Another chance for fame

Here's another heads up for folks looking to get their work into national magazines... The Crafts Report is looking for pictures and insights from artists. Metal Clay (due 5/15) and Mixed Media (due 6/15) will be published in the fall & winter. Go to their website for more information. INSIGHT allows artists to share their business insights with fellow craftspeople in the same genre. To submit your own tips and photograph, e-mail a high-quality image (high-resolution digital is best) of your work, along with your business insights and tips for fellow craftspeople (100-word maximum). Please include your name and city of residence. Entries must include all of this information to be considered. E-mail to editor@craftsreport.com Get creative!!!

Time to show your stuff

Sometimes we get a heads up of what the bead magazines are looking for to include in upcoming issues. Here is a recent one from Bead Trends Magazine. And look ahead for their wish list for November...VINTAGE!

Bead Trends is currently looking for designs with the following themes for our October 2010 issue: Handmade Beads - Whether polymer clay, PMC, or lampwork, artists make the most beautiful designs with handmade beads.If you would like to submit your work to this publication, please e-mail a photograph, the name or title of your piece, and contact information to: beadsubmit@beadtrendsmag.com.If submitting multiple pieces, please send a separate e-mail and photograph for each design. Deadline for the October 2010 issue is 11:59 p.m. MDT, April 30th, 2010. All ideas should be your original work and not previously published. Visit their submission page for complete details.

Artfest 2010

Ever feel tapped out? I do...after the craziness of Tucson, taxes, inventory, taxes and the spring cleaning frenzy, I just cannot get my creative juices flowing again. The solution? Take some workshops at Artfest!

Though I have never had a chance to participate in the three day creativity conference, I was able to get a day off (ok, so I bribed one of our employees to please cover for me) and will be headed up to Port Townsend for a day of fun, friends and frolic of the right brain kind. Unfortunately, that means that I will have to push UFO Night to another time since I won't make it back in time to host.

So please accept my apologies for the last minute change of plans, but I promise to make it up to all of you will lots of fresh new ideas for workshops and spring projects!

Special One Day Sale

We never do this because I think one day sales are just t big tease, making hoopla for no reason, but I found some great stuff in Tucson and we decided we'd add our hat into the ring and we're having our first ever one day sale on March 4th, 2010.

And to add to our cleverness, our hook for this sale in 3 for $10. That means you get three strands (we're not telling you of what, that's the surprise) for $ 10 dollars. Yup, 3 for $10. on 3/4/10 (I know, I am just a marketing wizard).

So join us Thursday, and share in the surprise and get your share of the goodies!

beads, beads, beads...and other good stuff!

Wow...and wow again! Tucson was wonderful, exhausting, and beautiful, productive and challenging and pretty much every other adjective I can think of! I am back, and wow, did I get some good things if I do say so myself! We have tons (literally) of new stones, pearls and glass as well as vintage lucite, sterling chain, charms, fibers, displays and so much more...I'm nothing if not a good shopper.

So to celebrate all the good things, we're having our first ever one day sale...3-4-10. On March 4th, come join us for some special buys, 3 strands for $10. Yup, that's 3 for $10 on 3/4/10...clever, I know!

Thanks again for your patience in my absence, and for treating the gang here with kindness...they hate it when I leave them alone, especially when I make them work on inventory when I'm gone, but I have made it up the them...I think I've been forgiven.

See you next Thursday!

California, here we come...

We are actually here in California, resting after threading through storms at the Siskiyou Summit. We actually drove over the summit (elevation 4,314 feet) at 1 am, and I must say, I am beat! The RV is great, but we are towing a car and about a thousand pounds of beads and metal, so the drive up was slow (and the ride down like a roller coaster you're not sure will ever stop!). Ron has been letting me drive quite a bit (while he naps...not the best co-pilot), but I told him he has to come up with a name for the RV if he wants me to really bond with it. If you have any suggestions...let me know!

More on the Tucson adventure tomorrow...

on the road again...

In less than an hour, we will begin our annual migration to the land of dry heat, rattlesnakes and most importantly, BEADS!!!!!

Yup, the camper is loaded, the sunscreen is on standby and we are outta here! We will be selling and shopping our hearts out and will be back with lots of new goodies on Feb. 16th. Until then, our shop hours will be a bit funky---we'll be closed tomorrow, Jan 29th but open Saturday. Next week we will be open Thursday, Friday & Saturday only from 11am-5pm and the same the week after. Normal shop hours will resume Feb 16th.

Thank you all for your support, you will be rewarded. Keep checking the website and this here blog for information on our 1 day sale 3/4/10!