My hubby was watching the Sharks show the other day. If you don't know the show, it's about ordinary people who have small businesses or patents and they try to sell their idea to 4 or 5 rich business people to gain investments and/or partners. It could be pretty brutal!
I am not sure of the product in this case, but one of the "sharks" said, "Don't you know that people are not buying jewelry these days?" (I am assuming it was a jewelry-type item).
That got me thinking that maybe it's time to expand my horizons. I have been mostly sticking to beads as my main venue, but now it's probably time to incorporate some other items besides "jewelry".
In these hard economic times, we cannot have "all our eggs in one basket", so they say. It's time to expand, innovate, and think of new ideas to boost our businesses as well as our artistic talent.
In my case, being a lampworker, I have decided to make murrini (little chips of glass with designs or pictures in them) as a item to sell to other glass workers who use them. On top of that, I would also like to place more focus on creating little figurines (animals, faeries, dragons, etc.) that are stand-alone art pieces (not beads), as well as paperweights (mini ones) and/or marbles.
To kick off my "new outlook", I am working on the eye murrini which I made to make little glass doll eyes. I will probably still try and make those (they are pretty tough, being so small - some as little as 2mm round!), but also, they could be cut into murrini to sell to anyone who wants some cool eyes in their beads or glass art pieces.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Ahoy Painting
I just shipped this sweet little sailboat to Colorado. This was a commissioned 8x10 painting made for a baby boy's nursery based on this Ahoy Mate NoJo bedding set.
Here is the progress from start to finish.
At first I was thinking about a border and using the words ahoy! but quickly decided I would simply paint the sweet little sailboat without cluttering it up.
I love to take commissions. Working together to produce something you will love and that will have personal meaning to you is very fulfilling!
Want to commission me to create a special painting for you?Please feel free to email me to discuss your project and receive an estimate.
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.Friday, May 20, 2011
What a GREAT Week!

Been a really good week for me so far (except for that little Copyright Infringement issue). My alien head bead went up in space on the shuttle Endeavor and I am back up and running with my new studio. It's not totally completed yet, still have ventilation issues, but at least it's workable (for me, anyway).
So since Sunday, I got my purple bubble heart beads done for a Beads of Courage order and I started making some doll eyes (which I hope may be a little niche of good sales - wish me luck!)
I am excited to get back to melting glass and am hoping to do some experimenting and "playing" to see if I come up with any new designs.
All the best!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Love your Art Journal- Tongue Twisters
Today my kids were working on their tongue twisters. We had a great laugh, one of those moments you want to store in your memory bank. So, I took a few moments to create an entry.

Yolanda Nussdorfer is a mixed media artist and member of East Valley Artisans.
Friday, January 28, 2011
EVA wins Etsy grant!!!
Hooray for EVA! Etsy announced the January team grant winners and the East Valley Artisans were awarded a grant for marketing materials, fees and items related to setting up a booth at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market! Goooooo team! AND a big THANK YOU to Etsy for making it possible. Now we are entering the planning phases and will be back with reports on our progress!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
New EVA Logo!
As we gear up for an exciting new year, with new goals, hopes and dreams we are also starting the year off with a new group logo designed by me! If you have not yet checked out the East Valley Artisans on Facebook please take a look! We share sales, works in progress, new items for our individual shops, EVA group events and we can communicate personally with you. Please stop by and "like us".
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
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!!!
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