I'm featured by the Trading Post, woohoo!

Just a quick addition, got the word today that my feature is up on The Trading Post blog, yippee! CT did a great job, Thanks!

Featured Texas Artfire Shop

This week's featured studio is A Blond and A Torch. Jenn creates simply beautiful jewelry and loves custom orders.

A Blond And A Torch offers artisan crafted metal jewelry that is simple and organic, yet elegant. Each piece is designed and hand crafted by Jen Nixon in her home studio in Texas with an eye towards wearability. Working primarily in solid sterling silver , A Blond And A Torch creates earrings, bangle bracelets and necklaces in a variety of sizes and styles and welcomes custom orders.

http://ablondandatorch.blogspot.com

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennixon/

Great Artfire Shops

Liberty Doll is a great Artfire shop and she makes some really cool bags; like the one pictured. The Artfire Jewelry Makers and Supply Guild is featuring her shop this week. You should check it out!

Great Artfire Shops

I want to tell you about a friend of mine's soap shop, Green Hill Soap Company. She makes the creamiest, vegan soap with pure, high quality basic ingredients. No heavy dyes, perfumes or chemical makes the soap feel rich on your skin with the barest hint of scent. My personal fav is Orange Chamomile. she also makes lip balms and laundry soaps. She's having a 20% sale right now so you should check out her shop!

Also, to the upper right is a matchbook pad that I made for Thank You gifts with my online orders. The idea is from Brandi with Green Hill Soap Co which she posted on Handmade News awhile back. I finally got around to making some and they turned out cute!

SUMMER SALE in my Artfire Vintage/Supply Shop

That's right! I'm having a sale and most items are marked down up to 50% off at my Artfire shop. All prices have already been changed and included FREE worldwide shipping!!!!!!

Click the link FFMSupplies or checkout my FFMSupplies Artfire Rapid Cart below.

Teresa Mallen's June Newsletter - I'm featured!

Okay, enough of the icky news of my life! Here's some good news for a change.

This is Teresa Mallen and she has featured me in the June issue of her Colored Pencil Newsletter! Teresa always has great advice about art, especially colored pencil and loves discovering new artists and their work. She has her Newsletter which is primarily for members (which is free to sign up) and her blog which has loads of great info and advice and links to her website and newsletters. She also offers art classes for those of you in the Ottawa area. A bit to far for me - but they sound like fun! Take a few minutes and read about me on her feature and if you like read about some of the other great artists that she's featured in the past. Loads of talented people out there with plenty of beautiful work to admire.

Successful Craft Fair!

My first booth at the Yale Street
Market in the Houston Heights was a great success! I sold more yesterday than I've sold at any other fair to date. A grand total of $329 in about 6 hours. Maybe you're thinking that doesn't sound like too much but since my most expensive item right now is $100 I think that's pretty darn good. That's a total of 6 necklaces, 10 pairs of earrings, 1 key chain, 1 ring, 1 bracelet and 1 rear view mirror hanger. One lady purchased three pairs of earrings for $85!

It's especially gratifying when I heard from the other vendors that they were having bad days. There were over 60 vendors there and many didn't make any sales at all! My friend Diana didn't sell any of her oil paintings. (although she I and traded, ;o)

I suspect that I was successful for two main reasons:

1) My items are very unique and eclectic and I've been lucky enough to stumble onto this niche. I constantly heard from customers and vendors alike that "they've never seen anything like this"- I sold out of my Feather Cage Earrings! And there was something for everyone - large, small, bold, delicate, funky, classic - you name it!

2) My items are priced at a reasonable range so that someone can spend a lot or a little. And since most people are watching their dollars but still want to treat themselves it helps that they can spend $10 on a cute, little, one of a kind item to cheer themselves up. But I'm not underpricing myself - I use the pricing formula of - cost of materials, labor by hours ($10-$20 right now an hour depending on the complexity of work, that will increase as I gain more experience), state taxes - (I price at even numbers and work the taxes into the price so that I can run the numbers backwards at home, quicker, easier, far less stressful during the fair), and 10% overhead for packaging, etc. Depending on the venue I'll add $5-$20 to the prices which gives me a lot of wiggle room for haggling, etc and that still keeps my prices very reasonable.

Of course, it was really hot most of the day and my anemia reared it's ugly head. It was an exciting day which took every bit of my energy and gifted me with a raging migraine by mid afternoon. I sucked it up and put on a happy face, finishing out the day without out my customers realizing my pain; which is exactly what I was doing during the photo taken above by my husband.

AmyDesigns custom vendor aprons

Notice that cute apron I'm wearing? There's a close up to the right. That was custom made for me by Amy Cavaness of Amydesigns of Artfire! See the adorable little birdies on it? She was able to find that cute cloth to fit into my shop theme.

It was very comfortable on, easy to use with two large pockets. The pocket on the right has a large strip of velco to secured valuables inside. That's where the money hid out and my lockbox keys. This was the first show that I've been able to use it at and it worked out wonderfully. No more searching for my pens or my phone ( I use Accept by Phone credit card service, awesome!!!! will talk more about that later), no more losing my keys or my priceless Carmex ( I have very dry skin - need my Carmex at all times). The cloth is already soft and pliable so no "breaking in period" and the ties are extra long to use in front or behind.

I can't think of any cons to Amy's product, it worked out very well for me and I definitely recommend her. She's easy to work with, fair prices and does an wonderful job on custom work.

So my big weekend is on it's downslide and I'm glad. I did a lot of prepping for this show and pushing myself when I should be resting. But there was no way I was missing my first show at this location and while I'm dead tired this Sunday it was all worth it!

I'll be listing lots of new items over the next few weeks. I didn't list anything the last couple of weeks because I was increasing my show stock. I know it's optimistic but I didn't want to risk selling items online and thinning out my stock. So now I have a few items that didn't sell that are new and will be posted soon.

Take care and stay strong!

I got featured!

Rain with About.com just featured me! She really liked this pair of earrings, they're very simple and delicate looking and are a new design of mine. Check out my feature on About.com's DIY Fashion section. Thanks Rain!

Great Artfire Shops

In my quest to find more shops off the beaten path; I found Fire Fossil of Artfire. While this shop only offers the 10 items limited to an unverified account, the stones and cabochons are stunning! Fire Fossil offers custom work to help you find that most unique, beautiful stone to "amuse your muse" as stated in their shop! Check them out!

Great Artfire Shops

I've been featuring lots of great shops from both Artfire and Etsy but I realized that they were mostly jewelry, candles, etc. So I went looking for shops with something different to spice up the features.
I found Northern Pine Studio of Artfire! They hand make beautiful baskets from many types of wood. These baskets would compliment any home's appearance while adding a touch of practicality as well. They just opened on Artfire last month so you should check out their shop!

Great Artfire Shops

You love stunning jewelry? You love real gemstone and precious metals? You love unique, works of art that you can wear?
Bella Jewels of Artfire is the shop for you! In her own words, her pieces are not meant to be fleeting trends but to bespeak the beauty and individuality of the wearer. Her work inspires me to continued improvement towards excellence. You should check out her shop!

Great Artfire Shops

Here's another local Houstonian Artfire artisan Candle Boulevard who makes beautiful candles. In their own words:
We specialize in exotic custom gourmet candles, hurricane sleeves, air fresheners. You have a spectrum of choices ranging from candles made of paraffin wax to all natural soy, palm and vegetable waxes. Their designs are unique and creative! You should check out their shop!

Great Artfire Shops

Dragonfly of Artfire, otherwise known as Cora's Blissful Skin Products is run by a mother/daughter team. They have this to say "All Our soaps are made from scratch in small batches. The goats milk is whole milk right from the goat its self. The rose hip in our oil grows wild on our small farm, and so does the lavender that might be in some of our products. All the oils used in our products are vegetable and of food quality. NO animal testing. All testing is done on friends and family." They offer a large variety of soaps, lotions, and other products for they body and consider organic living a serious aspect of their lives. You should check out their shop!

Great Artfire Shops

"I love trying out new techniques and experimenting with new stones to see how they come out. I hope you enjoy my jewelry as much as I do making it." says SuzBax of Artfire. She has many beautiful items in her shop. I especially love the blue of her Sea Anemone bracelet, you should check out her shop to see that particular bracelet!

Great Artfire Shops

SooBoo Designs creates bright, bold, fun personalized designs for luggage/bag tags, bookmarks, holiday money holders, note cards, notepads and so much more~! She offers funky, cool cards and paper products and interesting wreaths made from individual little pillows attached together. She has a very interesting shop that can provide answers to your personalized paper needs! Check out her shop!

Great Artfire Shops

The jewelry shop just opened barely a month ago so she's still in the process of listing her items. Until we get to see more of her amazing wrapped wire cabochons her are two of my favorites! The black one immediately caught my interest. What a stunning, unique design! My wrapping skills are still very basic and I can admit true envy when I see her cabochons! She also carries beautiful vintage jewelry, such as the Coro brand. Check out her shop!

Great Artfire Shops

I love the Topaz Lily necklace and earring set from Alisun's at the far left. It's a stunning set! She has many more lovely pieces in her shop; everything from earrings to anklets! And she prefers to use either Swarovski crystals or semi-precious stones with interesting imperfections. Check out her shop!

Great Artfire Shops

This great Artfire shop is managed by a mother and daughter team. Bijouxdesignsforyou
offers everything from lovely potholders to beautiful jewelry. They have numerous different types of items to satisfy your need for something beautiful in your home and on your person. You should check out their shop!

Great Artfire Shops

Memory Books and More has just started her shop about a month ago on Artfire and only has two items listed but you should check out her shop. She uses bright, uplifting colors in both her paintings and her scrapbooks. I'm sure she'll be adding more colorful items soon.

Great Artfire Shops

Check out Island Girl's great hair bands and key fobs! The hair band and a pink elephant ribbon attached. Perfect for a little girl. And for us older girls she has soon cool key fobs like the one pictured. Check out her great Artfire shop!