It's all about the frog

So after years of not wanting to make frogs, I am now slightly obsessed with frogs! Each one has it's own little personality and I wake up in the morning thinking about...frogs, yup. What color combinations, what patterns, it's endless. Today I am going to make some frogs sitting on giant flowers , I just thought of another fun one, a striped frog sitting on a striped bead. Need to make some cane for that one. My biggest challange today will be to warm up the studio aka garage, enough to work. First I need to get teenager off to school...

Pictures from past craft shows

You can't tell from the photo but it was a hot hot day in Durham, NC. This picture was taken before the sun came beating across and made it unbearable. I love my idea of using note cards as holders for my earrings. You don't see it in this picture but my husband came up with the great idea of folding the back flaps of the cards in half in order for them to stay up when the wind picked up. If it had gotten windier I would have taped them down. I used curtains for my table as well- they looked great! I am always looking for inexpensive options.



This one was from a craft show in Charlotte, NC in NoDa. It was in the evening outside and the lighting was not good. A good experience for me in what not to do...to many to list and I am chalking it up to lesson learned and moving on!

What I've learned

I have two craft fairs under my belt now and both times I questioned my sanity the week before the show. I really thought I had learned my lesson after the first show. But I did not. Once again I had very late nights and long days of getting beads and jewelry ready for the show. Some how I got through all the negative thoughts and self-doubt and kept going.
The night before the show I crawled painfully to bed at 2 in the morning but feeling good that I had enough product to sell plus some. The morning of the show went smoothly. My kids were up and ready and we left the house with plenty of time...or so I thought. The show was about 2 hrs away in Columbia, South Carolina and bout half way to the show I realized I had forgotten my beads and jewelry!! WHAT THE #@%*?! How did I walk pass my case in the hall ?? How did the most important thing get left behind ?? So we turned back around- I still didn't give up. No melt down...yet. Got back to the house and still felt like we could make it on time. Got the case, got back on the freeway and realized there was no way in hell we were going to make it before the start of the show. I had a total melt down. I bawled. It wasn't pretty. My kids tried to reassure me. I just couldn't stop. Then my son gave me a letter. "Dear Mommy, I know you worked really hard for the bead show. You are the best mom ever. Love, Gavin" It brought me back down. I dried my tears and decided I would make the best of it. I will cherish that letter forever.
Fast forward, Crafty Feast was a success ! It went amazingly fast. Made some money. There were so many steller sellers. I even did a trade! I got these absolutely beautiful napkins from Rustbelt Fiberwerks. I am actually looking forward to the next show! So what will I do differently next time you ask? I will start early. I will start now for the next show. I will not wait for tomorrow what I can do today. I will not forget my beads.

Where It's At

Did the title make you think of Beck? "Two turn tables and a microphone" gotcha! now you are humming it. So Spring has sprung. My beautiful tree out front is the epitome of all things spring- an amazing magical cherry tree with the sweetest little pinkish white flowers all clustered over every branch and when the wind picks up, little pale petals fluuter all around like fairies dancing. This tree has inspired me to make little flowers on ever bead up till this year. I will not succumb to its hypnotic force to create endless little flowers. I am inspired though to create beauty- that same feeling I get when I open my front door and see my cherry tree. Wonder, amazement, transfixed by its loveliness. That is my hope when I make a bead or set of beads that become a jewelry piece. To inspire beauty, to continue that feeling in others. (sigh)
Tomorrow I'll add pictures of my tree and some beads that have been inspired by its beauty.
Till then.