An Autumn Affair

The Topaz trunk show was SO fun. Pure joy, amazing food, great jewelry. Amy Casher had some beautiful pieces (as always) and Angela of The Paper Apartment displayed some really awe-inspiring pieces that she designed. Ohhh the talent!

For now, I'm updating my Etsy shop like mad (the general rule with Etsy is that you're supposed to space out your listings so that you don't go to the bottom of the search results) but I've gotten get my wheels turning faster as it really IS getting into holiday shopping season!

In the moments where I forget what I'm doing and slow down on work, I'm browsing on Etsy - trying to find YOU a good holiday gift that's made by a fellow Etsian! There are so many choices - I almost feel like everyone will get jewelry if I can't make up my mind!

Did I really need to end each of the above paragraphs with an exclamation point? Guess so!

All settled in! ..and so the holiday season begins!

Thank goodness I am in and settled because it is just about holiday time! I've been feeling this way since about September, but now it's really in full swing and I am loving every minute of it.

This Friday is my first trunk show at Topaz! I can't wait. Showing beside me will be the lovely and talented Amy Casher and The Paper Apartment. I'm making so many new pieces for the event, which will be 11/13 from 6-9pm. This event was co-organized with the always wonderful Mint Julep, who is also open for late night shopping for all the ladies - or the gents that are shopping for their beautiful babes. Small Plates, OM, and Finale will be providing the treats for the night - I might be more excited for the food than the jewels! These are some amazing restaurants, and I just can't wait to nibble.

Last week I participated in a one-year happy birthday part for Abeille, owned by a friend of mine, Lisa Trachtman. She's a great person and has done a wonderful job with her new store. It has a very romantic feel to it, so it was so relaxing to set up and show there. I showed my work alongside jewelry designers Hanne Bernstein and Michelle Charles Rothman - these gals are all such a riot so I love having anything to do with them! Also on board doing a book signing for her newest publication was one of my favorite people, Jenn Mason. She's a superhuman, I swear. You just need to be in her presence to feel uplifted - if you ever get a chance to see her work, please make it happen!

In addition to all of these great shows (which have been nonstop and I couldn't even list them all if I wanted), I've been keeping busy with orders for some of my favorite stores in Boston - not just because they carry my work, but because they are just so beautiful and inspiring to be inside. Nomad has my newest collection of work - the owner Deb, who is SO amazing, just love her - provided me with some really cool charms and pendants to work into my newest designs... I dropped them off last week and presented the pieces to Deb and one of her coolest staff members, Liz, in their beautiful and amazing basement - which doesn't even look like a basement but an amazing version of the store upstairs. This basement had racks and racks of glasses, brushkins, pottery, tins, cushions, TEXTILES... oh my goodness it was so beautiful. There is a room adjacent to this storage area that is full of props for their display - all of which I pretty much asked Deb if I could buy... If you ever get a chance to meet Deb, please do - the word I would first use to describe her is "awesome." She just is. She is shining and radiant every time I see her and is just a ball of joy.

Today was a different day - I got tons of sleep last night but still was so sleepy when I woke up. I did a few hours of down and then I went with the lovely Jenn Mason to Brookline Access TV, located in the Unified Arts building at Brookline High School. What an amazing studio! Over 10K square feet.. currently, it's under construction now and it stank of paint and adhesives, but when they are done it will be gorgeous and just an incredible place to hang art, take an interactive class on their state of the art equipment, or use their conference rooms... for Brookline residents, it's all free! I can't even believe it. Definitely check it out if you can. Their grand opening will be around January 10, 2010. The small group of Brookline artists who joined us were all shocked that this resource was availble to us - we'll definitely be using this space for our Brookline Open Studios meetings, which I hadn't mentioned on this blog before, but this year I am the Assistant Director of! It's great, and it means I get to work with Jenn weekly. Can't say no to art, events, and Jenn!

Now that the sun is on the other side of its apex, I'm way behind on my work! It's back to the studio, and then off to the gym - I've been a good girl with my calorie burning, and I hope to keep this up! I'll be the buffest jewelry maker you've ever seen!

Enjoy this beautiful November day - why it is 60 degrees I do not know, but enjoy it! This moment is all we've got! Also, as the end of the year draws near, what have you done this year that you are proud of? If you can't think of anything yet, there's still time! Make this your best year yet.

xo
Hope to see you at the trunk show on Friday!!

Sara

As the old saying goes, Out with the old...

And in with the new!

I will be moving in about one month, and I am elated. I currently run my business out of a very small corner of my bedroom, and in a mere four weeks, I will have an enormous studio where I can mix and mingle and be merry. And most importantly, twiddle my thumbs while appreciating the gorgeous gems in front of me. "Twiddle my thumbs" is actually a latin phrase for creating jewelry.

As I prepare for this move into a place that I can finally have more than one person in (wait, who am I kidding, I can barely fit in my own work space now), I look back on how much my business has grown over the past year and where I hope to be in another 365 days.

In business growth comes a lot of bumps and bruises, but also brings about some pretty cool victories and triumphs. What I've learned throughout this growth has been the most important part in this stage of my personal AND professional life. My work space was never proportionate to the grand visions that I had for my jewelry business, and though I struggled for a few months to accept my working quarters, I finally realized that I've learned that we have to be happy where we are Now and not wait for the proper conditions to arise to allow ourselves to feel the happiness. My small desk and 3x5 area afforded me the opportunity to learn how to be resourceful, build upwards, and how to clean up in a pinch. My bed, which is positioned directly to the right of my desk, has served as an extension of my workspace, growing quite comfortable with the mass of papers, loose baggies, open gem trays, and delicately balancing cups of water that are placed upon it. I list these things off as I look at them, and soon this will be just a memory of my humble beginning before I had my own real studio.

Being happy Now is a fundamental lesson that I appreciate in other aspects of my life, since none of us know when our time will be up or even when we'll have the opportunity to move into a another space (headspace or otherwise). I'm enjoying the Now. Also, I am very much so looking forward to the future.

With a new space will come new Things; Desks, Lamps, Chairs/Exercise Balls, Organizers, Square Footage... While I upgrade my Things in effort to outfit my new space, I will be reminded of my start in this biz - when I didn't have room for these Things before. Before being represented by independently-owned boutiques, before creating jewelry for amazing brides, before exhibiting my work at shows and seeing the same faces from my mailing list, before having too many gems to look at in just one tray, before being self-employed and before handing out my very first business card.

The learning curve hasn't been too intimidating, but the new space will bring on more new lessons in life that I am looking forward to conquering and writing about as I continue to grow.

Here is to Growth.. and here is to being happy Now!

xo

Sara

Mint Julep

One of my favorite stores in the Boston area is Mint Julep!  They have 3 locations - one in Coolidge Corner, one in Harvard Square, and one in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.  Tres impresivo.  They are one of the retailers who carry my work, and just the other day I was able to snap up a picture of one of my necklaces in their window. Such an honor!  In the pic, it's the one on the top, with the little blue drop on it.  You can find that style and many others at their Massachusetts stores.  Mint Julep is such a cool store - always something that makes you feel amazing... maybe it's their staff!

I met the Harvard Square girls yesterday (Rachel and Meredith), and fell in love with them immediately!  They were so sweet and we hit it off, giggling and smiling away.  It was great - they told me they own several pieces of mine already - such a compliment :-).  I'm so thankful that they continue to think of me for jewelry.  

Enjoy your day!  That's the point, right!?

xo

Sara

New Year's Resolution... on March 16?

I don't have a single excuse for not writing sooner other than the following excuses:

juuuust kidding!

So much since my last post in October, where I promised to write more but then 5-6 months go by and here I am again.  Well, I am in my better condition to write often now, as I am now working part-time and enjoying the remainder of my week as a full scale entrepreneur!  Wow, that is quite a word to know how to type... I'm impressed that no red squiggly lines showed up underneath it, just as the red line does when I type the word, "superdeedooper."  

Since I'm spending more time on my art, my love, my life, I have been busy not only making beautiful jewelry out of beautiful jewels, but updating my online presence!  Find me here: 

- Twitter

- Facebook

- Flickr

Please feel free to friend me on Facebook or "follow me" on Twitter!  Sounds creepy, but I invite you to do it.  I hope all of these online accounts work to increase traffic and get my name out there into the beautiful world.

I've also been able to majorly update my Etsy page!  You can get there through my site at www.saradanielledesigns.com.

In somewhat related news, I've been coordinating an activity called Junior Open Studios (JOS), which is a mentor/mentee group in Brookline (through Brookline Open Studios).  It is our hope that matching up experienced artists with our youth will help prepare them for the world of showing and selling their craft.  It's been so great thus far.  We had our first all-group meeting last night at Abeille, and the little ladies that were contributing to the ideas for our postcard and poster design were so impressive!  When I was that age (9!), I was terrified to speak in public.  These little ones were holding us at attention and doing such a great job of contributing to the design of our marketing materials.  All of this mentor biznass is leading up to our big event, which of course is Brookline Open Studios!  It takes place the weekend of May 2 and 3, my next show.  The youth will be showing with their mentor, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all continues to go well up until the big weekend.

I hope to see you again before Brookline Open Studios (Saturday, 5/2 and Sunday, 5/3), but if not, I hope to see you all online! :-)  

Facebook me!  

xo

Sara