February news

Posted on February 3, 2011 by

I know the weather is cold and turning nasty, but it will be sunny and warmer on Saturday, I promise! Come on out to the Market!

Saturday, February 5
First Saturday Arts Market
11 am-6 pm, with live entertainment
548 W 19th Street in the Heights
Houston TX 77008

First Saturday Arts Market is Houston’s longest running monthly outdoor fine arts event. Featuring local and regional artists whose offerings include original paintings, photography, jewelry, sculpture, wood and metal arts, ceramics and fiber arts.

Saturday, February 12
Fashion Show: Houston Chapter of the American Sewing Guild
The HESS Club
5430 Westheimer Rd.
Houston TX 77056

I will be a vendor at this local event. The fashion show/luncheon at 11:15 am are ticketed events; tickets can be purchased at the above website or at the door. But you can come on out and do some shopping without attending the fashion show/luncheon.

Posted in shows and sales | Leave a comment

Day tripper

Posted on January 15, 2011 by

Tomorrow Sunday, if I can manage to wake up early, I’m going to make a day trip to San Antonio. First, because I want to check out a recurring arts and craft show on the Riverwalk. Second, because I just freakin’ love San Antonio. I’ll also hang out at El Mercado for a while. (Weather says Sunday is better than Saturday.)

Posted in general | Leave a comment

Status quo

Posted on January 8, 2011 by

…and I’m right back where I started.

I’ve been trying off and on to find alternatives to dyeing my own thread. It’s fun and all, but it’s not what I’m all about, and I’m not geared towards color consistency across large quantities or long periods of time. So for cotton, after a lot of trial and error, I’ve found one brand of sewing/quilting/embroidery thread that has a weight that’s awfully close to size 100 cotton crochet thread. But I don’t think it’s better, except for the variegated colors, which are truly gorgeous. For silk, I thought I was home free, since I’d seen my favored beading cord in a rainbow array of colors. Yeah, but not in the size I need – only white and black. Not only that, but the company has gone out of business. There’s another brand, again with no color options in my size, that would be okay for dyeing, but it’s not dazzling white on its own.

So it looks like I’m back to using and dyeing the same threads I’ve been using all along. Oh, and stocking up on the silk before it completely disappears. I suppose it’s nice to find out that I’ve had good judgment about thread all along, but I’m disappointed I can’t improve on the situation.

Posted in dye | Leave a comment

Newest booth shot

Posted on January 8, 2011 by

Thanks to the help and driveway availability of a friend of mine, I now have a booth shot with just jewelry. This is the shot, before any alteration. I have to blur my name, and I may try to take out the grass in the seam of the concrete. I’ll probably never be at a show with just jewelry, but this is a staged shot for entering juried shows. Good luck to me, and thanks, K!

jewelry booth shot

Posted in general | Leave a comment

Destashing, revisited

Posted on January 4, 2011 by

Eh, I don’t want to eBay this. Listing fees, photos, shipping, bleah. I’ll wait for my sister’s garage sale. Still, if anyone is interested in a nice variety of sport-weight cotton yarn, let me know. Lots of Reynolds Saucy Sport, untouched.

Posted in other | Leave a comment

Destashing

Posted on December 28, 2010 by

I’m about to perform a pretty major destashing. I’ve got quite a bit of sport-weight mercerized cotton yarn that I had been collecting for a project, but the project no longer interests me. Lots of Reynolds Saucy Sport in several colors. Other cotton, some wool, solid and variegated, many colors. The good stuff will be put on eBay. (My seller name is supergirl_ruthie.) The rest may go on eBay, or a garage sale, or get donated somewhere.

Posted in other | Leave a comment

New items posted

Posted on December 23, 2010 by

Yes, I know it’s Christmas Eve Eve. There are many reasons why posting new items for sale on Etsy should not be done today. Except today is when I had the time! Go look and make plans for spending your Christmas cash on something pretty!

Posted in crochet, shows and sales | Leave a comment

Picture perfect

Posted on December 11, 2010 by

My last couple of shows, both in Houston, have been just wonderful! Great new friends and happy success stories. And I’ve got online shopping back up and running. Now I’m back to an old problem: Nothing exists until it has been photographed. I have lots of tiny earrings that I don’t have good images of. Therefore, I can’t offer them for sale on Etsy yet! So I’m working on setting up a tiny studio where I can get good, consistent artificial light, and not depend on finding time and opportunity to make a date with natural light. (Hard to do in December!)

I also need to redo booth shots for entering the big shows. I think that the problem is that my jewelry is so very tiny and see-through. Big booth, tiny objects. Hmmm. At any rate, I need to find a friend with a nice yard and a good eye, and spend a weekend setting up, cleaning the canopy, and taking lots of pictures of the booth in different configurations.

Posted in shows and sales | Leave a comment

WHAM

Posted on November 16, 2010 by

Wham 2010I am very happy to be participating in the 5th Annual Winter Holiday Art Market! What a wonderful way to get a jump on the holiday season! We’re going to have an amazing collection of some of the finest artisan goods that 60 Houston area artists have to offer! Free admission on Saturday and Sunday, but for the best selection, join us at the Preview Party on Friday night!

Friday 6-10 pm (Tickets $10, $5 for Spacetaker members)
Saturday 11 am-8 pm, free admission
Sunday 11 am-4 pm, free admission

Winter Street Studios
2101 Winter Street
Houston, TX 77007
map

Posted in shows and sales | Leave a comment

Quilt festival

Posted on November 7, 2010 by

Whoo-eeee, the International Quilt Festival/Houston! I couldn’t get there until today, the last day. It is, in a word, overwhelming. Even as a nonquilter, I need two days – one for the quilt gallery side and one for the vendor side. This year I concentrated on the vendor side. I didn’t find any old pattern books. I did find a collection of old steel crochet hooks, but they were pretty rusty, so I passed them up. I found a couple of threads to experiment with, and a resin-casting kit. Which could be interesting, or a complete disaster. I’ll find out!

I should look into being a vendor next year. I would definitely need a minion. Ah, that word is overused. Either a lackey or a flunky.

Posted in shows and sales | Leave a comment