the big crafty

we had a great time visiting asheville a couple of weeks ago for The Big Crafty. the show was a lot of fun and the city is absolutely amazing, the downtown area is filled with fun boutiques, galleries and specialty stores, you can even buy coffee from a stand built inside of an old double decker bus.. since it was mainly a business trip we didn't get to do a lot of exploring and the rain (which prevented our drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and made the trip home long and nerve wracking) didn't help either. we did manage to eat a couple of delicious dinners and listened to an impromptu performance by a bluegrass band (complete with a washtub bass!) in front of out hotel. the first night we dined outside at The Noodle Shop where we were entertained by a street performer, after the show, we went to Suwana's Thai Orchid where i got the pineapple fried rice, which was so good that i already have eating it again on my itinerary for my next visit.

july 4th

we decided to celebrate the 4th by heading to the fairgrounds to watch the fireworks. at the last moment we decided to watch them from the side of the road a little bit away to avoid fighting for a parking space. we found a great location, set up our chairs by the car and played with sparklers while waiting for the main event. after the show was over, we loaded up the car and took off and were home within 15 min. this is definitely the plan from now on.

this weekend, we are heading up to Asheville for The Big Crafty and i can't wait! if your in the Asheville area make sure to stop by on Sunday from 12-6 at the Asheville Art Museum in Pack Place.

june news

i can't believe june is almost over! this year is really flying by at an alarming speed and summer is in full swing. so far june has been a hot one, and tomorrow it might make it to 100 degrees. yikes! i think 100 is too hot to even go to the pool. our air conditioning has been on the fritz, but the ac guy was back out here today and i'm keeping my fingers crossed that its finally back up and running at 100%.

in other news, i heard back from the fire marshal's office and was able to get my "big" torch set up in the new studio. i'm so excited to break it out again and can't wait to start soldering with her.
i finally finished my wholesale linesheet thanks to Trunkt. if you haven't checked out the new Trunkt, you should. they recently revamped the site to a wholesale focus and are a great online host for linesheets. they have made several big improvements to the site and are in the process of adding even more features. i think its going to make it easier to manage the wholesale side of my business, which i am prone to neglecting. i made a few new designs yesterday, organic two tone hoops in oxidized brass and copper. i plan to debut these this weekend at the Greensprings Summer Arts Jam in greenville, nc. if you are in the greenville area you should stop by, its going to be a fun family event with music and art. i'll be there saturday, june 26, selling my jewelry and making beaded bracelets with the kids from 11 am until...
then next week its nose to the grindstone as i prepare for asheville and The
Big Crafty.

passage of time

its been a stressful week of ups and downs and several trips to the auto mechanic. i got my car out of the shop monday afternoon, just in time to have jackey's car towed in on wednesday after it started overheating on the way out of town. ugh.
i am however, caught up on my orders, so tuesday was a free day in the studio. yippie! i've been holding on to this watch case for the past year, trying to come up with the perfect design and i finally decided to tackle the task. i'm not sure if its 100% finished yet, but i'm pretty happy so far.


Passage of Time

sterling silver, american standard 19k rolled gold plated watch case and movement, key, vintage watch crystal, tintype, freshwater pearls

its a crazy, wonderful life

phew, its been a crazy, crazy, non-stop couple of weeks. however, today i have found myself stuck at home, forced to relax and catch up on much needed rest. my car is in the shop for the second time this week so i can't make it to the studio. since its rainy and overcast out, i've decided to spend the day eating popcorn and watching old movies. so far in the que is An Affair to Remember and An American in Paris. any ideas for what i should watch next?


the craziness started late last wednesday afternoon when i got a phone call from Artsplosure. someone had to drop out at the last moment and i had to decide ASAP if i wanted to take the spot with only two days to prepare. i made a call to work and managed to find someone to cover my shifts and spent the next 48 hours frantically trying to get ready. i don't think i've ever made that much jewelry in such a short period of time, and i had the blisters to prove it. somehow i managed to get everything finished and even got a few hours of sleep.


yesterday, we finally made it out to the newly renovated and expanded NC Museum of Art. it was sort of a belated birthday celebration since i was at Artsplosure last weekend and happy to be too busy on saturday to even think about my birthday. the new building is amazing, so bright and open. my favorite part is the Rodin garden which is so peaceful and beautiful and best of all filled with Rodin's. while i hated that the museum has been closed these past few months, it was definitely well worth the wait.

in addition to rushing around like mad, i did a bit of contemplation. the 19th was exactly 3 months from the day i received this in my fortune cookie.
the day i received this was during a very stressful and uncertain time in my life. so much has happened since that day, i've grown so much, and realized that i have so much to be thankful for. i'm glad i taped this little reminder to the calender, so i remembered to stop, look back and reflect.

for now... its back to the old movies.

studio tour

wow, it has been one crazy week, and its not over yet. last saturday was The Handmade Market, which was amazing as always. unfortunately, i don't have any pictures. we got new phones on sunday and i forgot to transfer the photos before wiping the memory.

on monday i finished moving into my new studio space at Found Studios. there was a minor setback in the form of a car accident on the way there, but lucky for me, the majority of the impact was absorbed by the guy behind us and my workbenches made it to their new home in one piece. fortunately no one was seriously injured, though i can not say the same for the vehicles.
i spent the rest of the week settling into my new space and preparing for this weekends shows. Found Studio's is open to the public and i will be available by chance or appointment. we are located at 16 glenwood ave, downtown raleigh, nc (look for the bright pink door). we will be open tomorrow evening for First Friday tomorrow from 6 until 9, stop by and check out my new (and still clean) area, some new designs and browse my talented studio mates amazing work.

if you can't make it tomorrow, you can catch up with me on saturday at Designer's Downtown Market. it looks like its going to be a bit cooler and that the rain is going to hold off until late in the afternoon.
then on sunday... i am catching up on much missed sleep.

Durham Art Walk

you can find me this weekend at the Durham Art Walk. this is my first year as a vendor at this show and i'm very excited. the weather is going to be perfect and there are sites spread throughout downtown durham. most are within a 5 min walk of each other.
in addition to around 200 artists there will be food, music and a scavenger hunt. there is also a shuttle that runs from the parking areas to the main sites in the walk. i will be in the Durham Arts Council building on Morris St. the show runs saturday from 10-5 and sunday from 1-5. for map and list of artist locations check the art walk website or this pdf.
hope to see you there!