Meanwhile, in Kaitlin's world...

     Hello, faithful blog followers. I apologize for abandoning you and forcing you to languish in the agony that your lives must be without me, but I've been too busy spitting out random pieces of jewelry like some deranged jewelry dragon. Raaawr.

     I feel the sudden need to draw a deranged jewelry-spitting dragon. Sounds complicated. Amanda, take care of that for me, will you? Give it my hair, because everything looks better with long, black hair.

     There's really nothing new to report here. Still no events lined up, no new additions to the site (those are coming soon though, I swear!), and I'm still looking for a "real" job. If you know some event taking place later this year where I can sell my semi-fabulous jewelry, do let me know. If you don't find a place for me to sell stuff, my room is going to overflow with necklaces, bracelets, earrings, etc. and my family and I will drown in a sea of beads. You don't want that to happen, do you?

Swimming in Ideas

"I equate inspiration with desire -- the desire that moves us to be artists in the first place. To attempt to make a painting without this motivation is a waste of time." ~ Nita Engle


     Ok, so I don't paint, but I like the quote all the same. Been a while since I prefaced my post with a quote. I guess I got lazy for a while. Anyway, this post is about various assorted things, some art-related, some not.


     My head is swimming with inspiration lately. I feel like I'm drowning in it. I have so many ideas and very little willpower to actually make them realities. Nevertheless, I get up every day and try. Maybe it's just hard for me to choose a direction since my heart is pulling me so many different ways. Maybe you guys can help me narrow it down some. I just purchased Méav's "Silver Sea" album at the Midsummer Night's Eve Festival, and it has me wanting to make a lot of really elegant sea-themed jewelry. I mean come on... her songs are just full of inspirational imagery. Then I went and saw the Lord of the Rings extended editions on the big screen the past two weeks, so I've got elvish jewelry on the brain. If I could, I'd live in Rivendell and wear gowns and circlets every day. Not really sure how I would go about making elvish jewelry though, since it's mostly metalwork, not beaded. Also, I've had this Harry Potter quidditch necklace in mind for a few months and so far I've only managed to start on the quaffle charm. Way to go, right? I want to make Luna's radish earrings too. Then I have a TON of steampunk components lying around because I really wanted to expand my Pistols and Pearls collection after being inspired by all the people at TimeGate. I have keys, locks, gears, found objects galore... Then I've also had the urge to work with some of my high-quality materials like gemstones and freshwater pearls... but that drives up the price of the pieces and means that I won't sell them until I find an appropriate venue where people are actually willing to pay for the good stuff. I was also inspired by Kerry over at Fantastic Visions to take some of my undrilled stones and make them into pendants by wrapping polyclay figures around them. I'm not sure I have the sculpting skills to pull it off, but it'd be nice to finally be able to use all the polished stones I have lying around. 


     So all of that is floating around in my head. Anyone have preferences or other ideas? 


     Anyway, in addition to working on my jewelry, I've been trying to make plans for DragonCon. My friend Heather is dragging me to it, so I'm working on costumes. I'm pretty sure I'm going to do the Arwen Dream Gown from The Two Towers. I love Arwen's costumes, and the Dream Gown is the only one that I'd be able to pull off comfortably in the Georgia heat. I already have elf ears, so now I'm just working on putting the gown together and getting the Evenstar pendant just to make it a little more Arwenish. And if I decide to go for multiple days (it's looking like I might), then I'm going to try a Harry Potter themed costume (quidditch robes or Beauxbatons uniform) and a Star Wars themed costume (Senator Amidala or... God only knows what... Lots of ideas that probably won't work). Or maybe I'll just try something steampunk. I don't know. It's hard to costume in a place as hot as Georgia. So anyway. That's happening. 


     Also still looking for conventions and festivals where I can sell. Thinking about Geek Media Expo, HallowCon, and Hurricane Who. Don't really know much about any of them, but they look like they might work well.


     Now I'm going to go sing some Celtic music and practice my ballroom dancing in the living room before my parents get home. Woohoodle!

A Fan's Dilemma

     I've discovered that there's a problem with my idea of working at conventions and other geek events... I want to go to these things and have fun. Take this month's Midsummer Night's Eve festival in Flovilla. I was planning to go with Heather in the evening, have a few drinks at the bar, and wander around having fun while dressed like a fairy. Solid plan. Now I find out they still have space for vendors. Not only do they have space, but it's affordable space! And it's fantasy geeks, so my stuff might sell really well. But then I'd have to be there all day, outside, in the heat, stuck in one place, not participating in any events, etc. How lame is that? So now I have to choose between money and fun. I need more minions to help me run my booth at these things. Blah. Also have to decide if I want to journey down to Florida for Time Lord Fest... can't decide if it's worth the drive.

     So yeah, no idea what I'm going to do yet. Everything is kind of falling apart on me at the moment, and my head is an absolute mess. But the good news is that I've started sculpting a quaffle for my quidditch necklace. That counts for something, right?

Better TimeGate Post

     All right. Now that I'm not dead on my feet, I can actually post something significant about my weekend. It really was a lot of fun, even if I was working most of the time. First let me say that hanging out with Heather, Crystal, LynCee (did I spell that right?), Jude, and Liz was awesome. They're a great group of girls and they kept me from making a fool of myself... most of the time. Special thanks to Heather for being such an amazing friend and helping me out with my booth. I really couldn't have pulled this off without her.

     My booth was a decent success and a huge self-esteem boost for me. People actually kept coming back over and over again to look at my work instead of just glancing at it and moving on. It felt so much better than the other festivals I've participated in. Also, while in other places they whine about the price of my pieces, this time a lovely woman actually looked at my two most expensive pieces and said, "Wow. Those prices are very reasonable." You have no idea how much I appreciated that. In addition, I sold the most expensive piece I had. My pride and joy, Yule Blossom, was my greatest masterpiece to date and featured freshwater pearls, garnet, and peridot stones along with a beautiful pendant that functions as a clasp. The best part is, I sold it to Crystal, so I'll get to see it again someday. It's always hard to part with a piece that you've spent so many hours on, so it's great that it went to someone I like who I know will take good care of it. Thanks, mate!

     Anyway, my time spent in the dealers room was a little boring at times since I was there for around 19 hours during the course of the weekend, but I had great company in there. My fellow dealers were fantastic people, and I plan to stay in touch with them (you know how good I am at staying in touch, though...). Special shoutout to Kerry, Connie, Illya, and GuineaPigLady! Thanks for keeping me entertained and giving me great tips on improving my business! Love you guys! Please check the links on the side of the page to look at their work. They have fabulous pieces. I also had a ton of great customers who gave me good advice and encouragement. It was wonderful. So thanks to everyone who bought my work, and I hope you'll visit me again in the future!

     I think one of the best parts about the weekend was the room party on Saturday night. If you have a full bar, open door, and blaring music, the geeks will come. What started out as a small gathering of friends turned into a room full of strangers, and it was great. I spent the early portion of the night chatting with Billy Dee Williams aka Doug as he drank his Colt 45 and shared his amazing drawings with me. Not only is Doug an accomplished professor in Norfolk, but he also has his own webcomic and some crazy awesome ninja dance moves. Later in the night I spent several hours talking to the amazing Ken Spivey of the Ken Spivey Band. I think he might be one of the most interesting men I've ever met, and his music is wonderful. He's part of an upcoming event in Florida called Time Lord Fest, so if you're a Doctor Who fan, you should definitely check that out. I might wind up going myself. Anyway, keep an eye out for links to both Doug and Ken on the left side of the page.

     So there are the highlights from my first convention adventure. I definitely plan to attend more conventions in the future. Anyway, my schedule is currently empty, so I need to go off and find more events to fill it, as well as restock my inventory. I have plans for a crazy awesome quidditch necklace, so look for that sometime soon. Yay for geeky inspiration!

I'm Alive and Mostly Well

     Another very short post here... I'm super tired and my voice is shot, but TimeGate was overall a success. I actually made money this time! Woohoodle! Aside from that, it was great to spend three days with "my people" instead of the average joe who looks at me like I'm an idiot when I go off on a geek rant or want to wear a circlet to dinner. So yeah, I met some really cool people that I want to a) keep in touch with and b) promote... so you can expect a post about some of them in the future (you know who you are, booth buddies and room party people). But for now, I'm going to rest. I've never done so much talking in my life.

Site Update

     I'm too tired and feeling too sick to really say anything useful here, but I thought I'd post a quick update on the price adjustments I've been working on lately. Nothing major, just reduced the price of some pieces on my site. I also finished adding buy buttons to the miscellaneous category in my jewelry. Now to go back to doing more work. Yay me.

Geeks of the World, Unite!

     So yeah... Berry's Arts and Crafts Festival was a bust. I made enough to cover the cost of the $15 table, but I'm pretty sure I didn't make enough to cover the cost of the gas I used to get all the way up to Rome. I only sold two things. Did you know that in the year I've been doing this, I've only made $1,200? And the cost of my expenses is waaay more than that. I'm down several hundred dollars. Yay me. As if my financial failure wasn't enough, I also completely destroyed my body at the festival, pulling muscles in my arms, getting a smiley face sunburn on the one part of my back that I couldn't reach with sunscreen, and dropping a table on my ankle to make what is now a very large, oddly shaped bruise. Gaaaah...

     Anyway... I have a very short break until my next event which is TimeGate in Atlanta on May 27-29. For those of you who have no idea what TimeGate is, it's a Doctor Who/Stargate convention that my friend Heather pointed out to me. I'm actually kind of excited about this one, but I'm nervous too because if I fail here, I don't know where else I stand a chance. See, I'm kind of hoping that maybe I'll find my niche selling jewelry to my fellow geeks at conventions. Geeks spend a lot of money, especially on costumes for cons. So I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that I can make this work. In preparation, I've been researching jewelry and other items used on both shows to see if I can make reproductions or pieces inspired by various characters, places, and things. Now, I know absolutely nothing about Doctor Who, so I'm pretty much relying on Heather, my favorite Doctor Who fanatic, to point me in the right direction. I am, however, a fan of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, so that part is kind of fun. Except for the part where I can't afford a Stargate costume because I have very little money coming in. That part sucks. Anywhooo, I've got several possible pieces running through my brain, including Replicator block pendants, Adipose charms, Eldrad's ring, Harmony's pendant, and necklaces worn by Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, Osiris, Bynarr, and Amaunet, just to name a few. Knowing me and my lack of motivation, I'll be lucky if I make even half the stuff I have planned out, but still, if anyone has suggestions, let me know. I might just do a collection inspired by the most famous Goa'uld from SG-1... like Ba'al, Amaterasu, Kali, Apophis, Morrigan, Camulus, Cronus, Hathor, Nirrti, etc.

Opinions?