Another Wedding With RavenWorks

Last month, I was honored to add my creativity to another beautiful wedding.

The groom was an abstract artist, so for the couple's cake, I suggested imitating one of the grooms most popular images- "The Tall Skinny People". In order to make it truly mimic the work, the image was bordered with a brown "frame". The cake itself was a dense lemon cake, with butter cream icing.



I was very pleased with the outcome, and the bride and groom were thrilled.

The other piece I assisted with was the rings. They wanted nice, simple, silver bands. I was happy to oblige.



I love weddings, and nothing thrills me more than being able to take part in making someone's already special day, extra special.

Crafting Burn Out

As with all things in life, even the most devoted crafter can experience serious burnout. I never thought it would happen to me, becasue crafts are the way I relax and de-stress after a a long hard day of life. Also, since I'm always juggling different mediums, it's easy to change things up and keep it fresh.

However, these past two weeks, I hit a wall. With the Boston craft shows, and putting my items in a new shop, I found that I felt a lot of pressure to produce, produce, produce. I've never felt that pressure before, and it took away from my creative freedom. So, with the craft shows over, and my items firmly in place at Three Ring Circus, I took a two week breather, to relax a bit and take a step back from crafting.

Now, with the pending glass working class I'll be taking, and a new craft show at the end of September, it's time to get the craft mojo flowing once again. Time to dip into the brain and stir up the creativity and get it moving.

I wonder if other crafters hit this same wall? Does anyone else ever get burnt out on what they love? It makes me feel a little crazy to get overwhelmed by something that makes me so happy. If anyone else has ever gotten burnt out on their passion, please share!

New Developments

A lot of new things have been brewing at RavenWorks :)

RavenWorks Products In A Retail Shop! RavenWorks is proud to announce that several of our jewelry pieces are being carried by the shop Three Ring Circus in South Portland, Maine. This shop carries a wide variety of local artists, and we couldn't be happier about being included with all of that talent.

RavenWorks' Next Craft Show! RavenWorks will be attending the Cornith Apple Festival in Cornith, Maine on Saturday September 28th. We will be sharing a booth with Sacopee Valley Soaps, producer of handmade, artisan soaps that are to die for! As always, we hope to see a good turn out of familiar faces.

New Products! As always, RavenWorks has been stretching the old creative wings, and exploring new mediums. Thanks to a few classes and some small investments in the near future, RavenWorks will be carrying handmade lampwork beads, and other fantastic handcrafted glass items. Be sure to keep your eyes out in mid-October for them to be introduced.

We are always growing, exploring, and inventing.

It's Better When It's Handmade

This is a great little list over on Etsy Wiki that I thought should be shared.

Reasons to buy handmade
From EtsyWiki


* You are purchasing higher quality products, made with love and care by the artisan.

* You are purchasing unique items that are not mass-produced. Even if the same product may be made a thousand times each will be unique in some tiny way.

* Buying handmade supports artists, crafters, designers and small business owners instead of large corporations - if you buy handmade you help someone live their dream.

* When you buy handmade art objects you are also getting a piece of the artist’s soul. Those who value handmade are usually eager to know about the artist that made their piece and they value the skill and passion that went into its creation. Handmade pieces have life, unlike items that are mass-produced by machines and basically untouched by human hands during the creation process.

* You are helping to promote local economies and fair trade. Investment in the creative sector brings a huge boost to the economic, cultural and social vitality of communities.
Handmade products are increasingly being made with recycled materials. This is excellent for the environment.

* You as the buyer vote with your purchase. This offers immediate feedback to the artisan and allows them to gauge which items to further develop. This feedback loop is vital to the handmade entrepreneur.

* Handmade items appeal to trend setters, not trend followers.

* Handmade items can push boundaries - they aren't in thrall to the dictates of the mass market.

* Handmade items can often be custom-made, fit, and colored, to the buyer's specifics or wishes making it even more unique and, often, practical.


All great reasons to buy handmade. That's why I love being a part of Etsy- even when you're shopping, you're contributing to a great community and supporting someone's dream. So keep these points in mind when shopping for gifts. Buy something unique, fun and thoughtful, and make an artist's day :)

Two Craft Shows Down!

On July 22nd, and then again on August 5th, I sold my crafts at the South End Open Market in Boston. These were my very first craft fair experiences, and I'm very happy to report that both went very well.

The most valuable part for me, was actually getting out there and seeing people examine my jewelry up close and personal, and listening to their comments. It was definitely great to hear all of the positive feedback, and it gave me a great, objective pool from which to draw on for future projects.

So thank you to all of those who visited me and my fellow crafters in Boston. Thank you for teaching me so much about myself and my art. Thank you for supporting the arts in general. I'm hoping to hear from some of the people I met, and sold to, again, and I just can't wait.