A Good Week

It's been a good week. Pieces falling into place. Motivation is high. New designs are coming along nicely. Life is busy but wonderful. And this fair is this weekend. . . 

Hope to see you there!

Lots Going on These Days

I titled this post and then thought to myself "When isn't there lots going on?" Busy-ness and all tho, I decided to take some time to share some photos from one of my most recent fairs, Bazaar Bizarre.

My booth, above. I decorated for the winter holiday season with little lights, evergreen boughs, and sparkly accents here and there.

My antique drop and "Chance" necklaces behind me.

A photo snapped by a friend. 

The piece on the bust (above) is one of my favorite designs. This piece isn't available on Etsy, but you can always find it at one of my fairs!

Sky Above brass and glass earrings

Sepia petal earrings

Many Full Circle pieces

Thanks to everyone who came out and made this a wonderful fair! It was a lot of fun (and a lot of work!) Next weekend you can find me at the Vagabond fair. We'll be having a bake sale as well. I hope that entices you =).

Holiday Bazaar

This weekend! You can find me at booth number 76. I'm in the middle of the Concourse, in the "valley." Hope to see you there!

This Weekend

Oh, I have no excuse! My blog is being sorely neglected as of late. Or, being busy is an excuse, right? =). Well, I wanted to drop in and let you know I'll be in San Francisco this weekend for these two great fairs. . . 

Saturday:

and Sunday:

Hope to see you at one of these events!

Indie Mart

This fabulous, San Francisco fair is tomorrow. Tangleweeds will be there at booth number 38A. Hope to see you there!

Renegade Craft Fair this Weekend!

I'll be at booth number 112. Hope to see you there!

First Friday in Oakland

Hope to see you at this great event tomorrow evening!

Oakland rocks =)

Let's Celebrate the Summer Solstice

Come on down to this fun event tonight and help me welcome in the summer solstice!

Flowers, Beautiful Gems, Full Weekends, Preparing

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently moved my studio space from West Berkeley to Jack London Square in Oakland. The former space, while lovely and peaceful (it was actually a space in a friend's home) was difficult to get to at times what with bay area traffic and all. The new space is a hop skip and a jump from where I live. I'm looking forward to the added convenience in so many ways!

But, I am feeling a bit wistful about not working in Berkeley any longer. I always highly enjoyed my afternoon walks to the post office or the coffee shop.

Berkeley gardens are so gorgeous.

California poppies and nigella (also known as "love-in-a-mist")

Also, on Saturday my folks and I got together to have a late mother's day/early father's day celebration. Of the many things we did, my mom and I both went to Baubles and Beads in Berkeley to stock up on jewelry makin' supplies. (My mom does bead work.) I acquired these gorgeous amethyst gems and can't wait to turn them into funky and unique necklaces. They'll be some simple-classy ones too!

brass beads

lapis, pyrite, and African trade beads

Tangleweeds earrings at CH Good Stock

This guy spends many a morning sitting in my lap while I'm catching up on emails or drafting blog posts. (He sat in my lap while I drafted this post!)

my table at the most recent A Fair to Remember

This fabulous fair is coming up soon on the Tangleweeds calendar. Maybe I'll see you there!

Well, there you have it. A brief wrap-up of my life this last weekend/week. I'm busily catching up on emails and Etsy orders today, so if you're waiting for a response from me you can expect to receive one today!

Well, I better get to it!

Moving my Studio

I just want to share here that this week I am in the process of moving my workspace to The Hive in Oakland (Jack London Square area.) I am beyond excited! I can't wait to get back to sharing more of what's going on with me here. Life, as I suggested a few posts back, has thrown me a few curve balls as of late, and some things just had to give. Unfortunately, blogging was one of those things (temporarily).

 the old space, all packed up

the new space, just moved into and starting to settle in. there's much to be done still!

cute workspace corner =)

And, just to keep you posted, I'll be at this lovely event this Sunday. Indie Mart was, unfortunately, post-poned, so if you're in the market for some Tangleweeds jewelry, you'll wanna come by Jack Kerouac Alley in San Francisco instead!

Have a lovely Thursday evening everyone!

Oakland Indie Awards

Tomorrow I'll be vending at this wonderful celebration!

Maybe I'll see you there!

Two Possibilities

Tomorrow I'll be vending at the Maker Faire in San Mateo! 

You can find me in booth number 79 in the Bazaar Bizarre tent. But if you can't make it out to San Mateo, consider stopping by the 25th Street Collective in Oakland for their "Re-purpose with Purpose" event. 

I'm wishing I could be in two places at once this weekend!

Jewelry, Baby Spiders, Busy-ness, Life, May Day

At the risk of sounding like a whiny baby, I'm just gonna say it: I am busy all of the freaking time! Sometimes it's too much. Sometimes I just wanna lay down in bed and eat a pint of ice cream and watch Mad Men and sip on some tea with my cats at my side and NOT be beleaguered by a gazillion and one thoughts about all of the things I should be doing at that very moment. This constant state of buzy-ness is mostly brought on by the running of my one-woman business. But it is also brought on by my desire to do, to accomplish, to always be proving myself to myself. And that part of the equation has got to go. Or I'm headed straight to burn-out and not successful jewelry designer/entrepreneur. I may be in need of some self-help books. . . or just more pilates, yoga, and meditation.

K, vent aside, I have instagram photos for all you lovelies. I almost want to apologize for not having "better" photos, but I must say I really like instagram and really like the way you can make your photos look with the various filters and what-not. It's probably an affront to professional and artistic photographers everywhere, but it serves it's purpose for me.

I bring you a hodge-podge assortment of snippets from the last week in my life. . .

-baby spiders in my backyard-

Don't get me wrong. I am incredibly grateful for the simple fact that I get to work for myself creating jewelry I love.

-jewelry components - handmade-

But what I did not realize, heading down this winding path, was just how little time I would have for the many other facets of my life. I do feel that I bring this up on my blog quite a bit, and while I don't want to beat a dead horse, I think it is the number one (or at least very important) thing someone considering creating their own handmade business should consider. Do you highly value having lots of free time? Do you highly value being able to do whatever you feel like on the weekends? If you answered yes to these two questions, then you'll want to take a long and hard look at this business you are considering.

-huge hunk of rutilated quartz at the Margaret De Patta exhibit at the Oakland Museum-

With that said, I don't want to scare off potential crafty business folks. Running your own business and creating the things that will be your bread and butter is so fulfilling. It fulfills me in a way no other job ever has. 

-trio of Featherlight necklaces-

I think I bring up all of the many facets, the reality, because I am someone who is always looking at things from a gazillion angles at once. That analysis does not stop with my own life. I am constantly considering how I can find more balance. I weigh the pros and cons of most of my decisions carefully. Right now I now I am sticking with this jewelry biz. I quit my "other" job back in September of last year. I want to give myself at least three years on my own before I consider a different career choice. 

-crystal and brass rhombus necklace available at CH Good Stock-

And therein lies the difficulty: I do not want another career. I love love love what I do. But eventually the sacrifices may mount to too much. Talk to most any vendor working the craft fair scene and they will share a similar story: one of constant work, sacrifice, striving to find balance, giving up on finding balance for a while, coming back around to it. There are sore backs and sore muscles, sun-burns and chapped lips from the many days spent outside. 

-display at the Glen Park Festival (from Sunday)-

But, ahhh, there is the good, the wonderful, the sublime. When people love your work. When someone connects with a piece that you just made and were so happy with the way it turned out (see the earrings below for a personal example of this.) When someone insists that they don't want the 25% discount that you're offering because they know how hard it is and they want to do their little part to support you.

-brand-new! the ones on the left have already sold. the ones on the right are still available. I'll have them out at the next First Friday in Oakland-

The good keeps me going. 

I hope everyone has the opportunity to find meaningful work in their lives. I am beyond fortunate to have found it for myself. Yesterday was May Day and it has me thinking and considering the many facets of our "work" lives. Life lived with intention and love and compassion - these are my over-riding goals with Tangleweeds and everything I do in my life. 

-I made a bunting banner (finally!) for my craft fair booths-

With all of that said, craft fair season has just started for me. Mid-April basically marked the beginning for me and it's been off to a great start. I'm feeling really positive about it and am excited to be getting back out to my gypsy-jewelry-travelling ways. You can check here for updates on my next month of fairs.

Have a great Wednesday everyone! 

SF Flea Local Love

This weekend I'll be starting back up on the craft fair circuit. I was thinking about it the other day and it's been two months since my last craft fair (not including First Fridays)! It's no wonder it feels like it's been a long time. Going from sometimes as many as four craft fairs a month to none for a while is a big down-shift. Time to shift back into high gear!

The SF FLEA will be at the Herbst Pavilion at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. It's this Saturday and Sunday (the 25th and the 26th). We'll be open from 11am to 6pm on Saturday and 11am to 5pm on Sunday. And if you mention my blog, and this post, you'll be 25% off any one item!

Hope to see you there!

Today!

I'll be vending at the 25th Street Collective in Oakland from 2 to 6pm. The Collective can be found on 25th Street between Telegraph and Broadway. I'll also be there representing Crumble Diamonds for Jeffrey Boozer, selling his screen-printed show posters and his new 2012 full moon calendar (a must for every art-y home!) And, to further entice you, all of my jewelry is 25% off today. . . Hope to see you there!

Tangleweeds Holiday at Home Jewelry Trunk Sale

Firstly, I know things have been super quiet around these parts lately. I'm recovering from a slew of craft fairs. But I will be back next month with lots of great new posts!

Secondly, I'm having a jewelry trunk show and sale at my home tomorrow from 3 to 8pm. If you do the facebook thing, you can find all the details you'll need here: Tangleweeds Holiday at Home Jewelry Trunk Sale. I will have an assortment of pieces available, but, most importantly to you, I will have a LARGE selection at 40% off!

Hope to see you there!

This Weekend!

Tangleweeds will be in Los Angeles this weekend! Maybe I'll see you there. . .

Friday, Saturday, Sunday

The first weekend in December is here!  My holiday craft fair season has officially started with these two great events:

Friday!

The 25th Street Collective is in Oakland on 25th Street (obviously!) between Telegraph and Broadway. The event goes hand-in-hand with Art Murmur and runs from 5 to 10pm. Hope to see you there!

Saturday and Sunday!

The Concourse can be found on 8th Street at Brannan. Saturday's event hours are noon to 6pm, and Sunday's are 11am to 6pm.

Have a wonderful wintery weekend everyone!

Trunk Show and Sale

Tomorrow! Come on down to Bells and Whistles, a cute little shop on MacArthur at Fruitvale in Oakland. I'll be vending alongside some other very talented artists. 11am to 4 or 5pm, depending on the weather. Hope to see you there!

Today!