A very special Christmas present

I made this pendant for my sister Kathy in her signature blog avatar for Christmas. I think she really liked it.

I only took these two pictures, and in retrospect, the pics are not so good. The pendant is adorable though...really adorable. In fact, it screams Kathy. This is her illustration copied in sterling silver. I can take no credit for the design. I placed a piece of thin paper on my computer screen and traced the outline of her little bunny to the best of my ability, and then copied that onto some sterling sheet with a sharp point, and then cut it out. It may not be exactly her avatar, but it is as close as I could get. And I love it!

I think it came out pretty good. Such sweet bunny goodness. I love Kathy, and I love this little pendant.

Merry Christmas!

It's all about comfort really.
Christmas is a time where you can kick back and relax and just be yourself. Just take it from Ruby (or Daisy...I can't tell them apart.)

She sat like this for a few minutes before anyone thought it was odd.

Merry Christmas!!

BH Downtown Extended Hours

Boston Handmade Downtown
EXTENDED HOLIDAY HOURS!

Tuesday, December 23rd, 9am-1pm
505 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02111

It's your last chance to find perfect handmade gifts for your friends and loved ones made by local artists and artisans, and treat yourself to something special after the holidays...
Visit Boston Handmade Downtown at the end of the week before we close our doors for the season!

Final gallery days: Friday, Saturday, Sunday, December 26-28, 11am-7pm
For more information and a full list of gallery exhibitors: http://www.bostonhandmade.org

Winterwonderland

It's been snowing for over 48 hours and now the freezing rain just started.
Damn!

Scott's a superhero!

My 12 pound Nephew

Dave the Gallery 9 mascot, gets very chilly in the wintertime. He doesn't have any fat on his little 12 pound frame.
But being small doesn't mean that he can't get warm. He's got his tricks...this is just one of them.

Mayor Menino visits BH Downtown

There was lots of activity at Downtown Crossing on Saturday. Mayor Menino and his entourage came around to visit the temporary artists galleries and the general festivities in the area.

BH member Sedie, Randi Lathrop from the Boston Redevelopment Authority, Mayor Menino, and me.

The Mayor browsing the jewelry.

The Mayor browsing DeShawn Marie soaps while the people browse the Mayor.

Local Cable 'On Demand' showed up to film a quick spot for the channel for the Downtown Crossing shopping experience. Lucky for us they shot it in our gallery!

A picture of Menino with some of the Boston Handmade Downtown staff.
Colleen of Tactile Baby, Bexx of BooksbyBexx, Carrie of Handmedowns, Mayor Menino of The City of Boston, Sedruola of YarnObsession, and me, Nancy of Nancyrosetta

Katy of MuchachaK showed up for her shift during all the hubbub. She missed the pomp and circumstance, but I did get a shot of her and Menino's back! Heehee!

All in all a wonderful Saturday!

New Earring Cards

The store is doing so well, I am super pleased!
I actually sold a lot last week, so I've made a lot to bring in tomorrow.

I used my business cards to make these earring hangers for these new simple wire earrings.

The first pair of earrings is showing the back of the card. I cut the business cards down to about 1 1/2" x 2 1/4", I used a 1/8" hole punch for the earwires, then I put a hanging tag on the backs. I think they came out pretty good.

I'll be working tomorrow from 3-7pm. Come by and say hello!

Guitar? I need practice!

****Warning :: even though there is a cute little boy in the first two vidoes, that doesn't mean there isn't a mean old cursing lady in the last video...could be NSFW...use your better judgment. :)*****

I have to share this with you all, not that this video needs any help with marketing...it has over 600,000 views.
I am in awe when I see such small children with such huge talents, and this boy has a talent that I am extremely impressed with.
Sungha Jung playing 'blackbird'


I really hope this kid can pursue his passion and not have to take over the family farm.

But whoa! Here is the same little boy only a couple of years older...and more adept it seems...
Sungha Jung playing 'blackbird' a few years after the first time...


Practice, practice, practice.

...Funny, the last video reminded me of a video I made a few years ago. I think it has to do with the shelving in the background or the color of the walls... not the quality of guitar playing.

Karate by Tenacious D, played by Nancy on guitar and vocals.


:D

The week in review

Thursday was great at BH Downtown. We had our Opening Reception along with 3 other stores who 'came to be' the same way we did. It was really busy in there for the whole reception. Ivy Restaurant donated some cheese and meat platters to the cause...the bleu cheese was incredible!


Today, Kim and I did the JWCW holiday shopping spree. I would have gotten a picture of the crowds, but their weren't any. We mixed up our items and I think it looked pretty durned good.

In my attempt to crop out the tie dye shirts that are apparently our backdrop here, I made the picture look really stupid. Sorry. I don't have the energy to try to fix this photo, and since it is the only one I took, I guess it is a tribute to this poorly attended holiday shopping spree. It was fun to hang out with Kimayyy tho, sick as she is.

Venison anyone?

This is 1/2 a deer.



Thankfully I don't have the gory detailed photos of how it came to be. This is a post butcher photo. A very professional butcher, wouldn't you agree?

Andy's kill.

Scott helped with the gutting, be-heading, de-footing and skinning.

I actually don't really know how I feel about this meat. I am having a little bit of a hard time not thinking of Bambi and Bambi's Mom. Such is the food chain to a thinking person. This is the first kill in the four or so years that Andy and Scott have been hunting together.

Tomorrow I foodsave and freeze most of it, and give some to Julie and Nick.

We have some venison meals in our immediate future.

More Press!

Check out the Boston Herald today!

Tomorrow is my first official shift, and what a great day to work there since the Opening Reception is tomorrow, too. I'll be there from 3-7:30pm.

Get your buns on downtown tomorrow!

Cuff Bracelet

I've been making some cuff bracelets for the BH Downtown Store and the JWCW shopping spree.

This particular one is mine. I've been wearing it everyday since I made it. It is very comfortable and I've gotten quite a few compliments on it to boot.

I think they will make some great gifts!

Some BH press

Check out the Boston Sunday Globe today!

How exciting!

Black Friday

Some pictures of my visit into the City tonight.
Macy's tree lighting ceremony turned Downtown Crossing into a human zoo. The crowds were incredible!





Katy, Jessica and Jen manning the store on the second shift of the day.

The store full of customers, how cool is that?

Boston Handmade Downtown Opens for Business!

What could be better than buying presents for your loved ones this holiday season that are made from the heart?

No mass produced items, nothing made in factories, in fact everything is made by hand! Imagine that!

Come join us on our first day open for business at 505 Washington Street, Boston, MA, in the heart of Downtown Crossing!

This very unique store will be open November 28th - December 28th Thursdays through Sundays from 11am - 7pm.

I hope to see you all there!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

It is cold outside, but the Mashed Potatoes will keep us warm, don't you think?



Ann Gorbett's painting of her family during the holiday season in 1967. Life is a bowl of Mashed Potatoes!

Ann Gorbett is the featured Frist Friday Artist on Friday December 5th at Custom Art Framing and Gallery 9. Stop by for some wine and cheese and shmooze!!! Hope to see you there!

We are almost ready to open!

There are just a few exhibitors left who still need to get their items into the space tomorrow, but it is looking fantastic! Tomorrow all the last minute details will be done like vacuuming and washing the mirrors. I am so excited for the Grand opening on Friday!

Downtown Gallery recap

For a recap of the goings on at the Boston Handmade Downtown Holiday Gallery, please visit this post by Jessica.

There is a wonderful time line at the beginning of the post. Seeing the dates all in a row like that makes me realize how quickly things have progressed. I am so proud of everyone involved for making this happen in such a small amount of time. And I am so proud to be a member of such a wonderful community of artists and crafters.

Don't forget, we are opening on November 28th! That is this Friday!

Inventory is in.

Most of the exhibitors have dropped off their inventory as of tonight. I think a few more have yet to do so, but definitely the majority of it is in.
Displays are starting to look full, and things are being rearranged as need be. All in all it's coming together.

Once the hanging art is hung, I think this place is going to really come together.
As of right now, the jewelry section is not worked out yet, so I have no photos of it. I dropped off my jewelry tonight, but since the section was in a bit of chaos, I left it until things get figured out. Tomorrow, Betsy and Lisa are going to be working on that section, and if I can get out of work a little early, I will pitch in and help as well.
So, I'll end this with a couple of photos of how great the windows are looking...

6 Days and Counting

Yesterday the crew brought over all the display stuff from the empty store down the street. Kerry wrote about it, check it out on her blog. Jessica also made a post about our progress so far on the Boston Handmade Blog things are looking great.


Today, exhibitors have started to bring in their inventory, and we are setting it up as we go. I made some wall panels and hung them up for jewelry display, but I haven't brought my inventory in yet, I'll be doing that tomorrow.

We are starting to get a little press about the store, too. Artsake, the Mass Cultural Council blog has a blurb about our store in the first paragraph of this post how exciting is that?
I can't wait to go in tomorrow and start setting up my jewelry!

8 Days and Counting

I took the 'T' today for the first time in about 12 years. I had a little culture shock, but I got over it quickly (been in the 'burbs so long). I drove down to Forest Hills and took the Orange Line with Jessica this morning. It brought me back to the early '90s when I worked in an office on Temple Place, about a 40 pace walk from the BH Downtown Store, but I digress.
As promised, here is a view from the other side of the store. Sorry about the morning sun and the tall buildings. Not a good picture at all. But again, our shop is the one with the grate half open.

Betsy met us at the space. While she put the finishing touches on the fabric covered lights, I took out all the long fluorescent bulbs in the windows (we have other lighting plans), and Jessica was on window washing duty. At noon, we went a short block down the street to meet with the owner of an empty storefront for some pillaging. The place was a disaster, but it had so much great display stuff just abandoned. I have only this one fuzzy picture of the mess, but Jessica took pictures of everything we were interested in, while I kept a list.

We have our eye on some great stuff! We didn't have much time there, so we carried/rolled what we could back to the space today. Whoever is on the roster for tomorrow will be heading back to the disaster area to bring all the wonderful displays back to our space.
Here is one of four clothing racks that I think are going to be wonderful!

And a shot of the space as we left it. It's looking good!

We also added some printed signage, so people know what's coming.

Renovations have begun!

Today we finally got into the space to start making it beautiful. Apparently the previous tenants didn't believe in cleaning, but we are giving the place a BH blue facelift!
By the time Kim and I arrived, most of the taping, spackling, and sanding had already been done by Kiki, Jess and Brooke.
The space is huge and has wonderful potential! This pic is from about halfway into the shop pointing to the front windows.

This photo is from the alcove of fabulous window space in the front.

This is a photo from the street. Our shop is halfway down the right side of the photo...the storefront that has the front grate halfway open. On Thursday, I will get a picture from the opposite vantage point, I don't know why I didn't tonight.

We painted all night, made some great headway on the look of the space, and brainstormed a bit. You can see Jess and Brooke working here. This photo is taken from about a quarter of the way into the store to the back. I didn't get photos of the other rooms, there is a dressing room just to the right in the back, and also a back room, they both need some TLC but we will make it work!

We really made a dent today. I am back in for more renovation work on Thursday, I can't wait to see the progress from now until then.
Stay tuned!!!