If you’ve been wondering where on earth I have been hiding myself for the past few weeks, wonder no further. I have been preparing for and attending my first buyer’s markets – first a small one in Sydney, then the big one, in Halifax. This was a setup where each …
Despite an autumn full of growing misgivings, the Deck the Halls show has boosted my spirits back to full capacity. A gorgeous, curated show in a venue that can only be considered “quaint”, that show basically IS Christmas, and the effect of the oldest church in Sydney festooned with greenery and …
The development of a brand requires that you know – that you decide – who you appeal to, and that you work to stay relatable to that audience. I’ve been struggling somewhat in the past few months to define who that is – which segment of the population likes what …
Wholesale has never been part of my plan; as a 5-to-9er, I hadn’t time to pursue or follow up on large volumes of jewellery-making. But now that my business is now my only source of income, wholesaling suddenly has a new appeal! On my radar this summer was the possibility of attending the …
Here it is. The end of the year; the glut in craft fairs and shows upon which I have been hanging my hopes for a successful run at being a small-business-owner. The past few weeks have been full of plans and – more exciting – execution of those plans, resulting in a healthy …
In two weeks, I will be something I never thought I could ever accomplish: a self-employed, entrepreneurial, full-time working artist. After almost 18 years working as an educator for an online college, I have put in my notice and will be pursuing Gayle Bird Designs, Inc., with my whole heart and …
So, like – this happened again! JTV had me down to Knoxville again, this time for two shows on Jewel School. And yes, that says October. I’m a little slow, so sue me ;) Their lobby sign is still fascinating to me: Christiane had me into her newly-reorganized workspace and …
Sales weren’t as high this summer as in other years – partly, I think, because I strayed too far from my core silver + beach glass for tourists kinda thing. Whatever it was, I realized I needed to increase my income a bit – and so I signed up for …
As part of the very slow shift in my business practices, I’ve happily begun bundling my wire tutorials with wire and beads or components from my own personal stash – giving you everything you need (but the tools) to create some of my most popular tutorials right away. Even better, you’ll …
No time for writing today! Just some photos from the weekend. Back to silver – gotta make lots of things FROM the book to go along with SELLING the book. Yippee! Beach glass bib necklaces: Polymer clay bib necklace: Steampunk assemblage pendants: Lampwork simple bead pendants: That’s …
I may have mentioned before, but Craftsy – one of the largest craft blogs around – recently engaged me to become a jewelry blogger. And here’s my first assignment! When I want to create something inventive and new, I turn to inspiration from some unlikely places – like the …
I’m super pleased with this batch of Focus jewellery, ordered by Little Mysteries in Halifax. I’ll be sending them off soon! It’s funny… the first ones I made I was a little worried that I wouldn’t be making them so well… by halfway through I was feeling the groove… and …
About a month ago I suddenly decided that with two shows this season, it was time to get some professional photography done on my jewellery. It came together extremely quickly, with my friend Jayme Burns agreeing to take the photos, which I’m lucky she had a slot open; and my …
Yesterday was SO productive! I worked 8 full hours in the studio, with hardly any lollygagging or shenanigans. It was all about preparation for the four shows I have in the next 5 weeks, to make setup as painless (literally) as possible. I: Covered one of the presentation boards I …
A dozen new items up in the shop today! Wow, I would have thought it was a lot more than a dozen, I feel like I’ve been doing this all day. I hope to have more common colours up next week… I’m still working on a more affordable shipping option.
This week is the Christmas Loft craft show, kicked off by the Holiday Spirit martini shopping party Thursday night. I’ve been making rings and earrings, pendants and hair clips like crazy. I wish I’d had time for the fancier pieces but it just ran out all too soon. I do …
My fall collection is a little late, but I think these colours work well all year round anyway: I’ve got some winter-y colours in production as well: Lots to see at the upcoming craft fair – the Christmas Loft at the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design, the last …
I didn’t have the most lucrative night, but it was kind of fun, I saw lots of people I knew, and I did make a good donation to a great cause (Transition House). Here are some pics of my booth, from one end to the other!
Every year I create special valentine’s day pendants, available for just a couple of weeks. Here’s the start of this year’s crop! More viewable at Flickr.
OK, a final update/conclusion to the whole show saga for the year. In terms of how it went, it was fantastic!! The staff at the Centre for Craft & Design are simply amazing. Getting to the third floor was literally painless, as they had hired/recruited two guys to help us …
