On the White Line

For the second year in a row, I’ve had the chance to join the education team of the Milwaukee Observatory where we train Bay View High School students to help Milwaukeans explore their neighborhoods.

Gotta say… this is a really cool project. These students do an amazing job of researching and interpreting history.

If you’re in Bay View, you really should check it out… And if you’re there this Saturday or on August 6th or 13th, you’ll get to interact directly with the students! (It’ll be moving to the Clarke Square/Mitchell Park area later in the season)

I think this profile from Radio Milwaukee does a great job of catching the spirit of the program:

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Lots more info at www.MilwaukeeObservatory.com and www.radiomilwaukee.org.

After three weeks of below average shows (we just signed up for them to fill the open weekends), we are ready for this weekend’s big show in Tempe, AZ. Of course with a big show comes a whole packet of rules. We have to do our homework before the show on this one.

Must confess… at first I thought this was a pretty bad sign in a vendor booth at this weekend’s art show. I mean, why use your first impression to tell people what you are NOT?

But I kept looking and wondering… why say that? what are you then? The sign worked. It got my attention and led me to start a conversation with the craftsperson.

By the way, they made lotion bars that looked a lot like soap.

I have to admit, we’ve got a pretty nice setup here in Ajo, AZ. While our friends Maryann and Dick are away, we’ve created an outdoor studio in their driveway. I’m busy crafting shard jewelry while Corey works away at his freelance projects.

I can’t think of a better environment to foster my creativity, and the peace and quiet that surrounds Ajo has been a welcome change from the hustle and bustle of shows.

Margarita time in Indio, CA

Between the various chores we’ve been completing this week, we’ve managed to have some fun. Here are some photos:

Date Palms at Shield's Date Garden in Indio, CA.

Our little "enhanced" fire pit in Palm Springs, CA.

Date shakes at Sheild's Date Garden, Indio, CA

Moon Over the Mountains in Palm Springs

Loved this light at Jackalope Ranch in Indio, CA

Palm Springs Arts Festival... we haven't seen the crowds, but it only takes a few good shoppers to make the show great.

We are all set up for the Palm Springs Arts Festival. The good news is that we get to dry camp in the parking lot attached to the show… anything to save a bit of money. On Thursday night we fired up our little gas fire pit and barbequed some hotdogs.

So far, attendance at the show has been disappointingly low, but on the first day we sold enough to cover the booth and jury fees, so it could be worse. We’ve got our fingers crossed that the buyers come out on Saturday and Sunday.

Liam's bovine neighbors in Ireland... last month was the coldest December Ireland has had since records began 150 years ago. Now, it's time to heat things up (including our frozen toes) with shows in the Southwest.

We only have to deal with the cold and snow of Wisconsin for about two more weeks before we head west, but getting out of the freezing temps only gets us a little closer to heating up jewelry sales in January, February and March.

With two shows “officially” lined up in Palm Springs and Tempe, our hopes are high that we’ll get accepted into the six other shows around Phoenix and Tucson who are reviewing our applications. Fingers crossed. Prayers said. Lucky charms polished.

The biggest downfall… a lot of money is going out for jury fees, booth fees, postage, materials, but not much is coming in. January is going to especially tight as we pack up the motorhome and drive 2,000 miles to Palm Springs (why, oh, why does the price of diesel have to be on the rise right now?).

I suppose it’s good we don’t have extra cash right now. This is, after all, our season for producing jewelry and replenishing stock. Influenced by empty wallets, we won’t be tempted to eat out, see movies or buy much of anything. Instead, it’s gonna be mac ‘n’ cheese and our noses to the grindstone!

And when it’s all said and done, I’d much rather be broke in the sunny Southwest in January than any place where the temperatures don’t get above freezing!

In this day and age of spellchecker, you’d think we could free ourselves of typos, but nope, nope, nope.

Just realized our postcard mailing for the shard jewelry had a major typo… our web address was spelled wrong. Of all things, how did we misspell our own website?!? Well, both Liam and I missed it.

I quickly got over the frustration and embarrassment and bought the domain name of our typo. Heck, if I can mistype it, someone else could too, right? Now, you can find us at www.LiamShardJewelry.com AND www.LiamShardJewlery.com.

Sigh.

I’m in full production mode, and have snapped my first picture of some of the new pieces I’m working on.

I must say, some of these pieces are real stunners. Click the photo to see it a bit bigger.

Before I left for NYC and Ireland in June, I worked with a group of teenagers on a very unique archaeology project. Now, don’t picture me donning Indiana Jones garb, but also don’t snooze at the thought of cataloging itsy bitsy pottery fragments either.

This program was different. Students were required to get to know their neighborhood. I mean, really get to know it. In order to do that, they learned how to (more…)