Houston’s International Quilt Festival 2008
Last week Judith Skinner and I were vendors for our third year at The International Quilt Festival in Houston Texas. The show is the absolute best in the world, and there are more beautiful quilts and amazing wearable art pieces than I could possibly imagine–and I have a VERY good imagination!! We go every year to promote our books, including Adapting Quilt Patterns To Polymer Clay and The Business Of Professional Art as well as to sell our polymer clay jewelry, beads, faces, and Spirit Doll kits. Next year we’ll be bringing new titles as well–I think its time to ship all the books ahead, though. We take all of our booth setup and displays and all merchandise with us, and things are getting heavier the more titles we add! This year we shipped some of the books, and that worked out very well. The Houston Polymer Clay Guild helped out with Receiving and made us welcome at a lovely evening reception too! It is always great to see our friends there again.
In addition to seeing polymer clay vendors like Jennifer Patterson and Karyn Kozak, we get to explore as much of the show as we can. There are 20 rows of booths, and thats not counting the Quilt Display areas!!
There’s an area in the farthest back block for Embellishments, where you can find us in our PolyMarket Press Booth and many other suppliers of textiles, trims, buttons and beads, and other great stuff.
Like Glitter! Barbara Trombley was there with her Art Institute Glitter. Not only do she and her sparkly assistant Nancy show off the uses of an incredible line of glitters that are compatible with polymer clay use, Barbara’s line of “Elements” make great inclusions in translucent polymer clay and all the supplies in their booth have possibilities when it comes to mixed media art that is so dear to many, including me!
As a certifiable color addict, I warn you to be careful when looking at her color samples. Many, many colors, in very many sizes–like seed beads and paint chips it can be an occasion for gazing a long time.
I also had the opportunity to meet Jenny Doh, editor at Belle Armoire magazine. It was lovely to see in person someone with whom I’ve worked well and happily as a writer of the Business Of Professional Arts column there. I rthoroughly enjoy working with talented, creative people, who are very good at what they do.
It was exciting to see the “Where Women Create” booth and to meet her and the other ladies there. WWC is all about the “inspiring work spaces of extraordinary women” to quote their website. Keep an eye out for this newly debuting magazine!
Designing Woman
In addition to writing for books and magazines, and creating artwork with polymer clay and textiles, I spend a lot of time working with graphic and web design. I love what can be done with a digital camera and Adobe Photoshop..and several hundred fonts! (I have about 950 installed now, having had to delete about as many….it made things slow to load. Imagine!!) I have a special fondness for dingbats.
As a web designer, I enjoy working closely with my clients to create a site that reflects their work and their personal style. Click any of the graphics here to see the site I’ve built with each client–energy workers, artists, massage therapists, musicians and more.
If you are interested in having a website built or improved, please contact me at sarajane@polyclay.com and view my website page for more information.
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 Lightworkers Alliance Logo by AG Creative Design, Inc. |
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New Necklaces
newnecklace2, originally uploaded by sarajane helm.
I’m still busy getting ready for the International Quilt Festival in Houston at the end of October, and I’ve been making lots of new beads, and stringing beads into necklaces too! Here’s one of my favorites with a handbead pendant, and coin shaped beads of fossilized coral as well as other kinds of beads. It features a sterling silver toggle clasp.
You can also click on the gallery pics here to see more new wearable art pieces!
My Favorite Time Of Year!
oh, I do love the time of year when summer is over, winter isnt here yet—and the fall weather starts to make inroads into the garden. There are wonderful holidays at this time, including Halloween, when I’ll be in Houston Texas at the International Quilt Festival again with Judith Skinner, taking lots of new beads, jewelry, faces, and other items made from polymer clay, plus spirit doll kits and more.
The Day Of The Dead gets celebrated around here for more than just one day, as do many holidays. This year my polymer-clay-headed spokesmodel Aunt Acid is taking a turn displaying her flowers and skulls decked out in DOTD finery and seated with her dogs in the front window of Nomad Designs, a fabulous bead bazaar in Boulder Colorado where you can find all sorts of exotic things.
10 tattoo hands
10 tattoo hands front, originally uploaded by sarajane helm.
I’m making lots of new beads, getting ready for the upcoming shows and sales and beading season. Time for more beads!! Hand beads are always popular, so I’m making them in several styles–blue tattooed, shown here, mehndi (henna) tattoos, and Victorian. I do love dressing the hands up in little sleeves…but these with the blue tattoos are a lot of fun also. These are decorated with dye ink, and are the only style done in this manner—the others make use of millefiore canes and impressions, not stamps. These beads and others are available for purchase through my etsy store.