Thursday, February 23, 2012

So busy I forgot to notice!

"Ilyana and the Enchanted Koi" - Hand sculpted without molds - January 2012
Things have been insane lately. I expected that after the holiday season, I'd have a dead spell and wonder what to do with myself. I certainly wasn't looking forward to it financially, but I almost think I wanted it just so I could catch up with everything I sold in the shows and festivals I attended last season. Not happening!
"Goblin Chess" - January 2012

He's cheating!
I've been really busy prowling about looking for leads for shows, festivals and shops which would like my creations. This is a hard process when you're relatively solitary like I am. Social networking is key in this game and has never been my forte. I find myself in a muddle trying to remember names and locations and dates and applications. And who do I talk to in order to find out who I talk to? I'm sure it'll come to me... what's her name again? What's my name?? Let's start over.

Faery Baby #30! She's at The Garden Party
January marked the second year The Silver Branch has been in business! This second year I'm still looking to do shows and festivals, but I'm also going to focus a lot in the spring and summer on getting my faery babies, Green Girl boxes and jewelry into shops and boutiques. Today, I started selling my faery babies at two shops that I wouldn't have thought to sell at. One is called The Garden Party. It's a floral boutique located on the oval of Milford, NH (263 Union Square). Look them up on facebook! Eileen keeps a lovely shop with lots of amazing flowers and local artisan gifts. The other shop is Here Today Emporium - an antique shop (primarily, she also sells greeting cards, bath and body stuff and .... my babies!) located on Main St in Wilton NH.

I'm also trying to expand - a hard thing to do with my tiny little working studio (I'm grateful for it, don't misunderstand that for a moment!). I've been throwing children's birthday party workshops and classes on everything from how to sculpt dragons to how to make polymer clay sushi.
Happy Birthday Madeleine! The whole party made awesome gnomes!
The Atkins Family in gnome form
My gnomes are really expanding in variety. I get so many custom orders for these cute little guys! My favorite order was to a family in Australia who wanted themselves depicted in tiny garden gnome fashion.

Other creations from the past 2 months include....

I hand blended 3 colors of viscose to make Ilyana's braided hair.
"The Faery Tree" complete with door in roots, glass leaves and good listening skills.
Sushi Ring! Leftover from teaching sushi caning.

3 comments:

  1. And those are not even half the creations from this year actually... I've created new dragons based upon Christi Freisen's style (with her permission), a unicorn forest inside a walnut shell, currently working on a tide pool mermaid, more faery babies, more key dragons and LOTS of faery wings! :)

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  2. Wow!! You HAVE been SO busy!!!!! I never get over how talented you are Mel. Seriously.

    Social media is a doddle. If you want any help - let me know. It lets you get to a much wider audience instantly :)

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  3. Congratulations! We're giving away a pair of your earrings on our site tomorrow! http://www.stellarfour.com/2012/03/very-fairy-give-away.html

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