The East Valley Artisans is a group of artisans who all live in the East Valley of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Our goal is to support local artists, encourage the handmade movement, and develop a closer-knit community of talented people living in this particular region of the Valley of the Sun.
Friday, December 31, 2010
EVA 2011
EVA is getting geared up for 2011. Bring on the New Year!!! One of our goals this year is to get a booth up and running at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market. We recently requested a grant from Etsy to help with funding this venture. I really hope we get it because we have to purchase tables, business cards, a banner and the space at the market. Our team is steadily growing and we have some really great and talented members to showcase. I am looking forward to this. It is one step in the direction of an EVA shop! I am so excited to see where we are at with this at this time next year. Here is to EVA's success in 2011!!!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
October 2nd Friday
Last Friday I had a booth at Downtown Mesa's Monsters on Main event. It was my first booth in 4 years!I had a great time setup alongside my friends and fellow EVA group members, Kandes and Anne.
Guest blogger Kristen Fagan of Creative Stash. Graphic Designer by day. Mother, wife, painter, jewelry artist, bookworm, cook and all around crafty gal by night. Contact her at krisfagan [at] cox [dot] com.
website | blog | facebook | twitter | etsy shop
Kandes of Tricky Fox with her too cute for words sidekick, Eldon.
Anne demoing in her booth
My booth, Creative Stash
I brought with me my canvas earrings, pendant necklaces and recycled bottlecap magnets. Anne really had a way with customers,she drew them in with her chainmaille demos, colorful booth and product storytelling. Kandes got into Halloween spirit, all dressed in black with a witches hat and super rad back and white striped stockings!
It was so nice to be outdoors and there were a lot of people roaming about, enjoying the music, costumes and zombies. Yep, I said zombies! There was a zombie walk and lots of people really got into it. Check them out ...
Guest blogger Kristen Fagan of Creative Stash. Graphic Designer by day. Mother, wife, painter, jewelry artist, bookworm, cook and all around crafty gal by night. Contact her at krisfagan [at] cox [dot] com.website | blog | facebook | twitter | etsy shop
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Announcing the Treasury Challenge Winners!!!!
Congratulations to our winners of the first ever EVA treasury challenge! We appreciate the effort of everyone that participated in our first challenge. All of the treasuries were wonderful, making it very difficult to select only three winners. But the decisions were made after a couple tie breakers and we ended up with three very beautiful treasuries to represent our winners! MudHandChan and ChealseaSea have both won gift certificates redeemable at participating EVA team members shops.
In Second place is:
MudHandChan with her Treasury Contest treasury
And in Third place is:
ChelseaSea AGAIN with her Arizona's East Valley Artisans Treasury
Thanks for curating such wonderful collections. I hope everyone enjoyed the challenge and will participate in upcoming treasury challenges!
MudHandChan with her Treasury Contest treasury
And in Third place is:
ChelseaSea AGAIN with her Arizona's East Valley Artisans Treasury
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
EVA Meeting tonight
Tonight is our EVA meeting and Meetup open house for interested applicants. EVA is definitely ready to grow. Our group will have a lot of new events and projects in the future and we need a bigger army to make these things happen. Tonight the current EVA members will be voting on the EVA treasury challenge. We ended up with 13 treasuries submitted and have to pick winners. That is always a difficult process. We had a lot of wonderful entries! I will be posting the winners on Friday and will also share with you photos from the Beach themed exchange. I love EVA exchanges! Fun stuff!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
EVA Meetup is August 18th!
EVA is having an open house in less than a week!!! Next Wednesday August 18th we will be available from 7 - 8pm to meet with anyone interested in joining our group. The location will be disclosed at a later time. I know it will be in downtown Mesa at one of two places, depending on the size of the group.
The requirements for joining us are that you must be an artisan or crafter that has samples of recent work, fill out a simple application, and attend the monthly meetings.
We are excited about adding new people to our awesome group of artisans. If you are interested in knowing more, visit our Meetup page.
The requirements for joining us are that you must be an artisan or crafter that has samples of recent work, fill out a simple application, and attend the monthly meetings.
We are excited about adding new people to our awesome group of artisans. If you are interested in knowing more, visit our Meetup page.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
July Giveaway Winner and Meeting Recap
Drum roll, please ...
The lucky winner of the butterfly shadowbox pendant is Diana Brower! She is with Crop Circle Clay. Like myself, Diana is a member of Etsy Project Embrace. Her work is really, really unique. I just love it! Be sure to pop in her shop and take a look at some of her stuff!!!
We had our meeting before I left for Omaha. Time is really going by fast. It's amazing how that happens as you get older. Jill, Marci, Jeannie, Renee and Myself were all there. We discussed the Treasury Challenge. We decided to giveaway EVA gift certificates that are good in our shops. Participating members are listed on the EVA team page. Check it out ... and I would love to see more entries rolling in. It is not just for EVA teamies. Anyone can enter!
Our exchange theme for July was Rockabilly. It was cool to see what everyone came up with. We exchanged items and Jill and I exchanged ATC cards. We also exchanged the Butterfly Cards from June. The August theme is the beach! Fun!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Prize announcement for Treasury Challenge!
I announced last week that we were having a Treasury Challenge! We met on Tuesday and decided that EVA would be giving out three prizes for the winners. The prizes will be EVA gift certificates redeemable at all EVA member's shops. First place winner will receive a $30 gift certificate. The second place winner $20 and the third $10! Our shops are listed here.
Anyone is invited to create as many treasuries as they would like and enter the challenge. Rules can be found at the previous blog post, here.
The deadline is August 15th and the winners will be announced August 20th!
Anyone is invited to create as many treasuries as they would like and enter the challenge. Rules can be found at the previous blog post, here.
The deadline is August 15th and the winners will be announced August 20th!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
EVA Etsy Treasury Challenge (Contest Closed)
Hi again! Tomorrow I am leaving with my husband and baby son to go to Nebraska. My husband is a professional musician and is playing a big blues festival over there, so the little one and I thought we would tag along. I have never been to that part of the country. I am looking forward to sharing about the trip on my Tricky Fox blog. Before I go, I thought I would get over here and squeeze in a post about our latest EVA Challenge!!
EVA's Kristen of Creative Stash posted on Etsy's treasuries last month. I have been having a lot of fun looking over the treasuries of Etsy Project Embrace members. They post many new ones to their Etsy forum on a daily basis. I made one with some EVA members in it:
And a Cowboy theme:
And a Vintage Butterfly theme:
As Kristen said, making treasuries are a whole lot of fun!!! That is why EVA is hosting a treasury challenge. I encourage everyone to get in on it!! You don't have to be an EVA member, but you do have to create an etsy account if you don't have one. Once you have an account, click on this link. Then click the blue "Create a List" button on the right. You can enter as many times as you wish! Tonight at our EVA meeting we will be discussing the prize! I will come back here and let you know what it is! At our August meeting we will all be voting for the top three treasuries. All three will win a prize!
Prize info added Monday July 26th - The prizes will be EVA gift certificates redeemable at all EVA member's shops. First place winner will receive a $30 gift certificate. The second place winner $20 and the third $10! Our shops are listed here.
Here are the rules:
1.) The deadline is August 15th at midnight pacific time.
2.) Must have three EVA members items featured in the treasury. All of our members shops are listed here!
3.) The title of your treasury must have one of the words from our team name: east, valley, or artisans.
4.) After completing your treasury, you must come back to this blog post and make a comment with a link to it.
EVA members ARE eligible to enter! And enter as many times as you wish! Winners announced August 20th via email. Please make sure we have your email!
Well, I am off to pack! Have fun making treasuries while I am gone. I will catch up when I get back. :o)
(The contest is now closed to new enteries. Thank you to everyone that entered. The winners will be announced August 20th via email and EVA blog post!)
EVA's Kristen of Creative Stash posted on Etsy's treasuries last month. I have been having a lot of fun looking over the treasuries of Etsy Project Embrace members. They post many new ones to their Etsy forum on a daily basis. I made one with some EVA members in it:
And a Cowboy theme:
And a Vintage Butterfly theme:As Kristen said, making treasuries are a whole lot of fun!!! That is why EVA is hosting a treasury challenge. I encourage everyone to get in on it!! You don't have to be an EVA member, but you do have to create an etsy account if you don't have one. Once you have an account, click on this link. Then click the blue "Create a List" button on the right. You can enter as many times as you wish! Tonight at our EVA meeting we will be discussing the prize! I will come back here and let you know what it is! At our August meeting we will all be voting for the top three treasuries. All three will win a prize!
Prize info added Monday July 26th - The prizes will be EVA gift certificates redeemable at all EVA member's shops. First place winner will receive a $30 gift certificate. The second place winner $20 and the third $10! Our shops are listed here.
Here are the rules:
1.) The deadline is August 15th at midnight pacific time.
2.) Must have three EVA members items featured in the treasury. All of our members shops are listed here!
3.) The title of your treasury must have one of the words from our team name: east, valley, or artisans.
4.) After completing your treasury, you must come back to this blog post and make a comment with a link to it.
EVA members ARE eligible to enter! And enter as many times as you wish! Winners announced August 20th via email. Please make sure we have your email!
Well, I am off to pack! Have fun making treasuries while I am gone. I will catch up when I get back. :o)
(The contest is now closed to new enteries. Thank you to everyone that entered. The winners will be announced August 20th via email and EVA blog post!)
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Tricky Fox joins Team EPE
My new Etsy store, Tricky Fox Designs, was officially opened mid-last month. I am now just really starting to list items. My husband and I bought a new DSLR camera and it was a great addition of our family. We can take fabulous photos of the boys ...
and new and improving pictures of my latest products. Forever I was a beader, then lampworker and now fuser/solderer. I love lampworking, but I gave it up during my miserable pregnancy and now with a 6 month old that has no particular schedule it is soooooo difficult to get to an uninterrupted sitting at the torch. Fusing and soldering I can walk away from at any given second if he wakes from his nap or is sick of playing alone or wants to eat. It is a much better thing for me right now and I am very happy with my recent work.
In opening my new store, I wanted to initiate it by joining a second etsy team. I have EVA to meet with local artisans face-to-face. Our group is fun!! But I was looking to add something more altruistic to my life. I was considering a few teams when I got the etsy Storque email last week. It had an article about EPE, Etsy Project Embrace. This team is very active and they do good things. That is exactly what I wanted. And most members donate proceeds from their shop to American Cancer Society. Great! They have a mission and it is something that I feel strongly about at this time in my life since I have a very close family member battling the monster. It was strange because the day all of these decisions
were being made I was making elephant earrings and a pendant for a customer who was buying them for a friend who was hospitalized with cancer. She passed on the day I joined EPE, which was the day I was also the day I was working on her jewelry. 
This is also strange ... I had a giveaway on my blog at the end of June. 40+ people entered from all over. A couple in Europe even. Waterrose, who won the give away lives right here in Tempe, AZ, and after joining the team I was looking over their list of members only to find out she is on the team. That is pretty coincidental, huh?
If you are an Etsy seller and want info on joining Etsy Project Embrace, here is their team page.
If you are a local Etsy seller interested in EVA, let me know via Etsy convo.
And don't forget to enter the EVA giveaway for July. I am giving away this butterfly charm.
and new and improving pictures of my latest products. Forever I was a beader, then lampworker and now fuser/solderer. I love lampworking, but I gave it up during my miserable pregnancy and now with a 6 month old that has no particular schedule it is soooooo difficult to get to an uninterrupted sitting at the torch. Fusing and soldering I can walk away from at any given second if he wakes from his nap or is sick of playing alone or wants to eat. It is a much better thing for me right now and I am very happy with my recent work.In opening my new store, I wanted to initiate it by joining a second etsy team. I have EVA to meet with local artisans face-to-face. Our group is fun!! But I was looking to add something more altruistic to my life. I was considering a few teams when I got the etsy Storque email last week. It had an article about EPE, Etsy Project Embrace. This team is very active and they do good things. That is exactly what I wanted. And most members donate proceeds from their shop to American Cancer Society. Great! They have a mission and it is something that I feel strongly about at this time in my life since I have a very close family member battling the monster. It was strange because the day all of these decisions
were being made I was making elephant earrings and a pendant for a customer who was buying them for a friend who was hospitalized with cancer. She passed on the day I joined EPE, which was the day I was also the day I was working on her jewelry. 
This is also strange ... I had a giveaway on my blog at the end of June. 40+ people entered from all over. A couple in Europe even. Waterrose, who won the give away lives right here in Tempe, AZ, and after joining the team I was looking over their list of members only to find out she is on the team. That is pretty coincidental, huh?
If you are an Etsy seller and want info on joining Etsy Project Embrace, here is their team page.
If you are a local Etsy seller interested in EVA, let me know via Etsy convo.
And don't forget to enter the EVA giveaway for July. I am giving away this butterfly charm.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Hello and July Giveaway Announcement
Hello all! I am Kandes Naylor. I am the designer behind Tricky Fox and will be your EVA blogger for the remainder of July. As the lead organizer for EVA, I thought I would share a little background on our team. In March 2008, I became interested in joining an etsy street team (that is what they called them at the time). I looked at the local teams and didn't see much. There was the Phoenix team, but I didn't see myself driving to downtown Phoenix fighting traffic to do the group events, and even though I live in the metro area, the city of Phoenix is not really home to me. So, I decided to create a team a little closer to home that would enhance the community I live in. We became East Valley Artisans which is comprise of artisans on the east side of the Phoenix metro area - Scottsdale, Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert and Queen Creek.We had our first meeting in June of '08. There were five of us at that meeting. Four of the original five remain active in the group. EVA has taken its time and has slowly evolved and grown in membership. We select our members carefully and make sure that each artisan will provide the consumers with quality handmade goods served up with superior customer service. Recently, we have opened our group up to membership outside of etsy. Although we are officially an etsy team, we decided, as a team, that opening up membership to all artisans would only help us to develop and grow as a group. I am very proud of what EVA has become and am really impressed with our members. We have a wonderful group of very talented people and I feel confident that when you purchase from them you are getting something very special.
Since I am the guest blogger for this month, I am also the artist that offers the giveaway. I just did a giveaway on my personal blog, which was very successful. I just finished up the custom piece that I offered and made extra butterfly charms while I was at it.
That is this months EVA giveaway item! Entering to win is easy ... Winner will be announced July 30th!
1.) Visit my shop, then come back here and leave a comment telling me what your favorite item is.
2.) For an additional entry, follow the this blog.
3.) And receive an additional entry for every EVA member's blog that you follow (Our blog roll is to the right).
Please let us know in your comment if you chose to follow any of the blogs so that we can easily count your additional entries. Good Luck ... and thank you for visiting!!!
Since I am the guest blogger for this month, I am also the artist that offers the giveaway. I just did a giveaway on my personal blog, which was very successful. I just finished up the custom piece that I offered and made extra butterfly charms while I was at it.
1.) Visit my shop, then come back here and leave a comment telling me what your favorite item is.
2.) For an additional entry, follow the this blog.
3.) And receive an additional entry for every EVA member's blog that you follow (Our blog roll is to the right).
Please let us know in your comment if you chose to follow any of the blogs so that we can easily count your additional entries. Good Luck ... and thank you for visiting!!!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
We have a winner!
And the winner of the giveaway is ...
Stacy!!! Congratulations Stacy! Email me which recycled bottlecap magnet set you would like at krisfagan (at) cox (dot) net.Thanks to everyone for entering and leaving such wonderful and kind comments. Be sure to check back with the East Valley Artisans often, since we'll be doing another giveaway in July!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Treasure Hunt
Last month at our group meeting we discussed Etsy's Treasury. This is an area of Etsy many of us had not explored yet. I bet you are wondering, what exactly is a Treasury? Well, it's a neat little section on Etsy that has ever-changing, member-curated shopping galleries. Neat, right?
As you can see, we have been having A LOT of fun creating these unique galleries of items for sale on Etsy. It is amazing to look around at all the wonderful handmade goods you can find. I am in awe of them all! Hope you enjoyed this little treasure hunt as much as I do!
Have you entered our June giveaway yet? I'm giving away a set of 6 handmade practical and STRONG magnets. Comment on this blog post to enter to win! Winner will be chosen on June 27th. Good luck!
Guest blogger Kristen Fagan of Creative Stash. Graphic Designer by day. Mother, wife, painter, jewelry artist, bookworm, cook and all around crafty gal by night. Contact her at krisfagan [at] cox [dot] com.
website | blog | twitter | etsy shop
Take a look at the beautiful and diverse collections we curated:
As you can see, we have been having A LOT of fun creating these unique galleries of items for sale on Etsy. It is amazing to look around at all the wonderful handmade goods you can find. I am in awe of them all! Hope you enjoyed this little treasure hunt as much as I do!Have you entered our June giveaway yet? I'm giving away a set of 6 handmade practical and STRONG magnets. Comment on this blog post to enter to win! Winner will be chosen on June 27th. Good luck!
Guest blogger Kristen Fagan of Creative Stash. Graphic Designer by day. Mother, wife, painter, jewelry artist, bookworm, cook and all around crafty gal by night. Contact her at krisfagan [at] cox [dot] com.website | blog | twitter | etsy shop
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Creative Stash Giveaway!
Happy Sunday! We have a giveaway for you from our East Valley Artisan etsy shop, Creative Stash!
Kristen at Creative Stash is giving away one of her recycled bottlecap magnet sets to a lucky winner! These little treasures are recycled bottle caps featuring an original art print made by Kristen. They come in a set of 6 and will be shipped to you in a gift tin. One of you will win a magnet set of your choice. Which one will you choose?
Kristen at Creative Stash is giving away one of her recycled bottlecap magnet sets to a lucky winner! These little treasures are recycled bottle caps featuring an original art print made by Kristen. They come in a set of 6 and will be shipped to you in a gift tin. One of you will win a magnet set of your choice. Which one will you choose? ***************
TO WIN: Leave a comment below noting one of your favorite items from the Creative Stash shop - that's it!
BONUS ENTRY 1: Help spread the word about the giveaway on your blog, twitter, or facebook & leave a separate comment to let us know you did so!
BONUS ENTRY 2: Subscribe to this Blog in a reader or Follow with Google friend connect & leave a separate comment to let us know you did so!
**************
1 winner will be chosen randomly on Sun, June 27th and notified by email. Good luck!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Guest Blog by Kristen of Creative Stash
Hey there. I'm Kristen from Creative Stash and I'll be your guest blogger this month! I created my etsy shop in July 2009 and became a member of East Valley Artisans (EVA) in October of 2009. While my graphic design job and freelance work keep my creativity flowing, I really love when I have time to focus on my creative passions; painting and crafting handmade gifts.I saw this little neat "meet so and so" Q&A recently and thought it would be a cute way to start the month so here goes ...
FAVORITES
Color? whoa, how can you ask an artist what their favorite color is?! It depends which way the wind blows. My all around can't go wrong color has got to be green but, really I enjoy everything the color wheel has to offer and then some.
Childhood memory? So many of my childhood memories elude me but, I am forever thankful for sitting by the lake with my grandmother and seeing what we can see in the clouds. I have used this on many road trips to keep myself entertained, I painted cloud animals my little boys nursery and today I have my kids look to the clouds whenever we are in the car and they need some entertainment.
Dessert? yes, please.
Guilty pleasure? blog reading!
TV Show? Glee! I'm totally hooked. Hmm...maybe this is my guilty pleasure.
Way to spend a Friday night? Relaxing at home with my husband and 2 kids.
Boots or Flip-flops? flip-flops
Beach or Mountains? Mountains, I absolutely love being mountainside.
Dog or Cat? Dogs, we have 2 :)
Coffee or Tea? Tea is winning this one right now
Morning Person or Night Owl? Morning person (did I actually just write that?!) Times have definitely changed.
A BIT DEEPER
Who in your life has influenced you most creatively, and why? My grandfather. As a child, he is one of the few people in my life who drew. We used to sit and sketch out little buildings and odds and ends. Just pen and paper. I realized how much I love art and how art was all around us in those moments together.
What is your creative workspace like? I carved out a little space in our garage. I have a desk, organizer and an easel. I don't always stay out there especially when I am making magnets, bead jewelry or pendants. But it is wonderful to have a "space" to gather inspiration, store supplies and my easel setup and ready at all times.
What or who gives you inspiration? Everything from my family, color, music, and the sights and sounds of nature.
If you could share one bit of advice for your teenage self what would it be? Enjoy the moment, be proud of who you are and listen to your inner voice, it will guide you.
Stay tuned this week for a very special giveaway of one of my own original designs. So nice to meet you, I hope you'll say hello in the comments and check back soon!
FIND ME ELSEWHERE
Thursday, May 20, 2010
May meeting! Fun with flowers and ATCs
We had our EVA May meeting last night at Inside the Bungalow. It was a super good time.
First off I want to thank Trish for doing the guest blogging and give away for the previous month. This month Kristen will be doing the honors of posting and a giveaway item. Last night Kristen shared with us some pointers on having a successful etsy shop and critiqued a few shops as examples. Jeannie researched local artists on etsy. Jen is going to see if any of them want to visit our next meeting. Jill provided information on the book, "I'd Rather be in the Studio" by Alyson Stanfield and shared some great links. Thanks everyone for making our meeting one of the best yet. I have to extend a huge thanks to Jen for our ATC tutorial demo activity. We all had a lot of fun with that.
Final results ...
I also want to welcome Marci to our group. We all really love her pearl woven bracelets. And I also want to bid farewell for now to Renee who is going to be working with her church youth group on Wednesday nights. We will miss her and hope in the future it may work out so we can have her back.
The exchange theme for May was flowers and we had a great exchange with several very unique and fun items.
First off I want to thank Trish for doing the guest blogging and give away for the previous month. This month Kristen will be doing the honors of posting and a giveaway item. Last night Kristen shared with us some pointers on having a successful etsy shop and critiqued a few shops as examples. Jeannie researched local artists on etsy. Jen is going to see if any of them want to visit our next meeting. Jill provided information on the book, "I'd Rather be in the Studio" by Alyson Stanfield and shared some great links. Thanks everyone for making our meeting one of the best yet. I have to extend a huge thanks to Jen for our ATC tutorial demo activity. We all had a lot of fun with that.
Final results ...
I also want to welcome Marci to our group. We all really love her pearl woven bracelets. And I also want to bid farewell for now to Renee who is going to be working with her church youth group on Wednesday nights. We will miss her and hope in the future it may work out so we can have her back.The exchange theme for May was flowers and we had a great exchange with several very unique and fun items.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
We have a winner!
And the winner of the giveaway is..................
Vicky!! Congratulations Vicky! Email me your full name and address at moetricia (at) yahoo (dot) com so I can mail your necklace to you!
Thanks to everyone for entering and be sure to check back with the East Valley Artisans often, since we'll be doing another giveaway next month!
Vicky!! Congratulations Vicky! Email me your full name and address at moetricia (at) yahoo (dot) com so I can mail your necklace to you!
Thanks to everyone for entering and be sure to check back with the East Valley Artisans often, since we'll be doing another giveaway next month!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Inspired
Hi everyone! Only 5 days left until the winner is selected in the giveaway! Be sure to comment on the previous post to enter.
I have been really busy the past week, but as luck would have it I have also been really inspired and gotten some great new ideas. The unlucky part is, I just haven't been home to work on those ideas. This weekend should be less busy though, so I am planning on a quick trip to the store for some new wire and some crystals, and then holing up in my apartment and making stuff until my fingers hurt!
I'm going to be adding some custom bookmarks to my collection soon. I've been wanting to make some for a while but keep forgetting to grab the supplies when I go to the bead shop.
Anyway, sorry for the quick update but it is past my bedtime. Only one more day of work until my weekend, so watch for some cool new stuff really soon!
'Night!
I have been really busy the past week, but as luck would have it I have also been really inspired and gotten some great new ideas. The unlucky part is, I just haven't been home to work on those ideas. This weekend should be less busy though, so I am planning on a quick trip to the store for some new wire and some crystals, and then holing up in my apartment and making stuff until my fingers hurt!
I'm going to be adding some custom bookmarks to my collection soon. I've been wanting to make some for a while but keep forgetting to grab the supplies when I go to the bead shop.
Anyway, sorry for the quick update but it is past my bedtime. Only one more day of work until my weekend, so watch for some cool new stuff really soon!
'Night!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Freaks and a giveaway!
Tonight I made myself some dinner and watched the final episode of Freaks and Geeks. It was a good night.
I've always heard that that show was good, but it is really, REALLY good. I can't believe that shows like Freaks and Geeks get cancelled, but The Bachelor keeps on going. (Sorry to any Bachelor fans reading this!) I shouldn't judge. But I seriously recommend watching Freaks and Geeks if you haven't seen it. It's just so well written and the characters have such heart. I will definitely be watching it again sometime, and I rarely do that anymore.
Anyway back to the craftiness, I made a new pair of silver and pearl earrings last night and I love them!
I'm still practicing my weave technique using 26 guage wire, but these are my cleanest work yet. I want to practice more, leaving less space between the weave, so it's less zig-zaggy. Not that I don't like the effect these have, but I love wire wrap that looks really solid.
I also made another piece, the Dineen pendant.
It's a two piece so it has lots of movement. It's made with all sterling silver wire and Swarovski crystals, and it is strung on an 18" silver plated chain. The pendant itself is 2" long, so it's a little dramatic but it's still nice and lightweight. I'm happy with this one too.
In fact I am so happy with it, I decided to make it my giveaway!
Here's what to do to enter to win this necklace...
Post a comment on this blog, I'll enter you once.
Write a post about this giveaway on your blog and I'll enter you twice.
Easy, right? I'll announce the winner on May 10th! Be sure to check back and good luck!
I've always heard that that show was good, but it is really, REALLY good. I can't believe that shows like Freaks and Geeks get cancelled, but The Bachelor keeps on going. (Sorry to any Bachelor fans reading this!) I shouldn't judge. But I seriously recommend watching Freaks and Geeks if you haven't seen it. It's just so well written and the characters have such heart. I will definitely be watching it again sometime, and I rarely do that anymore.
Anyway back to the craftiness, I made a new pair of silver and pearl earrings last night and I love them!
I'm still practicing my weave technique using 26 guage wire, but these are my cleanest work yet. I want to practice more, leaving less space between the weave, so it's less zig-zaggy. Not that I don't like the effect these have, but I love wire wrap that looks really solid.I also made another piece, the Dineen pendant.
It's a two piece so it has lots of movement. It's made with all sterling silver wire and Swarovski crystals, and it is strung on an 18" silver plated chain. The pendant itself is 2" long, so it's a little dramatic but it's still nice and lightweight. I'm happy with this one too.In fact I am so happy with it, I decided to make it my giveaway!
Here's what to do to enter to win this necklace...Post a comment on this blog, I'll enter you once.
Write a post about this giveaway on your blog and I'll enter you twice.
Easy, right? I'll announce the winner on May 10th! Be sure to check back and good luck!
Friday, April 23, 2010
Guest blogging
Hi there. I'm Trish from Little Silver Stars and I'll be your guest blogger this month!
I guess the best way to introduce myself is to send you to my blog, littlesilverstars, rather than bore you with details all over again. I've been an etsy seller since 2005, and a member of EVA since it began. And while my job sometimes keeps me much busier than I would like, I really try my best to focus on my true passion at the end of the day, making jewelry.
I thought a fun way to start the month is to show you my workspace. (This has nothing to do with the fact that I just cleaned and organized it today, I swear it. I also have no idea what happened to that bag of cookies that were in the pantry...)
I have two mascots on or around my desk all the time, depending on how much real estate I have. The first on is my pink glittery deer. I bought it at Christmastime two years ago in a bookstore, and I just think she's so cute I can't bring myself to pack her away. The second is a turquoise garden gnome my sister gave me. No real reason for him, I just like him.
I use a planter for my pen/pencil/crochet hook/random tool holder. It's bursting at the moment. I am sort of a pen hoarder I think. There's also always some jewlery hanging off of it, like these earrings. I made these a long time ago but I think they're boring, so I have just left them there so I don't forget to redo them. They are now tarnished and dusty.
This is the red cabinet that I keep just about everything in. It's about as organized as it gets in here. It's packed pretty tight with random junk, you can even see my hammers on top, which haven't seen the inside of the cabinet in months.
I am realizing as I post these photos that my office looks my prettier in the daylight. Oh well, you get the idea!So that's it. My little work area. I dream of the day I will have an actual house where I can set things up more permanently, maybe have a larger corner of the universe to work in. But you deal with what you got. In fact some of you with houses of your own might even have smaller work spaces than I do, so here's me not complaining.
So anyway, stay tuned this week for a very special giveaway of one of my own original designs! Check back soon!
And one last thing....
This is Bella. If you stop by, she would like to sync with your iPod!Thursday, April 15, 2010
Update on the Vegas Show
I had a wonderful time at the Glass Craft Vegas show this year. I met a LOT of talented artists there from jewelry designers, enamelers, and of course, glass arts.
This was a great venue to use for meeting others and getting some great networking started. I may even be teaching a class or 2 there next year, but have to get with some people and meet the submission deadline - - hope I make it!
Here are some pics of the showroom floor. Most of the sellers are glass artists, but there are also sellers who carry findings and supplies, PMC, chain mail, enameled pieces for jewelry and jewelry designers who don't actually make glass beads but use them in their product.
Jeannie
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Off to the Vegas Glass Expo
Hi Again,
It is very late, going on 1am and I am still preparing for the Vegas Glass Expo at the South Point Hotel and Casino. I am on the road at 6am, so as usual, I am cutting it close.
This is a great event for everything glass and also no-so-glass stuff, too, so I wanted to point out some of the "other" things that are available there, if anyone is interested.
Of course, there's ALL glass stuff there - - stained glass, fused glass, lampwork (like me), sculpture, marbles, goblets - - you name it, along with a ton of suppliers. They have beginning glass classes there also for anyone who just wants to try their hand at one of the many aspects of glass.
But along with all those glass classes, they also have chain mail classes, PMC classes, wire wrapping classes, photography classes and many more. They also have various lectures on being successful in business. It's definitely a great place to gather info and learn a thing or 2.
Please check out the link below if you are interested. This is an annual event, so if you can't make it this year (cutting it pretty close since it starts tomorrow), but maybe you can make plans for next year.
Jeannie
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
The Many Talents of the East Valley
Here are some pix of my favorite items up for sale this week from our talented group of Artisans of the East Valley. Our group is a varied mix of artists from painting to paper and sculpture to shrinky dinks.
Please check out their Etsy sites.
Support our economy, support local business, support our artists!
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