Announcements and Other Good Stuff!

Okay, so I think THIS week I can relax a little and get myself together. Maybe. LOL!

As I mentioned before, it's been a bit crazy around here....multiple things going on on multiple fronts, and that combined with my tendency to overschedule myself sometimes, well, it's just not always pretty.

HOWEVER.

I am practically beside myself with happiness to tell you all that....

My cupcake pendants and other cupcake-y jewelry pieces are being carried by a local specialty bakery! Pearl's Cupcake Shoppe on Grove Avenue here in Richmond has begun to carry a selection of my work!

The best part is that they were thrilled with my interpretation in glass of some of their signature cupcakes! Their cupcakes are fantastically yummy (I know, I have tried about three of them...) and their shop is just adorably decorated. I delivered an order on Thursday this past week, and had to run back on Friday with additional items that they wanted for the Strawberry Street Festival this weekend. I took Noah with me, since Wren was at preschool, and relished a little Mommy-and-son time with a couple of the cupcakes after the business part of our trip was taken care of.

He definitely loved his Plain Jane cupcake -- vanilla with vanilla icing and some sprinkles. It's one of the cupcakes I make in glass for them (which I failed to photograph before taking to the shop! D'oh!).

On Saturday, I had a space at the Market at St. Stephen's, also on Grove Avenue. It was a windy day, but sunny, and I had lots of traffic and good sales. That's always good. I'm also working on improving my display, and I really feel like I am getting there.
I'm moving toward having four 'trees' made from copper pipe and wire to display pendants on, and a brown divided box like the one on the left in the picture, for earrings related to each tree of pendants. So far, I have two trees already made. I know my table coverings look like heck in this shot, but the wind was so strong, they were constantly looking crummy. They needs curtain weights in the corners, and I think I need to get off my butt and actually make the fitted tablecovers I keep saying I need. I like the overall color scheme -- black, orange, dark brown, some red, and a bit of white. I feel like I should change my earring cards to a buff or tan color....what do you think?
You can see one of my copper trees in the back. I really like them for the pendants. Apparently, I also need walls for my tent. My car, while a beautiful shade of red, is not that nice of a background. :)

Anyway, it has been a great weekend overall. I am looking forward to stopping by the cupcake shop on Tuesday to find out how things went at the festival! Now I am all inspired to go out and find other shops and boutiques that might be a good fit for some of my work...hmmm...there are a couple of higher-end maternity and children's boutiques.....I wonder what else might be good?

Definitely, that has been added to my goals list for 2010.

Whew!

I had a booth at the Market at St. Stephen's on this past Saturday. It was the opening day of the market, and it was pretty busy. And hot! I guess spring-almost-summer has arrived in Richmond, VA! I think it was over 90 degrees, totally sunny, and insanely windy. I forgot my tent weights and one of my earring stands kept getting blown off the table. At least nothing got broken.

I also forgot my camera, so I didn't get any pictures of my display. Actually, I didn't forget my camera, I just thought I did, and I found it in my purse as I was packing up to go home. Ack!

The market wasn't the best for me....most people were more interested in the freshly-picked strawberries!...but I had a lot of interest, and that is always a good thing. I'm looking forward to going back next Saturday.

Right now, though, I am going crAAAAzy working on at least three custom orders, two that are due this week, and one due next week...but this is all good, right? :) I swear, when it rains around here, it really pours!

In other news, my dad was visiting us and my brother for the past month (Dad lives in Miami), and last week, we took the little kids to the zoo. It was great fun, as always, and my son Noah even fed the giraffes!

It was a great day, and I'm sorry that my dad had to go back home today, but I am always so grateful that he is able to make the trip up here and stay with us.

I think I should get to bed now. More beadmaking must happen in the morning....

A quick update before I lose my mind!

Thanks, everyone, for all the fantastic comment-love about my birthday necklace! I really appreciate everyone who took the time to check out the latest crazy idea I had. :) I love the necklace, and I have worn it a few times, taken it to a demo I did last weekend, and have found a spot near my work area (in the house, not in the garage!) that I can hang it, so I can see it all the time. And turning 40 wasn't so bad, either. I had a terrific birthday celebration that my amazing husband put together that was attended by a huge number of family and friends. And I think I am doing pretty good for forty, so there!

This Saturday begins the summer farmer's market season around here, and I am getting my stuff together to be at the St. Stephen's Episcopal Church market. I'll be there from 8am to noon, at least two Saturdays a month until November. In May, I'll be there May 1 and 8 and 22.

I've got so many great ideas for things this year, and I am desperately trying to get my act together so I can be prepared and ready. I'll be offering custom copper mother's and grandmother's bracelets, stamped with kids' and grandkids' names. I've got a line of flower pendants called Bloomz (that I don't have a finished photo of yet!), some more Viking knit bracelets with my Bubble beads, like I showed here, and my usual assortment of charms, pendants and other goodies.

Oh, wait, I just found a picture of my Bloomz beads, not yet made into pendants, but here ya go:
I love this design. Pretty and simple.

I hope if any of you are local to Richmond, Virginia and are available this Saturday, that you come on out to the market! It's a fantastic place with a nice variety of vendors -- and of course I'll be there too! But now....gotta get back to work to get ready!

Spring schedule is shaping up...

It looks like my first art/craft show of the season will be this Saturday! I'll be out at Saturday Stroll in a spot next to Quirk Gallery this Saturday from 11am to 4pm. It's the first time they are doing this show, so I hope it will be great! Either way, it's a nice opportunity to hang out downtown and the weather is forecast to be AWESOME (sunny and 70)! So, if you're local, come on out and say hi and support your local artisans!

After that, there is tentatively a show on April 18th that I might be doing. It's the Richmond Craft Mafia's spring show, and they haven't sent out acceptance letters yet, so I don't know if I am going to be there!

In May, my favorite farmer's market gets underway....The Market at St. Stephen's...and I will definitely be there from 8am to noon on May 1, 8, and 22. The market is going to be bigger and even better than last year, so come on out! I particularly love this market for its mission and for its wonderful community.

So, that's the spring schedule as I know it so far....I'll definitely keep everyone updated on the happenings as things get going!

I think I am going to be busy in 2010!

Gearing up for the holiday season

I updated some pictures on the Flickr page for A Hot Piece of Glass. Go here to see the new images. Right now, a lot of the new ones are shots of just the beads for projects that will become jewelry soon.

I have also started to work on my schedule for Christmastime shows. It's not a huge schedule at the moment, but hopefully that will change. Right now I am planning on being at the St. Stephen's market this upcoming Saturday for my last weekend at that market. After that, I will be at Providence Middle School's Craft Show on November 21. More details on that one as I get them. I had applied for the Richmond Craft Mafia's Christmas show, but was turned down. :(

I am really hoping I will get my Etsy shop open again soon so if there are things you would like to see in there, let me know. If you see anything on my Flickr page that looks good and you want it, let me know. Some things there have been sold, but some can be remade.

There ya go....a quick FYI for now. Back in a while with some pix of finished pieces.

Halloweeny Fun!

In that batch of beads from my last post was a small group of beads I am designating for a Halloweeny necklace. The vision in my head is fabulous, but as usual, I am still working it out in reality. These are the beads:


I haven't decided if I need more or not. I'm also contemplating taking a Halloween charm bracelet I made last year apart to cull some beads from it, but this is what I have so far. I am making the cord and some coiled and spiraled beads for the project, too, and those pieces so far look like this:


I still have more cord to make, and more spiral beads, too, so hopefully I will be able to get this vision done BEFORE Halloween! I've got one last day at the St. Stephen's Market on the 24th, and I want to have it done for then.

Keeping my fingers crossed and my cord-making constant...

Been awhile....again...

Ok, so here I am again. Sorry for the interruption!

I've got some new work to show off, so here goes....first up, a custom order for a parent of a child at one of the girls' private schools here. Twenty-five daisy beads.


The client also ordered another twenty-five of the same beads, so I have to get those done this week.

I also did a custom order for the director of a local preschool, who wanted beads to incorporate into appreciation gifts for her teachers. Those turned out like this:




I'm doing the Market at St. Stephen's Church this year. It's on Grove Ave, across from St. Catherine's School, if you're local to Richmond. Come and see me!