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The weather could not be any better- sunny and some shade where we need it!  So far the art fair has been good.  I discovered Sarah has yet another hidden talent.  To get here, we woke up at 4am and left Brookings from my parents place and arrived around 8am to set up.  So by 10: 30 we were already hungry-hungry.  So you guessed it-fair food extra early!  We got a walking taco and decided to share it, so I fed Sarah first, afterall, she is my big helper!  When she had finished what she wanted she let me dig in, and then I discovered her skill set with mixing a walking taco.  You know what I mean it is a fine art form to get everything mixed in, Sarah is the master at it, pure talent.  When I told her how impressed I was, she laughed then explained her fine art.  Too funny! 

  I can’t help but think about this coming week, I can’t wait to start the two new styles I cut out!  I really do lose sleep when I have new ideas…can’t wait to show everyone and design one for myself to carry and advertise the new one.   This coming week has two big shows as well, Windom Hospital “Tour of Tables”  and a trunk show for Jill Roth in Parkston SD  I am excited to do both, because Parkston (where Sarah teaches) has been so good to me, we have lots of fans over there, so I love to come and do a show and see Sarah and her home.  The Windom hospital show is fun too, I love to see the nurses and catch up.  I have discovered that some of my best customers are nurses or teachers.  I don’t know if it is because they communicate so well together and really spread the word or what it is, but teachers and nurses really like my designs and that is wonderful!

I love meeting new and exciting artists.  I met two jeweler artists that are really unique and really have the “look” I go for with jewelry. I really like elementally pieces.  Pieces with wood, steel, rocks or nature inspired. However, I really probably like all jewelry -my favorites are just elemental.  The first artist I ran across is Tessa Hiney, she has great hair accessories and some very cute, almost vintage inspired necklaces and earrings.  She does not have a website yet, but her pieces are sold at some boutiques and her email is tessorijewelry@gmail.com. 

The second artist is from Sioux Falls, Brenda Collison- Schmidt with Flourish Glass.  She uses glass fusing techniques with vibrant sheets of glass that are handcut and layered with glass frits, powders, and stringers to create unique one of a kind designs.  I LOVE her things, I own three of her rings, and they are super trendy and really great accessories.  Her website is http://www.flourishglass.com/. She has a great attitude about life and a fun personality to be around.  She has a little girl that is almost a year soon, so I will have to get her equipped with one of my Olive dresses! 

I just wanted to be sure and share my new great finds and spread the word about other “budding” artists.

We had fun at the Grand Forks Art Show. We ate at Blue Moose Grill and went to see the movie “Up” in 3D!  Very funny and well worth the 3D version ;)  The city of Grand Forks has the nicest downtown area.  It is just so pretty and inviting.    Sarah and I even went for a walk in the park and really enjoyed the sunset. I couldn’t help but just praise God during the walk, and thank Him for allowing me to live my dream. The only thing that would have made it better would be to have everyone I love with me in the moment.  Just gorgeous, God is so good. 

Next weekend is Aberdeen’s Art in the Park. Be sure to join us under the polkadotted tent! Our newest addition to the display, can’t wait! Invite friends and family in the area as well to see the newest and cutest things ;)    Aberdeen Arts is in Melgaard Park and runs both Saturday and Sunday, June 20^th and 21^st.    We will be roadtripping that morning at like 5am, so we will arrive spirited and ready to have fun!  I have got a few new prototypes I am working on this week and hope to have them in time for Brookings Art in the Park.    Stay tuned!!!

Here we are, on the road again. This time- Grand Fork ND for the Grand Cities Art Festival.  The air in the car is real excitement, have I ever mentioned that I love what do?  Seriously, I am really living my dream everyday.  I am reminded of it everyday with different things that I do, but especially on the road to shows laughing and dreaming up new ideas and envisioning where else the road may take us.  I tell Sarah often, this trip is short, think of when we try Vegas and Chicago!  (Oh yes, you heard right, I am going to try to those shows before we know it!)  We have been talking about which restaurant we will try tonight, Italian or Chinese; usually Chinese wins out for us.  Our hotel this time even has a pool, which is an upgrade from our normal- dead bolt and lock -yellow-lighted- scared for our lives motels.  I have been busy cutting out the new bobbin pin fabric to make those up tonight to sell next week, and Sarah has been navigating the road with a trailer who follows her verbal commands- yes she talks to it, makes her feel in control.   

          It was a busy week trying to get everything restocked for this show from Edina last weekend.  We got it all done and I am excited to show again.  I cut out two brand new styles I had sketched last weekend while selling and I am anxious to see what they turn out like.  There will be probably be a few prototypes before they are complete and ready to add to the line, but I started.  I realized this week, that I really enjoy evening bags and coming up with new ideas for them, and then I thought, “Oh who am I kidding?  I just love purses!”  I am leaning on naming one of the bags Kelsey, after a childhood friend of my out west river and the other one has to grow on me to see who it reminds me of. 

          I had a rather significant realization this week.  I was thinking of which fabrics and styles sold the best, and it occurred to me the more I follow my gut and my own design ideas, the more they sell. I used to design for others and what fabric I would think people would like, but then I realized the more I cater to my likes and my design thoughts, the bigger I become. It was comforting to realize that I know what I am doing and that I really do have a gift dream, I love what I do, thank you God. 

What a great weekend we had in Edina MN!  We sold quite a few bags despite all the rain and cold weather we had a on Saturday.  We will for sure be back to Edina next summer!  We had really neat booth mates surrounding us there too.  We had a spoon artisan that I bought an estate ring from, her business is called “Silverware Creations” and her website is www.silverwarecreations.com.  Love her things! 

We also met a really beautiful art jeweler named Kerri Norman. Her website is http://www.sterlingsunjewelry.com/  Mark my words, I will own one of her pieces someday!  She has truly unique and one of kind pieces.  I loved hearing about how she made them. 

And then we also met Michael Holmes, with Michael Holmes Artworks.  He paints the most amazing scenes of cities.  He is an acrylic and pastel artist.  He gave Sarah and I one of his prints to hold us over until we can buy a big one! We had a ball with him, he is full of energy and good spirit.  I really hope we see him around with shows all year round, he helped pass the time so quickly.  Sarah and I couldn’t get over how much we laughed with him.  His website is www.michaelholmesart.com .  He even posed with a purse to help advertise, now that’s quite a man!!! 

The way to grow a small business is to network and make constant connections.  And I will do everything I can to spread the word about other artisans I admire and aspire to be like.  Meeting all the artisans is so much fun at the shows.  We really do enjoy their company and their ideas.  We are all out there pursuing our dreams and marching to the beat of a artisan drum.

We are here!  Wow, our day, (Sarah and I)  started at 6:30 this morning, getting lost in Minneapolis rush hour and then arriving late but safe to the show here in Edina.  It has been a lot of fun selling purses to the crowd here and meeting the other artisans, one of my favorite parts. I met the coolest spoon artist, I will post their website soon when I can find their card ;)  We have a great booth location, close to a corner, number 467 right next to Lund’s grocery store and a….wait for it….STARBUCKS!  Dangerous for us I know!  We are on 50 th str which is  a main drag in Edina, we couldn’t even ask for better weather, so all is good at this show.  If you are near, be sure to stop in and see us.  We have new styles, like the Jannell, and new bobbin pins that are covered buttons on a heavy duty bobbin pin.  We will post pictures of it soon!  Who doesn’t love hair accessories? Oh, who am I kidding, who doesn’t love accessories?!!!  Stay tuned for pictures of our events and funny road trip stories, we already had a quite a few laughs, but haven’t started writing on our book again yet, tomorrow possibly.  Also, I sketched out a least two more bag ideas, and some coin purse ideas, the possibilites are endless when there is this much creative energy dancing around.