Etsy Anniversary

October marks my 5 year anniversary on Etsy!  It's been a fun journey full of learning!  Before Etsy I had an online shop for a year with an embarrassing number of sales. My dream of having a career as an artist and writer was looking pretty dismal. Once I took a chance on opening an Etsy shop things gradually changed. On top of decent online sales, I learned a lot of valuable information about running a craft business from the forums and from Etsy articles. I learned the ins and outs of craft fairs and how to pick up wholesale accounts. Having a support system of other artists at my fingertips (via their forums) and a steady paycheck from things I'd made, made me confident about working harder and never quitting. And of course... In 2009, I got a book deal and released a full color art memoir with SEAL PRESS, titled, "Sweet Charlotte's Seventh Mistake". Brag, brag, brag. :)

I'm not sure what the future will bring with our 2nd US recession, but I'm feeling pretty confident that my business will continue to grow and the work will still be there. I sincerely think there is an art movement afoot! People want to and will buy handmade when they have the option... and our presence as working artists and dedication to our work via Etsy gives them the chance.

New in shop:

Dia de los Muertos sugar skull earrings

Mexican Talavera tile bracelet

Alhambra Islamic tile earrings

Portuguese tile cabochon drop earrings

Mexican tile cabochon drop earrings

Portuguese tile hair clip

All jewelry pieces can be found at http://ShrunkenCatHeads.etsy.com

Oakland, CA, This Sunday!

Notes and pictures from the Solano Stroll, 9/11/11

What a beautiful day and a lovely event to be a part of!  The organizers started the parade off with a touching tribute to our firefighters and police officers.  (I have to admit I got a bit choked up!)  After that... it was all Berkeley!  Woohoo! 

It was an interesting day for me.  It started with my stall not being marked on the street and some confusion and miscommunication with the street managers as to who and what and where and how the hell was I gonna fit there?  But I made it work, thanks to the genius help I got from Kim and her pals at The Details Company. (Stall 107)  I'd love to give them a link, but I can't find them online! :(  So after that fiasco turned fantastic, I set up my pop-up and watched the world's most wonderful people stroll by.  I love the East Bay.

...and then the bees came.  Yeah, bees.  And yellow jackets too!  I first noticed one hanging off of a glass bead attached to the bottom of one of my tile earrings.  I tried to catch a photo, but it buzzed me.  Through-out the day I noticed more and more wasps and honey bees flying in to get a look-see at my wears. Then I realized that some were collecting at the top of my tent!  What to do, what to do?  Denial.  Denial works.  I did my best and pretended they weren't there.  Kinda.

Then... the gust of wind thing happened!  Yeah, really.  I felt little gusts rattling my tent frame most of the day, but this one was sneaky.  In a matter of a second I found my pals from The Detail Company running to grab the corners of my tent as it lifted up and started to fly!  Hahaha!  My Eiffel Tower earring stand rose off the table and earrings flew all over the corner of Neilson and Solano!  But as quick as it happened, lovely strollers swooped in and helped me recover.  A pack of little girls collected the earrings off the ground like little birds collecting bread crumbs.  They were tweeting sweetness. People passing by picked up my business cards and arranged them back on the table. Kim and her crew helped me get secure and tie my poles down.  "Home," I thought.  "It's so good to be back home."

Me and Kayla

My dear friend Lisa and her beautiful daughter Kayla (pictured above) arrived just after and helped me sort and reorganize at least 30 pair of earrings that had become mismatched and displaced!  It would have taken me more than an hour to do alone!  I heart friends!  (New and old!)

 

The day ended with a "dream" sale.  This wonderful woman purchased from my newest line, "The Craftsman".  I designed a mahogany bezel pendant for my miniature tiles to sit in as a romantic nod to the Craftsman houses that I love so very much.  What made this sale special was she told me her husband was from Mexico and when she learned the pendant she chose was a Mexican Talavera tile design, she had to have it!  She tried the necklace on and patted her chest as she looked at herself in the mirror.  You could see the love!  Just the idea that I made something that could represent a sentiment for someone else... well that's a kick for me.  That's what art is.

You think the bees liked my hat?

All the jewelry in this post can be found at my ETSY shop.

Bobby pins!

Busy making hair pins for the Solano Stroll!

An evening with Richard Buckner, 8/17/11

Richard Buckner, Great American Music Hall, SF 8/17/11

Richard Buckner's 8/17 Great American Music Hall show w/the Crooked Jades was truly captivating- with hypnotic moments of rhythmic musical crescendos.  The vibrating low E, the harmonium and lap guitars, the maracas that fell just behind the beat- it was intimate, sincere, and often surreal.   No chair this time,  he was up and swaying... alive.  A majority of the songs new, trance state eyes, interesting orange pants, and lilting vocal highs and lows that gently crashed in that Buckner way- up and down the twisted hills of San Francisco.  Unforgettable.

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Craftaluma in Petaluma!

 

I'll be hosting a table and slinging copies of "Sweet Charlotte's Seventh Mistake" here, Sunday, 8/21.

Hanging out on Facebook...

I've been setting up a Facebook page. Come on over and gimme a "Like"! :)
Http://facebook.com/CoriCrooks