Custom Work~The Upside

I am in the midst of making 3 custom soldered glass collage frames for a friend of mine. There is a combination of scrapbooking and collage behind soldered glass. When they are done, each will hang by a silver chain with ribbons/fibers hanging from the chain. These are so pretty, and having someone share the personal story behind the content is humbling. I always hope when I make a custom piece that it's what the person has envisioned. I appreciate how people put their trust in me to do their item justice.
I never know how something is going to turn out when I start; I just start pulling papers, stamps, etc. out from drawers and boxes. As I begin, things always just seem to fall into place, and then I remember "just the right" paper or embellishment to add.
There will be a picture to follow when I finish; I'll see if my friend minds her frames on public display.
It is time to buy a new tiny-point tip for the soldering iron, I dropped mine and it's now in the shape of a fishing hook! OOps.s

Designer's Downtown Market~Chilly, but successful!

My show today was pretty darn good; cold in the morning (why is it this cold on the second day of spring in NC?) but a great show. Coffe and crepes had free refills on delicious coffee, yay!
This was my first time at this show, and it was enjoyable seeing vendors and their goods that I've never seen before.
I even had a little time to practice photographing my work inside the tent, since the light was right. Too bad I'm too tired to download the pictures tonight! Need to take all those Etsy pictures.
As long as my trusty assistant manager came to help today (my sister Lauren), I felt as though I should do my part for the economy and do a little shopping. I found a few cute photos at Stacey's trunk show inside Ornamentea, some tiny glass bevels, and a beautiful heart pendant from Isabels Rose that I needed.
Now to take a few days off before I think about the next show. I'm sure I'll be feverishly working up until the night before, as always.

So the Designer's Downtown Market has been postponed until next weekend due to the cold and rain (an excellent choice!) Come out on the 21st; it's sure to be a nice weekend!
Meanwhile, there's plenty on my (craft) table to keep my busy. This gives me time to complete some recycled CD clocks I've been working on, and to try a few new finishes on some old tins.
Working on the charm swap entry; they will have some OLD postage stamps on them, as well as some glitter. I thought I'd make some extra, maybe for a gift bracelet.
Next Friday is the next meeting of the displaced design team! We'll see how everyone is coming along with their charms.

Last night was an awesome background night; I spent a couple of hours in the studio making handpainted backgrounds for some new cards! Working with alcohol inks is one of my fave techniques; on watercolor paper. Then, twinkling h20-like paint, and then sprinkled with some kosher salt actually ended up looking like leather! This was definitely an unexpected surprise, but looks pretty good.

I am starting to prep for the first of my spring shows; the Designer's Downtown Market in downtown Raleigh is March 14th in the parking lot of Ornamentea. Never done this show before...I need to repair the ripped tent panel I was going to fix last year. I will be at the Cary Spring Daze on April 25th, the Apex Peakfest on May 2nd, and the Carolina Bluegrass Festival at Regency in Cary on May 17th. Looking forward to the Spring!

I hope the snow and cold temperatures are long gone by then, this is crazy NC weather