adventures in door county

Will let the pictures speak for themselves...had a great time hiking and exploring (with my folks and brother/SIL) at our favorite parks in door county (the thumb of WI). Always a great time with lots of nature-y inspiration!

spring is in the air...

My absolute favorite time of year. Everything is turning green, trees are blossoming and the air smells so good. 

(our honey crisp apple tree blossoming)

 (almond shrubs in our landscaping) 

 (Finney enjoying his sunshiney yard)

I re-stocked one of my favorite downtown Appleton shops- Just Act Natural- with lots of new jewelry designs....including these leaf necklaces (with indonesian glass) and decal charms with an assortment of  images. My works fits right in with the earthy and eco-friendly mission of this locally owned store.

Hope your weekend is filled with sunshine! We have our first birthing class coming up (!!!) and are heading up to Door County with the toad (our teardrop camper) to visit some of our favorite state parks, sit by the camp fire, hopefully get more pretty spring photos and I am going to get my hands on my favorite door county made cherry donuts...

Craftstravaganza

I am still trying to unpack and organize from last weekends show- craftstravaganza in St. Paul, MN. Luke's family lives near the twin cities, and it is always nice to be able to make the trek Friday night- makes for much less stressful Saturday mornings! Packing all of the big/ clunky (but totally necessary...right!?) props into our small car is always a puzzle. We ended up needing to stop about 30 minutes into the trip to relocate the ladder from the roof, to inside the car (wedged between the driver/ passenger seats)...for a hilarious photo of this, follow me over on instagram @kylieparry (also added an instagram widget to my sidebar!). 

Overall, the show was just OK. Perhaps my expectations were too high for a smaller show at this time of year. But, I'm glad I did it and will consider it again in the future. The venue was great, a decent sized crowd and I was among great company. Low point of the show:  someone STOLE a necklace from me. Can you believe that!?! I keep track of everything I sell (and know everything I start with) and either a sailboat necklace grew legs and walked off the table, or someone ripped me off. Maybe it was naive of me to never think twice about theft at art shows...who steals from an artist at a craft show...come on! Will be more diligent next time...

 Always my best seller- bird necklaces. always.

Made enough moolah to fund our trip to Ikea Sunday for the remaining furnishing for baby's room. My first time to Ikea- mind blowing and very overwhelming. We picked up everything on my list (and then some...) including our crib, rocking chair and that fabulous cart that I've been coveting ever since seeing it on Pinterest.

My next show will be June 15- the Art Market in downtown Appleton. Always a favorite of mine!

summer show prep

Getting ready for the Craftstravaganza, which is only 2 weekends away! Here are some goodies that I unloaded from the kiln this morning. I love that shows give me a chance to offer new designs (and designs that I haven't stocked in my etsy shop for a long time)- like these dragonflies. 

 Building up my stock of beads, for my DIY necklace station that I will be offering.

 Tiny tree charms strung up on cotton cord with indonesian glass beads. Earthy and simple for summer!

 New splash of color pendants with built-in bails.

 Lily pad spoon rests. I keep one of these on our stove top and love it for messy, saucy spoons.

 adventure necklaces.

maiden voyage...

We took our new teardrop camper...nicked named "the toad" out on its first adventure last weekend. We went to one of our favorite state parks, Point Beach. It's located right along Lake Michigan and the beach stretches as far as the eye can see...it feels like the ocean, or at least as close to the ocean that we can get to in Wisco. 

We were thankful for the heater! While it was the nicest weekend of the spring, it still got down to the low 40's at night...brrrrrrr... but we were toasty warm inside. Luke cooked us up breakfast on Sunday morning- the little kitchen area in back is so handy (it is hard to tell from the photos, but that large drawer that pulls out is actually a stove).  

If you'd like to see a few more photos from the trip, follow me on instagram @kylieparry

Next trip is 2 weeks away, we will be heading up to door county!

Mother's Day

I put together some new bird necklaces with Mother's Day in mind. I love the soft, spring color combos. Mother's Day takes on a little different meaning for me this year, even though I'm not a mama yet, I sort of feel like one as I prep for the arrival of our squishy babe. 

(necklaces can be found in my etsy shop)

nursery style board- (some things have already been purchased, saving up for the rest)

My take on a gender neutral space. Since we are keeping the gender a secret (which has been very, very hard), it keeps me accountable to not stray towards the pink or blue. Ever go to Target and shop in the baby section?...it is either pink or blue and it drives me nuts! 

 Babe at 24 weeks. Less than 15 weeks to go at this point.

Have a great weekend everyone! We are taking advantage of the predicted warm weather and are taking our new tear drop camper out on its maiden voyage. Will post pictures after the weekend!

Spring & Summer Shows

I'm starting to prep for 2013 spring and summers art shows. Only 3 this season (I didn't want to plan any too close to baby's due date). Each year I try to come up with some new ideas- for display and designs for sale. Here is a sneak peek of what you will find. The first show is only 4 weeks away in MN! Local peeps, see the end of the post for locations/ dates. 

New this year is a DIY necklace station...I will have big bowls of pebble beads so folks can choose their own unique combinations. In the past, I've found that people like the hands-on, customizable pieces. I hope this is a hit- I think it will be great fun!

For my glossy- shiny loving customers, I will have this new design. I like the simplicity and how the round shape looks with the ball chain. I made a bunch this week and am looking forward to experimenting with different glaze combinations.

Dragonflies will be back (it has been a couple years). Glazed in glossy hues- probably on a simple leather cord. 

 Pebble post earrings. In lots of rustic, earthy colors.

 Disk necklaces on cotton cord with adjustable slip knot closure. Just because I love these and think everyone should too.

 Inspired by the sea...whales, starfishes, ships...

I will be keeping the birds around this year (on my ladder display)...perhaps some pendant sets too. Lots to think about (and make!)
DATES/ LOCATIONS:

Craftstravaganza-

Saturday, May 11

St. Paul, MN

Minnesota State Fairgrounds Eco Experience Building

Art Market- 

Saturday, June 15 

Saturday, July 20

Appleton, WI

Downtown College Avenue, in conjunction with the farmers market

Show schedule can always be found on my website. 

p.s. many of these necklaces can be found in my etsy shop.