I'm In A Time Out...

I'm in a STUDIO time out, that is. I don't want to dwell too much on yet another problem, so I'll just say that my back went out again and my leg and foot went numb, too. My doctor told me to get comfortable and wait it out, that as long as the numbness comes, and then goes, he's not too worried. If it goes numb and stays that way, we'll be taking x-rays and talking to surgeons. So, I'm out of my studio chair, parked on the sofa, and waiting for this to heal up on its own.

I realized this past week that I've been too focused on work recently. I haven't taken time for myself. I've read a new fluffy Summer Beach Book. If you haven't discovered Wendy Wax's hilariously funny books, I can recommend her latest: The Accidental Bestseller. My all-time favorite of hers, though, is Leave It To Cleavage: An Uplifting Tale. The heroine of that book owns a bra factory and all I can tell you is that in the first pages of the book she finds a photo of her husband wearing custom-made ladies underwear and in the picture he has a woman's hand on his butt. Very funny.

While I'm mostly immobile, I have been doing some beading to keep myself busy. A gorgeous Rosetta jasper cabachon is at the center of this new bead embroidered collar. I hope to have this finished by the end of this week.

Meanwhile, you can find me here on the sofa with a tv remote in my hand...

copyright 2010 Shibori Girl

Upcoming New Website

Thanks to Gabriela Delworth, who is quite the marketing mentor, I've started a selling blog, sort of an online glossy brochure for stores and show promoters, as well as the general public. After my last post, Gabriela wrote me a wonderful email full of ideas, including this one for a blog with "buy now" paypal buttons.

click the picture to visit this new page

I've spent the past week designing this new corner of Blogland, trying hard to avoid the standard blog look. For instance, did you know Blogger now allows you to have up to 10 pages within a blog? Sweet! My resident computer geek, Marble Man, is giving me a crash course in html programming to customize this site. Despite the risk of brain damage from all this coding, I'm thrilled with the page so far. It's still very much a work in progress, especially the individual listing pages.

Meanwhile, please take a trip over there and poke around. I would gratefully accept any constructive criticism/advice. Is there any information you feel should be included? Feel free to share this link with friends and family.

I plan to keep my Etsy site for listing pieces I only want to make one of - mostly the beaded stuff and earrings. This new website will be for listing things I'll make in multiples, as well as the wearable art beaded pieces, keeping shops in mind.

Whaddaya think?

copyright 2010 Shibori Girl

Petal Power and a Revelation

Fairy Blossom Necklace

Our recent family trips and resulting sales of my new polymer clay pieces have taught me that I absolutely must be able to show my work personally and interact with my customers face-to-face. Sure, most of my sales in the past couple of months were to family, but these folks did ALL their Christmas shopping from my box of wares. If they were merely wishing to be supportive, surely they would have bought a single piece?

I've had my shop at Etsy.com for a couple of years now and it's been an interesting experience: on the one hand, I get very excited when someone I don't know from some other part of the country buys my work . On the other hand, WAITING for that person to find my shop is seriously frustrating.

Flower Pendants

My recent revelation is that it's time to participate regularly in craft shows again. For the past several months I've devoted my time to learning the polymer clay craft, finding my style, and making pieces that I find fun to do.

Now I need to take those lessons and find pieces that can be quickly created in multiples and are appealing to the eye. All these flower petal pieces shown here are relatively fast, fun to make, and popular.

Floral Brooches

I'm also going to be approaching buyers for boutiques, galleries and museum shops. Time to suck back a glass of wine for courage and start making calls!

The last issue for me is how do I sign my work? I found a nice initial "T" rubber stamp which works well for the larger pieces, but what about the small ones? Any ideas?

I'll keep my Etsy shop, but it won't be so fully stocked anymore. Any ideas you all have would be very welcome.

copyright 2010 Shibori Girl

Polymer Clay Bangles

I've been having tons of fun these past couple of weeks creating new bangle bracelets.

The clay is set into 5/16" brass channel bracelet blanks. After baking, I sand and buff these little beauties to a satiny smooth finish.

I've also made some 1/8" bangles in complementary colors to the wider funky bangles:

The wider bangles are listed for sale in my Etsy shop for $38 each. I don't plan to list the narrower bracelets there, so contact me directly if you are interested in those - The price is $16 each.

Stay tuned for more new work, coming soon.

copyright 2010 Shibori Girl