One down...two to go!

I just found out my 'Femme' line has been accepted into the Seattle Erotic Art Festival. I'm so excited! I'm also spinning a million miles an hour because I need to figure out how I will be able to produce all the inventory needed for the show. Yikes!

I'll know about the other two by the end of this month and let you all know a.s.a.p. also.

The Hardest Part is the Waiting.

I have been busy: not in the studio, but on the computer. Over the last few days I have been filling out applications for art or craft shows that I really, really want to be in. All of the applications have been confusing, time consuming, and frustrating. And each time I pressed ‘send’ I got this funny little tummy flip. “What if I forgot to complete a section of the application? What if I misspelled my name? What if… What if… What if… What if they don’t like my work?"

Harumph! Seriously, all the shows I have submitted to are juried, meaning that they judge your work to see if it is different enough, unique enough…… good enough. Two are shows that I really wanted to be a part of last year, but was too new and too late to throw something together. The first one is Urban Craft Uprising.

“Urban Craft Uprising was started in 2004 to showcase the work of independent crafters, artists and designers - to provide a unique, high quality, hand-crafted alternative to 'big box' stores and mass produced goods.”

It’s totally hip and ridiculously crowded with ultra cool artists and tattooed people at every turn. Awesome!

The second is The EtsyRAIN Spring Art & Craft Show. Etsyrain is a ‘club’ of Etsy sellers from the Seattle area. “EtsyRAIN members like to help the community as much as they like to help each other. For each show, they choose a charity to support. The featured charity for this year’s spring event is Lifelong Aids Alliance.”

There is a third show that I applied to just yesterday, it was a last minute idea that I think will be a wildly fantastic time. I will preface this with a frustration. I have been running into many stop signs when presenting my ‘Femme’ line to stores that already carry my work. They all say that they love the pieces but are concerned that the theme may ‘offend’ some customers. Harumph!

Soooooooo (giggle), I started looking outside the lines and have been having such a great time (all in the name of research, my friends). I think I found my niche for ‘Femme’. I submitted my naughty ‘Femme’ line to the Seattle Erotic Art Festival.

"The Festival is a vibrant and colorful event showcasing world-class art and creative expression of many forms that will delight your senses. Whether you join us to stroll through the visual art exhibition, delight in performances and interactive installations, indulge in erotic literary art, peruse our expansive Festival Store, or dance with us after hours, we promise that you will be glad you came out to play with us."

Woo Hoo! Having this venue would enable me to really open up and create some work that has been secreted for so long.

I’m sitting on pins and needles in anticipation of acceptance or denial letters. I should be finding out soon if my work is……..good enough!

Vital Elements

The secret’s out!

Teresa DeLeen designs will now be showing at Vital Elements on San Juan Island in the gorgeous town of Friday Harbor! It was such a happy accident that I stepped into Vital Elements while I was walking along the streets of downtown Friday Harbor a couple weeks ago. Her window was filled with all things girly, gifty and beautiful. C’mon, I HAD to enter. http://www.vitalelements.blogspot.com/

The owners name is Rhonda Scott. She is so friendly that I easily could have spent an hour there without noticing the time going by. She has created a wonderful shop that caters to the customer who is looking for a special one-of-a-kind gift with her collection of local and regional artist’s works. Rhonda also sells jewelry supplies and offers classes in making jewelry. Like I said, I could have hung out all day and I bet there are oodles that do.

I’ve made a few new friends on the island and I look forward to visiting them and Rhonda as often as I can. Now all I need is to find a great accountant that can help me find all the write offs so I can go to this gorgeous Island and call it a tax deduction!

I love ferry boats!.....now.

“If you could live anywhere, where would it be?”

I always answer this question with, “Right here!” I love living in the Puget Sound. I am often on the road and at any given time on my journeys I might be ushered along the way by the Olympic mountains, Cascade range, countless bays, Islands and of course the impressive and beautiful Mount Rainier. (My daughter use to call it Mount Rosie Rainier when she was little and I always think it when I see it, which is often. Makes me smile).

I spent last weekend on one of our beautiful Islands, San Juan. It’s the Northernmost Island in Washington; heck, in America! I caught the 2:00 ferry on Friday and the sun was glistening off the water, the wind was whistling past my window and the seagulls were playing their game of ‘catch me if you can.’ I guess I should preface this next statement by telling you that I hate boats, or rather I hate open bodies of water. Ok…ok, really I’m scared spitless of it. I was 8 when Jaws came out and…well…'nuff said. So my statement is this: Friday’s ferryboat ride through the San Juan Islands was the most relaxing, lovely, and pleasurable ferryboat ride I have ever had! I totally would have loved it if we got stalled. Yes, I’m a little odd.

The island was warm and sunny for all of Friday and Saturday. I walked along the crowded streets in town and peeked in several shops windows. My ‘want’ list is about three pages long now. When I woke on Sunday morning I saw that the rain had paid me a visit. As I looked out the window of my friend’s hillside home, I saw a crane gliding over the valley. There was a thick mist that seemed to cover the marina and downtown area like a blanket. This made me hurry my French press along so I could quickly enjoy my first sip of bitterness with the picturesque view. Ahhhhhh….

I often forget how incredibly wonderful the Islands are. Although it took me about three hours of driving and an hour’s ferry ride to get there, I must visit more often. (I will be visiting much more often now, stay tuned: I have a secret brewing).

Seductive lines of a woman in recycled fine silver

This is me!

I’m thrilled to introduce my first line of original designs named ‘Femme’. These pieces were inspired by the divine lines of the female form, the curves and the valleys, the dimples and the swells. The pieces were made to suggest the flow of a woman’s body…to be subtle. I designed these pieces while twirling in my studio with my muse and when I sat with pencil to paper, these are the first lines that flowed. I loved them and stopped sketching straight away so as not to fog my vision. I dropped all other projects I was working on to create this piece that was pouring out of me. It was a delicious experience, one I hope will return often. I carved, I sanded, I fired, I cleaned, I oxidized, I tumbled, I polished……I smiled!

I name all of my pieces in French. ‘Femme’ means ‘feminine’ in French and it describes the piece perfectly.

I am am heading back into the studio to dance with my muse and bring to you more ME!

Fresh

Fresh is the name of a charming gift boutique in the Wedgwood neighborhood in Seattle. It is also the newest shop to carry my pretty things!

I found Fresh about a year ago when I was temping for a dentist down the street (this was when jewelry designing was just a hobby of mine). I was drawn into their shop during my lunch break by the sparkles of their massive chandeliers, specialty clothing, lovely jewelry, and a purse that I still lose sleep over. I thought to myself that I would LOVE to one day see my jewelry through those windows.

A few weeks ago I had an appointment in the Wedgwood neighborhood and needed to kill a half an hour and remembered that cute shop over by Starbucks and Top Pot (best donuts in the world!). I thought I'd slip on in to see what kind of jewelry they were carrying and if my pieces would be a good 'fit' with their captivating collections.

Julia, one of Fresh's owners, greeted me with a great big smile and a "Welcome!" She complimented me on my necklace (this is the best advice I can give to any jewelry artist... "Wear your work!") and she asked me where I got it. I crinkled my nose and admitted that I made it and that I am a jewelry designer. (I still roll my eyes at myself when I say I'm an artist.) It was my letter 'T' from my Donnatienne, recycled fine-silver collection, that I wear ALL the time. I was also wearing one of my 'Hugs and Kisses' from my 'Ace,' vintage typewriter key line. She loved them both and asked me to send in a submission of my work so that her partner, Wendy, could see my pieces as well and decide if they wanted to carry them.

I met with the both of them shortly there after. Wendy loved the pieces so much that she immediately placed the 'W' Donnatienne around her neck and it was still dangling there the next day when I brought in their first wholesale order.

It's incredible flattering to have such a lovely store choose my work. My pieces are so personal to me because of the way I make them. They are completely handmade by me and my two hands (there is often a fingerprint or two of mine still in the fine silver). My goal has always been to have ten stores in the Seattle area carry my jewelry and selling to Fresh has gotten me halfway to there. Fresh makes it five stores and I am tickled pink, to say the least!

New Store!

I was thrilled last week to hear that my work will be carried at a fourth store in the Seattle area: Frank and Dunya, an eclectic local art and jewelry boutique in Fremont.

It's so much fun to wander into any of Seattle's multitude of gorgeous shops and be inspired by the beauty our artists are producing. I am honored to be included among such talent!

To be perfectly honest, my exuberance bubbled over, and after leaving Frank and Dunya I treated myself to a delightful afternoon of lingerie shopping at Bellefleur Lingerie, with wonderful assistance by its owner, Jennifer... It's always nice to reward yourself by feeling extra-beautiful!

Please visit my newest shop (3418 Fremont Avenue North) to check out not only my pieces but also the gorgeous arrays of my fellow artists. Enjoy!