design hive wrap up

Today was a pretty good day at the Design Hive. Okay, let's be honest folks. It was a rather slow day in terms of foot traffic, and that's probably because most of you are out of town and/or were in line at the mall cashing in on holiday deals. A special thanks goes out to Amy, Kathy, Erin, Drew, Jill, Elissa, Pete, Jane, Emily, Lynn and Hetchen for coming out to see me today. Thanks so much for your support everyone! And most importantly, the biggest thank you goes out to my awesome husband for having the patience to help me tow everything there, set up my table, bring me lunch, and tow my ass home afterwards. I couldn't do anything without you!

I did a slightly different set up for my table today and went without Renee's nifty bookshelves. Instead, I offloaded stuff in our bathroom closet and in my craft room to free up two expandable shelves and used them to create another level on the table for my cards. I think I liked this set up better because I could still be seen above them whenever I stood up. LOL To my left was Vonica Designs with her cute little coin purses, eye glass holders, makeup bags, and totes. To my right was Grace Napoleon with her unique, recycled garments and accessories. Across from me was my friend, Andrea of Alessandra Designs, and her beautiful pieces (I just love how she uses branches for her displays). And then to her right, I met Janice of Jandue Designs, who was there for her very first show.

I bought a pair of earrings from Lisa of Apples & Oranges, but I can't show a photo of them here because they are a Christmas gift! I also bought a screenprint t-shirt from Dave of Viva Ortegacy, but again, another gift!

I'll be back at the Design Hive on December 20th with [hopefully!] a load of new designs with a love theme in time for you early bird Valentine-givers (that's a phrase I just made up, thank you very much - hee). All of my Christmas/winter holiday themed cards will be buy one get one free that day so please stop by and help me deplete my stash!

Tomorrow: the Nutcracker.

happy thanksgiving!

We spent Thanksgiving with Tony's family this year. We drove down to Ashland, MA and celebrated at Joe and Marina's new home with their two kids, Rachel and Ethan, and Tony's parents, Joe Sr. and Mary. The food was awesome and we all felt so stuffed afterwards. I am so thankful to be part of a loving family which includes both of my parents, both of my step parents, my sister and her family, and my husband's family. I am thankful for the group of close, caring friends I cherish. And I am most thankful for my supportive husband, Tony. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and time to reflect on what you're most thankful for.

the buzz for 11/29

Check it out! One of my cards was featured in the little newsletter about this Saturday's show!

spinning snowflake card

I saw this idea of a spinning element on a card in one of the paper crafting magazines, but it had a cute little black bat instead. I had these little die-cut snowflakes from Paper Source to use, so I decided to try the idea with an A Muse card base and voila! A spinning snowflake card!

And for even more poops and giggles kids, check out the video on how to "reset" it before you mail it to someone!



Now I needs to go get me some zzzzz's ...

craftiness all around

Tony, Renee, and I cruised around between Cambridge and Somerville yesterday to check out a couple of the local craft shows. It's amazing to see how many wonderful local artists there are in our area. It truly creates this sense of culture that I think we would really miss if we ever moved out of this area. A friend of mine (Jenne) calls the area "Camberville" - too funny!

Anyway, we began the morning with coffee and pastries at Bloc 11 in Union Square as usual. (Must look into getting stock in this place - seriously!) Had my usual egg sandwich and large latte - yum! Then we drove over to the Design Hive Market to see our friends Libby and Bren. Libby (Whistling Sparrow Designs) is a very talented sewer (is that a word?) and makes the neatest things like aprons, dresses, and cute little brooches. Check out this pineapple apron she made, complete with a recipe for pineapple upside tucked in the pocket!

Renee commissioned this tomato painting from Bren Bataclan. Isn't it cute?! Our friend, Kristen, bought an eggplant from him a couple of weeks ago so we told him that he should do a whole line of veggies. Tony and I are thinking that it would be so cool to have Bren come paint our baby's room in the future.

We also saw Saya of Saya Studio and her beautiful bags. She is going to do a custom order for me because the bag that I photographed here was a little too big for someone my size, and she didn't have her across-the-torso sling style in the green, blue, and brown color theme that I like. Isn't it gorgeous, though?


Then we drove across town over to the Joy Street Open Studios in Somerville to see our friend, Rebecca of Jewels Fabulous and her studio mate, Lydia of Quiet Jewelry. I ended up buying myself 2 necklaces and 1 pair of earrings from this excursion - check them out:

One of the pieces that I got was a "chubby bird" necklace from Kelly of Tulips to Kiss. It's so fricken cute! She has a whole series of various animals with little bits of food carved out of their bellies called the "Ate" series -- get it? The food is what they ate - too clever!


The Joy Street studio houses so many talented artist. Here's a little shot of Rebecca and Lydia's space where they make such gorgeous pieces of jewelry:

We walked around to check out the other artists and came across this interesting piece of art on a wall. It appears to be eyeballs made out of ping pong balls.

Anyway, it was a fun day checking out various artists and their wares. A cold day, for sure! But definitely worth it!

joy street open studio this weekend

My friend -- and very talented jewelry designer -- Rebecca Scott of Jewels Fabulous will be one of the participating artists at the Joy Street Open Studios this weekend. If you're in the Somerville area (near Union Square) be sure to stop by to check out over 40 artists from 12 to 6 pm each day.

Rebecca made the jewelry for our wedding -- everything from the necklace, earrings, and bracelet that I wore to the necklace and earrings that my sister and Shannon wore. My mom is totally addicted to her pieces and pretty much gets one anytime her birthday or major holiday rolls around - LOL! One of my favorite pieces by her is this simple necklace:

I bought the one where she used medium grey colored pearls and I get so many compliments on it every time I wear it! Her studio mate, Quiet Jewelry, will also be participating at the Joy Street event, and she makes some really cool, unique metal pieces.

If you can't make it to the event, you can always buy Rebecca's pieces here, or browse her website's gallery here. And if you do go see her studio, let her know I sent ya! :)

P.S. Along the same "support a friend" theme, crowdSPRING, hire Kelly Purkey for your new Community Marketing Manager!

a successful day at the design hive - thank you!

Yesterday was my first of three dates at the Design Hive Market and I have to say that it was a pretty successful one. First, I want to send a shout out to all of my friends who took the time to come out to Cambridge despite the rainy weather. Thank you all for stopping by! It is a HUGE compliment when friends that are as crafty as me buy my cards - it's just indescribable and I can't thank you all enough!

Here are some photos I snapped yesterday ... the first one is of the pile of stuff in our apartment lined up next to the door, ready to be loaded into the trunk by the two of us running in the rain. The rest are of my booth's set up, which would not have been possible without the help of Tony (my wonderfully patient husband) and Renee (my equally patient and supportive friend)!! We got there a little after 8:30 am and it took the whole hour and a half to set up shop - crazy!

I sat between two great vendors: Clay Accents (Cheryl) and Seaglass Things (Marla). Cheryl and her good friend (a.k.a. show helper), Pam, were extremely nice and didn't mind while our niece, Rachel, played with some of her pottery (she was cooking and mixing things). Cheryl's pottery is beautiful - the glazes and techniques (like firing and melting marbles in the bottom of bowls!) are amazing. She'll be back at the Design Hive on December 13th, so if you stop by be sure to tell her I sent ya!

Marla has been making beautiful jewelry with seaglass for over 13 years. Her pieces are gorgeous and there is so much attention to detail. She has an Etsy shop, so be sure to check it out when you're looking for a unique gift for someone special. I totally fell in love with this bracelet that had seaglass that matched the shirt I was wearing that day. (P.S. Christmas is coming, honey! LOL)

There were so many cool vendors at the show on Saturday, and the cafteria was packed! I saw a customer that I met at my old job, Arielle, there with her beautiful pottery pieces. Beth Gaertner was also there with her amazing flameworked glass jewelry. My friend, Amy, bought a beautiful necklace from The Pebble Collection where a portion of the sales went to a charitable fund.

Bren Bataclan had his fun paintings on display there, too. (Be sure to check out Bren's website and read about "Project Smile"!) One of my friends bought a painting similar to this one for her friends' two little boys. They've moved from Boston to Colorado so it'll be a nice reminder for them of the East Coast!

All of my cards are back online in my Etsy shop, so if you saw one you liked at my booth during the show, you can probably order it there! I'll be back at the Design Hive on 11/29 and 12/20. Hope to see you at one of the dates!

design hive featured on fox 25 news

Check it out! Val Fox, the founder of the Design Hive, was on Fox 25 News with Kim Carrigan on Tuesday morning.

I'll be there tomorrow (11/15) selling my cards -- hope to see you there!

t minus 3 days and counting

That's right, just three days to go until Saturday's show! (Hey, that rhymes!) So I've been busy trying to figure out my table set up, printing labels, and of course - making cards!

I got a special request to make my "snappy birthday" crab card with a "thanks" message instead, so I got busy tonight after dinner. I decided to add a little bit of glitter in the sandy part of the stamped image, and when I looked over at the crabs in my glitter tub, I couldn't help but laugh. It looked like a crab glitter bath was taking place on my crafting table.

Here's the final card:

I also managed to make a baby girl themed card with a new Impress stamp I just got in the mail:

And before I close this post I wanted to share a new product I'm selling on my Etsy site featuring some of my photography. They are 2009 photo calendars that are 8" x 10" in size. Right now I only have them available in six of my photographs, but if you go to my Flickr site and see a different photo you like, just let me know and I can have one printed for you. Special requests will need 1-2 weeks turnaround time, just an FYI. They're great for hanging up in your office on a cubicle wall, on the refrigerator, or framed on a desk - plus they're only $6 each! Oh and hey, they'd make great holiday gifts! ;-)

we voted!

Did you?!

Tony and I walked over to the fire station and there wasn't a line at all, which was great considering other parts of Boston experienced waits of up to 4 hours today. Here's a pic of my honey casting his vote.

I must say, exercising one's privilege to vote is quite exciting.

Okay, back to watching the electoral votes piling in, sipping wine, and making cookies for the baking contest at work tomorrow!

free time = craft time

Still busy making cards. A peek at what I've been creating so far.

Don't forget: if you can't make it to a show date, you can make purchases 24/7 online through my Etsy shop! :)

Okay, gotta go finish my coconut cupcake from yesterday and cheer on the Patriots!