New item: Gift Certificates!

Yeah baby... I'm so excited!
Gift Certificates for the Holidays. :)

But beyond that, I am adding my classes as Etsy shop items! I will start putting my class listings on Etsy to see if I can gain some visibility there.

Speaking of which, I've added 3 new classes to my schedule:

January 24 - Dichroic Glass Fusing Workshop
January 25 - Gems and Glass in Precious Metal Clay
February 22 - Intro to Precious Metal Clay

Click HERE for more info

Holiday craft shows!

Ah... the holidays are upon us... and what does that inevitably mean?

Craft Shows!!

I had a whirlwind over the December 6 - 7 weekend where I attended 2 shows back to back. It was a lot of work but great fun! The shows were worth the effort just to see and meet all the great artists around the area. Finally, I could put faces to names!

The CT Etsy Show was wonderful... it was a great feeling to know that our collective marketing efforts resulted in actual foot traffic!! I used my "Constant Contact" account for the first time to invite my small but growing mailing list to the show, and I can remember at least 4 or 5 of the attendee telling me that they'd heard about the show through that email. Yeah! It actually works!

I didn't have my camera at the show, but there's a great CraftyStylish blog entry with a review of the show and lots of pictures here: http://www.craftstylish.com/item/31165/whos-who-in-connecticut-a-wrap-up-of-etsy-crafters-at-the-show

Then it was on to Guilford for an intimate show in the Gables adult community. This was in "concert" (ahem) with their "Cello-bration" Holiday Concert where we were treated to a whole bunch of local cello players working their magic on everyone's favorite holiday songs. It was the first day of real SNOW covering the drive to the location ~ which really got me into the celebratory mood ... and the light streaming in the windows really helped my dichroic glass shine and silver sparkle! It wasn't the most lucrative show I've done, but it was certainly fun!

Here are some images of the booth as it was at this show:

So ... this weekend was my first time out with my new series of Dichroic Glass Drawer Pull sets! There was a lot of interest in them... generally "wow, who would have ever thought?!" I think the idea is surprising to a lot of people who have never considered glass for this sort of thing. I bought a few of those little wooden plaques you can get at craft stores for wood burning or decoupage. I stained them, drilled holes, e voila! Instant display... (You can also see the effect of the sunlight on dichro in this picture!)

I also discovered the joys of label making. My Dymo label maker rocked it out, though I discovered that trying to put anything "sticky" on velvet displays just doesn't work. Even if you try double stick tape in addition to the sticky on the back of the Dymo labels. Don't try this at home, folks!

So it was a good weekend overall ~ a great experience that continued to teach me the best ways of creating displays, pricing, and marketing. I hope this helps me continue to expand my efforts of taking over the world with my jewelry!