Favorites From Yesterday's Mother Daughter Photo Shoot For Rebecca Haas Jewelry

Here are some favorites from the fun shoot I did yesterday with my friend Krystina, owner of The Pear Tree here in Chester, and her daughter Aili, who's been my model for the last couple of collections.  I have been wanting to do a multi-generational jewelry shoot for a while now and I'm so grateful to Krystina and Aili for agreeing to do it! I'm going to use these photos in my booth at The League of NH Craftsmen Summer Fair (which is right around the corner!) and I would love to hear which one you all like the best? The winner will be blown up to poster size and mounted on the booth wall. . .

80th Sunapee Summer Fair in Instagrams

For those of you who have never been, this is a truly amazing fair.  It is 9 days long, for starters, with 2 full days of set up.  Each vendor is judged on the quality of his or her booth, so there is a lot of pressure to have a set up that is really professional and sleek.  So the experience for the shoppers is very high end, like walking around through hundreds of tiny craft galleries.  We had wonderful weather, traffic was steady, and I managed to somehow finagle help from friends or family on every day but one, so the days just flew by.  All in all it was a fantastic experience.  Exhausting, but really great.

I saw lots of familiar faces from last year, which was really nice, and also lots and lots of new faces.  I was again so impressed and amazed at how many families have been shopping at this fair for generations, and have made a family tradition out of it.  They look forward to visiting the same artists from year to year and picking up a new piece each year.  And there was a jeweler in a booth across from me who was participating in his 41st Sunapee Summer Fair.  His daughter was behind the counter helping him, and he told me she was in a playpen during his first fair.  And her sons were there with her, so there were sometimes three generations in the booth at the same time.  I felt a little as though I was looking at the ghost of my Christmas future, and tried imagining Emmett being at the show with me at age 40 with his children in tow.  Almost made me feel like my life was flashing before my eyes.  There is something pretty amazing about joining an organization for life.  It gives one a real sense of permanence and continuity, which is really rare in this day and age. 

This was my second year, and from a booth design point of view I think I learned a lot this year.  There is a true art to putting together a sophisticated booth that doesn't actually take 2 full days and a couple of carpenters to put together.  It is all smoke and mirrors people!  So I have a few good ideas about how to simplify things for next year.  And I really need one that I can modify to fit all of my craft shows, some of which are indoors and can't accommodate 8 foot high walls!  So these old booth walls from these photos have probably seen their last show.  My next goal for booth design is to not only limit the time it takes to set up, but also the amount of lugging.  Note the giant U-Haul truck below.  Yikes. 

Sorry that basically all of the photos are taken from inside my booth.  I'm afraid that on this blog you get to see what I see, and that's where I spent 95% of my time.   You'll have to take my word for it that there was lots of other really cool stuff going on.  But luckily I was so busy I didn't have a chance to play around the fair with my  camera in tow, so it was just Instagrams from my booth for me this year.  I'm not complaining.  And thanks so much to everyone who made it to the fair this year! We all really appreciate your support!

League of NH Craftsmen Summer Fair Starts This Weekend!

Tomorrow is the first day of set up for the annual League of New Hampshire Craftsmen Summer Fair.  The show opens to the public on Saturday August 3rd and runs through Sunday the 12th.  If you have never been to this event before it is really worth a trip.  Not only is there tent after tent full of booth after booth of amazing handmade crafts for sale, but there are lots of interesting demonstrations, classes and other hands on events all day long.  There is food too, and places to sit down, relax and take a little breather.  You can follow the link above for additional show information.

I'll be set up in Tent 7, booth #704.  I have been playing around with my display a little bit, and have added some fun natural texture to hopefully help highlight the jewelry.  But most importantly I have made an obscene amount of jewelry!  And many of the pieces are one of a kind new designs, which I can't wait to get everyone's reaction to.  I also added more 14k pieces, since the price of gold has helpfully gone down so much since last year, as well as some pretty stones that I have been hoarding in my studio for the past several years.  Here is a little preview of some of the new work:

I really hope to see some of you there!  And if you read this post and decide to make the trip, just mention this post for 15% off your entire purchase! (at my booth only, sorry, can't offer discounts for the rest of the show!)

Sewing Class: Part 2, Making a Camera Tote

 

Here is the camera tote I made in my second sewing class at the Craft Studies Center at the League of NH Craftsmen!  I'm very pleased with it, even though in my rush to finish I sewed the straps on with a twist in the handles. The pattern was for a tote bag, but since I have so many plain tote bags I thought I could really use a bag for my camera that was also big enough to carry both my camera and also a few other things, like my wallet and phone etc.  I found this really cool Robert Kaufman fabric at Waterwheel Quilt Shop, near Emmett's school that was perfect for the project.  And the bag even has a inside zipper pocket, which I am especially excited to know how to do! This is by far the most complicated sewing project I have ever completed, and I even feel like I could do it again, which is the most amazing part.  Sadly, between jewelry and fiddleheads, I don't have any free time right now to play around with my newly learned skills.  But after the holidays I have lots of fun and (I think) easy projects planned.  I want to make small cushions for my uncomfortable dining room chairs, and new covers for my small square Ikea poofs.

And here is my trusty machine, which I really do feel more familiar with now.  Can't wait to get back to it!

Summer Sunset

The League of NH Craftsmen Summer Fair is over, and I am home picking up the pieces of everything I dropped three weeks ago to get ready for the show.  It was a great and successful show, which is a great relief, and setting up and breaking down the booth was surprisingly painless and hassle-free.  This is the beautiful sunset that accompanied our trip home in a borrowed pickup truck full to the gills of show debris.  Thanks so much to all the friends and family who made it over to the show, and thanks so much to the many new customers I am so happy to have met!

Now I'm starting to feel the pressure of the end of summer.  Are you?  Winter is starting to hang out there in my peripheral vision like a big dead end.  So many warm weather activities still left undone!  How is it possible that the school year is beginning already?  Emmett will begin his first year of preschool in two weeks, and my teacher friends are all going back to work.  Sigh.  But fall is lovely too.  But I am determined to go swimming at least a few more times before the leaves turn!

Just L

I recently went to Littleton, NH to meet with the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen Retail Gallery there, and bring them some jewelry. And while I was going to be there I was recommended by friends to go check out Just L, and I was so glad I did!  Just L is a mid-century modern focused antique store, and it is chock full of amazing things from that era.

I had so much fun shopping and browsing, and I was able to catch up on a few very late presents I have been owing people, which made me happy.  They don't officially sell online, but they have an active page on Facebook where the owner has been posting images of a good chunk of his stock, so follow this link if you want to drool over some mid-century goodness.  And if you go up there to pick up the couch you fell in love with on his Facebook page, be sure to stop into the NH League Gallery just down the street and say hi to my jewelry, and all the other beautiful handmade work on display!

Nicholas Kekic at the League of NH Craftsmen Fair

We walked around the League of NH Craftsmen Fair in Sunapee, New Hampshire yesterday.  I had never been before, but had heard great things, so I was very excited to look around.  Although I was already very familiar with his work, because he is a friend and lives in Chester as well, Nick Kekic's booth work was one of my favorites at the show.  If you are local and are planning on going to the show, definitely try to stop by his booth in tent 7.  The show runs through the 14th, and there are gazillions of beautiful things to ogle! 

The Endless Application

I am in the middle of putting together yet another review shipment to hopefully finalize my acceptance to the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen.  This process has taken a lot longer than I expected, and been quite a bit more frustrating than I expected, to become a member of an association which, quite frankly, I'm not even all that clear on what the benefits will be!  Seems silly, right?  But since I have come this far, darn it, I am determined to see it through!  But after a written (with essays!) application, 2 review meetings/critiques with a jury, and so far 4 review shipments over a period of about a year and a half, I am beginning to feel that the process is a little bit overly serious.  I mean it's not like I get access to national secrets or THE big red button or anything once I am accepted. (Or will I?)  I am now at what I believe is the final part of the process, the quality review shipments, which they ask for to make sure that the quality of the work of newly accepted artists is consistent. And although the process is only supposed to include 3 review shipments, what is supposed to be my last review shipment keeps getting returned/rejected with what I feel are a little bit nit-picky notes like "your ovals should either be more exact or more organic" and "the hammering on this one earring (which I have made about 100 times, btw) is uneven."  So I feel like the finish line is just becoming more elusive and subjective, and the relentless making and sending of one of a kind pieces off to Concord, NH is starting to feel a little masochistic. But oh well, here goes another shipment!  Above this little tirade I posted some photos of what I'm sending so you can all be informed witnesses if it gets sent back to me with big red (metaphorical) X's all over everything.  And if you've made it this far, thanks for listening to me vent! I feel much better.  I guess I am just feeling a little discouraged and frustrated right now about this whole endeavor because I quite like the jewelry I've sent so far, and nobody likes to have their hard work rejected.  But hopefully this will just be a little blip in what will turn out to be a very good thing long term!  Right?

Thanks again for listening everyone!  Please keep your fingers crossed for me!  Oh, and just for fun, here is the bracelet with the "too organic or not organic enough ovals" ;)  Poor little reject bracelet!

New Work for the League of NH Craftsmen

I'm very excited!  I've just recently been accepted to the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen!  (Even though we live in Vermont we are close enough to the NH border to qualify)  I'm not 100% sure what membership is going to be all about, but I think it is going to be great!  I'm so glad to have hooked up with a community of craftsmen in our new locale.  So far I have work on exhibit in the Concord Gallery, and am about to send off a shipment headed to the Meredith Gallery early next week.  Here are a few pics of the work I made for my jury session with the League.  

Here's a new bangle, inspired by the stonewalls all around our place up here:

I really enjoyed getting back into making one of a kind pieces.  I haven't really done much of that since I was in school because I've been so focused on my wholesale business.  I am so excited to have an outlet for this type of work so I can keep making it!

And here's a ring to go with it:

I took these photos on a recent family trip to Cape Cod.  I love the beach in the fall.  It is so quiet and melancholy.  Of course, I love the beach in the summer too, when it is hot and lovely, and much much better for swimming!  

We take what we can get, right?

Here's a cute pic of the boys on the beach.  

I hope - No, Plan! - to be posting more often than I have been recently.  A truly lovely visit this weekend from Jennifer of Odette NY re-inspired me.  Thanks Jeni!