Last Week's Craft Fair

Our Lady of the Ridge school had a craft fair last weekend that I participated in.

Not much traffic = not that many sales.

In a country with such a bad economy right now, it's understandable that people don't do much shopping anymore, but it's not good for me and the other crafters as we can't sell our goods.

Anyway, I'll stop whining and get on with it.

I wanted to post some pictures from the fair. Enjoy.

Last Week

Unique Women in Business

Today I wanted to bring to your attention a blog called Unique Women in Business. I found it on Myspace, actually, and found it interesting in that it highlights many women who work at home or have their own businesses. So, of course I joined.

The other day they featured by Etsy store, Colors of the Woods.

Hey! Word of Blog is advertising. I got two sales yesterday.

Y'all go check it out.

Today is the Day

Election 2008.

America is impatient to see who will become her next president...a World Leader. Will he be Obama or McCain?

I know who I am voting for, and the decision came after many, many weeks of soul searching.

Good luck, America! I hope whoever wins is the best for our country. We need someone to look out for us, the regular folk.

New Items Up

I was in a creative mood today and thought I'd make some earrings.

Then, I felt like making a ring.

I just got in some 14-gauge copper and am having some fun with it. Luckily it is soft copper and can be manipulated relatively easily.

Now I am working on a copper and bead bracelet with some ceramic beads that I have in stock. I hope to finish it tonight and get it up on Etsy tomorrow.

Not Quite There Yet

I purchased a bracelet tutorial from gailavira on Etsy recently and thought I was up to the task...




It didn't quite go as I expected it to.

It was harder than I thought it would be. This weave is easy in itself, but I had a hard time keeping the frame wires straight. My end result came out messy and not uniform at all.

They say practice makes perfect...I guess I'll be practicing a bit longer on this particular weave.

Ya' Can't Kill Me, Copper!

On one of my jewelry-making groups today, they were talking about copper and a study done in England regarding copper's healing properties. Here is a sample of the article...

"Making door handles, taps and light switches from copper could help the country beat superbugs, scientists say.

A study found that copper fittings rapidly killed bugs on hospital wards, succeeding where other infection control measures failed.

In the trial at Selly Oak hospital, in Birmingham, copper taps, toilet seats and push plates on doors all but eliminated common bugs.

It is thought the metal 'suffocates' germs, preventing them breathing. It may also stop them from feeding and destroy their DNA.

Lab tests show that the metal kills off the deadly MRSA and C difficile superbugs.

It also kills other dangerous germs, including the flu virus and the E coli food poisoning bug.

Although the number of cases of MRSA and C difficile is falling, the two bugs still claim thousands of lives a year.

During the ten-week trial on a medical ward, a set of taps, a lavatory seat and a push plate on an entrance door were replaced with copper versions. They were swabbed twice a day for bugs and the results compared with a traditional tap, lavatory seat and push plate elsewhere in the ward.
The copper items had up to 95 per cent fewer bugs on their surface whenever they were tested, a U.S. conference on antibiotics heard yesterday.

Professor Tom Elliott, the lead researcher and a consultant microbiologist at the hospital, said: 'The findings of 90 to 95 per cent killing of those organisms, even after a busy day on a medical ward with items being touched by numerous people, is remarkable..."

You can read the rest of the article here. It is very interesting and raises all sorts of questions and possibilities.

I started a Creative Writing Club at the school that I am the librarian at, and so far it is going good. The kids seem to enjoy it and that's what counts. I gave them a writing assignment for tomorrow's club day and I can't wait to see what they have written.

Things to do Before Craft Fairs:

Buy longer tablecloth
table lighting
Buy earring cards w/logo
tweak display

A Few New Pieces

Here are a couple of new items in my etsy shop...

Beading and Jewelry-Making Beginnings

When I started making jewelry, I was at a loss on how to start, so I did a lot of internet research to find my way.

First, what kind of jewelry did I want to make?

Well, I knew I wanted it to be linked with nature in some way, so I checked out all the different types of beads out there. I chose gemstones and glass beads over resin, shell and plastic.

Second, I researched tools. The more I learned, the more I realised there were more tools needed all the time. But the basics suited for a while. Basics being: flush cutter/nipper, round nose pliers, beading wire, crimps, and crimping pliers. Not to mention the findings (clasps, bails, spacer beads for accent, etc...)

Third, I subscribed to Bead Style magazine to get ideas on what I wanted my jewelry to look like. Bead Style has all of your basics to get you started as well as jewelry projects, reader's gallery of creations, how-to videos and more.

Another great magazine is Step by Step Wire jewelry magazine for those of us wanting to learn more about wire-wrapping. It has some awesome tutorials!

Fourth, I joined a few yahoo groups on beading and jewelry-making. The networking is invaluable. You meet people who are doing the same thing as you as well as people who have been there and can offer advice.

Here are some groups that I have joined:

Jewelry Making

Bead on a Wire

Wire Wrap Jewelry

Unique Wire Artists


The more I learn, the more I realise that there is much more to learn and more tools to purchase. Right now I am wanting a jewelry tumbler so I can get a nice polish on my pieces, but until then, hand-polishing is in order.



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On another note, I will be at a couple of craft fairs next month. Eisenhower High School in Blue Island, IL and Our Lady of the Ridge in Chicago Ridge, IL. I have a bit more tweaking of my display booth to do in the meantime, such as a bigger table and longer table cloth. I'd also love to have a banner made up with my logo...as soon as I get a logo made.