Savage Snowdrop Art and Craft Fair

So I was so annoyed about the poor attendance at some of our shows that I swore I could do a better job myself. Be careful what you say out loud- the Imp of the Perverse is always listening.

By a roundabout way too complex to mention, I wound up running a craft show next February. Now I'm not the most organized of folks, and I have never done anything like this before, but I have every confidence this will be a great show. And why am I so confident? Because I delegated!

I have found 2 dozen gifted crafters who have all volunteered to help out, to manage press releases, to make posters, to notify the local media and to send me pictures of what they have.

We have a blog, http://savagesnowdrop.blogspot.com/ dozens of goodies for a raffle/door prize, a beautiful venue in Savage MD, posters and flyers. I could not be happier.

The show is in Savage MD on Saturday, February 16 at 9035 Baltimore street. We have jewelers, knitters, glass crafters and paper makers , as well as handmade journals and a fancy tea.

It should be great!

First Check from new Gallery

We got our first check from VIX Gallery today . VIX sold out of our smaller hearts and also sold a small panel. What a nice way to begin the new year. So of course, it's back to hearts for me since Valentine's is rapidly approaching.
All this, and a re design of the website going on. Wow, I thought I'd get a brief break after the holidays!
I convinced Di to handle the redesign of the website, and she agreed. So now I get late night calls asking me to look at the newest tweak. So far, it looks great: a nice background, a gallery page, a salesroom, details about us and a page for other really nifty sites we've each found over the years.

Tom Collins and Orange Blossoms

Ah the sweet nectar of the gods! Otherwise known as gin. In this festive season, I make up a pitchers of Orange Blossoms ( gin and orange juice) and my sister makes Tm Collins( gin and lemon and orange juices and who knows what else- her version is a secret) and we merrily imbibe as we decorate every thing that is not moving, Including slow moving dogs and napping cats.

2 days after Christmas, with the house festooned with ribbons and stashes of left over candies, it's back to the daily grind, but with grins on our faces and loot in our drawers. I love the festive season!

In glass news, we sold another piece on Christmas Day of all things! Looks like someone got cash for the holidays and decided to spend it with us. Wise choice!

So it's back to cutting and making things for the new shows. We hope to be accepted by QuiltOdyssey and some other larger shows this year. Diana is busy updating our real website and we have a number of new pieces on the design board. So off to t anew year we go!

We Have a New Gallery That Represents Us

VIX gallery in West Philadelphia is our newest gallery! We met Emily, one of the new owners of the space on Baltimore Street and 50th to show off our new works and she took them!
Personally, I was delighted she really like the MacIntosh Rose panel, since that is the one, regular readers will remember, that I designed so I had an excuse not to work on the Baltimore Album panels.
Who says procrastination doesn't pay off!
Seriously, she has wonderful stuff, an array of fabric skits, knit hats, wonderful soaps, birdhouses, ties, pottery and fantastic jewelry.
She also carries other glass artists as well as yours truly.

Cool new galleries I 've found

So now we are looking for other places to sell our glass. We found this wonderful new gallery in West Philadelphia called Vixemporium housed in an old millinery shop. It has all sorts of wonderful crafts . Emily, one of the owners, kindly offered to show some of our things there. So I'm off to Philly tomorrow with an assortment of hearts , panels and other bits. Check them out at
http://vixemporium.wordpress.com/

Butterfly or Martini Glass

Okay, so when Di showed me her new piece, I had one of those weird visual experiences you get with mirages. She was happily explaining her inspiration and the quilt patterns she adapted to make this fellow look like he was flying and I'm thinking"Hun? Martini glasses don't fly. And they're not quilty either!" Okay, sometimes I'm a bit off, but I do claim that I first saw this with the lights a bit low, so the wings and the background were less prominent than the body and the blue triangles, ...which looks like a swell drink to me.

It's a lovely butterfly. And the 2 triangles give the design a sophistication it would not have if the background were one color. I'm still hanging my head in embarrassment, though. Oh well, guess that means I have to get back to the board and design the last of the Baltimore Album series to redeem my reputation.

Another Day, Another Dollar

Two shows in 2 weekends and neither of them good. The Virginia Holiday show was terrible, though the managers were nice, there was coffee on the first day, help loading and unloading, and other comforts. There were just too few customers and they were not in a buying mood. As this was an expensive show for us, I was not too happy. Today I went to a long running local show in Arnold , MD and again, the show people were nice. Just not much in the way of customers stopping by, much less buying anything. I did make some sales so it was not a loss, but neither was it particularly profitable.
I did go to a Sugarloaf show on Saturday as a customer and that was both well attended and had lots of buyers. I think every 2nd couple in the show was carrying a shopping bag. As I was leaving, I noticed everyone walking back to their cars was carrying a bag. so perhaps all the serious buyers were there and not at the 2 shows I attended.
So that's the next strategy is , to try to get into this well regarded series of shows. I know our glass is made and designed well enough to be seriously considered. We just need to get some professional photos taken.

Veteran's Day, a bit late.

Our Patriotic Heart for those who we remember on Veteran's Day; and for those who serve now.

I like the more centered, stable red heart. It suggests steadfast courage and a deep, abiding Caritas.

I'm not usually this solemn. But there's something about Veteran's Day, about the chill November air and the lengthening night reminds us that life is fleeting even for the brave. Or perhaps it is especially fleeting for the brave, who know what they are risking.

Why Good Photographers are Worth the $

So a month ago I look a workbench pictures of this piece-which looks ... well like a snapshot of a work in progress. There's still a solder spill in the upper left corner , it's not framed yet, and the steel blue reads almost black. Last week, before the show, Di set up a stand, with reflectors and special light and took new pictures. Then, darling computer jockey that she is, she spent hours with Photoshop and other software tweaking the colors and the reflections so we'd get something that more nearly resembled what is actually there.The better picture does not quite show the difference in the dark brown square from the lighter brown sides, but wow! does the piece look great. Photoing glass is a challenge, as the colors never come out right and the is the reflection of the flash or of the lights to deal with.

When she brought down a disk of new pictures along with the glass she had made, I was absolutely amazed. I had not seen my pieces in a week since I sent them to her and wow, she made them look great. She even made a slide show we set up in our booth on her laptop showing our current works, works in progress and new designs.

Our little studio is lucky she can do all this. I'd hate to have to contract this out!

Four in Hand or Card Trick

Newest piece to be made. This is a small panel, only 6 inches across. We don't make anything that small anymore as a rule, but this design is so nice.

It looks best in North facing windows colors just gleam in the cooler light from the North. In a South facing window the colors wash out. We also made a few in bright primary colors just for that reason. The really rich , deep jewel tones look great too.