holiday recharge

I hadn't planned to take the week off.  Ok, maybe I did plan to but then I decided I couldn't afford to take a week off.  I had/have too much to do.  So I took one day off.  Which was great, but I was still tired.  So I took another day off, and then the holiday weekend was here.  So I took the week off. 

This long holiday weekend was more of vacation than Door County was in May.  I feel so relaxed and re-energized.  We hung out as a family.  We watched fireworks, saw great friends, played in the kiddie pool, went on hikes and to the park.  We were a family together an it was great.  And then Friday night the beads started to flow.  Colors came together faster than I could string the beads.  Ideas for future flowers and colors popped into my head and I clung to them as I worked to finish what I had started before starting the next.  And that flow kept flowing through Saturday and into today.  Today I finished up the color combos I'd put together.  Now as I'm writing this about 5 more ideas for flowers have come to me. 

Sunday night the final tally of petals of flowers completed equals, 4 lilies and 8 calla lilies.  I went all out on the colors for new calla lilies.  They were a bit of a hit at the show and I love how they look in clusters together.  8 seems like a lot but I'm a little addicted to making them so I can seem adding some teal and aqua callas to the pile.  As well as some more white and neutral color callas.  I'm also wanting to make a couple of the bigger flowers.  Some more complex ones. 

Soon I need to focus on wine charms again.  I'm very excited about starting up wine charms.  I need to get all the flower inspiration out of me.  Maybe lace some petals up.  That's the plan right now at least.  It's going to be a busy two weeks.

a case of the blues with some yellow

ahhhhh...fresh flowers!!!

While I took the weekend off I did work my butt off to get you fresh flowers this week.  I was feeling the blues and the teals when I was beading.  It's funny how sometimes the colors just flow and the flowers tend to make themselves.  That was definitely the case with these two new lilies. 

 Beaded Teal Lily purchase info

The first teal lily is really a play on texture and depth within one color.  I used transparent, silverlined, and stain finish beads to get the rich shading in the petals. 

 

Beaded Blue and Lime Lily

Whereas with the blue and lime lily, contrast is really what makes this lily pop. Both have faceted fire polished glass beads on their stamens.

 



Beaded Yellow flower purchase info

 

I think these three flowers would look amazing together.  It didn't really occur to me until I started typing up this post.  I put the yellow flower in because I've decided to join/follow along with Leslie Saeta's blog challenge, 30 Marketing Ideas in 30 days.  She's an amazing painter that Mom has followed for a while.  Her challenge is more geared toward painters, in fact I think I'm the only nonpainter among them.  But marketing is something all artists trying to sell their work need to do.  And a challenge sounds like an excellent way for me to improve my marketing skills.  So here we go! 

Today's challenge was to post an older piece and give it some new light.  Well thanks to this post I'm loving this yellow flower again.  It's bright and sunny, and summer.  Which pairs perfect with tropical water colored lilies above.  Tonight I'll snap a picture of the three flowers together.  Stop by my FaceBook page to see. 

what's in a name?

So I've been over my head in behind the scenes business decisions the last two weeks.  I have a to do list and deadlines that are fast approaching which forced me to sit down and get stressed out.  I figure I'll share some of that thought process, as cyclical as it is, with you.

I plan to apply to sell in art shows this summer.  I have two local shows that I have applications ready to be sent in, and was thinking about doing a show up in the Chicago area.  The show up north is near home and I've seen the kinds of crowds it draws.  It's an extremely intimidating show to think about but I've always thought that it is a place that I'd do well at.  I still do.  It would be an excellent opportunity to force myself to really work and get up to speed by August.  The other two local shows are in June and July so by the August I would have my booth down. 

Unfortunately this show requires by business license number in the application.  I plan to get this license and have only been going slowly on it because on it I need to decide if I want to file for a "Doing Business As" certificate.  The DBA is would allow me to open a checking account as Crymson Flower instead of just my legal name.  A DBA takes 3-4 weeks to get. 

This was a harder decision for me to make than I was anticipating. I love the idea of having Crymson Flower be me, even though for practical reasons I probably don't really  need it.  It would really only be valuable if someone were to write a check to Crymson Flower I could then cash that check.  But in reality if someone is writing me a check I would be there to tell them to write it out to me.  I also have a stronger Internet presence as Crymson verses my legal name, Amy McGovern.  This stems from my  natural tendencies to try to be kinda anonymous on the Internet.  But now that I am a business owner I think I need to have my name associated with my business.  I'm proud that I'm working on this business.  It's been a dream for a really long time and I want people to know that Amy McGovern is the person behind Crymson Flower. That there is in fact a person behind this business.  That is also important to me. 

So right now my decision is this.  I'm going to go by Amy McGovern as my business name legally for the paperwork.  I'll still use Crymson Flower as my banner and my Internet presence as I always have but I plan to also have my name more prominently visible.  My banner above now has Amy McGovern on it.  If next year I'm missing or feel the need to use Crymson Flower on the paperwork then I can add it on then.  I've also made the decision to wait on this particular Chicago area art fair.  I sill think I'll do well at this one but I think it's adding too much stress on my already large to do list.  I felt better when I admitted that to myself this morning.  I am looking for a Christmas show in the Chicago area to sell at.  That would give me more time and I'd be able to set up a Christmas tree full of flowers and beaded ornaments.  It would be amazing! 

That is my business plan as of right now.  Today I feel good about it.  Now onto more flowery goodnesses.  Here's my newest lily.  Off white petals tipped with dark purple seed beads.  The center is a small pop of red and blue faceted glass beads.  I wasn't sure about this flower.  When I put the beads together I thought it would be an ok flower, but when the petals came together I got very excited.  I think this one looks best paired with other flowers both beaded and fresh.

click here for purchase information

Fuchsia Lily

Here's a lily I made that I was thinking would become apart of a wedding bouquet.  It didn't end up going that far and I thought it would make a great Valentine for someone special.  I went a little crazy with the beads on this one.  The center of each petals is a very very light lavender, followed by a matte fuchsia bead, and finished with a 3 cut light purple seed bead.  The petals start off subtle then the bright fuchsia and sparkle of the 3 cut beads really end up packing quite a punch.  This flower makes a statement. 

I love how the flower's statement changes with the colors around it too.  It's more slightly more subtle and petite when paired with the lavender roses, but next to a bright pink rose the beaded lily really comes alive.  Very versatile, it would work nicely for a wedding someday.

Purchase information is here.

On a different note, we're back up in Chicago this weekend.  This time at my folk's house.  I'm attempting to switch my brain from bead mode to quilt mode for the weekend.  I'm making a quilt for a gift and have a fast approaching deadline.  I'm hoping to make big progress this weekend.  Hope everyone stays warm...temps are supposed to drop here in my neck of the woods.

Purple Valentine

Valentine's Day is quickly approaching and I've been working steadily to get some flowers in the shop perfect for someone's special Valentine. The first one I came up with was this simple lily. A simple purple bead surrounded by satin finished lavender beads makes each petal special and really sparkle in the light.

This lily looks lovely solo or mixed in with fresh flowers. Combine with candy or chocolate for the perfect Valentine gift.  Purchase information can be found here.