KM&V Countdown - week 17

I started out the week with a torchsession on sunday. I haven't been torching much at all during this year, so this was a practice run, to see if I can even make a bead anymore. I decided from the start that I would only be playing and getting my feel for the glass back, which was a good thing.


These ringbeads are my first ever and hold their share of mistakes and inaccuracy. I don't think this is a good time to start practicing something completely new (allthough I am dying to try making hollows by blowing, as well as these ring beads), so I will only be doing them for fun, if at all, during these weeks. I intend to make beads I know well, with little variations to keep it fresh.

The drop pendant bead is going in the 'to sell' box after all, and I have added 'Buy more bails' to my to-do list.

Then I had another torchsession, oh yes, two within a week, how about that?

I had a plan as to what to make, instead of just deciding on the spot. I know I want to bring lots of my large ladies and lots of pendants to the show, so I set off with a torso.
These are only hard to do because of the time they take to finish. This one took more than an hour, with all the melting down of rods and even more keeping her warm. But apart from that it is a calm process that does not involve much precision, which is the perfect project to start up on after months of inactivity.


After I finished her I made a couple of pendants, using DH Clio and Psyche and Zimmerman purple rose and extreme white frit. I love that stuff :)
They are all very well reduced and extremely shiny and jewel-like, and it doesn't show at all in this picture ...


I have also begun making a plan for the 17 weeks. Nothing solid as of yet, but I have thought of what I want to bring, and am settling on a colour palette for the entire range of products. I'd like my space at the show to be a pleasant visual experience, which will take a bit of colour discipline on my part.

That is all for this week :)
P~

17 week countdown!

At the market last weekend I had and awfull lot of beads stolen. 14 purple silvercored braceletbeads, 30 uncored braceletbeads and two larger beads too.




I'm not going to complain about it though. It left me with all sorts of weird feelings, some unpleasant, but mostly I feel strangely relieved and very eager to start producing new beads. This is a good thing :)

My next 'market' is the huge (and might I add censored ;) 'Kunst, Mad & Vin' (Art, Food & Wine) show at Falconer Centeret in Copenhagen. It is on october 21-23'rd and I am very excited about being accepted. A ton of people will come, it is a fact, and I intend to be ready this time.
I have 17 weeks (including this one) to produce and stock up.

However - I know myself well enough by now to know that if I'm not carefull I will let weeks and weeks pass because 'there's plenty of time'.
So in order to keep myself accountable I hereby declare:

~ o 0 o ~
I intend that on monday of each of the 17 weeks I will accumulate and post a list of what I have done during the past week to reach my goals for this art fair.
~ o 0 o ~
So be it!
p~

3 days at the Valdemar Castle Market

Phew! 2 weekends in a row away from home, that's enough for me for a while.

This weekend I spent 3 days at the Valdemar Castle Market with my friend and fellow beadmaker Lenette. The weather was fantastic and thousands of people came to enjoy the day and the goods of the 220 sellers. You could even get a helicopter ride :)


Here are pictures of our booth and of my table alone. Looking at it now I can see a few things I'd like to have done differently, but there you go.




One of the great things about being a seller is that you get to go and look at other peoples goods for a few days. Many times I will be convinced I want to buy something I may well not have bought, had I been a guest for one day only. This time was no exception, and here are what I brought home.

These delicious handmade soaps are from http://www.badeanstalten.dk/index.html and are nice and chunky. I were happily surprised at how thick she cut them, at the price they had. It has been a long time since I had handmade soap last. It's a little bit of luxury for me.





I also brought home this rather large ornamental ball of willow branches. As soon as we got to the market to set up our booth on the first day, I had spotted this fabulous piece of handiwork. It doesn't show well in pictures, but the pattern is intricate and lovely, made of many, many joined spirals.


The lady from http://www.birkelevnaturkunst.dk/ stood in the sun for all 3 days, working on more of her garden ornaments.

I also really liked these 'baskets' of solid wood, but I didn't buy one because I didn't know what I'd use it for. They are too large for beads ;)
(yes, I do know what I'll do with the ornament ball!)


Finally, in the very last minutes of the final day, I made a trade :)
Above the stable where we were, there was a huge gallery space full of paintings. Most of them were not for me, but this one made me stop and oogle. I'm usually not a flowery person, but this little painting has a lovely mood about it, so I asked if perhaps she would be interested in a trade. And Yay! she agreed :)


You can see more of her flowery paintings at http://www.janemjensen.dk/

One thing that I did not get to take home were these amazing glass dinner plates by Lene Hjorhöy. I haven't really thought about glass dinner plates before, but these are so exquisite!


They are so beautiful and you can tell they took forever to make. She has the same pattern in these 3 bowls of different sizes, and I want one of each! I am so going to remember these when my birthday comes around later this year :)


I love markets, but I'm glad I have 17 weeks before my next one. I'm also glad that it is an Art Fair, rather than a place to look for bargains, Yay!

P~

PS: I just googled 'art glass dinner plates', and I have to say, these are definately the cream. Just imagine having an actual dinner on them. Ooh!

Bunny Beads :)

I'm so excited!
Tomorrow is my big girl's birthday, she'll be 8, and we have decided to get her a bunny. She has been begging for a pet for years, but since I am very allergic to guineapigs it has always been a big no! to anything furry.

Personally, since I grew up, my pets have always been insects, but you can't really pet them much, and they don't inspire you to whisper your secrets to them either, so ... an outdoor bunny - I am sure that can't be much of an allergy problem.

The thing is though, we have no bunny to give her, just the cage/house for it. So this morning I got up early and started making a bunny bead that I can give her, so she'll know who is going to live in the cage.

I have never made a bunny bead before, but it turned out quite well, so I just kept going and 8 cute little bunnies are now on my table. I only need one for my girl, so the rest will be going up in my Amio.dk shop during the coming week.


I have been googling bunny links lately, and have found that there are several breeders in our area, and a group who competes in bunny hop too, so it shouldn't be a problem to get her a little furball very soon. I am in fact looking much forward to it, since now that the decision is made, I too can dream of cuddling up a little furry creature.

P~

Marketday has come and gone ...

Okay, so I have signed this Contract of No Complaining for 49 days, and though I may not have been fulfilling it perfectly, let me tell you about this sundays market.

The rooms we were in were lovely. The building was a small theater, and my booth was in the actual room where audience would normally sit. The stage was at one end and there were painted decorations all around from floor to ceiling.

I got there a bit later than I had wanted, but managed to set up my display in time for opening, except for pricemarks which I scribled right then and there.
I usually don't have space for people to go around my table, but the arranger convinced me that it was a good idea, and also it went better with the booths on either side of mine. So here is my first go-around set-up.




My neighboor booth were a couple of nice ladies, sisters, who works in needlepoint. Their business is called Sorbet Design. Some of their goods were freshly handmade, and others were vintage.
They use vintage pieces of needlepoint to incorporate with beautiful fabrics in pillows, handbags and shoulderbags of several sizes, all with a shiny vintage brooch on the front (not the pillows, that would be un-comfy).
I should have taken pictures, but you can go visit their website.

We also discovered a shared interest. Remember those nipsenåle a few posts back? One of the sisters is a collector, and she promptly bought 2 of my pins. Yay! I were happy :) I in turn bought one of her lovely pincussions. Look, isn't that a fabulous combination?


In the evening one sister asked if I were interested in a trade, and I am now the happy owner of a beautifully handmade shoulderbag. It goes perfectly with my favourite coat. Yay!
It is really well made, it's sturdy, yet feminine, it will last me a lifetime I am sure. I am very pleased :)

Then I packed up and drove home.

P~

Market fast approaching

Ahem, I just realized I have neglected to spread the info here on my blog. And it's tomorrow no less!

Yes, tomorrow I'll get up early and take off for the city of Helsinore. From 11am to 5 pm you have the chance to see my glass in person, along with many other goods, some handmade and some not.
It's at Helsingør Musik Teater, at Søstrædet 4. Here is the info from the arranger:



Have a fabulous weekend :)
P~

Sign up for my Newsletter

As I said in my previous post I shall send out my very first newsletter in just a few days. I am aiming for sunday, to promote my appearance at a market really soon. I have made it an event already, over at my Facebook fan page, and I'd love to have you 'like' it over there too.
There will be other nice stuff in the newsletter, as I know most of you might not live close enough to stop by.

I have put up a link to my newsletter sign-up form, over to the left. Don't forget to chose wether you want it in Danish or English. I might make further segments later on based on your interests, but for now I just want to get started.

Also - I just found a bead set of mine on the frontpage of Amio.dk, the decorated bones second pic in line 3. If you don't know Amio, it is a Danish site, much like Etsy, where I have my online shop. What a nice surprise :)



Have a lovely day :)
P~