I Made It! Market (4-16-12)

WOW!  I'm wiped out and brain mushed lately.  I recently took a new job and I'm crazy tired.  I also have no spare time to blog.  It's a bummer but I know the craziness will pass once I get used to my new store.  It broke my heart into a billion pieces to leave the Masquerade.  Me running a year-round costume store just made sense.  And I loved all of the people.  But I am happy to report that I made the best decision for my family and my future.  Anyways, back to the love of crafting...

I spent last Saturday at I Made It! in the South Side Works.  This time I had a whole table.  It was way nice to be out on the floor rather than squished back in the fitting room area.  The venue is a vacant retail space which used to house an Ann Taylor Loft.  This time I sold nothing but hair accessories.  I did well and look forward to returning next month where the show will run in conjunction with "Chili With the Works," a great Pittsburgh chili cookoff.

My husband was kind enough to be my company and my helper/sales associate.  I also had some visitors (thanks, girls!).  Ivy joined us later in the day when her grandparents brought her down.  Here are a few photos I took:

In The Mouth of Madness...

It has begun...

The Spring 2011 "Fresh Flower" collection is currently under construction.  I had been holding off due to a severe lack of spare time.   But you know I will always make time for a custom order.  So when my co-worker, Brittany, a Fresh Flower addict, said she wanted one to wear for St. Patty's Day, the proverbial ball started to roll.

As a side note, I used her wishes as an excuse to visit the new Michael's in Settler's Ridge.  I could get into some serious trouble there, I tell ya...but I digress.  I did find some fun green goodies and managed to whip up several for her to choose from.

As I was making those, my hands just started reaching for other things and, before I knew it, I was knee-deep in flower parts.  As I have mentioned before, this girl loses all track of time once this process begins.  My husband was at the gym and my daughter was with her Grandparents...I was all alone with my flowers. 

Have a look into my madness...and my bliss...

Shot in the Arm

I'm starting to feel really confident about my fabric flowers.  Over the last couple of days, I sold the two beauties you will see below.  The best part about it is that now I can feel extra-great about making more!  I do truly think I'm addicted to making them.  I never realized how much fabric and beads have in common.  I already have an insatiable love for beads...the colors, the shapes, the textures, the AWESOME!  And now that I've learned to sew (minimally speaking), I can see that fabric is going to be another obsession.  Going to be?  Make that already is.

Oh, and I still owe you some pictures of that purple, as-yet-unnamed bracelet.  I think I might have the house to myself tonight, so I will be working on that!  Yay!

Circuit Fabric Flower Headband

Charming Fabric Rose Clip with Vintage Button

Update!

Hey everyone!

Despite Halloween being over, life as manager/mommy/artist hasn't slowed down much, but an update on what's been going on with Freshwater Designs is totally necessary!

Though there's been little time to get back into the swing of constant crafting, I've been able to squeeze in some time for a few new pieces, mostly that I've been displaying at shows in the area. I've got LOTS of new hair accessories and have been working on creating some new jewelery pieces as well!

I've also been working on expanding my partnership with the awesome site, Artfire! No worries, I still have my account with Etsy, but everyone should definitely check out my account with Artfire too! Here's the link: http://www.artfire.com/users/freshwaterdesigns

Last month I was first at the I Made It (for the Holidays!) and then at the Allegheny West Victorian Christmas House tour in the beautiful Jones Hall on the North Shore campus of CCAC. If you didn't make it to either of those, you really missed out on some handmade deliciousness!

My small, but of course colorful space at I Made It!

Close up of some of my latest hair accessories! I focused mostly on them for this show and got great reviews!

Thanks, as always, for your interest!
~Nicole~