More Press!

If you've had the change to see 614 Magazine's FoodCity issue, you might have noticed a familiar face (or at least some familiar jewelry!)

Yup, that's me again!! I am beyond thrilled that I've received so much awesome press in the past month. You can pick up a copy of FoodCity around town, or read the article online here.

CMA!

You will now be able to purchase my Tiny Treats jewelry at the Columbus Museum of Art gift shop! Hooray :)

This has been one of my big goals since I started making jewelry and it feels so awesome to have this be a reality. It was a large order for me to complete (especially at the start of craft show season and still in the midst of the school year!), but I did it, and it felt great.

Whirlwind January

January was an insanely busy start to the new year!

At the beginning of the month, Bitter/Sweet (showing my work along with works by fellow artist Linda Diec) opened at the Ohio Art League Gallery. It was my first gallery show that wasn't in a retail shop, restaurant, or at Junctionview Studios - so I was really excited! I worked so hard creating brand new work for the show.

Bitter/Sweet received some excellent press - including a shout-out in the Alive's winter arts calendar and a full-length feature article in the Columbus Dispatch.

In early January, I was also working on rallying the troops to vote for me in the GCAC's Columbus Arts Festival commemorative print competition (see previous blog post for more info). To my delight, I won the poster contest - and my design will be featured as a print to purchase

in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Columbus Arts Festival.

That very same week, my Sweet Stella Designs jewelry line was featured in the Style section of the Columbus Alive - and some close-up shots of my Tiny Treats necklaces were even included on the splash page of the print version of the paper.

You can read the article online HERE.

And in other Sweet Stella Design news: my jewelry is now available at 3 new retail locations: Magpie (Somerville MA), Anthology (Madison WI), and the Glitter Workshop (Madison, WI).

Featured!

Yesterday, one of my rings was featured on the Lark Crafts blog in a posting called "I Want Candy"!

If you're a fan on my confectionary jewelry treats, then this round-up will be right up your alley :)

Philly Love!

Paula Deen & Philadelphia Cream Cheese have teamed up for the Real Women of Philadelphia cooking contest - and one of the 16 finalists is Ann Miller-Tobin from Columbus! She (and some of the other finalists) has commissioned me to make Philly cream cheese jewelry for the big cook-off & live event in Savannah, GA.
You can watch the live show online on Monday, July 30th at 8pm EST at pauladeen.com/wroplive - and maybe you'll catch a glimpse of one of the finalists sporting a Sweet Stella Designs original!

Welcome to the Art Shop!

After some consideration, I decided to re-vamp my BigCartel shop - so now you'll be able to shop for my jewelry through Etsy.com and for my fine artwork via BigCartel. Over the next few months, I hope to be adding more artwork - food sculptures, small paintings, drawings, and maybe even some digital prints (we'll see about that - I'm in the process of choosing a new desktop printer right now).

Remember that I also love creating custom orders, so if you have a special idea in mind, please do not hesitate to contact me!

Hot Ticket

One of the new collections I've been working on is called "Hot Ticket" - and is made using images from old concert ticket stubs. You can purchase ready-made ones in my Etsy shop or at What The Rock?! or Wholly Craft! Each one is unique - and I can also create a custom order for you from one of your own tickets.

Late-April Newsletter

Here's the text from my most recent (and re-designed!) email newsletter.

If you're interested in signing up to receive email updates, click HERE.

Snacktacular! On View Until May 7th
New Works & Old Favorites by Amy Neiwirth
Check out my latest food-themed paintings and sculptures at Wholly Craft - from sweet soft-serve ice cream to a loaded hot dog. Make sure to see my mini food shadowboxes as part of a colorful window display, too. All artwork is available for purchase.
Wholly Craft!
3169 North High St. in Columbus
614-447-3445
www.whollycraft.net

New Retail Location!
In a few weeks, some of my handmade goodies will be on their way to a very cute shop in Cleveland called Salty Not Sweet. This boutique started out as an indie craft show and then morphed in to a place to buy handmade goods all year round.
Salty Not Sweet
15613 Waterloo Rd. in Cleveland
216-481-8925
saltynotsweetcraft.wordpress.com

Handmade Nation
Movie Screening & Spring Trunk Show
Saturday May 8 - trunk show at 1pm, movie at 3pm.
Studio 35 Cinema, 3055 Indianola Ave. in Columbus
The Crafty Cotillion is proud to co-sponsor the Columbus premiere of Handmade Nation - a documentary by Faythe Levine about the rise of the indie craft movement. Before the movie, check out a trunk show featuring items by some of the fabulous & talented members of the Crafty Cotillion.
Find out more info HERE!

Sweet Stella Designs' Craft Show Schedule:
North Market Artisan Sundays
First & Third Sundays of the Month, May - October
(Sweet Stella Designs' Dates: May 2, June 20, July 18, August 1 & 15)
12 - 5 pm - 59 Spruce St. in Columbus
Crafts and good food - is there no better combination? Read moreHERE about the other awesome artists and crafters who will be participating in this season's Artisan Sundays at the North Market.
www.northmarket.com
* The first Artisan Sunday is THIS SUNDAY, May 2 - the perfect place for finding a unique Mother's Day gift! *

Pearl Market
Tuesdays & Fridays in July
10 am - 2 pm - Lynn & Pearl Alleys, off of Gay St. in downtown Columbus
I'll be teaming up with my fabulous crafty friend Mara M. (akaMaraM) to share a space downtown in the month of July.
www.downtowncolumbus.com/pearlmarket

Other Fun Goings-On
Who says there's nothing to do in Columbus?! The upcoming month is packed with all kinds of exciting events. Click on the links below for more info about each one.
Treasure Swap - Saturday, May 8
OAL's One Night: Absolutely Absurd - Saturday, May 15
Agora 7 - Preview: Friday, May 21. Main Event: Saturday, May 22
CAW Sadie Hawkins Show - Saturday, June 5

Oh, Dear...

Wow, it's been almost 2 months since my last post. I must admit that ever since I participated as an emerging artist in the Upper Arlington Labor Day Arts Festival, I've been on somewhat of a crafting hiatus. Between starting both my full-time job (as a K-12 art teacher) and my part-time job (teaching Hebrew school) in September, I really needed a break.

Sadly, my Etsy shop and my website haven't been updated in ages. But I DID add a Sweet Stella Designs BigCartel shop in to the mix, which enables shoppers to purchase items without signing up for a special account! Right now I am featuring 3 items in my test run, and I hope to have the Bigcartel shop as a link on my website soon.

So make sure to check out my site in the next few weeks! It will be getting a lovely face-lift and redesign, as will my online shops and hopefully my poor ugly Flickr page, too.

Featured on the Daily Etsian Blog!

I am excited to have my Rainbow Cake Earrings featured on the Daily Etsian blog. 

The Daily Etsian features sellers on Etsy, cool finds, and has fun giveaways. Check it out!

Pattycake, Pattycake!

I am excited to announce my latest collaboration: a line of exclusive Tiny Treats jewelry available at Pattycake Bakery in Columbus! You can purchase these yummy-looking wearable sweets from the bakery and wear your favorite treats from chocolate cupcakes to blueberry muffins. 

And of course, you'll want to buy some scrumptious *real* baked goods too! The snickerdoodles are one of my favorites. 

And Another Thing...

I cannot believe I forgot to mention this: I am one of several artists in the Columbus Crafty Cotillion to be featured in the July issue of Crafts Report Magazine! 

You can read the blog post on the Cotillion site here and you can check out the digital version of Crafts Report here. And yes, those are my cake rings on the right-hand page! *Giggle*

In July, I will also be starting a Sweet Stella Designs rewards program. For each purchase $20 and over, I'll sign your specially designed rewards card. When you collect 8 signatures, you'll have the choice of a free 1-inch glass pendant or 10% off your next purchase. Remember that in order to participate, I'll need to give you a special card to start off with, and each signature must be mine! Get excited :) 

Oh, and one last thing: if you have Facebook, you should definitely become a fan of Sweet Stella Designs! 

Summer Preview

Summer is almost here and that means craft shows galore! It also means that I have the summer off from teaching art and am so excited to catch up on my creative pursuits. Here's a preview of what's in store for Summer 2009. 

Sno-cone Hair Pins are the perfect summer treat!

Comfest (June 26-28th in Goodale Park): You'll be able to find Sweet Stella Designs' merchandise at Comfest even though I won't personally have a booth there. Check out the Wholly Craft! booth for my usual goods and Buckeye Bling for my colorful clay Ohio map silhouette necklaces. 

Sweet Collaborations: In July, you'll be able to purchase exclusive items from my Tiny Treats line at Pattycake Bakery! These little gems are hand-sculpted from polymer clay and will resemble the awesome, scrumptious vegan baked goods at Pattycake! 

You'll be able to purchase hairpins, earrings, rings, and necklaces shaped like cupcakes, muffins, cookies, and other sweet treats. Check 'em out at the bakery in Clintonville starting July 3rd. 

North Market Artisan Sundays (first Sundays of the month): Take a trip to the North Market to check out all of the talented craft vendors selling their wares. Support local businesses, artists & crafters and find unique items for yourself or for someone special. As always, I will have exciting new creations for sale! 

Crafty Cotillion Handmade Expo @ The Ohio State Fair (August 8, 2009): Even though I won't be able to vend at this event, I am a Crafty Cotillion member and in addition to helping to organize this event, I urge you to stop by and enjoy the handmade goods & local music from talented folks all over the city and beyond! 

Upper Arlington Labor Day Arts Festival (September 7, 2009 at Northam Park): I was accepted as an emerging artist for this festival and I am so excited to be able to branch out and share my jewelry with a whole new audience! Be on the lookout for fresh new designs incorporating more upscale materials and techniques. 

And if you can't make it to these events, you can always order something online from my shop, or email me about a custom creation! 

Get It Together...

I need a swift kick. The past week and a half has been filled with utter laziness (including a great trip to MD/DC...photo above is from the National Gallery of Art). Now I must get back on track. I have summer craft shows to prepare for and retail locations to re-stock. 

I could use some words of encouragement! And maybe better time-management skills as well. 

On the plus side, I am starting a new line of jewelry that incorporates glitter and resin. I find that the hexagonal glitter looks a bit more sophisticated than the typical square kind. Below is an example of one of my new glittery pieces: "Ruby Slippers" pendant necklace. Look for it in my Etsy shop soon!

Studio Snapshot

The very talented Melissa Vogley Woods has a blog called Studio Snapshot, where she takes photos of various artists in their studios and often interviews them to give blog readers a glimpse of these artists' work process.

I am honored to be one of the artists featured in this week's Studio Snapshot! You can check out the photos and my interview HERE!

In other interview news, I might be featured as part of an article about Wholly Craft and the alternative-craft movement in The Crafts Report magazine. The article should be coming out sometime in mid-summer.

2008 Wrap-Up

After a much-needed break from blogging & crafting, I feel re-charged and energized and ready for 2009! I have some great goals for Sweet Stella Designs for the upcoming year, but first, I wanted to reflect on the last part of 2008. 

November: 

Auto/Bio: An MA Thesis Exhibition 

I finally finished my giant MA project (17 pieces of artwork and a 180-page paper) and it was great to see my art on the walls and have my friends and family come out to celebrate. 

People mingle at my exhibition reception

Tiny Canary Indie Design Market

This event is always a blast! So many people came out to this two-day indie craft extravaganza and I split the table space with my friend (she took the space on Saturday; I had it on Sunday) Lori who makes perfumes and bath blends under the name Violette Market. 

Here I am at my Sweet Stella Designs booth

Anne shows off her new AmyD skirt 

December:

Holiday Hop Trunk Show @ What The Rock?!

The wintry weather was a bit of a deterrent for some people, but many others hopped on down to What The Rock to check out items from my holiday collection. 

Pink & sparkly with tiny lights: just the way I like it

In addition to my trunk show, I also had some small works displayed at Roy G. Biv Gallery's Member Small Works Exhibition and the Ohio Art League's annual Thumb Box Exhibition. 

C-Note Art Show 

Every piece of art was priced at $100 and despite the dreary economy, people came out to support local artists. I had an open studio on Saturday night and it was lots of fun to see all of the different types of art on the walls. 

Art viewers enjoy the work at C-Note 

Jen and Coreroc hang out in my open studio, #133

I am definitely looking forward to the rest of 2009. There are some great events happening at Junctionview Studios (including a spiffy re-designed website) and I am getting ready to start making some Valentines Day-themed jewelry. Looking ahead to April, I have an art show scheduled at Haiku Poetic Food & Art in the Short North. 

Naturally, most of my New Years resolutions have to do with being more organized, so I hope I'm able to keep up with that!

Hello, Chicago!

I am proud to announce that select items from Sweet Stella Designs are now available at Renegade Handmade in Chicago! If the name sounds familiar, it's because Renegade is a very well-known alternative craft fair that offers shows throughout the year in Brooklyn, San Francisco, and Chicago.

But if you can't wait and need your handmade goodies now, then head on over to Renegade Handmade at 1924 W. Division St. in Chicago.

And if you're not in the Chicago area, don't fret...Renegade plans to launch an online shop in the near future. Get excited!

Exciting News!

I am very excited to announce that my jewelry and accessories will soon be available at a store called Oak in Boston, MA! Oak sells all types of handmade goods from artisans in the Boston area and beyond. In addition to their "brick & mortar" retail shop, Oak also sells select handmade merchandise on their website, oakboston.com.

Soon you'll find hairpins, earrings, rings, and necklaces from Sweet Stella Designs among the other unique handcrafted wares at Oak.

If you're in the Boston area, make sure to stop by Oak soon (my items should be arriving in a week or so). They're located at 31 Gloucester Street, on the corner of Gloucester & Newbury and down the street from Fenway Park and the Prudential Center.

image source: oakboston.com

Make sure to check out Oak's blog for news, stories, updates, and other cool info about the store!

Sweet Stella Designs at Open Door Art Studio

I am excited to announce that Sweet Stella Designs jewelry can now be purchased at Open Door Art Studio in Grandview, Ohio!
Open Door is a great space that offers art classes for individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities. Their amazing artwork adorns the walls of the gallery. The Open Door Studio is "dedicated to overcoming limitations and giving individuals with disabilities the opportunity to discover their expressive freedom" (source: opendoorstudio.org).

The gallery/shop portion of Open Door is filled with handmade goods from independent artists and designers, including Columbus favorites (and Sweet Stella buddies) Anne Holman and Megan Green of MooganCreations. Some folks from Etsy Team Columbus will soon be added to the mix as well.

I am thrilled to have this new opportunity to sell my designs! Stop by Open Door during the Grandview Art Hop on the last Saturday night of the month.

Featured in Trend de la Creme!

I am so excited to be featured in a very cool collection on the site "Trend de la Creme"! On the Trend de la Creme website, the author, Jill Sherman "brings together her interpretations of the 'goings on' in fashion, beauty, style, design, and popular culture" (source: trenddelacreme.com).

My custom Pick-A-Pill necklace was included with other fabulous medicine-inspired designs ranging from jewelry to espresso cups to USB flash drives. Check out all of the pill-related goodness HERE!