Holy Shows!! (and a really long blog)

It was a CRAZY CRAZY weekend!! I had not one, but TWO shows. A holiday craft show at Infusion Tea. I posted about their last event i participated in. I did PHENOMENAL at the one back in October. Sadly, i think they got a tad lazy advertising for this show, and the turn out wasn't to great. The first four hours were deader then dead. (Okay, i shouldn't say that, but there were barely any buyers, and a handful of "lookers"). I ended up during quite decently, which was a blessing. Then i ran to work from 6-12:30am, drove home, and headed to Sarasota at 6am. Twas now i was really tired.



1) The set up was done. My favorite show trio (including myself) was back in action. Well..they were reading after set up was done. I was in action. :)

2) Karen with one of her "Holiday Holly" head bands.

3) I LOVE this picture. Lindsey and Riley both look upset.

4) After a long day at work on Friday, a 5am wake up call for a long show on Saturday and a 5am drive to Sarasota on Sunday, Riley was ready for a nap.



We allowed ourselves 3 hours to get to Sarasota/Atomic on time, but it only took us 2.5, so we walked around and took pictures while we waited to set up. We found this awesome fish. Come on! Like you wouldn't have taken pictures with him!


Atomic was incredible!! There were at least 50 people waiting outside to come in when we opened at noon. That's even more then Stick Rock!! (I think, anyone know?)



I was a little nervous at first since all the people were just wandering, and not really looking or buying, but after a couple deep breaths (suggestion from Riley) and about 20 minutes, it was normal in Cherry Runway land. In fact, it was even more busy then my usual Cherry Land. It was insane at some points. Riley was actually making basic pieces! (go figure! my talented boy!) Customers were asking for so many custom requests, Riley had to take charge, greet and sell everyone for me. It was brilliant!! This was by far, my most successful show as of yet, and i am so so so thankful!!

Another amazing thing happened! I ACTUALLY LOOKED AROUND. I usually don't leave my table "just in case" so i never end up seeing everything, meeting people or buying anything. It's a sad fact i keep getting upset with myself for. But this show, we had plenty of time for chatting and looking before the doors even opened. It was SO FUN looking at how talented people are. Of course i had to take the time to see a few of my favorites artists, who were conveniently near my table. Sarah from "Felt and Paper" and Andrea and Paul from Paper Sparrow and Bungle Bear.

I also made a few new friends. Karyn and Alex from "Fat Orange Cat" has adorable aprons, bags and paper goods. They arrived at Atomic a tad to early and we chatted for a little while, by the fish. Both of them were fun and sarcastic (my favorite type of people) and Riley and I enjoyed talking with them. Becca Mari had a beautiful selection
of girly delicacies. Her table set up and pieces were all glitzy and gorgeous. Becca was a sweet heart too. I didn't really get to see her after the show, but i hope you did well Becca!! I also enjoyed chatting with Tina from Tinahdee Her pieces were very pretty and the inspirational saying were lovely. They fueled my engine for my next round of metal smithing classes.



Riley is getting even better/quicker with my table set up. How in the world did i find a boy who not only puts up with me, but actually sets up my table at shows. We've done so many shows together now, he gets upset if i even try to help. (Lindsey can agree to that.)

I am a lucky lucky gal!!!!


All and all it was an incredible weekend. I am so thankful for friends, boyfriends, amazing crafters and most of all, all of my amazing customers. To whom i am utterly grateful for. Thank you so much!! To all of you!! With you there would be no Cherry Runway. :)

I am so blessed!! :) Happy Holidays ya'll!! We only ONE WEEK TILL CHRISTMAS!!

To you my friends...

This promotion is only till the end of the year, so hurry along folks!!!

Holiday Ho-Down!!

It's been a pretty busy time right now, which is funny considering how little I'm actually working at a job these days. In the last two months i went from working 45-50 hour weeks to working less then 30 hours. Last year at this time i was consumed by work, this year I'm begging for hours. It's incredible. I know I'm obviously not the only one struggling with this, and should consider myself lucky since i still have at least one of my two jobs, but its still scary.



Regardless, i still had a VERY nice Thanksgiving. I spent it with my lovely boyfriend, and his fab family. Their TG was quite different from my own. I never had a very big family, and our "family things" never lasted very long, so this was a new experience for me.



Riley's mom gifted us with a Christmas tree at Thanksgiving, and we set up last Satuday. Isn't it pretty? We sure think so. So much, that we had a fun photo shoot that night.

Hope your having a nifty holiday season!

So Santa Says....."I wouldn't want you to do anything that wasn't fun".

I'm at Panera and saw Santa. The real one I'm sure. For some reason i guess it surprised me..so i dropped my glass of water all over myself and the floor. As I'm standing there shocked, wet and stuttering i get out; "Well, that was fun."

Santa responds by saying.."Well, that's good. I wouldn't want you to do anything that wasn't fun." Then walks away.

Twas a fun experience i wanted to share. Now back to your scheduled programing...

Meanwhile...in Cherry Runway land..

I have two amazing shows coming up, which I'm more then excited about. I've been trying to work day and night to create more jewels for the shows. Come out to "Infusion Tea" in College Park on December 13th for Homemade for the Holidays!! And the ATOMIC BAZAAR is the one I'm extremely scyked for. That one is in Sarasota on interestingly enough, December 14th! It's going to be a crazy couple weeks!!!

So far, my work has paid off, but i have so much more to make!!

AND...i have two bits of exciting news.

1) I saw my first customer wearing some of my jewelry! I've been selling in Orlando for almost 2.5 consecutive years now, and I've never once seen anyone wearing my jewelry. A customer looked really familiar at Antro, and i went up to chat with her. I knew she looked familiar because she frequents the gallery i work at as well. And i shouted "omgosh, your wearing my earrings!" which got quite the "Huh?" response. I told her i work at the gallery as well, and am an artists there, and those are earrings i created. I was gleaming, and couldn't content my smile. I told almost all of my Antro co-workers. Most were quite excited for me. Twas a nice thing.

AND!!

2) In one my last posts, i mentioned how i was asked and accepted into a new shop called Flourish. Well, she's had my jewels for about a week now, and she e-mailed me the other day and told me i already had my first sale. In the FIRST WEEK!! How stellar is that?? Sigh...so awesome. She sold one of my "Martini Yourtini" necklaces.



Come get one for yourself! I mean, who DOESN'T want a Martini glass necklace? Seriously! :)

So, that's all folks, I've been a busy bee, as always. I hope you have been too! Have a stress free Holiday season!! I shall write again soon.

Peace! :)

Loads of new Etsy items up!!

Many of these items are on my website too!

Gift Card Alert!!

I was blog shopping this morning and some how got to this wonderful blog. Kristine posts about her adventures with adopting a child, complete with timeline and artists spotlights. Check her out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~so...on to the gift card issues...

Many stores will be closing shop soon, but are still selling gift cards through the holidays. these cards will be useless come January 1. no law prevents them from doing so, referred to as 'bankruptcy planning’. here is a list of some stores that may pose potential problems for those shopping with gift cards…

Circuit City filed Chapter 11
Ann Taylor 117 stores nationwide closing
Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug ,and Catherine’s to close 150 stores nationwide
Eddie Bauer to close stores 27 stores and more after January
Cache will close all stores
Talbots closing down specialty stores
J. Jill closing all stores (owned by Talbots)
Pacific Sunwear closing all stores (also owned by Talbots)
GAP closing 85 stores
Footlocker closing 140 stores more to close after January
Wickes Furniture closing down
Levitz closing down remaining stores
Bombay closing remaining stores
Zales closing down 82 stores and 105 after January
Whitehall closing all stores
Piercing Pagoda closing all stores
Disney closing 98 stores and will close more after January.
Home Depot closing 15 stores 1 in NJ ( New Brunswick )
Macys to close 9 stores after January
Linens and Things closing all stores
Movie Gallery closing all stores
Pep Boys closing 33 stores
Sprint/Nextel closing 133 stores
JC Penney closing a number of stores after January
Ethan Allen closing down 12 stores.
Wilson Leather closing down all stores
Sharper Image closing down all stores
K B Toys closing 356 stores
Lowes to close down some stores
Dillard’s to close some stores

So please, just buy handmade and you won't have this problem!!! I mean, you all NEED jewelry right? Every one's got a mother, and I'm sure many of you have sisters, friends, girlfriends, wife's...you just MUST need jewelry. Ha. Okay, my solicitation is finished. Hope your all having a glorious day!!