Christmas Show in Westwold

Our second Christmas show for the year was yesterday in the little town of Westwold.  We thoroughly enjoyed the country setting with home baked pies, Christmas decorations and music and even a short flurry of snow outside for a festive atmosphere.

We have been going with a more festive theme in our displays this year adding touches of metallic red and silver.  Our set-up here at this show was similar to our last one but more compact since we had less space. The main idea is to utilize the area in the best way possible without it looking too cluttered.  The other most important thing we have found is to have good lighting which really brightens up everything and shows off all the true colors.

We set up a separate display for our shawl/scarf/hair pins as  we feel they deserve their own space.  I happened to have this white sweater that doesn't look so good on me to wear but makes an excellent backdrop and prop to attach and show off the shawl pins.

Finishing Touches

Some of our pieces are now for sale at Donna's Yarn and Craft Centre on the north shore in Kamloops.  We were amazed at not only the selection of beautiful yarns she has but some of the many crafty type items as well.

With our shawl pins now going into shops, we were looking at ways to display them better.  Some time ago our sister-in-law gave me some fabric swatch samples and I finally put them to good use with our new idea.

Rather than use the fabric patterns for the front, we used the back side of the fabric and attached cut strips between a folded card.  We then fit the shawl pin through the fabric strip and voila!  a special hanger to show off the shawl pins.

And the back looks really nice as well ....

What do you think?

Picture Perfect Display

I really lucked out this summer when I was walking by a house one day that was having a yard sale.  There was a shelf unit standing there that caught my eye and I had an idea what to do with it instantly.  It happened to be a great price and I was so excited with my find I didn't even mind carrying it all the way home.  The holes are spaces for photos and the shelves slide in between some slots which help to keep the unit together and standing straight.  I love how it comes apart so easily and can be packed down flat for storing or transporting in the car.

    

We spray painted the unit in a nice matt black and cut peg board to fit into the spaces.

We covered the shelves with some pieces of black ultrasuede fabric and attached a clip desk lamp to the center part of the top shelf.

We raised the unit up by standing it on a box which is also used for transporting and storing display pieces.  Turn the unit around and we have a wonderful free-standing display unit with attached lighting and all.

We made special tags to hang our pendant-style necklaces on the pegs with our studio info written on the back.

Solving a Cable Problem

I love the nylon coated steel cables for hanging pendants as they are very practical and show off the clay pieces instead of drawing attention to the cord.  They are available with a barrel screw type or magnetic clasp.  The magnetic are easier to use but there is a great risk in losing your piece and so that is why we prefer to use the screw type one.  We cover the clasp with clay in a matching color and of course add a slice of our signature cane.

Our first Christmas show is just around the corner (this Sunday) and the problem with these cable type necklaces is they are difficult to display.  After trying various ways we finally found a solution to our problem.

We bought this revolving rack sometime ago to hang our carded earrings and brooches.

We weren't really happy with that set up and in the meantime I was using it in our studio to organize some of stock.  We then came up with a plan to hide the ugly chrome bar in the middle and dress it up a bit more and voila!  A new revolving jewelry display that shows off the cable necklaces beautifully.

We created the center backdrop by covering a large tube (several stacked and duct-taped juice cans) with quilt batting and then some beautiful black faux suede fabric.  It easily slipped over the chrome bar and fits perfectly in between the surrounding four bars with clips.

I will show you more of our new displays we created throughout the week as we get ready for our show this Sunday.

Lend Me An Ear

Good photographs are so important when selling on the internet so I am always trying to improve them whenever I can.  My new lightbox has helped tremendously but I was in need of some good props for displaying my pieces.  I like to present a variety of photos of the item I am selling to show all the angles as well as how it would actually hang and help visualize the size and length.

I recently purchased this display which I thought would be perfect for showing off a choker style necklace as well as an earring.  I was sadly disappointed, however, when I discovered that there wasn't a single type of earring that would fit through the hole on the ear.  The hole was at the wrong angle and the "ear" was too thick for any ear wire to go through.  Since the display is made from plaster, drilling a larger hole was not an option.  The piece sat on my shelf for several months before I finally came up with an idea.

I took some photographs of the display.  I reprinted the picture in life-size on a heavy cardstock and punched a small hole in it.  I then placed my earring in the hole and photographed it again.

  

I like how it shows the proper size and length of the earring and it works for both dangle and post styles. I've learned that if something doesn't work just the way you want it to, it always helps to improvise.

World Masters in Kamloops

Many of you know that the 2010 Winter Olympics will be starting soon here in British Columbia.  We are a bit of a distance away (400kms) but still excited about them coming to our corner of the world.

Another exciting event will be taking place shortly after the Olympics which is the World Masters Indoor Championships (athletes are age 35 or older).  This is the first time they will be held in North America and it just so happens it will be in Kamloops, B.C. -- almost right next door to where we live.  We are even more excited that we will be involved in this great event!  Sorry to disappoint you but Dave nor I haven't taken up pole vaulting or gymnastics lately unless they have a new event like a senior's cane toss.  We have instead been invited to sell our work, along with some other local artists and galleries at the main centre.  It will be for 8 days straight and long hours but will be well worth it as we will have the opportunity to meet with so many people from all around the globe!

We will have a nice size space to set up in so we have been busy working on our new displays.  We decided on black, white and grey for our colors as it will show up our colorful pieces the best.

We looked at all types of fabrics and sheeting to find just the right thing and when I found the grey and white swirl cotton, I knew that would be perfect for all the table and shelf skirting.

Was thinking of a black faux suede and came across this beautiful embossed one that was actually curtain panels that were on sale for less than what we could buy the fabric for!

We also finished redesigning our new cards (business, earring, etc.) featuring the same photo that is on our new blog banner shown above so everything seems to be coming together fairly smoothly and right on schedule.  We have also stepped up our production process a bit and been spending a lot more time in the studio than usual these past few weeks in order to have enough inventory to sell.

When selling in several Christmas shows last year, we had a little clay demo area set up to demonstrate several techniques such as making a cane.  We had a cane made in several stages so the people could visualize and understand it a little better.  This worked really well for most everyone had never heard of or seen polymer clay before.  The only drawback to this was all the talking Dave and I had to do that we were literally exhausted by the end of the shows.  We also felt we might have missed other potential customers while we were both busy explaining the clay.  Then Dave came up with an idea that we decided to follow up on:

We purchased a digital picture frame in which we can show slides demonstrating various techniques in the clay and let it do most of the talking for us.  That way, if anyone has any questions we can answer but we won't have to repeat ourselves over and over again all day.  This will come in very useful with the long hours and larger shows we will be doing this year.  The picture frame also has the ability to show videos which we would like to do eventually.  We have checked around and would've liked to find one that is already made to buy but there just doesn't seem to be anything like this available. If anyone knows of one, we would love to hear from you!

So only three more weeks of clay-time left before this big event -- the countdown begins!