July Meeting Recap

Hello all! Last night we had our July meeting. Nancy, Sarah, and I were in attendance with 2 visitors, Nikki and Renee. We are very pleased to announce that Nikki and Renee both joined as EVA members. We are excited to have these fun and creative ladies as new additions to our team. Last night Nancy and Sarah both brought new items they have been working on to share with the group. Nancy is working on some great new items. She has closed her shop and strayed from the silver. She is working in a lot in brass. Her new designs are very modern and look awesome. Her new shop will be up soon! Sarah has a new shop and has been working on new bathsalts, towel sets, and soaps. It looks like it would make for some very luxurious and relaxing baths. New members, Nikki and Renee, brought some items for show and tell also. Nikki showed us one of her upholstery bags, and several jewelry items. I totally have a thing for her vintage tie bracelets. And Renee has two shops. One where she makes some wonderful jewelry and another where she has these awesome coffee cup sleeves. I am so happy they came and brought cool stuff to share with the group!

Topics we discussed were the MAC Holiday arts and music festival. The event is 2 days this year December 12 and 13th. Nancy already has reserved her booth and Melanie is currently hoping to find someone in the group to share one with. You can contact me or convo Melanie if you are interested.

We also talked about pricing items, tax licenses for booths, and the chat groups and forums available on etsy. Next meeting we are hoping for a volunteer to lead us through a short tutorial on a project or how to. Let me know if you are interested.

We decided on a theme for our August exchange. Nikki came up with Hawaii as the theme for next month. I am excited to work on this one!!

Artist of The Month - Kandes Naylor

I am finally submitting my artist of the month answers.

1. Who in your life has influenced you most and why? I can only pick 1 person!?! Then I would have to say my husband, Jeff. He encourages me to keep being creative and has helped me to set up a studio in our house.

2. If there were any craft you could master other than the ones you already work with, what would it be? EZ answer ... Metalsmithing.

3. Describe your ideal studio space... My home studio space is great. I love it. It has plenty of space to store all my crafty things and enough surface area to be in the middle of several projects at once. I just wish it magically cleaned itself!

4. Name your three favorite:
Books - Green Psychology, Stop Walking on Eggshells, A Penny for Candy
Movies - Dummy, Lars and the Real Girl, Marie Antoinette
Bands - Auto Man Empire, Bonnie Prince Billy, Alela Diane
Websites - anthropologie.com, of course etsy.com, afancifultwist.typepad.com

5. What is your favorite season and why? I love the fall. Everything Halloween makes me giddy!

6. What is your 9-5 job? I work at M-Troniks (electronics repair for music equipment) with my husband and we also own Naylor Entertainment, a live music booking agency.

7. Tell us about the best gift you've ever gotten from someone. I think right now I am loving the gift of freedom my husband has given me. My prior day job was sucking the life outta me. Now I come and go as I wish. It is super nice.

8. If you were a character on a TV sit-com, who would it be and why? Punky Brewster. She was a fun little kid. I secretly desire the ability to wear non-matching clothes and still look cute.

Kandes's spots:
http://kandeslee.etsy.com
http://www.KandesLee.com

Artist of the Month: Nancy Reasoner

What do you think inspires your creativity?
Nature and color. I love the textures of leaves and natural items. Throw in a few sparkling gems or crystals and it becomes exciting!

Who inspires your creativity and how?
My daughter is very creative, and is constantly giving me feedback and new ideas.

My husband, Tim also has helped... he is the behind one of my favorite pieces - "Pool Trash". We were swimming one day, when he found a perfect leaf floating on the pool. He handed it to me and said "Here is a piece of pool trash - turn it into something beautiful". I wear it more than any other piece because of the sentiment behind it. Tim is totally supportive. Without him, I would be just wishing I could create... instead of actually doing it.

Outside of being creative, what do you do?
I am a Systems Analyst/ Program Manager. I gather requests for application changes, define the requirements, and lead the team of program developers to design and develop those changes. A totally different part of my brain is used in my regular job - but it is also fulfilling.

I also like to garden - especially growing Roses.

What are your top three favorite:

Books:
-The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown is my all time favorite.
-Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss would be my favorite romance.
-I just finished the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer - it was a nice escape.

Movies :

Sleepless in Seattle

Serenity

Quigly Down Under

Bands:

E Street (Bruce Springstein)

Bonnie Raite and her band

Chris Isaak

web sites:

http://www.roses4az-mevrs.org/Home.html - Mesa East Valley Rose Society

Wikipedia.org - for info

Amazon.com - for everything else!

What is your dream job?

My major in college was Anthropology. I hoped to be a Forensic Anthropologist and work in a crime lab.

And if you were a flavor of ice cream, what would it be and why?

Breyer's Brownie Mud Pie! Soothing chocolate with carmel and crunchie almonds... everything a woman wants.

Nancy's work is also featured at:
NancysDesigns.etsy.com

anartisticescape.com
papermangoblog.blogspot.com

Wake up ... Spring is coming

We just had our February meeting on Wednesday night. It was a fun meeting. I love that new energy that happens when the holidays are over and the dark of winter fades. Spring is coming and everything wakes up. Anyway, at the meeting we met Len who makes some really cute note cards and paper crafts. She is considering becoming a member of EVA. She would be a great addition to our group! You can see what Len does on her etsy: uninhibitedspirit.etsy.com

We set the theme for next months meeting. It will be ... MASQUERADE. I am excited!! There is so much that can be done. I am not even sure which way I will go with that. The meeting will be March 18 at 7pm in our usual spot. I hope to see all EVA members there with their bright and cheery MASQUERADE themed exchange items.

Meeting Moved to Thursday

I know our monthly meetings are usually held 3rd Wednesday's of the month. But this month only, it will be Thursday December 18th. I have to attend a meeting at my son's school the usual 3rd Wednesday.

December things

I can't believe it is December! It doesn't seem like an entire year has gone by since my husband and I were in Puerto Rico. I could only wish for a vacation like that this year. I need it!

This month we still have MacFest going on every Saturday in downtown Mesa. We will be right outside selling our goods at 41 W Main Street.

And many of us will be at Inside the Bungalow for their Local Artists Market on Sunday December 2nd at 48 N Robson in downtown Mesa.

We will have our team meeting at ITB December 17th at 7pm. All members are invited to attend. Our exchange theme is New Years. That could be New Years or new beginnings ... anything of that nature.

Happy Halloween!!!!

Happy Halloween all!!! What a wonderful time of year. Especially around here because it SHOULD be below 95 degrees anytime soon ... and that would be awesome for holiday festivals and arts markets.

Just wanted to remind everyone of the meeting this month. Still same place, same time ... third Wednesday, which is November 19 this coming month, 7pm at Inside the Bungalow.

Our exchange theme this month is: WINTER HOLIDAYS! Kwanzaa, Three Kings Day, Hanukkah, Christmas, Yule, Decemberween or whatever holiday you wish to express.