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 :)

Scheming...

I've been super busy getting back in to the swing of teaching. I think it's finally happened.

Now I'm planning for the holiday season - new designs coming soon. Stay tuned.

More Redecorating

Here are some more shots of my *new & improved* more colorful apartment! It's still a work in progress, but the kitchen and the living room are just about finished.

Just in time for me to start teaching again...

And as you might have noticed, I also "redecorated" my blog too. Yippee!

A Little Birdie...

My new pillows look just lovely in my living room.

(Blue pillow cover is by Nestables, cream w/birds is by Olive)

Yummy Summer Weekend Festivities

Okay, okay - I know I've been MIA lately. But between the redecorating, planning an art show, and selling my work at markets 3 times a week, blogging was last on my list!

I did want to mention the awesome event I planned for the Couchfire Collective at the Ohio Art League Gallery & the South Campus Gateway - it's called Yummy Summer Weekend! It's a fundraiser for the Mid-Ohio Foodbank and features art shows, and art market, a free movie, performances and other fun surprises.

There's an article in this week's Columbus Alive that explains the premise behind the show.

Please check out yummyartshow.blogspot.com for all the details about the event. It's tomorrow, July 31!

Redecorating

This lovely new print above my kitchen sink is by UK illustrator Amy Blackwell.

A few weeks ago, as I entered my 5th year of living at my current address, I decided that I hated everything in my apartment. The clutter was taking over my life and the colors were uninspiring. I live in a rental unit where all the trim is painted an awful peachy-beige color and with 10-foot ceilings, painting whole rooms is a task that is daunting to say the least (and out-of-the-question, I later decided). So I aimed to keep is simple and planned to paint a bright blue backsplash in my kitchen and a stripe on my bedroom wall to act as a "headboard". Then came the furniture and accessories (Ikea, Crate & Barrel, and Etsy - oh my!!) and suddenly, I was way over-budget.

One of my main inspirations to spruce up my place was my friend Jen, whose old apartment was featured on Apartment Therapy a few weeks ago - it made me want to make my place colorful and clutter-free too.

I can't say that my place is quite clutter-free (or finished in the realm of redecorating) quite yet, but I will make sure to post photos when it is. For now, it makes me feel a little more like I have a hip apartment suitable for the arty gal that I am.

I Survived Comfest

Has it really been a whole week since Comfest? I feel like I still need to nap...

My Favorite Summer Sandwich

When it's 90 degrees outside, the last thing I want to do is turn my oven on. So I plan on eating lots of tasty and healthy sandwiches this summer. Here's one of my favorite homemade creations: Mediterranean Veggie! It has romaine lettuce, roma tomatoes, cucumber, roasted red peppers, black olives, and a sprinkling of feta cheese. You can also add a drizzling of Greek dressing or some spices or seasoning to the top.

I like serving this on ciabatta bread, but it also works well in a pita. Although, I've yet to find a good pita bread that isn't crumbly and dry.

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!

Agora 7: This Weekend!

The Couchfire Collective and Junctionview Studios are incredibly excited about Agora 7, coming up this weekend on May 22. If you've never heard of Agora before...you must be living under a rock! Just kidding.

Agora is an inclusive event that showcases the work of local artists. There will be hundreds of artworks on display, as well as open studios from JV artists, vendors outside, music, performances, drinks, food, and general fun.

If you want to get a sneak peek at the artwork while enjoying delicious food from local restaurants, then make sure to purchase a ticket for the Preview Party on Friday night, May 21. You'll get to meet the artists and enjoy a much less-crowded Junctionview.

Since I don't roll on Shabbos, I will be having limited open studio hours (6-7:30 pm for the Preview Party and 10pm-midnight for the main event). So If I miss you, make sure to grab one of my cards from outside my studio door and drop me a line if you're looking to purchase something!

See you at Agora 7!

Details:
Agora 7 @ Junctionview Studios
Satruday, May 22, 2010
12 noon - midnight
889 Williams Ave.
Grandview Heights, OH
$5 at the door
Preview Party: Friday, May 21, 2010 from 6 - 10 pm
$20 in advance, $25 at the door
Purchase Preview Party tickets HERE.

I Love "These Are Things"!

Europe Map by These Are Things

I love maps. You love maps. Who doesn't love maps, really?

My friends Jen & Omar definitely love maps, too. So much so that they wanted to find the perfect map. But it didn't exist. So they decided to design and print their own.

Jen & Omar are design ninjas. Their cute little business is called These Are Things.
They've only been doing the map thing for a few months, but the yummy blog Design*Sponge has already taken notice. So has the GQ Eye!

I need one of these prints in my apartment. But I'm almost out of wall space!

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

So Fancy!

My email list was in need of some serious help, so I decided to go with a mailing program called MailChimp instead of continuing to send boring plain-text email updates.

With so many upcoming events in the next few months, I felt it was pretty important to keep my customers and fans informed, and so far, I've been pretty impressed with all of the features in MailChimp. It's fancy.

Curious about what the Sweet Stella Designs email list is like?
You can subscribe HERE!

Snacktacular!

Snacktacular!

New Works & Old Favorites by Amy Neiwirth

April 8 - May 7, 2010

Opening Reception:

Thursday, April 8; 7 -9 pm

Wholly Craft!

3169 N High St. Columbus OH

614.447.3445.

www.whollycraft.net

Sweets Galore

Tuesday, March 23rd is the Cakes For A Cause auction to benefit the Mid-Ohio Food Bank. The basic idea of the event is that bakeries and bakers donate scrumptious sweet treats to be auctioned off. The cost of a ticket to the event is $21, which will provide one week's worth of meals to a person.

I'm not a baker of edible treats - but I am a "baker" of sorts! I whipped up this pretty cake necklace to be auctioned off at the event. It sits on a real porcelain plate and comes with a silver-plated chain.

Last month, I created some custom clay cupcakes for Kiesha - blogger and baker extraordinaire who wanted a bracelet bearing some of her home-made treats showcased on her 52 Weeks of Baking blog. She had some really kind words to say about my designs on her new blog, The Brooklyn Baker.

I also made a custom charm bracelet for an awesome 13-year old girl from Las Vegas. Her friends probably squealed when they saw this adorable charm bracelet. She'll definitely be the only one at school wearing one of these!

The Month In Photos

Purim Fun

This year, I decided to bake hamantaschen for the Jewish holiday of Purim, which was celebrated on February 27 & 28th. Usually, they come out yummy tasting and ugly, or pretty and un-delicious. This year was my year of triumph - scrumptious and gorgeous! I did have a little help, though.

Touchy Feely: Please Handle The Art

Presented by the Couchfire Collective (and curated by Megan Green with me as a happy helper!), Touchy Feely was an interactive art show. How many times have you been yelled at at a museum for getting too close to the artwork? Well, there was none of that at this show!

Our reception on February 27 was a blast! We had costumes and puppets, tons of kids, and oodles of cupcakes. The sweets were lovingly baked and donated by Petite Sweets, The Dancing Cupcake Co. and Cake Truffles by Laura.

Check out my "Chocolate Chip Checkerboard" piece - and the people playing the game!

You, Me & We: Investigating Identity

This is a show of my students' work in the Carnegie Gallery at the Columbus Metropolitan Library's Main Branch. Each student in grades K-5 at Columbus Torah Academy created a piece for this show. The students were so excited to be at the opening reception, held on Thursday, March 4. They felt like "real artists."

The show is on view until March 25 at the library - 92 S. Grant Ave. in downtown Columbus. Stop by and check it out!

New Years Resolution Fail

One of my New Years resolutions was to be a more active blogger. And since my last post was about a month and a half ago, you can see how good I've been about keeping that up. Oh well.

The good news is that the reason I haven't been blogging so much is because I'm just so busy! Between teaching, crafting, friends, and trying to have a social life, there just hasn't been much time for the blog. It's been on my "to do" list for several weeks. Whoops.

So, here's what I've been up to for the past 6 weeks:

COUCHFIRE COLLECTIVE

In January, I was excited to become a member of the Couchfire Collective, a local group of creative folks whose mission it is to promote the arts in Columbus. Couchfire organizes many exciting events throughout the year, including Agora and Independents' Day. This year, Couchfire is planning several new events, like FEAST - an evening of dinner and artist grant proposals, and A-Holes - a weekend of artist-designed miniature golf holes.

SWEET STELLA ON TWITTER

I decided that in 2010, I should join the Twitterverse - so far it's been fun! If you're a Twitter user, please follow me - I'm SweetStellaOH!

UPCOMING AND ONGOING EVENTS

Touchy Feely

February 26 - 27, 2010

Reception: Saturday, February 27, 6-10 pm

Ohio Art League Gallery, 1552 N. High St. Columbus OH

This show, presented by the Couchfire Collective, e

ncourages hands-on participation with the artwork. I will be showing an interactive art piece for those with a sweet tooth!

RSVP on Facebook HERE.

Art Makes Noise: A Show for Artists, Musicians, and Music Lovers

Saturday, February 27, 2010

8 pm - midnight $5 cover

Junctionview Studios, 889 Williams Ave. Grandview Heights, OH

One night only! Bands, art, and more. Check out my piece in the show - perfect for lovers of concert ticket stubs.

RSVP on Facebook HERE.

Columbus Music Co-op + Relay Records CD Release Show #2

Sunday, February 28, 2010

1 - 5 pm in the North Market Test Kitchen ($5 suggested donation at the door)

59 Spruce St. Columbus OH

I will be a vendor at this event (along with other local favorites like What the Rock?!, AmyD, and Wholly Craft). Stick around to hear music from local bands Flotation Walls, Time & Temperature, Jordan Martin, and Dan & Sean from Bookmobile.

RSVP on Facebook HERE.

A SHOW OF STUDENT WORK

You, Me, & We: Investigating Identity

Artwork by students from Columbus Torah Academy, Grades K-5

March 4 - 25, 2010

Opening Reception: Thursday, March 4, 2010 5:30 - 7:30 pm

Carnegie Gallery in the Main Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library (2nd Floor)

96 S. Grant Ave. Columbus, OH 43215

The artworks in this exhibition reflect students' perceptions of themselves and reflect all of the wonderful personalities in Grades K-5 at Columbus Torah Academy.

RSVP on Facebook HERE.

LOOKING AHEAD

I have a show of my work coming up in the month of April at Wholly Craft! in Clintonville. More details about the opening reception (and some shnazzy window displays) coming soon.

Great Start to 2010

Today I was checking out my Etsy shop when I noticed that about 15-20 people had "hearted me". That usually doesn't happen to me unless I'm featured somewhere. So I headed right to CraftCult.com, a handy resource that tells you if you've been featured anywhere on Etsy lately.

Sure enough, my Butterscotch Swirl ring was featured on the front page of Etsy today, in a Treasury hand-picked by Etsy admin. Woohoo!

My ring got several hundred views today, and some other items in my shop looked like they were big hits, too. No sales, though...but it feels great to be noticed!

Another accomplishment of the day involved my finishing the first painting I've made in over a year! It's a self-portrait for the CAW: Creative Arts of Women show at the Carnegie Gallery. I am happy with the way it came out, for sure. And the process was enjoyable, too - even though it involved painting all those cupcakes.

Below is a detail of the painting -

And I also have been listing some yummy new items in my Sweet Stella Etsy shop. Below are some examples of new items - just in time for Valentine's Day!

And last but not least, I am working on an excellent collaboration with my buddy Megan for an art show in late February. More details coming soon - but it's going to be fabulous for sure.