Success!

The art show (Beyond Art Marketplace) that I was involved in this past weekend was a super success! I sold a lot of my jewelry, including all 4 of the necklaces that I featured in a recent post, the bracelet featured in the magazine, as well as several other key pieces and far exceeded my sales goal! The show was well organized and promoted and the room was filled were some amazing artists. There were a lot of serious shoppers and the show was well received by the crowd. My feet are sore, and I am quite exhausted after 2 and a half days of selling, however it was well worth the work. The trouble is that I have a second big show coming up this weekend, and I am quite low on stock as I did not anticipate selling quite as much as I did at this show....so guess what I am doing this week? So I will be away from the computer a bit more in the next few days and I apologize in advance to my Entrecard readers, as I may not have as much time to devote to dropping cards this week, but I will do my best! As for now it is back to work! Pin It

Magazine feature!

On Friday I was featured along with 3 other artists, in the Calgary Heralds' Swerve magazine, regarding the upcoming artisan sale that will be held this weekend. You can see my bracelet that was pictured, in the scan of the article below!

Here is what the article said:

Beyond the Crocheted Tea Cosy

Here are two words you're not ready to hear: Christmas shopping. Take heart, a new artisan marketplace will make it easy on you.

Jacquie Moore, Calgary Herald

Published: Friday, October 30, 2009

If there's one thing Patti Pelkie knows, it's that you and yours don't need another Popsicle-stick reindeer. God bless you, Patti Pelkie. Pelkie is an art lover and former small-business owner who has long been frustrated by what she calls the "hit-and-miss" nature of arts-and-crafts fairs. "I've found you often get Tupperware for sale next to Popsicle-stick crafts or you have the opposite--a stuffy art show." Pelkie decided to find some middle ground by hand-picking 30 local jewelry makers, painters, photographers and fibre and wood artists to sell their wares at the first annual Beyond: An Artisan and Artist Marketplace. The event takes place at the Blackfoot Inn's Crystal Ballroom where parking is free (God bless you, Patti Pelkie); 10 percent of proceeds from ticket sales goes to the In-Definite Arts Society to benefit artists with developmental disabilities. Here's a sampling of what to expect:

1. Can't: Bead it Jewelry designer Susan Stevens makes bracelets, necklaces and earrings inspired by the natural world she sees outside her Bragg Creek home. Her one-of-a-kind pieces combine sterling silver or 14-karat gold with gemstones, Swarovski crystal and lampwork beads hand-hewn by Canadian glass artisans. Prices range from $15 for a pair of earrings to $200 for a necklace.

2. Love Me, Love My Dog Portrait: ACAD class of "about a million years ago" graduate Barb Kowalik is a professional "computer geek" with a long list of commissions for her expressive pet portraits (you're too late to order a Christmas gift; book now for next year). Kowalik also weaves beaded jewelry, as well as paints canvas floor cloths and totems

3. Rattle and Hum: Not every unwanted tree in Calgary goes into the wood-chipper. Local arborists with an artistic bent call cabinetmaker Steven Pulvermacher when they have to cut down poplar, birch, elm and other trees. Pulvermacher turns the wood (literally) into unique bowls, vases and baby rattles. Prices range from $20 for a rattle to $1,000 for bowls and vases.

4. Start Your Engines: Despite the frequent requests she gets for frames oxidized in particular ways for her pieces, University of Alberta industrial-design grad Julie Witten-Land reminds her fans that she "can't control how things rust." Indeed, all the photographer can do is leave a sheet of metal in her backyard and see what happens. The one-of-a-kind frames are part of what makes her Jalopy Collection--detailed shots of classic cars found in B.C. and Alberta--so intriguing. $85, or $75 each if you buy three.

- - -

The first 25 readers to send an e-mail to swervecontests@theherald.canwest.com will receive two tickets to the event. Please put "Beyond" in the subject line and include a daytime phone number.

Beyond: An Artisan and Artist Marketplace runs Friday, Nov. 6 to Sunday, Nov. 8 at the Blackfoot Inn, 5940 Blackfoot Tr. S.E.

www.beyondmarketplace.com.

© Calgary Herald 2009

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CHristmas art show update

The Christmas art and craft show that I was in this past weekend was great! I slightly surpassed my personal goal for sales, got a few custom orders,got a lead for a big festival in the Spring, and handed out a whole pile of business cards...I ran out on Sunday at 4:00pm and had to resort to scribbling down my website on lined paper! It didn't hurt that I was the first table that you saw when you walked through the doors either! I certainly got lucky there. I raised $95.00 for Beads for Life, with my silent auction, so I was quite pleased with that. Here are some pictures of my table...Betty and Lucy, my redhead mannequins really worked hard this past weekend!

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