Hi girls and boys, I'll be showing my work this year at AVAM's Bazaart! I've attended the show for the past few years as a shopper and it is SO FUN! I'm super excited to be a participating Artist this year so come out and shop Handmade for the holidays :)
This past weekend marked the end of my 2013 show season and I couldn't have asked for a nicer finale! Sure it was cold and we did get that Sunday snow but it was a blast! Thank you to all of my wonderful customers who stopped by the shows, I'm forever grateful for your support and kind words :)
On Saturday I was at Roland Park Country School for their holiday fair. It's such a lovely school and I'm always amazed when I go there. The staff and kids are just so wonderful and they go out of their way to make the vendors feel welcome. This year they had the kids activities and artists under one roof and not only was it a lively time for the kids, it was also hilarious entertainment for the rest of us! I think I smiled the whole time because I was watching the karaoke stage from my booth! I also had some adorable returning customers who stopped by and modeled some of my jewelry:
Aren't they the cutest ?! They purchased one of my newest designs I'm calling the Cumulus necklace. It looks fabulous on her doesn't it?
We packed up and I tried to get some sleep because ALS Boutique was the next day and I was up by 5am to drive to Annapolis. They were calling for snow that day so the morning was intensely busy! I love this boutique because it's a benefit show that helps support Lou Gehrig's disease and we helped raise over $20,000 on Sunday! I think that's so amazing! This show has so many talented local artists under one roof. It's a show that you shouldn't miss if you enjoy shopping handmade for the holidays. Next year I hope to show my work in Annapolis more! I love it there :) so thank you everyone who braved the snow to come out and shop this event! It was great to meet so many new people.
So that ends my shows for 2013 but I won't have much down time. I received some consignment opportunities in some local shops that I will tell you more about when things are finalized, but I am very excited for what 2014 has to offer!
Also as a reminder, we are still taking orders for Christmas until the 15th! So be sure to order soon if you want to receive your packages before the 24th!
Hi everyone! Just a reminder that our Cyber Week sale will be ending tomorrow at midnight so be sure to take advantage while you still can! So far the most popular pieces being bought during Cyber Week have been the Ayano Pearl earrings, Miya Open Circle necklaces, Nest Pendants, and our Triangle Bunting necklace. Just in case you Holiday Gifters were wondering what's most popular :)
If you want to see my work up close and in person, I will be doing two back-to-back shows this weekend! On Saturday I will be down at Roland Park Country School in Baltimore from 11 - 4 pm. For anyone in the Annapolis Area, I will be showing my work at the wonderful ALS Boutique inside the Sheraton from 10 - 5 pm. Hope to see you there!
Ridgely is always one of my favorite shows because it signals the start of the holiday season for me. Christmas music plays during the day and everyone seems to be in such a festive mood, it just gets me excited about the coming months! The highlight of this years show for me personally was that my newest design found a home! I didn't even get a chance to blog about this design yet but let me tell you, it is fabulous! I'm in love with it. My customer graciously let me snap a photo of her modeling it like a pro before it left my booth though:
Isn't she a lovely model?!
It's a long 3D open wood flower necklace set with sparkling Swarovski crystals. It's just perfect for all occasions and it's very wearable. Ok I'll stop raving now.
Thank you to all of my wonderful customers who came out and I hope everyone got a jump start on their holiday shopping!
Just a reminder that Saturday November 30th is Small Business Saturday so be sure to support your local business's that day! I will be hosting a Cyber Monday sale online as well so you can purchase my most popular designs at a discount just in time for Christmas!
My next show is this Sunday at Damascus Highschool's Shopping Frenzy from 12 - 5 pm!
Happy Monday everyone! Just wanted to let everyone know that the amazing Schulman Project Gallery has launched their online retail section. Now you can purchase my work through their website as well as an array of other amazingly talented artists work! Also I wanted to take this opportunity to list a few of my upcoming shows since I am usually super last minute about it.
This Saturday I will be showing my wares at Ridgley Middle Schools Fall Craft Show from 10-4. All the Baltimore locals know what a great little gem of a show this is and if you have never shopped this event, you are truly missing out! It's always jam packed with Christmas shoppers so be sure to get here early if you want the best selection! I will be located in booth C3 in the cafeteria!
CRAFT M(A)RT is an all retail exhibition that will run from November 22 - January 25 at the Schulman Project in Hampden and will feature beautiful and affordable work from an array of artists just in time for the Holidays. You will be able to purchase my work along with some one-of-a-kind pieces that I am creating exclusively for this Gallery!
We're having a little sale this week over at the online store! In honor of Cyber Week, we've listed our most popular pieces at drastically discounted prices! Have fun and Happy Cyber Week :)
Today I'm going to share some resources that you can use to help make the holidays run a little smoother!
1) Organize your Holiday
Everyone is envious of those who are on top of their holiday gift shopping. So to help prevent the headache of waiting in holiday lines on Christmas Eve, check out these helpful guides and planners from Real Simple:
The Holidays mean guests and family visits, so you want your home to be warm and welcoming. These resources from Houzz will help you handle the necessary prep work before your guests arrive:
I don't know about you, but I love brunch! So I decided to put together some ideas for everything you would need to serve an awesome holiday brunch with a woodland theme. So get some ideas, grab some friends, and get together!
Love the wood details on these Ikea untensils! And 20 pieces for under $30, who can say no? Same with the tea towels! What better way to update your kitchen for the season than some pretty patterned tea towels?
Aren't these lovely table staples amazing? Plus they are all handmade! You can't get much better than that. All of these together would make such a lovely warm setting. I especially adore the birch wood napkin rings!
Don't forget about an eye-catching centerpiece! I chose these for their unique and wonderful textures because texture helps to add depth to the feeling your trying to capture. All of these centerpieces come in multiples so you have more freedom in how they are arranged.
Harney and Sons - Hot Cinnamon Spice Tea darshanpottery - Ceramic Mugs WonderVintageShop - Vintage teapot Whenever I think of the holidays, I always think of Harney and Sons Hot Cinnamon Spice tea. If you've never had it before, you are missing out! It's a strong tea that is so full of cinnamon goodness it just makes you smile when you sip it. It's got a wonderful sweetness too, you don't really need any sweetener with this tea. Serve it up in these adorable handmade mugs and this perfect vintage teapot.
-------------------------- These recipes don't necessarily have to be made together! Have some fun and make some food :)
--------------------------- As a side note, I'm getting ready for my show tomorrow at Ridgley Middle School so stop by if you have some time! It's a really nice little show and it's a great place to buy handmade gifts! xoxoxoxox -Amy
Today's Holiday Post is a quick one, but it's very useful one because... it's all about unique gifts for the boys! Guys are hard to shop for right? So here is a quick list of 10 guy gifts that will help get you started:
To be honest, I'm not a very good gift wrapper. I have good intentions when the holidays come around, but what I always end up doing is wrapping my gifts much too late and because of that, they don't come out very pretty. (think 2am, "Ah! I ran out of scotch tape! Oh well, I'll just use the duct tape then...." type of scenario)
So, this year I vow to be different! And if you are anything like me, or are just interested in learning some new ways to wrap it up nicely, vow along with me to make this year: THE PRETTIEST LOOKING GIFTS EVER YEAR! Or just not use duct tape year! :)
Since I have such a passion for Japanese fabric it's only natural that I'm also interested in Furoshiki, which is the Japanese art of wrapping gifts in fabric! This is both a waste reducing and very beautiful way of presenting your gifts.
Fun Fact: Furoshiki is derived from the Japanese words for furo (bath) and shiki (spread). Traditionally people would carry their extra clothing to the public baths using a furoshiki.
The really great thing about Furoshiki is how simple it can be: You need only some fabric. Try using a square scarf or a tea towel to make your gift go that extra mile. Fabric stores sell pre-cut quilting squares that fit the bill for most smaller boxes which is especially time saving if you have many gifts to wrap.
Here is a very easy tutorial video on how to wrap a basic one and two knot furoshiki:
Here is one of my own examples of how to wrap a jewelry box in Furoshiki. I wrapped up my newest Geo Gem Necklace and topped the package off with one of my Red Blossom Ornaments. I think it looks darling!
This is not a furoshiki, but it does use a square of fabric! I wrapped up a small earring box and tied it in candy colored cherry blossom fabric and pinched off the ends with ribbon. Doesn't the Sparkling Daisy Ornament go well with this package?
There is a lot out there on furoshiki so if you are interested in learning some more intricate wrapping I'd seriously think about checking out these amazing books and resources:
This Book is in English and shows you how to do 18 different wraps with 5 different objects.
Ornaments are up for sale in the shop! Hang them on a tree, window, wall or tie them atop a gift! They add interest to wine bottles you are giving as hostess gifts. Or, stick them on the front of a holiday card for something extra special. Plus, many of these patterns aren't strictly for the holidays so your friends and family can enjoy them all year round!
Some of my favorite ornaments are the three I based off my jewelry designs:
Wanted to share a little preview of some new holiday ornaments and decor I've been working on! I was really surprised how much I like working with the larger tiles of clay. This holiday is going to be colorful and bright!
So we were pretty lucky with the hurricane this time around. Woke up to lots of debris on the lawn but other than that, nothing too dire. Since it's still pretty nasty out, I've been using this indoor time to ready my studio for the holiday rush. Cleaning off surfaces and organizing clay parts and pieces. It seems like it takes 2 minutes to destroy a clean place that took 2 hour to clean... My ultimate goal is to have such an organized space that it never gets messy. Hahahaha I know, I know, just let me dream :)
I've also been sketching a lot lately and as a result have come up with some pretty holiday ideas! I'm going to try and put some of these into reality this afternoon.
Hope you all stayed dry and safe during this storm!
Today is one of those wonderful days where everything you have on your list gets done. It's a great feeling! I even fit in my run earlier than I thought and now I have a bit of free time. Aside from creating overstock for the gallery, Kirk and I have been doing some home facelifts. One was an entranceway re-do which included a new coat of paint. I was touching up a few spots today and I realized that the paint hadn't been mixed properly and now there are all of these lighter patches all over the wall... I guess I need to do a facelift to the facelift now :)
Also as an early Christmas present to myself I purchased a lovely new rug from Anthropologie and some pretty new fabrics from Palladium so I guess this winter break I'll be busy making our house a home! It's also time for Holiday baking fairly soon and I'm looking forward to trying out some new recipes. What is your favorite holiday tradition??
Dropping by for a quick plug to my very last show of the 2009 season! Come out to see me and browse for some pretty Christmas gifts at the
Dulaney High School Holiday Bazaar this Saturday December 5th from 10am - 3pm!
A few of my high end pieces will be on sale for the end of the year and I've actually managed to create a few new things for this last show! Hope to see you all there!
Hi!!! So I've been sick this last weekend so not much has been happening except fluids and sleep, thus there have been no updates jewelry wise until today! Feeling much better not only because I'm not running a fever, but because we got a our little faux Christmas tree up the other night! I love Christmas. It was all of $25 and I think it looks great in our low ceiling little house!
Batch of Customs ready to be delivered
Here's a quick rundown of what else I've been up to this last week and a half:
I've been busy finishing up custom orders, had a wonderful Thanksgiving, went shopping on Black Friday, refinanced our house, caught a nasty cold, got some Christmas shopping done, gearing up for my final show at Dulaney High School. PHEW. The end. Hope you all had a great Holiday weekend and are getting excited for the Christmas season!
