Work of the Week!

Scarf It Up! Work of the Week!

The Year-Long Rag Bag!

It's been several days since posting - too many doctors' appointments, commitments, tennis, etc.  It's not that I haven't been producing; it's just that I haven't found time for the blogging. 

So....here are some photos of the latest work, all being held here at home for the November 13 show at Port City Pottery & Fine Crafts.  Sara Westermark and I are the hosts of this show, called "Holiday Show of Wearable Art."  It's to be held at the gallery in the Cotton Exchange in Wilmington NC from 2 - 8 PM on November 13.  

Sunset Haze Scarf

Sac Sauvage Rouge

Holiday Loop Bag

Lavender Blue Cachecol, available on Etsy right NOW!!

Holiday Show of Wearable Art at Port City Pottery & Fine Crafts

YOU ARE INVITED!!! 

Louise Giordano, fiber artist, and Sara Westermark, fine jeweler and metalsmith, invite you to a Holiday Show of Wearable Art at Port City Pottery & Fine Crafts in the Cotton Exchange on Thursday, November 13 from 2 - 8 PM. Come see the collection of wearables for holiday giving or self-indulgence! Drawings and refreshments! Please join us and BRING A FRIEND!

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This is the invitation that went out to 350+ people in the past few days!  We certainly hope that our show is well attended.  If you are reading this and happen to be in the Wilmington NC area on November 13,  you are invited too!  There will be local press and radio promotion too,so......!  We're keeping our fingers crossed for a good turnout and good sales!

Our work is always available at PCPFC, but on that day, we will be bringing in MANY more items for show and sale.

Jewellery (Jewelry!) Artistry! by Jen Mckeogh

Doyle Jewellery Design

Today I'd like to feature a fellow Etsy artist that I've just "met" by chance, by responding to her call for artists to feature in her blog. The Etsy forums can sometimes be a daunting place where one never knows what will happen, how people will respond to you, whether you'll be a thread-killer or fomenter. I replied to a thread by Jen McKeogh of North Star Jewellery from County Donegal, Ireland. Within a matter of hours, she had sent me her list of interesting and thoughtful questions, and within days, I was featured on her blog, Doyle Jewellery Design. Her communication has been warm and engaging, and so I am delighted to return the favor.

I asked her to reply to her very own questions (that's kind of cheating, but....!), so I reprint her answers and showcase some of her very lovely jewellery designs. Please visit her Etsy shop!

1. What is the name of your Etsy shop and what do you sell?

The name of the shop is www.northstarjewellery.etsy.com and I sell my handcrafted jewellery which is made from a wide variety of materials such as freshwater pearls, semi precious gemstones, crystals and glass.



2. Where are you located?

I am located in Co Donegal in Ireland


3. Do you have your own website/store outside of Etsy?

I have a website and I also have a blog.


4. How long have you been doing your craft/art and how did you get started?

I have always been very creative and have been painting and drawing since being old enough to hold a pencil. I got interested in jewellery when pregnant with my daughter. I got a bad case of that whole nesting thing but a bag of very strangely shaped knitted squares later and I knew that knitting needles and I would never be friends! So I turned my attention to the fascinating world of jewellery and beads and have never looked back. I have been making jewellery for 4 years now.


5. Who or what inspires you to create?

So many things, nature definitely, words from a song, a piece of music, the colours in a restless sea of dancing waves...the world is full of inspiration if only we open the eyes and the heart.




6. Do you listen to music when you work, and if so what kind?

All the time! Anything from heavy metal to classical to old 50's classics- all depends on the mood.


7. What do you like least/most about your craft?

I like most that there are endless creative and learning possibilities in the world of jewellery making. I love to push at the boundaries of my skills to see how far I can take a new technique, and the thing I don't like would be that I have to outsource all my materials as supplies are quite limited here, and what there is can be quite expensive.




8. Describe your workspace?

Its a newly renovated room just off the kitchen, and its all mine! I have my office in one tiny corner and the rest of the room is totally devoted to my jewellery making and painting. Its filled with light most of the day and it has the most beautiful view from the window. i look out over miles of rolling green hills and forest and farmland, no urban jungles to spoil the view!


9. What is one of your best moments as a crafter/artist?

When you make something for someone and that moment when they try it on and turn to you with that look that says 'I am so happy with this' - that gets me every time!


10. What advice would you give to anyone thinking about starting their own craft business?

Being self employed is a tough road and you've got to be prepared to work really hard to get where you want to go, but believe in yourself and your talents, keep your faith up and you will do well. Art/crafting as a career is incredibly rewarding. Aside from being your own boss and not having to get up at ungodly hours of the morning to commute a million miles to an office, I totally love what I do. How many people do you know can stand up and say that?

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

My day yesterday started off with a 7:30 AM breakfast in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month! Jan Wutkowski of aMuse Artisanal Finery invited me to attend. She herself has just completed treatment, and she could be the poster child for this cause, with her sunny smile and unbelievable positive attitude. Jan is a milliner, so of course she suggested we all wear pink hats. Well, I don't wear hats, let alone pink ones! I made and wore this Hot Pink Bernadetta scarf that is now listed in my Etsy shop.



When I came home, inspired by so many local women touched by this disease, and by so many survivors and supporters of the cause, by chance I snagged a Treasury and dedicated it to all those women worldwide who live with or have succumbed to this disease, including my grandmother and my sister-in-law. My mother also died of cancer, but not of the breast. So here is Survivors!

Wait Teal You See This! by NightSkyJewelry

BBEST is the BBEST!!!!

NightSkyJewelry from the Bbest Team on Etsy has developed a new TWEST around my absolute favorite color! And she has included my Tijuana Teal Scarf in the Bernadetta style line. I am crazy about the color but also about these NightSkyJewelry earrings, called "Oh That's Just Grape - Amethyst and Turquoise Earrings."

Wait Teal You See This is there for another couple of days!

Felt Day IS Labor Day!

I wrote the other day about laboring on Labor Day, forgetting how laborious a day of nuno felting is. I spent today (mostly ALL of today) creating 4 rather small pieces of nuno felt. Well, two of the pieces are actually scarves and the other two are smaller pieces to make in to brooches. It is not such a fun process, because it is so time-consuming and quite literally very HARD work, but it is indeed an interesting one. And I learned a few things through the process today:

• I need a bigger variety of wool roving in many more colors!
• I like the effect of felting both sides of the silk chiffon better than just one side.
• But both sides have to use a light touch when applying the wool
• Cover ALL edges with wool - lightly, so the cut edge is "finished"

So here are the results of my day of laboring with silk and wool, soap and water, plastic sheeting, solar pool covering, and a pool noodle - and a HUGE amount of elbow grease!

Laboring on Labor Day!

I have always considered Labor Day JUST THAT! A day to labor before Summer ends - although not officially - and school begins. Labor Day always marks the beginning of something for me: being a student, being a teacher, being a career counselor in an academic setting, getting the kids off to their own school settings and activities.

I always measured my year from September to June! It's only since my employment with Duke ended in February that I went out and bought a REAL calendar - one that actually began in January and ended in December. And still, I think of beginnings. Now that I am "retired," I live those academic calendars vicariously through my children and grandchildren. One daughter is a school psychologist, and she begins her school year on Tuesday - with a new job, I might add. And the other daughter, who has three school-age kids, has already sent them off - this year to three separate schools.

But for me, Labor Day always meant doing all the things I didn't get to do in the summer and needed to get done before I started my own work once again. And I always resented all that laboring! So instead of that, I "worked" all day yesterday and four hours today at Port City Pottery and Fine Crafts, where there was loads of traffic and some sales too! And I'm happy to say that tomorrow - the real Labor Day - the only thing I have pressing is the completion of a tennis match, already postponed THREE times due to rain! And we had won the first set, were losing the second set, and so my job is to do something right on the court tomorrow so we can win this match!

Such is my life right now! Can't really complain!

While I was working both days, I also completed some new fiber art - photos are NOT ideal! The black and cream is a remake of the scarf sold yesterday at PCPFC. And this wild and funky rainbow scarf in nubby, bumpy, Sheela yarn: Oh, and I guess I WILL vacuum and straighten up the house! Such is life! Laboring on Labor Day!

Button Mania!

I've gotten a Treasury on Treasury West this week - the first one in quite a long time. Having just bought some tagua nut buttons, I thought it would be interesting to feature some of the button-makers in my Treasury. So here is "Button Mania!" featuring a variety of new and vintage buttons in clay, polymer clay, celluloid, glass, and more. Some are handmade; some are vintage from collections of fabulous buttons. I've become enamored of funky buttons of any material for use in my own creations. They can absolutely MAKE an accessory POP!

I didn't get to include the tagua nut buttons recently bought from AmysBeadingSupplies so here is a photo of them. Aren't they luscious-looking? I plan to use them on my line of cachecols (neckwarmers / neckwraps / scarflettes), bags, and for wired jewelry.

Oh Etsy, how stable are you?

OK, well I am still addicted to creating Treasuries on Etsy, and now there has been a complete loss of all the Treasuries that were there as of earlier today. So.....I managed to snag yet another and created a W O O D theme.

Go see it at:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury.php?id=1175863059230U15788

I'm addicted to Etsy Treasuries!

Creating them, that is! Oh....I like looking at them too, but I LOVE the challenge of first trying to snag one and then trying to create a beautiful, eye-catching and enticing whole developed around a theme. I turned on my computer this morning, ran over to the Treasury section, and one was expiring in 18 seconds! I jumped right on it, and lo and behold, here is the result:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury.php?id=1175743860556U15788 It's called KNOT, KNOT, Who's there? (with a typo in the title! - DUH!!!)

For those of you Etsyians who are similarly addicted, here are a few tips that I use to snag and create one:

1. Re-order the list so the next expiration times are on top on the first page.
2. If one is close to expiring, hang around. Sometimes the box never appears, so see when the next one is due to expire.
3. When the box appears at the bottom of the page, have a first letter waiting and type it into the box. That box will remain yours indefinitely while you come up with the rest of the title. Once you have begun the title, there is no need to rush. If you got this far, you've actually snagged an open Treasury!
4. Think about themes for a Treasury all the time, and even do searches accordingly to see if there are beautiful things to fill it with.
5. Start with the last pages of the search to give exposure to older items - it'a a plug for all Etsyians.
6. Leave comments on Treasuries that you love!

That's it! Please visit mine today and tomorrow - because then it will expire and BE GONE!!!!

Another ETSY Treasury

I got lucky this morning! NO, NO, NO - not that!!!! I snagged yet another Etsy Treadury: http://www.etsy.com/treasury.php?id=1175070474301U15788 that will run for 2 days (at first it said three days!). Such fun to put together a beautiful llist of ETSY artist works around a theme. This one is J U N G L E. So go check it out before it runs out!