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.

Ringing in the Holidays

Preparing for two more up coming craft shows.  I am very excited about these.  They are a great way to grow.  I am also very blessed that I have a husband who supports me on my endeavors.  His first way of support is to buy me books to expand my knowledge on what ever I am taking on.  He also understands you need tools to work with.  I never start with top of the line tools or materials.  You need to learn and develop your craft and as you mature so can your tools and materials.  I learned that with my dog grooming business.  You can by the most expensive scissors but unless you understand how to properly use them then they are worthless.

The newest challenge I wanted to take on was rings.  I developed an adjustable ring.  This has it's advantages.  It is much easier for someone to order and be sure they are able to wear it.  The flaw with this design is the wires used to make the rings will become brittle and break after repeated bending.  The adjustable rings I started with were the spiders created for Halloween.

If the rings are adjusted to size and remain in that position they will will last a very long time but I wanted a design that was not only more sturdy but more pleasant to look at.

There are many wonderful pages, teachers and books one can turn to when learning this craft.  I chose the book "wirework" an illustrated guide to the art of wire wrapping by Dale "Cougar" Armstrong.  This book gave several variations and included a dvd.  Amazon prove to be a good place to find a mandrel for sizing the rings.

I was so excited once I got all the pieces and parts.  My first attempt was a five wire design.  I felt like I was wearing mittens and trying to type.  It was a crazy juggling act.  Trying to hold the wires and wrap and fold.  Not a pretty sight.  RETREAT!!! Back up and regroup. haha  After studying the book again I chose another design.  This one went much better and I learned the benefits of the ring mandrel.  I used the cheaper crafting wire like you buy at Walmart to learn the procedures.  When I felt I had a grasp on the steps I used silver plated wire and glass beads and swarovski beads and a few seed beads.  I let my wire whimsy go where it wanted and here is what I came up with.

After a few days of practice I did go back and attempt the five wire version again.  Here is what I came up with.

I am excited with these results.  I have much to learn and I am looking forward to experimenting more with the new found creations.
This Saturday and Sunday (November 5th & 6th) I will be at a craft show in Dover, Indiana and I am looking forward to the feed back on these rings.
Challenge yourself to learn new things about your craft.  This helps us to grow not only in our craft and creativity but also as a person.

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.

Polymer Clay Lessons

Never satisfied me went looking for another project to tackle.  I decided to try my hand at polymer clay items.  There is an ulterior motive for this project.  Sometime in the future I would like to make my own beads.  There are hundreds if not thousands of places to buy beads through the mail.  My problem with this type of shopping is the time it takes to locate what I have in mind and then waiting for it to arrive.  This is becoming a real problem when it comes to holiday style beads.  My local craft stores never seem to carry beads for holidays.  I like offering special holiday items for my customers.  I also like having them done up ahead of time so I am not scrambling to get the items out at the last minute.
I have had my clay, tools and a toaster oven for a while now.  They have been sitting here laughing at me or that is the way it seemed to me.  For some reason I was intimidated by those little packages of color.  I wanted to take them and make a treasure out of them but I was afraid I couldn't get the results I wanted and even more afraid to waste the clay.  Things have been tight for us since I left my job and I try to not be wasteful.
So those bright packages have sat there until today.  I went to bed last night telling myself that in the morning I was going to get up and conquer my procrastination on this project.  First thing I learned was how grateful I was that I had spent the money on a machine to roll out the clay.  It was so nice to have sheets of colors rolled out in seconds.  Now cutting out the different shapes was a snap.  I twisted, rolled poked and sliced to get the effect I was looking for.  They were adorable!  I was so excited.
I placed those creations in the oven and waited to see what would happen.  There are difference in opinions on whether or not the fumes that come from the baking clay are toxic.  To play it safe I took my oven to the garage and set a timer.  I knew immediately when I walked in the garage the outcome would not be what I was hoping for.  Here is what I found.

The first thing I have to do is kick my self.  I have baked enough in my life time to know that not all ovens heat the same.  I should have done tests to figure out the best temperature and time for this particular project.  Second I should have only done one maybe two so to not waste so many.  I was so excited at how cute they looked before the oven I was over confident.
I spent the next hour or so placing small pieces of clay rolled out to the thickness that I used in the oven for different times and adjusting the temperature.  When I felt I was closer I placed another in the oven.  This time the result was this.

This is still a touched scorched but much better than the first time.  Whew!! What a day.  I am still unsure about how this type of clay should look and feel once it is cured.  I would love to hear from any of you who use polymer clay.  For today I am done with trial and error.  I will go and  spend more time reading what I can find on the subject.  I will go back at it tomorrow.  Today I conquered a silly fear of failing at this project.  Learning is always a good thing and it is not a waste of materials if it teaches you.
Is there something you are wanting to do or learn?  Go for it.  It may not come out like you are hoping but the learning experience will strengthen you in many ways.
Happy Crafting ALL.

Picking Myself Up and Dusting Myself Off

It is time to pick myself up and stop dwelling on the last festival.  My sister and I set up at Levi Coffin Days in Fountain City.  There were no big mishaps for us and Murphy's Law was not hanging over us like our last festival.  The problem was there were few people buying.  The weather was beautiful and there were many people walking about but they were not interested in what we were trying to sell.  Although we were not selling a neighboring booth was doing very well.  He was selling cutting boards.  Yes you read that right.  Cutting boards.  I am happy for him.  I am glad someone was doing well.  He was a nice gentleman and I enjoyed talking with him.  He explained he was laid off sometime ago.  He use to put in kitchen counter tops.  He had a friend still in the business.  That is where he got the pieces he cut and rounded the corners and made into cutting boards. He was selling them for $15 each or 2 for $25.  For me $15 for a cutting board is high but people out that day was grabbing them up like they were the next BIG THING.  It was amusing to watch the discussion that went on over what color to buy.  This was a big lesson that you just never know what is going to sell.

I have been spending a big portion of my time lately working on a new set up for my next craft show.  With our businesses being new my sister and I are trying to keep our costs down.  For our next show we decided to share a 6ft table.  She does crochet so her items are larger and bulky and I have smaller things but much more of it.  Like I said before I do not want to go out and buy a bunch of things to use for display so I am trying to be creative with what I have.  The best way to use the space is to build up.  So I have taken a display board covered it in green.  When I first started covering this I tried using paper.  It was tearing and would not lay the way I wanted it to.  My next trip to the store I went to the fabric department and found this fabric on sale for $1.50 a yard.  It was cheaper than the paper I had first tried to use and worked so much better.  I glued it to the board using Mod Podge.  I made the two side panels into earring displays and added hooks to the center panel.  I already had the crates you see holding the necklaces so I decided to use them instead of placing hooks all the way down.  This is still a work in progress.

Another thing I am using is a table arm that I have for my dog grooming table. I knew I could add this to any table and it would give me a place to hang some extra items.  I decided to cover a couple of pieces of cardboard and make another display area.  I am unsure if I will add hooks to the boards or cut holes in them.  I may even choose to go with one large board instead of the two I am showing here. Closer to the date of the show I will cover the arm with Christmas paper or with fabric to make it look better.  I need to groom my dogs before then so I can't do it now.lol

The craft show is the first weekend in November so I still have some time.  Along with finishing this I am happy to say I will be trying to create new things with clay.  I now have my own little oven and the other things to start creating the things I want to work with.  I decided to do this because I often cannot find the things I want to work with in my area.  I will post once I have completed my first projects with the clay.

Now lets get back to the holiday at hand.  Halloween!!!!!  Since we moved into our home outside the town I have missed not decorating the house for all the little trick-or-treat ghosts and goblins.  It has been a treat for me this year to create Halloween items for my on line store at Storenvy.  You will find Halloween sets, skulls, ghosts and spiders, lots of spiders.  Meet Ice Princess.  She is one of the adjustable spider rings you will find waiting for you in my store.  You can get to my store by clicking the Harmoniously Tangled Storenvy button at the top right of this page.

Stop on by my store and see if we have that special item to make your Halloween costume fantastic this year. Need something in a different color?  Special orders are always welcome.

Am I Ready?

After the last festival experience I have to wonder what will go on the next time.  It is unsettling to say the least but I am I going to let that stop me?  NO!  Like I said before things will go go wrong.  I am just going to go with the flow and enjoy what ever experience it brings me.
This time we, meaning my sister Lisa over at Creative Kitty Crochet and myself, will be setting up a booth at the Levi Coffin Days in Fountain City, Indiana.  Come by and visit us if you are in the area.
I have been busy creating new items.  Spiders have been a focal point.  I have done earrings and even managed to do a smaller version than those I showed you earlier.  I also now have adjustable rings.

The ring above is an adult ring but I also have child size available in my store.  Thank you to my daughter Symantha for modeling for me.

Stop by my store and see the Halloween Fun Collection I have there.  You will also see some fun I have been having with skulls.  Click the Storenvy button on the top right of this page to visit my store.

Wish me luck as I continue to prepare for the up coming festival and please stop by and see us if you are in Fountain City, Indiana at the Levi Coffin Days on September 17 or 18,

Festival Follies

Anyone who takes their creations to festivals knows it is a huge learning experience.  One of the best parts about taking your creations to a festival is the feed back you receive from those who stop by your booth.  Positive or negative reactions let's you know if you are on the track for taking your business where you want it to go.

Getting to the festival is a learning experience in it's self.  From the vehicle to arrive in, to the packing of your creations and the displays you plan to use. Some items pack better than others.  Recently my sister Lisa of Creative Kitty Crochet and I attended a festival.  When packing up for the day I envied the ease her crocheted items packed.  Her displays were much simpler and required less space.  Displays are important to show your creations.  The smaller the item you must display the more important it is to make the item seen.  With all this in mind there is one thing I forgot to take in account.  How many trips will I have to make to the car to get everything  to my booth.  This also became a big issue when a problem came into play when getting home after our first day at the festival.  Sit back, enjoy and I hope you learn from this experience.  I should say here that I am a glitch queen.  Murphy's Law seems to follow me.  So be prepared to laugh but more important learn.  I am happy to share this with you in the hopes I save someone else from the same fate.

Day one.  The weather was perfect.  This is probably the one saving grace and allowed us to roll with the punches.  My sister arrives at my house and we begin packing my Durango, the only vehicle we have that can hold all of our items,  the six foot table and allow us both to ride in the same vehicle.  We also take a cooler so to stay away from having to buy fair foods.  We arrive and find our check in point.  They do not have us on the list she has in her hand.  I had called prior in the week to verify because I had not received any confirmation from them, although I had checked with the bank to make sure the check had been cashed.  A minor over sight,  our number had been skipped over when typing the list.  I want to say that the Lions Club in Hagerstown did a fantastic job with this festival and was always available to handle situations that came along during the entire festival.  We were led to our spot.  GREAT spot. under a nice shade tree.  Across from us the buildings were spaced so we had a nice breeze.  We began to open the hatch to start unload and something hit the ground and a bunch of little faces began to roll in different directions. My Attitude charms were on the loose!  We gathered them up.  At least they weren't breakable.  Note to self, get a locking box for the roaming Attitude charms.  Next we start to set up the canopy and I cut my finger.  Luckily I had paper towel but not bandaids.  Note two, bring a first aid kit!   Set up finished we are sitting there enjoying the weather when the neighboring concessions booth arrives and begins trying to park.  A husband & wife team who worked wonderfully well together.  We asked if they would like us to move.  "No we are okay."  We watched them struggle but they still didn't want us to move.  We got up & moved a few feet for them & they got it first try.  We had a wonderful time with them.  It is good to be nice to your neighbors.  If you ever come across an Emergency Concessions at a festival ask them if they have been to Hagerstown, Indiana Jubilee days.  If they have let them know you have heard about how great they are.

It was a nice day.  Now we began the pack up.  Good grief, four trips later we are finally gathering the last things.  Tired and hungry we stopped to get something to eat.  We pulled out of the parking lot and was heading home on our last 20 minutes of our journey.  That is when I get hit with Murphy's Law big time.  Keep in mind that I had said this was the only vehicle we have that will hold all the things we have with us.  Suddenly Lisa asks if my car is on fire?  As "I don't think so" left my mouth smoke begins to roll from under the car on the drivers side by the front tire.  Quickly I pull over and jump out of the car.  It is popping and hissing.  I am waiting for the thing to burst into flames.  I pull out my cell phone and call my husband who says he will come get us.  His vehicle is a Yaris!  I am thinking what are we going to do with all this stuff we are  suppose to set up again the next day at the festival.  I tell him to go get my Dad's van.  Thank God for dads.  So I call dad and let him know what is going on and that my husband will be coming to get his van.  So my sister and I wait and listen to the popping and hissing.  I kept imagining the thing going up in flames with all of our hard work in the back.  Finally the van comes rolling up.  I am expecting my husband but I wasn't expecting to see my dad too.  Lisa & I just look at each other.  OHHH fun  What the heck are we going to do with all this stuff and still fit the four of us in for the ride back?  The guys begin pulling stuff out and TOSSING it into the van.  At this point I have come to a HUGE understanding how important it is to keep your packing to a minimum and still protect your creations.  We arrive back at my Dad's house and leave the van parked there.  We pulled out the cooler & put it in my husbands car and head home.  Dad's van uses more gas and we needed to go by his house to get to the festival any way.  Also I would be able to bring him my car to use while I had the van.  Sleep!  I need sleep.

Up early for day two we packed the cooler and headed to Dad's to pick up the van.  We ran in got the keys and spoke briefly to our parents.  We were in a rush because we knew the town we were going to would be closing down some roads for the parade that day.  We jump in the van and take off.  About 15 minutes down the road we realize the cooler is still in the back of my car.  Oh well!  Quick trip through a drive thru and the "oh darn we will just have to eat festival food" we rolled with the punch and headed on to the festival.

Enjoying the weather we were chatting away when we realized we were unsure where we were.  "UGH! I missed the turn!"  After back tracking for like 15 minutes we finally made it to the town and met up with road blocks.  There is two real problems with this.  First I do not know this town and the even bigger problem is that I have LITTLE sense of direction.  At one point I had NO idea which direction our booth set up was.  My sister talked me through it and we lucked into a parking place not too far from our booth.  Good thing because again it takes 4 trips to and fro to get all the stuff to the destination.  One trip to the car resulted in the car alarm going off and several tries to disengage it.  I finally had to get in and start the stupid thing to get it to shut up.  I finally get started on my set up.  Remember what I said about packing your creations to protect them?  The Toss fest my husband and Dad had  the night before when transferring things from the sizzling Durango to the van meant I got to untangling about 80 pairs of earrings so I could hang them for display.  I kept telling myself to be grateful I still had them and that they didn't burst into flames. lol  If anyone has a great easy travel earring display I would love to hear about it.

The weather was beautiful and the people fun.  The rest of the day was very pleasant.

If I have any words of wisdom it is no matter how well you plan something is bound to go wrong.  When things go wrong ABANDON SHIP! LOL  No only abandon ship if it is about to catch on fire!  Try to find a way to laugh at the bad and enjoy the experience the good and the bad.

I will be attending another festival soon and I am reworking my packing to protect my creation and try and reduce the amount I need to take along.  My loving husband has also helped by buying a cart to help transport things.

Please feel free to jump in and give advice on craft shows and festivals.  It would be greatly appreciated.