a more energetic almost frenetic energy space -- very "in the zone". I feel like I'm dancing through the studio and spinning around trying to find what calls to the piece and wants to join the goddess. How much fun is that?!

Here's some of the yummy stuff in Desert Dreams:

Green Kyanite

Serpentine

Rutilated Quartz

Sunstone

Aquamarine

Peruvian Opal

Turquoise

Apatite

Carnelian

Aventurine

"Fire Agate" (carnelian I think)

Amber

Copper

Brass

Silk

Whew! It excites me just listing them all :)

This piece is called "Star Seeker":

Star Seeker

She's got lots of neat things as well. I particularly like the solar quartz that looks like an eye right in the center of the hammered sterling silver teardrop. She's also got a hand carved bone goddess, kunzite, quartz, Karen Hill Tribe fine silver drops and leaf, repurposed white coral, Australian opals, lots of sterling silver, and a neat double sided operculum shell, which once was the door to a creature's shell (well 2 doors seeing as how it's a double sided piece). Pretty neat eh?

And here is Dream Walker and her collection of stones:

Dream Walker

Lets see... she has:

A red coral Goddess and stunning faceted apatite and turquoise, amethyst, more coral, some Karen Hill Tribe fine silver drops and leaf, a piece of genuine sea foam green sea glass from England, and lots of sterling silver. Yummmmm.

Previously on my blog I showed some of the Winged Ones that I had made. Here's a recap of them minus 1 that has yet to be listed.

Winged Ones Series

The last piece that I'll share for now was made using ancient glass from the Roman Empire. It's said to be about 1000-2000 years old, which I think is pretty wild. This glass is most often seen with iridescent coloring that happens in the oxidizing process over the centuries. For this piece I chose 3 rounds of glass that were pure in their blue green color and one that is a paler green with some whitish formations on it. I can't help but wonder what purpose these pieces once served and who they belonged to. The glass discs have been paired with Australian opals, sterling silver and some more Karen Hill Tribe silver drops.

Power Of Three

I hope you all are enjoying yourselves, wherever you are out in this wide world of ours.

Things To Come

I thought I'd share a quick glimpse of jewelry pieces that I am in the process of listing on Etsy. Only a few are "new" pieces that I've finished over the last year while my hands have been bad. The others just haven't made it to the virtual world yet.
...

Okay... I know you can't really see a thing except my cute cat who is sleeping on top of the scanner where a kitty obviously belongs. The necklaces are hanging to the right. More photos to come :)

I Have Been Chosen .... (Scared Yet?)

So... this wonderful artist, Lorelei randomly selected me to participate in this pretty neat shadow box challenge. Here's her post so you can learn more about it: Lorelei's Shadow Box Challenge

Now, you may be surprised because I have been overwhelmingly absent over the last year due to problems with my wrists. F i n a l l y... they are coming around and creating is soon to happen! Why not start it off with something that makes me absolutely nervous and excited? Yep, that's what I've chosen to do in putting my name "in the hat" with Lorelei's challenge. I was one of 23 folks chosen to create something with these nifty enameled boxes made by C Koop Beads . On August 27th, there will be a big blog fest where we all show our creations. I have NO idea what I will make with the little beauty that I will soon receive, which makes it even more exciting - no?

You may not even know that I've had a growing interest in mixed media jewelry -- that I've been collecting old skeleton keys, numbered tags, silk and the like. Will I make something completely different and out of my range or will I primarily incorporate gems and wire (which is still out of my range when given a cute little enameled box to incorporate). I have no idea and while this may seem like a very small adventure to some, it's a bit of a leap for me. I have made virtually nothing in a Year - if you are a creator, you know how painful that is! My creative juices have been held down and put away and I can feel them roaring back to the surface. Yipeeeee!

I don't have any expectations about this challenge except to actually make something again, get over the fear of sharing it with a bunch of people, and have lots of fun.