Onward

Here is a Christmas Chunky Monkey I did last month. Lots of fun!

Well I am still practically comatose. Fragments of ideas about work are starting to swirl around in my befuddled brain, and I suppose sooner or later they will begin to coagulate into a complete, coherent thought. I am reluctant to go to the studio, as I can only imagine I will sit there in complete confusion.

Next week my husband and I are taking a trip to the Impression Show in San Francisco. We like to stay in the Cow Hollow Motor Lodge, because you can walk out the door of the hotel and you are on the sidewalks of the bustling Marina District, full of restaurants, stores and pubs. For the City, it is a pretty good deal, about $100 with taxes, and there is no charge for parking. I am always hesitant to try to Priceline a hotel in the city, since I have once been charged $35 a night (extra) for parking.

So this is the regular room rate at the Cow Hollow, not a Priceline one. I Pricelined a hotel by the San Francisco airport once, and it was really inexpensive. Then I spent the night wishing for an air filter for the smell, and a Uzi for self protection. Won't do that again.

The Crocker Preferred Customer Show Special

I've done a lot of these fun roll on bracelets for the Crocker "Show Special". Buy any two bracelets, and get a free pair of $29 earrings. You must have a coupon to recieve the show special, so click on the newsletter link above, and sign yourself up for my newsletter. I will send you the Crocker Newsletter containing the coupon by Thanksgiving evening....
Don't forget that the first 10 Fun Girls that present me with the coupon receive the gift felted bag containing a silver polishing cloth.

Fun Show Special at the Crocker Art Show Thanksgiving Weekend

Here is a fun reason to be on my email list. The first 10 people to come to my booth bearing a copy of my email will get one of these fun felted bags with a silver polishing cloth inside. How fun is that? No purchase necessary for this, but you will have to bring a copy of my newsletter. If you aren't currently getting my newsletter, there is a link above where you can add yourself. You will need to add yourself by Thanksgiving around 5pm in order to receive the email in time.

The Bruno Room at the Crocker Holiday Show

It is so hard to believe the holidays are upon us. WHEW. What a year!!! It is cold and rainy outside right now, just like winter should be.
If it's Thanksgiving, it is time for the Crocker Art Museum Holiday Art & Crafts Festival. They hold this event at the Scottish Rite Building in Sacramento. I will put a link on my blog soon with a map to the location.
I will be in a small room off of the Atrium, called the Bruno Room. In the past, they had artists in the lobby, in the main auditorium and in the Bruno Room, so I can only assume this year will be the same.
I will have a Crocker "Show Special", but I am still working on it, so come back in an hour or so!

Orinda Holiday Show This Saturday Nov. 6, 2010

I'll be back in Orinda this Saturday at the Community Center for their Holiday Bazaar.
They brought the show back this year after having been cancelled last year. It is only on Saturday this year.
It is a fun little show. Not everything is handmade, as it isn't an arts and crafts show, but there are the usual knitters that sprout when it gets cold, Narsai David food stuffs are there, and it is just a little different from the shows I regularly do. I will put a link to a map on the left if you need directions.

Menlo Park This Weekend

Friday, Saturday and Sunday....Santa Cruz Ave. I am on the corner of Chestnut on Santa Cruz Ave. in front of a bank...? Sorry I don't know which one.
My husband is in the car waiting for me right now.....

San Carlos Happiness

We stay at the same hotel in Mountain View for many of the art shows we do on the San Francisco peninsula. We stayed there last week for the San Carlos show, and we planned on eating at a little Vietnamese restaurant that I thought I had noticed across the street the last time we were there. We walked over from the hotel, and the Vietnamese restaurant turned out to be an Indian place. Well, my mouth was ready for hot and spicy, so I was pretty disappointed. The Indian place had fluorescent ceiling lights, and not much ambiance. But then I saw that it was vegetarian, and I got excited again. We decided to try it out, and it was so great I still can't believe it. It was a Saturday night, and the Indians were out in force, in their glorious native garb. 75% of the patrons were Indian. The food was absolutely delicious, the best Indian food I have ever eaten, and we still don't have a clue what we ordered.
We will be staying at the same place for the Menlo Park show this weekend, so you know where we will be dining. I will remember the name of the place to post next week.
Oh yeah, and dinner for the two of us was $17.00 before the tip!

Last Minute....

Here I am at the last minute, adding pictures of work I just finished for San Carlos Art & Wine Show this weekend, Oct. 9 & 10. I loved this set---torch colored copper. I should have enhanced the photo. On my computer screen the colors aren't as intense as they really are. This is a great set! Wish I knew what kind of pink earthy stone I dangled from it. Probably jasper of some kind.
San Carlos is downtown on Laurel. I am booth #274. Please forgive me if I already posted this. I honestly can't remember right now!

Tired

If you are waiting on something from me, it will be a little longer. I had an emergency trip back to Ohio between the Mill Valley show, and the Montclair show. Now I am trying to get some new work together for San Carlos this weekend, and I am pretty tired. I was hoping to have more of the earrings pictured here, but I don't think it will happen this week.

Montclair Village Oct. 2 & 3

It's time for the Fall Art Festival "downtown" Montclair Village. This is a really small, interesting neighborhood off of Hwy. 13 in the Oakland Hills. My favorite consignment boutique is there ( Utopia), a great kitchen store and bookstore. Of course there is a Starbucks, Peets, Noahs and a few other coffee shops, in about two blocks!! I will be in my usual location on the corner of La Salle and Mountain Ave. Hopefully I will be able to get a mapquest link up before I head out. I was hoping to have some rings for this show, but I only did two, and one of them didn't get finished, so they are still in the oven, so to speak. Practice, practice, practice!!

To Find Mill Valley.....

I am having a hard time getting my blog to list the link to the Mill Valley Fall Art Fair Website.

Try this....
http://www.mvfaf.org

I don't know how to get there yet myself!

Mill Valley Fall Art Festival This Weekend

This weekend, Sept. 25-26, I'll be in the Mill Valley Art Show, for the first time. A lot of you will remember that I previously have done the Walnut Creek Sidewalk Art Show this weekend, but I decided to try the Mill Valley show. My booth number is 122. It is in Old Mill Park in Mill Valley, and I will add the link to the show so you can access a good map. I have been told the show is in a redwood grove similar to Kings Mountain, and the weather looks great!

I will miss my Walnut Creek friends!

Packing Up

It looks like cool and hospitable weather for this weekend's show. It can be cold in the redwoods in the early morning, though, so be sure to bring something warm if you are coming to Kings Mountain for breakfast.

Ki ngs Mountain Art Fair Around the Corner

I am making new glass for Kings Mountain. I am still working on these, so I don't have pictures yet. I hope to post them tonight.
I also have a "new" dangle option for the "Macha" chain that I sell. There will be new chain options as well.
The blue and ivory pendants pictured at the right are new, and I am working on different colors of these.
Hope you have this show on your calendar. It is at the top of Skyline Dr. in Woodside, in the redwoods. There is a feel to this show that is a little different than other shows. It is completely run by volunteers from the community to fund their volunteer fire department, and it has been going on for years. Talk about community service! The volunteers do all the food, all the artist set up and coordination, and did I mention all the food? I look forward to this food all year. They put BUTTER in the scrambled eggs ( I love these eggs, but I would never put butter in my eggs at home) and the pancakes must have something equally delicious and bad in them, not to mention the hot syrup available to drench over them.
This is down home comfort Fair Food. At least nothing is deep-fried!!!

Sorry to Cancel Tahoe City this Weekend

I have to cancel this weekend's show in Lake Tahoe ( tomorrow, August 13-15), but I will be there next weekend in Tahoe City, Friday Saturday and Sunday August 20, 21 & 22. I am sorry for any difficulty this may cause in your weekend FUN plans. I will have a link to a map on this blog next week for the location, which I believe is the Boat Works, but I will have to confirm that.

Truckee Art Show This Weekend

Hey Fun Girls!! This tired girl with be in Truckee this coming weekend, with new work I might add. This will be show number 4 in a row, so my brain may even be a little slower than my body! I am happy to say I have some new pieces for this weekend, and some new glass hearts! I have a customer from Oklahoma that summers in Tahoe, so this is my only chance to make the heart she wants! I tried some new techniques on my glass pendants, and although these first results aren't too different than past designs, I can see new color possibilities for the glass, and I am pretty excited about it.
Thank God for spellcheck. See you in Tahoe.

Menlo Park this Weekend

I am getting ready to leave for the Menlo Park Connoisseurs Marketplace this weekend. The necklace pictured here is sold, but I have two variations of it available.

My booth number is 805. There is a link to a map of my location to the right.

Sorry this is so short, but I have to pack!! See you there.

New Booth Locations for the Los Altos Art & Wine Show This Weekend

My booth location for the Los Altos show this weekend has moved west on Main Street to #444, which is between First St. & Second St. I am on the south side of Main.

I just got home from my trip to New York City, and I am having a hard time getting to my studio. Is this a normal reaction to a vacation? We usually only take a vacation of a few days in the winter, so a trip during our show season is pretty unusual. I hope you all can give me feedback on this. We had a very wonderful, relaxing time with the new grand baby and parents, but what's up with this tiredness? It feels like, now, having been completely relaxed, by body would prefer it as a constant way of life, to be experienced in it's totality only by laying on the couch. This just came to mind...
The couch is calling, dark and deep
But I have lots of jewels to make,
And beads to do before I sleep
And beads to do before I sleep.

Leaving for NYC

I am off to NYC for a short trip, but I will be back next week for the Los Altos Art & Wine Festival on July 10 & 11. My booth is on N. Main, around the area of La Boulanger. This is a new location for me there, so I hope the map helps. There is a great Moroccan restaurant nearby as well that I can't wait to return to.
I will add some new pictures next week.

This Weekend : Read this to receive the $10 Coupon for Oakland!

To receive the $10 coupon good for any purchase over $30 at this weekend's Montclair Village show, click on the link directly above to be added to my email newsletter, and you will receive my show schedule via email . This is a blatant bribe, in return for signing up for my email newsletter. I send out a newsletter before every show, and all my sales, announcements, whatever will be via this newsletter. I will send about 25 a year, and there is an unsubscribe link at the bottom of it.

The deadline to sign up for the Oakland Coupon for new subscribers is Thursday, June 24 around noon. I must send it before I leave for the show, so if you sign up after that, I will be away from the computer.

I would much rather be making jewelry than making labels and postcards!!!

Recouping

Yesterday was my "Sunday", after working last weekend's show in Sacramento. I was still pretty tired yesterday, so nothing around the house was accomplished, but I am going back to work in the studio today.

The Sacramento Art Fiesta was so great!! Everybody in Sacramento knows what "hot" means, so most of my brilliant Fun Girls came on Saturday, when it was a little cooler. I had a fabulous sales assitant who was invaluable. It seems this year that my ability to focus has been reduced to one thing at a time, and this is such a detriment in a retail sales booth. I would have been lost without my helper!

Sunday was BLOODY hot. My husband came to the rescue, and drove up to the show to help me pack up, in that harsh sun. I was so grateful for his help.

Sacramento Show Special - sign up deadline HIGH NOON Friday June 4

As I labored away on a large mailing for the upcoming Sacramento Art Fiesta, I knew I had to come up with a way to get the email addresses for these customers. The postcards are so time consuming to do, and soon I will just quit sending them! So, I created the Sacramento Show Special, and everyone on my newsletter/email list is eligible to print out the coupon good for $10 off a purchase at the Sacramento show. If you aren't on my list, you won't get the coupon, so click the link above and join my list. You will get a newsletter before every show, so that is about 23 or so a year. There is an unsubscribe link if you want to be removed, and you do it yourself, so there is no way I can screw that up!
The deadline to receive the coupon is Friday at noon, as I will need to email them before I leave for the show.
I think this is great fun.

Good News/Bad News

I went on a shopping excursion to replace some of the lost items in the now infamous suitcase.
Good news- two new small suitcases for the business, and I will use an old suitcase for my clothing.
Bad news. I found the perfect pants to go with a cute top I got at The Rack (never worn) only to find AFTER I brought the pants home, that this top, too, was in the lost suitcase. The count is now 4 favorite new tops lost. On top of the replacement cost, it is the time it takes to find the darn things!! Now I have to take the pants back.
At least I have a spare toothbrush, and lots of extra toothpaste.

Glass Workshop on Saturday

No show this weekend, and I am so excited that I will get to attend a glass workshop to learn a new technique I have heard about. I usually don't get to attend these workshops, so I am very happy! And, on the way home, there will be a small shopping trip to buy a new suitcase!!

I lost my suitcase on the way home from the Los Altos Rotary Art Show last weekend. We were on 237, heading towards Milpitas, and there was a knocking sound that seemed like it was coming from the wheel well. To make a long story short, the back hatch of the van released itself, and my suitcase fell out onto the freeway. We were lucky that John's paintings (large; heavy) also didn't fly out and cause a major accident. I was incredibly lucky that it wasn't my jewelry suitcase, which would have been a disaster. It was just my clothes.
But we turned around and went back to see if I could pick up anything from the road.
I stood by the side of the 3 lane freeway, hoping for a little break in the traffic so I could run out and grab one of my THREE FAVORITE new tops that were blowing about in the middle lane. No chance. I saw underwear, like confetti, blowing about lane three. The suitcase was nowhere to be seen, probably stuck underneath a car merging onto 880.
OH NO! My DMAE cream that I bought ( half-off), GONE. My Body Magic Eye Serum....gone. All my sunscreens, night blinders, travel alarm clock, hair poof stuff ( also half off ) -- gone. My cute little PJ's ( thank god from Walmart and not Nordies) were blowing around the median.
It could have been worse. No shoes, ipods, hats or jewelry were lost. No one was hurt.
I mourned my stuff all the way home.

Saratoga Rotary Art Show This Sunday

The title says it all! For my booth, #558, take the main entrance into the campus off of Fruitdale, (or is it Fruitvale?) turn left on College Circle ( the first place you must make a turning decision ) and turn immediately into the lot on your left to park, if you can. My booth is on the nearest walkway from this lot, very close to the parking lot. The Rotary is ususally there on the corner of the lot and the walkway, selling water or something, but this can change from year to year. They give out fabulous programs, so that too will have a map.

Beautiful California

What incredible weather last weekend! The crowds were out enjoying the Art Show, and the warm temperatures.
This coming Sunday is the Saratoga Rotary's Art Show at West Valley Community College. This is Sunday only, and the shows starts bright and early at 9:00 a.m.
Hope you can make it. I am working furiously on orders from the last shows, and hope to have some new things for Saratoga.
See you there!

If it's not fun, what's the point?

Handmade glass beads ( handmade by me of course) sterling silver and fun stones combine for a truly unique, statement piece. You can't hide in the back of the room wearing this necklace. You will be seen.

I will be showing my work downtown Walnut Creek this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Click on the link for a map to my location. Click on the newsletter link to receive my show schedule via email.

Get Show Announcements on Email

Hey there's a new gadget to the right. Add your email to receive show notices. Love this!! I am going to quit sending the snail mail postcards, except perhaps once a year or so. This email is effective, and less time consuming, and I don't send them out to you unless there is a show. I really hate it when I sign up for email from a company I really are interested in, only to realize they are going to send email everyday! That's just too much.

Blog Fairies

It looks like the Blog Fairies were out. When I open this blog now, all the text is SO large??? I didn't do this. Is it my computer? Or,was it the mysterious Computer Fairies that came in the night and changed everything I know how to do?
Or, most likely of all, did I hit a button somewhere that made this happen? Is it just my computer, or everybodys?
These are the new questions of the age, or is it really the questions of the aged?

And The Electricity at Belmont Story Goes On...

I had put a lot of time and effort into getting the electrical access at the Belmont show...I will spare you all the details. The last post was the result of going to the location the night before the show to check the power outlet. Then, I wi-fied to my blog that I did indeed have the power that I told 100's of my customers about. So, it looked like all the previous steps paid off, and the power was a GO.
The Friday morning of the show, I was setting up and a maintenence man noticed my electrical cords, came over to me and told me I didn't have power. Oh yes I did, I told him, I checked it. No I didn't, he said. Yes I did, I repeated. I checked several times, and tried it last night. No I didn't he REPEATED. He has worked there 7 years, and to believe him when he said I didn't have power. The outlet only worked AT NIGHT..................
I laughed so hard, and cried at the same time for about three minutes. The man must have thought I lost my mind.
But the universe was with me on this one. The man's boss wasn't there that day, and he utterly devoted an hour of his day to hook up power for me.
What is the moral of this tale?? It seems to me that our best and most persistent efforts in life really are a crap shoot, and without helpful people our efforts can be lost. Helpful people, and a lot of luck.

Power On!

I have electrical access at Belmont, and it seems to be working, so bring your Fun Girls Jewelry on down to get cleaned!! It could take an hour for a very tarnished piece to clean up, so plan on having a little down time.

Equipment Problems

So I am working away in the studio trying to get ready for the Belmont show, and I have a tumbler ( jewelry cleaning equipment) full of stuff. This is the same tumbler that I have used for years, the same one that I am bringing to Belmont to clean jewelry on the spot!! It usually works like a dream,except yesterday. Everything I threw in , came out GREY. It is supposed to come out shiny bright silver! And I got dull dull grey. Well, I just had to laugh. OF COURSE it would only happen after I emailed 600 people to bring their jewelry to Belmont so I could clean it!!!! Gotta love it.
I worked with it a while, tried a few things to see what could possibly be the problem. I still don't know what happen, but when I closed up the studio last night, things were looking brighter, literally. Let's see what it looks like today!

Confusion Queen

Not a great way to start the year. Of course I am in a hurry, getting a photograph for the show email, and getting it out so I can actually FINISH the jewelry I have been working on for months. So, if you got my email with the wrong dates for the Belmont show this weekend, the dates on this blog are correct.
I wish I could say it was a plot to see who was actually reading my emails. This sounds good, but certainly not the truth.
I am going to blame it on my marketing department.

Free Jewelry Cleaning at Belmont

I am going to bring my electric tumbler to Belmont to clean up all your FUN GIRL tarnished silver jewelry!!! I will tag it with your name, and throw it in the tumbler. Depending on the level of tarnish, it could take a half an hour, to an hour to make your piece look brand new!!!
Now, the drawback to my plan is that I don't really know if the electrical outlet I saw there really works. So, if you are planning to bring something down, please check this website for an electricity update. I will stop at Carlemont on Thursday night to check for power, and will post the results here that night, or perhaps Friday am.
Hope you can make it! I have some fun new work too!!!

Working Like Crazy

Or maybe I am just plain old crazy. This could be it.
My husband and I are leaving for a show in La Quinta next week, so I am getting ready for my own show season. I should be posting my schedule soon. I won't be at the Contemporary Crafts Market in San Francisco next weekend. I will miss that.
My cat sitter is $244 for a week. WHEW!

Snake Vertebrae!

This is old African snake vertebrae. I love the mix of textures in this necklace, the contrasts of the dark aged bone and shiny freshwater pearls. The vertebrae are very interesting. Each segment fits exactly into the one in front, and behind, like a jigsaw puzzle. These pearls are white, but I may try one with pink pearls as well, or perhaps champagne.
Of course, if you buy it now, you have 3 days to contact me for a return.
Thanks for looking!

Busy in the Studio

I am getting ready for my annual buying trip to Tucson, to the Tucson Gem and Mineral show, which is really about 30 big shows happening at the same time. I don't go to the mineral shows, but I do have many favorite Gem shows, and Bead shows that I go to. Most of the vendors are from other countries, and I swear I have met many people from Hong Kong, whose only experience of the United States has been the booth they are working at the gem show.
Lots of people from India as well, and all over the globe.
What I really love about this show is the hunt for the unusual stones and pearls. There is so much to see, it is impossible to see it all. Literally impossible. And in this vast array of offerings, if one hunts and pecks hard enough, the really unique items can be found, many to never be had again either, I may add.
I have been busy in the studio getting ideas ready, making lists and trying to inform my creative unconscious of what I need to buy. There are lots of stones that I need, so I am making up a budget! Then, I get a "bonus" buy, over my budget, for the extra special thing I find that I have to have, whether it is on the list or not!

January TO DO list - partial

Sales Taxes due this week
Fed. Taxes - start now! do 1/3 a month
Show apps due - this week
Work on new website
Get new label design
Consolidate mailing lists
Make beads to take to Tuscon for color match-11 days
New ideas???

Studio Sounds

I just locked up the studio for the night, and there was a strange noise. Did I leave something running? I checked the tumbler, the exhaust fan, the torches. Everything was turned off, and the noise remained. As I locked the door, the sound grew louder, and I realized it was the creek! Most of the time, it is a little dry creekbed that my studio overlooks, but now of course it is roaring!! Funny how we get so accustomed to our everyday sounds.
I can't wait to see if the nearby lake fills up. We need this rain!!

Trip to Ohio

The studio is almost clean, I have lots of new ideas to start working on, and after a short trip back east, I hope to start on 2010 designs!

Sketching Trip

I don't know if all of my customers know that my husband is a landscape watercolor painter. At some shows his booth is next to mine, but I do more shows than he does, so I know some of you have never seen his work ( http://www.johnmuirreid.blogspot.com/)

So, one of the wifely duties of a painter is to encourage and support his art. So, while on a sketching trip last weekend, I was pretty much caught up in the "duty" part of the trip, and was consumed mostly with worries of locations, numbers of sketches, future paintnings, etc etc. My obsessive work related thoughts were interupped , however, when we ended up at Moss Landing, south of Santa Cruz, midway through the sketching trip. Up until there, my mind was focusing on, well, work- getting the sketches whence come paintings. We were there on the beach, quickly scanning, quickly sketching and clicking photos so we could stay on schedule. Hurrying back to the car I noticed some floating things in the lagoon, and OMG .......there floating serenely in the water were sea otters!!! A whole gaggle of sea otters lounging and playing! It was so breathtaking , and I remembered one of the big reasons I love California is this incredibly accessible wildlife. Then of course we saw the sea lions, always a joyful moment for me, and I was able to relax and look forward the journey of this day, and not focus on the "work". What a great moment!!

You've Got to Read This

This is worth signing up for TWITTER for.....
Shitmydadsays. (that's the name of the (?) Tweet??? It's on Twitter anyhow.
It is good for a belly laugh every time!!! I am busy cleaning my studio, so I really need a good laugh. It has not, however, been good for my vocabulary. You'll see what I mean. TOO TOO FUNNY.
http://www.twitter.com

I am on Twitter as well, Fungirlsjewels, but I can't say that I am too exciting.

A Rare Starbucks Moment

I just had a Chai Latte at Starbucks. I have had these many times from Starbucks, but this was the first time I actually sat down, read a paper and drank the chai AT Starbucks. I see people do this all the time. One of my favorite shows is in San Francisco, where my booth is right in front of Starbucks. I watch many people hanging out there with computers, friends and coffee.

I always thought that someday I too would be able to just sit there and relax like that. My usual Starbucks experience consists of scurrying in frantically for caffeine enroute to a show, needing a bathroom break at a show, or getting coffee for the way home from a show.

So if I am sitting down in Starbucks, it must be January.