Home!

I'm home from my trip to Alabama and very happy to say that both art shows were a great success! I am so thankful to everyone who came out to see me and my work. The weather was perfect, the turnout was great, and I met my monetary goal for my trip attending Art on the Square alone! Thank you to the organizers of both Art on the Square and the Monte Sano Art Show for all their hard work. I know from personal experience the time and sweat that goes into planning events like these and I really appreciate how wonderful they are EVERY YEAR. I can't wait for next year!

I managed to snap a few photos of my booth setup at AOTS before the crowds got too heavy:

Booth Front

Booth Side

My helpers and sanity savers: my mom and sister. (My sister found those awesome shutters at an estate sale for $5 each, can you believe it? All they needed was a new coat of paint and viola! Perfect earring holders.)

It's too early for photos...And also, I need a third table for this much inventory!

This year was the first year I displayed some of my paintings. I am very glad I took the plunge. I figured since my degree is in painting, it was past due that I put my artwork up for sale. I am happy to announce that I will soon be selling art prints in a new Etsy shop! More details on that to come!

It's good to be home and I hope to have KeelyB open for business within the day or two. The holidays are fast approaching!

Art Show Flyer!

Thanks to my very talented sister for making this for me!
If you are in the north Alabama area, come by and say hello!

Come See Me at the Art Shows in September!!!

Why?
Well, there are two (main) reasons.
1. Some amazing talent shows up for these things, and
2. I will be selling some stuff that I don't sell in the shop!

For example, these really cool leaf pendants will be making an appearance:

The leaves in these babies were made by Mother Nature herself, so no two are alike. They are coated with some kind of wonderful silvery/gold metallic substance that looks really rad with the silver wire, if I do say so myself. I love how delicate they remain, though. You can still see all the veins and beautiful intricacies that Nature puts into her work. I carefully cut and grind the glass to reflect each leaf and its unique shape. I'm proud of these pendants, if you can't tell, and they are even better in person.

So! If you live in North Alabama, or near(ish), you should mark your calendars for the second and third Saturdays in September and come experience these art shows. I made a full post about the shows, here, and that post includes links to the websites which offer more details. I'll be sure to mention the shows at least one more time before I hit the road for Alabama, as well. You know, just in case anyone misses these posts.

Happy Hump Day! Have a lovely rest of the week! My parents are in town this weekend so you probably won't hear from me until next week!

September Art Shows!

Art on the Square
Sept. 10, 2011
Downtown Athens, AL.
(click the link for more details)

The Monte Sano Art Show
Sept. 17, 2011 (yes I noticed the typo on their banner)
Monte Sano Mountain in Huntsville, AL.
(click the link above for more information)

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I hope you can come to at least one of these awesome shows to stop by and see me! Both of these shows are juried, and have an amazing amount of talent on display. I am so proud to be part of them again this year!

Recycled Cardboard Jewelry Cards

I've been working on some recycled jewelry cards/holders for the upcoming Dunwoody Art Festival this May 7th and 8th. Jewelry cards make it a lot easier to keep track of your inventory, because you are looking out for a 2 1/2 inch to 3 1/2 inch card instead of a tiny little trinket that can easily get misplaced. I find the benefits are really worth the effort put into making these, esp. since they are recycled and help with branding.

I make mine out of recycled cereal/frozen pizza/cracker boxes. Any type of thin cardboard will do. I use a papercutter to cut them into uniform sizes, fold them over, staple them, and personalize them with handmade stamps.

The cards shown here are still in progress. The final step is punching holes through the cardboard, so that necklaces can be put through them or earrings hung on them. The hole punching part is not necessary, though.

I hand-carved my stamps from a tree design that I've been wanting to use as a logo for a while now. I learned stamp carving and basic printmaking in college, but you can find a really awesome hand carved stamp tutorial at Geninne's Art Blog.

Some views of the recycled-ness, from the side. I choose to fold my cardboard over for a more uniform look, but you could always let the print show through. Customers usually really appreciate that they are reused.

When I have some more time I plan on posting a full tutorial on this if anyone is interested.