Earrings

Some earrings waiting for adhesive and hooks!

post-conference and some new crafty items

This weekend I went to the CHN conference in Torrance. I had a really, really good time - I did 1 talk, and 4 workshops, and was also able to sit and sell my items in the vendor hall all weekend! I love conferences, and will do more posts with photos from some of the different workshops, with descriptions. 

But for now - one of the things I love about conferences is the inspiration I get for new products. So here's the first photos of some new things...

itty bitty crocheted bows, these are for your hair, but I'll be doing rings and earrings too

large heart rings and earrings are a big seller of mine, but these have the americana twist :)

these are earring holders made with lace, burlap, and embroidery hoops. They are light, lovely,and a great display for your jewelry, and mine....

In the vendor hall, some of my earrings on display!

No promises as to when these will be on my showyourcolorz etsy site, but I am having fun making them!!!

Heritage Arts and Why I Love These Photos

Handmade earrings, available at www.showyourcolorz.etsy.com - made by me!

a beautiful example of Sposto Photography's wedding work
Also happens to be a photo of my cousin and his new wife :)

A few days ago I had the wonderful experience of having a professional photographer take pictures of my handmade jewelry and accessories. Her name is Shauntelle, and her company is Sposto Photography. 

Although I have been following her blog and her posts on her facebook page, I was not anticipating just how beautiful the photos of my work would turn out. 

a mini-shop set up, just like I have when I sell at craft fairs and festivals

We did a little studio set up in her backyard

 along with 3 dogs and chickens... 

Bird and Zoe

That's a chicken.

I honestly walked in thinking she would take photos for about 20 minutes, and be done - since she was doing me a huge favor.

butterfly rings

But she made a list of all the types of photos she wanted to take, and spent a few hours on it. Even looking at photos on the back of her camera impressed me. 

Brand new earrings, I especially love my classic granny squares!

Crocheted bracelets

I love creating jewelry - I love creating the color combinations and the design. I think I have an eye for that type of work - which you would think would translate to photographing this work. Alas, it does not. 

Hair clips!

Watching Shaunie work was great - not only because I knew I would be getting wonderful photos from the experience, but because I learned a lot about how to create the visual I wanted. 

Big dangly heart earrings - one of my best sellers :)

She also had the equipment to really show the details - which is, of course, as the person spending hours crocheting these little details - one of the most important things. 

One of my favorite photos - simple, clean, and beautiful

She did such a good job showing every, loving stitch.

So if I haven't mentioned - go to her facebook page and click 'like' and visit her website. This is a shameless plug for Sposto Photography - because look at what she did for me. I am so amazed. 

Hey look! Those are my actual hands! Actually crocheting!

Here's a little more to why I think this is important: heritage arts are a link to our past. When I crochet, I feel connected through something really tactile to Laura Ingalls, who hated to sew sheet hems, to Anne Blythe (maiden name: Shirley) who knit 2 socks a day during WWI. When I take my crocheting out into the world, little kids come up to me every time and ask me what I'm doing. Teenagers tell me about how they used to watch their Grandmother knitting or crocheting. Everyone has a fond memory of someone in their life doing something with yarn. It's a thing that used to be a necessity, and is now an art form. I imagine it's what people who are good at gardening/farming feel like when they sit at their table and eat the food they grew - they could have bought that pasta sauce at the store, but instead they are intimately connected with the process and ingredients. It's the same for me - I am just amazed, sometimes, when I look at a bracelet or blanket that I've made that we can do that with string, with fiber from a plant or animal.

What do you do or make that makes you feel connected to your past? Tell me in the comments!

Some of my little owls - magnets and keychains

earrings!

I love crocheting. I've been crocheting since I was about 8 years old. I wish I could remember how I started - maybe my mom remembers. 

I call these my "unschooling mama" earrings

But I don't remember the learning process, I don't remember the person who I first saw doing it, I don't remember falling in love with yarn.

Emerald is going to be a color of 2013. Apparently.

 I remember many living history events where I would plant myself next to the woman carding wool, or using a spinning wheel - and just watch and watch and watch. I remember making friendship bracelets for the kids on my swim teams and girl scout troops. 

I started selling my handmade crocheted jewelry at a few craft fairs and at royaboya.etsy.com and showyourcolorz.etsy.com - and then ignored it for a little while.

 I've recently decided to devote more time to it - and have been really enjoying the process. 

Bold, geometric shapes! Also in.

I've consulted with a few people who are successful on etsy, and realized that one of the most important things I need to do is to improve the photographs of my items.

I just make color combinations that make me happppyyy

I'd been using my smart phone to take all the pictures - I have it on me, it's easy to upload, and didn't really think that the quality of photo was that much different.

Today, though, I got out the Canon PowerShot A480 that I bought my husband a few years ago, and decided to give it a try. I used different layers of curtains to diffuse the light to try to minimize shadow and glare - and I was more or less successful.

I only had time to do a handful of earrings that I made this week - my goal is to get a good photo-taking set up, so that it's easy to stick a pair of earrings in and snap a few photos every day - take advantage of when the light is right, and it's not a huge production every time.

Another thing that I never really thought that much about were fashion trends. I've always been sort of oblivious - at some point I realized owls were in. Then I noticed that people are wearing a ton of neon. 

bright, sunshiney, spring and summer colors

But when you make fashion accessories, it's sort of important that you are aware of these trends at the beginning of their appearance, if not before. 

It also never really clicked for me that there are people out there who are making these decisions -and putting them down on paper, in blogs, and magazines. The information is there for the having. 

lizards and firemen and ground squirrels, oh my!

A few weeks ago I went with my book club to a coffeeshop in Claremont village to discuss the novel we'd just read. It just so happened to be the weekend of Earth Day, and Claremont was having a street fair! We walked through, enjoying the demos and all the people dressed in their finest hippie-wear, and one booth was giving away free tomato plants!

I may have forgotten to mention that the garden I so delightfully planted a few months ago...got eaten. Super de duper destroyed. Ground squirrels came in and ate everything, down to the stems (except the basil. Note: ground squirrels are anti-basil.) And they did it really fast. Suspiciously fast... ahem. What is having a giant German Shepherd good for unless they are scaring the squirrels out of your garden? (the dog is snoring right now. I feel bad talking about him this way when he is asleep and can't defend himself). 

Anyways - so I was glad to be gifted this tomato plant, but felt a little guilty, fairly certain I was taking it home to be the amuse bouche for a tree rodent's meal.

My solution: put it in a movable container, and move it around, a lot. I figure the squirrels won't catch on, and I might get to eat a tomato by the end of the summer. It has actually been working! No squirrel teeth marks, and the plant is growing! Maybe one tomato plant (oh and the basil plant, can't forget about that one) is all this newbie gardener can handle for the time being. Caprese salad garden it is!

This dude lives on our front porch, with a couple others. There's a really big one, with the stump of a tail that I see a couple times a day in the backyard. Lizards are awesome. 

I spent the sunniest portion of the day in my backyard doing this. I'm crocheting little granny squares to make earrings for a few upcoming craft fairs. There is something so insanely satisfying about granny squares. Oh, see those plastic water bottles? I've got 3 loquat seeds in those, cross your fingers that in 8-10 years I'll be reaping the rewards......

So here I am. Netflix is on, my shoulders feel nice and warm and toasty from being out in the sun, I feel all good and virtuous cuz I did chores too, I had a visit from a bunch of firemen who thought our house was a nature center (it happens), I mentioned the dog snoring loudly on the floor, and it is time to switch to a project suitable for a warm spring evening in my little house in the big park.

earrings

Lately I've been working on new earrings -- I like this new design. I crochet all the pieces then put them together with little bits of jewelry chain. They'll be up at my etsy site soon.