Words to Live by in 2012

This year hasn't exactly been the easiest to get through. I am grateful that my family and friends are all healthy and happy (for the most part). We have carried each other through some dark times, and we, ourselves, have been lifted by the wonderful generosity of loved ones.

That said, this year has been missing something... my dad. Tomorrow is New Year's Eve - the day he died last year. I am not looking forward to tomorrow. My brain is already replaying the images of that morning. It feels like my heart is about to break open yet again. I can't even write this without crying. Has it really been a year? It's still such a fresh pain.

One of my teammates on the Rochester NY Etsy Street Team created this Etsy Treasury. These words are always good to be reminded of on any day. At this time of year they almost become sacred instructions. As another year passes hold tight to each other. Hold tight to yourself. Love. Be loved. Do what you love. 

I had a unique chance to love my father well before he left us. I take this Treasury's words of advice for 2012 quite seriously. It's not the stuff we leave behind that matters. It's our actions that live on. Be bold. Stand tall. Smile. Create. Relax. Grow. 

Love.

Have a Happy New Year!

 

- Vickie 

It's A Craftmas December!

The Rochester NY Etsy Street Team (RNEST) has a month-long party of handmade goodness planned for December! I'm at a loss for words when it comes to describing my joy about these events. This is going to be gooood!

Several months ago the RNEST team decided to rent a space for a month somewhere in Rochester to hold shows, workshops, and community building events. The Hungerford Building became available to us a few months ago, but something fell through with that. Instead that was a blessing in disguise as now we have the space for December and we can focus on holiday shows and winter fun.

The extra exciting, really cool thing is that Etsy gave our team a grant to do this. Yes! Etsy gave us money to put all of this together. How cool is that?!

We've met. We've talked. We've planned. Now it's time to reveal the crafty month-long RNEST party we have in store for you!

All events are located at The Hungerford Building, Door 8,
at 1115 East Main Street, Rochester, NY, 14609. 

Craftmas Events are on Facebook! Click the links below to RSVP, then share with your friends!



Craftmas: Etsy Style! First Friday Holiday Craft Sale
Friday, December 2nd at 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm 
Saturday, December 3rd at noon - 4:00 pm 

A Handmade Holiday hits the Hungerford Building! Come shop from a selection of quality items made by local artists. Give the gift of handmade this holiday season!


Clothing Swap 
Monday, December 5th at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm 

It’s time to clean out that closet! Bring in your unwanted clothing and take home some new-to-you pieces for your wardrobe...all for free! RNEST artists will also be available to teach demos with techniques for altering and upcycling your clothes into fun, new items! *Any clothing left over at the end of the night will be donated. Nothing will go to waste!


Creative Play Session 
Saturday, December 10th at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm 

Creativity boosting activities and exercises to spark your artistic inspiration and get out of a rut. Come with an open mind and leave with ideas for new projects! (For ages teen and up)


Open Craft Night: Etsy Style! 
Thursday, December 15th at 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm 

Demos: glass pendant soldering, knitting, bead weaving and MORE! Everyone is invited for a handmade, fun-filled evening of simple planned projects and unstructured time with RNEST artists. Bring your crafty works-in-progress, share our supplies, experiment with our tools, and ask us about tips and techniques. A small sampling of our works will also be available for sale.

I am part of the planning committee for Open Craft Night. We have a lot of cool projects lined up that are easy as well as more intermediate and low cost to make. No art experience required! Just watching all the demos alone will fill up the night. It's going to be awesome. I can't wait!!

Direct questions about any of these events to me at inmyheadstudios [at] gmail.com

We hope you can make it to at least one of these events! They will be a lot of fun simply because our team is a lot of fun!

What now? Head over to RNEST on Facebook to RSVP, then share the events with your friends! 

xoxo

- Vickie

T'was the Night Before Mayday! Underground

The nights before my craft shows tend to be busy with last minute projects and calculating how much glue I can get to dry by the following morning. Tonight is no exception!

I just got back from The Main Street Armory to drop off my tables. Oh my goodness, it was good that I did! I have a corner spot which means I can set up more than one table. Yippee! 

Now I have to pull out the extra displays from the basement and dust them off from last year. I hope there is room for the silver candelabra again. I think that looks awesome with pendants hanging on it. Oh, shiny!

I definitely have enough Tiny Works of Awesome to fill my tables! I made about 10 new domino pendants this past week. About 40 more Scrabble tile pendants were finished as well. Plus we have some new Reclaimed Hardware designs featuring rescued-from-the-scrap-heap metal nuts, washers, and other machine parts mixed with beads and wire. They are really cool mixed media jewelry with a funky steampunk style.

Yeah, I'm the girl at [big box home improvement store] staring at the Oh, shiny! displays of wing nuts, washers, gaskets, and hinges - and I look lost or possibly abandoned by the male who must have dragged brought me there - but I am only lost in thought as I dream up ways to use these beautiful shinies in jewelry. 

Come see them for yourself at Mayday! Underground Crafts + Art on Saturday, November 5, 2011 at The Main Street Armory in Rochester, NY from 10 AM to 5 PM!

 
    <3  Vickie

Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!

No, it's not an I-ate-too-much-Halloween-candy distress call! It's Mayday! Underground Crafts + Art: the coolest indie craft show in Rochester, NY! I am super excited and humbled to be included in this bi-annual show for the fourth time!

This show was first held on May Day in May a couple years ago celebrating many things such as the end to the cold winter season (well, in milder climates. Not so much here.). November marks the half-way point in the year from May Day to May Day and is also the beginning of the cold, winter season.

We begin to settle in for the cold, nesting in our homes with the comforts of warmth and loved ones. Historically, the time for farming was finished and leisure time was turned to more domestic chores such as making clothing and repairing equipment. 

These activities called for skill, technical ability, and a lot of time invested in mastery. Unbeknown to many of these people they really were craftsmen, craftswomen and artisans. They passed these skills down through the ages. 

Join us at Mayday! Underground Crafts + Art as we celebrate generations of skill and mastery coming together to meet modern materials and fresh design. 

Saturday, November 5, 2011 

Mayday Underground Crafts + Art 

10:00 am - 5:00 pm 

The Main Street Armory 

900 East Main Street, Rochester, NY 14605 

The BEST indie craft + art show in Western NY

The fabulous organizers, Amanda and Casey, have put together a slide show of all the different crafts + art you will find at this show. You will see it's an amazing collection of of innovative material use and awesome talent.

Mayday! Underground Crafts + Art: November 2011 Artists

Entirely too much fun will be had by all! 

Free swag bags to the first 50 people (there will be a line so get there early)! Plus raffles!

Before you come to the show enter HERE for the Mayday Underground sweepstakes! Up for grabs are three $25 Mayday Moolah Prizes and three swag bag prizes housed in the newest pirate-themed tote bag! It’s all on Facebook, so invite your friends to join in on the fun. Even if you don’t win, you can still print out the entry confirmation and exchange it for a free raffle ticket!

Also, you can help support Sample Soap, a local non-profit that collects unopened soaps, shampoos, lotions, sewing kits, diapers, cosmetics, toothbrushes and toothpaste and distributes them to the neediest citizens of the Greater Rochester, New York area. Bring your donations to Mayday Underground! You'll earn a raffle ticket!

Be there or be unhappy for the rest of your life be square!

- Vickie
xoxo 

Success at St. Rita's Craft Sale

Our craft show at St. Rita's School was nothing short of a huge work of awesome! We were busy all day, which is just how I like it to be. Unfortunately that meant I didn’t get to walk around and mingle with my fellow crafters and Rochester Artisans. I’m sure there was amazing work to see and I missed it. But that’s also better for my wallet! 

The St. Rita’s Show is a very well-known show in Rochester and always well attended. The parking lot was filled all day. The organizers are more than, well, seriously organized. They had the kids from the school stopping by to ask us if we wanted food or raffle tickets all day.

We were set up in a classroom this year instead of the gym where we are usually located. I didn’t get my show application in soon enough and the gym got filled. I think we did way better than we expected to do in a classroom and I am very, very pleased with our show total. 

This was our third show here and we've gained quite a few repeat buyers. They came by saying they were afraid we weren’t there because we weren't in the gym. I have to say that made me fly up to cloud nine! People were looking for us! I am always deeply humbled by positive responses to my work. How lucky am I to be doing this?! Yippee!

 

New display for domino pendants. Very vintage cheese stand.

This year we are trying some new display ideas. I love this antique wood Kraft Cheese display stand. The slanted shelves have little lips at the ends - perfect for holding a lot of domino pendants (it's looking empty because I took this photo at the end of the day). The back of it is open so the cords hang out, and it makes for easy loading. But it's a little awkward for customers to pick up the dominoes. The cord comes pulling out and the viewer can't put it back on the shelf themselves. Quite a few women acted like they broke something when they picked one up. Not the kind of feeling I want to promote here. I'm wondering if this may be better suited to show Scrabble tile pendants as they don't have cords on them.  

What do you think?

Domino pendants all in a row

The cute little girls are a new design this year. They're really funny. The close one here calls out the girl on the right because she "eats paste". The clip art of the girls are from Lisa's Altered Art. 

Scrabble tile display

I better get busy making more tile pendants or we won't have many to show at Mayday Underground in two weeks!

Mixed media collage on a small shipping tag

Also new this year - small original pieces of mixed media art on shipping tags. This one measures 4 3/4" x 2 3/8". It's the perfect size to make original art that is affordable for most people. They can be set up on a shelf or used as a bookmark. You can do lots of things with them for display. They make really nice gifts, too.

Game piece charm bracelets and domino/BINGO earrings

Reclaimed hardware mixed media earrings : New this year!

Reclaimed hardware mixed media bracelet : New this year!

I think this nice old wood drawer needs something lighter behind the jewelry. The dark wood is swallowing the pieces. A nice tan fabric or handwritten ledger paper will fix that!

This was a great show to start off our holiday craft show season. I'm really looking forward to the rest of our shows. The next show is:

Saturday, November 5, 2011
Mayday Underground Crafts + Art
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
The Main Street Armory
900 East Main Street, Rochester, NY 14605
The BEST indie craft + art show in Western NY
First 50 people to arrive get a FREE swag bag of handmade goodies! 
Get there early if you want swag. There WILL BE a line.

- Vickie 
xoxo