Nicolette’s Design Diary

Just a quick note to let you know that I’ll be leading one of the Special Event Event Seminars at the American Craft Council Show in Baltimore next week on Wednesday, February 25.

The ACC holds a series of “Tabletop Breakfasts” during the wholesale section of the show where artists, gallery owners, and retailers can Q&A about a variety of topics. They were kind enough to ask me to lead the topic on Web Marketing and Blogging for Artists. I’m a bit nervous but excited too!

If you’re going to be exhibiting or attending ACC Baltimore next Wednesday and you’re going to attend one of these “mini seminars”, be sure to stop by my table and say hi!

For more information:

• ACC Baltimore website
• ACC Baltimore Facebook Page
• Download the Special Events Brochure

Win a chance to win this grand prize jewelry set

As I announced earlier, this week, I’ve done a complete overhaul of this blog and my jewelry website and changed my company name from Mixed Media Designs to Nicolette Tallmadge Designs. Well, to celebrate this change, I’ve decided to hold a big fat jewelry giveaway. From now until January 18th, you can enter to win one of the following:

• One lucky winner will get a Narrow Links Ojos necklace, earring, and bracelet set packaged with a handmade wooden box by ViVá. (a $400 value)
• Three lucky winners will get a pair of Paper Bead Earrings packaged in velvet tarnish resistant bag ($40 value)
• Three more lucky winners will get a pair of Ojos Earrings packaged in a velvet tarnish resistant ($40 value)
• And two lucky winners will get a complete Jewelry Care kit containing 1 Sunshine Polishing Cloth, 1 7-oz container of Sunray Jewelry Cleaner, 1 bottle of 3M Tarni-Shield Silver Polish, 3M Anti-Tarnish Strips ($45 value)

Altogether, this represents over $700 worth of prizes I’m giving away!

You can enter the contest by doing one or all of the following

1. Join my free newsletter, The Monthly Bling!- Get monthly tips on jewelry care and jewelry trends. Plus, as a subscriber, not only are you entered into this giveaway, but you’ll automatically will be entered into my monthly jewelry giveaway! To subscribe, fill out the form below:

   First Name

   Last Name

   Email Address

2. Become a fan of the Nicolette Tallmadge Designs Facebook page- If you’re on Facebook, become a fan of the Nicolette Tallmadge Designs Facebook page! Keep up with what’s going on and meet and interact with other fans! Visit my Facebook page here

3. Follow Nicolette Tallmadge Designs on Twitter- If you are a Twitter user, follow me and get updates on what’s going on my website and get info on new designs! To follow me, visit my profile page at http://twitter.com/NTDesigns

4. Purchase something in my online store- There’s all sorts of goodies in the online store…and current customers automatically get entered into the contest.

Increase your chances of winning!

The more ways you enter, the more chances you have to win! If you join the newsletter and follow me on Twitter, then your name is entered in twice! So be sure to enter the contest in as many ways as possible!

The contest ends at midnight on January 18th. I’ll be announcing winners on January 20th. Don’t miss out! Enter Now!

14kt gold fill chain beaded with Swarovski crystal

I’ll be teaching a class on how to make this beaded chain bracelet at the Saint Patrick’s Catholic School, in Norfolk, Virginia on February 12th.

Every year St. Patrick’s Catholic School holds “Evenings at Saint Patrick” where local experts from the community hold evening classes over a six week period. The proceeds from the classes goes to fund the scholarship and financial aid program for school. I’ve been teaching this class for going on three years now and it’s always been fun!

If you are from the Hampton Roads, Virginia area, and you’re interested in my class or any of the other 140+ classes in the course catalog, visit the Saint Patrick’s website and register. Classes are away from $30 to $60 and space is limited, so be sure to register soon at: http://www.stpcs.org/evenings/index.html

New design for my jewelry website

This has been a long time coming, but I’ve finally updated both my blog and my jewelry website after weeks of frantic and sometimes hair pulling work. You can visit my newly updated website at http://www.nicolettetallmadgedesigns.com.

I’ve also got a few more announcements coming. Some of it involves winning free jewelry…so be sure to stay tuned!

It’s official! In July, I had announced that one of my Paper Bead bracelets was chosen to be included in The Art of Jewelry: Paper Jewelry, one of Lark Books newest publications. Tonight I went down to the bookstore and bought a copy. I’m supposed to get a complimentary copy from Lark, but I want to give a copy to James’ grandmother. And now that I think about it…I’ll need to get a copy for my mom too…

Anyway, if you want to check out a copy for yourself, you’ll find The Art of Jewelry: Paper Jewelry at Barnes & Noble, Borders, and of course Amazon.com. Be sure to check out page 29, that’s where you’ll find a picture of Untitled #1…my bracelet!

My own excitement about being published aside…this is a really nice book. The projects are fabulous. If you enjoy making your own unique jewelry, there are projects in here that are not only easy to make but are guaranteed to start a conversation. And the designs from the other jewelry artists are really awesome. My current favorite pieces are Someone Else’s Vacation by K. Dana Kagrise (page 135) and Untitled, 2005 by Yoko Shimizu (page 141). K. Dana Kagrise’s piece is a bracelet made out of manila envelopes, cotton thread, and vintage slides. The manila envelopes are assembled and shaped to resemble a slide carousel with vintage slides inserted into each envelope…so cool! And you would hardly believe that Yoko Shimizu’s piece is made out of rice paper and resin. This artist had shaped rice paper into translucent leaf-like shapes that resembles stained glass and layered each leaf into a truly beautiful piece.

And just by glancing through the book again, I’ve found another favorite, Untitled, 2005 by Rachel N. Mills (page 75). This neckpiece that resembles a thin knitted scarf is made out telephone book pages, copper wire and pearls. Amazing!

If you get the chance, check it out…

Technorati Tags: jewelry, Lark Books, paper jewelry

Days like yesterday is one of the reasons why I like to going to the mailbox. I picked up the mail yesterday and found a letter from Lark Books telling me that they are going to include a photo of one of my jewelry pieces in their upcoming book, The Art of Jewelry: Paper Jewelry. Lark Books specializes in publishing craft and art related books. This new title from them is about the art of making jewelry from paper, will have about 40 projects on making paper jewelry, and will feature works from contemporary jewelry artists working in paper. The book is scheduled to come out in December of this year, and unless things change (these projects can sometimes be delayed or cancelled without warning), my jewelry will be included in the book! Woo hoo!

Naturally, I’m excited about the prospect of being published in a book. I’ve been published twice before in magazines, but a book seems so much more permanent. I’m also curious about the other artists that are going to be featured in the book and what their work looks like. There are a lot of jewelers in the world. Typically jewelry is one of the biggest categories at craft events, and as such the one of the hardest to get juried into. There might be a lot of jewelers in the world, not a lot of us paper jewelers..that is if what I see in galleries and shows are any indication. I do know of some. Holly Ann Mitchell is one artist who I’m frequently mistaken for. She makes bracelets out of neat things like newspaper, sugar packets, and lottery tickets. Another artist I’ve recently read about in Crafts, a magazine published in the UK, is Naoko Yoshizawa. She makes playful and colorful jewelry out of folded paper strips and metal. With all the talent out there, it will be interesting to see who else is in the book.

Lark will be sending me a copy of the book once it’s published. I’ll post about this again once I get the book in my hands. Double woo-hoo!

[tags]Lark Books, publishing, paper jewelry, jewelry[/tags]

There are two additions to the 2006 show schedule for the summer and the fall. I will be leaving my studio from August 4 to 6 to exhibit at the Litchfield Jazz Festival in Goshen, Connecticut. I know I said in a previous post that I prefer to do fall and spring shows. But hey, if you get invited to exhibit the same show that jazz greats like Dionne Warwick and James Moody will be performing at…how can you turn that down?

I’ll also be returning to Alexandria, Virginia on October 7 to the 11th Annual Art on the Avenue festival in the artisy Del Ray district. This was a great show last year, lots of cool artists, lots of cool visitors… can’t wait to visit again!

So, as reminder, if you want to see where else I will be at this fall, take a look at the 2006 show schedule here. This list reflects all of the shows I’m currently confirmed for. You can return to the show schedule page to keep up to date, but a simpler way is just to sign up for my mailing list and get updates every time the schedule changes.

[tags]jewelry, craft shows[/tags]

In a previous entry, I wrote briefly about some of the projects that I’m working on this summer. One of them is a podcast called Crafting Voices. If you’re not familiar with the term podcast, it’s simply an audio program that you can subscribe to and listen to on a portable MP3 player like an iPod or a Creative Zen. If you don’t have a portable audio player, you can just download the podcast audio file and listen to it on your computer.

Crafting Voices is a hour long podcast that focuses on American craft and those individuals who spend their lives creating, promoting, and collecting American craft. The idea for Crafting Voices is partly inspired by one of my favorite NPR programs, This American Life. For those of you who never heard of This American Life, it’s a weekly program by Chicago Public Radio that focuses on stories of ordinary people. Some of these stories are funny, some are sad, some inspirational, and some are downright strange. Each episode has a theme, and all of the stories in that episode is related to that theme.

I’ve been wanting to do a magazine or a radio program about other artists because many times people don’t know what life is like being an artist, or they’re always surprised that one can actually make a living as an artist. One of the great things about doing craft shows is that you bring back stories, stories of other artists, stories about funny things that happened at a show. Many of the artists that I’ve met at a craft show always have an interesting and fascinating backgrounds and I relate these stories to my family and friends.

I’ve been playing around with the idea of doing a podcast for a couple of months when I hit on the idea of making Crafting Voices. Just like This American Life, each episode will have a theme and the stories will match that theme. In Crafting Voices I will interview artists, gallery owners, museum curators, show promoters, craft collectors, anyone who has a hand in making, creating, or promoting American crafts. With these interviews, I hope to create a better picture of the story behind American craft. I’ve just finished developing the companion web site to Crafting Voices at www.craftingvoices.org and the pilot episode should be available on August 15, 2006.

[tags] Crafting Voices, artists, crafters, art galleries, podcasts, iTunes [/tags]

It’s been a long time since I have written in my blog. With the busy holiday season behind me, I’ve already started production for the new year. I’ve designed a number of exciting new pieces for the Ojos line to be introduced in this year’s spring shows. I’ll also be expanding beyond Virginia in shows this year and will be traveling out-of-state to Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, Hartford, Connecticut, and Baltimore, Maryland. I’m looking forward to traveling to these new venues and can’t wait to see these places. Right now I’m in the midst of finalizing my 2006 spring show schedule and arranging the 2006 fall show schedule, so be sure to check the show schedule periodically or sign up for my mailing list to keep up to date.

On a more somber note, one of my local retailers: 49A: Gallery of Fine Crafts & Arts, has decided to close. This gallery which was located in Newport News, Virginia was a great little gallery that featured many fabulous local artists and was run by some of the nicest people I’ve met. Thank you 49A for giving my work a chance and good luck on your new ventures!