Save The Date! Holiday Craft Fair!

It's right around the corner! Our 3rd annual Holiday Craft Fair is coming so stay tuned for details on vendors and more!

Signs and Guideposts for the Creative Life, October 7, 2012

Maya Angelou says " You can't use up creativity.  The more you use, the more you have."  And she should know.  What an inspiration she has been for decades, for thousands and thousands of people.

I wonder if she ever experienced nearing completion of a book, or a project and felt that little niggling,  "Oh, can I do this again?  Is there something else out there for me to latch onto? "

Early on, with my painting, I felt that way.  I might surprise myself with some piece that felt successful and then want to stay there, to work those ideas out.  Part of that is valid.  We come up with an idea that could be improved with some playing, tweaking, sweating, moodling. Part of it may also come from some fear that moving on means leaving a safe place, that maybe we won't be able to birth a living thing, but only some little stiff replica.

And I've given birth to many odd little things along the way, to be sure.  We aren't guaranteed that our efforts will always produce wonderful meaningful stuff.  But it does feel to me that my creativity has increased - in other areas of my life besides just the painting.  It's as though there are more neural pathways running through my brain.  The scary part of that is there are more ways to get lost.  The wonderful part is that I'm having some great adventures that I never would have anticipated.

How about your journey - where has it taken you and does that come as a surprise?  Do you feel more confident as you go along?  Or is it still a little scary?

Where To Find The Hudson Valley Etsy Team This Weekend

This weekend we're selling our creations spread out from East to West!

Huzzah Handmade will be at Harvest Festival at Bethel Woods Rustic Crafts Show in Bethel, NY, on Sunday, October 7 from 11AM-4PM.

Huzzah Handmade

Tickled Pink Knits will be at the Paradise City Fair of Fine & Functional Art in Northampton, MA, from Saturday, October 6, to Monday, October 8, from 10AM-6PM.

Tickled Pink Knits

Anjali Creations will be at the Highland Hudson Fest on the Hudson Valley Rail Trail @ Walkway over Hudson, Highland, NY, on Sunday, October 7, from 10AM-6PM.

Anjali Creations

Happy Shopping!

Inspiration Wednesday - Feathered Autumn

Feathered Autumn

Here is the Design-Seeds color palette I was working with this week. It was so inspirational I made 16 new pieces of jewelry this weekend! I am not going to show you all of them here because the page would take forever to load. I hope you enjoy this piece:

The porcelain pendant and silk are from from Marsha Neal Studio

The porcelain beads are from Gaea Cannaday

The Round disc on the side is from Nancy Schindler

I have wire wrapped each of the these handmade beads to the beautiful pedant 

I also wire wrapped a glass bead to the hook clasp

Here is the color palette for next week:

Produced Color

Here are some items from members of the Hudson Valley Etsy Team for inspiration:

VirtuosityClay

DumbBunnyDesigns

Make an item or choose materials inspired by the palette and write a blog post about it, post the item for sale, or post the item on your website. Add the link to your blog post, shop or website in the comments next week, to be featured as part of next weeks post please e-mail me at formysweetdaughter(at)me(dot)com before 6pm next Tuesday night.

The only rule is that if you use the Design-Seeds palette you must link directly to Design-Seeds.com.

Have fun and I can't wait to see what you make!

~Shannon

For My Sweet Daughter

Treasury Tuesday - October 2

Treasuries are a great way to check out many of our items at once. Visit our October thread on Etsy to check out more and leave comments.

'harvest moon' by beaconknits

Howling Wolf Silhouette... arwendesigns $6.00	Colorful Metallic Dangl... merryalchemy $28.00	Wearable Fiber Art Jewe... TickledPinkKn... $68.00	Herbal Shampoo Bar BeyondThePick... $5.00
Black Chrysanthemum Flo... pulpsushi $10.00	Crow Raven Black Bird P... digiliodesign... $45.00	Handpainted Stone Flyin... geminiriverro... $18.00	Coyote notecards, set o... karmabee $20.00
Vintage Feathered Bubb... YesterdaysSil... $23.00	Jet Black Evil Eye, Ony... anjalicreatio... $18.00	Thank you, gold leaves WishboneLette... $3.00	Black Lace Giant Triang... MollysPurl $250.00
Polymer Clay Cat Earrin... JerisJewelryB... $10.00	Amethyst Carrie Necklac... UnnamedRoad $20.00	Medium Pencil Case Cott... handjstarcrea... $11.00	Mexican Mocha Lollipop catskillcandy... $12.00

Treasury tool by StylishHome.

'Celebrating the colors of Opal - The October Gemstone' by anjalicreations

Opal is the gemstone of October. It is said to be the most powerful of healing stones, the stone of hope, and the stone of great achievement. Here are some treasures from the Hudson Valley Etsy Team that celebrate the variety of colors of the opal.

Dichroic Fused Glass Pe... GetGlassy $26.00	Stone Rose Necklace UnnamedRoad $20.00	Digital Mandala - uniqu... emkpainter $10.00	Free Form Turquoise Pen... CorkyWhites $150.00
Opal Glass and Gold Fil... merryalchemy $29.00	Sparkling Citrus Soap w... Mundus $5.50	Pendant Square Blue and... JerisJewelryB... $10.00	Misty Pastel RoArt $15.00
Instant Fossil Collecti... DumbBunnyDesi... $165.00	Kitchen Sink Soap with ... BeyondThePick... $5.00	Vintage Multi Strand Ne... YesterdaysSil... $16.00	Necklace of Vintage Pur... NellsBelles $90.00
White tray with circles... Ceruleanblue $30.00	Tea Bowl NewProspectPo... $18.00	Pea Pod Candle holder LandMstudio $30.00	Purple Picture Frame Ea... ForMySweetDau... $40.00

Treasury tool by StylishHome.