Cute Attack!

It's been an exceptionally busy couple of months and I'm only just getting back to some kind of normality. I'm going through approximately 2391 photos that remain unsorted and stumbled upon this little gem.



At the November Magnolia Square market in Sydney, we were lucky enough to setup shop next to the best hatmakers in Australia, Truffaux, and hurriedly purchased three of their finest. Isy is the best model one could ask for.

Flergenblech.

Sometimes, when things just get a little too difficult, my muscles ache a little too much and it becomes increasingly troublesome to drag myself through the day, it is worthwhile stopping, pondering and making up a word that sums that feeling up.

Hello, flergenblech.

In other, less insane news, I am using this photo to get me through the next few weeks:



Sparky, Isy and I are heading to Byron Bay in a few weeks time for a much MUCH needed break and the thought of it is currently the only thing keeping me from getting 'Flergenblech' tattooed across my forehead (that is, the only thing keeping me sane).

I've also compiled a list of events I hope to participate in over the next 12 months and that is an incredibly exciting and motivating thing for me. The rundown is only approximate because I don't know what I will or won't be accepted into at this stage, but here it is:

- Stitches and Craft - 19-23 August @ Rosehill Racecourse
- pyd Designer Markets - October @ pyd, Waterloo
- Magnolia Square - 19-21 November @ Royal Randwick
- Glenbrook Spring Festival - November
- Glenbrook Markets - October, November, December
- The Rocks Markets (if I can get someone to work for me) - October, November, December
- The Finders Keepers - December
- Youngblood Christmas Markets
- Life inStyle - February 2010
- Royal Easter Show (Fashion & Style Pavillion) - April 2010

Helpful in motivating me, and helpful in making me feel exhausted. I think I'll tackle the majority of these after the holiday.

For now it's back to Stitches and Craft prep, among other things. Today I am proofing my resin booklet, taking Isy for a check-up, getting a sneaky coffee, catching up with my sister, assembling my kick-arse new sign, applying for two of the above-mentioned events and a retailer showcase called (m)art in Brisbane. I also need to do another two pours and start drilling an enormous pile of pendants and earrings. Excellent!

The Reasonality of Things.

Apart from making up words, I am currently marveling at the way life works itself out. Things happen for a reason. If you take the bad with the good, often the reason for the bad becomes apparent and it's not so bad. Following? Yes? No?

I was quite disappointed not to be accepted into Young Blood for the upcoming market, which is running over 21-22 August at the Powerhouse Museum. But yesterday afternoon I received an email from the organisers of The Stitches and Craft Show, asking if I would be interested at exhibiting in the Incubator section of their revamped show.

Um, would I?

.
.
.
.

YES! Yes, I would.



The new owners of Stitches and Craft, Living Creatively are moving the show in a new, exciting direction which embraces the indie craft movement and a new generation of crafters, designers and hobbyists. It's actually incredibly exciting (my participation aside) as it sounds like a lot of the indie craft events that are being held in the States. Exciting times indeed!



While Stitches and Craft used to focus more on the crafty suppliers, workshops and classes, they are now moving in a new direction and including a section of the exhibition where new designers can show and sell their wares. They do ask that those participating provide instruction and inspiration where possible, and would like us to present a workshop if possible. (EEP!)

Being quite a shy person, I don't know about the workshop business but my mind is working overtime trying to think of ways to inspire and instruct (and sell my goods at the same time). Here's what I have come up with so far:

- A free booklet outlining the basics of working with resin, as well as providing a few simple projects for people to do at home.
- Selling a kit for people to make their own resin and paper wall hangings. Kit to include acrylic shapes, paper/fabric, resin sample (if I can get the manufacturer to help), mixing cups, mixing sticks, etc.
- Selling grab bags of paper
- Selling grab bags of fabric
- Postcards printed with really lovely images of my work (if I do say so myself)

So that's where I am at the moment. My brain is working overtime and I'm getting quite inspired myself actually.

If you have any suggestions for other products to inspire or instruct, please feel free to let me know!

The Week That Was...

I am home, I am semi-recovered from Magnolia Square, I am drinking coffee and I am happy.

Last week was a blur of last-minute prep for the market and the craziness of the market itself. In all it was a fantastic event - I'm really pleased with how my jewellery was received (and purchased!) and I'll definitely be doing the November market. The Thursday was exceptionally quiet for us, but the Friday was great and the Saturday, oh, the Saturday was quite a bit of madness. The best kind of madness though. The Tea House venue was not crash-hot (not quite enough room in the aisles for lots of ladies with lots of prams) and it was a little church-hallish. But the organisers did a stellar job of disguising that fact, and the visual merchandising was gorgeous. (So much so that I felt a little sheepish at the simplicity of my stall design. Next time, yes, next time I will blow their socks off!)






I'm glad it's over, simply for the fact that a three-day market with a four month old is slightly tiring, particularly when she is teething. But not to worry, she coped like a trooper and Sparky was, again, my greatest helper. I did come to the realisation that I need to hire someone to help me with these events, so if you know of anyone reliable, passionate about handmade, willing to work stretches of long-ish days sproadically throughout the year and perhaps with some sales experience, please please please send them my way.

The wonderful flip-side of exhibiting at an event like Magnolia Square is the huge range of delectable shopping opportunities on offer. I restrained myself quite well I think, but did buy a few lovely things for Issy and myself:

These gorgeous little leather shoes were bought for Isla. They're so soft and such a pretty green. I had to restrain myself from also buying these,
these and these.


hamb is a really sweet Melbourne clothing label with some gorgeous mens, womens and kids t-shirts and sloppy joes (does ANYONE use that term anymore apart from me?!)

I bought these for Issy and myself, so that we can have dorky matching clothes days.



And before I sound like a horrible wife, I did offer to buy Sparky a matching t-shirt but he politely declined.

I also bought some of these beauties:



Sparkle Cupcakery make the most delicious, modern little pattypans full of joy. I can personally attest to this as I tried both their Belgian Chocolate and Sparkle Cake (vanilla - classic, not boring) and they were beyond delicious. Yum, yum, YUM!

So that is the week that was.

(Late) Weekly Goal Round-Up Round Up

Yes, yes. I know I suck. Very sorry for the lack of blogging love and all that.

Let's cut to the chase and see how spectacularly I failed my goal list this week:

- SUCCESS! Finish the mother-of-all pours from last week (now only 400+ pieces)
- SUCCESS! Assemble 300+ pieces
- SUCCESS! Polish 300+ pieces
- PARTIAL SUCCESS! Prep stock for markets (price, tag, etc)
- PARTIAL SUCCESS! Finalise display for Mag Square
- NEGATIVE. Finish 75 samples for magazines
- SUCCESS! Place packaging order at Rio Grande
- SUCCESS! Visit local stockist
- NEGATIVE. Research sales rep

So that looks to be six from nine, or 66.6%. An improvement on last week's effort anyway.



(And the image above has nothing at all to do with this round-up other than it was the second image found on Google Images when searching for '66 percent'. Makes sense.)

This week I may take a rain check on my weekly goal round up as I am doing nothing much more than feverishly getting prepared for Magnolia Square, which starts in a couple of days.

I guess I could sum up this week's goal list with:

- Arrive at Magnolia Square
- Set up award-winning display
- Sell out of all stock by Saturday
- Drink champagne in celebration
- Eat delicious cupcakes .

I hope you all have a wonderful week!!

Giveaway!! Giveaway!! Yay, yay, a Giveaway!!

So I'm having a wonderful, wonderful giveaway for you, my delightful customers and friends.

For your chance to win $100 worth of Trove jewellery (any pieces from my website) you simply need to sign up to receive my newsletter. Now, I promise I won't bombard you with 50 emails a week, but I will send out about one email per month letting you know about new products, sales, giveaways, new stockists and events and markets I'll be attending.

If that sounds like something you'd be interested in, please head on over to my Guest Book, say hi and you'll be in the draw.

Also, if you plan to attend Magnolia Square at the beginning of July (2, 3 & 4 July at the Tea House @ Royal Randwick) you can sign up and enter the giveaway there, in person.

Now that you mention it...

I'm feeling pretty (freakishly) wonderful this morning. Lots of energy, lots of enthusiasm for the week ahead. Surely, but surely, this cannot last? Best make hay then I guess!

I'm eagerly awaiting to see an upcoming feature for Trove on a wonderful, well-read blog (which I won't name, in the fear of jinxing it) and am hoping it may give me a boost in exposure and sales.

Beyond sitting around on my computer hitting the 'Refresh' button every 20 seconds, I do have a lot to do:

- Last week's gluing and trimming sessions
- Monster pour in preparation for this Friday night's launch party
- Prep for party (order forms, display, signage, pricing, etc)
- Photograph my new cufflinks and get them up on Etsy in preparation for Father's Day (yes, apparently Father's Day is celebrated in June in some parts of the world. who knew?)
- Photograph new stud earrings and list in Etsy store
- Clean up studio (AKA the giant pig-sty in which all my fashion week paraphernalia has been unceremoniously dumped and not been touched since)
- Accounts
- Admin-y stuff

Beyond that, the Magnolia Square markets are creeping up on me and I really need to get cracking on my inventory for that. The fun part of markets is that I can sell one-offs and samples, which allows me to play around a bit and get a feel for what people like and don't like, before I add a new design to my production inventory.


These markets have been running in and around Melbourne for a few years now and I'm so excited to be involved in their first Sydney event. The organisers have been brilliant so far and I'm hoping for it to be a successful event. If it's not I'll only have myself to blame because the target market for the markets (stylish women who are looking for unique wares for themselves, their kids, their homes, their tummies, etc) is smack-bang in the middle of my target market. Looking forward to it!

Oh, and before I go, I had a very, very exciting brainwave yesterday afternoon. I'm hoping to start production on some prototype resin, paper and acrylic wall hangings over the next couple of weeks. I think the papers and fabrics I use are so pretty that I want to see them all the time, not just on my ears or around my neck. And the combination of the resin with the paper and a slightly thicker acrylic base would give such a luxurious, touchable feel to the hangings. What do you think about this?

I will come back with some photos and updates once I get started, but I was so ridiculously excited yesterday. I love making jewellery but a new project is so very exciting!