the blog of freshie and zero

Winter Trade Shows - Accomplished!

2012-01-24T15:18:00.000-06:00

We just did two wholesale shows back to back and it has been a whirlwind to say the least. We did Atlanta Gift, which was awesome, amazing, couldn't have been better! Lots of orders, loads of new accounts, good times! We stayed with wonderful friends, which equaled a more comfortable stay and we saved money to boot. We ate dinner with many of our favorite people who we don't see enough and we also got to feel a bit like our pre-parent-selves - going out every night without paying a sitter or waking in the middle of the night to soothe a toddler having a bad dream. Ahhh...

Snapshots of Atlanta Gift

And then we did ACRE Orlando which was... disappointing. It wasn't dismal, but I heard from many talented artists who didn't even write a single order. That makes me sad. We did have some yummy dinners (Cafe Tu Tu Tango, anyone?) and got to visit with Greg's parents who were en route from Miami to Norfolk so that was nice. And hey, it was 70-80 degrees there. I got to wear tank tops and eat ice cream outside at night. Who am I to complain, really?


Scenes from Orlando, Florida

Anyhoo, I'm excited to have opened many new accounts and there are some exciting things on the horizon that hopefully will come to fruition as a result of all this hard work. Do I sound vague? Sorry - I don't want to jinx anything!

In the meantime, I'm on the hunt for a new assistant. It will be hard to replace my last one - she was FABulous but alas, she was so fabulous that someone else snagged her for a full time position. I cried when she told me (not in front of her - I am a professional!), but then I had to get through the Christmas rush with very limited help. And THEN I had wholesale shows to prepare for, and THEN I was out of town for 10 days! Seriously, I don't know how I haven't ended up rocking in the corner in a padded room somewhere. Running your own business is NOT for the faint of heart!

But when I walked outside in sunny, warm, Orlando and drove around with the windows down, it made everything seem okay...

New earring styles on the website!

2011-11-06T17:18:00.000-06:00

I just added some new earring styles mixing sterling silver and gold filled metals to the website! My personal favorite is the Gold Swirl Teardrop, but the Honey Halo is a close second. I'll be adding lots of new items and images to the website over the next few weeks, so keep checking back!

Brush up on your resume and interview skills

2011-09-05T12:01:00.000-05:00

Print by Suzanna Anna

*I am writing to you from the trenches of hiring an assistant, but I decided not to post it until I had firmly made a hire.

I recently posted a position for a jewelry assistant on craigslist and thought that maybe I'd get 3 or 4 resumes, but I received dozens - over 40 in one week! I've been sifting through resumes, cover letters, and emails, and it's been difficult to narrow them down, because there are so many good ones in the bunch! I proceeded patiently and during my hiring process, I learned quite a bit about what it takes to make a good impression on your new potential boss, and I'd love to share my thoughts with you!

While looking through dozens of resumes and cover letters, I tried to pick out something that made each candidate stick out (Sound familiar? I hear my college career counselor rejoicing). Number one was jewelry experience, but after that, I wanted to get an overall vibe of the person based on where they worked, how long they worked somewhere, and their additional skills such as Quickbooks or Photoshop experience. I needed to know if they could write well and pay attention to detail by studying their cover letters/emails (and checking their spelling). Want to know what works and what doesn't? Read on.

Resume Tips:

* It doesn't really matter if your resume is beautifully designed. The prettiest/coolest resume I saw was literally too difficult to read. Stick to a basic layout - the person reviewing it will appreciate it. Add some color or some simple graphics for each header if you must, but keep it simple and legible.

* Do not write an overly fluffy cover letter. Do not get philosophical, do not get metaphoric - just be natural yet professional. I do not want to read a bunch of b.s. of how you are a butterfly just coming out of your cocoon to go on a job seeking mission. On the flip side, do not write a super short, overly simplified cover letter. Also - do not talk about your personal life unless it is relevant to the job (but it probably isn't).

* People who are hiring notice your typos. This may seem like a no-brainer, but spell check your resume and then ask a friend to spell check it, too. Print it out to do this - it's much easier to notice spelling mistakes on a piece of paper than a computer screen. ALSO check for typos in your email/cover letter/subject line. Excited about a job and want to send your cover letter immediately? Great! Just take the time to spell check before you hit send! I saw so many typos and it is definitely a strike against the candidate because it relates directly to their lack of attention to detail.

* Include where you went to high school. Who knows, the interviewer may have attended your high school or their best friend or husband may have gone there and then what do you have - a personal connection to the interviewer! Score!

* Do not make it necessary to use a magnifying glass to view your resume. I know you want to keep it short, but try not to make the font too tiny in order to achieve this.

* Do NOT submit more than a 2 page resume. It doesn't matter how much experience you have, keep it to 2 pages. Edit out the jobs you didn't have very long or didn't like very much. Major gaps in your work time line aren't necessarily red flags, so don't think it will reflect poorly on you. If you are just dying to tell more about yourself, put it online and include a link to it in your cover letter.

* If you are responding to a job posting by email, it should be just as professional as your resume. It should also include everything the job posting requested, or an explanation of why you had to omit it. Keep all of your communication professional - don't use a million !!!! or ???? or ALL CAPS to get your point across.

* Finally, think about what you want someone to take away from your resume. Do you want them to know you are a people person who loves a fast paced environment? Do you want them to know you are a diligent worker who loves a more mellow environment? Try to think of words and adjectives to get you across when describing your duties at each job you held. This is where you want to stand out. If you list that you know Excel, Powerpoint, Photoshop, Word, Blogger, Twitter, etc - you are letting them know you are multi-faceted. The software skills you mention are important so try not to leave any out - even if it's a random program! Think outside the box - the person reading your resume will notice. Have you been to a foreign country to work or travel? Have you done any volunteering? Mention it! Make the interviewer want to know more about you. Try to be more than your piece of paper.

Print by Able + Baker Design

Interview Tips

Lucky you, your resume was noticed and you've been selected for an interview! Sweet! Do some online research to get prepared for those behavioral questions that are all the rage these days. Beyond that, here are some do's and don'ts:

* If you are picked for an interview and you really want the job, find out more about the company. There is nothing worse than the interviewer asking you a question relating to this and you have no idea what to say. If the company has a blog, read it! Mention something you read in it during your interview.

* Look the interviewer in the eye. You don't have to stare them down, but looking at the floor the entire time is not a good idea.

* Don't fidget. Sit still, be engaged, and if you find yourself picking at your fingernails or shirt hem, etc., stop!

* Don't be late. If you're late, apologize profusely.

* I know we've been told there are no stupid questions, but in an interview, there are. Don't ask a question that could have easily been answered if you had done a tad bit of research about the company. (For example, don't ask a web-based business if they have a website. Believe it or not, someone I interviewed asked if I had a website.)

* Be yourself, albeit a professional version of yourself. If you have no rapport with the interviewer, don't fake it. You may just not be the right person. You do not want to get hired under false pretenses and then be miserable after two weeks at a job working under someone who irritates you.

I really hope that these tips help you! It's a tough job seeker's market out there - do everything you can to stay on top of the pile!

Kind Words

2011-08-07T18:12:00.005-05:00

print by Please Be Still

Every so often, I get a little hard on myself, overworked, overwhelmed, and I start to doubt what I'm doing and what I'm making. Sometimes it's because I haven't been feeling very creative lately. Sometimes it's because I simply need more sleep (or more coffee). It can also easily happen if a customer goes all crazy on me - maybe they're having a bad day and they decide to take it out on me (or maybe they're just a bitch). I'm sure no matter what line of work you're in, customers (or coworkers or bosses) have been unfairly unkind to you and it's easy to get bummed out or worse - down on yourself.

To counteract these dark moments, I've made a folder in my mail program called "Kind Words". Whenever someone writes anything nice to me, I drag the email into that folder so that I may revisit it whenever the blues set in. It's like a pep talk and can turn around a bad day for me! Here are a few happy thoughts from that folder:

Hi, I bought the post rectangle gold-filled earrings at the Renegade arts fair in Chicago and they have quickly become one of my favorite pairs of earrings-- I cannot take them off! They are beautiful and elegant and go with everything, I have been wearing them almost every day for weeks, to work and out. You have a new customer, thank you!!! Erica

..........................................................................................................................................................

You may or may not remember, I accosted you at Yazoo a while back to compliment you on your work. I continually get great comments on your pieces whenever I wear them, and I'm so happy to get to add to my collection. :)

..........................................................................................................................................................

Hi Beth, This is a quick note to say thank you so much. I am loving my new earrings (Kiwi in gold) and having so much fun wearing them! Your jewelry is so beautiful. I met you at Stitch in Austin several years ago and have been ordering from you ever since. Many, many thanks! I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and I look forward to seeing more lovely jewelry from you in 2011. Best, Kate

..........................................................................................................................................................

*Sigh* People can be so nice. And it's so easy to forget that when you're dealing with a not nice one. Take a minute to make a Kind Words folder of your own - put your favorite emails in it (even if they're from your best friends). You may need to use it one day when you're in need of a virtual hug!

My new studio

2011-06-03T12:06:00.007-05:00

So last month, I took a big business leap of faith and moved out of my house and into a separate studio. My life had changed, so it was time to change my work, too. What was this change you ask? Why, that cute little bundle of joy I delivered a year ago - my adorable daughter whom we will call Rah Rah since that's what she calls herself.

My workflow had been broken up since Rah Rah came along - I could only hammer upstairs while she was downstairs and if she was napping upstairs in her room, I had to go downstairs in the kitchen to hammer.

Rah Rah & Zero

Another problem was that since my entire business was home, I could work anytime. So I worked all the time. I'm sure this is something all self-employed people have to deal with. I tried to set office hours, but that was like nailing jello to the wall. For me, I seriously needed a physical separation of work & home.

And then of course the distractions - the hubs, the baby - they're both cute and were taking up a lot of my time in which I could be working. And it wasn't like it was quality time - it was just me hanging out with them while I procrastinated and avoided what I really needed to be doing.

And lastly - my studio in our 100 year old house gets ALL the afternoon sun and there is no insulation. It's pretty hard to work indoors when the temperature is 85°. I used to just work at night but now with that cute little baby I'm soooo exhausted by 8:30. Did I ever mention that I used to to go raves and stay out all night? This early bedtime is slightly demoralizing but I can't help it!

So I looked around and found a basement room in a downtown building that seemed perfect, and after a brief period right when I moved in and I had a few moments of panic and feelings of isolation - I settled in. For me to be comfortable, I need to be surrounded by color, art, and well, happy stuff. So once I got my stuff in, I felt much, much better.

lots 'o stuff in my shipping area

So anyway, now I'm in my downtown space and while I type this I'm enjoying some sushi from Jimbo's in the Arcade (I know - what a name for a sushi restaurant!). I get to walk to all my business destinations like the post office, Fed Ex, and the bank. I get to blast music without annoying anyone (love that). I can hammer without annoying anyone or waking the baby. It's pretty sweet.

The best part, though, is that now when I am with my family, I'm truly with them. I have no work in front of me or haunting me in another room. We go to parks, festivals, Target, whatever. It's good, quality time. And that's worth paying rent for!

Expressing gratitude

2011-05-10T11:57:00.007-05:00

Here's my dirty little secret. I am terrible at expressions of gratitude.

Don't get me wrong - I'm full of gratefulness for all things associated with this creative job of mine - my retail customers, wholesale customers, wholesale orders, getting paid to make jewelry, etc., but expressing it verbally is just not one of my strengths. Saying "thanks!" should not be so hard! Of course, saying "Sorry" isn't super easy either for me either, but I digress.

I'm really good at fixing issues that arise in my business. I've gotten better at calming angry customers (which thankfully doesn't happen very often). I'm excellent at schmoozing in person, face to face, and I enjoy it! But whenever I receive an email from a happy customer expressing how pleased they are with their jewelry, I clam up. I have no idea how to thank them so I say nothing.

I even received a glowing voicemail from a happy wholesale customer - seriously it was the nicest voicemail ever. I saved it, I played it for my husband. It was so sweet. But I never called them back to say "thanks!". I felt like it was akin to sending someone a thank you card for a thank you card, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't have done it!

I'm better at giving gifts to show my gratitude. My way of saying thanks is buying someone a cup of coffee, or sending them a little something. It's my love language (along with acts of service - yes I'm a bit high maintenance). Speaking of, I still haven't finished reading that book (I'm more of a Cliff's Notes person although I hear now they're called Sparks or something like that).

I don't know what's wrong with me. I need to get better about this. Do you have problems expressing gratitude? Do you have any pearls of wisdom to make it easier for me to do so? I'd be so grateful.

away

2011-04-20T20:31:00.006-05:00

Radnor Lake

Yep, I've been away from the blog. I've written one post all year. Blogging takes time, and I am seriously in short supply of that so far in 2011.

I've been busy.

Two wholesale shows in January resulted in more sales than ever before (take that, economy!) and 90% of them were to ship asap - yikes! So I've been cranking it out and decided that maybe it was time to get some help. Maybe it was time to move this operation out of my house. And then Anthropologie came a'knockin'. And they wrote some orders. Some big, fat, scary orders. So I got some help, found a studio, and signed a lease. And I started making jewelry around the clock with the help of my husband and my friends. And then it was shipped. It was over. Whew.

So now I'm still really busy but it's not the complete insanity that was February and March. I have a show in May that I'm getting ready for (the Harding Art Show), I am hopefully moving into my studio this weekend, I've been training my two helpers, and I'm planning my daughter's first birthday party which probably would be simple if I hadn't been spending lots of time on Pinterest working on my Party Inspiration board. Her first birthday will be beautifully decorated if my end result looks anything like my pin board....

cute, right?

Source: marthastewartweddings.com via Beth "Freshie" on Pinterest

Luckily, baby girl and I got to go for a stroll around Radnor Lake yesterday. It was perfect weather for a walk, and unfortunately it reminded me how out of shape I am. I was proud of myself that I huffed it with a stroller for an entire hour. I'm sure many of you who exercise regularly are laughing out loud right now, but did I mention my new studio comes with the use of a workout room? Boo-ya!

Sweetheart Sale

2011-02-07T22:02:00.002-06:00

Sale is on these select styles through the end of February. Buy yourself your own Valentine gift or drop some serious hints to someone else! For delivery on or by 2/14, order by 2/9 and select Priority Shipping on the shipping/billing page.

Bye, bye Gilda

2010-12-24T13:53:00.000-06:00

Sigh. My 2000 Ford Explorer I had named Gilda has gone on to Explorer heaven. I got her in 2002 to be my ride across my sales rep territory of Kentucky and Tennessee. Then when I moved on from that job after two years, she helped shlep all of my craft show necessities across the entire Eastern half of this country. We went to New York City, Austin TX, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Oklahoma City, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Chicago, Indianapolis, and so many more. She had been stolen once, lost her stereo twice, broken into more times than I can count, and been in a few fender benders but she held her head high. Never once did she break down on me... until I got a tune up last week. Although technically she still hadn't broken down, she was gettin' shaky and it was only a matter of time before she gave out. 10 years and 168,000 miles later, she became a retiree.

Greg fills her up with my craft show display

I'll miss her, that loud and clunky Explorer; my first car purchase, my interstate friend.

Swirls and Swirls

2010-12-21T20:40:00.003-06:00

It's a miracle - the Christmas rush is over and I can finally sit back and relax a little... bah ha ha ha!

There is no rest in my world. :(

After a record Cyber Monday (but I really only have last year to compare it to), and an insane amount of orders after that, I have been doing nothing but making jewelry, sleeping, and eating. I've neglected many other administrative duties yet luckily have not seemed to have missed any major deadlines. I've decided it's time to bring on some help. For reals. And most likely move this circus out of our house and on to greener pastures... or perhaps just a small studio. Just gotta decide what I can afford in this town where I won't get mugged after dark.

Here's what else that's been going on:

* Bought a new car! Bye bye, hubs '98 truck. Hello, sexy Sonata.

* Got baby girl baptized! It was a great family weekend, full of warm fuzzies and friends.

* My 2000 Explorer seems to be breaking down in a major way... do we have to buy another car? Bye, bye income earned during 2010.

* We're going to Orlando for the very first ACRE wholesale show in January! Being a guinea pig is always scary and I have very low expectations but at least we'll be in Florida if it totally blows. Harry Potter World, here I come.

* In light of trying to save money, I'm tossing the idea around of not printing a catalog for the next round of shows. Is a printed catalog really necessary? Should I just print a catalog teaser then direct people to the website for the full line? Decisions, decisions.

* Got Zero a "Thundershirt" to help with his separation anxiety. He hates it and now shakes whenever he sees it. Thundershirt fail. I'd return it but I lost my receipt. :(

* Going to Atlanta tomorrow to deliver most of our fabulous new wholesale display to the warehouse for Atlanta Gift. I have all the pieces to the puzzle of my new display but have no idea how it's really going to turn out. Hmm.... We're also going to Ikea while we're there. This may be a really bad idea, being only three days before Christmas and all.

* Christmas is coming! Baby's first - can't wait to see her reaction to her new toys. Not that we got her many and not that she has any idea what's going on but it's still fun. That reminds me, I need to watch Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas special this year!

So that's my brain - swirls and swirls and swirls. I have so much to tackle and so little time. I tell everyone "I'm pretty much busy from November to after Valentine's Day". And I can't WAIT for February 15th!

Cyber Monday Time!

2010-11-29T15:56:00.001-06:00

And I'm in on the action! Hurry - it's one day only! Orders will also receive a cute little gift card/tag with each item. AND did I mention free shipping? :) Get shopping!

Free Shipping - all the time!

2010-11-09T23:01:00.003-06:00

I'm still working out the kinks in my shopping cart, but I'm ready to announce my new free shipping policy!

So shipping is free on ALL orders if you don't mind First Class. If you want to speed it up a bit, you can still upgrade to Priority Mail although the way my cart is set up to do that is pretty silly and I have to find a better way... Anyone out there use Cart Manager?

Anyway, I've been absent from the blog because I've been so. So. Busy. Wholesale is rockin' and rollin' and kickin' my butt. I think I'm about to start teaching the hubs how to make jewelry. It's a slippery slope to driving an RV and wearing tie dye as the crafts business becomes the family business. Yikes!

Fall is here - finally!!

2010-09-26T20:46:00.003-05:00

It's getting very fall-like around my website! I changed the background to a brown pattern and took some photos outside today on my deck for a print ad. I liked them so much, they already made it onto the home page. They look a little too orange on the website, but whatev. It was heaven to be outside in pants and feel the cool breeze. Let's hope 90° weather is behind us!! Welcome fall!!!

In other outdoor news, Greggars and I went to the TACA craft fair in Centennial Park today. Kinda funny that on my weekend off, I went into the office, so to speak. It was great to see my crafty friends including Lisa Norris, Bebo & Betty, and Karen Fincannon, and introduce them to my extended family (Zero and baby) since I don't bring either to craft shows. And I scored a sweet wooden brownie spatula, so I guess I'll have to make some Trader Joe's brownies again - yummy!

Renegade Craft Fair Chicago 2010

2010-09-13T21:22:00.000-05:00

We just got back from the Renegade Craft Fair this afternoon. It was our fourth year doing it, and what can I say? It was awesome! Fabuloso! Best ever! I love Chicago.

We went up on the Skydeck on a clear day. We don't usually do the tourist thing, but Greg suggested it and it seemed silly not to!

It's so real that it looks fake!

We used a new earring display made from louver blinds that the gracious owner didn't need any more. It think it worked really well and made it easier to see the earrings.

I modified my branch display to better showcase necklaces, and it received many complements.

And we got to see Mucca Pazza up close and personal. They were fantastic. I wish they would come to Nashville - that is a live show I would pay to go see!

We were so busy that we didn't get to talk to many of our crafty friends, and from the sounds of it, they had awesome shows, too! And for the first time, I was too busy to really shop my heart out. So sad. I did manage to sneak in the purchase of another Nate Duval t-shirt (Greg's 5th shirt by him) and an Urban Posture t-shirt that I am currently wearing. People and events such as Renegade remind me how much fun my job is!

NYIGF, take two

2010-08-28T14:02:00.006-05:00

We went to the New York Gift Fair again this month. It was my second time at the show, and my only sales goal was to break even, since I pretty much broke even at the winter show. The stakes were raised, though, as I had a shared booth last time for half the price and this time I had it all to myself with all of the cost. And it's expensive. Did I sell more than the winter show? Yes. Did I break even? Uh, no.
* Sigh *

I can cite a million reasons that would explain why I didn't do so hot, mostly to do with the economy and the high cost of doing business in New York. I analyzed my display all 5 days of the show to see how it could be improved (and decided even though my display looks good, I'm ready for a total overhaul). I agonized over the lighting and decided it is not highlighting my jewelry to its best abilities. So many ways to change what I'm doing... So many possibilities to try and sell more jewelry...

Even if I had a killer display with the best location in the show, I'm still not sure I would do anything but marginally better. It's one of those things where you just have to build it up one step at a time and I think my business has grown really well through a lot of word of mouth and sales performance. Some examples: Customers ask their favorite shop if they carry my jewelry, and then the shop looks me up. My (very nice) retailers tell other retailers how well my jewelry sells, and based on these recommendations, I earn a new account. This past Atlanta market was a great example of building my business over time - it was my fourth time there and my best show ever by far due to loads of amazing reorders! Kick ass!

So when I put so much time, effort, hard work, and cash into a trade show, it's so frustrating when it doesn't seem to pay off. Sometimes you want to just tell people "Just buy it. It sells. I promise." But of course I can't say that without sounding like a jerk. I did open new accounts and that's fantastic, but with the money I spent vs. the money I made, I'm right back at square one.

our NYIGF display - time for a change

However, you can look back on the months passed since a trade show and say "This account that I opened at the show turned out to be a great account and that made the show worth doing for sure!" but you never know if that will happen, and you can only hope. When you're sitting in your booth breaking out in a cold sweat adding up your expenses vs. your sales, it's a hard pill to swallow. So far, my sales resulting from trade shows in the long run are always higher than my show expenses, but as an actual return on investment, it's not very impressive.

So will I do NYIGF again? I'm not sure. I wish I could skip the winter show (too cold!) and do the next summer show but I'd probably lose my spot. But is it worth saving? I can't decide, and that contract is due soon...

Listing shows on your website

2010-08-21T13:48:00.003-05:00

I received a book called 500 Tips for Marketing Your Crafts for Christmas last year and every now and then I pick it up and flip through its pages. It's a bit pricey for a paperback, especially one that isn't even that thick, but it is full of information ranging from taking photographs of your work to prepping your car for craft shows. Most of it I already knew, but some tips are new to me, like this one:

Don't list your craft shows on your website.

Really? Their reasoning is that your competition will apply to all of your shows, get into some of them, and take your space or half of your money.

I guess I forget how cutthroat this business can be. I have always listed my previous shows on my website, going back to 2006...until today. I took them all off except for my next three upcoming shows. I see no need to not list the shows I am already in since the application deadline has passed and I can take them down once the show is over. This is going against their advice, however.

I don't know. Is that good or bad advice? What do you think?

American Artisan and Atlanta Gift Show prepping

2010-07-13T09:30:00.001-05:00

Greg and I successfully made it through the heat of the American Artisan Festival, and we even sold some jewelry, too! I also successfully survived the first craft show after baby - a mere 6 weeks after she was born.

Was I crazy to attempt it?

Yes.

But it was my third year of applying (and getting rejected) and I was so happy to actually get accepted! But Lordy Lordy it was HOT (heat index was over 100°)!!! But how cool was it to be in a show that I've been attending my whole life?? It was awesome, I tell you. And having friends in the same city as the show had its perks - we had friends bring us some Las Paletas one day and another friend bring us Sweet Cece's the next. Bless those dear people. May their air conditioners never fail them.

My sign really sparkles in the afternoon sun

Next we head to the Atlanta Gift Show - my first wholesale show after baby. Again, yes I am crazy to attempt it but I am relearning time management - something I've not been so good at with so many distractions like facebook and email. I am learning to say no to rushing orders out by staying up too late and to pace myself instead. My brain may never be as sharp as before (babies apparently have a way of melting your brain cells away), but as long as my list-making skills stay in tact, I should be good to go.

Here are some photos of what prepping for a massive wholesale show look like:

This is what pendants look like after being shaped and hammered but before their finishing loop.

Displays - a work in progress.

More displays - these will be making their Atlanta debut

My jewelry table has little room for actual jewelry making - I do a lot of work in my lap no matter how often I clear it off!

Amazing.

2010-07-12T11:13:00.005-05:00

This photographer makes me want to use my fancy jewelry camera on my baby more often. Her name is Amelia Lyon and she lives in California AND she even teaches classes on how to be an awesome photographer. I have found my inspiration for better family photography, although if I lived near her I would definitely book her. Visit her website here: www.amelialyon.net

Here's one of my faves:

But this one is my absolute fave:

New model photos up on the website!

2010-07-09T23:13:00.000-05:00

I just had a photo shoot with the lovely Libby Diaz (married to Jonny Diaz) and the photos turned out great! Have a look-see:

One of the photos above is gracing my new wholesale catalogs which were supposed to be done today actually.... Hmm... I never heard from the printer so I guess they are are not ready, which is their m.o. and why I always tell them a few days before my actual deadline. Shouldn't a printer with "speedy" in their name at least meet their deadline?

I'm back!

2010-06-07T11:43:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's true - the website is open again! And from the orders I've already gotten, it seems as though some people were standing by as the clock struck midnight on June 1st! I'm calling it a "soft re-opening" since I'm not sending an email blast about it just yet. I have so much on the books that I may not be ready to do an email blast until October! Like a crazy person, I am still doing the Atlanta Gift Show and the New York Gift Show this summer - it sounded so plausible before baby was born. Now it sounds like one enormous challenge but I know i can do it. People do it every day, right?

It's not easy getting back in the saddle again after being out of the studio for four weeks, in addition to all the transition that a new baby brings! My strategy has been to make mini to-do lists of only 5 things per day. Have I crossed all 5 things off the list on any day? No. But they get done, usually in a day and a half and that's good enough for now.

I have some fun new things in the works for Freshie & Zero - new styles with more pretty gemstones, possibly more rose gold if I ever get around to that to-do list, and I have a photo shoot with a new model scheduled for Friday! AND I will be exhibiting at the American Artisan Festival for the first time ever this month! I have grown up going to this festival and I'm so pumped about it - it's my first outdoor craft show in my home town that I'll actually be exhibiting in! Can we say it's about time? Can we pray for a heat index below 85°? The festival just added a facebook fan page - go over there and show them some love!

So peeps, thanks for being patient during my maternity leave! I'm so happy to be making jewelry again!

While I'm away...

2010-04-21T21:44:00.006-05:00

... you can still order from my in-stock-shop on etsy! Since I have such a hard time slowing down, I will be listing items that are made and ready to go as time permits in my etsy shop. Maybe it will help you indecisive ones make a decision since there's only a limited amount of choices? Check it out!

Website Vacation!

2010-04-06T06:57:00.006-05:00

Please get your orders for the next month and a half in this week! Starting next week the website will be closed for an extended period of time while we undergo major changes in our personal lives!! I may leave my etsy shop open and list only items that I have in stock and ready to ship, but I'm not making any promises!

New Bracelets and Rose Gold!

2010-03-12T09:57:00.002-06:00

Did you know I finally made some new bracelets, and I actually like them?

Bracelets have always been the red headed step-child of Freshie & Zero, mostly because I don't wear them and I don't understand why anyone else would, either, so why bother designing any? I am rarely asked if I make them and when I would display them at craft shows, I would maybe sell one a day so they seemed like a big waste of real estate.

But alas, I am on a kick for rose gold and my mixed metals collection is doing so well that I brought the two together to create some very pretty mixed metals bracelets, including a couple with rose gold chains.

What is rose gold, you ask? Rose gold, or pink gold, is a mix of pure yellow gold with a high percentage of copper. It has a subtle and delicate color that varies depending on how much copper allow is added to the gold. I own some rose gold jewelry that is rose gold plated over gold, but since my goal is to produce affordable jewelry, I use a rose gold vermeil, which is a layer of rose gold over sterling silver. If you like rose gold, you're in luck because I am planning on adding more rose gold to my collection in the future! Not sure when that will happen, but it is on my to do list! It's a bit tricky since I have to make the jewelry first, then get the layer of rose gold added so this extra step of planning ahead is not easy for me!

Dwell Pink Bracelet, $46

As before, all bracelets are 7" long but can be made a little longer or shorter if requested.

Quick Jewelry Care Tip

2010-03-10T09:08:00.003-06:00

Here's a fun little tip for keeping your jewelry looking fresh and new! You know those little silica gel packs that come with your shoes or electronics that say "DO NOT EAT"? Instead of tossing them in the trash, toss them in your jewelry box! They absorb moisture in the air which is a common culprit of jewelry tarnishing. Just don't eat them. :)

Lessons for Entrepreneurs

2010-02-19T09:31:00.010-06:00

buttons by dada dreams

I went to a lecture last night at my Alma Mater, Harpeth Hall, to hear two business women (also alumnae) discuss what it takes to be an entrepreneur. The first speaker on the panel was Olivia Mullin who started her own stationery business 15 years ago, Olivia Mullin Co. With over 1,000 retail stores and a very distinctive look, it is a very well known and respected company in my opinion. I was very surprised to hear she had just closed it in December but her reasons why made sense, but that's a whole other topic. The other speaker was Allison Wills Brooks - she started Calypso Café with her husband Phil about 22 years ago. I eat at Calypso Café often and even worked there for a couple of weeks (shortest job I ever had!) - they're known for fast, affordable, and healthy Caribbean food. There was also a moderator whose name I can't remember - he seemed like a small business/entrepreneurial coach who led their discussion.

I don't really want to re-hash the entire lecture, so I'll just mention a few key points that struck me.

An entrepreneur's first decision is "Do I want to do this or delegate this?" Are you someone who enjoys doing something or are you someone who can recognize talent in others, nourish it, and keep them happy as employees?

This was very interesting to me because I have always skated this fine line between artist and businesswoman and after hearing it put into terms like that, I think I really fall more on the artist side. I don't think I'd ever want to delegate out the making of the jewelry and just design it - I enjoy making it, selling it, promoting it, etc. I enjoy everything about running Freshie & Zero - except maybe calling for credit cards and dealing with disgruntled customers. It would be hard for me to delegate out certain aspects of my business, which is a lot of the reason why I haven't seriously considered bringing in help yet.

"Salary" is not an entrepreneurial term.

Basically, what's left after you pay your bills and your employees is your profit and what you take home. That makes me feel a lot better, too since I really have no idea what my income actually is until I file my taxes at the end of the year. I thought after 2008 I would have a better understanding, but since I spent so much on wholesale shows in 2009, my expenses went up by thousands of dollars and I was afraid to "pay" myself. I just spend money as needed and put money in my bank account when it's low. It's "very gray" as a friend of mine put it, but it doesn't really bother me doing it this way.

True profit is what you make after you hire help, and it's obviously a lot less than what you make when it's just you.

Yuck - another reason I haven't wanted to hire anyone. Luckily, I've been able to get a few necessary things done here and there for trade, which is definitely my ideal situation!

Don't let your ego get tied up in your business.

Allison said that they have closed a location or two of Calypso because it wasn't profitable and they couldn't worry about how it would look to consumers. Their ego wasn't so tied up in their company image that they had to keep a store open just to save face.

multitask journal from See Jane Work

Start out knowing you can't do it all.

That's tough - especially when I pretty much am doing it all! I recently got someone to write a press release release for me, and it's embarrassing that it took me about 5 years to get that done. I felt like I could do it because I knew it wasn't rocket science, but I kept putting it off because I really just didn't want to do it. I should have known 5 years ago that I needed someone else to do it for me.

Many entrepreneurs start by asking themselves "Why can't this be better? Can I do something to make this better?"

Both Allison and Olivia took calculated risks - they saw a need for something and thought they could fill it, i.e. make it better. They tested their products, did a lot of research, and did not take out loans to start their company much like myself. Allison said that what they spent on their first year in business was basically like paying for a year in graduate school but with a much better education - even if they failed in business, they would have gained an immense knowledge and they wouldn't really have lost anything!

Seek out a mentor.

When asked if they had mentors they each had to think long and hard and both named their fathers as inspirational since their fathers were both entrepreneurs. But they both suggested that if you want to be an entrepreneur that you seek out a mentor.

It was a nice lecture - I don't think I yawned once which is saying a lot! I am personally asked all the time for advice and tips about being a small indie business, and let me tell you - I am SO over me. It was such a relief to listen to other women talk about it who are way more established than myself. It was also great that they were so forthcoming with information. The handmade jewelry business can feel a bit cut-throat especially when a stranger out of nowhere emails you and asks you pretty detailed questions about where you buy your supplies or even just an open ended question such as "how did you get started?". Ummm... forget about my lack of free time to type out an extensive email - do you really think I want to freely give out advice to someone who could become my competition? I think a lot of people who want to start an indie business are so starry eyed that they don't realize that there is a reality of always watching your back and being on the lookout for your competitors. Luckily, the longer I'm in business, the less I care about the copycats out there, and the less it stings when customers tell me that so-and-so is copying me. So what? They may try and mimic the product, and they may try and sell it for less, but they'll never be you, your brand, or your heart. And of course, they'll always be one step behind as they say!

paperweight by Vilmain

All in all, I don't know that I would even classify myself as an entrepreneur. I don't have dreams of building up this big company and sitting behind a desk all day delegating responsibilities and employees. That sounds a lot like management, which I can do but that's not why I started this business. I think I prefer self-employed artist, thank you very much.

Atlanta and New York have been accomplished!

2010-02-07T11:45:00.011-06:00

Well, we did it! I knew we could do Atlanta since it was our third time (we're totally pros now), but New York was a first for us and I knew it would be a challenge. The funny thing was, loading in at the Javits Center in New York was super easy and they didn't charge us to use our own car like Atlanta does (ridiculous, right?). My brain is still fuzzy from the past few weeks, so I'll just post up some booth photos for now:

The finished Atlanta booth! We added the long skinny solid colored displays on the back wall to better showcase the lariats, and hung them at eye level.

This was close to the aisle so people could get a good glimpse, and of course walk right in! I taped our 8 x 10 press photos to the front of this desk, and because Cesar Milan is on the cover of one of the magazines, people kept thinking I was selling dog jewelry. It's just press, people!

15 days later we were off to New York! Here was our home sweet home for 6 nights - sharing a double bed was not conducive to fabulous sleeping, but at least the bed was comfy and the room was cute (the New Yorker hotel).

Our New York Gift Show Booth! I split the booth with Olaria studio - her beautiful handmade porcelain jewelry appeals to the same type of buyer, but is completely different than mine and therefore we felt like we were a good booth share match. The only problem with only having half a booth was that in order to squeeze in all of my styles, some of my jewelry was hung a little too high to see very well but it wasn't the end of the world.

Amy's jewelry - she also made those cool faux bois slabs to display her jewelry on!

I debuted these letterpressed earring cards in Atlanta and New York and they were a hit! I designed these and had them hand printed - they are completely custom including the shape and die cut holes. They are pretty pricey for me but if they skyrocket my earring sales like my retailers think they will, they will be so worth it!

This is one of MANY coat check stations at the Javits - amazing!

Now all I have to do is enter my orders and get back to jewelry making! We opened up new accounts in Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, South Carolina, Montana, New Jersey, and Connecticut to name a few! I will update my retailers page as the orders ship out so you will know where to find Freshie & Zero at a store near you (or your friends in other cities)!

It's crunch time!

2010-01-03T17:47:00.002-06:00

Now that the holidays are over and the Christmas rush is behind me, you would think I get to relax, right? Wrong!! In a few days, Greg and I will head to Atlanta for the Atlanta Gift Show to set up our wholesale booth and sell to retailers all over the world! This is the third time I've done this show and I already feel like a pro, which translates into even more procrastinating than usual! A few of the things on my to-do list:

~ make one of everything (I'm a little over halfway done with this)
~ attach all jewelry to my canvas displays, type labels with item numbers and wholesale prices, then attach to displays
~ plan a modified booth layout
~ find everything that needs to go with us and pack car
~ finish website orders from last week and mail

It doesn't sound too bad, which is probably why I'm procrastinating but making all that jewelry takes time! At least I know my catalogs are ready to be picked up. I forgot to put a few things in motion before I left for Utah, such as ordering extra postcards (I have less than 100 I think), and get jewelry images blown up to hang in the booth. Neither one is devastatingly important but it's the little things that make you stand out.

Greg & I in the booth last January - bright eyed and bushy tailed!

In the meantime, for Christmas I just (finally) got a copy of Craft, Inc by Meg Mateo Ilascoalong and 500 Tips for Marketing Your Crafts by A.B. Petrow. I am going to enjoy looking over those for the next few days as a kind of pep talk to having a great show!

Cheers to an exciting 2010!

Bad Form

2009-12-15T07:39:00.003-06:00

In the four years I have been doing craft shows, I have only received one bad check... until last month. The first bad check was no big deal - it was for about $35 and even though the check writer wouldn't return my phone calls, the bank said to just check her balance every day and when she makes a deposit, run to the bank and cash it. Which I did. Crisis averted.

Then last month, a guy wrote me a check and I just knew it was going to bounce. His demeanor totally changed when I told him I accepted checks. He wrote his drivers license and phone number on the check without my asking. He bought too much. He was a bit too eager. He acted ever so slightly on edge - he even broke my mirror by dropping it while trying necklaces on. Yes, he tried necklaces on.

Not only did this guy write me a bad check for $230, he wrote it from a closed account. That, ladies and gentlemen, is fraud. It is theft. And he stole money from little old me. A small home-based business just trying to make a decent living. What an A-hole. Capital A. My bank called me and they have this lovely FREE service of trying to get your money back for you for 60 days, so we'll see if they can track him down. If they can't, I just may post up his name on my blog for the world to see what a jerk he is. If that even was his real name...

By the way...

2009-12-08T07:44:00.002-06:00

Did I mention I got in to the New York Gift Fair?

Holy crap!!!

Super scary, cool, awesome, all kinds of things rolled into one! It's also scary expensive so I'm also very happy to announce that I'll be sharing my booth with Amy of Olaria Studio - her beautiful jewelry rocks! And she's pretty cool, too.

That's our ad she designed for the New York Show Planner. I can't wait to see it in print! Bless her for agreeing to jump in with me! I will update the progress of sharing a wholesale booth and the challenges I'm sure we will face. At the very least, we will have a great sense of humor and have a fabulous experience!

Back from my last craft show of 2009

2009-12-06T23:30:00.003-06:00

We hit the road this morning after a pretty disappointing show in Decatur, GA. It was my third time doing this particular show, and definitely the slowest sales-wise out of the three. I have decided to play the blame game:

I partly blame my lack of time to send out an email to the Freshie fans in Decatur that I was going to be there.

I partly blame something called "football" - I'm not too sure what that is but apparently there was a big football game this weekend that most Southerners were interested in watching instead of craft shopping.

I partly blame the fact that there were a million jewelry booths at this show - seriously show planners - trim down the jewelry vendors - it hurts all of our sales when there is too much in the same category!

Finally, I partly blame my location. I'm not much to put a lot of weight on show location, but my location at this show was pretty much near the very back, after people had already walked by the other million jewelry booths and had completely glazed over. It was by far my worst show this fall/winter. I didn't even take one picture to share with you - it was that boring. Luckily, the vendors in my room were very nice and we all chit chatted the time away, which helped a lot.

Oh well - Cyber Monday is still kicking my ass and I HAVE to ship the rest of those orders tomorrow, then I can start on last Tuesdays orders! And then the wholesale orders that must also ship this week, of course. Next year, this mama needs an intern, yo!

Just wrapped up Tis the Season!

2009-11-29T10:39:00.001-06:00

We just participated in a holiday-themed show in Franklin, TN, and it was so fun to make our booth festive for Christmas! Now I can't wait to decorate my house, too!

We played with some new displays and rolled out some special necklaces that were only available at the show. If I get any free time (not likely), I'll try to post them up on etsy after my show in Decatur this weekend (if there are any left!). Visit our photo album on facebook to see the rest of the pictures! While you're there, don't forget to fan us to get easy access to updates and specials!

What a difference a photo makes

2009-11-11T09:51:00.003-06:00

It's amazing what a real photographer can do for you, huh? The above image of my cartwheel earrings is from Artisan Design Gallery.com - a Tennessee-based online store for artisan-made jewelry and art. I was excited when the owner, Kathy, picked up my line for her website at the Buyer's Market of American Craft in July, but now that her website has finally debuted - I. Am. Speechless. Her photos of my jewelry are in a completely different league than mine! I'm a little embarrassed to show you my sad image of the same earring style, but here goes:

Ack! Shield your eyes from all the grey! Is it time for me to hire a professional? Maybe I should just hire a professional to shoot the ones with gemstones. It's no wonder I barely sell any of these beautiful earrings on my website - my photos just do not do them justice and they really are pretty.

Now that I have a lot to ponder, you should go and visit Artisan Design Gallery - she's having a 20% off Grand Opening Sale and she has a lot of beautiful work to choose from!

Shows 2009 - looking back

2009-11-01T11:00:00.001-06:00

The saga continues from a previous post here. I thought I would update my shows of 2009...

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Shows I have attended...

ONB Magic City - Birmingham, AL - April
~ awesome show, great sales, great weather, fabulous!

Spring Bada-Bing - Richmond, VA - April
~ great show put on by great people, but Richmond is a lonnngggg way away for a show that only lasts a few hours, probably won't do it again

Crafty Feast - Columbia, SC - May
~ bad location, not enough shoppers but plenty of bored neighborhood people who took up lots of space, too far of a drive for the earning potential, probably won't do again

Artfest - Dallas, TX - May
~ poorly run show, bad food vendors, terrible location, worst sales I've had in years at a large-scale craft show - they love some dichroic glass in Texas though! I think I learned that Texas is NOT my market. This show is actually on "hiatus" for 2010... interesting...

Athens Indie Craftstraganza - Athens, GA - May
~ eh. not good. rainy, shoppers were poor college students. read about it here.

Fountain Square Art Festival - near Chicago, IL - June
~ really great show! great quality of craft, nice town with people who like to shop, very windy though which I think is a recurring theme in Chicago this time of year

Indieana Handicraft Exchange - Indianapolis, IN - June
~ this show is as good quality-wise as the Renegade shows but unfortunately Indianapolis is just not ready for it. Sales were sloowwww and people complained about prices - not good.

Renegade Craft Fair - San Francisco, CA - July
~ a high quality indie show, amazing trip, slightly too many vendors which overwhelmed buyers and as a result my sales were just so-so (low for a Renegade show). i heard sales were generally lower than expected from other vendors, too. learned lesson that flying to a show is too expensive

Grant Park Summer Shade Festival - Atlanta, GA - August
~ this show has such potential, Saturday was decent but unfortunately it rained all day Sunday so I didn't sell that much... it's never been a huge money maker, so I will have to reconsider doing again next year

Kentuck Arts Festival - Northport, AL - October
~ a muddy mess this year unfortunately but I still had a great show! I had to fight my way in since they initially rejected me but it was worth it!

Pink Palace Crafts Fair - Memphis, TN - October
~ a four day show that was great the first three days but the final day was a nasty, rainy mess so sales definitely suffered that day...

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OFFICIALLY REJECTED

Atlanta Arts Festival - Atlanta, GA ($25)
~ screw this show - two years in a row they invited me to apply, $50 down the drain

Woodland Art Fair - Lexington, KY ($25)
~ double screw this show, three years rejected in a row. I even asked them if I should just give up applying but they gave me the song and dance that juries change every year, yada yada yada. I give up on Lexington, for reals.

Forum on Peachtree - Norcross, GA ($25)
~ they never even had the decency to officially give me any kind of rejection notice, what's up with that?

Virginia Beach Christmas Market - Virginia Beach, VA
~ officially rejected with a very nice letter. may apply again next year.

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All in all, including my four wholesale shows not listed here, I will have done 20 shows this year, and I just tacked on another one for November 7th! Also on the horizon, I have applied for the NYIGF!! The biggest wholesale show that I could possibly do (without going overseas) and wouldn't it be cool and scary to get in!?!? I believe they are mailing notices on November 1st so next week will be exciting! I dread driving to New York with my wholesale getup and dread dealing with their unions even more! I hear you can't even change a lightbulb yourself - the union has to do it. How did we evolve to that??

October

2009-10-31T08:22:00.006-05:00

This month has been a whirlwind, and just when I think I'm caught up, I get totally slammed again! I'm not complaining, especially since I just got to take a fabulous 4 day mini vacation with my husband to Treasure Island, Florida, which I highly recommend...

I hit the studio hard when I got back and had to finish up the biggest wholesale order I've ever had! I started it before I left town, but since I had a bunch of website orders I needed to get out when I returned, I did not get the big order done and shipped it two days past their desired ship date. I guess the busier I get, the more that is going to happen, but I'm just not used to being behind and it is irritating! This year will be my first Christmas season after stepping into the wholesale world full force, so it will be interesting to see how I keep my sanity! I had big plans of getting ahead by stocking up on my best sellers so that I wouldn't have to make everything when an order came in, and boy was that wishful thinking!! Such are the woes of small business growing pains, I guess.

I better get busy in the studio again this week because this Saturday, I actually have a show in my home town! Twist Art Gallery is hosting a handmade show in the Arcade downtown coinciding with the First Saturday Gallery Art Crawl and several talented Nashville artists will also be there including Mary Ink and Amanda Conley!

Come see me at Handmade in the Arcade, Sat, Nov 7th 1-9p.m.
Downtown Nashville, TN (click for directions)

Renegade Craft Fair is this weekend!

2009-09-08T13:00:00.000-05:00

And we'll be there! Freshie & Zero will be in booth #276, and our buddies from Rinse Soap will be right behind us in #275, so you can get accessorized and smellin' good just by stopping by our corner! We will be situated on Division Street between Paulina Street and Hermitage Avenue. According to the forecast, there is a 40% chance of rain, but there's no way it could rain as much as last year, right?

I'll be bringing a lot of one of a kind mixed metals to this show, so if you're in the area, please stop by!

Giveaway winners announced!

2009-09-08T09:57:00.007-05:00

Congratulations Sweet Mary & ErinChris07 - you guys were randomly chosen by the random number generator (random.org) to win a cartwheel necklace! Thanks to everyone who
entered, and stay tuned for more contests in the future!

Giveaway in honor of my 200th post!

2009-08-26T13:01:00.007-05:00

Wow! It's only taken me four years to get to number 200, but here it is! I was going to post up some banner ads I just made so you can see the marketing machine hard at work - the marketing machine named Freshie. :) But in honor of my 200th post, I think I should have a GIVEAWAY! Enter to win the Cartwheel necklace that is featured in a few of my new ads! And in honor of #200, I'll pick two winners - completely at random.

To enter the giveaway, simply comment on this post by answering the following question: What is your favorite Freshie & Zero piece and why? Easy enough, right? To win, you MUST include your email address so that I can contact you! Entries will be accepted through midnight on Monday, September 7th, and I'll announce the winners on Tuesday, September 8th here on the blog and also via email so please add beth(at)freshieandzero(dot)com to your list of email addresses so my email does not possibly wind up in your spam filter!

So, without further adieu, here are the latest banner ads, featured on SF Weekly (last month), Scoutie Girl, and Indie Fixx. I've been experimenting with different color backdrops - mostly to jazz up my etsy site, but I think over the course of the next few months, I will start shooting all of the jewelry on a slate background for the website, so that the colors are more consistent than the white I am currently using (which always looks grey in the photos anyway).

These ads take way too much time - in fact it's 1:45 and my plan was to make jewelry all day and what have I done? Written a blog, answered emails, and worked on the 3rd ad you see above. Now it's time for lunch, and when I come back, I have to file my business tax. The time flies when you're in charge of your own business! I don't know how I get any jewelry made with all the marketing and paperwork! It's been a good day, though. I've had two reorders from shops, and I am going to get ready for the Grant Park Festival in Atlanta this weekend. Life is good!

Happy giveaway entering! I can't wait to see everyone's comments!

Anika Easter

2009-08-19T09:57:00.004-05:00

I found Anika Easter's shop while stumbling through etsy. I am loving this painting:

It's a 30" x 30" and it's already framed! It's so hard to find big, quality artwork on etsy that isn't thousands of dollars, and this is definitely a winner in that department. I think it would look very nice in my dining room... I have an art addition, in case you didn't know. Everyone who visits my house is always taken aback by how much art and screen printed posters I have, and not just tacked up but framed. That's what happens when you major in art and then work in a gallery/frame shop for the next 9 years!

Anyway, back to Ms. Anika - she has many other lovely things in her etsy shop, or you can see her website here. She also has a line of frames made from reclaimed wood and designs clothing! Here's another of my favorites and you must read the description! It's subtly interactive!

Back from Philly

2009-08-07T23:33:00.011-05:00

The Buyers Market is over. Whew! I can't believe I made it through the insane schedule that was my summer show season of 2009. I'm in town for three glorious weeks and although I'll be hammering out a lot of jewelry, I'm excited to not have to get in the car and drive for a few hours for at least a little while.

what starts out like this....

becomes this....

The Buyer's Market was better than I expected. Everyone told me it was a slow show, so I advertised in both Niche (a magazine geared towards craft galleries) and the guide passed out during the show and prepared myself to not sell very much. My ads didn't give me the amazing results I see from some of my other advertising, but at the end of the day I basically broke even, assuming all of my orders go through and none are canceled. Hopefully I'll get another order or two after the fact, too.

As far as order cancellations go, so far, I've averaged one canceled order per show. One store was man enough to call me and cancel it. The other store just never returned my phone calls when I called for their payment, which was pretty frustrating. If you are a store and you want to cancel an order, just tell the vendor. We're not going to cry or berate you or anything - we just need to know to stop wasting what little time we have trying to hunt you down.

Friday was my birthday and we ate at El Vez with my bff Amy and her husband Dean. It was awesome. I love that place. Our guacamole had balsamic vinegar drizzled on top. Delicious.

what was left of the guacamole

Ah, anyway. We met fabulous people as always, and made many new craft friends including Figs & Ginger (of whom I have always been a big fan), Daa Glass (pronounced "daya"), Happy Owl Glassworks, Tasha McElvey, Modern June, Foundling, Silver Tree Art, and so many more. Since we had a lot of down time, much socializing was afoot.

Saturday night, I finally got to see Handmade Nation, of which my jewelry made a 2 second cameo!!! I just about jumped out of my chair when I saw it! It was shot at Stitch (in Austin TX) in 2006 and whoa - my jewelry has come a long way since that was filmed! Faythe Levine (the director) interviewed me right after winning the Stitch grant, and I was a little nervous in front of the camera. Hopefully, I would do better now that I'm four years wiser, right? There was also a scene where Ileana of India Romeo is on her way to the Renegade Craft Fair Chicago with all of her supplies, and I was literally across the street while that happened, because we were both staying at the Wicker Park Inn and we were leaving at the same time. I waved and said hi, and didn't even notice the video camera. My conversation with them didn't make the movie, though - I hope I didn't ruin their shot! :) I sat with Kelly of Biggs & Featherbelle and Elijah of Figs & Ginger and the three of us giggled our way through it, because we knew most of the people they featured. Kelley said she felt like she was at work! It really was like watching a home movie of my life for the past four years. It was pretty awesome.

After the movie was a Q & A with Faythe which was entertaining - it shone a light on what I already knew to be a division (or a generational gap, if you will) between older, "high craft" people and us youngun's. Questions were posed such as "Who buys this stuff?" (perhaps in reference to the porn rugs?) and "Why did you focus on young people" (which was kind of like asking why a summer camp documentary was focused on campers). The people sitting behind me kept asking each other "Yeah, but do they get paid?" every time someone in the movie talked about a particular craft they loved, that may have been very time consuming or nonprofitable. I see their point, but the movie was not called "The Rise of Craft, and How Crafters Pay Their Bills", it was about the love of craft for craft's sake, and some people turned their hobby into a career while others just love makin' stuff just for fun. Strange concept to people who make stuff for a living I guess. Anyway, I could write a whole post about the Q & A but I don't want to bore you. :)

The best point that sums it all up was made during a conversation I had with Elijah who said the main difference between older and younger crafters is that the older generation views anyone making something within their medium as competition whereas the younger crowd views each other as their community. Generally speaking, I think he was totally correct.

Back to the Buyer's Market in general - is a show worth doing if all you are doing is breaking even? I always tell myself that all I need to do is get my foot in the door of a store, because I know my jewelry will sell, and then once the reorders come in, that's when I'll start making money. But it is a little disheartening when you only write 7 orders in 3 days, and you pray that no one goes home and cancels it because they spent too much money. It's something I need to think about, but right now, I gotta go make some jewelry!

we finally took a photo of us in our booth!

A bit of happiness for you

2009-07-27T10:57:00.003-05:00

If you need to feel inspired or just want to smile, take a look at this video by Oren Lavie. It's really nice and worth watching, and the music isn't bad, either. Thanks to Valeria A. Heck for posting it on her blog!

Crazy Show Season, part 2

2009-07-26T09:13:00.001-05:00

... the cliffhanger continues...

So Greg and I arrive back in one piece from Atlanta, and I was a little panicky about not having enough jewelry to take to San Francisco. I also had no idea how I was going to fit a display inside a suitcase! This was the first show I would be flying to, and I had just been procrastinating in thinking how it would really work.

For starters, I borrowed my parents humongous suitcase that is always over the 50 pound limit whenever they fly with it. I assumed I would fill it to over 50 pounds as well, but I had no idea it would cost me a $90 surcharge! What a rip off! We repacked it on our return trip and got it down to 49 pounds. Boo-ya!

Before I could even begin to fill the suitcase however, I accessed the jewelry situation. The one thing I didn't want to do was pull all of the jewelry off of my wholesale display canvases, since I would have to hang them all back up again when I got back for the Philadelphia Buyers Market of American Craft, and it's not a very fast process. However, Greg and I realized that we would have to reconfigure them anyway since I will be on a corner in Philly, so off they came. Greg was given the arduous task of removing all the jewelry, adding chain tags, pricing, and bagging. Not fun for him, but he was a champ and did a great job.

While he did that, I started making lists of what needed to be made and it was surprisingly small! Apparently, I had created a stockpile of earrings and other things before Atlanta when I was in a zombie-like state of mind. It seemed a little like Jesus was there feeding the 5,000, except that it was not bread and fish, but necklaces and earrings! Jewelry was multiplying before my very eyes and it was miraculous!! The weight was lifted, and I definitely had enough jewelry for San Francisco. Praise the Lord. For reals.

We arrived in San Francisco at last! The trip I had planned for for months was officially starting! Thanks to my trusty guidebook, we already had plans. We went straight to Chinatown and ate at the Oriental Pearl. Of course we had Dim Sum which was good, but I don't know what the big deal is - it tastes just like shumai which you can get at any sushi restaurant. Their entrees were really fresh, though.

The next day, we got up at the crack of dawn, which luckily wasn't too early for us since we were adjusted to Eastern time. We headed to the show at Fort Mason Festival Pavilion in a taxi and of course were one of the first people there. It was cool to see the transition of empty pavilion...

to bustling craft show...

There was a lot of talent in that room! Unfortunately some of that talent was jewelry competition. :( I had a good show, but it was not as good as I had expected and I wonder if it was because there was just so much good stuff and so many vendors to choose from, and unfortunately buyers only have so much money. And I'm definitely more accustomed to southernors who are not very picky. San Franciscans are a picky bunch. Even though I had a ton of jewelry, so many times customers would ask if I had A but a little more like B or with a longer/shorter chain, and if I couldn't make it happen, they would walk away. Southernors would be like "okay!" and pick out something else. Of course this is a gross overgeneralization...

One thing I was not prepared for, was how cold San Francisco was! The forecast said 70 but it did not account for the wind chill! And of course I brought a white denim jacket that got dirty almost immediately. That jacket and my Squasht by Les hat were my uniform for the show. I also bought some groovy hand warmers that helped a lot by Texture. And speaking of indie peeps, I met a lot of people I had admired for a while or just discovered, and acquired some other new purchases. Such as: Rock Scissor Paper, Birdy Botanicals, Appetite, Ink Lore, Invita, and Cosmonaut. People were very friendly, and everyone in that building from Tennessee said hit to me, which was great!

Our last day in San Francisco was spent in a GoCar, which was fantastic. Not only did we get to drive a three wheeled car, we got a gps guided tour! It was a beautiful, scenic and easy way to see San Francisco without getting lost. I kinda wish we had a GoCar tour in Nashville so I could learn new Nashville trivia!

We looked kinda dorky, but everywhere we went, people were taking our picture, which made us feel like celebrity tourists. The best part? During the entire 2 1/2 hour tour, I did not think about jewelry once, and that was a vacation unto itself.

During our stay, we ate at the Monk's Kettle which was delicious despite the snarky waiter and the sketchy location. Their beer selection was almost as good as the Brick Store Pub in Atlanta, and that's saying a lot!

lemon-glazed asparagus with proscuitto and ricotta salata at Monk's Kettle

Cafe Claude was also amazing - thanks to Amy of Olaria for the recommendation! We also ate really yummy sushi at Sanraku, which was right down the street from our hotel, the Hotel Vertigo, which I highly recommend too.

sushi at Sanraku

The show paid for the trip, although I didn't make much on top of that, but who's complaining? I would consider flying to a show again, but I would definitely make a longer trip out of it so that it could justify the expense of renting a car. Taxi's get expensive fast, but in San Francisco it would have been too expensive to park our car and rent one. I definitely would not recommend only giving yourself two days between two big shows, though. That was a little stressful, and not the smartest thing I've ever done. It was all worth it, though!

Crazy Show Season, part 1

2009-07-25T13:03:00.008-05:00

Where do I even begin? I feel like I've been whirled around inside a pressure cooker for the last three weeks of my life!

I'll go back to Chicago, June 26th when we left for the Fountain Square Art Fest in Evanston, IL - it took us over 9 hours to drive there due to many annoying traffic jams. We set up in the middle of the street, and had to make fast decisions about how to maximize our set up where people could come in on either side of the booth. Then, we had some tasty dinner at the misleadingly named Flat Top Grill - doesn't that sound like a place to get a panini or a burger? Turns out, it was one of those Mongolian Grill type of places and it was really good, but a little difficult to make my own stir fry after I was so fried from our extremely long day.

Anyway, the Fountain Square Show in Evanston that weekend was great. It was what craft shows are supposed to be like - lots of great people, great weather (except for the scary wind gusts blowing everything around), and great sales! I find that my most successful shows tend to be street festivals like this one, but of course that's not always the case.

in the booth, slightly different setup that worked great

I knew that the Atlanta Gift show and the San Francisco Renegade Craft Fair were rapidly approaching, and I was feeling a little like a black hole was getting closer and closer to swallowing me up! I kept telling myself "Get through the Chicago show" and then I could focus on my next two big shows. So when we returned home Monday night, I only had one week to prepare, plus a day and a half between the two shows to get ready for San Francisco. Getting ready for a wholesale show is intense - you have to have one of everything made. You have to have the right number of catalogs, order forms, pens, tools, postcards, business cards, signage, etc... And then you have to be very certain how you are going to display it all once you get there.

We give ourselves two days to set up our display at the show, but some people take 4 or 5 to set up their temporary display. Some of these displays get really inventive and elaborate, but that takes $$. Even my simple canvas displays made with felt and paint cost almost $400. For canvases and felt, I tell you! That doesn't even include the cost of the jewelry supplies, the foam core wall, the floor, the chairs, the catalogs, order forms, promos, etc! The first wholesale show I did cost me about $7000 before the hotel, advertising, and not including jewelry supplies. Seriously people. This is what it takes to bring Freshie & Zero to the masses. And then I get to spend about 4 or 5 thousand more each wholesale show I do. Fun, right? Who wouldn't sign up for this?

Anyway, I'm bitching a little but it's really just the money part that is kind of staggering. So when people ask me for a discount at a craft show, my first reaction is to school them on how much money I have paid to be standing before them. Then I just smile and say "I'm sorry, I don't offer discounts at shows". But that's a whole other blog post all together and wholesale accounts never ask for deals (well, almost never).

I digress. We miraculously got prepared for Atlanta on time (many late nights of hammering and lots of help from Greg!) and set up was pretty easy, except for the fact that there was a huge air duct obstructing my ceiling, which I knew about beforehand but I did not realize that it would obstruct my track lights I brought. So I had to pay the floor rate ($200!!!!) to rent 6 track lights. Sigh.

I really wanted this show to be a big success, so I spent a little more on advertising this go-round. I did a pre-show mailing to every business that had ever contacted me, which was the least expensive form of advertising I did. Then I rented a little floor space in one of the Mart buildings where you can set up a "vignette" display of your products. It sounded a little steep ($672 for 9 square feet) but I took a deep breath and booked it. Then of course, I had to buy a table, fabric, displays for that space but it was all worth it. A very healthy amount of customers came into my booth who said they saw my display. I am 80% sure that I would book it again. I keep going back and forth - I'm trying to gather a tally of how many sales were directly or indirectly related to the vignette. And if I did it again, should I revamp it a little and change it up? Mo money mo money?

I also took out my ad in the Market Magazine again, which is the best advertising dollars that could ever be spent. So worth it every time. It's over $1000 but if your ad is good, it will more than pay for itself, and quickly too!

Greg prepares our morning coffee in our little booth.

You never know who you'll be next to at the show, either, and the vibe of your aisle can really affect your show and your sales. In January, I was across from a very corporate booth that held many sales meetings for their reps across the country. It was a little distracting, and they were really rude to their neighbors, which was totally unnecessary. So I got myself moved to a different spot this time and I loved it! The aisle was really narrow, so people had to get close to your stuff. And my neighbors were awesome! I met Leigh and her mother Susan of Leighelena, who makes beautiful enamel jewelry and who was also heading to Renegade San Fran. Then Karin and Kat of KBD Studio who were also very cool and sold me some of their groovy handmade clothes. I also met Caroline Pate who is another jewelry designer living in Nashville. It was her first wholesale show and she experienced all the mart has to offer - meeting nice people and fending off nasty comments from naysayers. I also chatted with Maria of Lua Chea again and she's a total sweetheart, and her jewelry line is so fun and made of recycled materials! I met many more wonderful people, too many to list here!

So after all of my preparation and advertising, I ended up selling less than I sold in January! What??!! You have to look at the big picture, people, and overall, it was more successful. I opened up mostly new accounts, when in January a lot of my sales were reorders. Freshie & Zero is now officially in 24 states (once I get all of those orders shipped!). I got a lot of solid leads, and Greg and I learned so much about marketing and how many things we were already doing right, but also some things that needed improvement. We even went to a couple of seminars to try and become better business people! We left the mart totally happy and ready to tackle new ground.... and then we had to get ready for San Francisco in two days... to be continued...

My desk revolts

2009-07-23T16:39:00.002-05:00

messydesk, originally uploaded by freshie & zero.

Yes, my desk has officially thrown up everywhere. I usually have the right side somewhat clear but at the moment, I've given up. There's just so much.... stuff. And it's all important. I just need a better way to file things for later without putting them in my filing cabinet, because once it hits the filing cabinet, it's pretty much forgotten forever. At least Greggles emptied the trash for me today...

I got all of my Mart orders entered last night - over a week later. I just can't believe we made it to San Francisco and back in one piece! It was a nice trip, and I'm glad we went, even if my sanity is paying the price a bit. I have so much on my to-do list, I"m having a hard time prioritizing. So I'm writing a blog. And procrastinating. I guess I should get back to my list....

Zero, wet from the pool

2009-07-15T18:59:00.002-05:00

Zero, wet from the pool, originally uploaded by Chewieez.

Zero is all smiles in my mom's backyard, after taking a dip in the pool. I'm trying to train him to not be petrified of the swimming pool. He's a great swimmer, but he HATES the water. The first time he saw the ocean as a puppy, he tried to climb onto my head to escape it!

ad for SF weekly

2009-07-02T21:56:00.004-05:00

Check it out, San Francisco! Look for my ad above in the next issue of SF Weekly. Part of the marketing machine that is Freshie & Zero. :) I thought it couldn't hurt to advertise on the West Coast for the upcoming Renegade Craft Show since I've never taken Freshie & Zero there! In the next issue, I'll be sharing an ad with the lovely Olaria studio. Of course, the timing isn't great since I had to close my website down for the month of July since I'll pretty much be out of town the whole month... Le sigh.

Crema Coffee - Nashville TN

2009-06-25T09:58:00.002-05:00

Crema, originally uploaded by Karen Alisa.

Have you been to Crema yet?

It's kind of made me think of Starbucks as sub-par. It's kind of made every other coffee shop I've ever been to seem sub-par.

Crema serves finer coffee and espresso and has a menu full of things you may never have heard of before. The first time I went there, I went there two more times in the next three days, and it's not down the street or anything. Well, it's sort of down the street - I take Nolensville until it becomes 4th and go through the mini-ghetto on 4th Ave. But when you get there all thoughts of ghetto-ness are gone as soon as you walk in and are welcomed by the yummy smell, the friendly service (suck that Bongo!) and the amazing menu full of so many different inspirations that you feel like you have to come back the next day to try another new one. I like the iced Cuban but it's an indulgence (condensed milk is all I'm saying). They also have some tasty summer specials up at the moment.

Crema Coffee
15 Hermitage Ave
Nashville TN 37210
http://crema-coffee.com/

Magic Bean Buyer's Brides & Grooms

2009-06-23T16:45:00.003-05:00

the whole wedding party!, originally uploaded by magicbeanbuyer.

I love this girl's etsy store - I am the proud owner of only one of her creations, but if you ever need a little gift idea, her little sculptures are adorable!

Visit Magic Bean Buyer's Etsy shop!

New website features!

2009-06-22T13:23:00.006-05:00

A friend of mine suggested that I create a web page for all of my color options a few months ago and I could have smacked myself on the head for not thinking of it sooner! Now you can go to one place and view all of the gemstones and pearls that I currently have on hand! Seriously, how did I not think about this before?

This will now help you decide what you would like on say, a Lula Lariat? Or a Little Leap necklace?

Another exciting yet totally simple new feature on my website is found on the Necklaces page. I have so many necklaces to choose from now that I have created subheadings with anchors to more easily navigate the page. I had no idea what that meant until a few days ago but was so psyched when I learned how to do it!

It's the little things in life, right?

Lauren Rolwing @ Nashville's Smallest Art Gallery

2009-06-21T07:22:00.003-05:00

Lauren Rolwing @ Nashville's Smallest Art Gallery, originally uploaded by d_box.

This modern and whimsical collection of art is currently on view at Nashville's Smallest Art Gallery, but you can also view them online! Visit their website.

Marketing Thoughts

2009-06-17T08:48:00.004-05:00

I've been trying harder to promote Freshie & Zero these days after a slew of unsuccessful shows. I've recently updated my Trunkt portfolio, as you can see in that groovy widget above. It's a pretty cool site but if it had a better search engine and a more user-friendly uploading style it would be perfect. I paid for it and have never directly gotten any sales from it, but maybe someday...

I've also delegated the maintaining of my facebook page to Greggles. I added a group a while back, but then decided a page would be better, but for some reason it's hard for me to figure out how to run it well. Greggles is a facebook/internet master and he will be so perfect at helping me make the most out of it! We may eventually do some facebook ads and see how that goes... In the meantime, become a fan (pretty please!)!

I was also talked into joining this website called FGMarket - only because the salesperson on the phone was so good, I literally could not say no. So far, it's been a big waste o' money and I should have known better - look at this listing, for goodness sake - tons of distracting text ads on the side, and I've singled out my listing but it really gets lost in the searches. I tried to search for "handmade jewelry" and not one thing came up. Their website is really disorganized - there's no jewelry subheading under "Artisan" - HELLO!

Anyway, all to say I've spent all this money on shows, marketing, and other pursuits that I should have known better were not going to pan out. That's becoming the phrase for this year - "I knew better than that!" Sometimes you forget to listen to your gut, and I've learned the hard way the past few months. It's made me a little more careful in how I spend my cash on the biz. I've been looking at some things I'm paying for that may not be necessary or ways to save on them - not really something I do by nature. My philosophy has always been the more I put out, the more I get back but that may not be so true any more...

Lightning!

2009-05-20T01:18:00.004-05:00

I know, I know, I'm lucky to be alive, yada yada yada.... But seriously - lightning struck merely feet away from myself, my hubs, close friends, my step-dad, and even a cute neighbor family while we were all on my front porch near the end of the yard sale on Saturday. It was LOUD. Sparks were FLYING from the telephone poles in front of our house and all of us felt like we had been smacked in the head - minor headaches and earaches were had by all. After we made sure our computers were okay (they were - whew!), we packed up the yard sale when the storm blew over, and took everything left (mostly) to good will.

Then we started realizing that maybe we had been quick to deem our house and appliances o.k....

Our phones (all two of them) were dead. I couldn't get a dial tone, until I hooked up an old corded phone (I know - who still has those???) and did get a dial tone so at least our phone lines were working.

Our wireless router was still working - for about two hours until it got so hot that it fried itself. The surge must have damaged its cooling mechanism or something. We are now broadcasting our wireless through Greg's old macbook that is semi-held-together with duct tape. Our internet was really spotty, so we were afraid that the cable lines were fried, but luckily it affected the whole street so Comcast cleared up the problem pretty fast. But seriously - no internet for a few hours was just like the dark ages! My computer was very angry and kept telling me to check my internet connection, because apparently every program is surfing the net in the background while I am using it. I was even wondering how I could plug in my computer to the phone line and dial up a connection - scary stuff...

Then the next morning as I lay in bed, I decided to turn on the t.v. to check the weather. I turned up the volume, and up, and up... all the way.... nothing. No volume. Picture - fine. Volume - nil. This was my first "big" purchase when I was a bonafide working girl 7 years ago - it was when flat panels were new and LCDs were thousands of dollars, so it was a big ole' boxy flat panel, about 19", and I loved it - it worked just fine and probably would have been fine forever, except for that whole electrical surge thing. Greg tested it with headphones and they didn't work either - the amp is dead and apparently it's too expensive to fix. Does anyone know of a cheap t.v. repairman?

Next, I went into my studio to work and turned on my computer. I made jewelry for a few hours before I realized I hadn't heard my computer make any noises. I turned up the speakers and turned on itunes... nothing... not a sound. Awesome. Another set of speakers broken, rendered useless by the lightning. Those were nothing special - standard issue Dell that came along with my first desktop computer, circa 2002, but they worked, dammit! Now, off to the trash they go.

The kicker is that Tad sold a t.v. at the yard sale (would have been a delightful replacement to the one in the bedroom) and Greg donated TWO phones to goodwill! Gah! The money we made at the sale for some tree trimming may also now be going to a new roof leak (all this freaking rain!!!) and the frustrating thing about all the stuff that was damaged is that none of it is really necessary to replace. We don't need a telephone because we just let it ring and never answer it (telemarketers, you know). We don't need a t.v. in the bedroom, but I have always always always had a t.v. in my bedroom (seriously - since I was 10 or 11). I don't need computer speakers. I didn't need lightning to strike my house, but that wasn't up to me.

So, instead of going out and spending retail on all these things (because I did need 4 new tires, I'm a bit short on cash right now), I just hit Craig's List for the first time. I think I can easily replace everything for about $80! That would be nice - then I wouldn't feel so guilty about replacing these items that aren't technically necessary for survival.

Now I'm off to bed to watch my volumeless t.v. - maybe I can figure out how to turn on the subtitles!

Happily Handmade Giveaway News

2009-05-18T08:59:00.005-05:00

The giveaway is over - I hope you had a chance (or 40) to enter! As promised, I am giving away a $25 gift certificate to one lucky person who entered Happily Handmade through Freshie & Zero, and the winner is...

Laura McC. of Signal Mountain, TN!

The 25 winners of the Happily Handmade Giveaway prizes will be notified today, so keep your eye out to see if you won!

Do you have tickets? To the bead show!

2009-05-10T22:04:00.005-05:00

So, once again the Intergalactic Bead Show is coming to town and once again, I will be out of town at a craft show. They usually send me free tickets, which is awesome, and I hate to waste them, so would anyone like to have them? I have two of them and if you want them, they're YOURS! The show is May 30th & 31st at the Fairgrounds, from 10am-5pm both days. I always find cool stuff - not just beads but chain, findings, and other groovy components. For more info about the show, visit www.beadshows.com and if you want the tickets, holla! Or just contact me at beth(at!)freshieandzero(dot)com.

Busts and Musts

2009-05-06T09:13:00.005-05:00

So... the Athens show was kind of a bust. Oh well - the rain and wind was working against us and I should have known that a small show based in a college town would draw the cool kids - the cool kids with no money. I heard lots of "I wish my mom was here" a.k.a. "I wish my mom and her wallet was here". Since they had us tear down overnight, all of my equipment was wet and getting danker by the minute in my car so that the next morning when I saw that the forecast again called for rain and storms, I hit the road. I never neglect a commitment I have made to a show, but the thought of setting up again, maybe selling a necklace or two, and then getting stormed on after a few hours, packing up in the rain and then driving home for 5 hours sealed the deal and for the first time, I did not fulfill my show commitment. Time is money, people! I felt bad, but sometimes you just have to weigh your time and effort against the bottom line. It's the first show I've lost money in a really long time. I actually sold more on my website over the weekend than I did at that show. I guess it's a good thing I have an online store!

hmmm... to return or not to return...

Anyway, that's it for my BUST portion of the blog. Now for the MUST - the Happily Handmade Giveaway! You only have one week left to enter and if you haven't yet - go for it!!! There are 42 sponsors, so you have 42 chances to enter! Check out the amazing prizes!!!

I only wish I could enter to win! There are so many great sponsors, including ....

Yokomono Studio

Pattern & Paw

360 Skin Care

I guess I'll just have to go shopping at some of these wonderful sponsor shops instead. For more info about the giveaway, visit their website.

Athens, here I come!!!

2009-05-01T00:07:00.007-05:00

I'm heading down to Athens, Georgia for the first time in 10 years to come do a super cool indie show! It's the Athens Indie Craftstravaganzaa - it sounds like the Lollapalablablah of craft shows so it must be awesome. If you live in Atlanta or anywhere nearby, you should totally come to the show! And all you UGA students, studying hard for your finals - put the books down for a couple of hours and come see all the groovy indie goods! Have a little retail therapy, then hit the books again. You'll feel refreshed and you'll definitely get a better grade!

Here are some of the things you could find at this show...

a waffle charm - why not? by Pancake Meow

super cute antipasta platter by Soup Studios

Vintage watch necklaces by Tallulah B.

Back from Virginia

2009-04-22T01:01:00.008-05:00

Thanks to everyone who came to Spring Bada-Bing! We had a great show and a great time in Richmond! I got to debut not only my new styles, but I also tried out my new display with using a 6' table with table risers that Greg made, and it worked out great! I think I'm ready to pack it all up in a suitcase and apply to some shows that I can't drive to!

My display consists of "professional" jewelry display pieces, a spray painted vintage deer, and some wooden shelving from Target. The tablecloth was a shower curtain. Greg ironed it for me, but it got wrinkled again in the car.

We also got to visit Greg's family, including our adorable niece and nephew!

We had brunch with Greg's parents at Can Can in Carytown. Yummy - I highly recommend it, especially the Braised Pork sandwich that I had. This was Greg's "Croque Madame" sandwich (mine was delicious but not as photogenic as his):

New Jewelry!

2009-04-16T15:02:00.002-05:00

I've been hard at work making new items! I've stayed up really late the last couple of nights hammering away (my ears can tell - they are intermittently ringing - yikes!). It was all worth it, though. Check out the new earrings!

These are the Bermuda and Little Bermuda styles. I am loving them! They aren't on the website yet, but if you're in Richmond, Virginia this weekend, you can snag them at Spring Bada-Bing or if you're going to be in Birmingham, Alabama next weekend, you can snag a pair at ONB Magic City! I will also have them available as necklaces.

The above styles are Brighton Sweet and Brighton Luna - the Brighton Luna style is really big - they hang a total of 2.5"! Those also are not on the website but hopefully I will get them up soon.

If you're watching the Modern Economy Specials - you should know that I won't be changing them this Sunday, but the current ones will remain up for an extra week or so. I'll be out of town until Monday night and then I'm leaving again on Thursday so I don't have time to do all of the necessary website editing to make it happen. Hang tight, though - I'll make it up to you with a really great special the week of April 27th! Feel free to comment below with your favorite item or items that you are would like to snag at a Modern Economy Price!

Calling on Indie Crafters!

2009-04-03T09:45:00.005-05:00

Crafty Feast, the adorable indie show I'm doing in
Columbia, South Carolina, is still looking for a few
good vendors! It's such a do-able craft show - you
don't even need a tent! The vendor list is pretty
amazing, so they seem to be on the lookout for high
quality indie craft, so if that sounds like you, contact
them soon! They only have a few spots left.

Shows 2009 - the life of a traveling craftie

2009-03-31T10:10:00.006-05:00

I started applying to shows this year in the beginning of February and the acceptances and rejections are now rolling in! Here's a glimpse into how my year is shaping up. The amounts are what I paid to apply, but I'm not a very good record keeper as you will see...

.:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':.

I'm so IN!
ONB Magic City - Birmingham, AL ($25)
(score! I was rejected last year and I hear it's a good one!)

Pink Palace Crafts Fair - Memphis, TN ($?)
(this was my best show I ever had sales-wise, mere days after my brother's death)

Grant Park Summer Shade Festival - Atlanta, GA ($25)
(I love this show - I'm so glad they let me come back!)

Spring Bada-Bing - Richmond, VA ($5)
(this will also facilitate a trip to all the relatives in Virginia, too!)

Crafty Feast - Columbia, SC ($0)
(this may be a low-key show but I won't have my slave labor, uh, husband to help me)

Artfest - Dallas, TX ($30)
(I was accepted after being wait listed! My first show in Texas since Stitch. Will Stitch be back for more?)

Fountain Square Art Festival - near Chicago, IL ($30)
(this show was literally blown away by heavy winds last year, hope that's not a repeat!)

Indieana Handicraft Exchange - Indianapolis, IN ($0)
(the promoter is a sweetheart and I bet there will be some great indie goodness here!)

.:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':.

I'm so NOT IN!
Decatur Arts Alliance - Decatur, GA ($30)
(2nd year in a row I was denied... bitches.)

Wells Street Art Fest - Chicago, IL ($30)
(same promoter as the Fountain Square Art Festival - funny I got into one and not the other)

.:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':..:':.

I'm still NOT SURE!
Kentuck Arts Festival - Northport, AL ($35)
(man I loved this show last year - I hope they let me in again!)

Athens Indie Craftstraganza - Athens, GA ($85 - includes booth fee)
(or however you spell it)

Atlanta Arts Festival - Atlanta, GA ($25)
(not holding my breath - I've been denied at least once from this show)

Woodland Art Fair - Lexington, KY ($25)
(this will probably be my third rejection from this show. hmph.)

Forum on Peachtree - Norcross, GA ($25)
(I think I actually am rejected but it hasn't been officially mailed to me yet)

Virginia Beach Christmas Market - Virginia Beach, VA ($100 deposit)
(this show is so big it kind of scares me but I hear it's great)

It's a LOT of paperwork to apply and keep up with all of these shows!! Each one has different rules, different set up times, fees, etc... My total fees paid out so far this year are: $500!!! Holy crap! It's so scary when you add it all up... The good news is, I've got a good rate of acceptance so far this year. I'll keep my fingers crossed for the rest of them!

Domino, R.I.P.

2009-03-26T13:17:00.003-05:00

How did I not realize that Domino was not publishing any more? I am so sad about this. I had almost let my subscription lapse since I had absolutely run out of room to decorate any more, and then we bought our house! I pored over Domino's and got so many decorating ideas from them - they were like the best blogs in print all at my fingertips. *Sigh*. Decor8 wrote a great post about it here.

part of my Domino collection

Saturday & Sunday - Walden Artisan Market in Nashville!

2009-03-25T22:47:00.005-05:00

Calling all Nashvillians! Come to the East Side for a groovy craft show this weekend! No lame-o crafts here - expect nothing but tha coolest from the indie East Side! I won't be selling, but I'll certainly be shopping!

This adorable flyer was designed by Carolyn Burgess Sellers, the lady behind Squirrel Pearl, who will be there selling her creations and some of her fabulous vintage finds as well. Check these out:

Mustache serving plates - the perfect kitchen gift for your bachelor friend!

Also, Jessica of the orange bicycle will be there with sewn goodies- zipper pouches, wine totes, dishtowels and tote bags in really cute fabric combinations! And, check out Caryn of Leroy and the Girl with her amazing pastel artworks. (Caryn will only be there on Sunday). There will also be pottery, vintage clothing, jewelry and much much more! So go check it out, yo!

In other East Nashville art news, Art & Invention Gallery has an Open Art Night! Here's the scoop:

On Thursday & Friday nights, plus all day Saturday & Sunday, anyone with the desire to paint or create art can come to Art & Invention and play.
It doesn’t matter if you have years of experience, or no experience at all…
The point is to start having fun NOW!

Here’s how it works:
If you have everything you need to make art , and just need the space to create it - call us.
If you don’t have anything but the desire to make art, and have no supplies and no place to create your masterpieces - call us.
If you want to work on craft items outside of your own home - call us.
If you want to get together with a group of friends to make art and make an event out of it - call us.
If you want to paint in the great outdoors, and don’t want to be bothered with hauling everything to the location of your choice - call us.
We will deliver and pick up everything you need.
(We call this Art & Invention- Outdoors & On the Move!)

For more info, contact Meg at Art & Invention Gallery
1106 Woodland Street
EAST Nashville, Tennessee 37206
615.226.2070

Why Shop Local by Petra Geiger

2009-03-07T11:57:00.005-06:00

Hop over to the Beehive Co-Op Blog and read a really great post by Petra Geiger, the founding force behind the co-op. It's an interesting commentary about how money spent at small businesses vs. big box businesses is circulated differently within the local economy. Go take a look and tell me what you think!

Birds make me happy

2009-03-04T11:11:00.003-06:00

Can you guess what this is? It's a necklace! It is so pretty - I wouldn't even want to wear it - I would want to frame it because it looks like a work of art! This is just one bird necklace from Belokrinitski's shop - it features different shades of green, blue, turquoise and fuchsia felt, is hand cut and machine embroidered. She says "Each bird is absolutely unique because i cut and assemble the parts and color individually for each bird." It's made by hand in Israel and shipping is even free! Go see her selection of bird necklaces here.

Found via Misosouper.

Too good to keep to myself!

2009-03-03T09:41:00.004-06:00

Night Owl Goods (one of my favorite paperie designers) is having a one day sale! Take 50% off of all of their postcards today only! Sale ends 8pm CST. They're super cute and wooden, too! I have the squirrel with acorns style, which is your favorite?
Night Owl Goods is a stationery company devoted to creating handmade letterpress cards and eco-chic wooden goodies, like these sliced wooden postcards! They're modern yet folksy, kind of like my two current favorite bands Iron & Wine and Fleet Foxes! They even do custom wood wedding invites - take a look around their website and see all of their amazing products!

New jewelry!

2009-03-01T15:48:00.000-06:00

I've been extremely productive today, even though I've been in my pajamas all day. Showering can wait - I have new jewelry to show the world!

I've been experimenting with sanding some of my pieces to achieve a matte finish which I think is very pretty, but I needed to make this finish available on very specific pieces that had their own look and style. So far, all of my disc and solid pieces come in the matte finish but I wanted to try out some matte finishes on some of the wire pieces, too. I've also been curious about working with slightly thicker wire - it's a little harder to work with but can hold its shape on pieces that are more open (like the lucky or bucket) as opposed to all of the other work that has finished lines that all connect. The lucky and bucket are fine and don't need any reworking, but how could I take that idea further?

After playing around with my materials, I arrived on a solution - hoop earrings! Not exactly earth shattering or re-inventing the wheel or anything, but hoop earrings in my own style could be nice, right? I thought so, and I love how they turned out:

I have never done anything like this before so I only have three styles available and I haven't even named them yet (any suggestions? if you have a good one and I use it, a pair is yours). I have a rectangular hoop and a small and medium round hoop. The closure is a bridge style that I have created, which is pretty exciting that the entire thing is created with my wire! So far, I have put them in my etsy shop to see what happens. I get more traffic on my website, though, so I'll be adding them soon. I may make a few extra pairs and then send them to Bliss in Knoxville and Art & Invention in Nashville - two of my stores that have carried my jewelry the longest to see what they think. What do you think?

I also have a new heart necklace that I'm excited about. I've been playing around with heart shapes for over a year, and it's about time that I made one that I'd like to add to the line! I call it the free form heart, since each one is made entirely by hand and the shape is pretty much up to how the wire and my tools interact.

A good cause

2009-02-27T10:45:00.004-06:00

I've been following the adoption journey of a local family, the Fadely's, as they have been in the process of adopting a child to make their family of 5 a family of 6! Obviously, they have a lot of love to give - whenever I have been around the mom of the bunch, Tisra, you can almost see a cloud of joy surrounding her. After two years of trying to adopt through Taiwan, a child popped up on their radar from India and they jumped on the chance! (of course this is overly simplified - to learn more visit their blog, lifetrain) They are currently trying to raise funds to go and get her once all the paperwork is complete, hopefully this summer, and they need help to get there!

Little Dorothy, waiting patiently for her new parents!

The good news is that it is so easy to help! All you have to do is go to their website and for every $10 you donate, you'll be entered to win one of their awesome prizes that have been donated to their cause! Not only could you win a nice Canon Rebel camera or a Wii, but there may also be some Freshie & Zero and Charm Star goodies along with some other awesome handmade items. Please take a moment - $10 is not much at all and would be such a blessing to help them get closer to their goal to bring their sweet little daughter home from India!

Announcing Modern Economy!

2009-02-22T22:25:00.005-06:00

I have returned home from yet another wholesale show! This one was in Philadelphia and I gotta tell you, it was pretty dead. I was disappointed in the amount of buyers who turned out and the ones who came were spending very conservatively. Luckily I just about broke even, so I didn't lose any money but I didn't really make any, either. Sigh.

Since I had so much down time, I had plenty of time to chat with other creative peeps and got some great new ideas to boost sales. One person told me that they had a "recession line" which was something I have been hearing about more and more lately. I know of jewelers who have done this by offering a sterling silver plated or brass line (but I really don't like the idea of switching to such cheaper materials) or just creating something that is super simple and not time consuming (such as a "doorbuster" as another creative friend of mine put it). I have decided to give it a try but instead of an entire line of lower priced items, I am going to offer a few special deals on my website on select items only and rotate them every other week. If it goes over well, then I'll consider doing it longer or maybe introducing a small collection of lower priced items. Recession sounds like such a downer, though, so I have decided to name my special pricing "Modern Economy". Doesn't that sound nice?

In other news, since my wholesale shows were not the windfall that i expected, I'll be hitting the road again this year doing craft shows! I have applied to several and am waiting to hear back (oh the waiting game!). If you know of any cool ones, let me know! I've also decided to not only drive but also - eek - fly to some shows. This will eliminate the requirement that a show must be within a certain amount of miles to apply to. On that note, I've decided to apply to Bumbershoot in Seattle! I have always wanted to go to Seattle and how cool would it be to do that show? This means reconfiguring my display into something I can take on an airplane, but I'm up for the challenge after talking to so many crafters about how they do it. We'll see where 2009 takes Freshie and Zero!

Show at the Renaissance Center

2009-01-25T23:50:00.003-06:00

Here is a very nice article, if I must say, about Freshie & Zero. It is on the Renaissance Center's website where my jewelry will be on display January 23rd - March 14th. The opening reception will be held Friday, January 30th from 6 - 7:30 but unfortunately it falls on my sister's birthday dinner so I won't even be able to go! Although, she's been so unpredictable lately (she turned 14 - need I say more?) that she may decide she doesn't want to go out after all... Either way, if you have been wanting to see the Renaissance Center, which is a beautiful facility complete with laser light shows (Laser Beatles, anyone?) and art shows, you should definitely go check it out and stop by my jewelry case while you're there!

The Renaissance Center is an arts and technology education and performing arts center just 35 miles west of Nashville on Interstate 40 at exit 172. Open 8 am to 9 pm Monday through Friday, 9 am to 9 pm Saturday. Closed Sundays except for special events. For more information, call (615)740-5600 or 1(888)700-2300. The Renaissance Center, 855 Highway 46 South, Dickson, TN 37055.

Bad news for small businesses and makers of children's products

2009-01-23T20:20:00.008-06:00

The article posted below is found on Forbes website. It is kind of long, but it is an urgent call to action on a law that will negatively affect this country that goes into effect on February 10th. It is about the dangerous new law affecting anyone who makes children's products - from toys to stationery to hats to shoes to jewelry. In short, this law requires anyone who produces children's products to get them certified as lead free using expensive testing that most small businesses could never afford. Up until a couple of weeks ago, it also affected any used toys or clothing sold at thrift stores but thankfully they amended the law due to consumer and retailer protesting. If you haven't heard of this legislation, please visit these links and write, call, or email your congress representatives! This site makes it super easy to do so: http://capwiz.com/americanapparel/issues/alert/?alertid=12274476

Other good sites to visit on the subject:
http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/dont-throw-yourself-under-the-cpsia-bus/
http://blog.buyhandmade.org/?cat=4

Here's an etsy search to raise awareness for items that will be illegal to sell after Feb 10th without proper lead testing. Each listing is priced at the actual cost to test the product - I saw some ranging from $6,000 -$15,000!! If this law passes, you can say goodbye to products like these:

Below is the Forbes article:

Scrap The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act

by Walter Olson, 01.16.09, 04:21 PM EST

Self-congratulation makes for bad law.

If someone you know volunteers at a thrift store or crochets baby hats for the crafts site Etsy or favors handmade wooden toys as a baby shower gift, you've probably been hearing the alarms about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA).

Hailed almost universally on its passage last year--it passed the Senate 89 to three and the House by 424 to one, with Ron Paul the lone dissenter--CPSIA is now shaping up as a calamity for businesses and an epic failure of regulation, threatening to wipe out tens of thousands of small makers of children's items from coast to coast, and taking a particular toll on the handcrafted and creative, the small-production-run and sideline at-home business, not to mention struggling retailers. How could this have happened?

Congress passed CPSIA in a frenzy of self-congratulation following last year's overblown panic over Chinese toys with lead paint. Washington's consumer and environmentalist lobbies used the occasion to tack on some other long-sought legislative goals, including a ban on phthalates used to soften plastic.

The law's provisions were billed as stringent, something applauded by high-minded commentators as a way to force the Mattels and Fisher-Prices of the world to keep more careful watch on the supply chains of their Chinese factories.

Barbed with penalties that include felony prison time and fines of $100,000, the law goes into effect in stages; one key deadline is Feb. 10, when it becomes unlawful to ship goods for sale that have not been tested. Eventually, new kids' goods will all have to be subjected to more stringent "third-party" testing, and it will be unlawful to give away untested inventory even for free.

The first thing to note is that we're not just talking about toys here. With few exceptions, the law covers all products intended primarily for children under 12. That includes clothing, fabric and textile goods of all kinds: hats, shoes, diapers, hair bands, sports pennants, Scouting patches, local school-logo gear and so on.

And paper goods: books, flash cards, board games, baseball cards, kits for home schoolers, party supplies and the like. And sporting equipment, outdoor gear, bikes, backpacks and telescopes. And furnishings for kids' rooms.

And videogame cartridges and audio books. And specialized assistive and therapeutic gear used by disabled and autistic kids.

Again with relatively few exceptions, makers of these goods can't rely only on materials known to be unproblematic (natural dyed yarn, local wood) or that come from reputable local suppliers, or even ones that are certified organic.

Instead they must put a sample item from each lot of goods through testing after complete assembly, and the testing must be applied to each component. For a given hand-knitted sweater, for example, one might have to pay not just, say, $150 for the first test, but added-on charges for each component beyond the first: a button or snap, yarn of a second color, a care label, maybe a ribbon or stitching--with each color of stitching thread having to be tested separately.

Suddenly the bill is more like $1,000--and that's just to test the one style and size. The same sweater in a larger size, or with a different button or clasp, would need a new round of tests--not just on the button or clasp, but on the whole garment. The maker of a kids' telescope (with no suspected problems) was quoted a $24,000 testing estimate, on a product with only $32,000 in annual sales.

Could it get worse? Yes, it could. Contrary to some reports, thrift and secondhand stores are not exempt from the law. Although (unlike creators of new goods) they aren't obliged to test the items they stock, they are exposed to liability and fines if any goods on their shelves (or a component button, bolt, binding, etc.) are found to test above the (very low) thresholds being phased in.

Nor does it get them off the hook to say an older product's noncompliance with the new standards wasn't something they knew or should have known about (let alone to say anyone was harmed; the whole controversy from start to finish has gone on with precious little showing of real-world harm to American kids from most of the goods being banned).

Thrift store managers, often volunteers themselves, have no way to guess whether every grommet or zipper on a kids' jacket or ink on an old jigsaw puzzle box or some plastic component of Mom's old roller skates would pass muster.

"The reality is that all this stuff will be dumped in the landfill," predicted Adele Meyer, executive director of the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops. Among the biggest losers if that happens: poorer parents who might start having to buy kids' winter coats new at $30 rather than used at $5 or $10.

And even worse: Since the law does not exempt books, children's' sections at libraries and bookstores will, at minimum, face price hikes on newly acquired titles and, at worse, may have to rethink older holdings.

After all, no one has the slightest idea how many future violations lie hidden in the stacks and few want to play a guessing game about how seriously officialdom will view illegality. "Either they take all the children's books off the shelves," Associate Executive Director Emily Sheketoff of the American Library Association told the Boston Phoenix, "or they ban children from the library."

Antique dolls? Old model-car collections? Musical instruments? Vintage bicycles? Some will go underground in private collectors' clubs, others will be tossed on the bonfires of the new Cultural Revolution.

A traditional attraction on the heritage festival circuit is the kids' dance or performance troupe in ethnic, pioneer or frontier garb, often handcrafted with the sort of ornate detail (beads, pendants, lace inserts, etc.) that will not be practical to test.

The same goes for Native American kids' cherished moccasins, buckskins and powwow gear. Making matters worse, many foreign producers of craft and small-batch toys and clothes, chary of liability under the law, are planning to exit the American market entirely, a step already taken by three German toymakers.

In recent weeks, as thousands of crafters and retailers began to compare notes and realize that they would soon be left with stocks of unsalable merchandise, forced out of business or both, the protests have begun to mount: alarm-raising at hundreds of blogs and forums, a torrent of Twitter discussion, YouTube videos, endangered-products lists, Facebook groups and so forth.

A group called Handmade Toy Alliance is calling attention to the law's burdens in that area. Booksellers are mobilizing. Yet prominent consumer groups have continued to defend even the law's more extreme applications, and their spokespersons are dismissive of public outrage. "I haven't heard a single legitimate concern yet," Public Citizen's David Arkush wrote last month.

The consumer groups--and the congressional offices of key CPSIA backers Bobby Rush, D-Ill., and Henry Waxman, D-Calif.--have blamed opposition to the law on "misinformation" and "confusion."

Defenders of the law point out, for example, that item-by-item enforcement at thrift shops is unlikely to be an enforcement priority any time soon for the Consumer Product Safety Commission's 100 field investigators.

The thing is, few librarians, eBay (nasdaq: EBAY - news - people ) sellers or knitters want to be told that they're outlaws but at too small-fry a level to attract the authorities' attention. They want to be legal.

Besides, the law grants enforcement authority not only to the CPSC but to the 50 state attorneys general, which means anyone who ships nationally, small fry or not, is at the mercy of whomever turns out to be the least reasonable attorney general, a post for which there is always considerable competition.

As CPSIA opponents mobilize, the phrase "unintended consequences" is often heard. Part of the irony, after all, is that the Hasbros and Targets, with their standardization and economies of scale, can afford to adapt to such rules as part of their business plan, while the sorts of enterprises that initially looked to benefit most from the Chinese toy scare--local, organic and so forth--are also the ones who find it hardest to comply.

But the failure here runs deeper. This was not some enactment slipped through in the dead of night: It was one of the most highly publicized pieces of legislation to pass Congress last year.

And yet now it appears precious few lawmakers took the time to check what was in the bill, while precious few in the press (which ran countless let's-pass-a-law articles) cared to raise even the most basic questions about what the law was going to require.

Yes, something's being exposed as systematically defective here. But it's not the contents of our kids' toy chests. It's the way we make public policy.

Walter Olson is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and the author of The Rule of Lawyers and other books. He edits Overlawyered.com.

Random Goodness - Band Poster Decorating

2009-01-23T09:46:00.007-06:00

When I moved into our new house, I thought that I had plenty of art to go around. But some of my older college paintings were ready to be retired from my wall (do I really need to hang the self portrait of me dancing in baggy pants in technicolor? uh, no. raver days are in the past.). So the first room to tackle is the kitchen. I have large, blank walls begging to have cool art on them - especially since we went pretty neutral in the kitchen for re-sale value and I'm not really a neutral person. I'm definitely not a blank walls person!

After much thought, I decided I needed some cool screen-printed posters to adorn the walls. There are a million amazing screen printed posters and prints out there right now, but I started to find that they were all pretty small. Most of my favorites that I found that were big enough turned out to be band posters. I'm not really a band poster kind of girl, but these are not the band posters I grew up with - no 40" x 50" huge blown up pictures of the artists or anything like that. (r.i.p. my favorite Beastie Boys poster) So I embraced the idea of cool band posters in my kitchen. At first, my criteria was that it had to be a band I had either seen or that I really love. Unfortunately, it seemed that most of the bands I love do not have posters that go with my color scheme. And since I have only seen, um, one band this year (Iron & Wine), that made my list pretty limited. So I just decided to go on pure aesthetic and the remaining criteria was that I had to at least own some music by said band. To kick things off, Greg gave me this one from my etsy wishlist for Christmas:

Iron & Wine - the only band I have seen this year and a music mood that I have really been into lately. I loved the orange with the muted blue and brown. This is by Hero Design Studio.

Since I really liked those colors, I was trying to stay within that general color theme. I wanted a Fleet Foxes poster to go with my Iron & Wine indie folk obsession but their posters just weren't doing it for me. Bummer. Here is what I have found:

by Guy Burwell - I actually am a big fan of MGMT and this poster is awesome, too!

Then I found this fabulous "Indies Only" poster by Large Mammal - it lists a bunch of bands and half of them I have never heard of, but I do own a Band of Horses CD which is listed -criteria met. This poster is now sold out, but he had a TON of fabulous ones to choose from. I may be back for more....

Many of these posters were found by searching through GigPosters.com - it made it really easy to find poster images of bands I knew, but unfortunately some of them were a tease since many of them were sold out. It's totally worth checking out, though. Look what I just found on the home page!

We made it!

2009-01-09T20:40:00.008-06:00

I can't believe it - we actually made it to the mart, got set up and had no major mishaps. It was even... dare I say.. easy? I have only found three misprinted price tags so far and my order form is a bit ill-conceived as far as the ease of the layout, but they are simple problems that are easily modifiable by the next market. Overall, I think my booth turned out great!

As a bonus, Kara from Kailo Chic and Heather from Rinse are both on my floor so I have indie partners in crime who are new to the mart, too!

Here is a short slide show of our booth set-up process. Now I must go to sleep if I am going to be able to sell jewelry all day tomorrow!

Affirmation for 2009

2008-12-28T20:29:00.004-06:00

I am not a New Year's resolution type of person but I read a little article in Good Housekeeping about the benefit of affirmations in a totally non-hokey way. From what I read while skimming the pages (who has time to read an entire article?), if you want to feel or act a certain way or if you want something specific to happen, you just say it 6 or 7 times a day at least. This is not The Secret mumbo-jumbo - mainly because it's not news and there are no infomercials about it! It's an idea that's been around since the early 1900's and it just struck me as a good idea so here is my affirmation:

I will be successful and I will have fun doing it.

I like it because it's easy to remember and it makes me feel good just thinking it. Saying I will be successful relieves some of the stress associated with trying to get there. And having fun doing it - isn't that the whole reason I started my own business? Heck yes!

my husband: holiday temp in the Freshie and Zero shipping department

2008-12-16T22:18:00.002-06:00

I'm a holiday temp in the Freshie and Zero shipping department, originally uploaded by Chewieez.

The shipping department at Freshie and Zero has a holiday elf helper! I couldn't keep up without my sweet husband helping me pack up my orders - especially with the last two week holiday rush. It's been completely crazy around here (bless all the people who have been buying handmade jewelry this holiday season) and I've also been trying to get ready for a huge HUGE wholesale show in January which I am pretty behind on in the preparedness department... I've also been trying to finish unpacking since we've moved, get ready for house guests in a few days, and not go crazy. Spiked egg nog, anyone?

Charm Star Holiday Sale!

2008-12-15T11:47:00.004-06:00

Totally shameless self promotion but I really want to sell these adorable Christmas charms! My absolute favorite is the Modern Christmas Wreath necklace. Please visit my Charm Star shop below to find these and other cute charm jewelry. The last day to order with First Class Mail is today but you can upgrade to Priority Shipping until December 18th to still get it by Christmas!

Renegade Holiday Sale!

2008-12-10T21:09:00.006-06:00

What a fun show! What a freezing cold weekend! For someone who has grown up in the south and has experienced 70 degree weather on Christmas Day, and has seen not only the entire city of Atlanta shut down (including banks) due to a couple of inches of snow, but also the citizens of Atlanta cross country skiing in their 2 inch blizzard, the weather was nuts! It was 8 degrees on Sunday, people!!! At least I was prepared with lots of layers, and it gave me an excuse to buy a new hat and some handmade lotion, a fabulous solution to dealing with the elements.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who stopped and shopped in my booth - we had a great time and met a lot of fabulous people! Thanks also to all the vendors who let me talk their ear off including Mary Ink, Cursive Design, and My Favorite Mirror. I did my fair share of shopping which I have been so good about lately, but there was just too much fabulous stuff that I was unable to contain myself. I can't giveaway too much of what I bought since I did actually buy some Christmas presents, but here are a few...

Giant Dwarf - i have already gotten so many complements on a hat similar to this one

Ol Factory Candle Company

Paper Parasol by my favorite illustrator Cindy Tomczyk

Biggs & Featherbelle - i love everything i got from her!

Tartella

You must visit the Vendor page to find more wonderful goodies. I will certainly be shopping off of that page for a while. I already have my eye on Fox & Clover, Spring Olive, and Pearl & Marmalade. Sue Daly did a great job of running the show, which believe me is a HUGE undertaking. I'm so excited to be a part of such a wonderful event!

December 9th

2008-12-09T23:26:00.002-06:00

Today is my brother's birthday. He would have been 35. I was sad and sentimental today, which was actually kind of nice. I have been so busy being angry at him that I haven't had a lot of room for sadness. As my family and I psycho-analyze over and over and over again his personality and his problems and why he didn't tell anyone he was depressed and what possibly could have led him to commit suicide, all the explanations in the world still don't really clear things up. I still don't believe he is dead - like he'll show up one day and say "Surprise! I was just messing with you!" because he liked to mess with people's heads. He used to wave at random drivers when he passed them in his car, just to see if they would wave back, just to confuse them and make them wonder the rest of the day "Who was that guy? How do I know him?". He was an unusual person, to say the least.

Anyway, I had lunch with my mom and my cousin, who grew up with my brother on our grandmother's farm in the summertime. He told us stories of how they would hide from Maw Maw when she was mad at them. We toasted our iced tea to him and I felt a deep sadness, just for a moment. Then we ate some really good sushi and tried to figure out why he pulled the trigger. I know we will never really know, but there is a bit of comfort in our attempts at understanding. Maybe one day I can just be sad about it and leave my anger at him behind.

Thanksgiving Vacation

2008-12-03T12:24:00.009-06:00

Seriously - it may sound odd but visiting my in-laws for a few days was a total vacation - we sat around, surfed the internet, ate, played scrabble and even did a 1000 piece puzzle. Overeating and laughs were shared freely. RELAXATION at last!!! A photo recap:

is this sausage ball too big?

if you were in this chair, Zero was in your lap

rock on bearded brothers

i loved these adorable cookie turkeys made by Sue and Jackson

Jackson proclaimed he had made a stegosaurus turkey, and then he ate it

our precious little angel

another precious little angel!

foyer makeover

2008-12-02T16:20:00.013-06:00

Before and After! Or... possibly procrastination? I have so many Freshie & Zero orders to fill but I have been neglecting my blog duties so... I present our foyer makeover!

The front door opens up into a skinny hallway with stairs to the right. We called this wall color "crayon green".

The steps to the upstairs are on your left when you walk in the door. I appreciated the bold color choice, but it just wasn't something I wanted to live with so....

We changed it to a light cream wall color so that the art and accessories could be really fun. The rug and warm silver table were purchased for the space. That's my favorite "For Like Ever" print hanging on the wall.

On the wall by the stairs, I put up a collage of family photos and small artwork. I intend to finish it from floor to ceiling over the next few years.

The lantern light fixture replaced this fixture that I wasn't crazy about:
It wasn't bad, it was just kind of boring to be the first thing you see when you walk in the door. I love the lantern style fixture so much better!

A word of caution - once you start replacing light fixtures and fans, you realize how easy it is to do and how quickly it changes a space, and if you're like me, you go a little crazy in the ceiling fixture department. We replaced every single fixture and fan in the house except for four, and one of those four is going down in the next year. It added up to about $1000 - definitely not something I had factored into my budget but it looks FABulous!!!

Speaking of lighting, here is a sneak peek into the next room I will reveal...

The system is down

2008-11-11T20:42:00.005-06:00

The system is down, the system is down. To understand what I'm talking about, watch this awesome clip from Homestarrunner.com:

Anyway, for those of you who tried to email me today or just look at my website, you may have noticed that my system was down. Yes, for the first time since I launched freshieandzero.com two and a half years ago, it went down for several hours today with no functioning email or ability to view the website. Needless to say, this stressed me out considerably, but fortunately I was moving and working on my house all day so I didn't have much time to think about it. I was listening more to the jerky cable guy who gave me a hard time for not disconnecting my old account before hooking up my new one. What does he care anyway? How does this affect his life at all? I'm the one who has to drive our cable receiver to Metro Center, not him!

Sigh. I digress. I worked on my house all day today and tomorrow will focus on jewelry again for at least half the day. Then, back to packing up my worldly posessions! The moving of the office and studio will have to happen in a coordinated effort, all in one day preferably so that I can know where everything is for jewelry emergencies (these things do happen!). Okay, off to bed to catch up on my sleep! Tired and grumpy is no way to move, folks.

Sneak Peek

2008-10-30T07:00:00.001-05:00

So who knew that remodeling a house was such a big project? I'm the first to admit that I was totally and blindly optimistic. "We'll just paint the walls and put in some tile floors and granite counter tops!" said me, the naive first time home buyer 8 weeks ago who thought this would take maybe two weeks to do. Little did I know that once you start, it creates a domino effect and 5 weeks after signing the papers, we still haven't moved in... Here's a sneak peek of how the painting is going...

Remember this drab and boring picture of my future studio?

Dark, depressing almost black floors and a bland off white paint on the wall. An old and outdated light fixture did not add to the charm.

Ta da! The floors have been painted a "Dusty Trail" color and the walls are now a light blue called "Surf's Up". Since it was my very own space in the house, I decided to go totally girly and replaced the light fixture with a chandelier from Pottery Barn Kids. The boxes hanging from the windows hold curtain rods that I am going to install in front of the closets to replace the sliding doors that had seen better days...

Yikes! Broken doors that were really heavy and off of their tracks.

Behind those funky doors hides the smaller, older closet. The bizarre wood paneling lining the walls was just plain ugly.

We took the doors off to reveal the massive closet space. This will soon be behind a simple off-white curtain hung from just below the ceiling. I imagine that most of the time the curtains will be open, since I'm going to put the "shipping department" inside the right side of the closet.

I kept the granny window covering - it's kinda cute now that it's surrounded by the new color. I was going to paint all of the trim a light grey but unfortunately it's black because it's been shellacked and apparently shellac turns black in 50-60 years. The only way to paint over it takes a lot of scrubbing, cleaning, and priming and it was just too much work to take on at this point. The black doesn't look too bad, though.

These pictures are before I've even got my stuff in there! I'm so excited to use this space - I can't wait to put all of my stuff in one room and not have it scattered all over the house. The only thing I need to find now is a sturdy surface to hammer on since I won't be using my kitchen for that any more!

Be Wary...

2008-10-27T17:00:00.001-05:00

Let me just say that I'm "wary" of people who email me and ask me if I'd like to be featured in their blog/online journal/etc. Why, you ask? Who wouldn't want to be featured in a blog?

Here's why: when people ask first, (instead of just posting about you and either A - never telling you or B - emailing you just to let you know), 99% of the time it means that they want a free sample in order to feature it. And 99% of the time, that sounds like a scam to me.

I have nothing against these people. They are entrepreneurs just like myself, but personally I feel like it is just a waste of my time and energy that yields little to no viable results in sales, which is why I'm here to begin with. I love making jewelry and I love working for myself - but only because it puts the food on the table and the art on the walls, you know? I do not love giving away free product.

I have tried this route before in the biggest way possible - I tried the Sampler. If you don't know what it is, go visit their website to learn how they charge people for a box of samples that are sent in for free by contributors like myself. It's a great sounding idea - get a sample of your product in front of potential customers who may tell their friends how great it is and how everyone they know should visit your website to buy your product. Not so... I basically spent a bunch of money and a ton of time to come up with 75 free necklaces (all handmade for no profit) to donate to the Sampler, which supposedly has media distribution and all sorts of other perks that they talk big about, and got not one sale from it. Not one. I've heard mixed reviews about the sampler but it did not work for me and I paid a high price to learn that lesson.

There are exceptions to this, of course. I have sent free product for blog contests but only to blogs that I personally follow and hold in high regard. I have also traded product for advertising space which makes sense and I'm all for, because it's more of a trade and less of a bribe, but again it's only for blogs that I personally know and who have other advertisers that I know and respect.

All I'm saying is, if you are asked permission to be featured on someone's blog, be wary! Being written about on a blog is nice, but you shouldn't have to pay for it with free product. Visit the blog first and see if it is worth giving away your merchandise. Is your free product going to turn into dollar signs? Find out about their stats - are you going to get 50 hits? 250 hits? 1000? Don't be afraid to contact people they've "reviewed" in in the past few months to see if they felt like it was worth it (ask direct questions though - don't be too general or you may never get a response). If your gut tells you that it's not worth it, it may not be. If your gut says "heck yes!" then go for it!

You are so loved!

2008-10-15T18:43:00.004-05:00

Please give this print to anyone who you may think may not be feeling this way right now...
This is from Jess Gonacha's etsy shop. After what my family has been through, a sentiment as simple as this is like receiving a big hug, and who doesn't need a big hug? This print also reminds me so much of all the love and support my family received through this tragedy. Thanks to everyone for sending me sympathy cards - I'm going to keep them forever and pull them out whenever I'm feeling not so loved!

Zero and dog stuff

2008-10-07T09:15:00.005-05:00

I got Zero all kinds of doggie things yesterday and spent about $100. Pets are expensive! I got him a new rope/tennis ball toy that he's in love with and new food that he actually eats. He was not a fan of the all-natural food I got him last week so it's nice to see that he was just picky and not depressed. We left him alone in the house for the first time last night, and after three hours we came home and he was ecstatic to see us! He also did not have any accidents or destroy anything in the house. Fantastic!

It's funny how soon Greg, Zero, and I all acclamated to each other. Having a dog thrown into your life is kind of crazy but Zero seems very happy - he loves Greg and whines whenever he leaves. I missed Zero when we were at the craft show last week, too. He's definitely going to love our new house - bigger and with a back yard - what more could he want? He might miss walking around our current condominiums and "leaving his mark" every ten feet or so, though....

Anyway, here are some cute doggie items I have hearted on Etsy:

I already bought this adorable dog tie for Halloween - I actually marked it as a favorite before Zero became my dog again... He'll probably destroy it within minutes but how cute will he look before that happens?!

this is a great dog tag by Cristina Ashley Design - very simple and modern

but I kind of like this one for his rock 'n roll side by Punk Rock Paper Scissor

I like all of the pet beds in this shop, but this one is my favorite by Apartment C

On a side note, it is finally raining. It hasn't rained in two weeks in Nashville and it's about time. Now I won't have to get my car washed - it was absolutely filthy from last week's dust bowl show, which turned out to be my most successful show ever! Awesome!

Comic Relief

2008-10-06T08:58:00.002-05:00

I got a lovely email from a Shecky's representative today, asking me if I would be interested in doing one of their shows. Here was my reply:

Hi (very nice Shecky's representative who has no idea what I am about to unload),

I actually did Shecky’s in Atlanta 2006. It was really just too expensive to justify doing it again since I didn’t sell very much due to the fact I actually threw my back out before the show started and left in an ambulance. My friends came to the rescue once the show had already begun and tried to sell my jewelry, but my setup was incomplete and they did not know what they were doing. I was only there for an hour at the end in extreme pain and also sick from the medication the emergency room gave me. Plus, I was completely harassed by a customer for a discount I would not give her, and security would not throw her out. She was really fun to deal with between throwing up outside in the bushes. I did not receive a full or partial refund from Shecky’s which everyone who was at the event and witnessed my horrendous night was appalled by, including the manager of the event at the Biltmore. But thanks for contacting me!

“freshie” beth lawrence
http://www.freshieandzero.com
http://www.charmstarjewelry.com

Too harsh? I hope I made her laugh if nothing else. The best case scenario would be that I actually get a partial refund of that wasted $600! Ah, the joys of business ownership...

the light at the end

2008-10-03T00:15:00.004-05:00

Well it's been a week now and maybe tonight I'll actually get some sleep. Focusing on the positive is my mission in this bizarre and horrible chapter of my life and the funny thing is, before Wednesday I had been so happy and excited about so many things in my life. I'm giving myself permission to focus on them again and feel good about it.

First of all, I got into the Atlanta Gift Mart - one of the biggest wholesale shows in the country which means if I have a good show, there wil be less traveling to craft shows! That prospect makes me a little sad since craft shows have been such an adventure but now it means I only get to do my favorite ones, right? Staying at home more is the goal so that I can be all grownuppy and maybe pop out a freshie junior or two... scary thought.

Then I got into the Philadelphia Buyer's Market of American Craft! Rock on! Suck it American Craft Council! (who by the way, if they ever invite me to apply again I'm going to let them know I think they're scamming artists nationally for their jury fees - oops i guess i just told them) This is a handmade-only wholesale show a month after the Atlanta show so I should be a very busy girl next spring. And Amy of Olaria Studio will be there so I'll ge to hang out with her again hopefully.

And if that wasn't enough, Greggars and I closed on our house on Monday so it is official - we have a house we can call our own! Wall St crisis shmisis! We are practically doubling our space and I will have an entire room dedicated as a studio space. I can't wait - I've been picking out paint colors for weeks and getting decorating ideas from Domino magazines I have collected over the years. There is a sweet back deck so I am also so happy to be able to entertain friends at my house again - the condo was just too small and cramped to have people over, let alone more than two and now we could invite the entire neighborhood!

my future studio

We also now have a fenced in back yard that is quite large which leads me to one of the most positive things that have come out of this - I have Zero back! I gave Zero to my brother about 4 1/2 years ago because he was driving me insane since he was such a demanding personality and I did not have enough space for him to roam around in. Plus, he refused to be housebroken since he would pee out of spite. It's a little weird to say that I inherited a dog, but the minute I heard about my brother I knew I would take care of Zero again. And the only reason I knew for sure was that we were getting a big yard that he can play in. There are all sorts of doggie neighbors that he has already met (including a hilarious territorial chihuahua) and I know he'll be very happy. He's also mellowed out a ton and will actually sit still and even behave (!!!) - I may even take him to a craft show one day...

So now we are at the Pink Palace Crafts Fair in Memphis and I miss Zero already. I'm totally happy to be away from all the gloom and doom at home, though, although my brain only lets me escape for a few hours at a time. I'm coming to terms with everything and I know my family and I will be okay. I'm convinced it has to do with so many people loving us and praying for us. My heart has opened up so much to not only my nearest and dearest but also to long lost friends, not-so-close relatives, and even strangers. It's sad that it takes a tragedy of epic proportions for facets of your life to be revealed to you but it's awesome that I have reconnected with people I thought I had truly lost. To the Toy, nothing between us has changed and that's the way I intend it to be. This experience has also taught me a lot about grief and for better or worse, I can empathize with people when they have experienced any kind of loss whereas before I could never really face sorrow, especially when it was other people's.

So having said all of that, keep your eye out for updates about all of these really amazing blessings in my life because truly - my life overall is very blessed! God gave me talent and a brain and I thank Him (almost) every day for that. I'm going to be like Fawkes the phoenix and rise from the ashes. Hmmm... maybe it's time to reread Harry Potter again...

what to say

2008-09-29T23:06:00.007-05:00

I don't really know what to say about the past few days of my life other than it doesn't make sense. I'm still in shock that my brother is gone and will always be confused as to why he felt that it had to be this way. My brother wasn't my best friend, but he was my brother. We knew each other better than we would ever would have realized or admitted. I feel a little blindsided now that I did not see this coming but who ever thinks that someone would take their own life?

Everyone knew him a different way. I remember him only as a little sister could... I remember him shooting off as many bottle rockets at a time as possible and his general love for pyrotechnics. We played hundreds of hours of Nintendo and Atari together, and he taught me where the warp zones were on Mario Brothers and always beat me at Mike Tyson's Punchout and Tag Team Wrestling. He had this funny way of shaking water off of his face with one eye closed when he went swimming. He once burned a hole in his sleeping bag by draping it over a lamp to make a fort (and it never smelled the same again). We used to jump off of the basement stairwell into our self-made pillow pit, beat each other up on the trampoline, have pillow fights that resulted in carpet burns on our face, and of course, he was a fan of the requisite big brother sitting on his little sister and farting. If we had to share a room, we would keep each other up all night by subversive means. If one of us was in trouble, the other would always be in the background laughing. When Christmas rolled around, he always sniffed out where the presents were and taught me how to guess what was inside, a skill I am proud of to this day.

His adult days were a little less sentimental with me as we went in different directions in our lives, but I never wanted anything but the best for him, even if I didn't know how to tell him. I know he's at peace now but I can't wait to kick the crap out of him the next time I see him.

Lastly, to all of my friends and my brother's friends who have come forward the last few days to share in the grief and to pass on a bit of love and support, thank you so much. I don't remember much about the last few days except that my family is blessed to have so many who care about us.

down

2008-09-26T23:18:00.004-05:00

alOne, originally uploaded by Aru, Arunosfe.

HARDCASTLE, Charles Gregory "Greg" Age 34 of Nashville. Died Sepember 24, 2008. Graduate of Franklin Road Academy and UT Knoxville. Survived by parents, Rosemary and Lester Porter of Nashville; sisters, Beth (Greg) Lawrence and Lacey Porter, both of Nashville; grandmother, Mary Austin Hubbell of Columbia; uncle, Charles L. (Joyce) Hubbell of Lynnville; three cousins, Jeff (Susan) Hubbell of Murfreesboro, Jamie (Penny) Hubbell and Cyndy (Paul) Gibson, both of Columbia.

miss you already...

Laser Tag in Hendersonville!

2008-09-21T16:35:00.002-05:00

our usual self portrait, are we in a aerobics class?, originally uploaded by Chewieez.

Alien aerobics class? No - just a fun night of laser tag, mini putt putt golf, beer, and pizza for Thad & Hilary's wedding shower. It was definitely a fabulous wedding shower/party and of course we had to go since we'll be at a craft show the day of their actual wedding. I've never played outdoor laser tag - we ran around this big open field with lots of hay bale obstacles and mini woodsy hiding places - we all got a good workout for sure! It reminded me of how much I used to love laser tag - just call me the "sniper in the woods"... The highlight of mini golf was when the one and a half year old toddler got a hole-in-one. Time to sign that kid up for golf lessons! You can read more about over at my husband's blog here if you're interested.

Custom boxes are here!

2008-09-18T11:04:00.001-05:00

I've been in the planning process of custom boxes since May and they are finally realized! You may remember my post that was a cry for help in the design of the boxes. My current logo is great but it was a little too plain to get hot stamped in one color on a thousand boxes so Beth Howard came to the rescue with this design:

It was love at first sight. We tweaked the text a little to be more "pretty" and wire-like, and then I submitted it to the box company. Their printing specifications forced me to nix the ribbon-like aspect of the drawing, so the final design that went to print was this:

I was really hoping to get them in time for the Renegade Craft Fair but unfortunately, they were not shipping until the day we were leaving for Chicago. So my sweet husband got out my embossing powder, heat gun, and stamps and embossed 200 boxes for me. If that's not sexy, I don't know what is. What's even better is that he stamped about 500 gift bags for me with this very logo on them so I would have some representation of my new "alternative" logo at Renegade. That sweet, sweet, fabulous husband of mine.

Anyway, I saw the UPS man walking up to my door on Tuesday with a stack of boxes and it was like Christmas morning! I ran downstairs (not even caring that I was still in pajamas) and opened the door to greet him! I nervously opened up the boxes to see my custom gift boxes in all their glory:

they kind of look like Wonka bars in this picture

ahh... fabulousness

They are hot stamped in a metallic light blue on chocolate brown. Now I just have to wait to go through the embossed gift boxes before I take these on the road with me. I am already using them on website orders, though, including one this weekend from a certain famous celebrity who I will not name here... but it was my first celebrity sale and I had to call my mom to tell her!

So much good news is going on in Freshie & Zero land right now - stay tuned for an even more exciting announcement in the next day or two!

Renegade Chicago 2008 - the good times

2008-09-16T17:46:00.005-05:00

So yes, I have established that this was the rainiest show I have ever done. We were wet, we were stressed, and we were a little cranky. But we persevered. So now it's time for the good times of the Renegade Craft Fair Chicago 2008!

Last year at this show, I was so busy that I didn't get to talk to anyone. Very sad stuff - I love networking with my fellow crafters! This year, because we were all concerned about each other and because we weren't swamped with customers, there was much visiting of other tents and chatting about the weather, the scene, and other fun stuff. Crafter heaven, actually!

My friend Heather from Rinse Soap shared some of her successes with me, including adding a wholesale account in Chicago during the show - you go girl! The friendly gals of the Indie Craft Experience in Atlanta, Shannon and Christy, were keeping me in the loop of their upcoming holiday show which I am excited about and hopefully will be able to apply. (just gotta work out the timing of buying a house and moving) There are just too many shows I want to do this fall! I had to bail out of the Girlie Show in Oklahoma due to all this house buying mess and that makes me sad. I have another application out in cyberspace that I am already worried about being able to commit to doing. I guess I'll have to "make it work!"

Anyway, I also reconnected with Chicago illustrator Cindy T. who is now making beautiful cards under the name Paper Parasol. She was sharing her booth with Holly of Thread and Needle and Courtney Fischer - they had done an amazing job of saving their products from the water by rigging up some fancy tarp and bungee cords to keep the rain out. Holly actually won my Valentine's contest and she was so grateful that she gave me one of her coffee cuffs which i have been using nonstop since!

Cindy T and friends

Amy of Olaria Studio flew in from Boston to do the show and my hubs and I were lucky enough to grab some very tasty brunch at Forno with her Sunday morning. (the food was delicious - if you've never been and you live in Chicago - go there now!) She is originally from Birmingham and only moved to Boston recently, so she filled me in on all the southern crafty scoop. I had a feeling that if she lived in Nashville, we'd be hanging out all the time. She also encouraged me on the Philadelphia Buyer's Market of American Craft application I have sent in and said we should be booth neighbors if I get accepted. I have already been rejected from the American Craft Council wholesale show so I'm not holding my breath, but if I got in that would be wonderful! I welcome more wholesale with open arms.

earrings by Olaria Studios available on Poppy

The ceramics of my back yard booth neighbor, Up in the Air Somewhere did not disappoint. Her work is so beautiful I was overwhelmed. I could not make a decision of what to buy but again - after the house stuff is worked out I'll know exactly which one (or five) of her pieces will be the perfect finishing touch to our new pad. I'm thinking an arrangement of Silos on a dining room table (that I don't have yet but hey a girl can dream).

Socializing aside, I was lucky enough to do a bit of trading. Megan of Harrilu and I have done a few shows together in the past - she was wearing my birdie necklace all weekend and picked up a few more Freshie & Zero pieces for gifts. I am now the lucky owner of two of her v-neck t-shirts, including the one below.

Squast by Les - my favorite hat maker was also sweet enough to trade with me, so I indulged in a fourth hat from her. This one is totally different than the others, though. First of all, it's fuzzy on the inside so it's great for cold months, plus it has little ear flaps and it's simple black (all of my others are prints). I told everyone who would listen that they should go to her booth and two girls came back to my booth, each proudly wearing one of her hats and thanked me for the suggestion! Just spreading some crafty love...

My one and only purchase of the show was a purse from Made by Hank. It's like an avant garde work of art! She was forced to open late - I kept looking to see if she had unzipped her tent but it was so leaky that she had to make several Home Depot style runs in order to fashion some rain protective curtains and tarp to keep her merchandise dry - she said she had several meltdowns before opening up but at the end of the second day she only had 12 purses left so I think she ended up having a successful show!

So that's the thing - yes everyone was soaking wet and praying that their product wasn't ruined but the ones who stuck it out both days really were rewarded with good camaraderie and good sales. My sales were still high overall for a show - people really came out to shop despite the weather. Chicago shoppers are tough cookies! They aren't going to let a little rainfall keep them from their crafts and I love them for it!

Rainy Renegade Craft Fair

2008-09-16T00:31:00.005-05:00

We just arrived back from Chicago and I have a lot of catching up to do, but here is a tiny bit about the Renegade Craft Fair. I will write about the happy side of it tomorrow when I've digested it all!

For starters, Chicago had a record day of rainfall on Saturday - a record that's been held since the 1870's when they started recording weather. They usually have about 2 inches of rain during this time of year and they've had 12 as of this weekend. So it was rainy and wet wet wet. Chicago area suburbs flooded - including Bloomingdale where our hotel was and schools were even closed today due to flooding. One of the main interstates in Indiana/Illinois was entirely shut down near Lake Michigan - we had to reroute ourselves down through Indiana (thanks to my trusty Road Atlas) to avoid the four hour delay to get through the interstate closure. Nuts!!! In a gas station in Indiana, this poor girl was trying to get to Detroit and the worker at the gas station told her it wasn't going to happen today since the interstate she needed was closed. I would have advised her to get a map and figure it out, but hey that's my d.i.y. mentality kicking in.

Anyway, this was supposed to be brief! I only bought one thing - I was just feeling too wet and icky to shop and that's just not like me! The one final bummer was that the electricity we paid for was never turned on. So it was dark outside and inside our tent. I understand why they were afraid to turn it on (safety issues I presume) but I was still bummed out about it and I imagine they're going to get some angry emails from crafters wanting a refund. However, it could have been worse. And how could you foresee this kind of weather?

The upside of the Renegade Fair will be posted in a day or two... yes there was a definite upside!

Coming Up

2008-09-09T07:49:00.007-05:00

Tonight is my first hula hooping class. I seriously can't wait. Plus, I'm taking it with my mom, so I'm excited to do something together that doesn't involve eating or shopping, not that I mind eating and shopping one bit. Eating and shopping are actually two of my favorite things, but I'm hoping that hula hooping can nudge its way up there, too!

The Germantown Festival this past weekend was very successful. My sales were up a bit from last year , and I anticipate the upcoming Pink Palace show in Memphis to be even better. We even had nice, cool weather on the first day - I actually needed a jacket! It was awesome!

The Renegade Craft Fair is this weekend in Chicago and I can't wait! I'm making a list of vendors I want to visit, so that I have a game plan when I have a few free minutes. These include:

Dolan Geiman - awesome art

Made by Hank - beautiful purses

Up in the Air Somewhere - the above piece was just featured in Martha Stewart Living! (luckily they're right behind me so I know I'll get a minute to shop their booth!)

I'm also hoping to say hey to my friends from Rinse, Olaria Studios, Seibei, My Favorite Mirror, Mike and Mary Jewelry, Holly Hue, Mary Ink, So Silly, Squasht by Les (she makes the hats I wear all the time), and Supermaggie, just to name a few! And did I mention that Northern State is playing? Aw yeah. Check out all the info:

Please vote (for me!)!!

2008-09-08T16:37:00.004-05:00

Shameless self promotion strikes again, my dear readers. One of my favorite magazines, Venus Zine has amazing coverage of the DIY scene and they have a reader's poll every year featuring music, film, and fashion. One of their categories just happens to be "Best DIY Business"! Jennifer Perkins of Naughty Secretary Club and Susie Ghahremani of Boy Girl Party have won in the past and aren't they fabulous???

So what can you do? Go and vote for Freshie & Zero in their survey! Pretty Please? The DIY category is at the very bottom of the page, #17. All you have to do is select "Other" and write in Freshie & Zero. I know it's super easy, but I made a little skitch image below for your viewing pleasure:

I do not expect to win, of course, but I would love to be on their radar... who knows? The poll is up until October 15th. Please tell all of your friends to take a sec and vote for Freshie & Zero and in the meantime, if you don't see Venus Zine at your local bookstore, ask them to start carrying it! It's a great magazine and just keeps getting better.

Thanks and no more self promotion for a while... although this weekend is the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago and I'll be there in case you were wondering... lots of new stuff not on the website... I'm just saying...

Upcoming weekend

2008-09-04T17:53:00.006-05:00

I will be at the Germantown Festival in Germantown, TN this weekend (it's near Memphis). The show is on Saturday and Sunday at C.O. Franklin Park. A highlight of this show is the Sunday afternoon Running of the Weenies dachshund race. You will never see so many dachshunds in one place! The show is fun and hodge-podgey - there are fair-like activities for kids and the usual fair food you would expect, plus a huge variety of arts and crafts. And me. :)

photo by Alexander Gordon

The first year at this show, my tent neighbor was a Tupperware booth. Last year, it was a booth selling "spirit hair" - real dyed human hair you attach to your own hair to show your school spirit. I kid you not. I can't wait to see what lies in store for us this year!

we've got spirit, yes we do... ew....

Freeloaders!

2008-09-02T17:17:00.003-05:00

So you want some Freshie & Zero jewelry but you don't want to pay for it? Then you need to head over to my favorite indie shopping blog, Indie Fixx and enter to win a free bracelet from my new collection! It's easy to enter which means it's easy to get your hands on a free piece of jewelry! What are you waiting for?

shameless self promotion

2008-09-01T23:13:00.003-05:00

Shameless, I know, but I'm trying to unload some of my unused beads, pearls, and findings in order to raise a little money. Please help me destash by visiting my other etsy shop Feather Goods:

Opportunities for Creatives

2008-08-27T07:50:00.003-05:00

Here are some upcoming shows for those of you looking to fill your calender with venues to sell your creations! Know about a cool show still seeking artists - please let me know!

First Annual Lost River Fine Arts Fair - Bowling Green, KY
Saturday, October 4th 2008 10:00am to 5:00pm

This annual fair showcasing fine original art in all mediums is the first event of its kind in the Bowling Green area. Only original, one of a kind, or very limited edition works are welcome. http://www.artworksinc.org/ For more information contact: Mark Whitley at mark@mwhitley.com or Donnie Firkins at df122347@bellsouth.net

Rock N Roll Craft Show - St. Louis, MO
November 28 - 30, 2008

The original St. Louis alternative art, craft, and music event. Deadline is September 8th!
http://www.rocknrollcraftshow.com/

Decatur Holiday Marketplace & Cafe - Decatur, GA
December 5 - 6, 2008

Clairemont Elementary School, is hosting its 16th Annual Decatur Holiday Marketplace and Café on Friday and Saturday, December 5-6th, 2008. The event, a fundraiser for Clairemont PTA, showcases more than 90 artists and craftspeople selling their wares in a festive setting during the holiday season. I've done this show for the past two years and really enjoyed it and sold a lot, too! http://www.decaturholidaymarketplace.com/index.html

Kristin Pavelka Pottery SALE!

2008-08-12T23:24:00.005-05:00

Kristin Pavelka has long been a favorite shop of mine on etsy and the lucky girl is building her very own home studio! Sooo she is having a sale in order to clear out her storage space so that she has less stuff to move - lucky us!!! Check out her beautiful and imaginative pottery:

a butter dish for a half a stick of butter - it looks just like a house from who-ville!

i'm not really one to get excited about teapots but this one looks straight out of Alice in Wonderland

i love this whimsical salad plate

she has several different salad plate styles - what a perfect time to get a lovely
mis-matched set at the sale price so every one of your guests feels special!

Sorry ladies, the set above is mine all mine. I can't wait 'til it arrives!!!

So what are you waiting for!? Go help a sister out and get some of her work at a great price during her moving sale! Sale ends August 31 and most sale listings will be removed permanently.

Feist loves counting to 4

2008-08-11T16:31:00.002-05:00

I saw this on Yahoo and had to watch the video, and then I had to share it! It is SO CUTE! I like the original song, but I have to say I like this one even better... There will always be a special place in my heart for Muppets, and I also love it when celebrities go on Sesame Street. I hear they even did a Law & Order sketch once - I'll have to find that one day... Anyway, please enjoy!

My last day as 29

2008-08-05T11:13:00.001-05:00

Okay - I meant to post this on July 30th but the day got away from me. I started it and then got distracted but I'm finishing it now! Here goes:

I am turning 30 tomorrow. Farewell, my twenties! A decade in review:

20 - Slowly growing out of my raver girl phase. Will soon trade oversized pants and drugs for normal sized pants and beer. In between my junior and senior year of college, I study for a month in Florence and then backpack around Europe - I go to the Love Parade in Germany and see some of the top djs in the world.
21 - I graduate from college and work at The Body Shop. I share a sweet house off Franklin Road with three other girls who are all still in college. Many parties ensue.
22 - I start working at Bennett Galleries where my manager Elizabeth calls me "Freshie" because it rhymes with "Bethie" and thus begins my nickname.
23 - I move to Atlanta for six months. September 11th happens which results in me being laid off and especially poor, thus nudging me into jewelry making for extra money.
24 - Back in Nashville and back at the gallery for a while. I leave the gallery a second time to work as a gift sales rep. I schlepp goods across Tennessee and Kentucky and work my butt off for two evil witches, I mean bosses. Begin dating serious boyfriend in alternative rock band.

2003 - 25 yrs old, inspired by Charlie's Angels movie makeup

25 - ahhh... finally my brain catches up to adult hood. I finally feel like a real grown up. I work too hard as a sales rep and start getting sick of it due to lack of creative outlet. I break up with serious boyfriend; swear off musicians forever.

2004 - complete with nose ring and straw hat at the beach

26 - I get Zero, my willful & stubborn Jack Russell. Zero proves too much for me to handle in a small condo, so he goes to live with my brother a mile away who has a fenced in back yard and a cat to terrorize. Quit sales repping, go back to gallery. Start playing poker regularly and meet Greg, my future husband.

2004 - Zero, lounging at Carl's house

2005 - rocking the winter bohemian look

27 - Decide to rename my jewelry company "Freshie & Zero" and start applying to craft shows and building a website. Surely wooed by my business drive and hammering skills, Greg proposes.
28 - We have a fabulous wedding and a fabulous Italian honeymoon. We travel to many awesome craft shows and explore different parts of the country.

2007 - married at 28 on the 28th of April - how perfect!

29 - Freshie & Zero does better and better, and finally takes me to a level where I can quit the gallery (again) although I still have my toe in to help them when they need it. Greg and I are still doing craft shows and have gotten used to going out of town a lot. Our marriage has so far felt like an extended honeymoon!

2008!

Now that I have been 30 for a week, I can tell my body is slowing down (okay I really could tell that in the past 6 months). I've never had to work to be thin; I have just always eaten healthy but now that isn't enough... I have to start working out which SUCKS! I've decided, in addition to aerobic walking, to take a Hula Hooping class in East Nashville. If I have to work out, I have to have fun doing it, you know?

And for all of you people much older than me thinking thoughts like "30 years old - you're still a baby!" - just shove it. That's right - I said shove it. I'm not a baby any more than you're an old fart. Didn't you hate it when people said stuff like that to you when you were younger?

And if you're much younger than myself and you think that I'm old, you can shove it, too, ya baby. :)