This 'n That

It has been a very busy week for me, but also an exciting one!  I’m getting ready for the Whimmydiddle arts & crafts fair in Scott City, Kansas this Saturday.  I’ve made so many new pieces of jewelry this week, but haven’t had time to photograph any of them.   It’s a good thing I’ve been stocking up on gemstones, beads and findings over the summer, because I’m using many new components in my pieces!  I’m really looking forward to the weekend, as this is an event that draws a large crowd every year.  It’s also the first time I’ve ever had my jewelry at an arts & crafts fair.  I set up at the Whimmydiddle 30 years ago, when I was oil painting, but I’ve only sold my jewelry online.  It will be interesting to see how this goes!

More exciting news this week… a pair of my earrings are in a contest over on “Made for me by Oaklie’s” blog on her “Great Finds” contest.   Please visit her site and cast your vote for your favorite “Beeutiful Great Finds” contest.  Contest entries had to be either black, yellow or white, or a combination of any or all.  I didn’t have anything black and yellow, and all of my black jewelry has sold out, so I used a pair of white freshwater pearl earrings.

Another exciting piece of news was the news that I would be featured on a couple of blogs this week, and I’m also the featured artist on another Ning network.  I’ve been asked to  the Foxy Findings “Designer Spotlight interview” on Saturday.  Foxy Findings is a supplier of beads and findings that I’ve just recently started using as one of my suppliers.  They have a great selection and prices, and they offer all kinds of fun contests on Facebook and Twitter.  I won a spool of their Foxy Flex blue sapphire copper beading wire from them last month, and am just getting ready to use this beautiful wire in one of my newest pieces (this piece is going to be fore me!).  I’m very excited to have been asked to be interviewed for their blog, and I’m looking forward to it!

I’m also going to be featured tomorrow (Thursday) on VA Beach Quilters blog.  She does such a great job at promoting fellow handmade arts & crafts people!  Please be sure to check out her blog.

If that wasn’t enough excitement for the week, I’m also the featured artisan of the week on the On Fire for Handmade network on Ning.  Anne also does a wonderful job of promoting shops that sell handmade goods.  If you are an artist or crafts person, I highly recommend joining this Ning network!  Lots of great support and friendship over there.

Well, I’ve gotta go now.  Still need to make several more pieces of jewelry before this weekend!  Have a great Thursday!

There have been lots of changes for me this summer! The biggest change is my big move…in May, I moved back to my small home town in Western Kansas. My parents are in their 70′s and 80′s, and needed somebody to help look after them and their home. Since my business is entirely online, I was able to easily (well… is any move easy?) move from my home in the Kansas City area back to the farm in small town Scott City, Kansas.

Moving was not fun! You see, in addition to designing jewelry, I also buy and sell vintage and antique items that I sell in my Ebay store. I have boxes and boxes of great stuff, and it was not fun to move! Luckily, I have a cousin who very much wanted me back home, and she just happens to run a moving company. She offered to pack us up and move us back home, and gave us a special “family deal”! They have a huge trailer, and let me tell you it was full! Jana and Fred Brittan were a special blessing to us! If you are in need of moving services in the mid-west, contact Windy West Moving Service at 620-872-2957 – 512 W. 5th Street, Scott City, KS 67871.

It has been an adjustment, but I’m really loving being back in a small town. I’ve already reconnected with old friends, and meeting new ones through my family and business! I’m getting ready for the Whimmydiddle, a huge arts & craft fair that takes place here every September. I’m getting excited!