Happy Autumn!

Fall is here and it's time to think about cooking in the oven again. It's not quite cold enough to turn the heat on, but not quite warm enough to sit still.

I started my autumn with an apple pie! I was very excited to use my new cutting board and take some nice pictures of it. My cousin made it by hand as a gift for me. My friends Jen and Jon gave me nice new peeler that fits in my palm. I also got a brand new cookbook from my mother. PERFECT! I got a few nice photos before I assembled the sugar, flour, vanilla, and spices. By the time it came out of the oven it was too dark out to photograph the woven pie crust top that I made. Thats about the worst part of the seasons turning at this time of the year. Its so dark out!
So theres no pie to be seen, but trust me...it was delicious!

Its Showtime!

Ive only got a short minute, because I've got a DOUBLE CRAFT SHOW WEEKEND!
Im working with two of my sisters and Mom to sell our handmade everything!

We would love to see you there.

Fall for Glass SALE!

Fall for Glass with 30% Off!

Everything in The PoPkO Shop has been marked down 30% to celebrate the coming of FALL!

The Etsy Glass Artists are offering various sales in their shop for 30% off. Visit these participating members shops to see the glass goodies that you've been drooling over ON SALE!


http://glasscat.etsy.com
http://willowglass.etsy.com http://liskidder.etsy.com http://psodesign.etsy.com http://susanlambert.etsy.com http://chickadeebeads.etsy.com http://prizmatic.etsy.com http://studiomarcy.etsy.com http://mycabincreations.etsy.com http://paulasstressart.etsy.com http://monkeyblues.etsy.com http://jewelrybynatsuko.etsy.com http://sandree.etsy.com http://susansheehan.etsy.com http://LeahPellegrini.etsy.com http://groovyglassgirl.etsy.com http://wendylee.etsy.com http://jochris12.etsy.com

Two months already?

Happy Summer!

WOW! Time is FLYING! I just realized that my blog is lonely. I cant believe its been 2 months since my last post. I have been so wrapped up with a project that Ive been working on for over 6 months. My wedding. Its coming soon , and its very, very exciting.

I suppose most people plan it for much longer, but I like to relax for as long as possible, and then cram as much as possible. And thats what Im doing. The only thing I did six months ago was reserve the venue. The rest is being done. Now. So if you are looking in my etsy shop and havent seen anything new, replace everything you would normally see with something wedding related that you will never see. Thats whats going on. I love every second of it.

Okay okay, so there was a few lobster dinners in there...it IS summertime afterall, and my father catches this delicacy all summer long.


On the other hand, I am learning something very valuable about my business. I love it and crave it. I miss it even. I feel like I accomplish sooo much everyday now (because if I dont I probably couldnt get married on the day that I invited everyone HA!) that once I have my full attention to my shop again I will be able to put so much more into it and utilize my time so much better.


.....which is a super thing, because come September, I begin to gear up for the Holiday season. It seems early, but this is what it looks like:

September - craft shows season begins, make lots of product, sell lots of product
Late Sept - make more things to re-stock for October
October - more shows, more inventory, restock wholesale accounts, wedding season starts again, make more inventory for November.
November - in full swing for Holiday shopping, not much time to make inventory, lots of time packing and shipping and customer service, custom orders like crazy!
December - shoppers are feeling the pressure and neeeeeed everything FAST! Need to somehow restock what ever I missed in October. Family Holidays keep me busy busy!

Back to the summertime thing though- heres some summery leaf neckalces ive come up with and I have plans to expand the "relic" line of jewelry asap. Stay tuned!


So now you can sort of see how Ive got only a few weeks before I can relax and begin another sort of cramming. Except this time (season), Ive got a master plan on how to prepare. Which will be antoher post entirely. It will include lots of lists. I love lists.

Thank you to everyone who has been finding goodies in my shop and keeping me busy, I appreciate every one of you.

Behind the scenes - MAY

I've always been the kind of girl who loves driving at night so I can look into the houses illuminated with light. I get this from my mother, thanks mom. Mostly, I like to see what kind of lamp they are using, since I use to work for a company that made handmade lighting. I also like to re-decorate and rearrange their furniture in my head, in the three seconds that Im passing.

I also love to see what other peoples studios look like, and the process of how they make stuff. Love it! Heres the flickr link to tons studio and craft room spaces, where if you like this kind of stuff, you could be browsing for hours: spaces

I thought I would share a few photos of what Ive been doing lately in the studio.

Left: Prepped for glueing, Ive already ground the backs and the bails.

Right: A mish-mash of things that are new, seconds, trials and stuff that needs to be finished on the "new stuff" board.

Above: This is my new way of organizing orders. I've been getting more combined orders, and larger sets of things and have had to figure out a way to keep them neat and tidy. Some things are ready to ship, some need to be custom made in several processes. I don't want to track them all over the room anymore. Hand drawn charts and graphs were the way to go! I've finally found a use for the 12 wooden trays that I got for mosaics years ago, and just never really wanted to mosaic them. They are perfect, and stack nicely to keep the studio less cluttered.

Above: The one fun new things I've made that ISNT for an order, but is a prototype for something that everyone has been asking me for for a year and a half. A tiny blue morpho butterfly wing necklace, under glass. Its actually quite rough and isn't really a finished peice, but thats the only way I'm really allowing myself to keep it and wear it. YAY!

Above: A load ready to be fired up in the kiln! I'm playing with tack fusing, and energizing colors. I fired these last week, and still need to grind all the edges again and fire it up once more (maybe more if needed), then grind the backs and get them ready for sale.

What else am I doing? Taking a metalsmithing class of course!

Above: My first rings in class, that I then set with stones (as in photo below).

Whew! After all those photos I realize that I DO have a bit going on around here. I have to get some glue, a box and rbbon now, as Im doing some more shipping today. Ciao!

Drawing Winners!

Congratulations to Deb & Sheri, who won the (past two) monthly drawings for all newsletter/mailing list subscribers. Ive mentioned them before, but am just now posting the prizes! These two pendants are part of a new batch of glass that is tack fused and raised abouve the surface. They are quite fun and I cant wait to list them in my shop. Ive got photos of a bunch, so check the shop all week.

If you would like to be included in the monthly drawing, just jon my mailing list at the bottom of this page.

Made for Mom

I made something completely NEW the other day. Im very very very excited about it! I made it just for my mother, a new project JUST FOR FUN. Sometimes in the business of making things for other people all the time, I forget that making things came about because it was fun, not business. Its good to be reminded of that.

I was brainstorming about what to make my mom for Mother's Day. I decided on a tree, for all the symbolic reasons that I mentioned in her card (big points!). Shes really an incredible giver, and goes through a LOT of laundry detergent and groceries now that I live near her. Really, theres a million reasons why she is better than any mom in the world.

Thank you mom!

Heres the fused glass tree that I made for her, and added some copper wire to hang in a window or on a wall. I had never done this in my kiln before- a sculpture of sorts. I had only stuck to jewelry components, pendants and earrings and such. I plan on making more of these and with other nature themes. I am so happy with the results, I cant wait to have more fun!

**MOTHER'S DAY SALE**

The Etsy Glass Artists are having a SPRING SALE!

April 28th- May 5th

click on the images below to see what each shop is offering

All GLASS and SALE items in my shop are

BUY ONE, GET ONE 1/2 OFF!

Thats over 80 handmade goodies on sale!

Details: Anything in a "SALE" section in my shop qualifies as a BOGO 1/2 OFF.

Purchase your items, write "BOGO" in the 'message to seller' during checkout. I will send you a revised invoice to your email address with your discounted total. Easy peasy!

(offer excludes lavender supplies and butterflies)

***

The Etsy Glass Artists each have a special sale going in in their shops from 10%, 20% off, free shipping, or BoGo sales! Check out our site to see the SUPER deals!

Etsy Glass Spring Sale Website

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HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! HAPPY SHOPPING!

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This months newsletter was short and sweet, but the winner of the drawing wont be missing out! Congratulations to DEB! You won a free fused glass pendant.

Let's Have a Cocktail Party!!

There's a new shop on Etsy dedicated to having the most FABULOUS cocktail party! How fun!

The Grand Opening was on April 1, but that was no joke. AnnMarie is a culinary master and lover of all things party-glam. Above is one of the sexy pin-up rocks glasses offered in her shop as a set to dress up your bar and your party. One side of the glass shows a darling with her clothes on, and look through the glass and shes bare. Its hard to have a dull party with nudies all around!

She lives in the decadent city of NewOrleans, and has taken the spice of life there and put it into her Sweet and Spicy Pecans.

I know first hand that these crunchy pecans are DELISH! I ordered them a few weeks ago and couldn't put them down. Yum Yum Yum. And another YUM! I think these just might be my next party favor or hostess gift. I also sprinkled some on my salad, as recommended by cocktailparty, and it really finished it off with a lot of extra flavor. They are exactly what they are called, sweet and spicy, not too much of each and have a great crunch. Every bite makes you want to taste just a liiiiitle more, then you eat the next. Then the next. FANTASTIC.

She also the designer behind the gorgeous goods in SUPERDUPER on Etsy, proving that she is a lover of all things flirty and fun. There she offers her cocktail hats and other accessories with feathers and glitter, felt and rhinestones. Does she ever sleep? I hope not, because there's a party to go to!

feathered headbands from superduper

Another Newsletter!

Could this be TRUE?

Yes, I finally learned how to use HTML in a way that I can add photos with links in my newsletter! This was a big feat. Well, not huge, but it took a solid two hours to write this letter! My last update was in November, and I am on a roll! Thanks to PamperingBeki for giving me the key to the mysterious codes.

The winner of my newsletter drawing is SHERI! Once I hear back from this gal, I will post a photo of her delightfully FREE pendant...or ring...or lavender sachet! Oh the suspense!

To get in on the jolly good times, scroll to the bottom and join my mailing list.