mmm...peach soda and boots

So my husband and I went to north Georgia near the mountains and we stopped at a little rinky dink gift store to see some of the views of one of the gorges. Well, I tried peach soda and it was awesome! I recommend it!

I have been busy making new jewelry and finding new things to experiment with...little glass bottles, large skeleton keys, etc. Check out my new hand stamped necklace with a famous Nancy Sinatra song quote on it...

Happenings in Athens

Well, as many of you may be aware, the Georgia Theatre burned last Friday to the dismay of many Athens residents.  I myself was awestruck at the news. To think that the place where I spent many Friday and Saturday nights during my college years (and beyond) is now nothing but walls is hard to grasp.  One thing we can all do is hold on to our memories that were made there and hope that the great venue will rise again.  

Luckily, Athfest is right around the corner and Athens will change from a dreary summer college town into a bustling epicenter of music and crafts.  I have been to Athfest in previous years but I can honestly say that I am most excited about this year’s performers and the far reaching scope of music genres.  I hope that all of you can make it out to hear some music and peruse the artist market. My friend Celan (the painter I have mentioned here in my blog) will be showing her paintings and she has agreed to have a few of my pieces on display as well.  I would have loved to have my own booth this year, but I did not make the deadline. I hope next year will be an option!

On another note, I have recently found out that a former downtown employer of mine has been taking pieces that I created while at the store and claiming them as her own creations on Etsy.  In addition, many of the new pieces created at this establishment are very, shall we say, reminiscent of my jewelry designs.  I left this particular position to concentrate on growing my own jewelry business as a full time venture.  I just want all of my customers to know that I do my very best to come up with unique and original designs that I hope you all enjoy. I put my heart and soul into each piece, from start to finish, and I take great pride in displaying my work for you on Etsy, at the farmer’s market, and at various craft shows.  Luckily, I have received great feedback from everyone and this encourages me to continue my pursuit of rustic/vintage style jewelry.  Every day is a new opportunity to create fun and exciting pieces and I look forward to all of your feedback and ideas!  Hopefully these unfortunate events will be put to rest soon and I can continue to count on all of you for your support. Thanks to all my loyal customers and I hope to see you soon!  

Now, get out there and enjoy Athfest!

New Ken Will Morton Fan

So I have been officially made a full member at the farmer's market! It looks like I will be there for all the dates in previous post! I have been really busy working on new jewelry and I found some great old skeleton keys just the other day.  You know the kind...intricate scroll work at the top.  I am really excited about coming up with designs using these pieces of history.

At the farmers market on Saturday we were graced with a fairly large crowd considering the 100F weather.  One thing worth mentioning is one of the bands that played music at the market. Luckily I have my stand near the music area so I get to see the performers do their dirty work. Ken Will Morton was playing during the last half of the market and I am here to tell you that if you haven't heard of this guy, you should check it out. He lives here in Athens and honestly I am just astounded that I hadn't heard of him before yesterday.  Their performance yesterday prompted me to run over and spend my hard earned money on 2 cds.  I can now report that it was money very well spent. So...check him out at either www.kenwillmorton.com or even better, go see him and his band play at the Green Room on Thomas Street on Saturday at 9:30pm during Athfest.  You will not be disappointed.  

Here are some photos of my new pieces:

Farmers Market Issues and New Jewelry

So apparently the Athens Farmers Market is now full (yay for them), but I may not be getting all of the dates I signed up for (bad for me). We shall see what the day brings, but I will be very distraught if my dates have been given to someone one applied way after me.  I sure hope that doesn't happen :(. I will keep you updated as soon as I know something.

On another note, between root canals and errands, I have found some time to make a few new pieces. The first one pictured has authentic antique chandelier crystals and an antique skeleton key on a 30" brass chain. The second is a simple antiqued brass angel's wing necklace that measures 16" in length. The third is a really cool OOAK statement necklace that features an antique cabinet drawer backing with an antique chandelier crystal. This necklace measures 16" as well.

New Necklace

Just posted a new 'Heaven's Gate Necklace' on etsy. It has an antique brass keyhole and wings. Check it out:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26190533

Farmers Market Dates

So, I have yet to hear back from the guy that runs the farmers market here in Athens...but I know that I will be there on these dates for sure:

June 20

July 18

Aug 15

Sept 19

Oct 17

Nov 14

And these dates I have signed up for but haven't heard back about:

June 13

June 27

July 11

July 25

Aug 8

Aug 22

Sept 5

Sept 12

Sept 26

Oct 3

Oct 24

So, as you can see, there are a lot of Saturdays in limbo at the moment, but I do hope to participate in the second list of days. I will let all of you know as soon as I do.

On a different note:

You should check out my good friend's paintings on her website celanworks.com. She does amazing work with both oil, acrylics, and mixed media. Some of her pieces have cloth and cut up maps incorporated into them. Definitely check it out.  Here is one of her pieces entitled "lived in a shoe" (my favorite, to be exact):

Tweet Tweet

So I finally started a twitter account. I honestly haven't figured out the point quite yet but everyone on Etsy seems to think that it helps with sales...so, we shall see. You can follow me by searching for rustic roses. 

I am in the process of making a new necklace...it is a winged keyhole. I will look something like this:

I will be selling some like this at the farmers market next Saturday June 13th.

Needful Things

So I just found out about this place called needful things near Athens! I am so excited about a new place to find cool vintage jewelry pieces! I think I'll be stopping by soon.

On another note...I started a twitter account named RusticRoses. I am unsure about this whole twitter thing but everyone on etsy recommends starting an account. We shall see how that goes.

Have a great day!

Farmers Market

So I recently hauled some of my wares to the Athens Farmers Market at Bishop Park and had a really great time meeting tons of people and chatting about my jewelry. I started by signing up for one Saturday per month at the market, but after the great performance 2 Saturdays ago, I decided to sign up for many additional Saturdays. I expect to be there every 3 Saturdays or so if you wanna come by and check out my new pieces. I noticed that many people like my keyhole necklaces that have angel wings. I sold out of all of these styles in particular and now I am on a grand search for more antique keyholes! Each one has been one of a kind so I am trying to find really cool and unique keyholes.

On another note, I quit my full time day job and am now searching for a part time job in Athens. I really just needed more time to focus on my jewelry business. If anyone knows of any cool part time jobs let me know!

I will be working on my website (www.rusticroses.com) during the next couple of weeks and hopefully it will be up soon!

Well, enough about me and my happenings.

Off to Copper Creek for some awesome $2 pints!