Our Day Trip to New Hope
Back in March, Mer and I and my mother-out-law Lois (of A Beaded Affair) spent an early spring afternoon in New Hope. The reason for our trip was the grand opening of Simply SOTA, but we spent the majority of the day checking out all the awesome little shops along Main Street and the side streets.It had been several years since my last visit to New Hope (preliminary meetings at Simply SOTA notwithstanding), and I was amazed to see what was gone (my favorite used books and dingy kitchen supply places) and what remained (the kitchen kitsch store with the awesome teapot collections, and Mystickal Tymes, one of my favorite old haunts. I still have Beltane incense that I bought from them in high school…)
It’s far too long in coming (better late than never, I suppose), but here are some of the amazing and new to me places we visited that day…
I love ice wine, so when I saw the ice wine loose teaf tea at Cupteavity, I had to bring some home for myself. It’s delightfully sweet-tasting, even with no added honey or sugar, and really does taste like ice wine! Just as ice wine’s not an every day beverage, this tea is definitely something for special occasions. It was definitely a good purchase. They have a bevy of amazing flavors in stock, and I’d recommend checking out their online store or their B&M store if you’re in town — they’re at 88 South Main.
This is a perfect example of why I should write these posts the day of the experience and not six week later – I don’t remember the name or exact location of this next shop. So…on the far end of Main Street (on the same side as Cupteavity) next to the hookah dealer is a small shop that sells beads and Native American items. Lois and I picked up quite a few strands of beads that day, including the green stone in my new “Chosen Path” menswear piece pictured here. She had an interesting selection and plenty of stories to tell…do stop in if you get the chance.
I was far too enthralled by the food and the people to take pictures while we were there, but Italian Cucina at 95 South Main is possibly the best off-the-beaten-path restaurant I’ve been to in my life. A side note: I used to be a caterer; my dad’s a chef. I’m super-critical about restaurant food, and usually don’t care a heck of a lot for it. This? Was incredible. Joe Lombardi, the owner, and his sidekick/restuarant manager, whose name I have sadly forgotten, catered to our every whim, telling us outrageous stories and making sure we left well-fed. And oh, gods, the food. I had butternut squash raviloi in a cinnamon-sugar butter sauce that was lunch, dessert, and paradise all in one bowl. I don’t remember what Mer and Lois ate…I was too busy trying to inhale my food. And, of course, now I’m getting hungry. The food was drop-dead amazing, the people are fabulous, and it’s totally off the main path. We’re told it’s a favorite of the locals and I can totally see why…it’s enough to make me want to move to New Hope. They don’t have a presence online, so click the map above for directions on how to get there.
So, fearless readers, what are your favorite New Hope haunts?
Custom Melange
Our loyal customer Kate picked up our Melange necklace at a show over the holidays. A hefty, striking necklace in deep amethyst and earthy moukaite, she loved it so much that she asked for its cousin in shades of blue and grey. I used the corrugated same spacer beads as the original to give the same overall effect and combined them with cool grey marble and tons and tons of sodalite to create Melange’s cousin, The Blue Spice. The orignal and custom pieces are below. (Click to embiggen)
Just like the custom ocean jasper set I did a few months ago for Sally, this was a ton of fun to work on. If you’re looking for your own custom piece — for a special event, gift, wedding, or just because — we’d love to create something for you. Contact us today to get started.
And don’t forget to stop by Simply SOTA in New Hope tomorrow to support your local artisans!
Custom Ocean Jasper Set
We met Sally at one of our many holiday craft shows. She was looking for an earthtoned bracelet, in the style of Bright Bangle of Baubles. I didn’t have anything in stock, but offered to get in touch after the show with some options for a custom piece. A customized bead catalog, a few email conversations, and a few weeks later (read: today), I shipped her a necklace, bracelet, and earrings set that I’m pretty damn proud of.
This is a closeup view of the necklace. Earthtone glass beads were used as a focal point to anchor hefty 15mm ocean jasper rondelles that I ordered especially for this set. Black agate rounds and silver-plates spacers add depth and sparkle to the lower, heavier section of the necklace.
The other half of the necklace tapers down to an 8mm size. This was done mostly for comfort, but also to keep costs down. I added some 10mm green opal rondelles for a nice transition to the thinner section, which continues the ocean jasper, black agate, and silver trend with smaller ocean jasper rondelles, rounded black agate rectangles, and thin silver-plated discs. The necklace comes to a close with thin black agate ovals and a silver-plated toggle clasp.
While the bracelet was the starting point for the custom order, it was the second piece in the set to come together for me – I actually designed the necklace first. A chunky stretch bracelet like its inspiration piece, the bracelet again contains ocean jasper, black agate, and coordinating earthtone glass. I really fell in love with this particular piece and had a hard time letting it go.
The earrings were the final thing to come together in this set. Ocean jasper, green opal, and black agate on sterling headpins dangle 2″ from the sterling earwire. I loved these so much, I’ve made them available in our shop: click here for your very own ocean jasper and green opal earrings.
I really do love doing custom work, and I hope that Sally enjoys her set as much as I enjoyed creating it. If you’re looking for your own custom piece — for a special event, gift, wedding, or just because — we’d love to create something for you. Contact us today to get started.
Buy Indie for the Holidays
I’d like to propose a change to the buy handmade movement so popular this time of year. I’d like to take a page from the event we did on Sunday and call it “Buy Indie”.
As I sat at one of the shows we did this weekend, there was a Silpada rep behind me who loudly and proudly told every person that walked by her table that her jewelry was handmade. Yeah, okay. Silpada jewelry is handmade the same way Olive Garden’s food is authentic Italian cuisine, which is to say it’s not…really. Olive Garden dishes (which I thoroughly enjoy, BTW) are volume-based derivatives of recipes with their roots in Italian-style cooking. You could say it’s authentic, especially if you’re in the Marketing Department.
While Silpada’s marketing says that it’s handmade by artisans all over the world, my best guess (since there’s nothing to be found to back up that statement) is that it’s made by the hands of underpaid workers following a pattern in a book. So yes, it’s handmade. And since artisan can be defined as “A skilled manual worker who uses tools and machinery in a particular craft” (thanks, Wiktionary), it can be considered handmade by artisans, who I’m sure are in exotic impoverished countries all over the world.
Believe it or not, I don’t actually have a bone to pick with Silpada. I don’t view them as a competitor, and while it’s not my cup of tea, I know some people who love their designs. Yay for them. That’s not my point. Caveat emptor is my point.
If you take the handmade pledge and commit to buying handmade, for the holidays or year-round, do your research and be confident that what you’re buying is handmade by an independent artisan or crafter. Talk to them about their works, what inspires them, how they got started. You’re not just buying a toy or a gift — you’re buying a small piece of that person’s life. One of the great benefits of buying indie is getting to know the person behind the product — take advantage of that and ensure that your handmade purchase is created in the spirit that the movement intends. Buy directly from the artist or their website; seek out your local craftspeople or browse the world marketplace on sites like Etsy and Dawanda.*
I know it’s a bit late for a holiday gift guide (only 16 days to go!), but in case you’re not sure where to start on your indie-buying spree, I’ve gathered a list of some excellent indie craftspeople I’ve come across in my travels or have direct experience with — please check them out!
- Hello my Name is Monster – the cutest damn sock monsters I’ve ever seen, and I love the name tag-style branding.
- Dog Bone Art – marvelously faboo screen printed tees and bags n’stuff, including my personal favorites (which I will buy someday, damnit), “Cheese Please” and “Vanilla Chocolate Pirate”. Laura had some really cute peppermint stuffies too (all wrapped in cello and everything), but they appear to have sold out.
- Game Girl Designs – game pieces (Scrabble tiles, dominoes, etc.) made into necklaces, hair clips, etc. Amanda even does custom pieces from your photos.
- Woodnyou – I have an ebony business card holder made by this gentleman and it’s both gorgeous and well-made. I can only imagine that all of his woodwork follows suit.
- Simply Wired – If you truly must buy jewelry from someone other than Sweet Tarragon (*grin*), buy it from Chelsea at Simply Wired. I bought a pair of carnelian and copper earrings from her last year and still get compliments on them every time I wear them.
- Glass Beach – I bought a wristlet from Maia in February to use for a special event, and have used it every day since. I honestly don’t know what I ever did without it. Fun purses and cardholders in a variety of prints.
- Archipelago Arts – glass pendants with a kick, like the “I love you more than zombies love brains” piece I bought for Mer.
- A Beaded Affair – gorgeous wire-wrapped jewelry and beading supplies. I can personally vouch for Lois as a lovely person to do business with (of course, she’s my mother-out-law, so I may be biased.)
- Om Shanti Handcrafts – you know I love Kate (and her magical tangerine lip balm), but it’s worth mentioning – her stuff is awesome. All of it – the yummy, all-natural bath and body supplies, the jewelry…buy it.
- This and That gets an honourable mention, too. She’s not currently taking new orders, so it won’t help much for the holidays, but Leslie is my source for the custom sales slips that add a little extra pizazz to every order. She’s a dream to work with, and the end product is superb – I urge you all to check back with her in the new year.
Are you an indie crafter or artist? Please leave your shop link and a bit about yourself in the comments.
*Seriously…you never know what you’ll find. Thirty seconds on Dawanda tonight and I found a bacon cellphone case. I think I’m in love.
DIY Custom Earring Cards and Hang Tags
I’ve gotten a few questions at shows about our earring cards and hang tags – where I get them, if they’re expensive, how I do it, etc. It’s a small project that adds a lot of impact to the display table, so I wanted to share this project with the craft community.
Our tags are made from standard business cards with a vertical orientation. The basic layout took a lot of trial and error (and scrap printer paper) before I was happy with the location of the text and logo in relation to the center line where the fold will be. The blank space on the front of the card is for the name or description of the piece, and I added a spot for the price. When these are used as earring cards, I punch holes in this area (more about that later.) The back, which is upside down to allow for folding, has our website address and more blank space. This is where I usually write the “ingredient list” for the piece (types of stones and metals, etc.); for earrings, the hanger adheres here.
If you’re designing your own, now is the time to make sure that your final electronic file is high-resolution and adheres to your printer’s specs. If not, you could end up with blurry/grainy prints, off colors, or misaligned text. If you’re printing them yourself, make sure to do a test run on scrap paper at draft quality before you print to card stock to test alignment and clarity.
The first thing we do when the cards arrive from the printer is score them all down the center. I am fortunate enough to have a paper cutter with a scoring blade — we set up a small jig on that so we don’t have to check alignment on every card and run them through while watching a movie or listening to NPR. 
Scoring is not a requirement, but it makes the folding process much easier. We store the scored cards in the box they were shipped in and only fold them as needed.
We use these as hang tags in two different ways. For necklaces and most bracelets, we fold the tag around the section of the piece with the clasp and staple it at the top. This allows us to slide the tag sideways a bit and undo the clasp for removal without damaging the tag if someone wants to try it on. We sometimes punch a hole in the top center for hanging on our re-purposed fireplace screen rack. For smaller bracelets, our sun catcher ornaments, and other miscellaneous pieces, we use another scrapbooking tool — a glue dot roller — to stick the two halves together. We punch a hole in one of the top corners and thread it with a piece of ribbon, string, or (for the ornaments) beading wire that is tied or crimped to the product.
For the earring cards, the same folding-and-glueing procedure applies. We then use another jig (a piece of card stock with pre-measured holes punched) to punch parallel holes for the earring wires to go through. Our first few tries (as you can see here) weren’t always straight, but that’s okay. We’re handcrafters. After the holes are punched, we adhere clear plastic…thingies (?) made specifically for this purpose to the back of the cards. I order them from Land of Odds, but I’m sure you can find them elsewhere. These plastic doodads allow the cards to hang from any standard earring rack.
Since I know I left out specific tools above, here is a close approximation of what we’re using to make the cards (these are not affiliate links):
- 1/8″ hole punch (for hole at top of cards and for tying to merchandise)
- 1/16″ hole punch (for earring wire holes)
- 1/2″x1″ plastic earring card backers
- Permanent adhesive glue dot roller
- Paper cutter with scoring blade
Overall, this project takes a fair amount of time and effort, but it’s worth it for the consistent branding it brings to your merchandise.
Of course, if you need some help with the graphic design, or if you’d like to outsource the whole project, we can help with that, too.
Channeling Cinderella Winners and Losers
A few months ago, I designed a Cinderella-inspired necklace for the Channeling Cinderella challenge at Stringing Magazine. While we didn’t win, I’m very glad that I entered – designing for Cinderella took me into an area of beading where I don’t normally venture. The resulting piece, Eyes Up Here, is a three-strand Swarovski pearl and crystal necklace with a sterling heart toggle clasp. I love the necklace and am working on its sequel, Autumn at the Castle.
There were a lot of amazing entries – and even a tie for first place! They don’t have the winners posted yet on their site, but if you view the challenge entries here, keep an eye out for the winning pieces: #25, Jennifer Judd, and #60, Serena Polheber, tied for first place; #14, Cynthia Powers, in second place; and editors’ choice winner Tiffany Dodgen, #68. I do like Tiffany’s entry, and would love to see the focal piece up close.
Congratulations to the winners! Now…what to make for the Black and White Challenge? Hmm…
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