2015 Holiday Market and Pop-up Shop Guide

The holidays are here!

Not that there's any reason to panic. I mean, there are weeks left before Christmas. Although, my niece's birthday is on December 15th, and my nephew's is on the 20th. My brother's birthday is right before Christmas on the 23rd. I have a holiday party to attend, so I need a hostess gift, and gifts for clients...

Yikes!

Those two weeks in the middle of December leading up to Christmas are always the marathon in our families. I stopped writing everything that's happening in those two weeks because it has to be taken in shifts, mentally.

It compounds so fast, it can spiral out of control before you know it! If there's one thing I recommend at this time of year, it's LISTS. Gifts, holiday cards, and important ship dates are three great lists to compile for the holiday season. Check off each gift as you buy it, and scratch it off when it's been given. If you send a lot of cards, get names and addresses compiled into an Excel document and print the addresses onto labels with your printer, and order return address labels from online resources such as Zazzle. For your important ship dates, USPS has a great resource on their website, which is a good way to ballpark when to purchase or order the gifts that need to be shipped. 

Click here to go to the USPS web page with this and other helpful information about shipping and holiday hours.

People are making more efforts to support small makers and locally-owned businesses. Luckily, Nashville is abound with people making great products, and there are markets throughout the holiday season that will satisfy everyone on your list. 

Where to shop

Holiday markets are everywhere, and these four are a great place to start:

Gift Horse Pop-up Shop (Opens November 28 at 10am)
Jessica Maloan of Pine Street Makery has put together a great roster of items from makers of all sorts. The list of brands and products represented is well-rounded, and there is sure to be something for everyone.
Look for Hello Soap (best lip balm on the market) and Corbé Company ceramics.
Located in the Sawtooth Print Shop at 604 Gallatin Ave, Suite 215, 37206

This little dish by Corbé is perfect for salt or as a jewelry bowl.

All natural and so flavorful, Hello Soap lip balms are second to none when it comes to moisturizing and flavor.

Studio Be Holiday Artist Market (December 4th 12-9p & 5th 9a-4p and 11th 12-9p & 12th 9a-4p)
Local artist Cindy Wunsch is putting on a two-weekend market featuring all kinds of different artists and makers. Each weekend will be different, and both will be a great opportunity to purchase a wide variety of goods.
Look for jewelry designer Beth Lawrence of Freshie & Zero representing her brand the second weekend.
Located upstairs at 4908-B Charlotte Ave, 37209

A selection of my own collection of Freshie & Zero earrings

WeHo Market and Art Crawl (December 5th 10a-6p, Art Crawl 6-9p & December 6th 12-5pm)
Clothes, coffee, gourmet dog treats and more: the WeHo Market is going to be a great place to meet some makers.
Look for Blackjack Wax & Co. Hand-poured candles from Georgia make a great hostess gift or stocking stuffer.
Located in the Track One Building, 1211 4th Ave S, 37210

Porter Flea (December 5th 10a-6p)
Celebrating it's tenth show, Porter Flea has relocated to a bigger space to accommodate even more makers (over 140!). Not into rubbing elbows with the hordes? Purchase tickets for their preview party on the evening of December 4th.
Look for Elizabeth Foster's booth of fine art. She has everything from cards to original art, and her imagery is gorgeous and well-executed, but not overly-serious.
Located at Silver Point Studios, 10 Quality Way

The detailed and jovial works of Elizabeth Foster are definitely worth checking out at Porter Flea

There are dozens of other pop-up shops that will be happening over the holiday season. Even when the season gets overwhelming, I hope each of you can take the time to meet some craftspeople and discover a new brand (or several!) that keeps your interest and inspires your loyalty for years to come.

Cheers to the start of a wonderful Holiday Season!

Laying the Groundwork in the New Year

It's here, it's here! The new year is HERE!! I had a great New Year's Eve - my husband and I chilled out for a few hours after work, then got dressed up, went to dinner at a local brewpub, headed to a party half a block from our house, and rang in 2015 with new friends and a bit of bubbly.
I am not a big resolution maker. I find if I want to do something or break a habit, I have to just decide on it and DO IT. However, I do believe in setting goals and making a plan to attain them. Following are a few of the goals I'm working toward in 2015 and beyond.

Writing and building my email list
In my research, I am finding that writing, whether it's a newsletter or a blog or a hand-written note, is the backbone of most successful businesses. My email list is the most important aspect of my business in certain regards, and one of my goals is to build it up by writing regularly about my projects and what I learn over the year. In 2014, I posted six times on this blog. I'm setting a reasonable bar-I'm going to double that number this year. That means one post per month, which is an entirely attainable goal. Heck, I might even post more (fingers crossed)!

Old fashioned and new fangled - both very valuable.

Of course, intentions are great, but how will I manage to write more? Again, I'm starting small. I am going to try to spend between ten and thirty minutes per day writing. This will probably mean I have to get up a little earlier, but since my office re-design, I have a lovely creative space to write, photograph, and design. Did I mention my office faces east, so I always get the morning light? I can't think of a better motivator than the morning sun (featuring coffee) to get my creative juices flowing.

Continuing to say NO to things that aren't a priority
In May of 2014, I hit a wall. We had inherited a dog, my husband was experiencing job fluctuation which led to financial instability, and I was working on my part of a collaborative art show, running my business, and singing with a few different acts in town. I basically had a breakdown, and decided that it was time to cut out some extracurriculars. Now, I have a much better handle of my schedule (sort of), and my resolve is firm in what I'm available to do. If it's a design project or photography, I'm all ears, but if it's another band project or a show in a gallery, I'm out. I have time to sing with Bill and his different incarnations, and that's about it. While I love showing my photos, it's incredibly time-consuming and expensive to put a show together. To read more about how I found my resolve, check out this post from last year.

A shot from the Very Entertaining Holiday Show. I love being involved with Bill's music.

Being present
We live in a society where being busy is seemingly becoming synonymous with being important. "Busy" is becoming a four-letter word to me, even though I do tend to be occupied for most of the time I'm awake. I'm making efforts to minimize the use of that word in my daily life.
That being said, my husband tends to get irritated with me when we sit on the couch to unwind at the end of a night and watch a little TV; I usually make it about five minutes into whatever we're watching before I pick up my phone and start Instagramming, shopping for work clothes or photo props, loading my Buffer for Twitter, or any number of things a person with a marketing job might do while having their entertainment spoon-fed to them. While I don't necessarily plan to entirely stop while watching TV, I am guilty of zoning out when I really should be engaging the people around me, especially my husband. I am actively working on using my time better to market, and not wasting so much window shopping or scrolling.

A photo from April 2009. This sums us up pretty perfectly, and I don't want to lose this joy.

This is just the start to my list of ways to make my 2015 the best year yet. Do you have any resolutions or goals? Share them in the comments!

A Look Back at 2014

This year has been a challenging one, both personally and professionally. Growing pains with MAW and at home have made every step forward especially sweet this year, and while I'm enjoying the last few days of 2014, I am also looking forward to the New Year.
I'm not much of one for dwelling on the past, but I do want to revisit some of the highlights of my year, to keep in mind that no matter how challenging life may get, the good stuff will always happen, too.

Placement - my collaboration with Miranda Herrick

Miranda figures heavily into this year being a professional success for me. We collaborated on this series at the request of the owner of The Framemaker, and it came together wonderfully.
Miranda wrapped and gessoed a globe for me to take to different locations and photograph in my style.
I photographed different collections of objects and supplied Miranda with photos to cut up into her signature designs.
This project stemmed from our compilation on a piece from a few years ago called Heartstrings. Miranda wrapped an anatomical model of a heart with fishing wire, and I photographed the progress at different intervals.

The Facebook banner image for Placement, featuring selections from Heartstrings.

It was awesome to work with Miranda, and the show came together better than I think either one of us expected. To see more of her work, check out her website, also designed by yours truly.

The show turned out beautifully!

Go Now, Don't Look Back - album cover art and design project with Jeff Blaney

When Jeff Blaney asked to use one of my photos from Horse Trails -> Highways on the cover of his new EP, I jumped at the opportunity! What an amazing thing to have a piece of mine chosen by an artist to represent a piece of his musical journey. He also hired me to design the layout of the CD jacket and disc. Jeff gave me a lot of lead time, brought all of the information I needed for the layout to our meeting, and even had rough sketches to work from. It was a perfect project experience.
The album will be released in February, but until then, give Jeff Blaney's music a listen. 

The front and back covers of Go Now, Don't Look Back

Works and Days - being published in an art book for the first time

Miranda Herrick is one of the most talented people I know, and her dedication to art is astounding. We have built this amazing working relationship around our friendship-she is the creator, I am the documenter. I've been working with her for about five years now, and one of my ongoing projects is to document as many of her shows as possible. Having this catalog gave Miranda the breadth of images she needed for the introduction to her book, Works and Days, which is the entirety of her year-long daily drawing project. It was gratifying to not only see my name in print in a book, but to see years of work pay off in such a wonderful way for both Miranda and me.

There it is, live and in print. Woo hoo!!

Some perspective: this is the full set of all 365 Works and Days. They span the color spectrum in order of the months.

All in all, it's been a really good year. I hope you're enjoying the final days of 2014, and happily anticipating 2015. Cheers to the close of one year and the new beginnings of another!