So, I have some pics from the ArtWalk I did this past Friday. I'm sure you don't want to see them, so what shall we talk about instead?

Wait, what? You do?

Let me tell you first that I had a great time. It was the first time I participated, so I had no expectations. The ArtWalk, held by the Cabarrus Arts Council consists of local businesses staying open later and hosting artists' displays, and people walk from place to place to look, mingle, and purchase local art. My only regret is that being an artist, I didn't get to wander to the other buildings and see what they had. I heard there was a tasty NC Wine display.

First, the importance of doing a mock table display at home. I was told the table measurements were 5x30", so we marked out our trusty plywood and set up a display in our garage.



My next post may be on garage organization. Eep. Anyway, pretty sweet looking display, right? It is important to be prepared, because you know what they say about the best laid plans. They turn into tables that are 5X20"....



That may not seem like a huge amount, but it makes a HUGE difference in a display. The tables were free, so I am grateful they were even available! Guy wasn't able to make it, so I had to do some quick thinking on my feet, with a few reassuring texts from Guy. My focus had to be on keeping the most merchandise on the table without cluttering it up.



I think I ended up pretty well. The photographer behind me was Alexandra Pope. It was her first show, and she had photos of the architecture of Barber-Scotia College, and the display was made out of windows they found in the dumpster of said college and refurbished. Pretty darn neat.



Another angle:




Here is the other side of the room, with some new friends that I made. In order, right to left: Nena Wilson Jewelry Designs , Baskets Apropo by Patricia Lindsay , Carolyn Fisher, Artist and Art Educator.



Then reversed:

Ohhh, that's what jewelry should look like

Guy here.

So gal has been hard at work burning and poking her poor fingers as she makes more flowers than an Amsterdam tulip garden. I have been trying to get more bezel cups and such to tag all the creations she has made lately. The display at Nectar is going well, so life is good.

A good friend of mine is a professional photographer here in town and I always love to pick his brain about how to improve the shots that I take. Obviously, buying the new camera helped out tremendously and really improved the quality of pictures I was able to capture. I am never satisfied with what I know, I always want to improve how we display gal's work. He told me that if I wanted to shoot truly professional quality pictures of jewelry, I needed to get black glass or acrylic to shoot on. As a side note, he had told me of shooting full bodied nudes draped with wet sheets clinging to their bodies on black glass and how stunning the results were. Now, I am not going to say that gal's stuff is more interesting than hot near naked models, it must be a close second. Ok, maybe third.

I have a list in my head of things to do for intenyears. and when I can I try and knock items off that list. Crossing another item of that list, we went to a glassworks shop and bought a piece of black glass (nude models sold separately, and on back order, who knew?) I only wish we had done this sooner. Imagine the scene from 2001 where the apes find fire and the timpani's are booming and the trumpets start blaring, this was me about 1 hour ago. Rather than fling some poo or throw some rocks, I decided a blog post was probably more appropriate (and more hygienic). So without further fanfare here is a sample pic of the direction intenyears. photography is going.

Spring Flowers

Once you begin to create things, you find that you just.can't.stop. I have lists of ideas of things I want to try when I have the time. Not just one list, but a whole binder, with sectioned tabs, to try and keep a handle on these ideas. Since I seem to sell things pretty much as I make them, you can see where I am having issues trying to find the time to branch out. Worse things could be happening, right?

One of the ideas I did find time for was fabric flower hair clips, kind of an offshoot of the Felt Flowers that I make and will share as a tutorial for CrownTown Handmade April 29. Since launching intenyears. at Nectar, my focus for that line has been garden, floral, and summery. I made these neat organza flowers for a necklace, and thought they would be cute on clips.



I used organza fabric, flame to sear the edges, added czech glass beads, and attached to a clip. Yes, it is a process to make them, but the end result is worth it. I think Guy was a little worried about me veering of the jewelry path too much, but he really didn't say TOO much about it. And, wouldn't you know, those clips were one of the first things I sold that day, to a lovely family from San Diego who had no idea that they just totally made my day. If you are reading...hi! Hope you had a safe trip back!



They made my day because I think selling the first of something you created is a special kind of sale. I remember the first necklace I sold on Etsy, and the first necklace I sold at a crafts show. They are all reminders to make sure that I take the time to try new ideas, because you never know which will be successful.



Make sure you check out my Etsy shop, I added the clips a little while ago. :)

Working with a new model

I am trying to get some photos together for a Community Craft Night at the end of April for CrownTown Handmade, and I decided to try out a new model. I don't think she's impressed, or I just may not be haute couture enough for her.

Here she is when she first saw who she was working with:






She realized it might not be beneath her:




"Is that brown? Matches my lovely chocolate spots."




"Wait! Is that frame BLACK! Black & Brown??? FAUX PAS!"




Where's my agent? Get him on the cell ASAP! Still waiting on my latte, people!

intenyears. instoresnow.

Guy here.

Hope this gorgeous Sunday afternoon finds you all well and happy. Just a quick post to upload some pictures from Gal's retail debut. The lines were wrapped around the building, a little old lady was trampled as the doors were opened and throngs of people rushed to be the first to purchase an intenyears. authentic jewelry piece. Well, at least that's how I recall it.

While this might not exactly have been the scene yesterday afternoon, I think we were both happy with the turnout and results. We had several sales and it was great to see the pieces displayed and selling. Here are some pictures from the show for your enjoyment. Up next is getting prepared for the Artwalk in Concord.

I am artist, hear me...crimp?

One of the things that I have been working on since I started intenyears. is self-promotion. I'm really sensitive to being seen as 'pushy'. Maybe its was the decade of retail management experience, maybe its the fact that I can be shy in new social situations, or thinking that people won't really like what I do, then proceed to tell me about it...in detail! Guy doesn't have the same issue, luckily. He can walk in, and be comfortable with everyone and everything. Explains why one of his many hats around here is Marketing, doesn't it?

His comfort with new situations, and understanding of how I work and feel about them, is really helping me push my comfort zones and grow intenyears. On the surface, its things like...gentle insistence on trying my first craft show, the All Arts Market in March, even though I was nervous and felt I wasn't ready. Do I even need to tell you yet again what an unparalleled success that was for me? Or...getting me to apply to a Silent Auction by prepping a portfolio. We got the email at dinner last night saying my application was approved for the ARTcravings Silent Auction . Check out the website...my name is on there as an artist, and I had to have the page printed out to go on my inspiration board!

Less obvious is how much more confident I feel trying new ideas, see my previous post about 'doing things wrong'. More importantly for me, is how I now answer that famous question, "What do you do?" I am a handmade jewelry artist/designer. No other caveats or self-depreciating laughter.

Now that you know how sweet and timid and shy I am, look at my new links up top. Check out my new Events page, because I am going places, and I want you all to come along for the ride. :)

No need to be coy any longer. The details have been finalized.



intenyears. will be launching at Nectar a floral design shop located in the McGill Rose Garden in NoDa.



The date is Saturday, April 10. It is the re-Grand Opening of Nectar, so there will be yummy refreshments and lots of gorgeous flowers. I will be there myself from 12- 2 to talk about my jewelry and hopefully meet lots of cool new people.

I'll be looking forward to working with Karisa, and the Rose Garden is a gorgeous spot and will surely give me hours of inspiration. Did I ever mention how much I LOVE flowers? Can't wait to see you there!