Been a while, and could be longer...

Yes it's been a while since our last post, and that's because hecticness and time constraints of late have been more conducive to quick Facebook status updates than with all-out blog posts. I hope you forgive! We are a mere two weeks from our due date, and recently the doctor told me that I'll be going early (gulp!). I've been scrambling to get all of my orders out, and I think I'm finally caught up. But for now you should become a fan on Facebook to get all of our mini-updates if you're interested. We'll be sure to post photos once the baby arrives! Thanks a million for your patience during this busy time! :)

Cheers from the Happy Owl Glassworks family...

Working hard

I'm in the studio a lot these days, trying my every last effort to get orders out in a timely fashion (and, more important, before the new baby arrives!). Although I used to wish this baby to come "any day now", I am now hoping to get all of our wholesale orders out that were placed at the show last weekend (retail orders fear not! I have a separate stash for you and all orders are shipping quickly!). I've made great progress this past week...


Above are a bounty of little animals destined to become badges & badge-pendants! This is just one shot of the many, many critters we've been firing. Luckily I'd stocked up on nightlights before the show, so they're ready to ship!

I digress into the bizarre signs from last weekend's BMAC show... at most of the convention center's lady's rooms I'd stumbled across these cryptic signs. Upon further glance I realized that they were maps of the restroom inside... just in case you're the type to get disoriented upon opening a door:

Thank goodness I know where those sinks are located!

I also thought this quirky "don't touch" sign was a hoot:


Hope you're enjoying your August! Now we're back to work...

BMAC in a nutshell

The other day I mentioned a small part of our weekend, which was the much-anticipated viewing of the documentary, Handmade Nation. Loved it! I've known Faythe for years (incredibly it's been since '04), and it's wonderful to see the result of her hard work. And surprisingly Happy Owl Glass (moi) didn't make the cutting room floor! You can see me make some badges in the beginning of the film, intercut with other interviews. Boy I was young then! Afterward Faythe had a q&a, here she is in all her q&a glory:


Faythe and I before the screening:


The always-fun gals from Art Star before the screening, who were there peddling the Handmade Nation book and supporting the film:


Thanks to Art Star and the BMAC show for hosting and helping out. It was great to see the turnout, Faythe said there were over 200 that showed up!

Over the course of the weekend, we also met a few people who we're happy to call new friends. Beth and Greg, of Freshie and Zero, have the sense of humor similar to our oldest friends, so we hit it off quickly. Also met the nice gals (and a fella) over at the New York Etsy Street Team. And we saw some familiar faces, like Elijah over at Figs & Ginger and Kelly of Biggs and Featherbelle.

All in all it was a great show. We acquired lots of new retailers (always a good goal) and took a few re-orders. We're relatively new to the wholesale show "scene", but we're getting the hang of it!

Philly: looking for our camera adapter...

It's been a whirlwind of a weekend with the big show and a screening of the film, Handmade Nation. We were thrilled to be a part of this fantastic documentary, and to be able to see the final product--with Faythe, the filmmaker, present--was a treat. Everyone was so inspiring!!!



Unfortunately we haven't located our camera adapter (we probably left it at home, oops), so we'll get photos up tomorrow. In the meantime, thanks to all the people who turned out to view it, and to Art Star and the BMAC show for hosting.

Busy!

Could anything else be piled on our plate? We just finished moving into our new apartment after a short move into the new studio space. We are now preparing for our wholesale show, the Buyer's Market of American Craft, in Philadelphia. If you're a retailer (or know a retailer) please come visit. The show is open to the trade only.

Below are a few photos from our recent apartment move as well as the new studio space.

Building shelves in our "random" room (very excited that a room exists in our new place!)

Completely unsettled, with tons of boxes to unpack. Love the blue wall.


Our new studio space, though it may not show in the photos, is more organized...

View from the glass area down to our owl sign, where we get orders together.

Our Etsy site is closed down for the time that we'll be at the Philly show, but our regular collection is just on delayed-shipping mode. We'll re-open the Etsy site as soon as we return.

Toddler spy-cam

We've been super busy getting settled into our new apartment. Photos to come! In the meantime, a quick diversion...

We are now in a 2-level apartment, and Maisy has gotten comfortable enough to head upstairs on her own now. Today she went up there and I could hear her singing and chatting to herself, and then it was quiet. Too quiet. So I crept up carefully (camera in-hand of course), and spotted this:


She was cooing "wash hands, wash hands" and giving her baby a bath. So sweet! It's the simple things that entertain me.

Getting ready

Been packing all week, and I feel like I'm drowning in a sea of boxes (even though we're moving right across the street). Witness...


But I've also been packing and shipping orders, thanks to all who've purchased from our regular site and Etsy site during our de-stashing sale!

As mentioned in a previous post, I've been trying my hand at re-finishing this little children's desk for Maisy.


It is old, heavy, and formerly very rusty from being left outside for many years. Sanding it down, then spray-painting the metal and re-staining the wood made it a suitable desk for a kids room--or, our plan, the living room...


I'm so happy with this little diversion, I may just seek out furniture to re-finish now! It was highly satisfying giving new life to this old desk. Maisy really seems to enjoy it!



Have a splendid weekend! We'll be back after the short-but-still-exhausting move.

Monday, and the sun is shining

We had a great holiday weekend, and hope that you did, too! The sun finally decided to shine, which gave us a chance to spend time outside (without getting wet and muddy). Canoeing, swimming, and multiple stops at the playground... good times. Couldn't ask for anything more (oh yeah, and we also participated in a requisite holiday bbq).

In biz news, I've added loads more miniatures to the Etsy site! Looking for a particular creature? Check out the list below and see if your favorite is for sale!

bat (white), bat (brown)
damselfly (orange), damselfly (yellow), damselfly (blue)
dog (pink), dog (orange), dog (green)
elephant (yellow)
fawn (blues), fawn (blue), fawn (red)
fox (blue)
frog (orange), frog (pink), frog (green)
giraffe (blue)
kiwi (blue)
ladybug (red)
lamb (green)
lemming (pink)
markhor (green), markhor (lilac), markhor (blue)
moose (yellow)
mountain goat (lilac)
naked mole-rat (blue), naked mole-rat (aqua)
okapi (red)
orangutan (orange)
owl (aqua), owl (green), owl (teal)
penguin (greens), penguin (sparkly green)
pig (aqua)
platypus (green)
pufferfish (lilac)
rabbit (pink)
reindeer (pink)
rhino (aqua), rhino (orange)
robin (pink), robin (aqua), robin (green)
seahorse (red)
snake (yellow)
squid (aqua)
squirrel (red)
vulture (blue)
walrus (purple)

I have also been diligently working on re-finishing this old children's desk.


The metal was chipped everywhere, from having lived outdoors for years, and the wood was in poor shape. Once it's complete I'll post again--I'm having fun on my first spray paint project!

Vermont weekend

We went to Vermont for a couple days this past weekend to visit some friends. Gabe has an amazing house on a hill with a huge garden. Maisy has met him before, but she hasn't seen him in a while and she took a huge liking to him. She was his shadow the entire time.


The weather called for storms both days, but we were lucky to have a nice dose of sun on the first day, so frolicking in the grass seemed just right.


The farmer's market was filled with delightful aromas and delicious treats. The strawberries were heavenly.


I was also able to score some lavender rose kombucha (after many samples of other flavors, this was by far the most complex and tasty!). I loved how it wasn't too fizzy or too weak. It was a perfect little baby bear of kombuchas, and now I have a whole quart of it to myself.

We did get rain on our last day, and we were lucky enough to spot a rainbow on the drive home. It was a nice-but-short diversion from the daily routine, but now we're back in the studio building inventory for the upcoming leave that we'll be taking once the new baby arrives.

Thanks for supporting our Etsy sale! I'm still adding more miniatures daily, so keep checking back for new creatures and colors.

ETSY SALE!

As noted in a previous post, it is our 4-year Etsy anniversary! I am celebrating by putting loads of stuff on sale over there. One could say that I'm "de-stashing"... I have a ton of miniature pendants, and I'm adding more as the days go by. Below are but a few...


I've also added a few small nightlights. These are just a little smaller than my regular size nightlight, and for only $18 they're a steal!


Hope everyone is having a great June thus far. We've been inside for so long, it seems like eons ago that the sun shined. New England is having a monsoon, it seems! Poor Maisy isn't getting her usual dose of summer. Now, off to do a sunshine dance...

Holiday Extravaganza weekend

What a fun-but-exhausting weekend! Not only was it Father's Day, but it was Maisy's 2nd birthday! Mom was in town, too, to partake in the toddler's festivities, and even gave us a chance to see a film. We chose an art film, "The Hangover". ;) Pretty funny, and Zach Galifianakis stole the show. We saw him perform in LA years back before that highly memorable Dog Bites Man series (anyone else remember this?). He is hysterical.

In any case, the rain forced everyone indoors this weekend. But we were able to make it outside for a bit to check out the Printing Arts Fair at the aptly named Printing Arts Museum. Though I was skeptical, it was terribly fun for us adults.

Inside we were able to watch loads of different printmaking processes, and we scored a couple beautiful prints. One of them you can see below: I chose the "D" for dingbat print!


There was also steamroller printing:


Since it was Father's Day, we were able to make our own letterpress card for the papa of the bunch. Maisy was a little young for the roller, and I even had a hard time, being roly poly myself and handling it with one arm:


As I mentioned it was a blast for the older kids, but Maisy liked the puddles outside best... and following this photo, the recently printed Father's Day card went into the puddle...


Happy Birthday to our now-two-year-old. Times flies.


Stay tuned later this week for a super duper Etsy sale--it's our 4-year Etsy-versary soon! I'll leave you with a few more images from the Printing Arts Museum:

Busy week

This week has flown by, with lots of preparations for the current weekend and a fun diversion thrown into the mix...

Getting ready for Father's Day, I had to plan around a certain toddler's birthday--which happens to be the exact same day. In addition, my mom is coming to town to spend time with Miss 2-year-old Maisy. It will be a busy and fun weekend, I'm sure (and hopefully not too rainy, as the forecast says).

Late in the week I got together with my friend Tomoko of Tadworks. I haven't seen her in a long time, as she took an extended trip to Japan, so it was delightful to hang out with her. She even cooked me what she considered to be a 'light lunch' but I felt like a princess when I arrived seeing the food she prepared. Sadly, I didn't bring my camera to photograph the spread, but let's just say that plantains are one of my favorite foods, and the chicken was heavenly. To top it off, she made homemade chocolate pudding... you can't do much better for this pregnant lady! We also had a great time perusing the food-goods at Russo's in Watertown, too. Now I know where to get galangal and banana blossoms in the area.

Oh and did I mention that I moved studios this week? Whew. It's been crazy. The place where I sublet is a bit funky, and my landlord required a space to showcase her own work. Since I don't need such a nice, appropriate-for-retail space I am moving to the far, back corner. It's different, but I'm up for the challenge and change. Below, my former, lovely light-filled space:


The empty corner that I moved into:


It's not quite "finished". It doesn't have quite as much character as the other corner, but as I mentioned I'm up for the change. And at least I only had to switch corners, and not studios completely.

Have a great weekend, and a Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there!

And just like that...

Our summer shows are over. We finished yesterday with our last retail show of the summer, the Mass Market at Mass Art. Since I forgot my camera, I give you their lovely image of the poster designed by Brian Butler:

Though we were looking forward to the West Coast shows, I think we made the right decision considering everything going on in July. If you are a retailer or know of a retailer (spread the word!), we will be participating in the Buyers Market of American Craft in Philadelphia on August 1-3.

Also, I just stumbled upon the Second Storie show via Whip Up. We will probably apply for this, being that Rochester, NY just happens to be one of our favorite cities, and the handy grandparents-who-babysit just happen to live a do-able drive away. Just wanted to share the link (it's been around a couple of years, but sadly we're a bit out of the loop!). We love Rochester!

Hope you all had a great weekend ;)

Mass Market and the loot

We've been settling into our undisclosed location in the Adirondacks quite nicely, but now it's time to head back to our digs outside Boston. Don't miss us at the Mass Market show this weekend! Here are the details:

Sunday JUNE 14th, 2009
11am - 6pm
Massachusetts College of Art, Pozen Center
621 Huntington Avenue

Also wanted to share with you our deals we got at last week's Renegade Craft Fair! I was happy to be able to get this adorable poster for Maisy's room over at the Nate Duval booth:


Below is a photo of all the loot I scored for Justin and myself...


1. Simple, subtle necklace from Lauren Haupt
2. Men's tee from Black Sheep Heap
3. Super soft "Friends and Flowers" tee from Species by the Thousands
4. Owl mug from Danmade

I also made a fantastic trade from Nora of Sheriff Peanut (I love trades!). Maisy happens to like it, too:


We have a bit of a drive ahead of us today, and lots of unpacking to do tomorrow. But we hope to see some of you this Sunday in Boston. If not, have a great weekend!

Brooklyn in a nutshell. Now we're tired!

Brooklyn Renegade was a fantastic show in so many ways: the weather, the people, our sign...


We had a solid line of traffic both days. At first the increased size of the venue worried us. The sheer vastness of the event could have resulted in watered down sales, but in that last hour on Sunday we nearly sold out of nightlights. Somehow, though, we couldn't move that last lonely owl.


Our display received lots of compliments – always nice to hear. We hacked off some slabs of cordwood and made use of an old type-set organizer for some items.


There were plenty of old friends selling their wares. We dropped by our good pal Dabney at Mogo to discuss their amazing home renovation. Check out the project on their blog if you haven't already.


Kitty-corner to our booth, Alison Tauber was selling her fantastic clothing line. Tracy's stacked up two of Alison's shirts in less than a month.


We also stumbled upon some great new-to-us vendors. Our favorite was Mandalina Rossa who creates a colorful, fun, yet meticulous line of children's clothing. Fitting considering her own cheerful persona.


We also were visited by some old pals who we haven't seen in a long time. So nice to have surprise visitors! Many thanks to everyone who stopped by on that sunny weekend.

So after a successful weekend we're now trying to drag ourselves back into the daily work routine. Our Etsy site has opened back up, with our regular seconds and one-offs at discount prices. Over at happyowlglass.com you'll find the rest of our items.

Finally, if you're in Boston this weekend drop by the MassMarket show this Sunday the 14th from 11am to 6pm. We'll be there for another round of person-to-person sales!

Ciao!