Road trip // Part Two!

Celie Fago in her home // studio. 

Not only has Jen become one of my great friends since moving to Vermont, but I (along with all of the women of Burlington) lust after her creations. 

Jen with Kiwi the smartest little dog with a million tricks! 

That's why I was so excited to have had the opportunity to visit the studio and home of Jen's mentor, Celie Fago. Jen lived and was an apprentice of Celie's for 9 years.  Jen prefaced me about how neat of an experience it was going to be. 

(left: lockets by Celie Fago; right: PMC earrings by Celie Fago)

Celie Fago is a teacher of PMC [precious metal clay] among other medias and is highly regarded in her field for her groundbreaking techniques. 

I love seeing other people's workspaces, but Celie's was incredibly inspirational. Sometimes, especially in the dead of winter, I really need an enlightening experience, and usually it happens when I'm not looking for it. Celie's house/studio is like a museum of things that have inspired her.

At every glance there is a something wonderful to look at.  

Celie Fago's colorful collection of beads

A roadtrip with a musician friend is what led me to Vermont for the first time just five years ago. It was just what I needed at the time. Where time passes just a little slower, and where people passing by take the time to smile and say hello. This is where I wanted to be. Easy though to forget how special a place is really is, when you get into the rhythm of everyday life.
For some reason, inspiration always tends to be tied into nostalgia somehow. And I immediately began falling in love with Vermont all over during my mini-road trip.

(beautiful stained glass in Celie's kitchen made by her father)

I loved Celie's carved twigs (pictured upper left) and also seeing a collection fresh off the trail that will become jewelry one day.

(left: commemorative locket right: beautiful peter pan collar necklace with pearl by ELMHarris) 

I met Celie's current apprentice, Erin, who also makes beautiful jewelry from PMC. She has a line of jewelry that could be worn for a special occasion or every day and commemorative pieces.

 Ah, such a refreshing trip! Thanks to Celie, Erin and Jen for allowing me to photograph them and their pieces.

For those of you who don't know of Jen Kahn's addicting jewelry, I am telling you that you must check her out. Her designs are perfection and there is a piece for every woman.

She's been killing it promoting her chakra line through a kickstarter campaign that launched last week.


I would highly recommend checking it out and making a pledge. Not only will you receive a beautiful piece of art, but you will be supporting a wonderful person as well! And don't we all love to support artists who just happen to also be nice people?

Road trip!

I had the pleasure of taking a mini road trip last week with my friend Jen Kahn last week. I've never visited many of the stores I sell to around the country and it's always
such a fun experience when I get to check one out after having sold there for a while.  Revolution in White River Junction, VT is one of the first shops that carried my line when I moved to Vermont and I finally found time to go visit. Nearby is Jen's old stomping grounds from when she was an apprentice with Celie Fago. So we decided to make a day of it. Jen was kind enough to show me around all of the funky parts of the Upper Valley. I'll be splitting it into two separate trips because the visit to Celie's studio deserves a spotlight post of its own.

Kim Souza and Jen Kahn with my pile of clothes! 

Revolution is a great shopping experience with a lovely combination of vintage clothing and handmade. They have a lovely selection of jewelry as well! I was delighted to bump into Philly artist Heidi Roland's line. I had to buy a pair of those beaded chevron earrings. (pictured above)

So much fun handmade clothing by local artists! I spotted Sarah's skirts from Mountain Ash Design (her skirts pictured all the way to the left), Thimble and Acorn, Salaam and many more!

Cute and colorful upcycled sweater skirts by Where Designs. 

It was so much fun to see all of the talented artists that are spreading their wares all over! 

We also happened to check out a thrift shop where I scored this amazing Kevin Bacon t-shirt for $1. Sweet! 

Later on today or sometime this weekend I'll continue with another post about the inspiring trip to Celie's studio! 

Giveaway time!

I wanted to celebrate my new packaging by giving a set of bobbi pins of your choice!

There are four ways to enter, and each way gets you an extra chance at winning.

1.Like my facebook business page here.

2. Share my facebook page by copying and pasting this address: http://www.facebook.com/NicolesThreads

3. Add me to your circle on etsy

4. Include your e-mail with an asterisk (*) to be added to the e-mail list. 

I will pick a winner at random on February 25th at 10pm EST! 

Packaging

I am so excited to have this winter down time to work on some projects. I am completely switching up my packaging from the handmade, hand-stamped cards.  I designed and ordered (with the help of my good friend Nicole Jayne!) new earring & accessory cards. My old cards were made one-by-one by me. After the holiday rush I am always reevaluating the past year to see how I can make things run more smoothly and efficiently for next year.  At the top of my list was to work on packaging. Branding is so important to a small business like mine, so it was important that these had a handmade feel. I am so excited to get them in my mail box. These cards will even have my website. I can't believe I was sending them out to folks as gifts without that link for so long. 

I also am looking forward to having fabric swatches all in one place for folks to choose from! As more and more folks are looking to me to make them matching jewelry/cuff links for their weddings, it only makes sense to have a swatch catalogue. This will also make my wholesale customers orders much easier! 

On another exciting note, I am taking a small business course and at the end I'll have a business plan (for a new venture - eeeee!) There is another thang or two I've got up my sleeve, but I want to be sure that I know if I am ready to take the next step. I'm also hoping to learn how to get help. There is only so much I can do myself. After running my business alone full time for two years, I find that I need help! Well, it's been a long day of learning excel and playing with photoshop. Off to dreamland... 

Inspired by this cold...

Holy crow! It is cold out there. I was inspired by my friend Erica and this weather to create some new ear warmer headbands. I made three prototypes that I may list on etsy, but I make keep myself. I think these will be around $28. They are made from vintage & reclaimed sweaters!

Some new things...

lately..

The Burlington City Arts Market (in conjunction with the Burlington Farmer's Market) is now in full swing. Come by every Saturday from 9-2:30!

This is my new-ish studio space. The other half is shared with the dudes who run Angioplasty media and downstairs is a woodshop! It's at 180 Flynn Ave and I am open to public by appointment only right now. Feel free to e-mail me if you want to come check it out nicoleerincarey@gmail.com 

I'm hoping to have a little soft opening sometime in August and then open to the public for Art Hop!

photo by Erica Fkiaras of love erica photography.

Also! I took part in Where Designs/AngioPlasty/MSR fashion show styled by sound (Barbacoa played!) at Main Street Landing. Don't the girls look beautiful? Most of these dresses are available for sale in my etsy shop: http://nicolecarey.etsy.com. I had a ton of fun! 

These are one of the popular items this season, the color block dress! Modeled here by Jennifer Kahn  of Jennifer Kahn Jewelry (thanks Jen!) and myself. The orange and pink combo has been a hit at the market! I have enough fabric to make a few more! They are also available on my etsy site as made to order in your size here. 

Also, I've been really into styling photo shoots with my dog and sunglasses. 

If you wanna see more photos of the stuff I make and lots of pictures of my dog, follow me on instagram @ nicolesthreads!