Nyack Bee Green Fair 2011

Had a great time at the Nyack Bee Green Fair on Saturday. Memorial Park in Nyack was full of natural food vendors and eco-friendly businesses. At first some visitors questioned why a jewelry designer was part of the Green Fair, but when they learned what my jewelry was made of they got really into it!

I just set up a really small table at this event (especially since I was only selling jewelry, not art prints). Looking forward to a larger setup at stART on the Street Spring Edition in Worcester, MA on May 22! There will be lots of new jewelry (especially earrings), and I'm most excited to debut some fill-in-the-blank invitations, part of a collection Scott and I are collaborating on, a couple will be ready just in time for stART!

Lots of gift card earrings

New colorful key necklaces!

New colorful key necklaces!

Jobin was there to help our for the morning

New Listings on Etsy

Check out Designosaurus on Etsy for these and more new jewelry listings, just in time for spring!

www.jessiekatz.etsy.com

Cold Weekend for a Photo Shoot

Earrings on Etsy

Most of my jewelry photos for Etsy are taken outside. Partly because there is no need to set up a special backdrop, it’s easy to hang pieces on braches, flowerpots, wooden boxes, wind chimes and more. Also, since I’m not skilled with setting up the right lighting inside, its much faster to utilize natural sunlight outdoors!

This past weekend proved a bit difficult to shoot photos, but I did get most of what I needed…

Saturday I convinced my boyfriend, Scott, to help out with a shoot where I needed to play the part of “model” to show off some new necklaces. Standing outside in a tank top and cardigan was a little chilly, but not nearly as bad as I had expected!

Sunday I worked on my own to photograph some earrings. The wind blowing earrings around made it take a bit longer, which led to very cold fingers, but I was able to get seven pairs shot, edited, and up on Etsy.

Enjoy these photos, along with a few silly images of the process, and don’t forget to check out more on Etsy and Facebook!

Heart Necklace / Colorful Hand painted Necklace (top right)

More photos on Facebook

Western Necklace on Etsy

Earrings on Etsy

Earrings on Etsy

Crafter Profile: Additions

This week's Crafter Profile is with Valerie William, the creative mind behind AdditionStyle on Etsy. In her collection, Additions, she creates unique and affordable pieces using hardware! The results are unique and certainly conversation starters, so enjoy learning a bit about her here and be sure to browse AdditionStyle on Etsy!

Tell us a little about yourself… Where you’re from? Art background? When you started making jewelry? Etc…

My name is Valerie, I am originally from Minneapolis. I have lived in New York City for 6 years, and now I currently live in Chicago, IL.

I have been creating most of my life, I learned to sew when I was 9 years old and I created everything from casual clothes, suits, coats, and dresses for years. I went to school for fashion merchandising and spent years in the retail industry.

I made jewelry when I was a teenager, but did not start doing it seriously until my mid thirties.

Like a lot of people, I took a jewelry class and fell in love with the design process. The day after the class I bought tools, beads and all the supplies I needed to make my own jewelry. Once I started making jewelry I could not stop. I began with beadwork; moved to wire wrapping and then sliversmithing. Many of my techniques are self-taught with a few classes in between to perfect my skills.

The important stuff — where can people purchase your items?

My jewelry is available on:

http://additionsstyle.etsy.com

http://zibbet.com/additionsstyle

http://additions.artfire.com

I also have a blog about inspiration, creativity, and business, that is updated daily

http://additionsstyle.blogspot.com

You can also visit me at

http://facebook.com/additionsstyle

http://twitter.com/additionsstyle

What made you want to start Additionstyle?

A few of years ago I was ready for a change and wanted to try something new. I wanted the opportunity to try a new medium, experiment with new techniques, and create jewelry and accessories that were young, fresh, and affordable.

What kind of jewelry were you making before you started the Additions collection, and do you continue to create jewelry in a variety of styles?

I still create sterling silver one of a kind art jewelry pieces. I sell these pieces at a few shows throughout the year and to a few galleries. I am doing less and less of this as my online business grows.

On Etsy you mention working with your daughter to start the Additions collection – how involved are both of you in continuing to design new pieces?

When I originally decided I wanted to do something different, I knew I wanted to create items that my daughter and her friends could afford.

She and I talk about designs all the time. I get her opinion on new designs, and what she thinks her friends would buy. Having her helps me keep the designs young, modern and fresh.

Why the name Additionstyle?

The name of the collection is Additions. When I started this collection I wanted it to have its own identity and when I was setting up my accounts online Additions was taken so I used my blog name at the time Additions Style.

When I was ready to name the collection my teenage daughter and I brainstormed ideas. She came up with the name Additions, which perfectly described the concept of adding accessories till you have the perfect look.

Where do you find inspiration?

The hardware is my greatest source of inspiration. I use a lot of recycled hardware in my work. When I go to the place where I get my recycled hardware it has mixed boxes of hardware, and digging through those boxes is a great source of inspiration for me. Working in my studio and going through my drawers of hardware is also a great source of inspiration. Just looking at the hardware always sparks new ideas.

Looking through your Etsy shop I noticed you occasionally incorporate materials other than recycled hardware – what are your other favorite materials to work with?

I have created a couple collections: Vibrant Hardware – which is a collection of hardware pieces with added color, Hardware in Bloom – which is a collection of hardware with silk flowers, and hardware with stones, lake stones, and gemstones.

I like to do unexpected things with the hardware and mix it with interesting things, but in the end I love working with the hardware itself. It is very inspiring for me and I love to come up with new ideas.

Out of the items for sale in your shop, do you have a favorite?

It’s really hard to pick a favorite. When I complete a piece it’s my favorite at the time, until I create the next one. If I had to choose a style, I love the pieces that have a variety of washers and chains.

What does your workspace look like?

I work in the basement of my home. For a long time it looked like a basement, bad light, junk everywhere and not a lot of space for my supplies. But at the beginning of this year my sister (she’s an organizer) came to visit for a week and re designed and organized my space.

I still work in the basement, but now I enjoy coming to my studio/office to work everyday. I know where everything is, everything I need has its own station, and I have all the things I love around me.

And finally, any advice you’d give to others who want to turn their creative passion into a business?

Create work you love. It is easy to follow trends and to design what you think people want to buy, but if you do it to make money only, it will become a job you don’t enjoy.

Keep learning. There is much to learn about creating, business, marketing, and selling. Take classes, read as much as you can, and participate in discussions on and off line.

If you love it never give up. If you have a setback, don’t give up, try it a different way, talk to new people, there is always something you can do, so believe in yourself.

It’s all hard work, and it takes time, so be patient. Always do as much as you can, never stop marketing online and off, provide outstanding customer service and the customers will come.

(interview has been edited)

Crafter Profile: Sypria

This week we hear from Tara of Sypria (and Clean Sypria, Garden Of Sypria, and Felt Sypria). I stumbled upon her shops while searching Etsy and loved them so much, I had to include her in my Crafter Profiles!

Tara was recently able to leave her day job to concentrate 100% on her creative business, so hopefully any of you yearning to do the same can learn a bit from her interview below! Want more updates from Tara? Check her out on Twitter @CraftySypria.

Tell us a little about yourself… Where you’re from? Art background?

My name is Tara Fletcher-Gibbs, I live in North Little Rock, Arkansas in a wonderful little neighborhood with my wife Sarah and my two kitties, Leela and Fry. From taking fabric painting classes at Michael’s when I was around 6 years old all the way up to High School and spending 6 out of 7 classes in my senior year in the art department - I would say I’ve always been crafty!

^{The important stuff — where can people purchase your items?}

I currently have four Etsy shops that I sell through frequently - www.Sypria.Etsy.com,www.CleanSypria.Etsy.com, www.GardenOfSypria.Etsy.com, and www.FeltSypria.Etsy.com. Also, if you’re in central Arkansas I have my dryer balls and my more eco-friendly jewelry at The Green Corner Store on Main Street in the Quapaw Quarter.

^{Now on to the exciting stuff, you were recently able to quit your day job and concentrate 100% on creating and running your own business! How has this affected your creative process, your schedule, and your life in general?}

It has been a blessing and a curse all at the same time! I think everyone dreams of being their own boss and escaping the rat race and now that I think I’ve accomplished that - I’ve never worked so hard in my life! I wake up thinking about crafts, I have to force myself to put down the tools and make something to eat even though there is SO much to do and then I have to somehow get to sleep at night with my mind tossing and turning ideas in my head! Though I have the freedom to take a break whenever I want and go to important events on the drop of a hat - you never, ever stop working. I’m going on vacation in about a month for a week in Florida and I have every intention of bringing the laptop and continuing on with business!

^{Why the name Sypria?}

I’ve actually had that moniker for about 13 years now. Whenever I would play any kind of video game or computer name that was the name I chose (I found it in a baby name book and it is of Spanish origin, pronounced - Si-PREE-uh) and thus it just came naturally that I would use the name that everyone knew me by for my businesses.

^{Where do you find inspiration?}

A lot of odd places actually. I love roaming around flea markets and just picking up trinkets and old outdated jewelry and trying to find another purpose for it. I like looking back at pictures of myself and friends when I was younger and try to tap into what I wanted to have when there wasn’t this kind of jewelry out there. I was always “different” when I was a kid and I want to give a voice to the youth of today through the jewelry I make so that they can express their unique selves like I tried to.

^{What are your favorite materials to work with?}

^{That's like asking for your top five favorite movies when you’ve got five in sci-fi, comedy, horror, etc! However, I would probably say polymer clay and vintage jewelry. There are just so many things you can do with clay and though some vintage jewelry is beautiful in its own right - some of it needs a bit of an update!}

^{Out of the items currently for sale in your shop, do you have a favorite?}

I would have to say my ‘Flip-Cap’ Collage. My mother is an oncologist and she has everyone on her floor save all the caps that are flipped off medicine which would otherwise end up in a landfill and I’ve made collages and rings and garlands out of them. They’re so colorful it’s hard to think they people just throw away all that plastic!

^{What does your workspace look like?}

As Niecy Nash from Clean House would say, “A hot mess!!” A have a wonderfully supportive wife who has let me take over a whole bedroom. Surrounded by shelves upon shelves of supplies and work areas lining two walls there are always ATLEAST ten projects going at once! I find my mind jumps from project to project a little too quickly for my taste so I’ve had to have separate areas for all of my interests so that I can leave in the middle of it, do some other project for a bit and then come back to it.

^{How do you advertise or promote your shop?}

I am a craft show-aholic. In the months of August, September and October you can find me doing a craft show EVERY weekend. I also am lucky enough to live in a very creative and art loving community that supports local artists and we have events on the first Thursday, second Friday and third Friday of the month almost all year round so you can find me at those events as well. Other than that, it’s really word of mouth, I give out a business card with a coupon on the back to everyone I encounter who I think might be interested in what I make and with every order I also include a discount for repeat customers. I don’t blog. I just recently started the whole twitter thing and haven’t gotten into the swing of it - but I’m trying! I still have yet to figure out how to make a fanpage on Facebook!

^{I first stumbled upon your shop Sypria, but noticed you have a few more shops on Etsy as well. Can you tell us a little bit about those?}

I have CleanSypria which is where I sell all of my Dryer Balls. They’re made from 100% wool and instead of using a conventional dryer sheet which contains chemicals and animal by-products you use these to soften your clothes and pull the moisture out to reduce the drying time - thus saving you money through your electric bill and having to buy those awful dryer sheets all the time!

^{I then have GardenOfSypria where I sell my more traditional jewelry which is inspired from being out in my garden and out in nature in general.}

FeltSypria which has my jewelry made from felt (which is made from 100% post-consumer recycled bottles) as an eco-friendly alternative option for the fashionable at heart!

^{Can you remember a favorite childhood craft project?}

I absolutely LOVED making friendship bracelets. I think I made more bracelets than I have ever had friends! I remember spending time at my Grandmothers up in the Ozark mountains for the summer and just cranking them out. My mother would pack my rainbow of DMC floss and I’d come back just beaming with pride at all the little bracelets I had made.

^{What have you found to be the most fun, and the most difficult aspects of running a creative business?}

The most fun aspect would have to be just making whatever your little heart fancies. It is the most rewarding, therapeutic and empowering thing when you turn a little idea in your head into a simple thing that someone else can treasure for the rest of their lives - and get paid for it! My wife and I bought a house almost a year ago and it’s so thrilling to think that the things that I make are paying for part of this house. It really makes you think harder about how you live your life and why so many of us choose to continue with the rat race. The most difficult? You have to be the voice of EVERYTHING! You’ve got to be the receptionist, human resources, accountant, janitor, buyer, advertising department, auditor, shipping and receiver, president, CEO and all of the above! It can really be discouraging if you let yourself become too behind.

^{And finally, you are certainly doing things right to get to where you are with your business! Any advice you’d give to others who dream of turning their creative passion into a full time opportunity?}

Don’t stop! There are so many factors into why things sell and why things don’t sell. You just have to be on top of things and research, research, research! Take wonderful pictures and be PROUD of what you do. If you’re just trying to make things like what everyone else is making, you’re not contributing to the creative world, you’re just muddling it up and setting yourself up for a disappointing downfall. Be unique and it will all eventually fall into place!

^{(interview has been edited)}

Crafter Profile: Little Blossom Designs

For this crafter profile we are going to hear from Jess Admirand, of Little Blossom Designs. I have had the pleasure of working with Jess both at Barnes & Noble Café, and sharing tables at numerous craft fairs (its always more fun when you have friends to hang out with at those events)! She’s super creative and original, check out her work on artfire.com or fan her facebook page.

Here’s the interview…

Tell us a little about yourself and where you're from? Well, to start my name is Jess Admirand. I live and make jewelry in the woods of northern New Jersey. I've been making jewelry and selling it for 6 years now.

Is there a strong local art/craft scene in your area? I live in a small town. There are all kinds of creative folk living around here; musicians, sculptors, crafters in general, quilters, painters etc. The area unfortunately makes many of us outsource or move elsewhere in order to get our work out and about.

When did you start Little Blossom Designs? I started LBD when I was 18 years old. I had been working on jewelry for a year and had made a few projects I felt were good enough to be gifts for friends and family. I figured it would be a good way to have side money for new dance shoes and such. Instead it has become a secondary income for me that I really enjoy.

Where did the name Little Blossom Designs come from? Hehe, the “Little” in the name comes from my rather petite stature. I like to joke about that often and then combine it with my love for gardening and nature in general et voila! LBD also has a nice sound when you say it. When I did decide on a name in 2005, I was listening to pretty angry music and was a bit of a temperamental person. My work really didn't reflect that, so I figured a name that sounded as pleasant as possible would be the way to go. After all, BoomDoomDarkRoomDesigns is not the greatest name for a jewelry company, ya know?

LBD mostly sells jewelry, but I saw a set of cards in on your Artfire store. Any plans to start creating and selling an even wider variety of work? I like to keep my options open, but I find time to be a huge factor in determining what I work on. I have done larger collage projects than those cards, as well as calligraphy work and crochet. I also do other work as well as jewelry so when I do have lots of free time, anything goes.

Do you feel your techniques or aesthetic have changed much since the beginning of LBD? It truly has. I've been photographing my pieces from the beginning and it never ceases to amaze me at how different my work has become. For example, all of my early work was heavily pattern oriented and very symmetrical. Certain pieces I make now are like that, but it's not a main feature of my work. I've ventured into working on asymmetry and really focusing on playing with color in my work.

Who is your audience? Oddly enough, romance authors are a part of my clientele. My mother is an author and she wears pieces I've made for her through the years nearly everyday. Other authors admire the pieces and then they end up with pieces of their own in one way or another. The majority of my audience would be women of all ages from children to older ladies.

Where can people buy your jewelry? My artfire account would be the best place to do so. The majority of my work is posted up there. You can also become a fan of my facebook page. This page is more relaxed and irreverent at times and I do have other projects posted there as well as a gallery of some of my older works. I also do shows every now and then. If I am going to do one I post about it on these sites.

How do you advertise/promote? I promote through artfire and facebook. I don't like pounding pavement for LBD's sake, but I am looking into having solo shows in the near future.

What are your favorite materials to work with? Glass beads. There's just something about picking up a bead and feeling it's chill in your hand. It's almost as if by using it you're putting a little warmth and life into each bead to make it a whole entity. It's a little weird, but that feeling is why I've named every piece I've made because it becomes more than just a bunch of glass beads on a wire.

Do you have a favorite experience since starting LBD? My very first show is still my favorite. It was in Denville, NJ and it was a pretty dismal day. It was a wash out, people really weren't buying things and all the other vendors kept coming over and telling me what I was doing wrong, lol. I still really love that because I did make back the money I had spent on the table for the day and it was a major learning experience. Plus I had my mom popping in and a few of my friends around to make it a really fun day regardless of the circumstances.

What is your creative process like? My creative process is one big happy mess the majority of the time. I set out all of my supplies around me and I'll pull out a single bead. I place it in front of me and try to imagine complementing colors or the basis of a design in my head. I don't render anything which I've been told is a terrible idea. But I really work best just building from the bottom up.

What inspires you? Inspiration comes in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes a song will inspire me; other times it could be a person or feeling that drives me to create.

What is the most fun part, and the most difficult part, of running your own craft business? Funding is generally the most difficult part, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying being involved in the crafting world. I enjoy every moment I have making/taking apart/selling/giving my pieces away. I think having a genuine love for whatever it is you do will result in success of one form or another in the end.

Favorite piece you've made? Ah, there was a necklace set I made called Tsarina (pictured below). It sold while I was in Georgia earlier this year. It was so delicate on one hand but then there was a touch of boldness in the accent beads involved. I almost wish it hadn't sold, ya know, lol.

Favorite childhood craft project? I sewed a blanket for a little boy I babysat. I don't remember what made me decide to do so, but I remember being very proud of it and the little boy liked it too.

I know you keep extremely busy, what else do you do besides LBD (jobs and/or hobbies)? My extremely glamorous day job is at a Barnes and Noble serving coffee. My real passion however is not espresso, but dance. I have an Associate of Fine Arts in Dance from the County College of Morris and am in the process of applying to 4-year schools to get my BA or BFA in dance. I've been choreographing for the CCM Shakespeare and Co. for three years now as well as having cameos in two of the shows. I do perform my own work every now and again and still take class when I get the chance. I also have done theater and stage combat. And if you believe my older brother, it is truly my job to bring a certain amount of strange behavior to the general public.

Any idea where you want to be in 10 years? Hmmm, I have no true idea of where I will be. But I am aiming to remain involved with dance and jewelry up to that point and beyond. Who knows? I could be having full evening length works on stage and selling my baubles at intermission to pay for the bus fare home.

And finally, what advice would you give to others trying to start their own creative business? Get up and go! The sooner you do it the better, and do try to sample the local flavors along the way. Especially the pies. You really can't go wrong with pie.....

(interview has been edited)