Plastic Boy

It seems like it is time I said something about Plastic Boy. Firstly there is actually a Plastic Boy (he would probably dislike me calling him that - but hey this is my forum!). I must say it did rather unsettle me when someone named him that, not so long ago, but the truth is if there is a Plastic Boy, it surely is Mark Vaarwerk. I have been sharing a studio with Mark for several weeks now and I do believe that it is working out rather well. Admittedly I may have been a little concerned at first, considering the common ground, but I also knew that we used out materials in different ways and our goals were somewhat different. I did expect that occasionally there would be some overlap, like recently when I discovered that Mark was collecting those same pink Wendy's ice cream topping bottles that I was. Luckily we were both going to different stores - one suburb away! Anyway he is not an ungenerous person and was actually rather sweet when he suggesting yesterday that we campaign Wendy's to open a City store so we could both easily gather bottles and share them. Then he went on to offer me his plastic scraps, which I gratefully accepted.

I usually only go into our City Hall studio on Thursdays. This day is usually a lot of fun as I spend it with Mark and Renata (QCA gold & silversmithing student). Between us we do manage to cover a surprisingly broad range of topics. There is of course the serious jewellery talk - design, marketing, manufacture etc. Then there is some general discussion on various subjects such as the perils of dating and what costumes we chose to dress up as kids, to mention just a few. Yesterday I laughed so hard, which was great because it was one of those days when I really needed it.

Last night Mark sent me the following links. These were in relation to me saying I always wanted a metallic green Vespa, being too old to dye my hair pink again and about wearing pink helmets in general.

hairriders

DIY hairriders

Gosh I'm still cracking up! - I'm not sure if you had to be there but I think these links are pretty darn funny & even better because they're crafty too!

MOO

I am excited because my moo stickers have just arrived! I ordered a pack recently with my little girl image. I think they look fab & now I'll be able to pop a sticker on my orders as I send them out - what fun!

Arthur's Circus

" Arthur's Circus is a new original store specialising in the sale of hard to find vintage toys, collectables and lighting." They also happen to be one of my new stockists, and also happen to be having their grand opening this Wednesday night. The opening will coincide with a photographic exhibition by photographer/store owner Natalie Jeffcott.

Arthur's Circus is located at 631 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne 3051, Victoria.

I'm a bit too far away to attend this one but if you happen to be a resident Melburnian I expect it would be a fabulous opening to attend and a gorgeous store to check out sometime soon.

Hundreds & Thousands pic taken from this blog - photo by Natalie Jeffcott. How could I resist using it as these are my all time favourite biscuits!

And Crazy too!

What do you do when your life is completely crazy?

A more sensible person may ease back, put less on their plate and try to deal with what is at hand. Well apparently I am just not that sort of person. I've decided instead to pile my plate sky high. To start that I have set myself a new challenge. From now until Xmas I will do my very best to add a new piece of jewellery each day to both my website shop and etsy shop.

Anyway, what's a couple more balls in the air!!!

I'm A Knitwit - For Sure

I'm nearly finished making 20 Knitwit necklaces for a new boutique called Handcut, in Crows Nest, NSW. I have been going a bit loco making them, but I think the end result is worth it - so many gorgeous colours all pilled together - yummo!

No Time For Shameless Self-Promotion!

There was a time up when I would say all I wanted to do was to sit in my studio and make jewellery. Actually I'm pretty sure I said this to a colleague just last week. I'm now thinking that this may not be entirely true. Yes I do love making pieces, but I'm also rather fond of the marketing side of things.

This has been a busy year. There has always been orders to fill and barely a moment to sit back and twiddle my thumbs. The past few weeks have been even busier. With all this making I have found myself with little time, and energy, to devote to the marketing side of my business. I have realised that I miss it. Gosh I haven't even blogged much lately!

Marketing is something that has definitely grown on me. It was a necessary evil at first. It was something that I loathed, dreaded and would have loved to have avoided completely. Although I did soon realise that if I was ever going to make my practice the full time paying job that I wanted it to be I would have to bite the bullet and self promote. Luckily I have had plenty of help from others, all of which I am extremely thankful for, but I also know that no one has helped me more than I have helped myself.

I now see marketing as less of a chore, even though it still can be, and more as finding fun, cheap and 'true to me' ways to get what I do known, and remembered. Self promotion has become a creative part of my business that I now enjoy. Still any help from others - gratefully appreciated!

The image above is from a book to be released shortly. Getting two images on the cover was a complete surprise, but getting those images seen in enough places to be considered for a book cover took countless hours of work.