your opinion wanted

Quick question for all of you out in blog land-

if you were to attend a little art/craft/design business gathering, what sort of topics would you like to see presented? And how much would you be willing to pay for a 2 or 3 hour event? What if it included food or drink?

And because I love your feedback so much, I'm going to pick one commenter at random and send you a laser cut coffee cup cozy.

flocks

I'd seen the flocks pouf online before - but seeing it in the sustainability display at the Gift Fair really makes me want to buy one.

my "wow" moment

Day one at the gift fair - I think I finished setting up about an hour after the show opened!  But at least its finished.  Then I spent most of the rest of the day thinking about how I could redesign the booth.

Traffic was a little slow today, but I generally got a good response to the work.  Not a lot of orders, but I really think right now people want to look around the show before they buy.

This afternoon, I walked by the Jonathan Adler booth, and Jonathan Adler was actually in it.  It was such a crazy "wow" moment - I'm exhibiting in the same section of the show as Jonathan Adler.  Now if only Tord Boontje would pop by the Artecnica booth, I might just die.

setting up at the gift fair

I spent all day in the Javits Center setting up my booth, and I'm still not quite done.  (And the show opens tomorrow!)  Here are some pics to show the progression of my setup.  I spent the extra money to get the package booth, which included hard walls and lights.  It saved so much hassle - all I had to do was paint the walls.

I'm not 100% happy with the outcome - I think the platforms in the front of the booth are a little low, and in retrospect, the black and white seems a little boring.  But this is my first booth with this new work, and I know how long it took me to get a booth I was happy with for my jewelry.  So now I've got lots of things to think about for next time.

and we're off

and we're off
Originally uploaded by megan auman

I'm on the road to the gift fair today. I'll try to blog the show as much as I can.

Thanks for all your positive comments about the new line. Hopefully its as well received at the show!

new postcards, too

Speaking of promo materials - my new postcards just arrived!

hang tags

I'm wrapping up some last minute gift show prep before I head to New York on Friday morning, and it feels like I've still got a million lose ends.  

Its no secret I love promotional materials, so I made these little hang tags for the new home collection.  They are actually business card size, cut in half on my paper cutter and then rounded with my corner punch.  I purposely kept them simple - just my name, web address, and a space for my retailers to put price info.

our new president

I've been so busy with gift fair prep that I didn't even have a minute to watch the inauguration yesterday.  But I'm so happy to wake up this morning to a new president, and busy as I am, I think its important to take a moment to commemorate that.

I am just so proud.

the final result

Thanks to everyone for your wonderful comments on my new collection.  I feel like it was a momentous effort, and I've got so many more pieces I'd still like to make, but I'm really happy with the results so far.

Today I pulled out the good camera to take a few promotional pictures of the new collection.  I've got lots more pieces to photograph, and a lot more work to do to launch the new collection on the web, but that will have to wait until after the gift fair. 

For now, you'll have to settle for these few pictures.  

Oh, and if you're going to be at the gift fair, please stop by my booth (Accent on Design #4055) to see the new work and say hello!

a little light

on this gray Sunday morning.

new pieces powder coated

...in matte black and gloss white.

sneak peek

Sorry I've been a little MIA this past week, but the Gift Fair prep was really starting to stress me out.  That is until this afternoon, when I went and picked up my new stuff at Laserfab.  Now I'm jumping up and down excited!

So here's a little sneak peek video to kick off your weekend:

last call

I'm officially discontinuing my fine silver on steel line - but I wanted to give you one last opportunity to pick up that piece you've had your eye on.  I'm double checking my inventory and listing anything I still have - like this large pendant - in my etsy shop.

If there's something you'd like but don't see, let me know and I can probably make one for you.  (Except for rings, unfortunately those are totally gone.)  You can email me - meauman(at)yahoo(dot)com - or convo me on etsy.

But hurry, because as of January 31, this line will be gone.

booth model

I'm having a hard time figuring out my display for New York Gift - especially because I haven't gotten my pieces back from the laser cutter.  So I made a scale model.  Which still isn't quite helping me - hence the jumbled pile in the front.  

I guess its back to staring at my model...

gold leaves

...waiting to be welding.

steel and gold

This week I ordered steel and gold for some new jewelry designs I'm working on.  They both arrived yesterday.  This is over $700 in gold wire sitting on top of two 12" x 24" sheets of steel.  The cost for both sheets of steel - $14.  Sad.

hello, old friends

After spending most of December on my computer, working on designs to be laser cut, its nice to get back to my studio and some of my favorite hand tools.

what I'm reading: outliers

I just finished reading Outliers: The Story of Success - the newest book by Tipping Point author Malcolm Gladwell.  It was one of about a dozen books I got for Christmas, and I chose to start with it because I knew it would be an easier, enjoyable read.  Just as with the Tipping Point, Gladwell looks at the world around us and comes up with new reasons for why things happen the way they do.

In Outliers, he argues that success is not so much a product of personal achievement, but occurs by a combination of circumstance, opportunities, and culture.  It is often factors beyond our control that create the opportunities for some people to be enormously successful.  While its difficult to disagree with Gladwell's arguments, I find them a bit frustrating.  It really seems like so much of success happens by chance, and while Gladwell gives examples of how society's can increase their peoples chances of success, there doesn't seem to be a lot you can do on an individual level.

The most interesting concept for me was the idea that it takes 10,000 hours to truly become proficient at something.  Gladwell sites examples ranging from professional Canadian hockey players, to Bill Gates, to the Beatles - all of whom had opportunities to get in 10,000 hours before their peers, thereby making them more successful.

The 10,000 hours concept makes me curious about the students I teach.  Every semester that I teach beginning jewelry/metals, I always have one or two students who seem to have a natural affinity for the material - an innate set of hand skills.  After reading Outliers, I wonder if this is actually the case.  I'd love to know more about the childhoods of my students.  Did the ones with the "natural ability" spend more time building and making things and just using their hands as children?  Were they already closer to 10,000 hours of manual dexterity than their peers?  Is there a way to predict which students will be the most talented metalsmiths based on their childhood experiences?  

I'm already interested in understanding the growing lack of hand skills among my students.  Now, I'd like to apply the theories in Outliers to see if there really is a way to predict which students might be the most successful metalsmiths and if there is a way to help all my students become more successful.

24 miles

Today I rode 24 miles, my longest ride to date.  It was cold and windy, and my legs are tired now, but it was worth it to be out in the fresh air and scenery.  I have to remember to bring my camera on a ride soon, because the farmland that I ride through is absolutely picturesque.  Here's my route, courtesy of MapMyRide:



And no, I didn't ride on the Interstate, the road I was on runs right next to it.

congrats!

Thanks to random.org, the winner of my contest is...

ikkinlala!

Please email me at meauman(at)yahoo(dot)com so I can mail you your bag.

Thanks to everyone for commenting on my post.  I love contests and giveaways so there will be plenty more in 2009.

my very first

After watching this great video essay by Sarah Vowell about her part in The Incredibles, I was inspired to start documenting my creative process by video.  I picked up a little Flip video camera (because I'm all about the instant process and portability) and this is the result.

In a late night, vector drawing induced moment of insanity, I ordered some stuff from Ponoko.  My pieces arrived today, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity for video.  So without further ado - my very first video of my first Ponoko pieces.

happy new year!

Just a reminder that today is the last day to enter my contest!

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2009.