Betsy & Iya Jewelry


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GIVEAWAY: The Handmade Marketplace

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

(Betsy is in a best selling book!!  Leave a comment after this post to enter in the GIVEAWAY of the book + an awesome discount to the betsy & iya store!  Winner will be announced on 2.27.10)

I’m a lucky guy.  I’m married to an amazing woman.  I probably don’t have to tell you how amazing Betsy is, but just in case you’re new here:

She’s built a business from nothing in 2 years.  She’s got this incredible knack for following her gut to beauty, humor, truth, and the more than occasional perfect pair of earrings.  I don’t think I’ve met anyone else who’s more well liked by more people in less time.  She’s magnetic.

Well, my good fortune doesn’t stop with Betsy; my friends are pretty excellent as well.  I met Kari Chapin in quaint Montpelier, VT during the summer of 2004.  In fact, she was my boss for a whirlwind 3 months of creemees, mint juleps, Grimm fairy tales, late nights, and early mornings of yard sale hopping.  Yeah, she was a real slave driver.

Czar Chapin lays down the law

I introduced Betsy and Kari right before Betsy and I won $75 in nickels in the loose slots of Atlantic City.  Since then, Betsy’s begun making her living in the handmade marketplace and Kari’s written a book about it (not just about Betsy).  The Handmade Marketplace: How to Sell Your Crafts Locally, Globally, and Online is the current top seller at Powell’s, and in three categories on Amazon.  Kari basically walks you through how to be Betsy (and many others like her) in 218 pages.  It feels good in the hand; it’s got Kari’s joy, optimism, and hard-(and fun)-work-will-pay-off ethos on every page in addition to thoughts, tips, and inside advice from heavy hitters in the handmade world (Betsy is on pgs 50-51).  I’m so proud of Kari.  This book is fantastic.  But you don’t have to take my word for it…

Well, Betsy wants to brighten your day and de-blight-en your bookshelf (I know, I have a way with words) by giving you your very own copy of this gem!  We’ll mail the book out to one lucky commenter (haikus about Vermont summer days are encouraged.) Be sure your email address is valid so we can find you if you win.  We’ll pick a winner at random on Saturday, 2.27.10, so comment away until then!

Thanks for sharing your blog with me, Betsy.  xoxox

The Workshop: coLLABorations.

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
(picture I took of Maple XO pieces from Radish Underground event …Love Is In the Air)

It turns out that my Old Turns New line is super popular; I never even had the chance to add most of them to my online shop.  I have nearly sold out of the pieces I created for the Junk to Funk show and subsequent holiday events.  Radish was a HUGE champion of that work during the holidays and after…and I’m so thrilled by it all.  This line has shocked me out of ANYTHING ordinary—and i LOVE it.  I can’t wait to make more.

In the spirit of sustainability, I’d like to introduce two folks whose work embodies that idea.   Two folks who truly inspire me and who I’d like to collaborate with one day:

1) Isaac B. Watson and his amazing Focal Length Designs.I WILL own one of his rad cuffs one day.  I am awed by his creative, agile mind and his infectous, positive attitude.  Every time I see him, he makes me feel happy.  Isaac and I have already been cooking up some steamy yum ideas together.  (Remember that men’s jewelry line I mentioned…???)

speaking of collaboration…check out the amazing project he’s working on with Etsy and local art school PNCAI Heart Art, Portland.  I’m sad that I won’t be able to make the opening meet ‘n’ greet on February 26th, (because I’ll be at the OLYMPICS..what!?)…but YOU should definitely go!

2) Lindsay Jo from Maple XO.

For 5 years, Lindsay Jo (a super betty skateboarder), has transformed old, otherwise useless, skateboards into fine fine pieces of jewelry.  I looooove the bangles she makes!  We sat next to each other at the Radish Underground event, where we were making custom jewelry for Valentine’s Day and well…we sort of…fell in love (in a fellow-crafy-jewelry-maker-on-valentine’s kind of way).

I’m so excited about the possibility of working with these two geniuses one day.  I’ll definitely let you know when the magical meetings occur.

In the meantime…Happy Tuesday!

***Song of the Moment: The House with Two Front Doors, by The Finches***

For the Absentees: the newness abounds

Friday, December 4th, 2009

The following are available exclusively at Radish Underground for the month of December.  HOWEVER, I love them so much that I’m making variations for my own shop and upcoming shows.  And I look forward to expanding this Old Turns New line.  Please email if you’re dying for one of them and want something special.  I love custom work.

new old turns new designs

new old turns new designs6

new old turns new designs14

new old turns new designs13

new old turns new designs12

new old turns new designs11

new old turns new designs9

new old turns new designs8

new old turns new designs7

new old turns new designs5

new old turns new designs4

new old turns new designs3

new old turns new designs2

new old turns new designs1

Gotta keep cranking it all out.  Have awesome weekends!!

xoxo~betsy

***Song of the Moment: Watching the Wheels, by John Lennon***

Your Stories, we want them!

Saturday, November 21st, 2009

Do you want to sweep away the cobwebs from your work-addled mind?  Do you want to write little stories???  YES?  YES!  We want you to, TOO!

Our new store is SOOOO close.  So close for post.  Yum.

Do you want to help?

Here’s an example of my favorite new item description.

The Frank and Ava necklace

You can check out more here, here, here, and here.  Some of these are longer than my ideal.  Think of them as tweets.  That’s right.  I said it.  These are item tweets.

If you’ve got some writing you love; I want to see it.  Got a short story hanging out on your desktop?  Split it up and we’ll use it to describe a whole line in tweet-sized bites.  Haiku?  You do?  We-du-tu.

If you want your story descriptions to remain anonymous, just email me.  Thanks, everyone!  Happy Saturday!

xox-betsy

***Song of the Moment: Straight ’til Sunrise, by Barry Adamson***