New Books

I love my Amazon Associates account, once a month they pay me in gift certificates so I can indulge my book addiction (if someone clicks an amazon link from this blog or my Squidoo lenses and buys something I get a percentage). Last few months I've been getting astronomy related stuff but this month I got some clay related books.

I bought a metal clay kit back in February but haven't really wrapped my head around it yet, much different feel from polymer clay and it dried very rapidly (partly the dry winter air, I hope it won't be so bad this summer). The book has already answered some questions I had and it came with a free DVD that I need to watch soon.

The second is a book on polymer clay that I've been looking at for a while. It's all about different surface effects you can get with polymer clay. I'm always looking for new ways to finish my jewelry to give it different looks.

Lots of new supplies

So I got a big box of new clay today. Some fun new colors of premo and also some of the new Studio by Sculpey clay. It's a nice clay, easy to condition but way too soft for me. I need a firmer clay even Premo is too soft for me sometimes when sculpting. So definitely going to leach it.

What about the finished clay? Well it lives up to it's hype about having a suede-like finish, very soft and pretty. Definitely gives a different look to this cuttlefish.

Summer Art Shows

I'm working on planning the shows I'll be doing this summer. So far I'm completely registered and paid up do the Bethel Art Fair on July 4th in Bethel, Maine. I'm also planning on doing the Norway Sidewalk Art Show again (in Norway, Maine) which is the next weekend July 11th but I haven't gotten the application in yet.

I also found out that the Western Maine Art Group has spaces for artists at the Oxford County Fair. I'd like to do that for one day (it would be between the 13th-19th of September) but I'm waiting to hear back on some questions I had before I apply.

I'm sure you've noticed a nice big gap between July and September? Well I'm hoping to fill it with one or two more shows but I haven't found the right ones yet. My transportation options are limited because I can't drive (have to recruit family to help me) so it has to be local. Depending on how things go I might do a show or two during the holidays but that's too far in the future right now to know.

Now I have to plan the supplies I need to get. My canopy has worn out so I need a new one (and not so cheap and flimsy this time), another table because 2 wasn't enough space last year, stuff for displays, etc. Shows are fun but they are a whole lot of work.

New Line of Squid Jewelry

This is one of those strokes of luck when a customer requests something that you've been putting off doing so it spurs you to do it. I was contacted by a customer to create a custom squid necklace for a friend of hers. Now since I already make cuttlefish and octopus the logical next step is of course to do squid. However cuttlefish and squid are pretty similar so I'd been putting off figuring out how to do a squid that is sufficiently different from my cuttlefish. This custom request made me actually site down and do so.

It took me some planning, sketching, and looking at squid photos to make up my mind but I'm happy with the results. I hope this new line is as successful as my cuttlefish and octopus have been so far.

Squid Jewelry

Facebook and Octopus

Fun bit of octopus news, an octopus in California caused a flood. The aquarium also has a flickr set of the event.

This of course leads to new octopus jewelry. I now have a good bit of the new line up on my Etsy Shop.

I recently got a big new order of supplies so lots of new jewelry is in the works including some cephalopods in pure silver! Trying to expand Noadi's Art into new areas and this higher end line of jewelry is the first step.

Last night I set up a facebook page for Noadi's Art so you can become a fan if you'd like.

Feeling Warm and Fuzzy

I got some feedback on one of my cuttlefish necklaces today that totally made my day.

Thanks for the necklace! It's even prettier in real life, and the pictures had me going 'wow' in the first place. The cord is the perfect length, you have no idea how frustrated I get when I buy a pendant or necklace and the cord automatically makes it a choker. The little charm included is cute too and makes a nice earring! What really won me over was the fact that you actually INCLUDED an invoice and a neat pamphlet about your work. Many people on Etsy and other sites often forget to include the invoice, and the pamphlet and business cards are a nice touch and chance for the buyer to learn a little more about the artist and the jewelry as well (storing and cleaning instructions are greatly appreciated). Thank you so much for this order! I love the pendant and the care you put both into making it and sending it my way!

Creating my jewelry and to have people buy it is thrilling enough but to hear from someone so excited about it is just amazing.

New Design and a Bad Day

Yesterday was pretty rough for me. I have a lot of pets and I'm very attached to all of them. Yesterday my dad found one of our goats Tansy shortly after she died, when I got out to the barn she was still warm. It was a total shock, she was acting fine in the morning. She ate normally, wanted to be petted, begged for a fruit treat, just a regular morning. She was an older goat, eight years old, from the position she was in it looks like she was probably asleep and didn't suffer which I'm glad about.

Here's a photo of Tansy playing with Blossom (she's the white and tan one).

I did finish a new necklace design in the same style as my cuttlefish but this one is an octopus. I really like how it turned out. Orange Octopus Necklace

Cool T-Shirt

This actually arrived in the mail a little while ago but this is the first time I've had a chance to take a photo of me wearing my new Noadi's Art t-shirt. I used Zazzle to create and print the shirt. The quality is quite nice and it cost me about $20 because I waited until Zazzle was having a sale.

You can see the design I used to the right, it's my cup of cuttlefish photo. I think it'll be especially nice to wear for art and craft shows this summer.

So here's the photo of me wearing the shirt, along with my new telescope. Click through to go to a larger version on Flickr.

If you read my last post you know that 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy
and sicne I'm such an astronomy fan I created a cuttlefish necklace in honor of the IYA. Check out the Galactic Cuttlefish Necklace.

Been Distracted Lately

Lots of non-Noadi's Art stuff going on right now. For the most part good though I did have a minor crises with my contact lenses that left me with only one for about a week (my eyesight is terrible so it really messed up my vision). My brother is home on leave from the Air Force for the month, this is the first time he's been home in a year. I also got a big new toy:


It's a 4.5 inch reflecting telescope and a dream come true. I've wanted a telescope since I was a little kid and with my parents chipping in half the cost as an Xmas present I could finally afford one. Unfortunately I do live in Maine so it's incredibly cold this time of year but I've been risking the frostbite anyway.

I do have some great Noadi's Art news coming up soon, I promise.

Happy New Year

Things have been pretty crazy here lately, between the holidays, running Noadi's Art (I had a very busy holiday season), and the horrible cold I'm suffering from. I hope you all had a great year and that 2009 will be even better! Once I'm over this cold I plan to do some retrospective blog posts talking about how 2008 went for Noadi's Art however right now cold meds are messing with my concentration.

I bought Noadi's Art a Xmas present: a postal scale. Should really save time and my dad's patience since I often ask him to do post office runs for me.