Making Progress

So the quilt is coming along nicely. I officially have all of the 4 square blocks sewn together. For the past few days they have been laid out in the middle of my living room floor while I tried to decide how the pattern should be laid out. (Sorry no photos, I finally cleaned them up this afternoon). So next on the list is cutting out all the sashing pieces and the black borders for all of the smaller squares that are going in between. That will be a job in itself sewing all that together.

On the jewellery front I must admit to being very lazy. :( I seem to be in a bit of a creators block and nothing seems to be going right so I haven't been able to motivate myself into going to the studio as of late. However I do have the day off tomorrow so I will endeavor to make myself go in and get something done. Sales seem to be doing pretty well in Lake Placid so I really need to get some new things made for Antediluvian. Wish me luck!

New and Old Jobs

So I've been at my new job for almost 2 weeks now and I have to say I've definitely had worse jobs. Funny how I would rather spend 12 hours working in a factory than 6 in a jewellery store. It actually feels like it's going faster! However on Monday I start my second bought of night shift so this opinion may change.

So I finally got the adapters for my torch! I got them last week, went to pick them up, attached them to my torch, found that the O2 connection between the hose and adapter was leaking, tried tightening it, tested it, tightened it, tested it, tightened it and promptly sheared the tubing from the adapter clean off. Was not very impressed. So I spent the rest of the day pulling out my old little leaky torch (don't worry it's just the O2 that leaks not the propane) and soldering the adapter back together. I'm probably going to have to order another adapter just in case my patch job ever fails me. For the record it still leaked afterwards so I had to go to the hardware store and get plumber's tape to seal the joint. Works like a charm, should've done it in the first place, but live and learn.

So now I'll be able to get back into the studio, as I've mentioned I have quite a few commissions waiting on me, some of you have been waiting quite a while (I'm sorry! I really am I will be getting to it tomorrow morning! I promise!). I've also applied to a local craft show that I personally haven't been to but my mom has and she's told me it's really good, I've heard the same from others. I'm told it's like a smaller version of the One of a Kind Show in Toronto. It would be the most expensive show I've done at about $400 a booth and I will need to invest in things like lighting but it's much cheaper than One of a Kind and I could possibly get a bursary (I've applied anyways). So I'm waiting with fingers crossed and if I get in I'm going to have to get my little butt in gear and make up some more inventory.

I've got 2 days off and it's on nights for 3 days and I get my first full week off. Back to work in the studio tomorrow.

Mostly good news - A surprising day

Yesterday was quite a surprisingly productive day. Surprisingly because I thought I wouldn't be able to do a lot. Up until now I have been using my boyfriend's torch. Last week I finally bought my own so I returned his on the weekend. On Monday when I went to set it up I found I needed an adapter between my handpiece and the hose so now I can't use my torch until I get the adapters which won't be in for about a week. This however apparently would not slow me down yesterday.

So how to start off the day of work if there isn't much you can do in the studio? Spend the morning photographing of course. This leads to puting the new pictures on my website, then attempting to purchase my domain on the new site (not working out so well) and working on cataloging my inventory.

Now here starts the interesting part. In the afternoon I went to pick up my mom from work a bit early so I could talk to one of her co-workers who wanted to commission me for a ring and pendant. Got plans made with her then ran into another co-worker who had also been thinking of commissioning me for a pendant. Three commissions in about 20 min.

Then we headed out to a china/housewares store that specializes in bridal gifts as I have far too many weddings to go to this year. While there one of the guys who works there commented on my purse which I had gotten at the One of a Kind Show. This lead to talking about the One of a Kind Show, which lead to my jewellery, to shows I could sell at, to the possibility of selling my jewellery there on consignment, that and possibly a commission from him. Don't ask me how this all works but it did. So now I've got another possible store on my list. This of course gave me plenty to occupy myself in the evening as I then had to make care instruction cards for my wood jewellery and work on updating my sadly neglected portfolio for him to peruse at our next meeting. I love surprises don't you?

I have to give a lot of credit for that one to my business cards that I got from moo.com. They're simple and elegant and each card has a different picture of my jewellery on it. Not only do they make me feel totally professional but it's like having a walking portfolio sitting in my purse. They're a bit more expensive than cards from Staples but they're totally worth it.

Well I think I've jabbered on enough about my day so I'll leave you with some of the photos I took yesterday! Including the incredible new felted jewellery!

Hooray for Progress!

This has been a productive week so far in the studio. The creative juices are flowing and progress is being made. Also on the business front it's finally time to go to the galleries! On the weekend a friend and I went to a few galleries in town and had some really good conversations so there's one gallery in town I plan on approaching next week and this weekend I heading up to cottage country with the boyfriend to talk to another gallery owner. Wish me luck! and have a peek at some of the pretties that have come out of the studio this week:

Interviews are horribly terrifying things...

So as I've mentioned stating a business is expensive stuff so I have been looking for a job. Over a month ago I started being interviewed for a position as a goldsmith working for a jewellery store in the next city over. Yesterday I had to go to their head office for another interview with their goldsmiths to see if I have the skills they're looking for. Needless to say I was a nervous wreck yesterday.

At the interview they had me size a ring down and two rings up as well as set two stones in a ring and reset a stone in an earring. It was very nerve wracking. Since it was Thursday everyone was very busy trying to get the final repairs ready to be sent back to the stores before the weekend so there wasn't really anywhere for me to work without putting someone out of their bench. Also obviously since this is someone else's bench I didn't know where he kept the tools I needed and he had his bench pin set up differently, so it took me much longer to do things than it would have at home. I left very nervous and expecting that I had done a horrible job. (Did I mention that I'm a bit self deprecating?) Anyways I came home, took some Advil and curled up with a new book from my favourite author for the rest of the night.

Today I've mostly been doing my laundry, finished said book and focused on the fact my boyfriend is coming for the weekend (boyfriend + Our Lady Peace concert, what could be better?). It didn't even cross my mind who it might be when my cell phone rang. Turned out it was the store I'm being interviewed for asking for... another interview. They said I got a very good review from the interview so I guess it didn't go as bad as I thought... Well here's hoping!
















Photo by: puddlemuddle2000 (Tucson I have arrived!!)