Monday, April 05, 2010

It Takes a Village to Launch an Artist !!



I am so overwhelmed with all the incredible support and love this little family of Bloglandians have surrounded me with!!!! Like most everyone else I started my blog so that I could visit and explore the blogs and art of some very gifted artists. Like many others I spent my life living with people that just don't get it and really don't have the patience or desire to understand "it" For me it was a wonderful revelation to discover that I wasn't the only odd duck, that there was a whole world of people who can see music, hear art,touch the fce of words, smell& taste the beauty the human spirit can create. And with even all of that I discovered the unconditional acceptance, love and support of this awesome Bloglandian family!!! :) SO on Friday afternoon I dressed in my armor of many positive thoughts and set out to conquer my private demon!

The art walk and sale was as expected lightly attended. Friday was Good Friday. Here in Mexico the entire week of Easter is taken as vacation. Our little city fills and overflows with happy vacationers. The beaches resemble the insides of sardine tins!!

Our beaches not on  party pheromones!!
Same beaches overdosed on party pheramones

The street that skirts the beach runs from the original old part of town through the Golden Zone resort area of town. On a regular day it's about a leisurely 15 minute drive. Thursday evening it took Miguel 1&1/2 hours to get from his store in old town to his home on the near edge of the GZ!!!!! It's becomes a survival method that the people at the north end of town do not try to get down town and the people down town do not try to go north!! Even with the showing way down we did manage to sell a few pieces and took 2 orders for pieces!! :) But the best thing to come out of the evening was Helena and Miguel want to carry my jewelry in their shop!!!! Yipeee!!!!

So how about a bit of show and tell time????We all know the importance of getting our name out there, but with no budget for marketing it can be a bit of a challenge. I wanted to make tags for our pieces that were mini pieces of art, maybe not thrown away immediatly but used as a bookmark.  My ever so gifted and generous Bloglandian sister Laurie created an amazing Cabinet Card we use with our jewelry. Martha and I decided we would call our little venture El Pajarita y El Jaguar... Little Bird & Jaguar. I sent Laurie a picture of a baby jaguar, one of the baby parrots we rescued, a background of vintage lace/trim and a cabinet card. With the magic of photo shop this is what she came up with!!!!

 


I finished off the back side with another picture of lace then we attached the description of the piece of jewelry and a small note that all profits go to Conrehabit.


Oh by the way that's $380 pesos ;) We decided that for the first showing we would have a bit of an introduction sale by discounting the necklaces by $100 pesos

Miguel set up a table for us underneath one of the courtyard lights and I brought a lace table cloth and a few props. I even remembered a mirror!! :)



I brought this great seashell shaped pewter bowl to display the earring cards in. I think it might have been the small panic attack Tuesday that I went into over drive and made ten pairs of earrings
that was the contributing factor of the cellulitis. :(


I had fun with the cards I used for the earrings. I printed some of my favorite vintage ladies clip art & placed the earrings in the "ears" of my ladies, with just a bit of poetic licence...


On the backs I place a smaller picture of our CC and the price. After reading everyone's great advice about the matchy match earring issue, I decided to make them so they could go by themselves but were complements to the necklaces.

For the "sacks" I used small recycled brown bags we stamped a bird nest on and tied a bit of muslin ribbon through. These are the bags my daily fresh cinnamon roll comes in. LW always stops at the neighborhood bakery on his morning walk to pick one up for me, I am a very lucky girl!! :)

 

I did finish the necklace I made with the wreath and LeAnn's  blue bird. I used a couple of her cylinder and round teal blue beads and a nice big round open connector for a clasp. These along with the bird were beads that LeAnn had so generously donated to Conrehabit. I glued a little rhinestone (well you know me!) in the extra wire hole :) I finished off with a few milky stones (maybe moonstones) that Deryn had brought down from her stash.




With the support, love, constant encouragement of my amazing Bloglandian family, photoshop magic from Laurie, beads and pretties from Renate, Esther, LeAnn, and Deryn, along with her generous offer to "mule", the wonderful much appreciated advice and wisdom of all of my kindred spirits, that this little bird took off from the edge of the nest and found that she did indeed have wings to fly!! I wish there was a word that expresses the overwhelming love and thankfulness I feel for all of you. For thankful and blessed is truly what I am to be part of this incredible family of kindred spirits even if we are all a crayon or two short of being a "normal" box!! :) 

I'm off to rest my wrist and do a bit of catching up on blogs but not before reminding you that now is the perfect time to make a bit of art no matter where in the world you are  p;)  

9 comments:

Holly, the Old Western Gal said...

Um, a certain bloggie fren predicted you'd end up selling yer artwork in galleries...*cough cough*

What beautiful pieces and what a lovely table!!!

You did it!!!

SummersStudio said...

Pattie, my dear friend you lift me up with your incredible art! It is frightening to be 'out' there in the public with your art. I think I go through that every time I do an event, even familiar venues. But, you my dear, have excelled and your presentation is superb. I am absolutely over the moon for you and the wonderful generosity you are showing those little conrehabit birdies. Kudos and huge hugs!

stregata said...

Congratulations, hermanita!!! I knew you could fly! Even if it is terrifying to do, it is also empowering to put yourself out there. I am soooo happy for you!
Love your table and the cards.
You go, girl!!!!

Tristan Robin said...

Congratulations on completing the task at hand - and having a success as well! Congratulations on the new shop venue ... that's the best way to jump start things, for sure!

I love your hangtags - and your display table is very pretty. I'm sure people enjoyed it.

Looking forward to the next phase...

pam q said...

Way to go!!!

I was on the edge of my seat as I read and it sounded like you had a wonderful, successful time!

Your creations looked so nice on your displays...and the bags...and the tags....you had it all covered!

Nice earring cards!!!

You made ten beautiful pair of earrings in one day?!? You are so MUCH faster than me!!!!!

And you got orders AND a new place to sell your goodies!

I think you had a great day!!!

Whew. That comment had a lot of exclamation marks!

Charmingdesigns said...

Fantastic Dear Friend! I am not surprised you got orders and will have them in a shop, everything is beautiful. The cards turned out great. Love the idea of putting your earrings on the vintage ladies.
Your next show will be easier. That first one is always mentally hard.
Have fun creating!!

Riki Schumacher said...

Wow Pattie, good for you. You took the plunge and now you're a professional by golly. It is hard the first time, but is easier to jump from the nest next time. Proud of you girl, congratulations. You will never know if you don't try, right? And why let that opportunity get away, its a wonderful adventure.

Everything looked beautiful, the cards, the table. Way to go Patti! Hugs, Riki

Cindy said...

Pattie
I am just so HAPPY for you with the great big success you had with Art Walk...and especially with your jewelry that will be carried in the gift shop! I can just feel your pride and excitement as I read this post and wish I could give you a great big hug, I'm just so excited for you!
Your earrings and earring cards are gorgeous...I'd stop for sure to see something so cleverly displayed. And I just love the nest necklace you made with LeAnn's bird... is it still available?? :-)(Probably not!). The stamped paper bags turned out so sweet as well... espeicially if they were meant for cinnamon buns. I'm so happy that you had a fantastic time.....and I hope you are getting some rest now and that your wrists are better soon! :-)

LuLu Kellogg said...

I am SO proud of you! See, it's not so scary afterall and now you have someone that will sell your beautiful creations in their shop!

Your table turned out wonderfully. Great presentation BS and I loved the bags too!

Let me know when Jackie is going home again...I have another box of goodies to send you!

Love to you, LW and the babies of fur!

LS, The Commander, Tommy, Babie, Apricot, Olivia, Harlow and #2!!

p.s. The Vertigo is better....and you are right, getting older is no fun...in fact it sucks eggs!!!

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