My Craft Fair Rig

I'm getting pretty good at taking my craft fair booth on the bike. It's a little like being part of a traveling circus. But, I love that I can haul everything I need without ever getting in my car. Of course it helps that I wasn't setting up a huge space, but I'd say it's a pretty good testament for just how much a person can do without a car. :)

The Handmade Revolution show was great. Thanks to everyone who came out. It was a beautiful day and I had some really great conversations with folks that dropped by. It's always interesting to me to see which pieces people are drawn to. Oftentimes, it's not exactly what I would expect. I got some pretty good interest in the head badges, too, which is exciting. And it's always good to have the opportunity to go through my little spiel about myself and my work. So, in all, I'm quite happy with the experience.

Now to start focusing on the Fall Festival...

Accepted!!

I just received a very happy letter from the folks at the Corvallis Fall Festival, letting me know that I have been accepted into the arts & crafts section this fall.

I can't even express how thrilled I am. I must have jumped three feet in the air when I opened the letter. Corvallis is my home town, and I used to go the this show when I was growing up - so this is an event that I have always hoped to be a part of, even before I was making jewelry.

I have a lot of work to do over the next few months - since this is really the first BIG show I've done - but I have a lot of people I can rope into helping me pull it off - not to mention a good chunk of time to make all the jewelry I'll need to fill up my booth.

Home...

I am technically back from vacation, but I have so much to do over the next few days that, after I post this, I'm going to pretend that I'm not here so that I can get it all done. Whew.

Our trip was fantastic. In case you're curious or tempted to try it... bike touring is completely the way to go. We rode around some amazingly beautiful country roads... with golden hills to either side and virtually no traffic... breathing in as much fresh air as we could. We found a farmer's market with delicious local cherries, tasted wine from a fantastic local winery, bounced down the gravel "road" next to the railroad tracks, ate lots and lots of wonderful foods, and explored a new part of the world with new and old friends. A few highlights...



Everywhere we went, it felt like spring. The roads were lined with and the fields filled with wild grasses and vibrantly-colored flowers. Just incredible!




In fact, I was so delighted with the wild grass that I had to smuggle some home in my pannier to work into some jewelry...


Check out Russ' photos too (much more extensive than mine)... here and here...

And a welcome home present! When I checked my email, I had a note from Jan over at ScoutieGirl telling me she had posted a write-up of my work. And it's so lovely too! If you haven't run across her blog yet, take a spin through her posts to discover some really great independent artists. Thanks Jan!

Into the wild blue yonder

Russ and I and our bikes are off on a little (and very much needed) vacation. We're headed up to sunny Paso Robles to join in the craziness of the Great Western Bicycle Rally. And I'm taking some sample head badges along to see if anyone's interested. Photos of the adventure to follow, I have no doubt.

When we get back, I'll have just a few days to get stuff pulled together for the Handmade Revolution show at Viento y Agua here in Long Beach. If you're in the area, stop in and say hi. There'll be live music and lots of local artists.

A little bit of green

One of the things that helps me keep my sanity during the week is a park just a half-block away from my day job. I can wander over there and hang out amongst the greenery for 20 minutes at lunch and de-stress a little bit.


And, even though I love it and it’s what spurs on my art, I constantly find it amusing how much I am drawn to picking up little bits of interesting whatnot amongst the grass. Today, it was bark that had fallen off the eucalyptus trees. It has such interesting patterns and textures... I wonder what I can do with this...

Some Indie Lovin'

Thanks Indie Collective for the lovely write-up!

My very un-scientific method to picking plants

One question I get asked a lot is: How do I know what bits of nature will last and what won't? It's a great question that I don't have an easy way to answer. Because the short answer is that I just guess. (Or, in the words of a colleague, I use the S.W.A.G. method: Scientific Wild Ass Guess.)

Basically, I pick something and try it out and see what happens. Some plants and flowers work really well and some just shrivel up and turn brown. So, it has truly been a long and interesting experiment.

One thing that I have learned which is really important is to make sure that whatever I'm incorporating is completely dry before using it. If I take a leaf or a flower and glue it in and shellac it before it's fully dry, it basically rots from the inside out until it's brown and totally unappealing. (Which is partly why I'm so interested to see what happens with Kait's Project Runway challenge necklace over time.)

What I find most interesting about working with real plants is the variety you wind up with after they've been dried. Some leaves dry flat and keep their green color. Some curl up and turn yellow or brown. Some flowers dry into a really pretty, vintage-like version of what they looked like alive. Some flowers dry into a miniscule version of themselves. And some just shrivel away.

For example...


These big, bright pink flowers keep their color beautifully when dry...


What all of this means is that I'm continually trying out new plants, which means that I'm continually picking up new plants everywhere I go. (Sometimes, I'll clean out my purse and find dried flower stems and leaves crushed at the bottom.) I've actually experimented with so many plants that it's hard to keep them straight, so I'm going to start keeping a notebook to record what I'm finding. (Which will also be a great way to learn the names of the plants that I'm working with.)