Big Things A-Brewing and Continuing Education

But First, Housekeeping: A new batch of claws came off the bench last week, and all the Etsy and Artfire listings have been updated with the new quantities.  Subtle design updates will be happening in both the shops and the website this summer, and there will be new products being rolled out.

Big News #1: My Jewelry can now be found available to purchase in the wild at Ventures: Gifts for Good on the mezzanine level at Pike Place Market! Ventures is the retail incubator store of Washington C. A. S. H..  I spent April and May attending their Business Development Training class, and it was incredible.  I got a fresh look at my business and my goals, and a better handle on the direction the studio is headed in, and a consignment slot at Ventures.
The interesting thing about all this is that when I started NightshadeRose Studio, my intent was to be an artist.  I was going to be making fancy one-of-a-kind jewelry and big illustration pieces. It turns out that I'm not really suited to that kind of work.  Flights of fancy are great for product development and goofing off, but not for paying rent and putting food on the table.  Doing something completely new every time, and then selling it retail in-person is a) exhausting, and b) outside my capabilities. So, rather than being all over the place all the time, I'm mostly narrowing down to specific themes and styles that are the most interesting to me to make and to customers to wear.  The business development training gave me an opportunity to talk to buyers for established, respectable retail shops about the sorts of things I'm doing, and it turns out that not only is my current work (like the coffee pieces) marketable, but some older ideas that I thought maybe weren't going anywhere in fact have legs.

Y'all remember the Different Worlds pieces, yes?

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Well, the idea is being revisited in a neater, more put-together line:

Earth

Mars

2 Venuses

3-phase Moon Bracelet

Hemisphere Earrings (an Earth-like planet)

Waxing & Waning earrings

The reason I focused on these things in particular is that one of the buyers I met showed specific interest in space-related pieces, and will likely be giving me my first real wholesale order at the end of the month.  It's not a done deal yet, so I'm not going into detail  just now, but when the order is delivered, I'll brag about it to the high heavens.

In other news, I've decided I need to knock off Lucretia Borgia's comb from the first episode of Warehouse 13.

WorldCon and Other News

So, first things first: upcoming show announcements!

The big one is that I'm going home to Texas for WorldCon (LoneStarCon 3) in August/September! I'm seriously looking forward to this one.  It's in San Antonio, and the convention center and hotels are on the Riverwalk, which is below street level, heavily shaded, and generally pretty nice, even in the blast-furnace temperatures of late summer in Central Texas.  The show runs Aug. 29-Sept. 2, and I'll have my usual assortment of jewelry, buttons, findings, and art. Afterward I'll be heading up to Austin for a couple of weeks to hang with friends and talk to shops. The Artfire and Etsy shops will definitely be closed from 8/27-9/2. Depending on what sort of printing/mailing facilites I have while I'm in Austin, I may open them back up on 9/3, but only with the stock I have left after WorldCon. I won't be home and able to make more stuff to restock until 9/15 or so.

October 5th-6th will see me back in Washington at the Northwest Bead Society's Bead Bazaar Up in Everett, at the Comcast Arena. I will be focusing on buttons, cabochons, and other findings at this show.

If you just can't wait that long to see me, are in the Seattle area, and are brave of heart (or kinky of mind), I'll also be at the CSPC Vendor Fair, coming up on June 1st. At this event, I'll have mostly claws and some jewelry.

So with housekeeping out of the way, you might be wondering what I've been up to for the last month or so. Well, first there was Norwescon, which went reasonably well, but not so much as I'd hoped.  The folks from Biohazard were quite pleased with the pieces I had ready for them.

Also, at Norwescon, I added a new product to my offerings:

Yep, I'm now offering my enamels as award medals!  There are a lot of interesting possibilities to explore here.

After that was my annual spring studio re-org/remodel. It was a proper remodel this time, with a bunch of cabinets being added, shelves moving around, and finding room for design and photography functions, but still, I only expected the studio to be down for week or two.  Unfortunately, I had to make an unplanned move of living quarters at the same time, so everything ended up taking longer than expected. The studio just got back to full functionality last week.

Here, have some in-progress pics:

This is what the new enamel station looked like when I was still putting in cabinets and shelves and moving things around:

This is the enameling corner a little further along, with the built-in drawer finished and all the cabinets in place:

and this is the new design/assembly/photography desk. The shelves behind are much more full now that I'm done moving stuff in.

And that's pretty much been my entire April and May!

Norwescon!

It's that time of year again! Tomorrow morning the Artfire and Etsy shop will be shutting down while I'm at Norwescon. Drop by if you happen to be around. I've got the same table as last year, right next to the Dealer's Room back door. I'm going to have quite a few new things since I've spend a lot of time in the last month or so experimenting with new materials and techniques. There will be pictures, I promise.

Online shops are expected to open again on 4/2.

Return of the Missing Jeweler!

Wow, this winter has been busy, and it's not over yet.  I had a great time at RustyCon and got to test out my new booth setup.

I really like having the extra vertical space. It allows me to display more pieces with better visibility.  I'm looking scarily professional these days. :)

 The new Large Quantities and Wholesale page has debuted on the website. This is where to go if you need a whole bunch of matching buttons for a costume, pendants for bridesmaids, or items with which to stock a store. There are a respectable number of colors/patterns and I add more regularly. More setting options are coming, too! I plan to add earrings and cuff links in the coming months, and am considering some sterling silver pendant settings as well.

Norwescon is coming up soon! I will have loads of new things in new colors and new settings. I'm even adding a couple of bracelets to the mix!

That's mostly it for now. Hopefully I'll remember to update again before Norwescon!

RustyCon!!!! and down time.

Just a quick heads-up to everyone out there:
The Etsy and Artfire stores will be closed until February 1st while I attend RustyCon (1/18-1/20) and then take a desperately needed vacation.  If you happen to be at Rusty or otherwise at the Sea-Tac Marriott, please feel free to drop by my table. I'm in the far right corner, across from the GoH tables.

If you need to get in touch with me while I'm out, email is your best bet (info@nightshaderose.com), as I'll be checking the inbox daily.

Thanks, and I'll see you next month!

WARNING: New Art in Progress

So, I was working on this thing tonight, and I learned a couple of things:

1) that I'd forgotten how time-consuming the larger pieces are. They take significantly longer both to fire and to cool down afterward. Luckily I also had a bunch of little pieces to work in the in-between times. And...

2) My waves are the best waves ever. This is with just one color layer in the wire, so it will only get better from here.

SALE TIME!!!

Just a quick heads up: Everything in the NightshadeRose Studio ArtFire Store is 20% off through Monday!  So, that's jewelry, buttons, art, claws, and hair combs at prices you probably won't see again until I get bored with the inventory next summer. There are a few more new pieces that will be listing on Friday and Saturday as well, like this awesome handpainted enamel medallion:

So come take a look around. You might just find that perfect gift for someone special (or maybe even yourself).