Craft Show Time

I am excited to say it is time to be in a craft show!  This Saturday I will be in Dover, Indiana for their spring craft show.  The time is 9 am until 4 pm.  Come on down and say hello.  I would love to meet you.  My sister Lisa of Creative Kitty Crochet will be there with her hand crocheted items.

Even though life has been chaotic I have been able to create some new pieces of jewelry.  I have been experimenting with using crochet techniques with wire.  Here are a couple of samples.

These are various glass beads crocheted onto 28 gauge wire.  I was very happy with the effect.  A fun summer time piece.

For this piece the pendant is a dyed stoned wrapped in silver plated wire.  The round amethyst beads were crocheted into the piece on 28 gauge wire and finished with silver filigree round beads.

I am still experimenting with Harmoniously Tanged jewelry to decide which direction I want my jewelry to take.  I am looking for those piece that say "Hey Look at Me!"  I want you to be able to look at my creations and say I know that came from Harmoniously Tangled.  How am I doing?

Things you learn.

The craft show was very fun and the sales weren't bad either.  I want to thank St. John's Church of Dover, Indiana.  They were very friendly and made the experience so pleasant.  I have never been at a craft show where they bring you a lunch menu and if you would like to order they deliver it to you.  Wonderful group around us and great customers.

We were inside but it was beautiful weather.  Sunny and very warm for this time of the year in Indiana.  It made it hard to think of snow and Christmas.  So the holiday items I had worked on did not sell very well.  I have not been doing the craft shows for very long but I have learned that you never really know what will be selling that day.  With Halloween over I almost did not to take my spider creations but at the last minute I chose to grab them.  I am so glad I did.  I sold several different spider creations but it was a conversation with a nice lady that taught me something I wanted to share with you.

The lady pointed at one of the spiders and said, "oh look a Christmas spider."  She told me she wasn't sure how the story went but that spiders are really the reason we put tinsel on Christmas trees.  That made me very curious so when I got home I did a search and here is what I found.

                                            

The Christmas Spiders

Once upon a time a long time ago.   A mother was busy cleaning her home for the most wonderful day of the year.  The day they decorated for the celebration of the Christ child.  Not a speck of dust was left.  Even the spider webs were wiped out of their cozy corners sending the spiders fleeing for the attic.

T’was Christmas Eve at last!  The tree was decorated and waiting for the Christ child to visit and bless the home.  The poor spiders in the attic were frantic because they would not be present for the Christ child’s visit.  The oldest spider suggested they creep back down and peek through a crack.  Suddenly the door opened a wee bit and the spiders scurried into the room.  Their eyes weren’t accustomed to the brightness of the room so they crept closer to the tree for a better look.  It was so beautiful they began to climb over and around every branch of the tree until they had seen every pretty thing the mother had so carefully hung.

But every where the spiders had crawled left a web.  The Christ child entered to bless the home.  He looked at the tree and smiled.  He loved the little spiders for they were God’s creatures too.  He thought of the mother who had so carefully cleaned and decorated the tree for her children and He knew she would not be happy, so He touched the tree and the webs all turned to sparkling silver and gold!

Ever since we have hung tinsel on our Christmas trees, and according to the legend it is considered good luck to include a spider among the decorations on the tree.

(This is a folk legend from Germany and Ukraine)

 Sometimes it is chance and brief meetings of strangers that can bring a blessing into your life.  I do not know this woman's name but I want to thank her for sharing this with me.  It has brought me smile and I will not look at a Christmas tree or tinsel in the same way again.  I am sure it will not make some of you like spiders any better but it is a reminder that God loves all creatures.

More new things with Harmoniously Tangled

There is something about getting your own Logo that makes your business seem more real.  Often when you work from home people do not see you as a business owner.  This can include your spouse.  You know the person who barges in your work room when you are concentrating on something and then gets mad when you give them one of those looks.

My journey to creating the logo you see at the top was sort of a fluke.  I had been thinking it would be nice to have something that people could identify with.  When networking on facebook a page that I added as a friend posted a logo she had created for another business.  I decided to ask about the cost and how you go about it.

That is how my logo started.  It was a fun and easy journey thanks to Frogjunkiee's Creative Creations.  When creating your logo you want your business to come to mind.  There are different ways to accomplish this.  You show your name in words or pictures or your logo may imply what you are shooting for.  Your vision, your friends comments and the person designing the logo all have thoughts and ideas that play into what is created.  It will be a meeting of theses ideas that will bring forth a creations that express your business the way you want it to.  Here is the key.  Your idea of how you want your business displayed to your customers is the most important aspect of the creation.

Although I am not a florist I chose to use vines to represent  harmoniously tangled.  I felt it was a great representation of turning and twisting for the best out come.  My business is jewelry but not so long ago I was trying to start an aromatherapy business under another name.  I live in rural Indiana and it was a hard sale.  Even though I know the great results you can achieve I gave up.  I had spent a good chunk of change getting signs, cards etc. to promote that business.  I also had chosen a name that could not expand or grow in a different direction if I needed it to.  My name this time makes sure I have more flexibility and I wanted to make sure my logo could do the same.  My saying is "Creating treasures for you."  When I gave all this information to Shannon she came back with an idea.  We bounced ideas off one another until we had a logo I felt represented what I was trying to achieve.   Shannon made it fun and was very open to hearing what I was interested in achieving.  Below is the logo I mostly use but she has given me other options, like the black one, for my use.

 

I enjoy adding it to my cards and pages.  I show it when ever I get a chance.  I want people to become accustom to seeing it and think of a friend and a great place to buy for themselves and for gifts.

Another new thing that has come along for Harmoniously Tangled is a helper, of sorts.  This little helper is being featured in many of the photographs taken for my store and online presentations.  Meet Harmoni...

Harmoni is a little gnome created for me by Gniffer's Gnomes.  You will be seeing more of her in the future.  She has a wonderful story.  To read more about her visit my facebook page and look through her photo album.  There is a very sweet story there about her.  Be sure to visit Gniffer's Gnomes and see the other wonderful gnomes she creates specially for each person.  Harmoni has already been spread all over facebook but here is her debut in one of my store pictures.  She has brought magic to my store by helping create new hand painted charms for Harmoniously Tangled's Attitude line.

 These charms are only one inch and hand painted.  They fit inside the interchangeable bottle cap necklaces that are unique to Harmoniously Tangled.  Click on my store link above and go to the Attitude Collection to learn more.
Whew!!  So much going on here at Harmoniously Tangled.  The best part is that it all means growth!  This is a very fun journey and I am glad to have you along.  If ever possible I would love to meet you in person.  This coming weekend (November 5 & 6) I will once again be teaming up with my sister Lisa over at Creative Kitty Crochet and we will be at St. John's 21st Annual Craft Show in Dover, Indiana.  Stop by and see us if you are in the area.