Bringing you Up to Date....It's been a while!

Hello! Wow, it has been a while since I blogged! The summer season has been busy, busy, busy! Not so much with my jewelry (but that has been steady in July), but with trips, kids activities, and family visits!

I never finished posting articles about my trip to Washington D.C. in June. I will get back to that at some point! Of course, I have more pictures to show off, as well!

We returned home from the Florida Keys on Tuesday. We were there for a week, at a wonderfully relaxing resort. The weather was fabulous and the photographs I took there are stunning (if I do say so myself)! I'll be writing about that experience, as well.

Yesterday, I went to a wonderful local art show (juried) called Art Fair on the Green on the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse campus. This event has grown so much over the last few years! My husband was juried in for his fine wood furniture he crafts. However, due to a schedule conflict he was unable to participate! The good thing is that he is juried in for the next two summer shows as well. It will be a great exposure for him. I applied to this show as well but was not accepted this year. The reason? Well, the reason is that they already have many jewelry artists that are making beaded jewelry. So, just like Etsy, the market here is glutted for jewelry! I went to be somewhat of a spy....to see what jewelry artists were accepted by the jury. I agree that it was not the quality of my work, just that they already had many, many jewelry booths! I am working on new pieces; incorporating my photographs into the jewelry and believe that will set my work apart. I will continue to apply to this show, until I am accepted. The opportunity will eventually present itself, as the jewelry artists have to be re-juried in after their three years in the show. I would hope the show organizers would want some new "blood".

Finally, I just completed a custom set of Bridesmaids Jewelry for a woman in Maryland. Her wedding is in the fall and she contracted with me (through etsy) to make two sets of Navy Blue Swarovski Pearl Bracelets and Earrings. They are shown in the above pictures. Other custom work I finished this summer was a horse pendant necklace on leather. These have been a popular item for my shop. Enjoy the pictures!

I have moved most of my pearl jewelry over to my own website at;

http://www.carolsjewelryorchard.com

Some still remains on my etsy site at;

http://carolsjewelryorchard.etsy.com

If you are interested in what bridal or classic style pearl jewelry I already have made you may view those pieces on the first website I listed.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy this Sunday! Mine is sunny and warm. I hope yours is too!

~ Carol ~

Wordless Wednesday .......Beautiful Bermuda

Crafting on Vacation......Why not?

I recently told of our trip out west, to South Dakota and Colorado (see prior posts).

In Colorado, we stayed at the YMCA of the Rockies. It was a fabulous place with much to do. I've already told you of the hikes we took during our week stay, in the Rocky Mountain National Park. Now, I'll tell you about some of the other activities! There was so much to choose from!

In addition to hiking, our family road a zip line, went horseback riding, played mini-golf and basketball, took classes on archery, wilderness survival, animals of the rocky mountains, and beavers. Everything was great, except for the Beaver Walk, which has to be another topic! It got to mid-week and we hadn't even checked out the "craft barn". By this time, I was going through a little beading withdrawl so two days before we had to leave; we spent an afternoon at this wonderful distraction at the Y.

Just like the physical activities, entering the craft barn is a little overwhelming! There is just about every craft you can imagine! After spending about a half hour just deciding what to do, we chose the following crafts......my youngest chose a fired "green ware" dragon to paint with acrylics, my soon to be 5th grader picked a frog mosaic to make lively and colorful, and my oldest tie dyed a shirt with his dad. Me, well, I longed to do some beading! How convenient that about half the craft barn is just for crafting.......beaded jewelry!

After picking a small wooden school house structure to paint while keeping my dragon artist company, I wandered over to the beads. Most people seemed to be in the make and take mode. In other words, you pick your beads and then assemble your piece (necklace, bracelet, etc.) and pay for a completed piece of jewelry. The YMCA provided assistants to help with the assembly of your jewelry. This was great if you didn't already know how to make jewelry. I went a different route. After checking, I was told that of course, I could just buy beads!!! Yeah!!! I had a grand time picking wonderful, unusual beads to bring home! They had a great selection.

For me, I like the solitary atmosphere that I have when I create a piece of jewelry and while there was definitely a time and place to create on vacation, I elected not to. I am very protective of my creative muse and sitting at a table with 20-30 other women while creating a piece just doesn't work for me. I also don't like to look at the work of others. I have found that it inhibits the individuality of my pieces. So, given that there were many beautiful and unique beads to choose from I had a good time bead shopping. Which.....if I was creating pieces in my head as I picked each bead......then I did do some crafting on vacation!

I can't wait to share with you some of my pieces that I made with beads from our vacation. Keep watching here for those! In the meantime, enjoy a few more pictures from our stay at the YMCA of the Rockys and Rocky Mountain National Park. #1- Bear Lake, #2- YMCA of the Rockies Statue, & #3- Alberta Falls.

Have a great weekend! Carol