3rd Annual Browse and Buy

For the third year in a row i will be participating in Objects Found's Browse and Buy at the Catonsville Historical Society.
NikCo will be on-site with Quirkees, plus there will be a LOT of quality arts and crafts materials for sale uber-cheap.
Yes, there will be glitter and sequins for sale.
This weekend i will be there Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 10am-4pm.
Stop by and say HI!

a hundred pounds of glitter

My boss Andrew walks into the store yesterday carrying a stack of floral wreaths.
We don't sell wreaths. This can not be good.
Remember my friend, James? he starts.
Oh no, oh no, oh no... James owns a design and decorating business and sometimes gives us his cast-offs to sell or use in the store.
You mean James of the horrible candle holders that i can't get rid of and are still taking up all the space in the back? says I.
Yes. Well long story short, he is leaving the country. I don't know why he's leaving, but i just bought about half of his showroom.
Did i mention that Andrew is not supposed to be buying anything right now as we rearrange the store?
Wait...  he interjects as my eyes roll almost into the back of my head. You can't be mad. Wait till you hear the screaming deal i got AND i bought you a present.
After some more discussion it was revealed that he did indeed get a really, really, really good deal and i was ready to hear about my pres-nent.
They are taking it apart and packing it now. I will go get it later.
What is it???? Give me a hint Andrew
What is you're favorite thing in the world? he asks.
Well, that could be a lot of things because i really like a lot of things.
Shiny, was the next hint.
That doesn't really narrow it down for me.
It will make you squeal.
Yep, that doesn't really help either.
GLITTER he triumphantly announced.
Glitter?!?!
He had told me before that James had an entire glitter section that i would love, so when it was for sale yesterday Andrew bought it for me.
Oh My Squeeeeeeeeee!
Later that day he got a call and said, I am going to go pick up some more things from James, including your present. You just might kiss me when you see this.
I kept pricing the wreaths and floral -we are going to sell them at HonFest, June 14-15- and when he returned i rushed from the back with my hands out in the universal gesture for gimme, gimme, gimme.
Where's my glitter?
Outside. Bring your car keys.
My car keys... why?...
I'm not sure how we are going to get it into your car.
?????????????????????????????????????????
Have you ever received a present that was equal parts FAN-DAM-TASTIC and horrifying, my friends?

All of those long floral boxes are full of containers of glitter.

Totally. 

Full. 

Of Glitter.

And sequins.

And spangles.

And seed beads.

And glitter.

After squinching and shoving and pushing to get all four boxes into my car and throwing Squeaky Monkey on top as there was no where else for him, Andrew turned to me and exclaimed Happy Birthday!
I had no reply. Speechless.

There is so much that when i got home i had to have my neighbor Chad help me unload the boxes as i couldn't lift them.

They are on the front porch as i have no clue where i am going to put 100 pounds of glitter.

Now might be a good time to mention that i am having another crafts yard sale on June 21st.
Free glitter with every purchase.
Glitter.

tie me up pretty

I was recently part of a bulk wholesale buy on ribbons and acquired quite a few ribbons of various sizes, colors, patterns and types.

That picture really needs a size reference, doesn't it?

Here is my jazz-loving Pillsbury Doughboy attempting to walk through the ribbon pile.













So many, many, many ribbons.
sigh...

Anyhoo, the deal on these ribbons was really awesome, but i needed to buy more than i can personally use to get the best price, so i have ...ahem.. several to share. All the ribbons are precut in one yard lengths and i am gonna sell them 3 for $1 at my GIANT CRAFT YARD SALE next month. So if anyone out there in the Nikiverse would like some ribbons, just let me know in the comments or via email.

more info about the YARD SALE to come

studio trash bin

i love people!

Festival season has been great so far, but I am spending a LOT of time alone in the studio so I am trying to make a concerted effort to spend time with actual people.
Last week I went to see fTM Erin three days before she was going to the hospital to birth son #3.
She couldn't quite bend over to finish packing her hospital bag (I tried not to giggle) and I stayed with the boys while she went to her last doctor's appointment.

Caleb Henry was born late Friday night after a long, somewhat tricky labor.
Congrats to the whole family.
And good luck with three boys under the age of 4.






Last night fTM Felicia and I met for yummy quesadillas and then went to a deep water running class.
Yes, all you moms out there, not only did we eat before exercising, we ate before jumping into 12ft of water. Good news, neither of us died.
Deep water running was a much better workout than  I was expecting. You wear a floatee belt since an hour of treading water is too much for anyone, especially while you are doing jumping jacks and cross-country skiers and crunches. Yes, crunches. And there was some weight work as well. My shoulders are still sore.
Tonite I am taking a class on a new stamping product.
Wait, did I mention that I am now a Stampin' Up! consultant ?
I am not planning on actually doing any parties, but got a REALLY good deal on ink that I needed to buy anyway.  If you need any SU! stuff let me know because I will be placing one more order in December and am happy to share my discount.
But between now and then, fTM Amy and I are getting together for tea and to exchange pictures from our adventure to Elioak Farms. Hopefully that means a blog post about it soon.

some random Friday thoughts

We have discussed how I talk to myself even more now that I spend so much time alone in the studio. It has escalated to arguments.
This morning I was choosing a purple tank top to wear under my cardigan (how AWESOME is it that it is cool enough for a cardigan?). Obviously I have more than one -because, purple- and I said out loud Do you want sequins today?

At which point I responded -out loud-
Of course I want sequins. What kind of stupid question was that?
The scariest part?
I was actually indignant with myself.
Do you think I need to get out of the studio a wee bit more often?







Do you remember that i was putting together a silent auction for the Soroptomist Anniversary and Awards Dinner?
Wait, did i even tell you that?
Well, i had the opportunity to organize and stage a silent auction for the first time.
It was quite the experience.
There were 30 items, many of which were baskets or vignettes that i designed. It was a very different way to utilize my creativity. I liked doing it, but am glad it is only once a year.

Last month I was having a conversation about dreams -no, not with myself; I just can't remember with whom I was speaking- because I remember my dreams every day, which is sometimes very cool and sometimes not so much.
Anyhoo, during this conversation I realized that I have never had one of the most common dreams: that I can fly. Everyone else in the room had, but as hard as I tried I couldn't remember even one time that I had dreamed about flying without mechanical help.
So last week I dreamed that I was at a museum/movie theater/mall/science center/school and if I needed to get quickly from one place to another i'd fly instead of running. A few other people were flying too, with wing suits or special capes, but I could just naturally fly.
Oddly, i can still remember exactly how it felt to fly -kind of like swimming, but different- so i have caught myself a few times recently  thinking I should just fly up to the library.

A few random posts ago i posited that a true football fanatic would drive an RV with goal posts on the front.
I'd like to add that if you turn your trucklette into a giant purple shark, you also qualify.





I recently had KFC and the colon box is no longer being used.
 Do you think someone finally realized?

My stove has been a source of deep consternation since i moved 7.5 years ago. Yes, it is an apartment stove, but it is from like the Korean War Era and is an odd size -19 inches- that they don't even make anymore. The oven is so small i use quarter cookie sheets and 8X8 casseroles. Cooking, which i love to do, is a chore.
In May i finally asked my landlord for a new one because the oven has started to act up, but no new stove yet. A few weeks ago it simply would not heat up. The pilot light was going fine and i could hear the gas turn on, but nothing was catching so i banged on the center fire pipe in frustration with the closest metal implement i could find (a ladle in case you were wondering).
Good news: i didn't blow up.
PSA: don't bang on the center fire pipe of a gas stove that is turned on because that is simply dangerously dumb.
So after not blowing up i asked my landlord again for a new stove and it seems that there is a small chance that i might actually get one.
For those of you who have listened to me whine for years about my stove, but haven't seen it and think that mayhaps i am exaggerating about the suckage, here:

fun farm party at the farm

How is it even possible that fTM's Matt's baby - Sammy- is already one?
Heck, he is already on the way to being a big brother in January.
What's next? College?
A few weeks ago I went to Hendershot Farms in PA to celebrate Sam's birthday with both Matt and Sara's families. It was great to see all of them, especially some folks that I haven't seen since the wedding.

The food was all farm themed.
I was afraid to ask exactly what was on the ingredient list for the cowpies, but they were super yummy.
Instead of a big cake there were three different kinds of cupcakes and a little smash cake.
mmmmm... cupcakes...

And of course there was the birthday pig full of fruit salad in his custom built cutting board corral.
What?
You've never had a birthday pig full of fruit salad?
Then you, my friend, have never lived.

Matt's brother, Chris, designed and carved Mr. Pig.

The detail was mind boggling: pink snout with raisin nostrils, perfect little rind ears, giant googley eyes, zucchini tops for hooves, a pink candle melted and twisted into a curly tail and lollipops in a feeding trough for the kids. I saw pictures of the birthday shark he did for his niece's birthday; i'm getting this guy to do my next party fruit.
Speaking of fruit... you know who loves fruit?
The birthday boy.

Sitting on his dad's shoulders, Sammy was perfectly content as long as I kept handing him bits of fruit. Of course, if the stream of fruit slowed down he gave me some harsh looks.
It was a beautiful day, though a bit hot, so after eating we all moved outside under the shade trees.

With daddy, mommy and pops (Matt's dad)

All of the kids took turns riding the little four wheeler and the big kids took turns riding the big ones. I have to admit that I sort of started the whole thing. I was lamenting that the kids had wheels and looked longingly at Andrew (Sara's brother) as he rode off to work in one of the far barns. His wife, Tiffany, looked at me and said Do you want me to take you for a ride on mine?
Ummmm... have you met me?
I am very sad that there isn't a picture of me riding behind a rather pregnant Tiffany as she took me through the fields and hills of the 400 acres. It was my first time on an ATV and I think I need one.
When we got back the Hillegass boys started taking turns and then taking the kids for rides.
And of course we had to get back to the serious business of birthdaying.

Matt and Sara stripped Sammy down for his smash cake, which he ate rather neatly.
I think he would have been happier with a fork.
In fact, he was really enjoying the lemon pudding when suddenly he hit messy critical mass; looking down at his cake/pudding encased hands he gave Sara a little whimper with save me from the stickiness in his eyes.

My favorite part of the day -besides seeing people I love- was when the baby drums were opened.
His parents have already taught him to hit things rhythmically when they say Drum Sammy so this is the next logical step.
He'll be on Matt's slightly more expensive DW kit in no time.

As the day wound down and people started to load up the cars for their drives home,
Matt got everyone party favors:
corn picked right from the stalk.





To say that it was fabulous to eat corn that was only a few hours from the field is an understatement.

It was the perfect end to a farm party.

yes we won, but what did the cake look like?

You have to have priorities, people.
It was AWESOME to watch the Ravens win the Super Bowl at my friend Lynn's house last night. There were friends and food and fun and a roller coaster of emotion, but i only took one picture the whole night:

Yes, that is a cake shaped like a football stadium.
Yes, the stadium is purple.
Yes, when cut the cake inside was purple.
Yes, it was delicious.
Yes, it was made by Lynn's daughter, Hope. That would be her daughter in fifth grade and a couple of her friends.
Yes, a group of 11 year olds are that much better at baking than me.

salvage operation

Often i am asked in conversation, when describing my two different jewelry lines, where i get all of the raw materials for ReWearables.
Over time i have collected and amassed quite a bit of broken beautiful things in my studio; they were used in mixed media projects and to create things for myself. Since i started NikCo my friends and family have been very supportive, gifting me jewelry that is broken or they simply do not wear any more, but more often than not ReWearables are created from beads and bits that i have actively salvaged.
It is important that when i describe a piece as having vintage this or that, it is true. With beading and jewelry making being a trendy craft right now stores are filled with all sorts of lovely beads, some of which look like beads from the past. I do have modern beads for the Quirkees so i sort and store them separately from the ReWearables beads to avoid any confusion.

This is what the vintage beads look like sorted and stored by color family, ready to be used in something fabulous

But of course that is not how they come into the studio.
Here is the last salvage purchase i made:

YIKES!

That is a pretty standard junk box from a dealer; it cost $10 and needs some serious attention.
The first step is to sort it, culling the junk and trash from the pieces with promise. I try to save as much as possible because you never know when something that looks like crap today might be exactly what you need tomorrow. Old strands are taken apart and corroded hardware is cut off.
In the end i have three distinct piles: trash, not trash but not ReWearables material either and the actual salvaged bits, which move on to the next step.

Some of these things are 70 years old. They have been in somebody's basement or attic or garage or under a rug. Great-great-aunt Millie wore it on the hottest day of the year in 1952 and it still has ancient sweat or makeup caked to it. Plastic has broken down, metal has turned, paint has cracked, strings have dry rotted. Plus all of the pieces have been entwined with trash, dust and general ick. They need a good cleaning.

In small batches everything gets soaked in really hot water with seriously heavy-duty detergent; it took five batches to do this set. I'll change the water and soap as many times as it takes to get each batch to have clear water on it. Each small batch is then rinsed thoroughly in a strainer with hot water and laid out to dry on towels.
At the end you have this:

water from the first rise

This might seem like a lot more work than is necessary,

but trust me,

it is necessary.

Blech... shudder...

Not only is it important to get everything clean, this is the step that will reveal damage.

If a vintage finish can not make it through my cleaning process then i don't want to use it.

We are a lot rougher on our jewelry today -tossing it in our purses, lending it to our friends who dance like maniacs when they drink, "packing" it for travel by wadding it in the bottom of our carry-ons, wearing it in the rain, sleet & snow, covering it in sunscreen- than women were in yester years. I need to know that any piece i create and sell will stand up to today's life. And sometimes if a finish cracks the bead can still be saved if i am able to peel it down naked to the white or clear glass underneath.

After a few hours of drying i rough sort the load into two bowls: miscellany and beads-ish.
I have any where from one to ten of these bowls sitting around the studio, kitchen, dining room, living room at one time. When i watch a movie or have some down time i grab a bowl and fine sort it; beads are divided by size, color and shape while metal is sorted by color, size and original purpose and then they are stored in the correct container so that i can easily find the right thing when i am designing.

In summary,
this mess 
becomes this necklace

Royal Honey, for sale here

with a little time, soap and elven magic.
Easy-peasy.

countertop sample earring cards

As you well know, I am committed to repurposing whenever i can to not only keep things from going into the trash, but to stretch the budget as far as possible.
I have a bunch -i mean, a BUNCH- of countertop sample chips;
their colors and textures appeal to me, as well as the neat way they are collected on ball chain. I acquired them without a purpose in mind, but over the summer as soon i envisioned a physical space for NikCo, i knew they be perfect for earring cards.
At festival and shows i am standing right there, so it would be kinda hard to shoplift (not impossible of course), but in a physical location i needed a way to keep pairs together and make them harder to pocket.
 
Plus it makes an easy surface on which to affix the price tag and NikCo online information.
I decided to use the slightly smaller Formica samples so that more could fit on the display. My handy-dandy Dremel made quick work of drilling all the holes for the earring wires. In fact, the hardest part was matching earrings to cards so that the background color highlighted the jewelry instead of distracting from it.

Mayhaps you recall that i was trying to build a repurposed display, but that failed miserably so i ended up buying a metal and glass shelf from Objects Found (so i guess still technically repurposed). For months i had seen so clearly in my mind how i wanted the cards to be hanging from binder clips stretched through the air:

The open metal work of the shelf supports allowed me to stagger several strings of them with black wire while the glass shelves themselves gave me areas to group some recently acquired cream and sugar sets that i am showing a great deal of self-restraint by selling instead of keeping.

top shelf

middle shelf

The hole in the top of the earring cards made it easy to hang them on the branches of a little pre-lit tree so that i could create a Christmas display of Quirkees.



Here a couple of (terribly lit) pictures of NikCo's little corner of the world:

To see how much prettier it is in real life (really, that lighting is horrific for taking pictures) visit booth 110 in the Antique Depot, next to the Phoenix in Old Ellicott City. I am already working on how to display bracelets and necklaces and will be switching the Quirkees display from Christmas to snowy weather later this week.

Getting in the Christmas mood

December has flown by in a blur of jewelry and displays, but here in the Nikiverse I was able to find time to do some traditional preparations for the holidays.
For the first time i attended the Mayor's Parade in beautiful downtown Hampden.

Well... by attend i mean that i was watching my friends' lovely antique store so that they could attend the parade. But the parade did go by the Parisian Flea so i was able to peek out whenever there weren't customers.







There were all of the necessary parade components: marching bands and drum corps from school and local clubs, dance troops dressed like santas,  drum and fife recreationists, and unbelievable pom outfits.

 I was surprised that there were actually big helium characters, like a sweet reindeer and the Raven.


It was hilarious to watch the handlers try to get them past the street banners.

As with any local parade there were businesses advertising with forced child labor: this construction business had an organ hooked up so that a little girl could play Christmas tunes.

Also there were groups of kids riding in the parade, waving and shouting and throwing candy, but somehow there is always that one kid who manages to be fast asleep in the middle of the mayhem.

There was a horde and a half of Shriners riding all types of various ridiculous vehicles, horses, a Harley club, antique cars and crazy pimped out hydraulic cars, but i was too busy selling jewelry to get pics.
I was barely able to catch a tail-end photo of the ginormous tree float that David (one of the Flea owners) had worked on with the local business owners - they were driving realllllllly fast, but David was able to jump in quick for a photo op.

For some real local flavor there were the winners of the annual toilet races (really) and the Oriole Bird, who got the biggest reaction of anything in the whole parade.

fTM Karen, Cricket and Nancy had me over for our tree trimming party. It is fun every year to see the ornaments again (except that one hideous glass Santa head that creeps me out, but Cricket loves so i have to put it somewhere that he can see it) and find new ways to place them on the tree. Cricket does tree construction and lights, Nancy is in charge of hooks while Karen and I make a bitchin' decorating team. We have the same homogeny/balance sensibility so we can work in tandem to get the job done right. There are no pics of the tree, however, cause i was kidnapped and whisked away to movie quote trivia with my old team. It was a super fun blast from the past and yes, we did win.
As i eluded to in a previous haiku i also made wreaths for the first time this year. My friend Sheri and I were meeting for lunch; she called right beforehand and asked if i knew how to wire wreaths as she was picking up a few greens.
Imagine my surprise when i found the entire backseat of her SUV filled with branches. I figured i'd spend some time helping her out since i knew the theory of wreath-wiring and she had no clue; seven hours later i was finally going home. Here is a quick and dirty tutorial for guerrilla wreath making.
Get some evergreen trimmings from local tree sellers, neighbors and your backyard. Have a friend carry them to your workroom (dining room), taking pictures of her along the way making it look like she is being attacked by foliage.

Sort out the branches by types (we have pine, spruce, cypress, holly and some wiggly stuff that i have never seen before and have no idea where Sheri found it) and lay out clippers, pliers, nippers and wire.

Decide on a shape - Sheri wanted a long swap for over her front door - and take long pieces of a sturdy wood to wire together as a backbone to your piece.

Be sure to check the size and shape for your chosen location.

Try not to laugh too hard as your friend tries to reach the base waaaaaay over her head.

Once you are happy with the base, wire together accent branches of various types, work them into the base and wire 'em in place

Now for the finishing touches: wrap the exposed wiring with ribbon, add a bow, wire in ornament clusters and hang that puppy up.

Sheri also had a square wire frame so i did a wreath for her by wiring layers and layers of branches directly to it, adding a simple bow and attaching it to an old window frame.

She insisted that i needed to make something for myself, but i was pretty tired by this point so i did a quick door swag of flat cypress, wired in some holly, added a plaid bow and a pretty gold bell.
Voila!

All that was left was to clean up the glittery, foresty devastation that was Sheri's dining room table.

Real wreaths smell so good and though it felt like it took forever to make them, I will probably do it again in the future.
I wasn't able to make it to AVAM's Sock Monkey Saturday this year, so i invited my upstairs neighbors down to make some at home. Anaya went with the traditional monkey shape in purple argyle to make Bob, but added a jaunty scarf and bracelet for the holidays.

Naomi decided to do a bear instead of a monkey, using striped holiday socks to create Candycane who is totally decked out from his starry eyes to his custom fur hat and boots.



Anaya and Bob

Naomi and Candycane

Some former co-workers and I tried to volunteer with toy distribution at the Salvation Army, but had the hours wrong so we ate stir-fry and did holiday baking instead.
Viva maple cupcakes with bacon, peppermint bark and the best candied almonds ever!
The last thing i did to really get ready for the holidays was drive to Ohio in a snowstorm - best idea ever!

It took 12 hours to go 440 miles, but i made it.
Mom and i have been busily decorating our new-to-us tree (my sister got a bigger tree this year so she gave us her old one- it is beautiful), finishing wrapping presents and preparing to host Christmas dinner for 10.

 

Hope you are all having a wonderful time surrounded by friends, family and love.