Living LaVita Loca (Living The Crazy Life)
Staying up until 3 or 4 in the morning for the past week, I've been preparing a cute but time-consuming creature for the upcoming Co-production Contest being held on ETSY on May 22nd, and making new jewelry for the Georgia Microenterprise Network show, held last night.
The show went relatively well but admitted vendors late to start set-up, and was cut short by one hour, something many of the vendors were not too happy about. The customer base was really good, but the time-frame between 5 and 7:00 P.M. over the dinner hour and the bar probably was a distraction from the handcrafted items. We all could have made better sales had the show run from say, 9:00 A.M.- 6:00 P.M., and alot of us did express that sentiment to the management on the feedback form provided. Apparently there was a middleman company in charge of booking the hotel space for the show and the time-frame was not made clear in the initial contract, so our show had to break down at 7:00 and be out of there before 8:00. It seemed that the hotel did offer some leeway in the end, as the next party didn't come in until 8:00 to use the room.
The National organization, Association for Enterprise Opportunity was there as well as a co-sponsor. To find out more about them go to http://www.microenterpriseworks.org or contact Katie Igrec Lima at (703) 841-7760 Ext. 38. Her e-mail is kigrec-lima@assoceo.org
One of the highlights of this event was its glossy Microenterprise Fair 2006 Business Directory (in which Giftbearer is listed on page 15), designed and laid out by Jones Creative, LLC. Photos were printed in black and white, but the listings were professional-looking and easy to locate with all contact information on each business included. Each of the vendors in the directory have been through one of the Microenterprise classes offered by their respective County affilliate.
The agency I took my Business Plan Writing course from several years ago was BusinessNOW, the affilliate in Dekalb County. I would recommend this agency to anyone wanting to develop an official business plan or who might like to apply for a small business loan in the future.
To find out which organization offers these and other related business development services in your area you can contact the Association for Enterprise Opportunity listed above or if you're a Georgia resident contact GMEN at http://www.georgiamicroenterprise.org
of which Patricia C. Williams is the Executive Director.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Next Scheduled Art Show
I will be selling my work at the Georgia Microenterprise Network Conference/Show on Wednesday, May 17th from 5:00-8:00 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, 265 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta, GA. 30303.
Vendors will be located in the Centennial Ballroom III and IV (Ballroom Level).
For more information about attending, please contact:
Deborah Barnett
GMEN Micro Fair Coordinator
(770) 222-3560
This will be a great opportunity to network, get some valuable business information, and come home with a wonderful original piece of wearable art.
Hope to see you there!
I will be selling my work at the Georgia Microenterprise Network Conference/Show on Wednesday, May 17th from 5:00-8:00 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, 265 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta, GA. 30303.
Vendors will be located in the Centennial Ballroom III and IV (Ballroom Level).
For more information about attending, please contact:
Deborah Barnett
GMEN Micro Fair Coordinator
(770) 222-3560
This will be a great opportunity to network, get some valuable business information, and come home with a wonderful original piece of wearable art.
Hope to see you there!
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Reviews- Atlanta Dogwood Festival
On Sunday, Apil 9,2006 I spent 3 exciting hours at the Atlanta Dogwood Festival, held annually in Piedmont Park. Ranked in Sunshine Art Magazine as the 16th top arts festival in the country, this festival features a whole array of different mediums from sculpture, to jewelry, to fiber, ceramic, to woodwork, to all types of painting/drawing/mixed media.
One of my favorites there was Sandy Atkins-Moran (Genesis Designs) of Carrollton, Texas whose hand-sewn one-of-a-kind art jackets set her apart from other clothing designers in that she uses a unique combination of fabrics in quilted freeform style such as silk, ultrasuede, cotton, and heavier patterned cloth. Some of her jackets had wisps of colorful threads dangling from certain sections of cloth like fringe. The colors tended towards purples, greens, and golds, but she is able to do custom work as well using colors chosen by the customer.
I definitely have one of these on my "to buy" list, and after I told a friend of mine about these so does she!
She does not currently have a website but she can be contacted by e-mail at sandyamoran@earthlink.net if you are interested in purchasing or would like to see her at a show and check out her work in-person.
There was lots of beautiful jewelry there including some lovely bone hearts a little bigger than a silver dollar in circumference and about a 1/2 inch thick (I wish I'd gotten the contact info for those but was hard-pressed to see everything in 3 hours) with sterling silver balls set in them and nice bezel settings with tiny, luminous cabachons of ruby, chrome diopside, (and what looked to be fire opal in one of the pendants).
One man who made giclee prints from his watercolor paintings of cats, fish, and other animals in warm, rich colors, stated that this was an excellent show each time he'd gotten accepted and that one year he'd made enough for one year and into the next!
At a ceramics booth whose trademark look was pieces which had bright pinkish purple matt glaze, there were at least 6 people waiting with money in-hand to pay for items priced at least $30.00 apiece.
It was definitely a buying crowd, and I wish I had beed able to come up with the $350.00 entry fee. For those of you who might be interested in doing this show next year, go to http://www.dogwood.org
to get on the mailing list and obtain an application. They're asking that people inquire in August to get an application for the 2007 show.
On Sunday, Apil 9,2006 I spent 3 exciting hours at the Atlanta Dogwood Festival, held annually in Piedmont Park. Ranked in Sunshine Art Magazine as the 16th top arts festival in the country, this festival features a whole array of different mediums from sculpture, to jewelry, to fiber, ceramic, to woodwork, to all types of painting/drawing/mixed media.
One of my favorites there was Sandy Atkins-Moran (Genesis Designs) of Carrollton, Texas whose hand-sewn one-of-a-kind art jackets set her apart from other clothing designers in that she uses a unique combination of fabrics in quilted freeform style such as silk, ultrasuede, cotton, and heavier patterned cloth. Some of her jackets had wisps of colorful threads dangling from certain sections of cloth like fringe. The colors tended towards purples, greens, and golds, but she is able to do custom work as well using colors chosen by the customer.
I definitely have one of these on my "to buy" list, and after I told a friend of mine about these so does she!
She does not currently have a website but she can be contacted by e-mail at sandyamoran@earthlink.net if you are interested in purchasing or would like to see her at a show and check out her work in-person.
There was lots of beautiful jewelry there including some lovely bone hearts a little bigger than a silver dollar in circumference and about a 1/2 inch thick (I wish I'd gotten the contact info for those but was hard-pressed to see everything in 3 hours) with sterling silver balls set in them and nice bezel settings with tiny, luminous cabachons of ruby, chrome diopside, (and what looked to be fire opal in one of the pendants).
One man who made giclee prints from his watercolor paintings of cats, fish, and other animals in warm, rich colors, stated that this was an excellent show each time he'd gotten accepted and that one year he'd made enough for one year and into the next!
At a ceramics booth whose trademark look was pieces which had bright pinkish purple matt glaze, there were at least 6 people waiting with money in-hand to pay for items priced at least $30.00 apiece.
It was definitely a buying crowd, and I wish I had beed able to come up with the $350.00 entry fee. For those of you who might be interested in doing this show next year, go to http://www.dogwood.org
to get on the mailing list and obtain an application. They're asking that people inquire in August to get an application for the 2007 show.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
New Line of Jewelry (Softies)
I alwys enjoy doing crossover pieces and developing new lines of jewelry that combine the features and benefits from more than one medium. This new line is one that combines crochet and beads. On Etsy I noticed that yarn/knitted/crocheted stuff has its own huge following. The jewelry category there is so large that one really has to come up with something new and different to make a mark. This Flaxen Crocheted Cuff is the first one in the line, made with mohair. Stay tuned for more of these in different colors and various embellishments, and let me know what you think.
To purchase or to place a special order, go here; http://www.etsy.com/view_item.php?listing_id=125025
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Friday, March 24, 2006
Dr. Phil, Another Opportunity for A Shameless Etsy Plug
I watched Dr. Phil today and he had several women entrepreneurs on his show. The topic was that they had a dream to sell something in their own business and their husbands weren't too sure they were being realistic.
I was very happy to see that instead of shooting these women down, Dr. Phil had two experts on the show who had written a book about opportunities in this area of interest for stay-at-home moms to get a business off the ground.
He had them do focus groups on the viability of these ideas and the result was encouraging.
He also showed footage of several woman entrepreneurs who had appeared on his show in the past who now were making big money.
I never would have thought of him as a possible person to pitch my wares to or that he would be particularly into grass-roots Etsy type stuff, but this is good to know.
Dr. Phil might be a possible talk show host to include in a next round of gift baskets.
I signed up on his site and posted something on his messagebord describing Etsy and why this is a good option for stay-at-home moms and people who otherwise cannot work a regular job.
He had suggested one woman sell her huge inventory on Ebay, so I thought to myself, he could be plugging Etsy one of these days like that as well.
If any of you would like to post on his messageboard or contact him, his web address is http://drphil.com/
I also said that if he was reading my message that it would be great if he would do a segment about etsy, as there are alot of undiscovered artists here who should be discovered.
I watched Dr. Phil today and he had several women entrepreneurs on his show. The topic was that they had a dream to sell something in their own business and their husbands weren't too sure they were being realistic.
I was very happy to see that instead of shooting these women down, Dr. Phil had two experts on the show who had written a book about opportunities in this area of interest for stay-at-home moms to get a business off the ground.
He had them do focus groups on the viability of these ideas and the result was encouraging.
He also showed footage of several woman entrepreneurs who had appeared on his show in the past who now were making big money.
I never would have thought of him as a possible person to pitch my wares to or that he would be particularly into grass-roots Etsy type stuff, but this is good to know.
Dr. Phil might be a possible talk show host to include in a next round of gift baskets.
I signed up on his site and posted something on his messagebord describing Etsy and why this is a good option for stay-at-home moms and people who otherwise cannot work a regular job.
He had suggested one woman sell her huge inventory on Ebay, so I thought to myself, he could be plugging Etsy one of these days like that as well.
If any of you would like to post on his messageboard or contact him, his web address is http://drphil.com/
I also said that if he was reading my message that it would be great if he would do a segment about etsy, as there are alot of undiscovered artists here who should be discovered.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
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