get your resin on (three), new resin bracelets by Roma Arellano (aka ybonesy), all photos © 2009 by ybonesy. All rights reserved.
I heard a news report yesterday that said something to the effect of, The average shopper has only finished about half of his or her Christmas gift-buying thus far. Wow. That’s a lot of shopping to get in before Christmas. And only five days left to do it.
But guess what? We’re doing our part to help procrastinators in the Albuquerque area. Our resin group decided that this month, instead of holding our standard resin meeting, we’d throw ourselves a holiday art house party. We’re getting together tomorrow at the home of one of our members (thank you, Cecilia!) and inviting everyone we know to come and buy art at great prices. And visit, eat, and have fun!
So, in the spirit of getting the word out…
out with the old
I’d been fretting about not having enough time to build up inventory of late, but then it dawned on me that I have a lot of “seconds” I could sell at the art party. Resin is a persnickety material; it often leaves waves or bubbles. I had set aside all the pendants that I didn’t think were up to snuff for selling, intent on fixing them some day (since resin is also a forgiving substance; items can be re-resin’d). Yet the mistakes are the kinds that I notice more than the average bear. So instead of keeping all these seconds on my work table for eventual perfecting, I’ll be selling them at half off. Woo hoo!
I’m also going to sell off a few images that I have since decided to close out. In my first round of building inventory, I threw in everything but the kitchen sink; the truth is, I have more designs than I can keep up with. All those close-out pendants will also go for half off, which means you can buy items for as low as $6. Now, that’s what I call good and cheap.
in with the new
Pictured throughout this post are new bracelets I’ve been making, many to give away as gifts for the women in my family (sorry to ruin the surprise if you’re one of those women). And speaking of women, the highly creative mujeres from the monthly resin group taught us all how to make these stretchy bracelets using small tiles in multiples.
Aren’t they cool? The bracelets are reminiscent of jewelry my sisters used to wear in the 60s and 70s. I love how you can mix and mingle found images with your own doodles to make new and wondrous designs.
Now that I know how to make them, I will continue to use more my own images and less found ones. I’ll have some bracelets for sale, mostly to see how people respond to them.
I also found a source for small wood mounts for making mini-wall hangings. I hope to have at least a few of those at the party.
come on down
We’ll be putting up signs and balloons to lead folks to the art party, which is tomorrow, Sunday, the 21st of December, 10 am to 4 pm. I’ve invited Facebook friends in the area and will pester them and others with another email reminder.
I hope to see you there. You won’t be disappointed by the selection. (I mean it—these women are such great artists!)
By the way, QM, this flyer contains some of the fun public domain fonts I’ve downloaded of late. Reminds me of your post on Runes.
Oh, and next year, I know. We’re all going to try to have our shopping done at least two weeks before Christmas. Right? Right.
-Related to posts Hey, You Got Your Doodles On My Scrabble Tiles!, When You Get Tired Of Scrabble, Take Up Dominoes, and Pendants And Charms And Milagros, Oh My!
I have six words for you:
Put these bracelets on Etsy, Roma!
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Thanks, Teri!!! I’ll definitely be doing so in the new year. They’re really fun to wear, too.
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When I wear the necklace I bought on your Etsy site, I get so many compliments. I call her Tia Olivia.
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Roma, I love the bracelets! You’re on fire with your art. I’ll be thinking about you today at Cecilia’s, selling your work. Close out pendants for $6 — that’s a steal! It makes me wonder which images you decided to go with, which you’ll be letting go.
It’s great to follow your process as you develop and learn. It’s gracious of you to share with others, too. Good luck today.
BTW, the poster is great. Maybe when thing settle down you can let us know what fonts you used. Like the map, too. Wish I could come. But 1200 miles is just a little bit too far of a drive for one afternoon. Hope you check back in later!
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Those bracelets are amazing. Agree that they should go on Etsy.
Had lunch with a friend on Friday who is thinking of putting his art on Etsy. I told him the little I know about your story because he’s gotten bogged down in the “administrative” stuff about setting up his website. You are an inspiration to people you don’t even know, yb.
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Teri, you bought Aunt Olivia! How sweet. I love that. I’m so excited for Roma out there selling her work.
Bob, I wish your friend the best with his art. The little Roma has told me about setting up the Etsy store is that it is a lot of work. And takes a lot of time. But is worth it in the long run. The key is to remember that selling and creating art is a lifelong commitment (like writing). It doesn’t happen overnight. And changes along the way.
A lot depends on the market, too. I know several artists who get their work out there and certain lines of work might sell while others don’t. It’s surprising sometimes to see what people are drawn to. I love that Roma shares her process on red Ravine. It’s so helpful.
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[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by red Ravine, red Ravine. red Ravine said: yb: If you're a last-minute shopper AND you want unique stuff AND you live in #ABQ, come 2 fun art sale Dec 21: http://bit.ly/4s2I0W […]
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Great bracelets, yb! Re the shopping stats, I’ll have to cop to not doing enough for the economy–I did my shopping in an afternoon. Christmas is more a time to re-connect, especially through correspondence and cards, for me. (It’s about the only time I get written correspondence rather than email, any more!) I tend to become mor of a consumer in January, after the hubbub, anyway.
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Hey yb — I want one of those bracelets. Seriously.
How do I get one?
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Hey Flann, I’ll send you an email. I can get you one, although (and this isn’t the salesperson in me talking) three on the wrist feels majestic! Thanks for being a fan, Flann. 8)
Ben, I can appreciate the post-holiday contribution to the economy. Jim and I are saving our holiday gifts to one another until after the new year. We both want gadgets, and it’s hard to surprise another person with gadgets. And, as you say, Christmas is more about re-connection.
Bob and QM, thank you. If you love what you’re doing, it becomes almost effortless. Cliche, yes, but I find that I can do this work during all my spare moments, burning the candle on both ends, staying up past midnight, getting up with the 6:20a alarm, and feel energized. It is so much fun.
Show today went well. We didn’t have a chance to promote it as much as we would have liked. We didn’t do fliers that we handed out, etc., but relied mostly on word of mouth (via Facebook and email to friends). The place looked great. The displays and art were fabulous–so professional. Some of us talked about making it an annual event and building it up each year.
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Teri, thanks again for your support. I’m glad people are appreciating Tia Olivia in places outside of New Mexico. I think I told you, but she is my one and only relative who stayed in Taos. My dad lived there after he was orphaned and then returned there after his stint in the Army (and WWII). But he didn’t stay long. Tia Olivia married a Taos boy, and they live in Ranchos de Taos. So you’re always connected to Taos when you wear that pendant. 8)
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One last very fun tidbit about the show today: A woman walked in and bought three of my pendants. She picked up one of my Moo cards, which had the red Ravine URL. She asked if I had a blog by that name. Yes, I told her. She said that she had been in a writing workshop in Texas and an Atlanta-based writer had recommended red Ravine to her. She was a recent transplant to ABQ and New Mexico; she was a neighbor of the woman hosting the holiday art house party.
We figured out that the Atlanta-based writer who recommended red Ravine was Christine Swint from balanced on the edge (who, btw, was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize for a poem she published this year–see our Blogroll).
How fun it was to meet someone who knew of our blog and knew one of our blogging colleagues! I’m hoping I might be able to reconnect with this woman (Julie is her name) to do Writing Practice now and again, as she is a Bones practitioner.
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p.s., sold the one that features Day of the Dead. A friend who likes red bought it.
Also want to say, QM, that I’d be happy to walk you through the fonts used in the flier and the font of all fonts: da font (dafont.com). Great for public domain fonts.
Header font (the one in the masthead) is “Stamp Act.” Main font in the text is (this is appropriate) “December Handmade.”
In the footer (the bottom black area), first one, which says Polymer Clay is Cake!, next one “Mal de Ojo” (I, of course, had to use this font because of the name–it means “evil eye”), next one is again “Stamp Act,” then “Magneto,” then “Mexican Knappett” (I LOVE that one!), then a font from the group of fonts that are partially disintegrated (“Base 05”), and if you’re following this, you’re now at the part that says Scrabble Art and that font is “Scrabble” (duh!). Last but not least, “Impact Label,” which is like a label machine font (remember those machines that punch out the labels?).
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Totally agree with the Etsy commenters…I would have bought these for a lot of people, myself included! I just love them.
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Bless your heart, Scaramastra. I would have listed the bracelets, but I almost sold out on them, and what few I have I want to consider for Christmas gifts. I made 15, and given the response I now know that this is a good item. 8)
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Definitely! I’ll be checking in. 🙂
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[…] gift you’ve ever received? Was it something you really wanted as a child? Was it handmade, a piece of art or jewelry, a family recipe box, dinner with friends? Did it cost money or was it a gift from the heart? We […]
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[…] – ybonesy makes the list again. She’s made leaps and bounds with her art this year. That inspires me, fires me up for my own creative endeavors. She’s a woman who seems to be […]
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[…] in early May. Went to Vietnam in mid-May and again in August. I met Pham Luc, learned how to make jewelry from my doodles, did two art shows in the Fall, and set up a small Etsy shop this past […]
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[…] gluing on designs, sanding edges, and mixing resin. Just last night, I worked on several new bracelets. I am always amazed at the vibrancy of the work and delighted any time a new color scheme or design […]
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[…] wooden canvasses, so I played around with collage and color. And I did my usual pendants and bracelets. My dilemma: How to make art every day? Or every week, or even every other […]
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