new stuffs a brewin! giveaway ideas?

Things have been very busy and exciting here for me with Bricolage Studios. When I set out to make a go of being an artist, I knew it was going to be an awful lot of hard work and recently I have been trying to remind myself of how much I have accomplished when things seem hairy or I'm feeling like maybe I'm doing something wrong. Here is a small list of the big ones for me anyway:

1. I have been creating and teaching classes at the local art center for almost 3 years now
2a&b. I have team taught a college level course AND providing the class runs in the fall will have the opportunity to teach it on my own
3. I have done AT LEAST 5 art/craft/fiber shows for the past two years, some with a fair amount of success
4. I have branched out on my own and been able to teach a few private workshops which were a lot of fun
5. I have reached over 100 sales in my etsy shop, which is actually nearer to 150 now with a majority of those sales having been within the last 7-8 months.
6. I have designed and executed several new jewelry lines
7. I have set up a home studio that function quite well for me for most of my needs.
8. I have done all of these things while working a full time job and also managed to spend time with family and friends on top of doing all of these things
9. I bought a house with my now husband, got married 2  years later, and have made it my little family's home with a rather large flower garden out front (this was always a very important to me, must be all the women in my family that love their flowers so.)
10. AND, perhaps most importantly, I have done all of these while maintaining my sanity, though that was debatable.

I could go on to say that if I can do this, I don't understand how people say, "i just can't seem to find the time," but I won't get into that whole subject. I know that I am driven individual and it takes that drive to be successful at anything. I've gotta say this being a working artist thing is tough and there are times I think that quitting would be easier, but where is the fun in that?

I love every part of what I do. I might dread picking through and washing a greasy OM and VM filled fleece (OM = organic matter which is just a nice way of saying poo/urine really and VM = vegetable matter so all that hay, straw, grass, burrs, sticks, etc. that sticks in the poor little sheepies fuzz) BUT, I find it very gratifying in the end once I have it all dyed up that I can blend it, spin it, and make something out of it. There is just something incredible about knowing that you had your hand in on nearly every step of a process. I mean sure, I didn't raise the sheep or shear it but someday... :D I think that the whole concept of handmade was lost on people for a long time and now that there is a wonderful shift back to it happening, the more you do, the more it is appreciated.

So anyhow, now that I've rambled on I'll get to that new stuff I was talking about. First of all, I am VERY pleased to announce that I have been accepted into YARNCON in chicago. This was a really big deal for me. I have never done an out of state show and in CHICAGO?!?! WOOHOO! I had already begun work on some new items for the shop including: hand dyed silk hankies and cocoons, OOAK freeform knit and crochet wear/accessories, more OOAK fiber and metal necklaces, handmade custom metal diz’, and some non fiber related jewelry. I also had a happy experiment the other night when carding up some batts for Friday's shop update. I was picking some fiber open in my picker box and wondered, "Could I blend fiber directly in here?" So I tried it and the answer was YES!

And so, fiber mixes were born. More coming to the shop in next week's update. Keep a look out for all of these new items that will be filtering soon. They won't be huge updates because I'll be beefing up my stash stock for my upcoming show but you will certainly get a good preview of the items.

Also, please hop on over to the 2010 schedule tab. I have updated it a bit with websites for the shows through the rest of the year. I will start posting my 2011 shows as soon as I know more details about them. I already have a few lined up that had early sign up (some new ones even!) I am also looking into vending at a few different music festivals in northern Michigan. *fingers crossed* :D

OH! and don't forget, for my 100th post I am doing another giveaway, please leave comments with your suggestions for that!