12.23.19 Wrap it up, I'll take it!

Wow! What a holiday season this has been for me and my jewelry...

two years ago, I'd never done a holiday jewelry show - this year I did THREE!

The lovely folks at the Pottery Barn at the Arboretum (Austin) invited me to do an in-store pop up in mid-November.

It was a busy Saturday - the staff set me up about halfway back in the store, with some of their lovely jewelry boxes to use as display props. All afternoon I visited with shoppers as they were getting ready for Thanksgiving, and just starting to think about holiday gifts.

Some lucky people are going to get earrings in their stockings this week!

That same weekend was the first - of two - for the East Austin Studio Tour, or as most folks around here call it, EAST.

THE Ladysmiths
📷 @in.hansland @happyhannahkkuh

After a fun and profitable day on Saturday, I spent Sunday at Canopy, an artists' community in east Austin, where the Ladysmiths of ATX (I've written about them before) rented gallery space that opened just in time for the show.

This incredible group of women (I'll be writing a lot more about them in 2020) rented a space and got it ready in record time, then brought in nearly two dozen women artists (including me) to sell handcrafted jewelry, ceramics, textiles and fine art!

I am so excited to have a local gallery space where my jewelry is on display and for sale...because it wasn't just open during EAST; for at least the first few months of 2020, the space will be open for business every weekend!

📷 @lindsayhendricksjewelry

Not only did my jewelry (and that of everyone who was there) do well at EAST, it was a treat to spend two weekends watching people - LOTS of people - come in, and shop for handcrafted art and jewelry.

Yes - we were tired when it was over - but, very happy.

I took a break (from in person jewelry sales) for the week of Thanksgiving, but I ran a sale on Etsy (so thanks to all those shoppers, too). When I got home, it was time to get ready for the my last event of the season...

...the Second Annual Holiday Trunk Show at Creative Side Jewelry Academy.

📷 @lindsayhendricksjewelry

For the second year in a row, the incredibly hard working staff of CJSA turned the studio space where I make jewelry into booths for more than a dozen members to set up shop.  It was wonderful to have guests come in and see our work - and our space - and it was especially wonderful to just hang out with my benchmates.

Generally, when we are in the studio, we're working - so our heads our down (sometimes our earbuds are in) and we're sawing, hammering and using power tools...but a few times a year, we come together as a group and get to socialize...and it makes me even more grateful for the place and the people that I have come to think of as a second home, and family.

I'm thankful, too, for my online community.  I've now been writing this blog for five years - and I never imagined I'd be where I am today.



Y'all just keep coming back for more...as the year ends, we're closing in on 26K views...from all over the world...which (at least to me) is pretty amazing.

So, that's a wrap for 2019.  Thanks for being part of my jewelry journey.

Until 2020.

12.09.19 Thank your lucky stars

I try really hard to take a little time every day to focus on being thankful for all that is good in my life (these days, that can be a challenge) - and at the top of that list are the people in my world - especially my family.

This august group includes three amazing young women - my daughter, and the brave souls who have chosen to join our clan as our sons' partners.

These three are as whip-smart, compassionate, and tenacious as they come - each in their own way working to make the world a better place for all of us. 

They also all have birthdays within days of each other - and Thanksgiving. This year I decided to make them birthstone pendants.  I thought long and hard about how to make the pendants both similar and unique - and the answer was literally in the stars.

The two November birthdays are in different zodiacs - one Scorpio and one Sagittarius, and the other Sagittarius is in December...so I decided to put the constellations on the back of each pendant.

I sat at my bench, drilling out what seemed like a bazillion little holes, and wondered if I'd lost my mind.  I used a #70 bit (well, four of them actually - because they get dull pretty quickly) to pierce the backplates of all three pendants...but when I was finished, I was pretty excited.



Once I got the stones in, I was even more pleased - because the stones are largely transparent - the "stars" shine through the front of each piece.

I am so thankful that I am able to create art and share it with the special people in my life. There is a real joy that comes from making a piece that captures something unique about the giver or receiver of the gift - it is my favorite part of designing custom pendants.

I hope that as we head towards the end of the calendar year and into the holiday season, your life is filled with the gift of special people, too.

Until next time.