Quilt Market, Spring 2013

Hello, Hello, Long time no blog. It's Quilt Market this weekend in Portland. All last week I was busy sewing samples for the Thermoweb booth. I have sent them my Okey Dokey Owl and my Okey Dokey Owl and Friends Quilt for display in their booth. I am happy to say they are flying their way now as we speak. 

I am super bummed that I won't be at market this spring, but a girls got to take a market off every now and then. This just happened to be the one that was the farthest away and at the busiest time of the year for me. I am already excited about fall market because I will be there for sure.

So Quilt Market is usually a time when new fabric is debuted....

I will have two ready for ordering at this market. Hoopla and Everyday Fun. You will be able to sew with them in November. One is a basics line and the other is a mini line that has a fun quilt print and appliqué letters. The last minute touches and tweaks are still happening so there's not much to show you until after market. But I'll give you a snippet....

In The Beginning Fabrics is in booth 2439 if you're going to market and want to stop by and see the whole shabang.

Have a great day!

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American Patchwork and Quilting Radio with Pat Sloan

Hey, Hey, today is the day! I will be on American Patchwork and Quilting Radio with Pat Sloan. You can listen live at 4:00 EST. I'm the first interview of the show. Starting tomorrow you'll be able to access the archive of the show if you're not around at four. Pat's got a great show, I love to listen to while I sew.

Today's the last day of my spring sale. I am having a Spring is Coming Sale. Enter the code springiscoming in the coupon box at the web store or the etsy shop for a 25% discount. Sale ends on Tax day, April 15th. Reward yourself with a little springy goodness. Sales ends tonight at midnight.

Have a great day,

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Inside The Creative Studio Interview with Mark Lipinski

Exciting News! I told you about the book Inside The Creative Studio awhile ago, well it comes out this month. My home studio is in the book. Mark Lipinski is dedicating one of his Creative Mojo podcasts to this book. He's got a line up of artists that I am pretty honored to be included with. You can got here and find out more about the show. You can listen live from 3-5pm EST tomorrow Wednesday the 9th. If you can't listen then, you can always listen at a later date at his site.

I have to admit I am a little nervous, the show is live,...forgive me if I say something stupid.

 Here are a few more photos from my home studio.

I don't show this studio much because I have my new studio. I still work in this one, this is where I sew, design, and paint. My new studio is where I make and glaze all of my buttons, beads, and pottery. For some of my new blog readers, here are some photos of studio number two.

And if you're thinking you've seen Mark Lipinski on my blog before... you're right, here he is with my mom at Quilt Market.....well kind of.

Have a great day!
Jennifer
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Opening a Gallery, Part Four, Getting Customers

Once you have your store ready to open you'll need customers. By now you have spent most, if not all, of your budget getting the space ready. If you were smart and everything went as planned(it never does) then you would have money set aside for advertising in the local papers, radio,etc.

But if you are like me and most others by now you have spent it all. Here are some ways to get started that don't cost much, if anything.

1. Get a blog. I blog here. I post pictures of the store often as well as new products. Nobody wants to read a blog that is all advertising so make sure you add personal stories, what you working, behind the scenes stuff and more. My blog is pretty much my open journal of my life, which also includes running a gallery.

2. Get a Facebook page. This is great for getting the local folks to know what's going on. I am planning classes for fall and my Facebook page is where I will keep a current schedule, announce open houses, sales, and events.

3. Send out a press release. Newspapers and magazines need stories to write about. Send out a disc of photos and a letter stating that you are open and what you will be selling and providing.

4. Look for local charities, teams, or clubs to support through your business. Being kind goes a long way.

5. Have classes, people love to learn new techniques. That was my number one request when I opened the doors. I now have classes scheduled to start in September.

6. Have a grand opening. This one, I unfortunately never did. I never could fit one in. I am planning a series of open houses with special events in the fall.


Good luck! I hope I have provided some insight to opening a gallery. A lot of this information can be used for starting any kind of business. Good luck in all of your business adventures.

Visit my Website, Etsy Shop, Blog, Facebook, or Studio and Gallery

Opening A Gallery, Part Three, The Fun Part

This is my third post in my Opening a Gallery Series. This is what I think is the fun part of owning a gallery. What to sell and how to display it. It is more challenging than I expected. I like to make everything. I am still finding out that sometimes you have to buy displays and products, let me explain...


I started out making absolutely everything in my gallery. Painted pottery, wall hangings, ornaments, jewelry, etc. Seemed like a great idea at the time but first of all I found that folks coming into my store were crafty. They were buying buttons, fabric, and beads to make things of their own. I found that customers wanted beading wire and clasps to string a necklace. Hmm, I couldn't make that. When you are providing things for your customers you can't just provide what you want and make. Since opening I have added beading necessities, accent beads, trims, and embellishments to compliment my work. And as a side note the gallery is expanding as we speak and I am going to have even more, unique supplies to go with my work. You will find your customers will guide you to what they want. You will then know what to provide.

Displays are another thing I wanted to make. First of all not to look like every other stores and second to save money. No one wants to spend money on displays. You can see some of the pieces I built here and here. Sometimes though it's best to display things on a spinner rack. You don't want your display to over power what your selling.

Once you get everything made, bought, priced, tagged, displayed....

You are ready to open for business. I have one more post in the Opening a Gallery series and it's about getting customers.
Visit my Website, Etsy Shop, Blog, Facebook, or Studio and Gallery

What's Going On

I thought today I would do a post about the happenings in the studio and outside. I have been working hard around here and haven't had time for much else. This always happens right after the Buyers Market so it's not surprising to be so loaded down with things to do. But first of all, it snowed. See the Heynen Hula Hut? That's part of our tropical hangout on the back porch...not very tropical, eh? I just have to keep reminding myself, one of the days we'll have leaves on the trees again and I will be complaining about how hot it is.

Enough about the weather...back to beads. I have been making beads and buttons during the day and then at night I sit with the TV on and assemble jewelry. Here a box all sorted out and ready to go for bracelets. I love to see all of my beads lined up like that. Below are my seed beads that also go into many of my pieces. I have had to reload my bowl three times now because I am using so many seed beads.

Last but not least are my buttons. I told you about my line of fabrics for In The Beginning. Well, for them to sell and distribute my buttons, they need samples. These are the buttons that will be glued onto the sample cards that the stores will get to order from. Only a few more to come out of the kiln and they will be shipped off. And only a few more weeks until I can show you the whole collection. I can't wait.

As you can see I have been a very busy bee, I like to be busy so all these projects make me happy.

Have a Great Day,

Home At Last

Good Day! I am back from the Buyers Market, what a trip that was. It's always good to see old friends, but getting there was a whole other story. I was suppossed to arrive last Wednesday but the blizzard hit the east coast. After four flight cancellations, I finally got out on Thursday. I arrived just in time for my train to be cancelled because of snow, so I took a shuttle bus through some really scary snowy streets to make it to the convention center in Philadelphia. I sat up my booth while the Jewelers Preview was going on. That's okay because the buyers couldn't get there either! The show went as well as it could considering the crazy weather, we did eventually have buyers. I did get to travel home Monday night like I was supposed to but I was a few hours late because of de-icing and more snow. I have to say when I touched down in Atlanta and saw all the snow here had melted I was pretty happy.

Today is sorting orders, cleaning up the studio(yes it is still leaking), and getting organized. With all of this junky weather, I am so ready for spring, I feel some flowery bright springy, I-hate-winter posts coming. I am feeling inspired to bust out the flower beads. I'll let you know what I come up with tomorrow.

Have a great day, I am so happy to be home,

Getting Ready

Hey, Hey,

Today was the last day to get ready before the Buyers Market. I have catalogs to put together, jewelry to price, and orders to ship. I woke up to an e-mail saying my flight has been cancelled. There a big ol snowstorm hitting Philly tonight and tomorrow. I was given a later flight but I am not holding my breath on this one either. We will just wait and see. I guess the good news is I am at home not sitting in an airport somewhere.

Of course my mind is thinking about all of the things I could do tomorrow morning ....

I started another quilt, so I could sew. I could catch up on my studio work, I could get started on my taxes. Hmm...

The Art Fair

Whew! What a weekend, I remember why I stopped doing art fairs, they are a lot of work. I had a lot of fun even though, I was working hard. Here are the pictures of my booth from the weekend. I think the display turned out all right since I really didn't have a complete plan. Usually, I set things up in my house first to get everything the way I wanted it. I was winging it this weekend.

All in all it was a good sale, so enjoy the pictures....I am going to go unpack the van now...





Have a great day,

Painting

Hey there! I told you Friday I was painting...and here's the proof. Whew! It was a long day but I got lots finished. Above are my wood plaques for my wall hangings. Below is the fabric I painted for more bags. I love painting with paint, it's instant gratification. I don't have to wait on the kiln to fire.
While I have been working I have been thinking about my display. I will write more on that later but IO decided to paint some signs and pieces to bring the jewelry, bags, and wall hangings together. I found a cool Christmas tree for my ornaments at Hobby Lobby but I had to add some dots to it to make it Jangle-ly.
We had these doors from another project set aside in the garage so I painted them black and I plan to hang hooks on it to display my wall hangings.I still might paint a little sign on it too, but I couldn't decide at the time.
Here are my signs I painted, yes they are painted on a pizza box. I will trim them up later.



Today, I am going to be making beads. I still need to make quite a few for the show. But first, it's Monday so I think I am going to call a Jangles board meeting to get a big fat to-do list compiled for the week. Otis, (my dog), really hates to sit through these meetings, but he's my only employee. :)

Have a good day,






Come see me at the Norcross Art Fair, this weekend....
www.NorcrossArtFest.com

Yesterday was a good day

Good Morning,

I am feeling pretty good today, I got a lot accomplished yesterday. I started out the morning with the cleaning and organizing. I found some beads and some jewelry, but not as much as I was hoping for. I laid out on my work table everything I had and then made a big list of supplies that I needed. I got them ordered and they are on their way, but they won't be here until Wednesday so the end of next week will be saved for assembly. After placing my online orders I went to Hobby Lobby and found a cute tree to hang my ornaments on and got some other essential supplies for my wall hangings and bags. Once I got home I still had some time before the boys got off the bus, so I got some pendants and earring pairs painted and in the kiln. That's a pretty good day, I thought.

Well it turns out teh Grey's anatomy season opener was on last night so after the munchkins went to bed I headed back down to the studio to make jewelry. I could sit on my comfy couch and watch TV while I made jewelry. I got a bunch made because the show was so long! Above is a picture of my work table after I had gathered all of my beads. Below is a picture of my work table after my evening of work.

Heather over at Art Bead Scene had a great post yesterday. It gave us a list of what you should plan to bring to an art fair. It could not have come at a better time for me. Check it out if you are doing any shows soon.

Today the plan is painting and lots of it! I will show you soon.

Happy Weekend,

Jennifer

Step 1: Clean up

Good morning...alrighty today is the day I start getting ready for this art fair. Yesterday I spent the day wrapping up orders and things that really needed to get done. I sent out jewelry catalogs to shops that had requested them, got some holiday orders ready to ship, photographed some new Etsy items, and so on and so on. I wasn't going to be able to think straight unless I cleared everything off my plate.

This morning is going to be spent cleaning up my studio. Seriously, I have beads everywhere. I am hoping to find enough to start working on jewelry. I don't have tons of time to make beads so I will start with cleaning. Above is my work table...what a wreck. Below is a tray of beads from a project I was working on. I have lots of trays like that. I am going to clear off my work table and start grouping beads together that will work for bracelets, necklaces, etc.

After I get organized, I am going to order supplies. It's going to be tight to get them here in time to make jewelry. I might just have to pay extra for faster shipping.


Here is a tray of unfinished bags. I can get those sewn up pretty quick. The show director specifically asked for bags and wall hangings in my booth as well as my jewelry. I would have probably left them out otherwise. She saw the new Jangles Emporium and that's what sold her on asking me into the fair. I am happy to bring them, but it does throw a hitch into the designing of my booth. I was going to go with one long table but that's a lot of different work to combine in one spot. While I am cleaning today, I will be thinking of display ideas.

See you back tomorrow,