Introducing CatsWire

Cat's Wire is a very talented artisan who describes herself as a "Bookworm by day, crazy cat lady and hooked on wire in the evening!" She lives in Southern Germany with her Husband and 4 cats.

She is very talented with wire and incorporates polymer clay along with gemstones and beads to make some awesome wearable wire sculptures.

She also is a talented miniaturist and sculpter who uses my favorite medium Polymer Clay to bring her designs to life.

Cat is a proud member of the ArtFire Polymer Clay Smooshers Guild and sells her lovely creations at http://Catswire.artfire.com she writes a very interesting blog http://catswire.blogspot.com/ Check out her sites you won't be disappointed.

Introducing Into The Dawn

Dawn of http://IntoTheDawn.Artfire.com is a lovely and talented member of The Polymer Clay Smooshers Guild of ArtFire.

I absolutely love her polymer clay transfer Tarot Card pendants. I think it's such a creative idea.

She also is a very good sculptor, I love the colors and softness of this necklace.

She made this cute ATC for our monthly themed challenge. June's challenge was Ocean. Don't ya just love it?

Take a few minutes to browse her shop at http://Intothedawn.artfire.com you'll be glad you did.

Featuring Colt Pixy

This beautiful Beetle is handmade with polymer clay by the talented artist Star Edwards of http://Coltpixy.artfire.com . She made it for the resent "Bug Challenge" held by the Polymer Clay Smooshers Guild of Artfire.

Above also is the whimsical piece she did for the "flight" challenge

If you like miniatures you will love the beautiful tiny baskets she weaves with polymer clay take a peek at her Artfire shop you'll be glad you did.

Not only is she a wonderful artist she is also the tireless guild master of the Smooshers guild who spends a great amount of time and energy promoting her fellow guild members.

Polymer clay and seed beads

I think polymer clay and seed beads are a match made in heaven. They play so nicely together.

I love good gemstone cabochons but they are so expensive and really drive up the price of the pieces I make. The cabochons in the hair pins are gemstones and were expensive so I will have to sell them at a higher price point then I would like. Had I made them with polymer clay I could knock about $10 off the retail price.

Another advantage of using polymer clay is I can create some awesome stone like cabochons with awesome colors and detail for a lot less then I would pay for a natural gemstone. Using my handmade cabochons allows me to spend more money on the high quality crystals and seed beads to give my customer a higher quality product at a reasonable affordable price point.

The necklace in this post is a beautiful example. The cabochon is one that I made with polymer clay,ink,mica and gold leaf; it's full of detail and pretty colors. because the cost to make it wasn't high I was able to use a generous amount of expensive high quality Swarovski crystals and delica seed beads. By making my own cabochon I am able to offer my customer a OOAK necklace at a very reasonable price. It's a win-win situation for both of us.

What's up?

So I've been neglecting my blog the last couple of weeks.
Why you may ask?

Well I have been busy with taking care of some unexpected health problems and getting ready for tomorrow's craft show.

I am feeling better and with a few life style changes and some time I will be all good. Turning 50 sucks, lol.

Tomorrow I am doing one of my favorite craft shows it is......
The Wabash Valley Herb Festival
It's a great festival on the banks of the Wabash river in Terre Haute, Indiana. It is filled with vendors selling herbs and flowers and garden related items and hand crafts. It's a jurried show and I like that because there are no buy and sell vendors there. It's a very popular annual event that people look forward to all year.
It has been raining here so much latley I was conserned that it would be raining but it looks like it's going to be a cool clear day....awesome.

Well it's getting late and I have to get up at 4:30 am to go set up, I will say good night!

A wonderful craft show

Every spring my first Show of the season is The Brockton Red Barn Market. I have done it the last 3 years and every year it gets better. This year was very good Jose and I had a good time and made a good profit.

Brockton is a very small town in Rural Illinois so small if you blink you will miss it. There are no stop lights and the only business are a small cafe,bar and archery shop. Also there is a huge red barn that they use for horse shows and things like that. It's very cool and quaint. They also have antique sales there and every April they have the Big Red Barn Antique and Craft Show. This town is 25 miles from the nearest town so you would think there wouldn't be any business but that is not the case; at times there were so many customers I couldn't see across to the other booths.

I wish I had photos but the light wasn't good enough maybe next year...

Something for my sore muscles

ARRRRGGGG I hate getting old and some of the things that go with it. For me the body aches are the worst part. So a few years ago I started making different soaks and bath teas to relax my ouchys. I decided to make some for my shops.

I just love this stuff it smells awesome. When I am tired and my muscles ache I fill my tub with warm water . Then I fill a cotton bag with the herbs and salt and drop it into the tub to dissolve the salts and release the beautiful scent. The salts relax my muscles and the scent relaxes me. It is the perfect end to a long day.

The combo of dead sea and Epsom salts relax and sooth sore muscles and help detox the skin. I like the rose petals and hips the oils from them seem to help soften my skin. The wild rose and oak is such a awesome warm calming scent.

The resealable bag holds 1 lb. of salts and a reusable cotton bag to fill with the salts and petals. Just fill the bag and drop into the warm tub let the salts dissolve and soak you aches away.

Super Bowl Sunday

How do you spend this day? Is your family sporty?

My Son and Husband are sports guys so Super Bowl Sunday is an fun day for them. My Son and his wife and the babies will be coming over tonight for a little Super Bowl party .

Today I am going to do a little house work and a lot of cooking to get ready for tonight. My Hubby Jose has a weird menu made up filled with junk food and beer( ah well it's once a year). So I better get my bootie in gear. I need to start the chocolate and Carmel cupcakes for little Brenden. He's 2 1/2 and he calls them "baby birthday cakes"

I am having a Super Bowl Sale in my http://GingerbellsGifts.etsy.com shop
FREE SHIPPING!!! till midnight
add Super Bowl in the notes to seller and I will refund all shipping costs...

Branching out

I have been thinking for some time now about starting an online craft supply shop and I am getting closer to that goal by starting to write a business plan.
There are so many options to consider................
1.] Do I want to hire someone to maintain a website for me or do I want to open it on Etsy?
[pro] Having my own website would be nice because I have complete control.
[con] I would have to start from ground zero with no traffic.
[pro] Etsy has a established crafting traffic. Fees are reasonable and website format is already there.
[con] Lots of competition.

2.] What kinds of supplies do I want to carry...... Specialize in one medium or carry a variety of mediums?

3.] If I had my own website would I offer tutorials for any of mediums carried?

4.] Financing....Small Business loan/grants, low interest loan, 0 interest credit card.

5.] storage of merchandise is no problem I have a huge room lined with shelves ready to go.

These are just a few of the ideas rolling around in my head. I have a huge folder filled with wholesalers and contacts and other specifics.

Dreams are great they keep me motivated..................