Sale = Good Times

Here are three pictures of my oddly shaped booth at the craft fair on Saturday (yep, I had some hallway space that was 18 feet by 3', nice and awkward). Oh and thank you so much to friends and family who came out to support this crafter. And thanks also for buying my goodies. I'm pretty excited about how things went and, most importantly, I had lots of fun.

It's neat to look at this picture and see some necklaces that are no longer in my care! I sold plenty of them and I'm scheming some new ways to keep up the dream.

Here's one of my three bulletin boards of necklaces.

Table One, complete with succulent glass bottle planters and some Arkansas felt creatures (that sold out!!).

And table two is weird lighting picture -- sorry about that. I was so excited about the fair that I didn't take many pictures.

Thanks again for all the love!

Take A Walk On The Wild Side

Three buttons merged into one necklace. Tiger print. What more could you want to know about this? The fact that you could own it, because you can.

On Target

Same theme, different arrangement. After getting the hang of making trios of buttons, I thought I'd try my hand at strings of buttons. And here's one I came up with. The white ones remind me of a St. John's suit, minus the thousand-dollar price tag. I'm not saying this necklace is worthy of wear beside a St. John's suit. I'm just sayin'. And you know, everyone's just sayin' something.

Stuck Like Glue

And again with another button trio. This one's a bit bigger than some of the others I've shown. It's a nice little centerpiece necklace for a V-neck sweater or an open shirt. It would also go well with a strapless dress. It's got a wee bit of bling epoxied on to one of the buttons. At the time of this adhering, I learned for the first time how to epoxy. Smelly, smelly stuff. It's like burning rubber and dead fish combined -- and my apartment reeked for two days. That's how much I love you readers, shoppers, crafters. I was willing to live with that wretched smell for the glory of it all. And I've actually always wanted to learn how to epoxy, so it's cool. And now another type of adhesive to have laying around. I don't like to write advice columns or anything like that, but I tell you what, I sure have a lot of ways of affixing one thing to another and I've learned a lot about which products go with which types of glue. I'd go ahead and say that if you're trying to build a glue wardrobe, add some epoxy to it. The bond is very intense. I would liken it to the bond between Angelina and Brad, but I've heard that bond is now searching for his own apartment in Paris. That's straight from the tabloids, waited a few days, and then passed on to you here.

Czech It Out

Another one of my favs. I'm not completely sure that there is another soul out there who can love and care for this necklace as well as I can, so I'm not sure if I can really part with it. We shall see. The point is though, this pink piece is a combination of buttons and a charm from the Czech Republic. I bought it from a man with a glass eye. Ask my cousin Mary, she was there. She too bought some loot from the one-eyed Czech. You could kinda tell he had some wild stories to tell, but there was that whole GIGANTIC language barrier. Cousin Mary and I went on a whirlwind tour of the C.R. by visiting Prague, Brno and Olomouc (which is pronounced more like O-lo-moutz). We searched high and low for antiques and wonders the likes of which we'd only seen in catalogs and movie sets. We found Heaven when we found the one eyed man's shop in Olomouc. We loved it so much, we came back and shopped there again. And somehow because of the crazy conversion rate, we each thought we were buying way out of our price range amounts of stuff. But later we realized that we'd each spent somewhere around $20 for arm fulls of former Soviet stuff. That's just a little travel story to bulk up this post. You see I'm finding it harder and harder to come up with new ways of describing these necklaces. I love them all, I made them all, but eventually one's proverbial well runs dry. And thus you hear about the one eyed man.

I don't know why I like this picture so much, but I think the quality is really good. Note the texture of the button! Wee!

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

I couldn't pick a more timely day to post this one. I mean, the Sox just clenched the Wild Card through losing five games straight! How's that for go-get-em spirit? And while I am kinda celebrating this event, I'm kinda nervous. I mean, we're not going to win the World Series by losing five straight. You can't back yourself into a World Series ring. But if your name is Hilary and you make jewelry, you can back yourself into this baseball necklace. I made it out of vintage style baseball cards. I love wearing it because it involves some of my favorites -- baseball, crafts, vintage items... I mean, it's kinda like me rolled up in a necklace. And sorry folks, it's a keeper. Not for sale.

Go Sox! Beat LA!

Do I Spy A Wren?

I've never tried my hand at bird watching, so I really don't know. What is that bird? Some kind of wren or sparrow? It's too colorful to be a finch, or so I think and I think its head is too big. Like I said, I don't know what kind of bird this is, but I do know that I like this one a lot. Our dear feathered friend is applied to an old wooden nickel, sealed and on a chain. And for added flair, I attached a piece of old jewelry from my bag of tricks. I'm not sure where I picked up that little cloisonne collection, but it has been given a new life here.

Mexicali Blues

A few of you know that I have a Grateful Dead bear on the back of my little Volkswagen. And a few of you may know I'm a Dead fan, on some "I hate the smell of pot and the look of grizzledy old hippies but this music is groovy" kind of level. But that bear is on my car because my favorite family in the Constitution State put that sticker on my car. It meant I was one of them. And I have always thought that the Angiolillos are my second family. A favorite memory ever was when the whole Angiolillo gang (John Jack included) took me to Playland in Rye, New York (where the amazing Zoltar from Big was filmed). Or the time I asked Mr. Angiolillo to take his speed boat into Manhattan and up the East River. So they remind me of that sticker and it reminds me of the Dead song "Mexicali Blues."

And that reminds me of these necklaces. They are, you see, of Mexican inspiration. Do you know how Mexicans play bingo? Because it's not with numbers and letters but rather with little pictures of objects. Instead of "B12" or "O64," it's "the lamp" or "the well-dressed woman." And I love me some Mexican bingo tiles. They are awesomely kitschy and so technicolored.

A set of Mexican bingo cards I recently bought in Austin was sacrificed to make a few necklaces out of the tiles. They are really bright and shiny. I kinda won't mind if I don't sell them because I really love them a lot, for me. And I kept enough of the pieces from the game set to have a bingo party for 12 amigos.

A close up, with the watermelon.

Super Green Garden

I'm rather proud of this artsy kind of shot. It's from above and it shows a collection of glass bottles, chopped off and finished with a crusty rim of gold paint. Together with some glass marbles and stones, potting soil and a plant, it's a little garden. The glass echoes terrarium but it's also like a planter. I spend time and anxiety worrying about the variety of glass colors, heights, thicknesses just to make sure that the bottles are all slightly different; that each brings its own piece to the overall puzzle. I'm liking how this collection is going. (I have my own little garden of bottles on my window sill.)

And here's me holding the smallest of jars. It's tiny. I'm hard-pressed finding a plant that will fit inside this little guy, but I'm working on it! And in the background you can see the plastic container of marbles, stones, and sea glass pieces that I've collected to be the water-draining portion of the planter. Oh and you can see the mixing bowl that has been repurposed to house plants as they await their final planting in a jar. And, for kicks, you can see that this whole operation is currently going down atop my stove. Like I said a week ago, there are little projects everywhere! As long as I stay sane, I'm happy to let the crafts take over. It's not like I could put the plants under a cabinet or anything anyway.

Finally, the plants in all their glory, with some glitteratti frogs chillin' in the open space. I don't know exactly why I decided that I needed to glitterize a set of plastic frogs, but I enjoy them living among the plants.

Postcards from Switzerland

If I had to classify myself as one type of crafter, I'd call myself a jack of all trades. I mean, I like to paint, sew, draw, write, cut, build, embroider, color, glue and string. And those are just the verbs I thought of off the top of my head.

And so when I thought of the merchandise I'd want to sell if it was all handmade and home designed, I thought it needed to represent my jack-of-all-trades-ness. So in addition to the necklaces, I have a couple of other ventures on display (i.e., for sale). A while back I bought a set of vintage printed linen place mats with scenes from Zurich, Switzerland. They reminded me of many a fantasy European cityscape (echoes of Paris in there, right?) and I loved the color scheme. Plus the mid-century sketches capture so many details from their era, the cars, the fashion. When I got home with these place mats, I realized that they are a bit small to actually use for meals. And then the poor cloths got shelved because I didn't know what to do with them. I finally decided on pillows and I'm excited to use them in my own home if I don't sell them.

They were easy as can be to pin and sew. Actually, snaps for my Marmadoo (mom) for pinning them for me. She's helping where she can. I think actually that she's more excited about the craft fair than I am, as we have always dreamed of running a mother/daughter store called, and I coined this name when I was in the fourth grade, "Ye Olde Cute Shoppe." So whenever we have any opportunity to work together and hawk we call it a chance to "Ye Olde Cute." That term can also be applied to items that we agree should be sold in our dream venue. But getting back to the original sentence of this paragraph, the sewing was super easy, but I discovered that pillow stuffing is its own separate ball of wax. If you don't treat the stuffing just right, you'll end up with sad, lumpy looking pillows, like mashed potatoes that need several more mashings. It's a frightening affair. I think I got them kneaded properly at this point and I'm ready to send them as merchandise to "Ye Olde Cute."

Today you'll see a couple of my "non jewelry" items because I'd hate for you to think that I'm a one-trick pony.

Secondary Colors, Interesting Shapes

And yet another glamor shot of my neck. I have a really hard time envisioning a piece of clothing that would actually involve any of these three modern buttons. I mean, who would wear a shirt? coat? skirt? dress? with that huge purple and gold thing on it? No one! I suspect that's why I was able to track down that button and purchase it for use in a craft project. It looks pretty cool in its current arrangement.

What I dig about this one is the secondary colors and the shapes. It all reminds me of preschool art class when you learn that red and yellow together make orange and there are cartoon posters on the wall with the shapes telling you "triangle" and "square."

Green Re-Do: Chandelier to Jewelry

Reduce, reuse, recycle. Go green. Think about the Earth. Use a tote instead of plastic. Shop locally. Unplug appliances when you aren't using them. Carpool. Use mass transit. Ride a bike.

So those are green suggestions that you've no doubt heard a million billion times by now. If not, please tell me what rock you are living under and if there's room for another person down there. But here's a creative solution to going green -- tons of my jewelry are made from "found objects" meaning that I'm giving a new life to something that was otherwise considered junk or potentially bound for a landfill. You're looking at a great example of this. This was a piece from a chandelier, but it's life in lighting fixtures came to a close and I've retooled it as neckware. And I am in love. The red, the elegance, the contrast between the chain and the the gems... it's just awesome. And what's cool about this necklace is that I have a few copies of it. And three copies feature a goldish brown color instead of bright red.

Continuing With The Dime Store Theme

I don't remember where in my life I first heard the term "two-a-days" because I never played a sport seriously enough that it necessitated me to train more than once a week, much less twice a day. I suspect it was somewhere during the four years I spent in a sorority full of athletes. Or maybe it comes from an ardent following of baseball, including Spring Training. I don't know, but that's sort of my story around the blog here these days. I have too too many projects to debut before the October Market on October 3. So I'm doing them "two-a-days" style.

I absolutely admit that this is a completely strange necklace. It's just that I kinda liked the idea of pinkish purple goose as a necklace. I bought this goose at a trippy toy store a few blocks off the drag in Austin, so really, don't hate. I was down there pretending I'm still 21, and if I can pretend I'm still 21, I can pretend I'm 12 and that I need lots of necklaces with toys on them.

At least it's a genuinely attractive goose. Also, for note, there's matching pig and chicken necklaces. Just think about the statement you're making: goose, pig or chicken. Oh and the donkey. I'm pretty sure that all of us boil down to one of those animals. Frankly, I'm wishing I was "goose" but I probably need "pig."

Like Some Old Western Movie

Yeah so this three dime store plastic figurines on a copper chain. What are you going to do about it? Buy it (pretty please). I think its whimsical and childish, colorful and fun, a wee bit ironic and generally just a cool thing to own. I think it would be super cheeky to wear it with a white button down and a wool skirt, you know, to show the world that you're a fun person with a spunky sense of fashion trapped in a boring working world. I dig the deluge of primary colors. If this was some old western movie, long tall Gary Cooper or John Wayne would be the blue one in the middle, the sheriff standing straight with his Winchester. He better watch out buddy -- there's an Indian with a bow and arrow on one side and a tomahawk on the other. I'm not a betting kind of gal, but my money's on the scalpers and not the scalpee. Of course, that's the thrill of the western movie, Gary Cooper is always so wise and lucky, he just might make it, provided he survives some lengthy horse chase scene.

And the whole thing reminds me (for no truly obvious reason) of Jerry Jeff Walker's Desperado's Waiting for a Train. Google it, jam to it... it's such a great piece of Texas Country Music. And yes, I know, the original version was by Guy Clark. I just like Jerry Jeff better.

What's Black And White and Red All Over?

This necklace.

It's a button collage! On a chain! And I made it all by myself.

Going Once, Going Twice, Sold!

Here's where the fun begins folks. Presenting the finished projects, the stuff that's for sale. What I've been working on all summer long. The deal with these two (well three because I'm keeping one for myself) necklaces is that I've already sold them. I guess that means I can now say I'm a professional jewelry maker -- because, hey, I've been paid for my creations. I made these necklaces and sold them to my coworkers out of vintage buttons. I don't have too terribly much to say about all these necklaces I've been making. And if I did write a full profile of each, I'd have a lot of writing to do. You're going to see a lot. Like a lot a lot.

P.S. Muchas gracias to my neck models (a.k.a., the purchasers). All the rest of the necks (unless otherwise noted) are, well, my own neck. You'll get used to freckles soon!