Saturday, December 5, 2009

Vacation Day

On Wednesday, my Etsy shop was in "vacation" mode. Why? Because my Mom had the opportunity to enter an Art Fair that was being put on by the company where she works - in Wisconsin. Since she has helped me over the years at the Art Fairs I do here in Michigan, she offered to attempt this one on her own. This event was in it's first year, so they were being overly accommodating by providing the tables. Plus, it was inside so no need to haul tents too. It worked out perfectly because I was going to my hometown last month to celebrate my Grandpa's 80th birthday, so I packed up all the jewelry I had..... some displays..... decor for the table...... cards and bags.....etc all neatly into one tote for her to transport. I had some extra stock that wasn't on Etsy that had already done it's rotation at the other stores I sell at. And, I made up some new pieces that I haven't shown yet - like these bracelets below:

A while ago, I bought these 3 peacock charms from Flox & Me. They have now found their place in these bracelets.
One of the things I really like about working with peacock inspired items is that there are so many different color palettes that can be like a peacock! This charm matched perfectly with these carved wood beads I had that were deep shades of purple and turquoise. I added in 3 mustard colored beads to pull out the yellow in the image.
This charm had a more reddish/pink background, perfect for these shimmery seed beads. The deep cobalt blue was brought out with a lampwork bead from SueBeads!
I knew immediately that I wanted to do white and blue beads on this one, so these glass beads in round and teardrop shapes worked out great!

As far as the Fair went, we did okay. It's hard when an event is in it's first year, and Mom has already heard about how they are going to improve it next year. It didn't cost us anything, so why not get my name out there and try new things!