Dutch Iris Necklace

This necklace started out as an odd fragment of a coil of wire in a box of supplies.  It kept talking to me, telling me it would make the most beautiful pendant for a necklace, but I ignored it for awhile.  I finally hung the wire fragment from an earring holder on my work table and it grew on me enough that I pulled out my bead box.  There were several lavendar and violet blue beads and one larger aurora borealis bead that worked their magic on me. 

I am not an experienced wire wrapper, so it took me awhile to arrive at the final shape and pull the ends together and wrap the wire.  I was pleased with the final product save for the top part where I had wrapped the wire tightly and securely, but really didn't like the end product there.  Poor me, I made a trip to my local fabulous button and ribbon store, The Button Emporium (http://www.buttonemporium.com/ ) and spent a very pleasant couple of hours picking out ribbon and buttons (button story later).  I used the very pretty ribbon to wrap around and over the unattractive wire portion and it came out looking like this:

A much prettier product I am proud to present.  Here's a further closeup of the ribbon:

And in the end this is how the necklace looks as it would hang on a neckline:

Like I said, I am pleased to present the necklace and found working with the wire fun, but seriously I don't want to have to work that hard or long in the future.  There's always a better way, so I've decided to sign up for a wire wrapping class with my pal, Cari (a talented photographer for the record at http://www.etsy.com/people/WahkeenaPhotos ) at a local bead shop, Let It Bead (http://letitbeadportland.com/ ) on either Sunday, May 15 or Sunday, May 22.  I'd also like to invite you to join us in the wire wrapping class.  If you do want to join us, please leave that wish in the comments section below along with the better of the two Sundays for your participation.  Also be sure to leave any questions you might have below in the comments section as well.

Basic info about the classes:
When: Sundays at 2 p.m., two hours in length
Cost: $35 for two hour class plus cost of materials for any project you wish to make and keep. 
Where: Let It Bead, 1426 NW 23rd Avenue, between Pettygrove and Quimby Avenue, Portland, OR

The necklace is now listed at Earringopia (http://www.etsy.com/listing/72005248/spring-iris-blue-and-purple-color-wire)  Should you decide to order the necklace between now and Mother's Day, an extra added little matching set of dangly earrings will be added to your order (picture of that treat will be shown in the listing) as a thank you treat.

Sew Po First Anniversary Party - Please Join Us

CaKe Enterprises (Earringopia and Wahkeena Photos) is very honored to have been invited to participate in Sew Po's first anniversary party.  I think it's particularly important to note that Sew Po, a small business in Portland, Oregon, has reached out to other local artists and invited them to participate, but then that's the Portland way, something we should all be very proud of.  So, please come and join not just Earringopia and Wahkeena Photos, but also all the lovely people featured in the above announcement for Sew Po's first birthday party.  I'd like to give a particular nod to Emily Engdahl (http://www.songbirdfreelancedesign.com/ ) for designing the beautiful, cheerful, colorful announcement pictured above!

Pop-Ups in Portland

"A pop-up retail space is a venue that is temporary — the space could be a sample sale one day and host a private cocktail party the next evening. Pop-up retail is specifically an idea or mindset that allows a company to create a unique environment that engages their customers, as well as generates a feeling of relevance and interactivity. It can also be for the duration of a peak in demand anticipated to be short.
The trend involves “popping-up” one day, and disappearing the next. These stores, while small and temporary, can build up buzz by consumer exposure." (Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop-up_retail ). 

I'll have to give my thanks to Wikipedia for the general overall definition of a pop-up shop.  I know what they are, but didn't necessarily know the exact definition.  Definitions are great on paper, but when you want to shop a pop-up shop, you need to know much more about it, no matter how temporary it might be.  OK, I'll start you with a little tease:

This is where the pop-up shop will be located.

Here is a sampling of the jewelry that will be available.

These beautiful pictures (and photo notecards) will also be available

OK, I think I've teased you enough, so let me give you all the particulars.  Several local artists have gathered together to have the Broadway Pop-Up Christmas Bazaar this coming Saturday and Sunday, November 27 and 28 from 11 to 6 p.m. each day.  The address of this fun bazaar is 3109 NE Broadway Street in Portland, Oregon.

This group of artists and friends would love to have you come down and see what we have to offer to you for your holiday shopping needs.  Forget QVC.  Forget Black Friday.  Forget the stores that stay open on Thanksgiving Day and don't give their employees a chance to relax with their friends and families.  Take your time, enjoy yourself, talk to the artists about their products, and find some really unique and lovely handmade and reasonably priced gifts for your friends and families (and perhaps a nice little treat for yourself).  

Back on The Block

I lost track of time and haven't posted here since late August.  I'll plead the usual excuse, being too busy, and not bore you with the details, except to say that I moved to a new apartment here in my building and suspect you'll understand what happened.

OK, enough about the busy life, and let's move on to the bazaar life. Yes, it is the season for bazaars.  My friend, Cari (a wonderful photographer), invited me to join her in participating in her company's employee Christmas Bazaar at the ODS Tower in Downtown Portland.  We've been promoting it nicely on Twitter, but another friend, Jan, suggested we post a link with directions to help folks out in getting there and having a look at our wares.

The ODS Christmas Bazaar will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the 17th floor of the ODS Tower in downtown Portland, Oregon at 601 SW Second Avenue.  There is excellent access via Tri-Met buses and MAX trains.  Bus and MAX schedules and times can be figured out by using the convenient trip planner here at http://www.trimet.org/index.htm  Here's a map of the area http://www.pacwestcenter.com/ods_maps.html  I'd recommend riding the bus or using MAX, but if that's not an option, you can use http://www.mapquest.com/  to plan your driving trip.  If you drive to downtown Portland for the bazaar, it's probably the best idea just to find any of the nearby parking structures and use them rather driving around and around to find an on-street parking spot.  On-street parking spots are nearly impossible to find any day of the week, but Fridays can be particularly difficult to do so.

Armed with the information above, now you can come on down and shop at our table for jewelry and photo notecards and prints such as these:

Here is but a brief sampling of some of Cari's photos that are made into notecards and also prints:

We both hope that you can come down and find some unique and beautiful gifts at our table at the bazaar.  Kerri (Earringopia) makes her jewelry from all repurposed baubles and beads, and Cari (Wahkeena Exposure) takes all her own photos and fashions them into notecards and prints.  Prices are extremely reasonable ($3 to $30), the items handmade and one of a kind, and something wonderful you can enjoy for yourself or give as a gift with pride.  If you can't come down to the bazaar, we'd also like to have you visit our stores to see the beautiful items we have available.  Kerri has an Etsy store http://www.etsy.com/shop/earringopia  and can also be found on http://www.twitter.com/ as @Earringopia and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/earringopia  Cari's photo fashions can be found at her Zazzle store, http://www.zazzle.com/wahkeenaexposures , and she can be found on Twitter as @WahkeenaPhotos and on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/WahkeenaPhotos

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments section below, contact either one of us on Twitter or through Facebook, or send us e-mails through the links in our online stores, and your questions will be answered as quickly as possible.  We hope to see you at the bazaar!

Up On The Roof

I'm getting excited about my upcoming jewelry show.  The date is set (Thursday, September 16), the flier is in the final design phase, and I've started a to-do list.  It's often the hardest thing when planning an event to find a venue, but this turned out to be the easiest thing and literally right under my nose (or perhaps more properly over my head).  Anyhow, the venue is up on the roof of my apartment building, and I wanted to share some photos to show you why I'm particularly excited.

The roof didn't start out looking this way.  This apartment building was originally built in 1964,  and before that was once the site of the childhood home of John Reed, Portland journalist and author of "Ten Days That Shook The World"  (and for you movie buffs, "Reds" starring Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton was based on Reed's life). Forty-four or so years of Portland weather had taken its toll on the roof before the current owner completely renovated the building a couple of years ago and did a really gorgeous job with the roof. 

 

I'm trying hard not to get too far ahead of myself, keeping the to-do list close at hand, but I don't have too much trouble envisioning a jewelry show up on the roof, although I hope people won't be so distracted by the fabulous Portland views that they will forget to look at my jewelry.