This Blog Going Down

Happy holidays to everyone. I wanted to invite all of you to follow my other blog. My Shares On Life Adriftinstead of this one. The reason is I will soon be letting this blog go and will concentrate my blogging on my other bog. I am doing this to help hone and enhance all of my workings on the web.

Hope you will all continue to follow, be friends and share. Seasoned Greetings to All. Be blessed, be Happy and most of all BE CREATIVE!

All The Nice People

I thought it was due time to say thanks. All of the people who were kind enough to leave some sort of feedback on our Handcrafted Jewelry USA etsy shop I offer a great big THANK YOU! These things are very important to us now and to our growing future. We want to please our customers and when they are thoughtful enough to post feedback like what we have been seeing, it helps our future sales.

It is all about the customer and your satisfaction means so much to us. Bless all our customers and all who plan to become customers in the future. Thanks for supporting Handcrafted Jewelry USA.

Sepi is having a sale so save 15%! Oh, and Free Shipping, too!!
Use coupon code CM15A when checking out. Happy Cyber Shopping!!http://www.etsy.com/shop/sepi9


Highest Regards,

Artist and designer, C.S. Alexis

Blue Lapis Earrings Sold

There are times when I look at the gemstone beads I have to make my jewelry out of and I just hate to do much to them. This was the case with these perfectly natural beauties. Mother Nature did some of her best work on these gemstones. Keeping it simple seemed a must on my part.

Great to know that other people understand the value of gifts that come to us like this. These earrings were in the shop just a few days before someone saw the same beauty I'd seen. I wanted just to say THANK YOU Mother Nature.

 

Enjoying The Autumn Weather In NW Indiana

Colder nights, but not freezing, damp air and cool breezes.....just a few of the things that cause my senses to welcome a stay in NW Indiana. The weekend has been a bit dreary as far as weather goes. That is fine because living in Nevada has given reason to my own appreciation of clouds. The lack of clouds and rain in Henderson NV is mostly nice but when I find myself searching the blue sky for a hint of white and a dream of rain, well that is what makes this weather such a blessing at the moment.

I told myself I would get out in the rain and get wet, kissed by a million droplets of water falling from the heaven. I did not. Because I am quite busy here in Indiana. I am setting up a network/team of sales reps for our jewelry. Hopefully I will get a chance to feel the rain on my face before returning to Henderson.

I plan to hunt driftwood while I am here. So excited to announce that we made our first sale in our Adrift Art Studio Etsy store and it was a most lovely piece of driftwood. My deep excitement stems from my passion for driftwood but there is much more to it. I have been working in the direction to sell driftwood Online since the early 1990's. This first sale marks success and a beginning for something I have dreamed about for many years.

You can bet I will be on Lake Michigan as soon as possible and I will be enjoying the Autumn weather in NW Indiana



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Adrift Art Studio selling natural driftwood

 

C.S. Alexis has been applying her creative energy to mixed media using driftwood for many years. Now she has taken her love for the gift from Mother Nature to another level. Collecting driftwood from the shores of Lake Michigan started as a hobby oh so many years past. C.S. has decided to add the raw driftwood and elements made from the driftwood to her art and craft supplies available in the Etsy shop, Adrift Art Studio.

Pictured above is just a sample of what is available now. There will be more driftwood added as it is finished curing. The driftwood is shipped from Chicago to Las Vegas where it is sun dried in the hot Las Vegas desert. Once it is ready to make driftwood art and crafts it will be offered for sale. See more driftwood now.


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PBPFish

The water is a place to fish a place to relax a place to gather driftwood from the shore, C.S. Alexis loves the water, refreshing, cooling, calming, crashing waves

 

Long days playing in the sand, walking on the beach, catching fish and swimming

 

She likes to take her dogs to the water's edge, chasing sticks and biting waves, running hard and fast, kicking sand and shaking it all over everything

 

The children love to wade and they never mind the warnings about getting their shoes wet, let alone their clothing

 

picking up sea shells and laughing in the sun, wind blown hair the going style

 

they imagine giant monsters living in the deep blue sea, sharks and whales the size
of ships

 

finding bits and pieces of passers from another day, another lifetime spent upon the sands

 

no thoughts of darkness lurking, boiling, burping

 

miles from the beauty basking on the beach

 

storming, thundering thick and black and dark so dark

 

aweful, ugly, oozing, seeping sadness

 

devastation pouring pounding drifting draining out

 

pretty bad pretty bad pretty bad

 

going black, killing everything in it's path

 

PBPBPBPBPBPBPBPBPBPBPB....Go Fish

From driftwood to artwork at Adrift Art Studio

 

One thing C.S. loves very much is driftwood. She found her first piece on the south shores of Lake Michigan and she has been hunting for unique pieces every since. She collects it. She cleans it and she makes artwork out of it.
 

Sometimes the pieces are small and she turns them in to jewelry pendants. Sometimes the pieces are very large and she has been known to turn them in to all kinds of things.
 

One thing for certain, she never gets bored with making the driftwood creations and she never gets bored with hunting the driftwood.
 

One of her favorite ways to be creative on driftwood is to add the technique of pyrography and color it up with acrylic paints. Sometimes she uses a small amount of acrylic paint and sometimes she just paints the night away.

 

This piece tells a story.
It is a very sad story. One that has not yet found an ending.

 

But she is sure it started with care less greed! Pretty Bad, Pretty? Bad? Pretty Bad......Pretty Bird, dirty bird.

 

Two Big Events This Summer

 

There is paint and wood and beads and wire, jumbled all about the work areas. C.S. and company have been staying busy. Two big events are marked on their calendar for this summer.The first is happening in July, not too far off now. Everything has to be packed and ready to fly to Chicago on the 13th. C.S. has been burning the midnight oil in preparation. Lots of good energy going on.

Late at night there is a good chance the neighbors hear her howling at the moon.

C.S. Alexis Writes About Local Arts Culture and A "How To"

Recently published articles have kept C.S. busy writing. She has also been working on more props for the vendor booth. Adrift Art Studio has been getting out and about. This being quite new to the program, it has been a full time gig trying to put together an attractive display. Sure is a lot different than working inside.

Outdoor venues require much additional equipment and thought. It is also quite different to deal with weather. The temperature soared to 108 degrees last Sunday in many parts of the Las Vegas valley. It did not help that the AC went out and naturally that happened during the peak of the high temps.

That did not keep Sepi from signing us up to do the Fresh 52 Market. Hey, it all gets us more experience under our tent and it puts us out amongst the people. We met some interesting customers and had a good time despite the weather.

One of our neighbors was Celestial Doble and her Etsy store, Rockin Mama Baby Gear. It was nice to get to chat with Celestial and she was kind to share a few tips on getting more sales on Etsy. Her gear is fresh and different, and her commitment to quality is the best.

Take a look at these new publications by C.S. Alexis. The first is about local arts culture in Henderson.
The other article is a "how to" about making a table skirt from repurposed cardboard.

Art And Craft Shows From The Vendor's Perspective

For the serious artist who wants to make a living selling the work they produce it is often hard to find a location with opportunity. It is wise to do your research in an on going manner. Always be on the lookout for up and coming shows that might reflect your style, fit your schedule and your budget. Stay open to new ideas, and make lots of friends within your niche.

Try to be supportive of your fellow artists and keep a positive attitude at every turn. Focus for the artist is so important. It is also important that the shows you do attend are focused on arts and crafts. Most often it is best to avoid the kind of situations where there is competition with carnivals and misc. forms of entertainment that do not relate to arts and crafts. People who attend arts and craft shows are focused on arts and crafts.

Medicine shows are for medicinal clients if you get my drift. Here is an example of where I do not want to include the artwork produced at Adrift Art Studio. Then again it is up to you to make those choices. Think carefully before you pay those vendor fees.