1. jewelry
2. complementary booze
3. free gift wrapping
4. avoiding wandering aimlessly around the mall on 12/24 in a cold sweat.
5. making at least one special lady in your life very, VERY happy.

This evening, stop by Uncommon Jewels, where yours truly and six other high-profile Portland jewelry designers (Alisha Louise, Amy Bengtson, grayling, Lauren Harkness, Sahlia, and stone + honey) will push your gifting across the goal line.  The deets:

Olympic Mills Building
107 SE Washington Street
Portland, OR
3pm-9pm

*Major credit cards accepted.

Image courtesy of www.urbancraftuprising.com

So who’s coming out?!  What vendors are you excited to see?  Where should we eat???

Pertinent deets:

Seattle Center Exhibition Hall; December 4 & 5; 11am – 5pm both days.

***Song of the Moment: Folds in Your Hands, by Passion Pit***

Did you know:

“On March 8, 1857, thousands of working women marched through the streets of New York City demanding an end to sweat-shop conditions, improved childcare facilities, equal pay for equal work, and the right to vote. In 1910 at the International Conference of Women Socialists, Clara Zetkins proposed that March 8th be observed as International Working Women’s Day in honor of the New York March. Since that time, International Women’s Day has been celebrated around the globe.”

Guess what?  It’s March 8 again!  That means more than springing ahead (you did reset your clocks, right???).  It means there’s an awesome festival in town that I’m thrilled to be a part of.  Come see me (and SOOO much more) today:

When: Sunday, March 8th, 2009
Where: Portland State University Smith Center (1825 SW Broadway)
Time: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Cost: Free and donations are welcomed

(thanks to Tessa Hulls and PIWD 2009 for the beautiful art and quoted text, respectively, in this post.)

***Song of the moment The Most Dangerous Woman, by Ani Difranco & Utah Phillips***

hip happening

7126 SE Milwaukie Avenue.

11 am to 5 pm

There will be loads of awesome vendors, great food, great fun, and loads of juicy shameless love jewelry.

Whether or not I see you tomorrow, I hope you have hugely love-filled weekends!

-betsy

***Song of the Moment: Love on a Budget, by Benji Hughes***

However, since I am trying to crank out some last minute designs, I must leave you with this:

I did a show this weekend on Belmont Street (the flier is listed below) and I did really well. It was a double day show and I sold nearly all of my best hits on Saturday evening. I guess that explains why when in my sweaty insomniatic state on Sunday morning, I decided to get out of bed and drive to the studio at 5:30, to make more jewelry for the sale that day. Whoa. That’s really not like me. I’m usually barely getting out of bed on time to be on time for my first thing of the day.

As the sun rose outside of my large studio window in my tiny little shop, I felt proud of myself and my calloused hands. Sunday night, however, I was really feelin’ it, but not without a huge sense of relief, joy and strength. Hard work yields solid results. It might not happen immediately, but one day, if efforts are genuine, it will pay off.

As I packed up my portable shop, counted my sales, and began the decompression process (which at this point in my career, only lasts a few hours in some cases until I gotta pack up and start all over again), I felt like I understood the concept of shopping local more than ever before. I mean, I get it. I’ve always understood how it’s a good idea and the “healthier” way to live and so on; but I feel that it wasn’t until I was swimming in the pool of money and credit card merchant copy receipts I had just thrown on my bed, when I really got it.

That sounds shallow, I know. Really though, it goes much deeper. The fact that all of these beautiful people shopped with me and made me feel great about what I’m doing–besides just paying for something I’d made that they own now–helps me have more money to put back into this community. How cool, right? I feel like I get it now like never before. It’s so grass roots:

I think of something that I like and think you might like too. I design it. I build it. I try to sell it. You see it. You touch it. You do like it. You buy it. I take your trade (slash: money) and I use it for something I might like or need, hopefully made by another independent, or sold by a local boutique or local grocery store. Seriously, this concept almost makes me feel like crying. That’s how much I get it now.

I also think the more you buy handmade and independent, even if it’s on Etsy.com, but in a completely different city, you’re still contributing to the regrowth of our society in a healthy, “organic” kind of way. I mean, you KNOW where your product comes from. You know the process, more or less. You know, for example, that Betsy Cross is the designer and that she or people close to her (not in china) are making the things that she’s selling and you’re buying.

(In the same breath, I also understand the concept of being poor. The big box stores cater to the poor better than any of the rest of us sometimes; and I even have to subject myself to them for certain things. BUT if you take the time and do a little extra research, you should be able to find pretty awesome deals independently and/or locally. It just takes a little bit of patience and adjusting. Also, it doesn’t hurt to check out second-hand stores for more boring things you need before you head to buy something new at IKEA (and believe me, I love IKEA…it’s a really deep love)).

In conclusion, then, I would like to send a little tap to the booties out there– just a little encouragement to try something new (if you’re not already), with independent designers and buying locally in your own community. Mostly though, I would like to say a HUGE thanks to all of the people who have supported me and continue to support me through this independent endeavor. I feel so grateful and in awe of the kindness and love that abounds around me. My heart is warm and full and glowing because of you.

***Song of the Moment: Clouds Will Clear, by Aislers Set*** (can’t find it on itunes, sorry dudes)

WHO - Ask for Ooh La Jena, she’s in the Community Room selling lovely pocket belts along with Betsy and Iya Jewelry


Portland, OR:

That’s:

Koipod
3442 SE Belmont St.
Saturday, December 6, 6-10 pm
Sunday, December 7, 1-7 pm

Hope to see you there!
-betsy

***Song of the moment: Baby, It’s your life, by Benji Hughes***
(Okay okay, I know I have already listed a Benji Hughes song in an earlier post, but I’m a little obsessed right now. I’m in the infatuation phase with this album…so I bet there will be more moments with him..mmmmm).

Least favorite part of the evening: getting footed.

It’s a new term (brand new, actually, Will and I made it up last night). I don’t typically dress really fancily, much less, wear high heels. I’m quite tall as it is and in my world those heely bleeps are more of a pain than a beauty. Though every once and awhile, I like to bust out my hotness from the winter cedar chest of summer protection. I mean, I like to show the world that I can do it too! And it’s pure, baby!! Sure, I might be a little wobbly, but I’m capable. I can!

The past three days, however, have been incredibly intense for me. My body has been in overdrive trying to bust out as many new designs and construct as many pieces as my little calloused hands can handle. The awesome thing is that I have some super sweet new things that I’ve quickly created (like: fat huge hoops made from old curtain rod holders, some new necklaces made from the same, new necklaces from old door numbers (all one-of-a-kind…look out for all these newbies, I’ll be posting soon). I’ve also done a new product photo shoot for a bunch of new designs that I haven’t listed yet. AND I’m making rings now!!! Soooooo exciting. That’s all happened in the past three days. So…you can tell that I was a little ill prepared to add the heels to an already shaky frame.

Yesterday was a 16 hour day for me. WHAT!?!!! I just counted that and I’m a little stunned myself. I had no idea I worked that much. yikes. I gotsta get a hold on that.

But I WAS brave …I turned the blinds down in my studio, heated up the hair straightener, hiked up my nylons, put on my smokey look + rouge, threw on my black dress, picked out the perfect jewels (which would change twice through the evening), and finally, slipped on my heels (high boot wedge thingys). That was around 3 yesterday.

By the time Will and I put the last display item back into the car, around 10, I was SPENT and my feet had disappeared…except I could feel them. And I mean really feel them. I kept thinking up powerful images and scenarios, like someone had shot my legs through the bottom of my feet…OR that I had hypothermia in my feet and the feeling was starting to come back, but without any painkillers…man that would be wretched…OR that I was walking on fire, veery sloooowly…OR that I was strapped to a bed where people were constantly tickling my feet and I couldn’t escape.

All really great thoughts, but FINALLY I came up with the perfect analogy: I had been SCALPED, but on my feet.

I disclosed my thoughts to Will immediately and felt proud of how perfectly they described my current status. Then I said, “HEELED, I’VE BEEN HEELED”! (and kind of liked how ironic that sounded) But then I realized that only covered one area of my WHOLE two feet whose blood was ready to burst out into a new creek if given the opportunity.

Then he said it, he coined it, perfectly and so cooly, “Betsy, you’ve been footed“.

Duh.

We had a nice laugh about that one and I added an awesome new word to my vocabulary. Hopefully, you all will add it too.

After, looks like:

Feels like:

Thanks, everyone, for getting through that one with me.

***Song of the Moment: Thriftstore Jewelry, by The Bad Plus***