Betsy & Iya Jewelry

Archive for the ‘Handmade Revolution’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Signage.

Wednesday, December 8th, 2010

A couple of months back, we got one heck of a kick in the karma (in a good way).  We’re super lucky to have talented friends (this clearly completely dispels that dirty myth about opposites and attracting) and they came through for us in a BIG way.

We’d been needing to amplify our “hey, we’re really a shop; come in!” vibe for a bit.  I, for one, was a huge proponent of hiring a fleet of sign spinners.

“I mean, we have TALENTED friends,” I told Betsy.  ”Just think how well they could spin those signs!”  But try as I may, I could not convince Betsy that it was a good idea.  For the sake of the marriage, I let her win that one.  Back to the drawing board.

How could we use our talented friends?  I mean REALLY use them.  Pyramid scheme?  Again, Betsy was obdurate.  (yes, I just used the thesaurus, but it’s a good one, no?)  Door-to-door operation incentivized by prizes for top sales?  More intransigence.  (see what I did there?)  Force them to take leave a catalog in the break rooms of their offices and tell their co-workers it’s for their kids’ schools?  ”Will, our friends don’t work in offices,” Betsy instubjunated.  (not really a word).

Then it hit us: signs.  Our friend Louise (www.louwatson.net) is an art student at PNCA and Brian has a sweet carpentry company (www.vontundra.com).  Here’s what they came up with:

betsy & iya sign by von tundra

betsy & iya sign by Lou Watson

betsy & iya sign by von tundra

betsy & iya sign by Lou Watson

Pretty sweet, huh?  Yeah, our friends rock.

***Song of the Moment: Got to Get You Into My Life, by The Beatles***

Tags: , ,
Posted in Handmade Revolution, betsy & iya jewelry: The Biz | 1 Comment »

Tasting notes.

Wednesday, December 1st, 2010

For Thanksgiving, my sister drove up from her job in California as a harvest intern at Donelan Winery.  And she brought with her a case of some very fancy wine.  Betsy and I like the fine things in life just as much as the next guy, but perhaps not quite as much as the guy who spends $240+ on a bottle of wine.  Suffice it to say, A’s wine laden visit was a delightful taste of how the other .9% live and what the .00000001% (I’m sure this is close to the approximate number wine makers expressed as a percentage of total world population) think and do as they create their work: perfectly balanced wine.

I couldn’t begin to recall specifics, but it was eye opening to hear about grape selection, microbe identification, single origins, fermentations, cork testing, blending trials, and more.  To understand that beautiful things which appear on our tables don’t just happen because someone wished they would, but because a lot of skill, hard work, and time were spent increases the value of these beautiful things.

And I think this is one reason that this whole handmade revolution has taken root so fervently.  There are notes of fair trade, rarity, and shop local sentiments that power it, too, but I think people like knowing that something which started as a field of dirt and buried seeds goes through a process to become something in their glass.  Or, for instance, that something which began as a coil of wire, a strand of heishe beads, and part of an old drawer could be imagined and worked into something wearable.

Here’s to handmade this Holiday season.  Here’s to enjoying the beauty as much as the process it took to make it.

***Song of the Moment: Impossible Soul, by Sufjan Stevens***

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Handmade Revolution | No Comments »

Arriving.

Thursday, November 18th, 2010

For awhile now, I’ve felt satisfied with the space I’ve been in.  I was happy in the smaller space, excited by how quickly my world was moving forward.  I felt the wind at my back and I just started rolling with it.  Though all of this was beautiful and inspiring for me, I never quite felt like the workspace was completely in its notch.  The puzzle pieces were next to each other.  You could see that the outer edges suggested a match, a perfect match, but they weren’t hugging each other yet.

those hands

I feel like that day has come.  The clicker is working, the bell is about to ring, the birds are chirping, and the puzzle is about to be solved.  The current space and the way it’s coming together is —blowing. me. away.  I am walking into this space in the mornings thinking—wow, I am exactly where I want to be.  The hands that have made this what it is becoming are all hands I know, all hands I’ve touched.  …and my own.

where will these be?? come find out tomorrow!

eeeeahhheeehahhaaahhh!!!

I LOVE my saw, says W.

I think we can make it!!

Now we’re down to the final hours.  It reminds me of all my time in theatre.  Those last few days before the show goes up, one is often left thinking–how in the name of all that is good will we EVER be able to get THERE. And then after the curtain comes up, you make eyes with one of your partners and only you know where you’ve been to get …there.

transformation time.

Only you know that just last night, you were re-hanging the lights with bits of who-knows-what ALL over the floor, your biggest dreams and visions only moments away from being squashed, paint splatters where they shouldn’t be, things falling off the walls, trips and near misses, tired eyes and hands, probably tears…disaster, really—-lots of voices in your head saying–there is no way you’re going to make it.   but you know what????  screw those voices.  because ————– You do make it.

That’s just it:  you made it.

I can’t wait for that moment when we all look at each other…only us knowing how far we’ve come.

If you’re around between 3 and 9 pm tomorrow, please come by and see how far we’ve come.  Click the link for details: http://tinyurl.com/285lvj7

LOVE to you all.

b

***Song of the Moment: Vesuvius, by Sufjan Stevens***

Tags: , ,
Posted in Handmade Revolution, betsy & iya jewelry: The Biz | 2 Comments »

Road Trip: CRAFTY BASTARDS!

Monday, October 11th, 2010

Here it is, folks: the moment you’ve all been waiting for; the terminus of our journey; the mecca of our pilgrimage; the question and the answer; the dessert of our weeks long feast: The Crafty Bastards show in Washington, DC.

Before we set off, Betsy got some advice from a friend who’d done the show before.  ”Bring all that you think you could possibly sell and then more.”  Betsy made jewelry for 2 weeks straight prior to our departure.  She hammered and twisted, strung and starched, epoxied and polished for hours and hours.  And we left Portland with something like 17 pounds of jewelry.

We drove to the show as the sun was rising over Washington.  There may be no more beautiful a metropolitan visage than the Washington monument backlit by Saturday morning sun after weeks of rain.  I love driving a big city while her residents are still rubbing their eyes and slapping the snooze button.  Shop keepers sweeping the sidewalk, no horns, no anxiety about making it across three lanes of traffic to that surprise left exit, U-turn in the middle of Adams Morgan?  Right this way, sir.

It’s 7:20am and hundreds of crafters from all over the country are already perspiring as cars and station wagons are emptied.  Cardboard Dunkin’ Donuts coffee jugs are drained by the dozen.  Tents pop, dollies dole, and a small city erects itself.

There’s something so perfect about craft events.  You’re a temporary resident of an ephemeral city where everyone makes their small corner immaculate.  It emerges in a handful of hours, lives and thrives for several more and then vanishes.

And live and thrive this show did.  For 8 hours, our booth was filled with people.  I don’t think there was ever a time during the show that we had fewer than 3 people shopping.  There were times that the booth was completely filled with people, like a clown car of jewelry.  We talked with so many people and had so much fun.  And then, it was vanishing time.  Rewind it all.  Watch the dollies roll backwards and the cars double park.  Watch the vendor mingle this time.  Watch the smiles and the hugs.

We navigated through the crazy DC traffic to a dinner spot with an entourage of friends and family.  We ate and drank and felt really really right.  Just right.  The sentence of our journey had finally earned its period.  Nay… its exclamation point.

***Song of the Moment: Give a Little Love, by Noah and the Whale***

Tags: , ,
Posted in Handmade Revolution, On the Road, talkies | 3 Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »