Lake Erie Artists Gallery

How Much Wood Does a Woodchuck Chuck. . .

2008-07-11T08:36:00.000-07:00

How many of you went to summer camp?! Well, I sure did and it changed my life. I made loads of friends, many of whom I still have to this day.

This year I am going to Camp Art Show. I have been at an art show as a participant for the last 6 weeks and this weekend I have 2.

I am getting my summer tan sitting out under the tent at each show. It has been fun, and my family is participating in most of the shows with me.

This week you can find the Lake Erie Artists Gallery Tent at the Shaker Square Farmers Market on Saturday from 8 am to 12 noon. On Sunday we will be in Port Clinton at the Port Clinton Women's Club Show.

If you are an artist, you might want to check into my latest squidoo lens http://www.squidoo.com/competition

Tomorrow is a Holiday! Or Is It?

2008-07-03T15:39:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is a holiday for some, but not here at Lake Erie Artists Gallery. We are open from 12 to 5 pm and that means that we will be working.

Retailers don't really get many holidays. When others are off, we are usually working. And double that for artists, because we work most weekends in the summer doing art shows.

So if you are downtown tomorrow, come to visit me at the gallery, and if you are at Shaker Square on Saturday, come to visit me there at the Farmer's Market.

For those of you that do not read this blog on my actual blog page, if you go there http://lakeerieartists.blogspot.com you will see that I have added a list of all of my squidoo pages. Squidoo is a site that allows you to write mini web articles. So take a look at those pages and give me some feedback.

Brian Jones has brought some more of his work in and will bring even more next week. We will be changing some of the lighting in the gallery to highlight his work and after doing that will be adding some other track lighting to highlight other work in the gallery. So if you haven't been here in the last couple of weeks, stop by and see.

Other new artists that have joined us recently are jeweler Allie Theken, and wire wrap artist Cindy Dragon. We have lots of lovely new gifts from serving plates to ice cream bowls.

We have also added a new line of sauces made by local school teacher, Susan St. Aubyn. They are truly delicious, and we will be sampling them on most Fridays at our Friday with the Artist program.

Have a Great Fourth!

Growth is good, but also scary

2008-06-30T19:57:00.000-07:00

Lovely Beaded Jasper Necklace by Kerri Frech $79 including shipping

Now that Lake Erie Artists Gallery http://lakeerieartists.com is in our third year of business, we are starting to grow rapidly in many ways, customers, traffic, level of artwork, inventory, status, etc and it is great! It is also scary as well. As the managing director, it is my job to control our growth so that we can continue to stay in business, pay our bills, support our artists and grow at a rate that we can handle.

I think that all businesses find themselves at a crossroads like ours. I find myself wanting to do so many things and having to say to myself--no wait until you get the other 3 projects that you are currently working on established. I believe that this year will be a turning point for us in terms of establishing ourselves as a gallery and growth in sales. The website is steadily getting filled out, partnerships are forming and we are offering more artists' work.

Brian Jones started bringing in his work today--I am so very excited about that! And we just recently added a new jeweler, Allie Theken, who is a metalsmith with very simple designs, and a brand new food line, St. Aubyn's sauces, very delicious sauces created by Susan St. Aubyn. I will be sampling these most Fridays with our Friday with the Artist program so stop by and try them. YUM!

Cool New Art and Our Country's Birthday!

2008-06-29T16:29:00.000-07:00

This week we celebrate a new partnership with Cleveland artist Brian Jones http://brianjonesart.com and Lake Erie Artists Gallery. Brian has his own wonderful gallery in the Little Italy section of Cleveland and now he will be joining our gallery by populating our "Living Room" with his incredible work! I visited Brian's gallery last week and was overwhelmed by his colorful, evocative work. He has several different popular lines of paintings, but all of them use vibrant color, big, bold brushstrokes and an abstract style. I have fallen in love with his work and it will be available in originals, prints on paper, and giclee prints--all which Brian does in his own studio. We are hoping to get at least some of his work in the gallery before Wednesday July 2nd because we will have loads of people downtown for the fireworks and concert that afternoon and evening. So please stop by our gallery to view Brian's work. I know that you will love it as much as I do.

Great Grapes and Art Show

2008-06-20T14:47:00.000-07:00

I am in Maryland right now, getting ready for a show called Great Grapes in Cockeysville, Maryland at Oregon Ridge Park north and slightly west of Baltimore. This is a wine and art show and is all part of my strategy to broaden our horizons geographically, and drive people to our website.

At the same time, it is a way to do a show that is not a traditional art show, so there is less competition from other artists and it is easier to grab the customer's attention.

Well, and of course, how can it be bad to combine art with wine. Lots of great wine companies will be there.

I am still making steady progress on our website. It is a lot of tedious work. Check it out and give me feedback http://lakeerieartist.com/

Another site to take a look at is http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/lakeerieartists

This is a list of all of my mini web pages on squidoo.com which is a forum for articles on various subjects. Although the majority of my articles are art and artist related, I have included my best biscotti recipe and an article on living with my teenage daughter. Check them out and add your feedback.

Tie Purse by Alexandra Underhill

$125.00 plus tax and shipping

Soaking Up the Sun. . .Seeking the Stars

2008-06-15T14:04:00.001-07:00

Rhododendren by Larry MacFarland
Print 11 x 14 $79 plus shipping and tax if in Ohio

If you would like to see the original of the print above, we have it in our gallery in Tower City.
As you know the art show season has begun in earnest. This weekend, I spent Saturday at Port Clinton, Ohio doing a small show put on by the Chamber of Commerce. First of all, I enjoyed the day immensely, because the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and I was lucky enough to be there next to two other vendors that were good friends.
If you haven't been to Port Clinton, it is a very nice place for a weekend away. It is a small town with a very quaint downtown area, and you pick up the ferry there to go to Put-In-Bay. There are lots of other attractions in the area including several wineries.
Besides working on my tan, I also had a profitable day at the show, and talked to lots of customers and other artists. My friends and I had dinner at Big Boy, and drove home.
This week, I am taking my daughter, Tamar, and driving to Baltimore to the Great Grapes Festival in Cockeysville. This is a two day show, and I will be primarily selling my own work. Although I will take a few wine related items with me as well. Wine not?
I will be spening a lot of time this week before we leave getting all of my jewelry together. While Tamar and I will be doing that show, my husband Jack and daughter Tamar, along with Kim Monaco will be representing Lake Erie Artists Gallery at the first ever Jewish and Cultural Festival at the Jewish Community Center on South Woodland Road (Sunday from 11 to 4).
At the same time, the gallery has been busy, too! I had the pleasure of meeting a young man who wanted to buy jewelry for his girlfriend in Mexico this week. He came in on Saturday and spent over $100 on her.
Things to look for in the coming weeks: continued changes in the website www.lakeerieartists.com , vast reduction in our etsy presence, increased presence on other websites including squidoo.com (codename: lakeerieartists), lots more shows--check our homepage for more dates, and new artists coming into the gallery. Never a dull moment around here! And I am going to leave you with a link to my wonderful biscotti recipe www.squidoo.com/yummybiscotti . Enjoy the sun!

Summer Shows And Marketing

2008-06-12T09:35:00.001-07:00

Transformation by Terri Harper (unframed photograph) 8 x 11

$41 including tax and shipping

Summer shows are heating up. I was in two shows last weekend and have one each of the next three weekends. Last weekend was super hot here so crowds were limited but I think with Father's Day this Sunday, my show on Saturday will be very busy.

Continuing to work on the website--please check it out,especially the shopping pages http://www.lakeerieartists.com/ that is what I have been spending most of my time on. It gets a little frantic between the store, the shows, and trying to get the website done, but doing it step by step.

Found another place to market the gallery and it's a lot of fun. I recommend you all check it out. Here is a link to one of my pages and you can get to the others from that one. http://www.squidoo.com/paulaatwell Please write comments and rate the page as that pushes it up in the ranks. I am writing what I know about--art, gallery, and soon how to market yourself as an artist without spending mucho dollars. Keep informed!

Please look for me this weekend at the Port Clinton Chamber of Commerce art show on Saturday. My daughter and I will be there all day promoting the gallery and selling our wares.

In case I don't make it back to the blog before Sunday, happy Father's Day everyone! Spend some time with your family and enjoy them.

New Discoveries and Just Plain Fun!

2008-06-10T07:46:00.000-07:00

Beer Bottle Business Card Holder $19 including shipping

It has been a few days since I have written here. I have been busy discovering some new online sites which I am now going to pass on to you.

One of them is Squidoo.com which is another community site but different than any of the others I have seen so far. Here is a link to one of my lenses which is what they call the blogs or webpages. http://www.squidoo.com/bobbibrownlips

Another cool site I have discovered is StumbleUpon.com. This is a site that will let you explore the internet by giving them your preferences. And as the site gets to know your likes and dislikes better, you will get better and better selections that meet what you are looking for. I already discovered a potential client site that way.

In the meantime, I have been steadily plugging away at the Lake Erie Artists Gallery website, lakeerieartists.com primarily expanding our online store. So keep checking it every couple of days for new opportunities to buy something unique. After all, Father's Day is right around the corner.

Announcing the Launch of Paula Atwell Jewelry Wholesale Line

2008-06-05T10:43:00.001-07:00

Half Moon Brooch $150 plus shipping

New Services Coming. . . Yay!

2008-05-30T13:36:00.000-07:00

Euclid Avenue (from the Cleveland Press Collection) 8 1/2 x 11 $19.00 plus tax and shipping

I hope that you have been checking our website periodically. I have been updating it literally on a daily basis and it is going up so fast that I am sure there are some mistakes. So press buttons and click links so that it gets thoroughly tested out. Please let me know if you see any mistakes on it.

I am really excited to tell you that we are adding another service to our list of new services. Within about a week or so, Lake Erie Artists Gallery will be offering custom framing of any piece of artwork whether you already own it or we carry it in the store. The framing will be done by our regular framer, Phil Janout, who is an artist in his own right. He does a beautiful job whether it is a simple frame job or complex one. So look for the new info on framing in the store and on the website very soon.

We will also be selling some standard art prints on our website that are not in our store including Chagall, Renoir, Picasso, and other well known artists. That will be up on the site most likely in about a month.

If you are in the Berea area tomorrow, please come see me at Coe Lake. Our Master Woodcarver, Ed Hrncir will be there also demonstrating his work. See you then!

California Dreaming . . .do do, do do do. . mmmm. .

2008-05-26T12:03:00.000-07:00

I wish we all could be California girls. . .

I have been spending my days here playing with my niece and nephew, living the California life, meeting people, getting some sun and just relaxing--or as much as you can relax with a 3 and 5 year old tagging along. Noah and Emilee had a great time as you can see.

Here are a few of the pictures from my trip. . .

Prepping to Sell Wholesale

2008-05-19T10:10:00.000-07:00

One of the things that I want to work on while I am in LA (besides tickling my niece and nephew) is starting to build a wholesale business for my own primary artwork--my jewelry. I am streamlining my line of jewelry focusing on what I create myself from my own designs in Precious Metal Clay, and then having the designs cast in fine silver in multiples so that I can have an inventory of my line of jewelry.

I have the first steps done. I chose some basic pieces to have duplicated, and that went very well. After the duplication of the silver pieces, I still need to polish and finish them before assembling them into the finished jewelry. I am finishing that this week, and then I will look for places here in LA that might be interested in carrying my work. This is a whole new venture for me and I am pretty excited about it. As you know, I have been looking for new sources of revenue that are related to the main business of selling art through the gallery and I wanted to get into the wholesale business myself first and then after experiencing it, be able to recommend it to our member artists.

I have decided to work on face to face appointments first and then work on other forms of reaching retailers. I think this way I can learn what people are looking for and what they like and dislike about my work. Then I can adapt my style to better fit their needs.

Tomorrow I will finish the assembly. More on this topic later.

Uneventful but Weird Flight to LA. . .

2008-05-18T20:40:00.000-07:00

(Maple creamer and teapot by Tracy Shea--now in our gallery)

I flew to LA this morning via Continental--and I do have to say that everything about the arrival at the airport and getting on the plane went very smoothly. The security at the airport was pretty strict. I had to go through three different lines to get through to the gate but the lines were fast and efficient. Bravo to Cleveland Hopkins airport. I even managed to get a coffee at Starbucks before I got on.

The flight was full but I managed to get an aisle seat midway down the plane with a college age girl in the window seat. No one was in between us. Now here is where it gets a little weird. College girl--CG for short--never looked at me, never spoke to me--it was if I was invisible. Very hard to miss me, in my opinion. CG first covered herself up with the airplane blanket over her head, pulled down the shades around her, and curled up her feet. She stayed that way for a least an hour. Next she bent down from her seat to pick up something by her feet--still with the blanket on her head, mind you--and stayed in that position for over an hour. For a while I thought she might be dead. Then she moved again--blanket still in place and laid her head down on the table from the seat in front of her. At this point, I was really worried that she was very sick, not breathing, or totally psycho and would attack me any minute.

About an hour before the flight was over, I put my book on the empty seat next to me, got up to stretch my legs. When I came back, my book was on my seat and she was lying down on the two seats. At that point, at least I knew she was still alive. CG was the most unusual fellow airline seat passenger that I have ever had. Luckily I didn't have to call the paramedics--she sat up at the end of the flight with her headphones in her ears and did get off the plane.

The weather here is HOT! Yes, with a capital H O T! I spent the day relaxing with my sister and her family. It should be a fun and interesting week here.

It's a Matter of Trust

2008-05-16T20:39:00.000-07:00

As we go about our daily business, so much of what we do is dependent on different degrees of trust in other people--their honesty, their agreement, their cleanliness, their willingness. When we eat in a restaurant, we trust that the employees are clean and sanitary. When we hire an employee, we trust that they are telling us the truth about their background and their willingness to work. When we buy something from a store, we trust that the company has properly represented the item that we have just purchased.
Unfortunately, we cannot assume that everyone is trustworthy. We all know what happens when we assume anything. People have to earn our trust and it is hard not to be cynical. If the last 4 people I hired lied to me, why should I put my trust in the next new employee. Yet, on the other hand, if I don't at least give them some trust, they will be offended and resent my attitude and perform in a less than stellar manner.
Therefore, we have to dole out our trust in small increments, until the person in question has proved that they deserve to be trusted. And what does Murphy's Law tell you? As soon as you fall in love with your new car and pay off the last payment on it, something will happen that needs repair. The trick is, separating honest human error from unprofessional behavior. After all, haven't we all missed appointments, slept too long, or messed up? But, shouldn't our newest salesperson be actually getting some sales and calling on accounts? Just what is he up to anyway? And they wonder why we pay them commission instead of salary!
Of course, they probably don't trust our word anyway. So how do we earn that?

Running an Art Gallery is like Running a Business. . .

2008-05-12T18:00:00.000-07:00

(fused glass bracelet by Jennifer Szalkowski)

because it IS a business. Not all folks understand that. Every artist that I deal with is a vendor or contractor in my business and I am the dealer or distributor for them. And we need to advertise and market just like any other business and we rely on steady sales to stay in business.

In order to continue to build this process, Lake Erie Artists Gallery is jumping into the wedding business. We are going to link with Today's Bride Magazine both in print and online. (http://www.todaysbrideonline.com/) and offer special services to brides and bridal parties. We are featuring the artists in our gallery who can make a special and unique gifts and additions to any wedding.

But it goes beyond just weddings--Lake Erie Artists Gallery is highly recommending an online registry that can be used for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, or just because. The registry is called http://www.thethingsiwant.com/ It is easy to use--if I can use it anyone can! I tried it out and it works well with most websites and makes is simple for even the most clueless friend or husband to know what to buy you that will truly make you smile.

Wow! What a Big Weekend!

2008-05-08T19:54:00.000-07:00

Earrings by Kim Monaco
Hope you are all holding onto your hats because this weekend is a whirlwind for Lake Erie Artists Gallery. It all starts off with the Friday with the Artists Event (every Friday through October) in Tower City from 10 am to 4 pm. This week we have 7 artists participating.
Next event on the list is the opening for Laurel Herbold's one woman show inside our gallery tomorrow night from 6 to 8 pm. This is free and open to the public. Laurel's work is really great--don't miss this fun event.
On Saturday morning, we will have our regular booth at the Shaker Square Farmers Market from 8 am to noon. That is always fun and relaxing. And yummy!
Saturday evening from 6 to 9 pm, Lake Erie Artists Gallery will be hosting the Bike Imitates Art opening at the gallery. This is a collective art opening to help raise funds for the Velodrome project. The exhibit is curated by Anna Gerrodette.
So lots to choose from and Mother's Day coming up on Sunday! Better hurry to get a unique gift for Mom! See you this weekend!

Crazy Busy but Productive. . .

2008-05-06T19:54:00.000-07:00

Do you remember the old spinning tops that you pulled a string and let it go? That is what the last week or so has felt like for me and it is only the beginning.
It is really very exciting to be at the beginning of so many new projects for Lake Erie Artists Gallery.
Our wedding services have been launched--more coming soon there.
We have a very active event calendar.
We are beginning to wholesale our products.
We are growing by leaps and bounds--in April our hits on the website jumped from 1700 to 3400.
We have a new shopping cart on our online store that is availabel for use.
We are doing lots of networking and outside shows both here in Cleveland and in other areas of the country.
And we have a new wonderful Friday with the Artist Program Fridays through October at Tower City.
We are really growing! Come join the fun and see what we have to offer this Friday at our opening for local freelance artist Laurel Herbold. For more on her work visit her website www.laurelherbold.com. The opening is 6 pm to 8 pm on this Friday May 9.

Art Show Season Has Officially Begun. . .

2008-05-04T17:26:00.001-07:00

Today both my daughters and I spent the day at Moreland Hills Elementary School in the Orange School System. Most of you probably don't know that I went to Orange schools from 5th grade on so the campus is very familiar to me, and my parents still live in Pepper Pike. However, the building the show was in did not exist until a few years ago. The school is brand new and really nice inside. Valeri Furst, who coordinates the show every year, once again, assembled a very nice group of artists. This show is somewhat early in the season, and is only one day, AND is only in its fourth year, so it still hasn't built up as large a reputation as I think it will over time, therefore even though I had a nice number of sales, most of them were fairly small, but I did get a lot of great exposure and a chance to market the gallery. And market the gallery, I did. I had a great time and plan to do the show again next year.
For those of you who would like to find Lake Erie Artists Gallery at an outside show before then, I will be at the Shaker Square Farmers Market the next two Saturdays (barring any more thunderstorms) and at Coe Lake in Berea for the Mayfest the last weekend in May.
We also have an art opening for a wonderful local artist, Laurel Herbold on Friday, May 9th from 6 to 8 pm for a one woman show of her work at the gallery. Please come and say hi!

I Can Tell It is May Because The Art Shows Are Starting

2008-05-01T15:17:00.001-07:00

Blue Heron by Joe Gombarcik
First of all, does anyone know why printers say that they are out of ink when they can still print hundreds of pages? Mine is doing that right now.
The Art Shows are coming, the Art Shows are coming. . .
I don't know about anyone else, but my schedule has just become jam packed with a mixture of art shows and networking events. Just for example, this week
Tuesday--3 to 7 pm HRCC expo (Great event by the way--don't miss it next year)
Wednesday--Gallery
Thursday--Dentist appt, Gallery
Friday--9 to 3 North Olmsted schools, 4 to 7 Gallery
Saturday--Shaker Square Farmers Market 8 to noon
Sunday--Orange PTA Art Show 10 to 5
Monday--ECity breakfast, Wall & Roll Networking at night
Okay that was just this week. Guess what I will be doing on Tuesday--yep crashing.
What? You say, Are you crazy? And I have to say, yes, you pretty much have to be crazy to build a business from ground up. My goal is to do whatever I have to in order to achieve my goal of profitability for the year and if that means doing lots of networking and shows to bring the gallery to the public--well, that is what I am going to do. So to keep me sane, I implore you to come and visit me, and SHOP, at the store or one of the art venues. If you get on the email mailing list, you will have access to coupons, too. What could be better?
So I hope to see you soon and keep checking the website for new additions and changes!
April showers bring May Art Shows?

I've Been Working on the Website. . . .

2008-04-25T11:10:00.000-07:00

all the livelong day. (Actually for the last week with more to go). I have to say that I am really proud of what I have been doing, too. It's really starting to shape up! I also want to give my friend, Toni Rodriguez, another thank you for her tutoring skills. She is really good at fixing my mistakes and ignorant doings. So take a look at the website and give me some feedback so that I can fix any glitches and add whatever I have left out. This is about a 4 week project so it is not even close to done, but definate progress has been made. Here's a link to go directly there: http://www.lakeerieartists.com/

I plan to be at the Shaker Square Farmer's Market tomorrow unless it is raining really hard so come and see me there!

(Blue Om mug by Tracy Shea) just $16

Baby steps. . . .

2008-04-22T13:59:00.000-07:00

Taking lots of baby steps lately which are building up to some fairly large projects that will be launched over the next couple of months. The first one that we will be launching at the Heights-HIllcrest Chamber of Commerce Expo on Tuesday April 29. The expo goes from 3 pm to 7 pm at Executive Caterers at Landerhaven. If you'd like to attend the expo, bring your business cards to get in and come and network.
Now back to what we are launching: Our brand new Wedding Services! Lake Erie Artists Gallery will be offering great wedding services starting on Tuesday! Here are some of the possibilities--custom jewelry for brides and bridal parties, custom place settings and pottery for your wedding, our wedding bottle and more! For a preview of these services click on this link http://www.lakeerieartists.com/weddings.htm This is not quite complete, but you can get an idea of what we will be offering. Also, take a look at the link to http://thethingsiwant.com This is a site I discovered for creating registries for your friends and relatives to know what you want for your wedding, birthday, Christmas, or just because. This is a great way to tag items in our site or any others to let your not so clued in boyfriend or your well-meaning great aunt know what you really want. And it is easy to use. So have fun and check it out and keep your eyes and ears open for the announcement of our new wedding services.
I will let you in on the other baby steps soon!

Going to Market . . .

2008-04-18T19:59:00.000-07:00

I just love going to the Shaker Square Farmers Market on Saturday mornings! If you haven't experienced it, you should! Lots of yummy food, friendly people, hot coffee, and lovely artwork! You can walk around with your recipes and pick up the fresh food you need to complete them, and then grab a cup of coffee and a great piece of coffee cake or a scone. I am partial to Zoss's raisin pecan scone, myself. Then you can browse amongst the art booths and find a trinket to take home. I hope to see you all there tomorrow.

Transformation by Terri Harper to the right

Been so busy--bzz, bzzz, bzzzz!

2008-04-16T15:56:00.000-07:00

Pendent by Jennifer Szalkowski

I just realized today that it has been DAYS since I lasted blogged! How are you supposed to know what I have been up to if I don't write--really!

So here goes--I have taken over the bulk of the administration of my website from the former administrator--Toni Rodriguez--who has done a fabulous job but is super busy. So I am doing much of it now with a lot of assistance and fixes from Toni. The big job that I am working on with the site is to add a shopping cart which is taking mucho time but will be worth it when I am done. You can already look at it and shop from some of it so go ahead and check it out. It will literallly be changing on a daily and hourly basis so keep going back! http://www.lakeerieartists.com

I am also working on adding numerous bridal services to our store and website so that will be active by the end of this month at the latest.

What else is keeping me busy? Well, let's see--running the store, Shaker Square Farmer's Market, ALFA meetings, my daughter's 15th birthday, getting ready for the HRCC EXPO--Executive Caterers at Landerhaven, signing up for shows in and out of state, and looking for new art outlets--who knows about yessy.com? I also just learned about http://www.geniocity.com/ This is a new site that is going live in May. So as you can imagine--not much! Oh, and have I mentioned taxes???

Do You Ever Feel Like THERE IS NO WHERE NEAR ENOUGH HOURS IN THE DAY???!!!

2008-04-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

Those of you that are old enough--do you remember the hippie era when half the people were always walking around stoned? For the rest of you, just remember your college days when you were either zoned out from partying, studying, just plain zoned out! That is how I have been feeling the last week or so--

My Quilt Square watercolor above (sort of hippie looking)

I am working on so many projects at the same time that I am getting dizzy (okay--no comments from the peanut gallery on my dizzy nature). To give you an idea, here they are:

complete overhaul of the website and addition of a shopping cart--yay!
introduction of wedding services--cool! and bridal registry
research into online registries to recommend--really cool-wait until you see
beginning of regular weekly and monthly outside shows like the farmer's market
moving the entire gallery onto QuickBooks--almost completely done-whopee!
applying for more outside shows including out of town ones--whew!
lastly, looking into wholesaling my own jewelry and what that entails--like crazy, man!

So can you dig what I am saying?? Life is a whirlwind right now with lots of potential business and loads of preparation to take care of now! So keep an eye on our website--it is literally changing on a daily basis--right before your very eyes. And if you don't want to come downtown, you can see me almost every Saturday starting this week at the Shaker Square Farmers Market from 8 am to 12 noon along with a lot of other wonderful vendors. www.northunionfarmersmarket.org

A Glorious Opening :0

2008-04-04T07:07:00.000-07:00

Last night was a really a glorious opening for Terri Harper's photography show. We had about 40 people and we actually ran out of wine and beverages. Lots of Terri's family brought food, and everyone had a great time. On the right is the lighthouse at Marblehead shot by Terri. Terri's show will be up until the end of this month. So if you couldn't make it last night, please come down at and see it.

Another doing is the wonderful article in the Sun Herald about one of our artists, Deby Cowdin. The article speaks for itself so here is the link to it. http://www.cleveland.com/sunherald/communitylife/index.ssf?/base/features-0/1207165896136600.xml&coll=4

And have you seen the April CBC Magazine? Two of our artists, Jay Remar, and Kimberly Monaco are in the corporate gift section.

I did want to talk a little more about some of the people that I met in Pittsburgh. One of them was Tim Murrell who makes delicious salsa. He is a really funny guy, and had us roaring in our seats on Saturday night when we met up at Don Pablo's, a Mexican restaurant right next to our hotel. Tim's salsa comes in 4 types, mild, medium, hot, and run away. To order this yummy salsa, just email Tim at mex-italia@comcast.net.

I also met Ivan Flannery who makes all kinds of hot/cold pads. My favorite one was a pair of slippers that could be microwaved to warm up your feet. I stuck my hands in them and they did feel cozy. I told Ivan that what I needed was a sleeping bag for my entire body. Ivan also sells buckwheat pillows which I learned are supposed to be wonderful for sleeping. I definately need to do more research on this. Ivan can be reached by email also at iflannery@yahoo.com.

Today it is all about catching up, cleaning up, and working on another new project--wholesaling of my jewelry. That project is just at the inception stages. I need to answer some questions about production first. So I am doing some looking into that. I also need to do some more accounting and banking stuff--not my favorite but necessary. So back to work for me.