Artisans Guild Tour Results!

The Artisans Guild Tour was last weekend, and it was pretty spectacular. We got a lot more people coming through this year than last year, whether it was because of the general economy or because of our much improved location. Over the course of the three day tour, we saw probably close to six hundred people, some of whom visited multiple times. Friday and Saturday were my best days.

This year I shared studio space with two absolutely fabulous women. One of whom, I'm rather obligated to say that about (even if it is true) as she's my mother, whose name is Lois Sprague. She makes some awesome quilts, full of bright colors and lots of details.

This is her, working on an enormous quilting machine. You can see a number of her finished quilts hanging on the wall behind her.

Off to the left of the above photo are some of Deb Finnegan's wonderful baskets. I will tell you that I coveted quite a few of them over the course of the weekend, but managed to restrain my impulse to buy them all. (Instead, I've asked her to make me one, a bit smaller, for my buttons and business cards to go in. I'm looking forward to being able to have a basket of my very own.) Here's Deb herself below, along with an assortment of her baskets.

She hand dyes all the colored reeds herself, and the patterns she weaves into the baskets are just glorious.

Right now, I've been mostly decompressing after my ever so busy November. I finished my Nanowrimo 50,000 word requirement on November 24th, well before the end of the month. The novel still needs to be finished and heavily edited, but 50,000 words in a month is a pretty epic achievement anyway, if I may say so myself. In addition to writing, I've also been giving classes. I'm currently in the middle of a two session class, the first session of which was yesterday, the 1st. The second session is tomorrow, the 3rd. If I remember, I'll try to take a photo of the outcome of the class.

Additionally, I've also switched to a new Etsy username. You can find my new shop, where I've uploaded some old and new pieces, at http://www.etsy.com/shop/caseysharpe
There's also a link to the shop up at the top right hand corner of the main page of the blog. I should be uploading more pieces over the next week or two as well. Remember: If you want something delivered before Christmas, it's best to order early, as I've no control over the postal service.

Materials: Hard & Soft

So last Wednesday, I got a letter from the Greater Denton Arts Council (all the way from Denton, Texas!) telling me that one of my pieces (And I left my body behind...) was accepted into their show, Materials: Hard & Soft!

The show doesn't open until next year, but it runs from February 6th through April 1st (2010, of course). So I'm pretty excited about that. The juror for the show is Jo Lauria, and after all the pieces arrive at the show, they'll be juried again, and $5,000 in prize money will be award, which is even more exciting! (Mind, I'm not holding high hopes that I'll win, but it's still pretty amazing for whoever does win!)

Plus they'll be publishing a catalog, which is always very cool. It's so nice to see your work in print, and it's really nice to see everyone else's work. Especially now that I've graduated and don't get to see other people's work on a regular basis.

In other news, still getting ready for the Artisans Guild Studio Tour, which is happening next weekend. My class last week went really well, and I'm looking forward to running another one the first week of December (on the 1st and 3rd, to be exact.) Hopefully everything will run smoothly for those two things.

(And for anyone who's interested, my current word count for Nanowrimo is 44,241 words. I'm definitely on track to finish by the end of the month.)

Presents in the Mail!

So I just got home from my whirlwind vacation in Philadelphia and Chicago. Purely a pleasure trip, and absolutely amazing. (Especially stepping out onto a clear Plexiglas floor on the 103rd floor of the Sears Tower and seeing the street way below me!)

And getting home was pretty awesome too, because I had two things waiting for me. I like to consider things that I've ordered off the internet presents, since by the time they arrive, you've half forgotten what they are, or you've yet to see them, so it's like a tiny present to yourself when you rip into the packaging. The first one was a book I'd ordered on rendering, which was actually the third in a series. I've leafed through it, and it looks absolutely amazing.

The second, was these:


Which are everything I hoped they would be. The folks at RockButtons.com did a great job, and got them made and mailed out to me super fast, especially since I decided to not get them rushed through production. So, more about these buttons, since I'm sure everyone's curious. They're fully fabulous, and I'm going to offer them to everyone in two ways.
Method one: You buy stuff, you get a button. (One button per customer, not per piece bought. I love you all, but not that much.)
Method two: You fork over two dollars, and you buy a button. (Alternately, you give me five dollars and I give you three buttons, saving you a WHOLE DOLLAR. Penny pinchers rejoice!)

These are also a completely limited edition design, which I solemnly swear I will never have reprinted. (I will also not change the background color and claim it is a new design. I may, however, rework the fish and repaint it in gold and gems on a different background color and tell you it is a new design, which would be totally true.) Thus, there will only ever be one hundred of these pins, which means that this may be the cheapest you will ever get a limited edition piece of bling for.

My upcoming classes actually have students signed up, which is very exciting. I can only imagine how sad it would be if I had a class and no one showed up. I'm really looking forward to seeing what everyone brings in for the found objects class, as well as introducing everyone to the very basics in the ring class.

(Last but not least, for anyone interested in my ongoing Nanowrimo novel, I'm currently at 33,998 words total, and still on track to hit the 50,000 word finish line before the end of the month.)

Vacation, and other news.

As I'm on vacation at the moment, I haven't got any shiny new pictures for you, sadly. However, I am, as always, making progress on one thing or another. Right now, I have a fabulous new rendering in the works, for example.

In addition, I've organized my schedule for the next month or so. While late November and December mark the holiday season, which is incredibly busy, I've determined that before the madness gets into full swing, I've got just enough time to offer some jewelry classes. Thus, I present:

Thursday, November 19th. 6pm to 9pm. Ring in a Day!

Tuesday and Thursday, December 1st & 3rd. 6pm to 9pm. Found Objects! (two part class)

Both of these will be offered at the Onancock School. If anyone would like more information, feel free to contact me at c.sharpe.designs@gmail.com, I'd be more than happy to answer any questions!

(As for Nanowrimo, my novel is making good progress. Current word count is 23,742 words total, which mean I am very nearly halfway to my 50,000, and ahead of schedule!)

New Business Cards!

My new business cards arrived today! I'm incredibly pleased with how they turned out- both the front and back images look just right, and the blue is nice and striking. (I'm really glad I kept the variation of the paper instead of flattening it out to an even tone. The mottling looks lovely.)

Without further ado, here they are:


Otherwise, I've just been getting work done for the upcoming tour, along with organizing some classes for later in the month. I've made a series of sterling rings that will be for sale, as well as resumed work on my tea infuser. I'm still waiting for my buttons to come in, but I've got other things to keep me occupied until they do.

What other things, you ask? Well... In addition to preparing for the tour, I've decided to participate in National Novel Writing Month, otherwise known as Nanowrimo. I'll be writing a 50,000 (or more, if I can manage it) words novel this month. I started just after midnight on November first, and I'm on track to finish before the end of the month. For more information about Nanowrimo, check out this explanation. The nonprofit that runs the whole thing, the Office of Letters and Light, also runs two other events, the Young Writers Program (essentially Nanowrimo for those under 18), and Script Frenzy. The whole thing is run on donations, some by participants from past years who have gone on to sell their novels, others from people sponsoring writers. In fact, you can sponsor me here - all funds go directly to the Office of Letters and Light.