Tis the season

Show season that is.  I’ve got two shows down and two more to go for the season.  I doubt at this point another will pop up, but I am available in December.  I’m also planning a sale (more on that at the end of this post) so I’d like to fill up the A Polymer Penchant etsy shop.  Naturally, during this busy time I am trying all sorts of new things.  It’s madness, but in a good way.

The Navan show, this weekend past, is such a nice, small and friendly show.  Most of the vendors are seasoned, but each year there seems to be one or two new ones.  I can’t recall if I did it only two years or three before taking a break, having Averleigh.  This was the second year back and it’s nice to have returning customers and admirers.  It’s always interesting to see what people reach for.  I have a necklace with velvet beads and pretty much every person touches the beads, but I can’t seem to entice anyone to try it one.  Other items that I’m excited about seem to spend the whole day unnoticed.  I had four pieces, brand new, never photographed, sell.  This is great, too bad I can’t show you!

I also had a wonderful mix of “older” pieces ie not made in the last month, sell.  Like this one



This picture was also used in the advertisement for my show in two weeks – Baz’ART.  I think I will have to make another incarnation or two, maybe with just a single bloom and some wire work. 

I’ve been working on my wire working skills for some time now and I was excited to get moving and finally try some things I’ve had for a year, some longer.  Yes, it was high time to try Liver of Sulfur, my butane torch, and my tumbler.

Here is the pile of copper clasps and what not I worked up, all ready in the garage with my LOS, my handy (stolen) Spiderman container, some fresh water and baking soda. 



I used a kettle to warm (not boil!) my water and a couple of drops went in and then I started adding the copper.


Hmm that’s funny, the 20g pieces were turning black right away but the 16g weren’t.  I wouln’t think the gauge would make a difference, only that there is more surface area. Oh, wait a sec, they are where I had hammered… The proverbial penny was dropping.  That damn wire wasn’t bare copper at all, it must have been coated!!



I rinsed and dried and, a bit deflated, decided that I would not bother to clean the few that did oxidize at that moment.  They are just waiting for me still.  I had a good giggle at myself since I do have a fresh pound of 16g ready to go, I just thought I would “use up” the small coil I had.  Sure enough in small letters it says”non-tarnish”.  I moved on and filled that butane torch at long last.  I had mixed success balling some copper.  I moved on again, looking for something to work out and loaded up the tumbler with all my special non-tarnish clasps and success! I’m very happy with how they turned out in the end.

Now a creative person should never complain about all the ideas, all the things that just want doing right now.  BUT at some point a creative person, who endeavours to sell their creations, should apply some of that same creativity to marketing.  Working on that.  The lovely ladies at Love my art jewelry know a thing or two about just that.

The wheels are turning on just what I will offer, but I went ahead and joined in for the event.  Now, it’s time to plan and organize.  (I think I can, I think I can…)

How long does it take you to make that?

I’ve just updated my show calendar, which has it’s own page here on the blog.  I am going to have to do a bit more fiddling to make the layout right, but for now I’m frustrated with the tool and have to move on.  I was a little disappointed that not all the shows I wanted to take part in would have me, but I’m excited to be part of two new to me shows and two returning goodies.

I’ve always loved craft shows.  I love going and I love taking part.  I’ve been working on new product, complete redesign of my booth, new packaging, new signage and the list goes on and on.  I can’t wait to see it all come together, since right now everything is either still an idea or somewhere on the road to done. I fully expect to still be tweaking all kinds of things right up to the last minute as that’s just the way I am.

Last night I was working on some new post earrings, that will be debuting at Handmade Harvest.  I had to move some things around to have just enough space to work.  One tray in particular has about twenty or so pendants that the final layer of sealant is curing on.  I was trying to remember if it had been 72 hours yet when I realized it would be wise to just write down the time I finish at!  Such an easy solution.  Of course my next thought is these aren’t really done.  You see they have this little void in the centre that I want to add a little sparkle and resin to.  That means these “done” pieces will have about another three steps and five more days before they are really done.  I had a flashback to a wonderful sign I saw at the Pottery show one year.  It was two pages long - regular 12 pt font! I stood there and read through and it detailed, and I mean detailed, from start “I dug the clay out of the ground” to “I set up this table full of mugs”.

Back to my tray of pendants, I started trying to count out steps on my fingers, what to call a step, hmm, lets see…

-I found the vintage button - I made a mould - I conditioned the polymer – I moulded and then further hand shaped and sculpted – first cure – I added a base colour – I added three layers of metal paint to sections - I custom mixed more polymer – textured it – sculpted it as a bezel to the first piece – second cure – I colourized (3-5 layers) – I highlighted – I sealed three layers…and more to come.

So lets call that fourteen steps, but some of those are really multiple steps, each with different amounts of time doing and lots more time waiting.  This is why it is so hard to answer that favourite question of craft show attendees: “How long did it take you to make that?”  It’s a fair question! One I sometimes answer with a smile and a hmmm, then tell them something else entirely about the piece or the process.  Mostly because what the heck time shall I count.  These pendants have been a work in progress for about two months now and they aren’t done in my mind yet.  

Really I take the question as an invitation to chat about my work, so please, don’t stop asking it! Just know, I’m not being intentionally vague or flippant if I say 2 months!

Here is where I should be showing you these pendants I’m going on and on about, but they ain’t done so instead



Rufus has not learned yet that a good studio kitty should stay off the worktable and keep his hair to himself!

Shows, treasures, buttons, and maybe a sale

See that’s just way too much to talk about.  Hang on tight – here we go!

This weekend I was back at the Navan Arts and Crafts show for the first time since 2009.  I love this show.  It’s smaller, full of wonderful vendors and is partnered with a bake sale each day.  I wasn’t sure if I was going to do any shows this year but when the organizer contacted me in the summer to say she had one spot left, well, how could I refuse?  There is a little “but” with being the newbie – you get the post.

This post  ---- right here----------------------------

Totally bossy and about 16 inches in from one side and oh 3 feet each way.  In a 7x10 foot booth space this eats a lot of real estate.  But this same kind friend came to my rescue with a spare 4 foot table (post panicky “just how big is this post? email).   I was happy with this.  This picture is from the Sunday morning as shoppers were just about to come in so I hadn’t yet fixed up those necklaces looking a little jumbled on the cream.



A closer view of the side and back tables.  The black background belongs to my neighbor, she was kind to offer that I could use this side to hang anything if I wanted.   I found the back table didn’t get too much attention from customers but the crowds were good and for a first show back,  I was happy enough.

Onto the treasures



This sock monkey was originally holding a cookie, and part of the Girl Guides bake sale.  I let Averleigh pick the one she wanted when she came to visit at the end of the sale.  He is sitting next to a ceramic mushroom I did a little trade for with artist Liz Fournier.  The gift cards on the right are hand stamped and have little sparkly bits I didn’t capture.  I’d tell you who made them, but there was no card, too bad.

Then I found Laura Sheppard’s booth and it looked familiar.  I had seen her products listed on the website for the Savoir Faire that, as it turns out, we are both doing next Sunday.  Sunday is the 25th and as soon as that dawned on me I thought of the 7000 bracelets project and the bracelet I’m supposed to be showing off on that day.  So I dived into the beautiful bowls of buttons, digging for blue beauties.  Looky!



As I chatted with Laura and let her know about the cause she made me a nice price and offered I take another in support.  Looking forward to creating with these.

Ok so that’s the shows, the treasures and the bracelet.

Maybe a sale.  I’ve yet to run a sale or giveaway since I don’t think of my shop as ready yet.  ‘Tis the season though isn’t it?  The Artisan Whimsy team is gathering up participants for what is stacking up to be quite the event.  If I can figure out all the details before 10 tonight I’ll jump in.