Fire Blessed Art – Fine Handcrafted Dichroic Glass, Silver Jewelry and Gifts

During one of my morning walks last fall, I discovered some broken blue glass by the side of the road. I took it home, cleaned it up, and melted it in my kiln.

Glass has a specific rate at which it expands (called a Coefficient of Expansion – COE), so you have to be careful to only mix it with the same COE or it will crack. I loved the color but didn't know what to do to make it useful and beautiful. Because I couldn't mix it with other glass, I had to get creative.

Playing around, I discovered a way to create wonderful surface designs using a variety of etching, enamels and dichroic slide (dichroic finish on paper that can be cut and then fused to the glass). And Voila! Recycled glass became jewelry!!

Even though the economy is in the tank, I realize that we still live in the richest country in the world.  So I decided to donate 20% from the sale of any of my recycled jewelry items to help fund micro-enterprises through http://KIVA.org.  

This is my way of giving back to the creativity of the rest of the world through the sales of "upcycled" items. I still remember when, as a single mother during a period of unemployment, a friend helped me sell Halloween masks I had made so I could raise a little money to pay for rent and food. It's amazing what even $25 can do to help someone fund their business idea – especially in a third world country.

So far I have helped to fund 2 artisans – one in Rwanda and one in Samoa. As the funds are repaid, they become available for new loans.  These ladies have already begun repaying their loans.  If you click on the picture below, you will be taken to their profile page.

Sabine Uwanyirigira	Laitalie Lilo

There is nothing worse than wondering where your next dollar is coming from, and nothing more satisfying than to know you can support your family. These micro-loans give hope and help to people who want to support themselves. 

And so I thank you for your support – not only for liking and buying the things I create, but for helping these micro-enterprises.  And by the way, you can sign up yourself and donate to whomever you'd like. Just go to KIVA and create an account!  Then preview the requests, select a recipient, and you've become a philanthropist! 

This Saturday is the Trinidad Christmas Market being held at the Trinidad Town Hall from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.  I understand there will also be a raffle as well as a wine tasting. Of course I’ll be too busy to even think about wine tasting (at least until the end of the show!)

Then on Saturday, December 12 and Sunday, December 13, I will be at the Arcata Holiday Craft Market, which is held in the Arcata Community Center across from Healthsport. The Arcata Market hours are Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Because the economy is in the tank, I am again offering everything except my fine silver at 20-30% off.

At these low rates I will have to charge sales tax instead of including it as I usually do, but since you are on my list, just tell me that at the time of your purchase and I will waive the tax!

New Designs

This summer I came across a broken blue bottle by the side of the road while on my morning walk.  So I took it home, cleaned it up and stuck it into the kiln.  Since then I have been experimenting by recycling glass into fused jewelry. I have also incorporated painted glass and some of my watercolor and silk paintings into the glass pendants.

Come see what the experimentation has led to!

Sharing the Wealth

Even though the economy is in the tank, I realize that we still live in the richest country in the world.  So I have decided to donate 20% from the sale of any of my recycled glass items to help fund microenterprises through http://kiva.org. You can find out more about this fascinating organization by clicking on the link.

It’s amazing what even $25 can do to help someone fund their business idea!  This will be my way of giving back to the creativity of the rest of the world through the sales of "upcycled" items.

My Online Shops

If you are not able to attend either of the Christmas Holiday Markets in person, you can see what I’m offering online by going to my Etsy shops.

A few years ago I started with my Magical Design shop (http://magicaldesign.etsy.com).  I never did much with it until this year.  As I’ve added things it’s become quite a mixture of different crafts and you will find a combination of items there – including fabric items, cards and jewelry.

Recently I decided to put all my kiln fired jewelry into its own shop, so I am moving those over to http://fireblessedart.etsy.com, a few items at a time.

Please note that the items in Etsy are only available at Etsy, not at my shows, and vice versa. It’s too difficult to keep track of which items are listed where and which have been sold, so the items that are listed are exclusive to Etsy.

I am currently running a special through the end of the year in both of the shops, offering free shipping on all jewelry items over $20.

Etsy is a very interesting and creative place and I am making many new friends among the talented artists there. You are bound to find something interesting there – regardless of what you are looking for.

P.S.  Briceland Winery is also  having their annual Thanksgiving Open House, serving their outstanding wines and some delicious appetizers this coming weekend. It’s always a treat to go sample their latest wines. I met Maggie over 15 years ago and have loved her wines ever since I was introduced to them.  We will be going on Friday afternoon and coming back in the early evening so I have time to set up for the Saturday Trinidad Market.  Briceland will also be open on Saturday.

 Well, this was certainly an interesting year at the Market!  In fact, due to scheduling issues, family travel, truck problems and other stuff I only got to the Trinidad Artisan’s Market twice this year and neither time was stellar.

The economy here on the North Coast is always lagging behind the economy in other places, and everything has been so dismal that people are simply holding on to their money.

So, on those days when I wasn’t able to make the market (and was at home) I did other things instead – like photograph and upload stuff to my etsy shop.  It does take time and effort to get the stuff listed, and I’m never totally happy with the photos, but it is a rather simple way to have the latest stuff on display, and easier than running my own catalog and shopping cart on my sites!!  And I’ll be moving all my offers to etsy as an easy way to manage everything.

You can get an idea of what I currently have available by going to my gallery page.

There are still two more fairs I might participate in this year, I’m still undecided, but I’ll be sending notice out to my list and posting that information there….check back in a few weeks.

Oh, and those of you who are interested in textiles – I’ll be adding some of my hand dyed fabrics and miniature quilt kits to etsy soon, too…

Well, Christmas is quickly approaching – have you noticed how many commercials there are on TV and it isn’t even Thanksgiving yet?

I guess because of the economy the major advertisers feel they need to start early to get our kids primed for wanting specific toys!  Remember, they often understock the season’s most popular toys – it’s a way for parents to feel guilty when they can’t get the specific one their child wants.  So the parent buys something else, and then in February or so when the shelves are suddenly bulging with that most desireable toy, the parents feel obligated to purchase it.  This is a tactic they have been using for years. In this tight economy, I encourage you to try not to fall for it this time!

Which kind of brings me back to Thanksgiving and jewelry updates. Several weeks ago my husband informed me that he wanted to go to Medford, Oregon over the Thanksgiving Day holiday to visit his family and meet the Seattle niece’s fiance. 

Well, that shifted my plans!  I had been scheduled to be in the Trinidad Thanksgiving Holiday Artisan’s Market on the Saturday after the holiday, so now I needed to cancel.  Given the dismal economy, I was okay with that anyway since although I love meeting my customers, there is a lot of work to setting up a booth for a one day event, and my experience at the last fair I did in Eureka had shown me that people are holding on to their money anyway.

Now, 2 weeks away from the holiday, it looks like the niece and fiance are not going to make it after all.  And of course it’s too late to schedule for the fair as I’m certain my booth space has been given to someone else (there are always so many jewelers who want in to a show).

However, the good news is that I will still be at the Arcata Holiday Craft Market on December 6 and 7, being held at the Arcata Community Center.

You can find me in the far left hand corner.  And, due to the economy, I will be having a 25% off sale on everything except the fine silver.

People on my list will receive an additional discount, which will be mailed about a week before the event.

I will also soon be posting pieces that will only be available through the website and through etsy.com. It was just too hard trying to get an inventory online that kept being depleted at the shows, so now I will be keeping my online offers separate.

Have a lovely Thanksgiving – hubby and I are so very grateful for the family and friends in our lives, and I am grateful to my wonderful customers and readers!  Remember, if you are at the Arcata Show, stop by and say Hello!

Warmly,

Katie

A couple of days ago I went into the River Lodge to replace the dichroic necklaces that had been sold over the past couple of months, and to swap out the remaining pieces with new ones.

The holidays are coming up, and it’s always a good idea when you have things on consignment to notice what seems to be selling and give your customers more of what they appear to prefer.  A couple of pieces had been in there for several months, so I decided to rearrange things and bring in some fresh designs.

When I’ve gone there in the past they have always seemed friendly and happy to have me checking in.  This day, however, was different. 

After explaining why I was there and making sure it was okay to take care of my business at that time, I went across the lobby to their gift shop.  While I was cleaning the pieces and setting up the new display, I mentioned to the woman who was there that it appeared one of my necklaces was missing and unaccounted for, and could she verify that I had actually been paid for it since although they showed I had, I did not have a record of having received a check for this particular piece.

This caused her to say (not verbatim, but pretty darn close) that she would check, but maybe it would be better for me not to have my things there since I had such a small number of items and looking these things up was too much trouble (!) for her.

Well, it’s true, I did only have 6 necklaces there, because that’s the number they told me they would take. 

When I said I could understand she would consider it a small issue, but that this was my time, effort and materials we were talking about, she proceeded with a litany of complaints to me about things that were not included in the agreement, and that no one over the past year and a half had ever even mentioned.
  

Well, it certainly took me by surprise!  When she repeated again what a bother it was, I decided she was right – it was too much bother for me to deal with someone with this kind of attitude.  So I pulled my items out of there.

It’s always smart to remember who your customers are and to think about how you treat them.  As a vendor I am also a customer of the business.  At least I used to be.  I can’t imagine ragging on one of my suppliers, especially one who is making me money.  I would certainly never intentionially imply anyone who was providing me with passive income was a pain in the a$$.

The funny thing is that as I walked out, it really felt like the right thing to do. And it felt very freeing for some reason.  Maybe that’s because if they thought it was alright to stiff me for the $25 for my necklace, then obviously they weren’t trustworthy enough for me to do business with.

P.S. (Additional note on 11/14/08) I was recounting this experience to my husband over the Veteran’s Day Weekend, and he asked me if I thought she was being defensive because she was wrong.  I hadn’t thought about the woman purposely trying to deceive me, but her behavior was certainly strange – as though she was trying to divert me from my original request.  Anyway a day after my discussion with him I received a check in the mail for the necklace I had noticed was missing.  Coincidence? Perhaps.  I am prepared to believe that their accounting had not yet caught up with their check-writing.

….well, it seems we have a family obligation coming up this Thanksgiving and hubby and I will be traveling up to Oregon instead of being home in lovely Trinidad.  Since I’m not sure exactly which days I will be traveling, it seems I will probably cancel my booth at the Trinidad Artisan’s Thanksgiving show this year.

It’s a fun little show, and you should definitely go if you get the chance, but with the state of the world economy – and more importantly, the perception people have about it – it’s probably just as good that I do cancel.

The past 3 shows have been less than stellar.   But that’s what happens when people believe that money is scarce, they want to hoard what little they have, and discretionary income goes out the window.  It’s a sad fact that at this last show – the October Halloween Harvest Festival – most of the vendors weren’t even in their booths – they were standing in the aisles talking to other vendors!

So I’m rethinking how much time I want to spend in the booth next year, how many shows I want to commit to doing.  And in the meantime, I’ll keep expanding my line by trying out my new creative ideas, and looking to place more items into retail outlets, or find other ways of exposing people to my designs. 

There are two stores in nearby towns that have expressed interest in carrying my jewelry, and I do have to replenish the pendants that have sold at the River Lodge.  I visited with a third store owner this week who had previously expressed interest.  But now she is moving into a new direction herself due to the way the economy is affecting sales.  I don’t know if her new idea will be any better than her current one, but at least it’s something she is more familiar with.

I’m still scheduled for the Arcata Christmas Show, and I have some new things I’ll be bringing out there.  It’s a very lively show with a great turnout, as well as lovely items.

I sincerely hope you are not feeling the squeeze too much!

Well, in the swing of things again – almost midway through for the Trinidad Artists Market. 

This weekend is the 48th Annual Westhaven Blackberry Festival in, of course, Westhaven.  We’ve gone for years to get the homemade blackberry jelly & a couple of pies for the freezer.

Last year I participated as a vendor, and it was very fun!  They’ll have crafters, food & music again this year, with all the proceeds going to support the local volunteer fire fighters.

If you’re local and you have an hour or two, come on by & see what cool things the festival has to offer.  Just take the 6th St exit into Westhaven.

See you there!

Katie

Oh, and the pies always sell out so get there early!!

I used to call my business Magical Design Studios.  It worked well because I am primarily a designer, and I have so many media that I love – painting, drawing, textiles (dyeing, quilting, sewing, silk painting), embroidery, beading, jewelry fabrication, etc.

What I discovered over the past 4-5 years, though, is that I am drawn to fire-based arts, like a (gypsy) moth to the flame!!

I still love my painting and dyeing, but there is something about using the alchemical aspects of fire to create beautiful works of personal adornment that is truly, truly magical! 

So of course I had to add this Fire-Based branch to my Studio.  It covers all the things that require the flame or the kiln.

Don't expect a lot of posts in the blog – I am very busy still working for someone else in a totally unrelated career.  And I have several websites that I am working to maintain.  Including completing this one.

But I am still the creative catalyst, and as I get the odd moment, I'll be back!!