Bye Bye 2011!

As New Year's Eve night approaches, it's only fitting to reflect on the year that has only a few hours left in it.

It's been a pretty great year. I can't believe that it's just about over to be honest. A lot of good things came out of 2011:

• Had my Craft Show debut in May and did 5 shows in total this year. Not bad for a newbie.
• Met some amazing artists that I can call friends. 
• Unicorn Crafts is in 5 stores throughout California thanks to some wonderful store owners.
• Rekindled a few friendships :)
• Got to spend a good amount of time with my family. 
• Stayed happy through most of the year.

When I started doing shows for Unicorn Crafts, I wanted to give back in some sort of way and also have it connect back to my mum. I decided that a portion of my proceeds would go towards the American Cancer Society.

She passed away September of last year from ovarian cancer and didn't get to see me start up Unicorn Crafts. At least this way she can be apart of the journey. I made my donation today to ASC in her memory.

One of my resolutions for the coming year is to be more active in charity. For me it's not enough to just give money to an organization; I would like to be more hands on.

Thank you for your support and your love this year. I am excited to see what 2012 has in store. Whatever it is, it will be magical.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Renegade Craft Fair(s) Recap

It's been a crazy busy few weeks and now that the show season is officially over, I can catch up on a few things.

The past two weekends were the Renegade Craft Fair shows. I had never been a part of the shows before and was both excited and nervous about being a vendor. I didn't know what to expect but at least I was sharing with my dear friend Genevieve. She is the delightful genius behind Le Petit Elefant.

Both shows were fantastic (minus a bit of mud at the LA show, that was quickly remedied). I do have to say that the San Francisco show was my favorite one out of the three shows that I did this season. I'm sure it had something to do with being back in the bay area and seeing my friends who I have missed being around. I may be in LA but my heart is definitely in the bay area. 

That's my lovely friend Liz who helped me all weekend.

Genevieve, Eugenia (BFSTG), me and Liz at the end of Day 2, RFC SF.

Unique LA Holiday Show

This past weekend marked my first holiday show of the season; Unique LA. It was insane how many people came by (in a good way).

I am so glad to have finally met some vendors whose work I knew but faces I did not. I also met up with some old friends and made some new ones.

All in all a great, exhausting weekend!

 My booth at the show

Me and Unicorn Friend

Now time to get ready for Renegade Craft Fair LA this weekend and  Renegade Craft Fair SF the weekend after.

Phew...

I'm such a dork...

I just got a new phone today and it synced all my photos from my blog onto my phone. Not really thinking about it I deleted ALL the photos off of my phone. I thought since the photo are on my blog I don't need them on my phone too. Ya, I had an EPIC FAIL. Since I deleted the photos on my phone, I ended up deleting all the photos off my blog. Major oops.

Please bear with me as I try to fix what I did. Technology sigh...

A Necklace Sneak Peek...

These are just a few of the designs debuting at this season's holiday craft fairs. Enjoy!

Where In the World Is Unicorn Crafts?

Here is where you can find me this Holiday Season! Come by and say HI!

UNIQUE LA

December 3-4 | 11am-6pm
The California Market Center

 110 E 9th Street | Los Angeles | CA | 90079

Booth #165

RENEGADE LA

December 10-11 | 10am-5pm

                Los Angeles State Park               

1245 N. Spring Street | Los Angeles | CA | 90012

Booth #108

RENEGADE SF

December 17-18 | 11am-6pm

Concourse Exhibition Center

635 8th Street | San Francisco | Ca | 94103

Booth #45

Holiday Event at HAPA COLLECTIVE

My Day at the Museum

I checked out the Tim Burton show today at LACMA before it closes tomorrow. I had gone a few weeks ago but forgot my sketchbook that time. So here I was, ready to see the show again, sketchbook in hand.

Holy moley, it was a mad house! I was lucky enough to see it the first time when there weren't that many people. But a on the good side, because it was so crowded, I was able to sneak a few photos, teehee. Shhh! Don't tell on me though.

I was able to do a few sketches and jot some idears down. As soon as I do my Burton-inspired piece, I shall post it up for you to see.

If you weren't able to make it to the show, take a looky...

Pumpkin Carving Contest!

As you know HALLOWEEN is my FAVORITE day of the year! With the best day ever just around the corner, I thought it would be fun to put together a little contest for you little Unicorns!

From now until Halloween night, send me a photo of your best pumpkin creations. Now no cheating; these have to be carved by you in order to count. So jump in the photo if you want to truly convince me. :)

What good is a contest without a prize? No worries, there will be a nice little treat for the winner.

To Enter: Go to my Facebook page and upload your pumpkin photo(s) to my fan page. 

Have fun and show me what you can do!

Nail Art: Fall

Fall is in the air. Here is a fun way to dress up your nails for the change in season.

It's suuuuuper easy to do. My sister just showed me this youtube page and there are a bunch of great tutorials. I wish I knew about this a little sooner. Some of my designs have shortcuts that I never thought of, teehee.

If you end up trying some out, make sure to show me how it comes out!

Go crazy!

New Boutique!

Hello little unicorns! Good news. As of today you can find me in Los Feliz at Co-Op 28. When I say "me" I really mean my line, Unicorn Crafts.

Today I stopped by this lovely little gem of a store to set up my earring display and get a feel for the place. It's so neat. There is a plethora of handmade work all throughout the store and a wonderful little art space at the back of the store. Not to mention the sweetest dalmatian called Pretzel who will just melt your heart.

I am going to take owner Marci up on her offer to hang out there on weekends and have a little pop-up shop. Once I finalize the dates I'll be sure to post it.

An Afternoon with Nate Wragg

I headed over the Gallery Nucleus today for a lecture and demo by one of my favorite artists: Mr. Nate Wragg. If you don't know him by name, I am pretty sure you know his work. Most recently he was part of the Pixar features Ratatouille and Toy Story 3 designing characters that you may just recognize.

He started the lecture / Q&A with his story; how he started in design, jobs he had, and his projects. After about an hour we took a short break and when we returned with cookies in our tummies, (provided by the Motivart team) Nate started his demo.

It was really great to not just hear about his process but to actually see it taking form from start to finish. He uses a lot of materials that you think wouldn't work together like acrylic paint, magazine cut outs, and painted watercolor paper but somehow he always created the most delightful pieces of art. It still floors me that his can create such amazing art using this pretty ordinary group of supplies.

I didn't have a book or a print for him to sign when I met him so he was kind enough to sign my sketchbook. I love that he drew his signature character. I am totally framing this and putting it on my wall.

Just Arrived

With the holidays just around the corner, this year I wanted to have some cards to sell at the upcoming craft shows.

With Unicorn Crafts growing it seems that taking on another item in the shop seems a bit crazy, but after trolling the interwebs for card idears, I found washi tape! For those not familiar with the tape, it’s a Japanese paper based adhesive tape that is used for all sorts of craft and decorating projects. The ways you can use it are pretty much endless.

 I didn't want to jump in to this new world head first so, I took baby steps; buying sampled sized rolls instead of whole rolls. This way it's less expensive and I get to try out a few more designs.

My order from Winnie of chickydoddle just arrived today and I cannot wait to start creating! The packaging of the tapes made me squee from excitement not to mention the tapes themselves! Thanks Winnie!

Nail Art: Free Handed

 
It's been awhile since I posted a Nail Art but here is one nonetheless.

I think a nail pen would be perfect for designs like this, so as soon as I can, I will be adding that to my artillery. 

Take A Look

I put together a little something for my new website but I wanted to show you first Little Unicorns.

Let me know what you think.

I stumbled across this image today and wanted to share.

Which do you think it is?

Please Vote!

Oh my goodness, it's time!

I mentioned in the last post that I made it to the second round of competition for the Uncommon Goods Jewelry Design Contest. Today is the big day...time to VOTE!

Here are the chosen designs from Unicorn Crafts:

 

Paper Plane Earrings

 

Tiny White Elephant Earrings

Voting is suuuuuuper easy! Just vote for your favorite entries. After voting closes, guest judges will meet to review the top vote-getting entries and select a winner. 

Let's encourage our friends, family and colleagues to vote for Unicorn Crafts. 

Thanks for your support Little Unicorns! 

Big News!

Great news Little Unicorns!

A few weeks back I entered a jewelry design contest through Uncommon Goods (a unique and unusual gift site). I submitted some of my Unicorn Crafts jewelry designs for consideration and received word this morning that I had made it to round two of the competition!

Horray!

So here's what happens next. Early next week (by end of day, Tues Sept 6) you'll see my work on the Community Voting App. Uncommon Goods customers will have two weeks (until Sept 19) to vote for their favorite entries. A week after that, guest judges will meet to review the top vote-getting entries and select a winner.

Here's where you come in! I'll need your support to be one of the top vote-getters. You can also encourage your friends, family and colleagues to vote for your entry.

There will definitely be a reward for all my Little Unicorns if I can make it all the way!

White Elephant Earring Giveaway!

I've teamed up with Janelle, of Jewelry by Janelle, to offer an exclusive giveaway for all Unicorn Crafts fans! I am giving one lucky winner a pair of my adorable White Elephant Earrings!

There are a ton of quick and easy ways to enter the giveaway. The more you enter, the more chances you have to win!
Hurry, contest ends on September 5th. Goodluck!

How to enter:

Mandatory:  You must be a follower of Janelle's blog!  

open to followers in the US, Canada and International!

 

1.  Mandatory entry:  Check out Unicorn Crafts shop on Etsy and then come back and fill out the rafflecopter enrty form here (click on the "read more" to see all ways to enter) (1 entry)

additional optional entries:

 

2.  Like Jewelry By J on facebook (1 entry)

3.  Like Unicorn Crafts on facebook (1 entry)

4. Follow Unicorn_Crafts on twitter (1 entry)

5.  Heart a Unicorn Crafts item from my etsy shop (1 entry)

6.  Heart Jewelry By J's etsy shop or an item in it (1 entry)

7.  Follow Unicorn Craft Blog
8.  Follow Unicorn Crafts on Tumblr

Leanna Lin's Wonderland Turns One!

Last night I stopped by Wonderland in Eagle Rock to celebrate with Leanna as her adorable shop turned one-year-old!

 

amazing art!

 

Unicorn Crafts at Wonderland!

 

photo booth fun!

nail art: glitter!

I love nail polish and an afternoon watching I Love Lucy!

weekend wrap-up

I have been MIA for a bit, I know. I was extremely busy getting ready for Unique LA that happened this past weekend. But I'm back now!

The weekend was better than I imagined it to be. I tried to follow some advice given to me by a fellow crafter with load for experience. But there were a few curve balls thrown at me this time around that I was proud to get through.

Let me just show you some images from the summer show.

 

photo by Gail Gonzales

 

photo by Gail Gonzales

 

photo by Gail Gonzales

 

my pirate ship booth

 

awesome kids that love unicorns and narwhals!

 

that's right, he's got a unicorn tattoo!

 

cheeeese!

 

my sister and i towards the end of the weekend! 

Thanks to everyone for coming out to the show and showing your support! 

new friend join the family!

say hello to the newest member of Unicorn Crafts: Narwhal Friend!

this cute little guy will be the newest friend to accompany me to Unique LA later this month.

Etsy: New Additions!

I am ever so pleased to announce the arrival of the buttons!

It took a lot of work to get the designs just right and i am really happy with the result.

You get all four designs:
♥ Ice Cream Friend
♥ Keep Calm and Unicorn On
♥ Unicorn Friend
♥ California Love

Each button is 1 inch in diameter and is Eco-Friendly.
♥ Printed with Soy Ink
♥ 100% Recycled backing card
♥ 10% Recycled Poly Plastic Packaging 

What do you think?

Here's a Great Way to Spend a Summer Weekend!

Where: The Barker Hangar (3021 Airport Avenue, Santa Monica, California 90405)

Cost: $10 at the door or in advance (kids 12 and under are free)
http://uniquela.com/