Skull Roses, who are they looking at?

Orange Skull beaded Rose

Perfect for Halloween decor or hostess gifts.  Show it off in a bouquet of silk black roses for an amazing Halloween centerpiece.

Purple Beaded Skull Rose

I really fell in love with these skull beads.  They have personality.  I don't have them wired into the flowers super tight either, so they have a slight jiggle to them.  Kinda looks like the skull is nodding to you.  The purple in this rose takes some of the creepiness out of the skull.  Or maybe it increases it by feminizing it. =)

Day of the Dead beaded Skull Rose Wreath

4 stunning beaded roses each with a creepy skull in the center.  Each skull is surrounded by faceted glass and crystal beads to provide plenty of sparkle.  The wreath is bigger than my usual ones, 12-13 inches in diameter.

refocusing on flowers

This week and for the extended future I plan to focus more on the flowers and slightly less on the wine accessories.  I do enjoy making them and have just recently realized a bunch of them and my early flowers have expired on Crymson Flower.  I'll be batch listing anything wine related instead of drawing it out for a week.  And those early flowers that went up before Valentines will get some revamped photos and bouquets and anything else I can think of to show them off over the next couple of weeks.

All this while I prep for my next two shows.  Coming up starting on Friday June 28 is the June edition of Artists on the Boardwalk in Junction City Peoria.  I'll spend the evening showing off flowers and talking to the patrons of the local pub.  I'm assuming we'll have the same space, so look for me right behind the food, patio, next to the barber shop and pub.  Then Saturday and Sunday June 29 and 30 is Rhapsody in Bloom at the Botanic Gardens here in Peoria.  This is my big event of the summer.  Setting up the canopy, displays, and having enough stock for this two day event.  I both nervous and not.  Being w/ Mom last week has calmed my setting up nerves.  Now I'm focused on more flowers.  Specifically for this show more wreaths.  I have two new wreaths in the works...mostly done even.  This week I hope to complete a third. 

click here for purchase info

 

Today's shades of purple and lime rose is not a quiet flower.  This flower can and will be seen.  It's a very nontraditional rose.  I used three different purples and highlighted them all with a stripe of lime green in the outer petals and center.  Later this week, some new pink flowers.

calm before the storm

Prep for last week's show left Crymson Flower on etsy a little lacking.  The good news is that now that that show is over I have lots of new stock to share and list.  Wednesday was sorta sunny for an hour or two so I was able to take pictures of a bunch of new stuff.  Now it's just me editing and organizing. 

click here for Golden Dahlia purchase information

The month of June will be just as busy as the month of May was.  I'll have new inventory, but I also need to be making new inventory for the Botanic Garden show on June 29 and 30.  I have to make sure the canopy and canopy walls work and set up one if not two more tables to fill the space.  I started my to do list and I might even put dates next to items to that I don't start to fall behind.  Despite the fact that the wreaths didn't get much attention at the last show, I'm going to make some more wreaths.  I'm thinking themed wreaths.  Maybe a sunflower wreath, one or two fall inspired wreaths, and definitely a Christmas wreath. 

I've been inspired to turn some flower and petals into bracelets recently.  I'm very much still in prototype mode.  But I'll share what I have in the very near future.

 click here for Rose purchase information

Next week is R's birthday.  We've been busy with party prep and gift buying.  We also head to Chicago for an extended weekend.  I'll have to close up shop for the weekend, but it's sort of a working trip.  We'll take R to the Brookfield zoo on Thursday.  Friday Mom and I are going to head up to Milwaukee for the Bead and Button show.  I'm so super excited about this.  I'll be stocking up on lots of seed beads, checking out wire vendors, and just try not to get completely overloaded or overwhelmed by the shear about of inspiration and bead love.  I hope to come home with lots of goodies.  Then over the weekend is Mom's first art show of the season.  She'll be selling her paintings at the Hinsdale Fine Art Festival Saturday and Sunday June 8 and 9th from 10-5.  If you are in the area stop by.  Her paints are amazing.  And if it's on Saturday I'll be there helping her out. 

After next weekend I'll be back in art show prep mode.  It's a full month.  But lots will get done and I'll learn a ton for future shows and selling in general. 

 click here for Orange and Teal wreath purchase information

Today I'm listing this wonderfully summery wreath.  Bright oranges and teals truly pop against the natural brown grapevine wreath and green beaded leaves.  Orange and teal is one of my favorite summer color combos and this wreath is an example of how well they can play on each other. 

I hope you have a fabulous weekend.  Hopefully the sun will come out and we can do some outdoor adventures. 

taking care of business

Today was a busy day.  I started the day with a list of goals, register for my EIN, call the county clerks office to figure out what I need, call my phone company, and brainstorm website ideas.  That's a pretty good list considering I also had to play several games of dinosaurs vs trucks and dinosaurs in the tent...and go grocery shopping.

I joined a team on Etsy, actually I joined a couple of them in my attempts at socializing in social media.  But the one team I'm actually participating in is a marketing team filled with very helpful people.  Basically a team on Etsy is a private forum, you apply to get in, some take everyone some are more specific.  Anyway there is a thread in there called, what are you doing to build your business today?  I posted my goals which gave me the kick in the butt to actually accomplish more than I thought possible today.

I now have my official EIN!  Step one check!  I called the county clerks office and figured out the process of getting my DBA certificate.  I decided to go all out and officially name my business Crymson Flower instead of just going by my name. Now I need to get down the the office fill out a form then advertise in the local newspaper for a couple weeks.  Then I'm good to go!!!  I didn't get to calling the phone company, instead I took advantage of the first sunny day in ages.  I snapped all new pics of several flowers and a sneak peak of a new project.  So it's not just this week that there are new flowers in the shop...next week too!

Speaking of new flowers here's some close up pretty pictures of the new red's in Crymson Flower.  A lily and rose.  I must have made them around Valentine's based on the color.  What's nice about them is that they aren't just valentine flowers, they can be Christmas flowers, or even everyday flowers.

 French beaded Red Lily purchase information

French beaded Red and Pink rose purchase information

Happy Almost Spring

I can't wait for the two days until Spring is here.  And unfortunately Mother Nature really isn't having much of spring yet anyway.  This morning I had to scrape ice off the car.  Oh well, spring is starting to show up in smaller ways.  I saw some daffodil and iris greens poking up from the ground.  We went for a hike this weekend and the robins are in full worm searching mode.  The red belly woodpeckers were setting up nesting territories, and the cardinals were singing nonstop. 

To help spring a long a little bit I have a sneak preview of what's to come this week to Crymson Flower.  Two new french beaded flowers will show up and a new commission. 

 

Two of these flowers are already in the shop.  The pink lily on the bottom right can be found here. And the larger red rose on the upper right can be found here.  The smaller rose and red lily will be added as the week goes on.