Fave Gifts to Give! Holiday

Wahoo! Another year of Fave Gifts to Give! Holiday. I am pretty excited about this first grouping =) Help support independent artists this year for the Holidays! GIVE HANDMADE

Gorgeous One-of-a-Kind Textiles: Fabricatedends

Wishing I Could Eat These Bath & Body Products: Green Bubble Gorgeous

Reclaimed Fun & Funky Furniture: Never New Furniture & Design

I Now Have 3 Of Their Prints & Counting: Strawberryluna

Colorful Polymer Creatures: Bambi’s Clay Design

Try Not To Be Nostalgic! : Block Buster Graveyard

Upcoming/Current Events ~ Currently wearableJULES Felted Gems Series is being featured in the group exhibition at the Artisans Gallery in downtown Lancaster (right on Gallery Row) from now until the end of December. Next weekend on Sunday December 11 will be the Punk Rock Flea Market in Philadelphia. wearableJULES attended the summer version of the Punk Rock Flea Market and had a great time! Then the last event before the new year will be the Monster of a Show in Baltimore. Can’t make it to the shows? Check out the online store!

Craft Show Review

Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsman Holiday Fine Craft Show (Nov 2011) ~ As always, the organization for this show is really well done (always a plus) This was the first year the show was at the Lancaster Convention Center, so I was really excited to see how the show would do with the new venue. I personally thought it was great, as did most of the attendants at the show. Some however, liked it in a smaller atmosphere where parking was much easier to deal with (parking was free for artists). There is plenty of parking in downtown Lancaster, but lets face it when we can save money on free parking we love that (so unfortunately from what I remember parking was not free for attendees). There was of course the same caliber of fine artists as in previous years (but I do hope with the new program Emerge for emerging artists we will start to see new and fresh approaches to the fine craft world). Some down sides, breakdown… for me only living literally in a 15 min walking distance from the convention center it took 3 hours to load my car. The convention center only has 5 parking spots in the loading zone and maybe another 4 in the front of the building (which if you were in the back like I was the front was a pain). The coordinators tried to make it as smooth as possible so I give them a high-five for that, but it def needs to be addressed for next year. All in All ~ attendants was decent ~ booth fee was in the higher range ~ organization well done ~ spending habits of attendees low ~ wearableJULES will probably be applying again for next year

I Made It! Holiday Market (Dec 2 & 3) ~ Let me start with saying I love Pittsburgh… every time I go there I have such a lovely time with everyone involved. Ok so here we go! I will first admit that I am a complete procrastinator/have a billion things going on at once person, so when I had very very last minute questions for the organizers, I received a very timely response (Double High-Five) Setting up at the show was easy, parking was free (we sure do like FREE), and when I wasn’t completely sure about my location (Carrie who is beyond sweet and helpful) walked around the venue with me to choose a better lit area (yet another High-Five). Ok so the venue was in a great location, Bakery Square, down side no potties in the space, however the coffee shop just a few steps away allowed us to use their very clean restrooms. Also for food, there was a great sandwich shop (I had 3 in 2 days). Attendants was amazing (never a surprise with Pittsburgh), lower price points flew off the displays, and I am awaiting some orders for one-of-a-kind pieces (some people were waiting to get their paychecks). wearableJULES had rave reviews, but some people were really there to scope things out collect cards and do shopping from websites. All in All ~ attendants was amazing ~ booth fee was low ~ organization well done ~ spending habits of attendants medium ~ wearableJULES will be applying next year =)

RAWards Semi Finals ~ I am still gearing up for the RAWards on Thursday November 17th. wearableJULES has been nominated for Best Accessory Designer of the Year. Give your support by attending this amazing event and voting live for wearableJULES. We find out that night who will be going to the Finals in California! This would be one step closer for national recognition. Tickets are still only $10. Get yours HERE this week. Next week they go to $15 and $20 at the door. But get them fast, the show is looking to be a sell out.

Lastly… the 2011 Fave Gifts to Give will start November 22. Want to be apart of it? Send me a link to your website, I am always on the look out for fun creative work. juleann@wearablejules.com

Wow, it feels like forever since I have blogged, but lets get right into it! First things first~

The Very Crafty Wedding~was absolutely amazing, and let me tell you, the fact that the wedding was so “us”, artsy & quirky, we (my now husband woowoo and myself) have been told we had the best wedding by far! So go with your gut and do things your way. It may be a little more work, but the fact we did things “non-traditional” (Asian food, I-pod hooked up to our computer, etc.) our guests had a complete blast. It was a wonderful feeling to see everyone having so much fun and letting loose. I can’t wait for our photos because I will be putting some up for everyone to check out.

Next Show!~ wearableJULES will be attending for the first year The Craft Show at the Academy Art Museum Friday October 21 to Sunday October 23! Friday night will be the preview party (who doesn’t love a party?!) from 6-9, Saturday 10-5, Sunday 10-4. You can purchase your tickets still HERE for the preview party. General admission for Saturday & Sunday is $10.00 (children under 12 Free!). Booth 61 in the Waterfowl Festival Building. Come say hello!

RAWards~ Exciting news! wearableJULES has been nominated for the RAWards for best Accessory Designer for the RAW:Natural Born Artist year. So Thank You to everyone who voted for wearableJULES for the two weeks. The next step will be a live showcase on November 17th, at the G Lounge in Philadelphia at 8pm. How can you help? Come to the event and vote! If wearableJULES receives the most votes, I will be eligible for the Final Award Ceremony in California. This would be an amazing opportunity to receive national recognition, magazine publications, consignment in one of the top boutiques in California. So if you are in the Philadelphia area or just want a day trip I would so greatly appreciate it. Either way thank you again to everyone who voted in the first round of the national popular vote. wearableJULES has made it this far, lets see how far it can go!

New Designs~ The above photo are the new pieces I am working on. Inspiration from the Sputnik Earrings and the enamel designs I draw for the One-of-a-Kind felted rings (shown below), these are the Sputnik Pins and Necklaces! Each piece is a One-of-a-Kind duplicate, meaning, the design is the same, however, the bead, thread, and sequins are always different. A few of these are already in the Artisans Gallery in downtown Lancaster. You can also check the newest designs at any of the shows, click HERE to see the holiday season craft shows.

Ok… after a bit of time off from doing my annual summer camp and beach going I am officially back in the real world. Well as much as I can be since the count down to the wedding has begun (less than a month away time flies!). Currently I am working on another gallery exhibit (details to follow once I have them). But lets get down to business….

Craft Show Review: I know it’s been a little bit, but the last show I was in was the Hamilton Street Festival~ to start, load in was a little confusing since there was no one at the barricades on the street, so you kind of needed to figure out how to get onto the street yourself. Once on the street, it was easy to find your spot since it was clearly marked. Attendance was wonderful with many shout outs for wearableJULES, but no one was buying. Good music and food. Since it was only one day and not too long, the heat was bearable (def bring the sunscreen even if under a tent). So even with the booth fee being very affordable, wearableJULES will most likely not attend this show next year.

A Very Crafty Wedding: Food… mmmm mmmm mmmm. So I know picking a caterer can be very stressful. But here’s an idea for you, after looking at many legit places where all they do is big events and its their way or the highway, maybe think about choosing a place that you both love to eat at. We chose an Asian Restaurant that has done larger events, but normally does not (or shall I say they do not get their bread and butter from large parties). The manager, John, was so incredibly helpful. Instead of the other normal places telling me what I get and there being no budging with choices or prices, John wanted to know what I wanted, how much could I spend, where could we save some money. He wanted to make me happy. He is even going to make 2 trips for delivery for cocktail hour and dinner! He wanted to make sure that the food was as fresh off the wok as possible. What normal catering company does that. I know you could get burned at not the normal places, so make sure they have done larger events, with clear labels of all the food and what is in it. But I think going off the beaten path to find food Joe and I love and want to share with our family and friends makes it even more special.

Next week I will not be blogging due to my yearly summer camp working with some wonderful young ladies =D I am really pumped for this year of camp, but then realized I would not be able to blog (since it’s an overnight camp with no technology). I figured it would be smart to let you know of the new show added to my list of events. This one will be the last one before the big day in September. So the next show will be a one day show on Saturday July 30th in Baltimore for the Hamilton Street Festival. There will be multiple stages, food, crafters, and apparently some beautiful cars. The show runs from 11am-7pm. It is sure to be a blast… even if it may be a little toasty out.

wearableJULES BABY: Really exciting news! wearableJULES BABY has its first retail location in McKees PA (real close to Pittsburgh)! The little cuties will be available at the Happy Baby Company in August. Be sure to check them out. Not in the area? No worries, be sure to check out the wearableJULES baby onesies online HERE or ETSY.

A Very Crafty Wedding: Well it is getting close to the date… eeeeeeeeee. So much to do so little time. How bout some presents for the bridal party (it’s no secret what they are receiving so no worries). I will be making each of my fabulous ladies jewelry for their presents for “dealing” with me (even though I feel I have been a pretty laid back bride). I do realize that not everyone is a jeweler, but you know what, there are plenty of bead and jewelry making stores all over the place. In Lancaster there is The Bead Works. You get to go in and make your own designs with plenty of books and inspiration all around you to help out. Plus most places, and I know The Bead Works does, they help you construct your pieces too. So instead of going out and buying jewelry you could make it yourself… plus it could be a really fun activity for all your ladies to get together and be creative. How bout for those gents? Well we are still debating on what to do… sorry guys. But some ideas that I have seen through my wedding attendances, etched beer glasses with their own design (which you can get on Etsy), some way cool flasks (that could go for the ladies too always good to have one), or even design your own chucks. Any more ideas? Please share, I would love and I am sure everyone else would love to hear about it.

Currently I am in the works to do one more show in a few weekends, but after that I will have some much needed time off of doing shows every weekend to be in the studio. The felted gems are turning out to be my favorite new project. I am also playing around with a few new ideas for felting and different techniques.

Craft Show Review: Haddonfield Crafts & Fine Arts Festival~ This weekend seemed to have been an extremely long show… it was hot hot hot! Luckily my tent was under a tree which significantly helped the temperature inside my booth. Ok, again this was the first time that I had done this show, but financially wise it was not very successful for the time+booth fee. There were lots of people at the show, it seems like this is a big family event. wearableJULES again got rave reviews, so that was a plus, but most were just lookers. It could be possible that it was my first year and I know it takes a few years to really see an impact, however, I have had a lot of first time shows with more success. The staff were extremely pleasant, but at times absent or not clearly marked. I had lovely neighbors, which always make shows better, especially to watch your booth while going for a bathroom break. Bathrooms… unless you asked very nicely to use a stores bathroom (which you technically had to be a customer to use) I am still not sure where they were. I briefly was able to walk the show, from what I saw there were some wonderful vendors and not so hot ones. Like any craft show there are always a few you question “How did they get in?” Unloading was easy… you had to be there by 7 to unload your car and get off before set up. If you arrived after that time you would have to cart your booth to your space. It was nice to see at 715 there were no exceptions to late arrivals so set up happened very easily. Parking was set up for artists and free YAY! Packing up was a little difficult. You either had to wait for everyone to break down or find a side street to pack your car (I luckily found a side street that was close by). All in all the jury is still out on wearableJULES applying next year.

A Very Crafty Wedding: FLOWERS!!! weeee how pretty. Here’s the thing though… I never quite understood why one would spend thousands of dollars on flowers that die the next day. I feel that it is very wasteful and not very eco-friendly. So for center pieces, we went around to all different stores and bought different color (still matches the color scheme) and sized planters. We are then getting mums and potting them ourselves. Therefore, you get to take home a living plant and plant in your own garden or keep it in the pot. How much more symbolic too… the plant grows with our relationship (insert awwwwwwww). The boutonnieres will be Peep-Peep Cluster Pins (eeee I’m really excited for that one). The ladies will have real flowers and same with me… but we will be getting them from the local market! I feel much happier using someone local and she is not charging us an arm and a leg. So flowers are costing a few hundred instead of a few thousand. Woohoo!

Random Side Note:

Meet the newest member of the family! We named her Marleeta. This wonderful creation is from one of my favorite artists, Angela Davidson… Handmade by Angela. I don’t know how you could not completely fall in love with one of her critters! Check her out… now =)

Craft Show Review: Ok now that I have been blogging for a bit and checking out the flow of others, I feel it is worth while to start really sharing the ups and downs of shows with you. The first Craft Show Review: Manayunk Arts Festival This was the first time I had done this show, so financially I have no comparisons, but for the time + booth fee & first time attending, I feel it was worth it. The staff were extremely friendly and helpful (I had to break down myself and had multiple volunteers ready to lend a hand which I needed for one part). The people running the show were very organized as well. I did not need to call or email for any questions regarding set-up, parking, or any other random question you always have. The show hours were fine from 11-7 or 6 so not too bad of a day. However, set up started from 5-6am on Saturday, so Saturday was an extremely long day. Traffic flow was like any other show, had its really busy moments and then its really slow moments (so as always I would bring something to keep your hands busy during those slow periods) A wonderful plus for artists, the show provides parking YAY… but parking for costumers was still extremely difficult. I heard one woman say if she didn’t know how great the show was she would’ve left because it took 30min to find parking. But that’s Manayunk for you. All in all I will be applying next year. Thumbs up from wearableJULES.

A Very Crafty Wedding: To start… I am pretty stoked that wearableJULES was included in a wedding treasury on Etsy “I Do…” Definitely check it out! Lirio Andrejcisk from Simpliscity did a wonderful job curating this collection. And now onto my Very Crafty Wedding… Wedding Party Attire. For the Ladies: After being in several weddings and having some good and some not so good dresses this was my idea and I know many people are going this route, let your ladies pick their own dresses. I feel having one dress really doesn’t allow every person to be comfortable or have a dress that flatters their body type. So what I did, I gave them some guide lines. We all went to one place, I gave them the color (eggplant close enough to black that everyone looks good in it), and the length. They then got to choose whatever style and price point that would work for them. In the end I am happy that the grouping shows their own style and each lady looks fabulous and confident (dresses that make the ladies and wallets smile) Let’s be honest we all had to bite the bullet and get a dress that was way out of means. For the Gents: Again, we are trying to make our friend’s wallets happy but still have a cohesive look. Joe, the very handsome and phenomenal groom, will be wearing his entire suit. A very classic look. However, having the grooms men all get the same suit would break the bank. So instead… we found a pair of pants (at the outlets even better!) that are very similar in color, with a white button down shirt, vest and the matching element are the ties. Therefore, Joe will really pop, but again will go with the ladies that look all different. So one more thing we can X on our check list.

wearableJULES BABY: New from the wearableJULES BABY line! The very adorable and lightweight Peep-Peep Hoodie. Check it out at the online store or Etsy!

Some Helpful Links: Making it as an artist can be extremely difficult. I feel it is really helpful and worthwhile to share information and links so we can all grow as a community and help each other become successful. We artists are only as strong as our weakest link type deal. So here you go (if you have any cites you think are helpful please post =D )

Indie Craft Website: Hello Craft

PA Artist Community Blog: Handmade in PA

Craft Show Tent: (there are lots out there, but I have been using this one for 2 years… easy to set up even by yourself if you have to) Quick Shades

Artist Book Submissions: Lark Books

Metalsmithing Organization: Society of North American Goldsmiths

A Very Crafty Wedding: So last week I told you about my ideas for our wedding cake. This week I figured I would share some links that I really love and hope to be able to incorporate into our very special day. I hope you enjoy them too =D

A Little Sparkle for Your Shoes: Mon Amour Boutique

How to Find Your Table: Shabby Mcfabby

Add a Slash of Color: Party Poms

Ok… can I have a drum role please!!! Introducing wearableJULES BABY is officially up online on both the wearableJULES store & Etsy shop. Since each onesie has several color and bird combinations, each store has different options. I am extremely excited about having these cuties up for purchase. Each onesie is hand dyed with a fleece birdy (that matches The Early Bird Crew jewelry line). These have been kid tested, and yes mother approved. If you want a different color combination please contact and we can discuss your perfect onesie.

More news weeeee!!! My friend’s are getting married this weekend. Last week they came and visited me in Lancaster to pick up their wedding bands. Maybe it’s just me, but I was extremely nervous if they would like the bands or not. Before they had even seen them, they assured me that they love my work and of course they would love whatever I would make. But to me, I’m not just making a ring… these rings are so symbolic and will be worn everyday. I am sure I will be just as nervous making my own wedding bands, yep that’s another thing on my “to do list” before September.

A Very Crafty Wedding: So if you haven’t figured it out by the last sentence, I am getting married in September to the love of my life, Joe (ten years and counting). I figured it would be fun to share some things that we are doing for our wedding =) Since we are both artists, he’s an animator, we are doing things a little out of the “norm.” To start… cake mmmm (I am hungry can you tell?) Here’s a fun little story. Joe and I write each other post it notes and post them on our bathroom mirror (the only secure location we both know we will see the note). The funny part about it, we have yet to throw one away, so the notes just keep getting added to our bathroom wall. The notes range from “I love you oodles of ramen” to “Oh hammer where for art thou?” Apparently they are a big hit with our friends because any time there is a new note or if its the first time they visit our bathroom we always get comments about them “ooooo! a new note!!” or “I like them but what’s up with the notes?” What does this have to do with cake? Our friend, Jordan of Jordy Cakes, (since she is making our cake) suggested our top layer be our favorite notes. She will make them into a design but it will read all of our favorite notes throughout the years. I thought it was an absolutely perfect and completely us idea.

Next Show: Manayunk Arts Festival June 25-26. wearableJULES booth is under as Juleann Benkoski (me) number 58B.