Upcoming Events

Come check out Blue Heaven Designs at the following events:

March 20, 2010 - Ribbon Run Spring Boutique, Brambleton Welcome Center, Ashburn VA
May 1-2, 2010 - Apple Blossom Festival, Winchester VA
May 15, 2010 - Virginia Wine and Craft Festival Front Royal VA
May 30-31, 2010 - Viva! Vienna! Festival Vienna, VA
June 4-6, 2010 - Herndon Festival Herndon, VA
June 26-27, 2010 - NoVA Brewfest Leesburg, VA
July 10-11, 2010 - Reston Festival Reston, VA (Pending)

Oh spring, I miss you...

So it is about 56 degrees and sunny outside right now. I bet if I stepped out the door, I would hear birds singing. It is no secret that I absolutely love springtime. Anyone who knows me even slightly well could tell you that. I'm one of those people who WILL open up a window and spend the day cleaning happily. I love to watch the earth wake up. Leaves, birds, flowers. Oh the flowers. I'm suddenly wanting to go out in my backyard to see if my tulip bulbs have started to pop through yet. Easy, Priscilla, easy. It's only January. But it feels like spring out there! What a tease.

All this lovely weather has me not only thinking about flowers and frolicking in fields of green (yeah, I'm really pushing it here), but it also has me thinking about something else that begins in spring: wedding season.

I love wedding jewelry. I've made things for brides ranging from elegant and simple to untraditional and wild. I absolutely love doing it. To me, it's the ultimate in custom work.

My favorite part? Why seeing the wedding photos, of course. Knowing that something that I made is immortalized on these photos that people cherish. That I was a small part of such a wonderful day.

So I'm sitting here with my cup of tea (green, for those who wonder such things) and beginning to piece together my next material order.

Because while the weather may not continue to cooperate (D'oh), I can always start making these beautiful creations to get into the springtime spirit.

Come on spring, hurry up. I miss you.

One Year Later

On January 9, 2009, I posted an entry on LiveJournal. I showcased two pieces I had created, asking what people thought of them. Would they want to buy them if they were to see them in a store? How much would they pay for them? I got plenty of great feedback, and one person gave the best response:
"I want it, name your price."

Completely floored, I knew then that what I was doing could really become something. She ended up buying one of the pieces that I posted, and the other piece went a couple of weeks later.

After some thought and prayer, I decided to start my own business. On January 12, 2009, Blue Heaven Designs opened up on Etsy. I didn't have much posted at the time, and I was nervous, but it worked. Within a month I had about three dozen sales, both online and off. At that time I started to book different local events.

My first event was a DISASTER. I was a tiny, tiny fish in a big pond. The first event was the Leesburg craft show at Ida Lee Park...with a dedicated jewelry event in it. I had one table, a tiny display compared to some of the ones I saw. People had walls, towers, tons of crazy things I hadn't even thought of! I tried really hard to stay positive, not be discouraged, but it was very, very hard. I barely made back my expenses that day. It was the first nice day in April, so there was not nearly the turnout they were expecting.

I kept going with the events, each time making a little bit more. I even started to have people recognize me, which was neat.

Then in May I had a two day event in Maryland, which was the first time Chris came with me, and the first time I started to showcase some jewelry aimed towards children. Working with Chris was great. I was able to handle talking to customers and putting together on the spot custom work, and he took care of the money end, the transactions. From then on, all events I booked we did together. We spent the rest of the spring and into the summer time at various events all over Virginia. I loved it. I loved talking to people, seeing their faces when they found something they loved. Better yet I loved making on the spot custom work. People would light up when they would see something that was created specifically for them.

After our summer schedule, we took a break. We began thinking bigger, and started to come up with ideas for a website outside of Etsy. A big step, branching out on my own like that, but hey, I've already taken a few pretty huge steps, right?

In the fall, we picked up several events, all leading up to the holiday shopping season. In September, we were fortunate to participate in AwakeningFest. Despite the rain that came down in sheets the whole day, that event was our best even to this day. We could barely keep up with all the people who came through, for a long time there was a line just to get to our table! It was amazing, and I feel very blessed that we were able to participate. We will definately come back this September 18th.

That seems to be something we encountered often: weather. Every single weekend we had an event, there was some sort of poor weather. Rain, high winds. Always, it never failed! It was very, very discouraging, and made it difficult for us to get a real read on how the events were.

Our final outdoor event of the year, NoVA Brewfest, was a mess. Literally. Day 1 was full of downpours, high winds, and mud. There were still loads of people, and we even met one of our best customers there. By the end of the day, the sun had come out, but there were several inches of mud and funk on the ground. We picked up all the product like we always do, sealed the tent, put our weights on, and went home. On day 2, while we were driving in, I got a phone call. Overnight, the winds had picked up again. Ten tents had been destroyed, ours included. When we got there, we saw that my tent had been flipped over. The tables were everywhere, displays were ruined, mud all over everything. I just started CRYING. The tent was destroyed. We could not use it. Chris went home to get our backup tent (which turned out to be a real mess, NOT GOOD for events!) and I started cleaning up. It was heartbreaking, I had to throw alot of things away, but in the end, I was just thankful that the actual pieces had not been on the tables.

So the past year has been a ride. Lots of ups, downs, and loops. But I've loved it. I love what I do, and I'm glad that I had the courage to actually do it.

This next year? Hoping to expand even more. The website will be opening soon. I have expanded into home parties with host rewards. We will be reprising alot of the events we did last year, as well as picking up new ones. I'm learning new skills every day, finding new wonderful things to create with.

Thank you for joining me on this ride. I appreciate and value every single person that has been a part of it.

Fantastic photographer!!

My friend Lauren, of Lauren Alexis Photography, has a website up!! Check it out!! :)

http://www.laurenalexisphotography.com/