in with the new

Craft Fair Sunday!

I've been a busy bee in my free time, getting ready for a Craft Fair. I did the same one last year, but the first snow of the season kept people away. It's about 10 degrees too warm for snow this year. Hopefully,  we'll have nice weather!

I have a new item that I recently started making... Check out my brooches! I have about a dozen so far. I'll try to have 20 for the fair.


I also have about 20 rings, a bunch of necklaces and earrings.

The best thing about the craft fair is that my friend Heather will be at a table right next to me! She makes AWESOME earrings. You should buy some from her!

Craft Fair Update!

I am not going to get rich at craft fairs, I tell you. Don't quit my dayjob! I had a lot of fun. I met a lot of talented people, talked to a lot of people, and saw a lot of smiles over my jewelry and tiaras. My neighbor/friend Donna visited me on both days, which was SO nice!

The first day, I only sold ONE necklace. Yep, one. And it was while we were packing up to go home. A husband bought it for his wife as a surprise. She had been eyeing it earlier and didn't buy it. So sweet! It was an unbearably hot day, and people were not buying. It wasn't just me, either, it was the general consensus of the vendors. It was a LONG, bad day.

That night, my lovely assistant Jackie and I went to Paddy McGee's (yummy local seafood) for dinner. A few women on the waitstaff there had been at the craft fair earlier that day, selling jewelry and fun boxes for kids' toys. We chatted them up all through dinner. They were fun to visit on day two of the craft fair. New crafty allies.

Sunday was way better than Saturday. There was a breeze and less humidity, and people seemed to be happier to be outside. And I sold a bunch of stuff! The women next to us set up their booth different than the day before, so they were open to us. It was nice to have more fun people to talk to. The day went by much faster than Saturday (it's a shame it works that way, isn't it?).

I will have pictures as soon as I get them out of the camera. Thanks to my assistants, Will and Jackie!

Craft Fair This Weekend!

I am almost ready for the Long Beach Arts and Crafts Festival! I am going to be selling my jewels there. I made 12 rings, 37 unique necklaces, and 20 pairs of fun and different earrings. I will also be bringing with me the tiaras I made many moons (hah, I typed "moos") ago, with a sign, "Bridal Tiaras Available for Order". (FOR order?)

I will have two helpers, Will and Jackie. Yay! My sister is flying up to sit with me and help out! Will is a really good helper, as well as my Color Consultant. He has a good eye for what should go together!

Here I am a year ago at the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market! My hair grows like a weed, I tell you!

Four New Necklaces

I made 4 new necklaces last week! Here they are for your viewing pleasure. Tell me what you think! (Click on each to see it bigger and in full.)

Peridot & Rose Quartz beads and a New Jade pendant.

Picasso Jasper & Smoky Quartz beads and a Really Cool donut pendant. (If anyone knows the stone in the donut, please comeent here about it!)

Faceted Carnelian & Multistone beads and a Carnelian pendant.

Aquamarine & Rose Quartz beads and a Rose Quartz pendant.

New Jewels!

I have a new dress to wear to Will's Fraternity's 50th year on campus formal. Formal! Yay!

It needed jewelry, so I made a necklace of peridot, aquamarine, crystals and silver seed beads. (And a magnetic clasp - isn't that brilliant?) And earrings and barrettes to match. Is it too much?

And here they are all together.

And here's Basher, helping me out, giving me her opinion on my couture.

Holiday party (necklace)

Today is my holiday party! It starts at noon and doesn't end until the after party's over. Oy. It used to be at the Waldorf, and then they changed it to the W, right across the street. The 2 are so different and great in their own way. I don't care where it is, just having a party is so nice!

I made this necklace and earrings for myself to wear today...

Happy holidays! Happy first night of Chanukah! Happy 5th anniversary of your 26th birthday, Jaimee!

Bead Stores - My favorite NYC Locations

I get a hit every now and then from web queries looking for NYC bead stores. I thought I'd help out by mapping 5 that are within a 2-block radius of each other:

Phoenix is my very favorite. If you spend $200 or more, you get a 30% discount card and 30% off that initial $200 purchase. They are very helpful and always tell me the names of the various stones I buy. They just changed the layout of the store, so I'm having a bit of trouble adjusting to it. They used to have all beads on strings, and they changed to a loose bead store sometime in the past month or 2. I have to go in there and re-aquaint myself with the lay of the land. (edited to add: they just changed it back! yay!) They're open until 6:15pm (poo). Their findings are all silver or gold, so I usually get those at...

Toho Shoji. They have a great selection of stainless steel findings. And loose beads. And leather/suede cord. This was the first bead store I found. The people who work here are SUPER friendly and helpful. And it's open until 7pm, which is a bonus.

The pearl store is nice, but overpriced. They have a little table in the back if you want to make a necklace there. I like to go in and look at their bright, fun colored pearls. No idea about the closing time. Sorry.

The 2 "Good bead" stores are like Toho Shoji, but I can't remember the names. Also the staff isn't as helpful. One (or both) of them have a lot of freshwater pearls. I use them for my rings. I think they're open until 6:30pm.

Metalliferous is another GREAT store. The staff is helpful and they have a great selection. I've only been there once, but only because it's out of the way for me.

There are other locations that I like. Lita Trading and Big Stone are two. I think you need a Tax ID for both of them. They're in the Textile District (I think that's what it's called!) just east of Madison Square Garden. They're a block or 2 away from each other on Broadway (Lita's on the corner of Bwy and 27th). Here's a list of even more bead stores in NY!

Tiaramania!

I brought these in to work to show to a friend, and thought I'd post them up here. I made them Spring 2001, before my wedding. I ended up making a comb tiara much like the third one. They were such fun to make and to wear to bars during my bachlorette party and our honeymoon.

I learned everything about making tiaras from women at weddingchat.com. I didn't agree with a lot of their opinions (like demanding that your fiance NOT have a bachelor party - ok, mom), but they were super creative there. Here are 2 sites of women (Joann & Nicole) who were just getting started and gave me such great advice. Two and a half years later, they have totally professional sites! Their stuff is SO great...

Lace from the Sun
Tradewind Tiaras

Hocking my wares

The Craft Fair on Sunday was successful. Well, kinda... I made back the money for the table, and then made a little bit more than that. So monitarily, not such a success. But personally, it was great. I love to see people smile because of a necklace or a ring. And I love to talk about the stones. A man asked me if one of the necklaces was made of petrified wood. I told him they were all stone beads. He asked where they were from, South America? I told him bead stores in Manhattan and Ebay. Hee.

I put a bunch if my pieces in my friend Bridget's holiday store. She has my rings, barrettes, and a handful of necklaces. As of last Monday, one ring sold! Yay! I worked for her on Monday (and again tonight). Retail and customers are fun. Especially in Soho during Christmas! Someday, I think, I must have my own store.

Selling Crafts, Past and Present

I am doing a holiday craft fair in Brooklyn on Sunday. I haven't done a fair since the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market at the end of July. That was outdoor and a HOT day. A lot of my friends came to say hi and support me in the heat. They were the only people who bought my wares (except one lady who bought 2 barrettes). It was really nice of them. Will sat with me in the heat all day. He's very supportive of my fledgling jewelry design business. (Thanks, buddy.)

Here's me at my table!

One great thing about that day was that I made a new friend. Bridget had the table next to me, and her stuff kept blowing over onto our table, the street... She sells items from Fair Trade. She is selling the Fair Trade stuff in a store in Soho until Christmas. It's a neat place, part art gallery, part collaborative shop (tons of great designers - GREAT gifts). Next week she'll let me put some of my pieces in her section of the shop.

My mom used to run a holiday boutique/craft fair at my high school. It was such fun. She gave me a table one year. That was when I was into fimo/polymer clay. I had a small table full of candle holders and beads on black leather cord. Girls in their early teens liked my table.

This Brooklyn fair on Sunday is going to be INDOORS at a school. Yay! Climate control RULES! I have 52 necklaces, 11 rings and a bunch of barrettes. Wish me luck! Come visit if you're nearby, it's at PS 139 from 10-3!