Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Ho Ho Ho

The stockings are hung (Except the missing one, how did that happen?) There are some awesome presents under the tree. The house could certainly stand a once-over before my mom gets here, but I am ready for Christmas. I am ready to have some quiet days with my family, reflecting on 2010 and dreaming on 2011.  I am ready to head into 2011 with a good attitude, and some worthy goals!

2010 brought me "closer". Closer to goals. Closer to family. Closer to my sister inparticular. I made deeper friendships, and learned things about myself I did not know existed. I think 2010 was the year I finally became "Casey". 

Watch out 2011, here I come!

Saturday, December 18, 2010

December Shows



Today I will be showing my work at Alfred Alive's annual "The Station and the Center" in Alfred, NY.  I am looking forward to this event because I am sure to see many friends. Santa is planning to make an appearance as well! http://www.alfredny.org/PDF%20Documents/TS&TC.pdf

Last week, I was in Belmont at the Whitney Cafe. It is in a beautiful old building that has been restored and has a warm, inviting atmosphere. I took pictures of some of the other vendors and their work.  I had some time to kill before the show got started, and since it was such a cozy atmosphere, I took the opportunity to get some blog fuel! :)

I was able to get quite a few great Christmas gifts at this show. And, thanks to the new-fangled technology, I was able to shop for ornaments with my children who were at home. I went around and snapped pictures of all of the ornaments and emailed them home, where everyone voted on which one we liked the best! :) We ended up with a cute wooden elephant from RLA Miniatures (Russell Allen from Wellsville, NY) and a gorgeous cloth Santa made from an old quilt by Betsy Orlando.

Charles Orlando was there as well, selling beautiful hand-knitted items. His sweaters are so detailed, you can find them here: http://www.orlandoforge.com/sweaterthumbs.htm


 



Deb Garrison was there with her work as well. The stool in front of her is now my daughter's Christmas present. :)




Bev Evans makes hand-crafted pottery with a focus on function. If she wouldn't use it herself, she wouldn't make it! :) She is the one on the left in the picture, and Betsy Orlando is on the right.


 



Laurie Johnson makes fleece hats in the shape of fun animals. They are warm, and cute and colorful! She is a member of the Allegany Artisans.

 http://www.alleganyartisans.com/fiber.htm








These colorful, soft paintings are the work of Barbara S. Learn, and are now being sold by her daughter and granddaughter across the country. go to http://www.barbaraslearn.com to learn all about it!


 

Christen Dupre Davis makes cute items for babies. She has developed a nice product called "Silkies" which help sooth sweet little pumpkins. She also creates great headbands and other baby-essentials! Great gifts for moms-to-be!

http://www.dupredavis.com/About-Us.html

Monday, December 6, 2010

Holiday Studio Sale at Len Curran's

This was one of the best weekends I have had in awhile! Friday was an adventure. It is a long tale of ice and friendship, and the deep dark forest where coyotes live. There is just not enough time to get to the details, but most of the evening was spent in Len's amazing studio talking to great people, and eating delicious snacks. Len and Renee are a hoot to work with. They are such positive people with great energy. They are the type of people who make you believe you can do anything.

The studio was such a fun place to have a sale in. The ceilings are high, there is a woodstove, and Len had the place filled with music that just rounded out the corners and brought the room to life. There are plants taller than my living room in there, and the windows on the back went practically floor to ceiling. You could look out the window at the falling snow, it was the perfect backdrop.

Before this weekend, I had never met Renee, but have admired her work for a long time. I was so excited to meet her, and I now have several of her painings on my walls. I am really happy about that, because her art has the same vibe as my personality, and it is perfect for my house. http://www.reneecoombs.com/

It was good to get to know both Len and Renee a little more this weekend, and it was so nice to be with people I immediately felt a connection with. We were able to talk with each other in such a free manner, as if we had been friends for years. I can not wait to do another show with them, I hope it is soon!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Lots of shows coming up!



Please join me at one of these upcoming events:

Studio Show this weekend, Friday 5-8 pm

Saturday 10-4

Location Len Curran's studio, Alfred NY

5431 Jericho Hill Rt 12 Alfred Station NY

December 11 -

The first Annual Whitney Cafe Winter Wonderland December 11th
10am-5pm. Featuring A Taste of The Whitney, a variety of local Artisans. Come enjoy this day with us! Bring your appetite and your last minute shopping list! See you there!

December 18-

Alfred Alive!

A seasonal event in Alfred ny. Craft show from 12-4 pm. Hope to see you there!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Remodeling my website

I noticed a friend of mine, (Jenn from Hip-Threads.com) had a nice looking website, and realized it was time to clean up my act! She told me that her webmaster was using wordpress which reminded me of a blog I read about building a website on Wordpress. Well, the instructions were easy to follow, and while there are a couple of things I wish I could change, I am pretty happy with it over all. I will keep tweaking it over the weekend, and hopefully I will begin updating it frequently.  I have a lot of stock right now, and would love to get it all up on here and Etsy and my new Artfire account as well.

I have been very busy with custom orders I received during last weekend's Artisan Tour.  It was  lots of fun, and I can not wait to do it again.  The weather was beautiful, the customers were funny, and the treats from the Almond Joy Bake Shop were delicious!  I even received a gift the day after the show that my friend Tammy got for me from another Artisan, Trina Allen.  (TLA Designs) She makes gorgeous silver jewelery, and I have been trying to hint to my husband for awhile that I would love to have a pair of her earrings.  Sometimes girlfriends are just better at that sort of thing! :)

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Summer Breeze...

Future purses:

I took advantage of a beautiful summer day to let my fabric hang on the line. Walking by, I saw it blowing in the breeze, and wanted to share the peaceful feeling it gave me.


Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Allegany Artisan Picnic


Last night, I went to my first Allegany Artisans picnic. It was a blast. There were so many people to meet. Remembering all of their names will be impossible. One of the artisans there was Marsha Van Vlack. She and I were talking, and I happened to have a camera in my hand, so I clicked a picture... hope she didn't mind! :) Doesn't she have a special glow to her? She makes gorgeous ceramic tiles that are artistically designed with trees and birds and scenes from nature. Her website can be found here. I was really excited to meet her because I was already familiar with her work, and I felt like I was meeting a famous artist... I was starstruck. Hee hee.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Big plans ahead!

I have been incredibly busy with my business, Casey Was Here. There are now 5 retail locations with my items for sale! A year ago, there were ZERO. And, this year, I will be on the Allegany Artisans studio tour! Let me tell you why I am so excited about this!

The Allegany Artisans is a group of artists of all sorts from Allegany County, NY. There are potters and woodworkers, jewelry makers, blacksmiths, doll makers... on and on! Before we moved here, I was researching the area and I was so excited that this group existed, because to me, that meant there was an artistic culture where we were going. The house we bought has a studio with its own entrance, and in the back of my mind, I thought "Someday when my studio is in the Allegany Artisan's tour.... It will be perfect..." :) The studio tour is an annual event where all of these artisans open their studios to the public. There is a map with all of the studio locations, and people do a driving tour of the county while they visit the different studios.

In April, I submitted my work to the board for evaluation. I knew they would be meeting in May, and I was extremely nervous about their critique of my work. After all, this was a dream of mine, and it meant so much to me to be part of this. They were to meet May 1, and I was a nervous nellie all morning.

Well, that morning, we were at my daughter's T-ball game, and I received an email to my blackberry. I was accepted! Hooray!! I ran around to my friends at the game and whispered to them my exciting news.

Next week, all of the Artisans are getting together for a picnic, and I will see if I can get some good pictures. It has been fun getting to know them, and I am very excited for this October when I will be participating in my first Studio Tour.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Craft Show


The last 3 days were spent at The "Hornell Expo". I wanted to do this show because it was close to home, and I do not have a lot of show experience.

They allowed us to set up a day early, which was lucky for me because I forgot a lot of things.
My booth turned out looking pretty good, and I was glad I had designed the sidewalls to be used as half up or all the way up because they definitely worked better as halfway up for this show. The show was promoted by the local radio station, WLEA from Hornell. The radio people were all very friendly, and made me feel welcome and at home.

There were a few other craft vendors there. I found some great wood-turned pens by Doug Brokaw from Canisteo NY, and some delicious cheese from Golden Age Cheese .Here is a picture of one of the pens I purchased: (These photos are lacking in quality because they were taken with my phone... it is just too convenient to use, but I need to start bringing my real camera around with me from now on!)
Here are some more of Dougs pens, I bought one of these as well. They are more girly, and I want to give it to the wife of the other pens future owner!
Here is my booth, I had no idea I was such a salesman, but the show was pretty slow at times, and I wanted to get people into my booth! I was able to convince a few people that their mothers would love a hand-crafted treasure for Mother's Day! :) (Yours would too you know!)Anyway, I am pooped, I am going to sleep for the rest of the day!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

What a beautiful day!

Today was the day I dreamt of all winter. It was perfect. I hung the laundry line outside, and I hung the clothes on it. I had a very peaceful feling with the calm easy busy-work. I was part of all of the early spring activity I could hear and see around me. The cats were exploring and digging things up from under the freshly-exposed dirt. There were birds chirping, and even a bug or two (Already!). I have been avoiding work. I think it is because I have the show coming up and I feel pressured to accomplish things. Well, I will have to write more later. I have pictures of my homemade shoes to post too! :) Soon, I promise, as soon as I get my work done....

Monday, March 1, 2010

GOOD MORNING!!!

What an exciting day I am going to have today! I had to wake up at 4:30 to help my husband get ready for work. Now, I am getting all kinds of things done, and the day has barely begun! I love it! I have been updating my website like crazy, and I have listed a few things on Etsy this weekend. One of them already sold, which I am just so happy about! :)

The kids made a snowman yesterday. I will update this post with a picture when the sun comes up! I have decided to do a show in March. I just have to call and find out the details. So, I will have to be busy busy busy sewing away! I am too excited to write well. Coffee coffee coffee......

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Etsy Treasury!

WOOHOO! I have been featured in a treasury on Etsy! I am very excited. Chantal aka Sewingkat2 made the treasury, and I feel honored to be included in with so many beautiful artworks!
Here is a screenshot for posterity:
That is the bag I posted about last night! Now I feel very inspired to go in the studio and get to work!!

Friday, February 26, 2010

OOps I forgot to update my blog!!

Oh Hello! I am still here! Posted this today:



I am not feeling very witty tonight. As a matter of fact, I have found the whole blog-posting thing to feel really forced for me. Maybe if I tell a silly secret I will loosen up and feel a little more natural... Here goes;

I exercise by watching Herclues on Netflix and doing all the fighting moves they are doing throught the show. I wish I would have thought of this exercise routine before I watched all of the Xenas, but Hercules seems to be pretty much exactly like Xena, so I think I will like it. :)

OK, I think that helped. I will blog more often, and then I will feel more comfortable writing. Perhaps I will tell a story next time.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Me, the library, and Womans Day

I am in this months issue of Womans Day! Just my name, and a mention of my essay published at womansday.com, but I am in there. MY name. Me. Womans Day!

The essay was written about my local library. (The Almond 20th Century Club Library! in Almond, NY) I love it there. I volunteer there occasionally, and have found myself committed to the next 40 years of running the annual rummage sale. Fine with me. The people in this community are so special, and doing the rummage sale allows me the opportunity to get to know them a bit more. :)

so, here is a link to the essay
my essay is the last one, at the bottom of the page "Fix it For Free"

I promise I won't let the fact that I am a PUBLISHED AUTHOR go to my head... Well, maybe just for today. Or just until the next issue is on the stands and mine is gone. Until then, I will be the crazy lady at the front of the store making you see my name on page 20 of March 2010 Womans Day issue!!!

WOOHOOO!!!!!!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Busy Busy Busy!

Ok, I have been working on some purses for the local shop I sell in, The Lost Lake Gallery in Dansville, NY. I also just completed a custom order for my friend Libby from Maylees Garden soaps
My family has gone crazy for her soap, and I am afraid we can no longer live without it. This is the first winter I have spent in NY with happy skin, and I am convinced it is because we switched to this natural soap.
Here is her bag!:

It is mid-winter break here in a couple of weeks, and I know I will get very little done during that time, so I am trying to work work work and get caught up before then! So, back to work!

Friday, January 22, 2010

What a great week

I thought this would be one of the lost weeks because it started with a school holiday, so there was a day short for work to begin with. But, it turned out to be great! I acomplished a custom order, a new bag design, and a near-complete design of another product. The kids discovered roller skating in the house, and it has just been a good sounding place to be lately! Lots of giggles nad sibling-friendships forming. How nice.

More than one executive decision was reached this week regarding my business. I am definitely going to do some art/craft shows this summer. I have already signed up for one. A few more are being considered. There are 3 or 4 within driving distance on my birthday! All of them are juried, and I am a little nervous.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Entering the land of blog

Well, I am here blogging. What do I have to say? I can tell about my purses. I can tell about my family...

I was seriously hit with inspiration this week. It may be because I finally broke free from my plague of bad luck. In mid December, my sewing machine broke. Then my iron stayed cold.
The brakes on my van began to engage themselves. The microwave started humming LOUDLY. The furnace was running, but the house was cold. I stayed strong and was able to cope, until I opened my dresser drawer and the bottom fell out. UGH... All of this happened in a 3 week period. The three weeks surrounding Christmas.

But, not all hope was lost. I received some generous Christmas gifts from family that helped me work through it all.

A friend helped me with my furnace and my oven. We can live without a microwave. The sewing machine and iron have both been replaced, and the van was fixed. It was all better....

Then the deer ran out in the road and picked us for it's suicidal mission. The repair estimate came to $1500. UGH UGH UGH

But, last week there were no problems. It was smooth sailing. I followed my diet, I exercised a lot, and even got in two trips to the sledding hill! So, this week began with good spirits. And I rode that optimism all through the week. My work goal was to complete 4 purses, which I did. They turned out great, and I think each of them could be considered my best work. Then, today, at 5 pm I was able to pick my van up from the repair shop. It was a good week all around. I can't wait for Monday when I can do it all again. I think I even get a free ski trip this weekend! How cool is that?

Here are the bags I made this week: