Scarf It Up! News

Capitola Girl Features Scarf It Up! on her blog

That's MY bag in the lower right corner of this photo!

Many thanks to Capitola Girl, Susan, for this inclusion in today's blog!

And.....I'm excited that I've been contacted by a NY retailer to consign my work in her boutique.  I haven't signed on quite yet, but I am most assuredly considering it.  More on that to come!

And on Friday night, Jan Wutkowski featured me and my work in a Trunk Show at her boutique, aMuse Artisanal Finery in Wilmington during the WAWAs First Friday Gallery Crawl.  It was great fun with lots of friends new and old, food, drink, and interest in our designs!  I was busy so I didn't get photos to share - except for these few.

Jan Wutkowski - GREAT hat!  Her own creation!

Ginny and Jan

Ginny, me (funny face!), Jan

Marketing in the Genes?

Did I miss my calling?  Do I have regrets?  I don't think it was a conscious effort on my part, but I realize now that I resisted anything to do with business careers as a function of rejecting family values!  How many kids do that, either intentionally or not?  I think I did - and have come to have a few (but not TOO many) regrets!  My father had his own marketing and advertising firm in NYC; my brother worked for many years in marketing for large consumer product companies, and he has run his own antiques business now for many years.  RJG Antiques has become very well-known for folk art, primitives, furniture, and decoys.

I spent 20+ years teaching French and Spanish, 15+ years in higher education as a career counselor (isn't THAT ironic?), and I probably never knew that I had a career in marketing hidden away in the recesses of my brain.  I had a glimpse a long time ago when I had left teaching for a job in career development at Johnson & Wales University.  I was hired to run one of their co-op programs - no experience, little guidance, and managed to grow the program 100+% in the first year!  And I ran HUGE events!  And I loved it!

Then I went back to teaching while working on my masters degree in counseling - and I taught for 11 years.  All the while, while interning and then working as a career counselor at Brown University in their Career Services department, I ran programs, presented workshops, devised some of my own marketing materials, and who knew that down the line - in my so-called retirement - I would be back at work marketing my fiber art.  I'm not trained - in marketing OR in art of any sort - but surprisingly, I am enjoying greater success than I ever imagined!

I've just taken on a project for Port City Pottery & Fine Crafts to develop and manage their monthly newsletter via Constant Contact.  I so enjoyed learning their platform and developing the first of such newsletters that I established my own Scarf It Up! account, and I've already sent out my own first newsletter.  And here it is....not bad for a first effort!

http://tinyurl.com/yccr97w

I tried copying and pasting it into this post, but it appeared truncated, so please click on the link to see it for yourselves.

Recent ETSY Treasuries

I've been remiss!  I've been an Etsy seller for 2.5+ years, but recently (well, maybe more than just recently!) I've neglected my shop due to excellent activity and sales at my local B&M venues!  I'm not complaining, but really, I simply haven't got the time needed to devote to Etsy right now.  It always is a good idea to maintain an online presence, and I will NOT let my shop items diminish to zero, I promise.  I think I have created an online presence through facebook, twitter, targeted emails, and now with Port City Pottery & Fine Crafts and a newly instituted Constant Contact email newsletter (that I am editing).


While I was active on Etsy, I loved to curate Treasuries, and of course I always appreciate being included in those of others.  Recently I've been in two, and so it is my practice to showcase them here - along with the various curators, their shops, and an itetm from their respective shops that could fit right into their own Treasury.  So here goes....................!

This is Fabulous Fibers and Fibres by JanineMaves, and it is still viewable here.  So lovely!  And here is Northern Lights from her shop.  It's a dramatic painting on silk - as fabulous as her Treasury!

And in the last week or so, seragun created this lovely Aqua Treasury that included one of my pieces of fiber art.



Here is crochet lacework turquoise necklace by seragun! Beautiful!

A New Marketing Project for Port City Pottery & Fine Crafts

The owners of Port City Pottery & Fine Crafts have asked me to take on a new project - and I am indeed very happy about it! We've engaged Constant Contact to manage email newsletters to our patrons and subscribers.  We've been collecting email addresses almost since the opening of PCPFC.  NOW.....we'll be able to keep our fans up to date with our news and events.  If you'd like to subscribe to our e-newsletter, please leave a comment with your email address after this post.


Not to give it all away here.....but highlights for the month of November include:

• Artist of the Month and Reception for Patricia Hart, clay artist
• A Gift for You!  It's a new initiative to offer every purchaser a clay ornament created by the artists of Port City Pottery & Fine Crafts
• Eight of our 20 artists participate in the YWCA Fundraiser, Purse & Passion, on November 11, by upcycling and designing art bags/purses for a silent auction

PORT CITY POTTERY & FINE CRAFTS

in the

Cotton Exchange, Wilmington NC

M - S: 10 - 5:30

Sunday - 12 - 4

Purse & Passion Complete!

Not to leave anything to the last minute - I know, that makes me crazy, but it's always been my modus operandi! - I completed my contribution to this event yesterday!  The results are..........colorful, funky, whimsical!  


I'm not sure it's my favorite, but I certainly hope others like it and will bid on it in the silent auction to benefit the Lower Cape Fear YWCA during its Purse & Passion Wine & Tea event on November 12. Fourteen or so other artists also are creating P & P bags from gently-used thrift store finds.  See my earlier post for a list of the other participating artists.  I can't wait to see THEIR creations!

Here are the results!  It's a freeform knit and crochet piece using a myriad of fibers in a rainbow of colors and textures and then sewn onto the bag front and back.  It's finished with two crocheted squiggly curlicues affixed to the straps.  I'm not sure if it's Cacophony or Classy!  Funky....for sure!

You might remember the bag before it was embellished!

Album and Handout for Port City Pottery & Fine Crafts

It's been suggested to me several times to develop a photo album for use in the Gallery to show prospective customers the versatility and variability of many of my designs.  I've resisted this - mostly because I knew it would be a time-consuming endeavor.  This afternoon, I finally set out to do just that.  

I've completed a small album with photos of several styles that lend themselves to creative and adaptable wearing.  I hope to place it near some of my work  - but the work is concentrated in three distinct locations throughout the Gallery.  I also developed a handout that can accompany my designs when purchased or used to apprise customers of their versatility BEFORE purchase.  How I wish I could use my flickr sets or Slide slideshow to demo my work.  

Oh well.....here is the text of my handout.  It's in a more artistic font than shows here!

LOUISE GIORDANO

Wearable Fiber Art

MOST “SCARF IT UP” FIBER ART CAN BE WORN IN MULTIPLE WAYS.  Perhaps you’ll discover a NEW way to enjoy an original Scarf It Up design.

CACHECOL is my line of neckwarmers or Scarflettes.  It quite literally means “hide your neck,” so they are short, lightweight wearable fiber art scarves that provide warmth without bulk.  Each is hand-knitted with random stitches to create an irregularly-shaped neckwarmer, usually with fringe and a funky button, bead, or other closure. 

• Wrap the cachecol around your neck, and fasten by pulling the button through at any juncture.  The “holely-ness” of the fabric allows multiple ways to wear your cachecol.   Fold down an edge or two.
• Turn it, twist it, or weart it upside-down.  Play with your cachecol – it does a body GOOD!  AND it will give you a different look every time!

LOOPY is a hand-crocheted piece of wearable art.  Consider it a scarf or jewelry. 

• Wrap a long one multiple times around the neck or double it and slip one end through the other. 
• Flip one end of a Short LOOPY over the other or….
•  Slip one end through a loop near the end of the other side.  Drape the piece around a scoop or V-neck or……
• Pull one end of the loopy through any loop near the other end.  Pull as tightly as desired.

FRILLY is a hand-crocheted curlicue scarf that has multiple ways to use.

• Wrap it completely around the neck for a ruffled effect.
• Double it and pull one end through the other.
• Flip one end over the other at the throat or lower on the chest.  Arrange the ruffles to suit.

COLLARS are wide hand-crocheted neckpieces with multiple fibers and multiple ways to wear.  Because of the large hook used to create the collar, the button can be pulled through the fabric at any juncture or at more than one juncture.

Louise Giordano works in knit & crochet and creates several kinds of felt: knitted felt, hand/wet felt, and nuno felt in bags, scarves, and brooches.

ENJOY YOUR SCARF IT UP ORIGINAL!

Purse & Passion

My friend, Alane Savod, is one of the busiest people I know! She found time to help me last Sunday at the Arboretum show, and it always amazes me how involved she is in various fundraising and other non-profit endeavors.  ONE of her current projects is with the Lower Cape Fear YWCA, whose mission is "Empowering Women; Eliminating Racism."  To that end this year, she is one of the organizers of Purse & Passion, a wine and tea party to take place on November 12 at the St. Thomas Preservation Hall from 4 - 6 pm.

My selected bag - BEFORE!  The AFTER version will be posted later (once it's begun/done!)

She has succeeded in gathering 17 local artists and a score of gently-used purses to be uniquely decorated in an array of mediums by the artists for a silent auction.  We met at Alane's home on Wednesday night to be apprised of the details of the event, meet the Y's leadership, meet one another, and choose a purse to design.  What fun to meet all these gifted and creative women!  I knew most of the artists present (and even helped Alane find them), and there were others previously unknown to me.  Now I feel connected to this wonderfully rich artistic community with opportunities I never expected - what a thrill!  I am so sorry my mother didn't live to see me experience and fulfill my creative side!


Anyway.....the artists in attendance represented all manner of media:  Barbara Bear Jamison, Jan Wutkowski, Kristen Gibson, Barbara Scalia, Dianne Masi, Dory Maier, Clair Hartmann.  Others who couldn't make the meeting include: Lorna Boa, Linda Hartman, Carol Langer, Pauline Perdum, Gayle Tustin, Sybil West, Niki Hildebrand, and Teresa Rogers.  Of this group, Dianne, Dory, Linda, Carol, Pauline, and Sybil are members - with me - of Port City Pottery & Fine Crafts! 


So....I selected a black summery bag shaped like a feed-bag!  There were others - vinyl, leather, colors, fabric, and more!  I decided on this one so I could consider creating a freeform knit and crochet piece in multi-media to be affixed to the fabric of the bag with my signature crocheted chains. Well, that's my first idea - we'll see what happens.  I'll be posting my results and photos of others later.  


I believe in the Y's mission, and I always support Alane who has so willingly and graciously supported me in my artwork. This should be a fun event, and of course, I hope the Y benefits hugely from it and particularly from the efforts of theses local women artists.