Going to the Fair 2008

What a lovely weekend to be out in Grant Park! Beth and I had a great time at the Country Fair in Galena. Here are some pictures of our booth this year. We moved down the row to a corner spot, with amazing views of the town just behind us.
I think my favorite moment of the weekend was when a customer couldn't decide on a design, but she was attracted to the Dirty Martini olive bag because as a child she had drawn a picture of a landscape and it was raining olives!

We want to thank the fair organizers for another smooth year and congratulations...next year will be 30 years!



The countryside really stepped up and provided amazing color for the thousands of visitors to our little town. It was spectacular!

Galena Country Fair, October 11 & 12

• It was so nice of the fair organizers to feature us on their homepage! We are still pretty new to the fair and it was a huge honor! www.galenacountryfair.org
  

• Visit our new booth location...#130. We are down our original row, on the corner! Don't worry, we're still near the funnel cakes!

• Look for our new wallets, pillows, note cards, baby onesies and brand new handmade bags! Also our older designs are on sale...you don't want to miss it!

• Our exclusive designs for Vintaj Earth are still available in their beautiful store on Main St. They still have some of our new 12 x 16 bags...get them while you can!

What's New for Country Fair

Introducing our new onesies AND our new bags. Each onesie is hand painted with non-toxic paint and is machine washable. Our bags are now completely handmade, with a pocket and a closure AND they are also machine washable!!

We will have 5 designs in our onesie collection and 3 designs of our new bags in our booth at the Galena Country Fair. We will also have new handmade wallets and painted, fabric holiday ornaments.

Our original hand painted canvas bags will be on sale...you don't want to miss it!!

Work in Progress

We are gearing up for our busy Fall season. On the left is a picture of me in my studio, painting 2 yards of our Falling Leaves design. The picture on the right shows one of our new products...a cute little wallet with a velcro closure. This Cherry Blossom design is from our exclusive line at vintajearth. In the future we are planning to sell our painted yardage to you for your own projects.


If you are planning a trip to Galena, we will be at the Galena Country Fair on October 11 and 12. We are working hard to get these new products in our booth!

Kids Workshop at the Galena Arts and Recreation Center

Thank you to Sarah and the gang at the ARC for inviting us to teach a painting workshop today. We had a great time with all three age groups and we were very impressed with their talents. The number one topic that we wanted to get across today was that there isn't a wrong answer here, each kid will have their own favorite color, their own interests and ideas that they could express using the tools we gathered on these colorful bags!

A glimpse of what is to come...

This is our first step into the future of graceEmae...we painted the yardage and constructed our own bag! The cherry blossom design is one of our exclusive lines with vintajearth. It has a pocket inside and a magnetic closure. The antique brass rings complement the Vintaj jewelry perfectly. We are still talking to manufacturers about having a bag made that is similar to our old tote design. This completely handmade bag could be one of the directions we take...out of many!


Let us know what you think! Leave a comment here or email us at graceEmae@mchsi.com.

Technology is catching up!

Thanks to our friend Lisa Lam at Craftboom for introducing us to Artflock.com. When we started this business I found it extremely frustrating...I had to learn how to create a website, keep a blog updated and we had to spend a lot of time in Etsy, listing and reading forums to keep current. Now there is a place where we can do all of this and have it in one place and they've made it easy to use.

We would like to present our new website/blog/online marketplace...www.graceEmaestudio.com.

We love Etsy, and we love our blog on Blogger so we will probably keep those going for a while, but we will be eliminating www.graceEmae.com at the moment. We're going to try this out, please give us any feedback if you have a sec!

The Gathering of Elizabeths

Beth and I (Betsy) were also "counted" at the Gathering of Elizabeths in Elizabeth, IL. You might have read about it in the Wierd News section of MSN on Monday.
http://www.galenagazette.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=12141&SectionID=142&SubSectionID=344&S=1

What can we say?

We've been hit with some obstacles lately, but as our friend Wendy at Vintaj says "Sometimes it's a blessing." That is how we have to look at it. In the same month that our bags were discontinued, the paint I use was bought out or discontinued. That means I can't just buy Yellowish Green, I have to mix it...just a glitch!

We were energized and inspired by our trip to Chicago, so much so that we forgot to take pictures! I do have the one picture posted of Beth driving in the severe thunderstorm we were stuck in!

Road Trip!

Beth and I are gearing up for a whirlwind trip to Chicago. We plan to meet with manufacturers, visit boutiques and check out the fabric stores. What should happen in a week will happen in one day! We hope that this trip will help us solidify our vision for the future of graceEmae...at least get the ball rolling in that direction. Visit us next week and see how it went!


Don't forget to plan your weekend to Galena and visit the Galena Artisan Center and vintajearth to see (and buy) our latest designs! The collection at vintajearth is only available at the store...totally exclusive!
When planning your trip, click "galena, il" on our website for the link to the Galena Visitors Bureau...www.graceEmae.com!

Design Inspiration

The warmer weather definitely presents a challenge when it comes to getting work done. Beth and I are smack dab in the middle of our favorite part of the process...the design process. We are collecting colors, images and ideas to create our products and achieve our goals for graceEmae. I'm not going to give away the secret, but we are working on big things here. Stay tuned...we'll let you know soon!

Magnificent Gifts for Mom!

Hand painted goodness, what Mom wouldn't love that! I spy a beauty hanging among the flowers...it's our own French Perfume, a pattern that goes with anything the summer brings.


Visit our Etsy shop and convo Beth to get more details or bring your mom to Galena and buy her one on Main St.! We love you MOM!!

Introducing our exclusive line at vintajearth!

We are so proud to introduce our custom, exclusive line for the new gallery, vintajearth. The creative team at Vintaj have brought together handmade items that are nature inspired. The store has been designed with natural elements and
vintage materials.
It was a pleasure to work with them and we wish them success in their new venture!
We have 30 of our large bags with six different designs to choose from, along with matching zippered pockets in their beautiful store.

Visit vintajearth on Main Street in Galena, IL and watch for more locations opening soon!

PWI Event in Galena, IL

We had another wonderful time at the Ramada, talking to old friends and meeting new ones. We would like to thank our neighbor Ann at Learn Great Foods for the laughs in the quiet times. The pillows you see in the photos are on their way to the Galena Artisan Center on Main St. where they will retail for $24 each.

Professional Women's Initiative Booth Event

Beth and I will be attending the PWI event "Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun" at the Ramada, in Galena, IL; April 9 from 4-7 pm.
It is their 2nd annual event...last year we did have fun with all of the attendees and the vendors. This year we plan to launch our new line of pillows. We will have two designs for sale and we can take orders on the other four designs. We will also have our new printed note cards and our bags and pockets. The pillows will sell for $24 each at this event, please come by and check them out!

We will be advertising our exclusive line of custom bags for VintajEarth, a new store that will be opening on Main St. (Galena) in May. We are so excited to work with the talented team at Vintaj!

Here is a link to my interview for the Professional Women's Initiative April newsletter. PWI is a networking group that has provided valuable information to our community and has helped lots of small businesses like our own!

www.graceemae.com/PublicFolders/BetsyArticle.pdf

We would also like to send everyone over to Galena Artisans Center and L.L. Gagliardi's on Main St. in Galena to purchase our bags and pillows and her own line of hand sewn table runners and bags. Luanne has been very supportive of our work since she saw us at the Garden Show in the Rockford Arboretum.

What's in My Bag?

Look at that bag standing up, what a great feature! I have two of our zippered pockets that hold my checkbook, lipstick and stuff I don't want people to see! I have a see-through zippered bag to hold stuff I need to get to fast and I have two wallets, one for things I use everyday and one for credit cards and things I don't use often. I can reach into my bag without even looking and know exactly where my phone is! I also have my camera bag in there to capture those moments of inspiration.

The key to keeping your bag looking nice is to have multiple bags...buy more than one!!! Beth and I have put these bags to the test and we always fight over who gets to carry the new design. I have found that by switching bags every once in a while keeps my bags looking new and fresh. I also try to lighten the load every once in a while...a heavy bag isn't good for your back anyway!

Visit our Etsy shop and buy a couple of our large bags and pockets...you won't regret it!
www.graceEmae.etsy.com

Spring is here!!!!

Spring is a sign of new life, a fresh beginning. We are proud to announce the birth of our new babies...our hand-painted pillows! Shown are two of our new designs...Spring Buds and Peony. We have four more designs that will be announced shortly. They will be available for purchase in our Etsy shop in two weeks.


If you look very closely you can see little tiny green shoots emerging from the soggy earth, what a beautiful sight!

Hibernation

Cold, icy, snowy winters start to wear on your human capabilities...lack of sunlight creates a deficiency in good moods and productivity. We have been able to enjoy winter sports, but the longing for warm weather starts to take over any thoughts of wintery delights. I can tell you there is nothing as beautiful as a snow covered forest or a happy dog leaping over snow banks. But, a day without boots or a coat seems like distant, lovely memory. I spend these days working on those tasks that seem to get away from me during the busy summer months. One of the most exciting things I've seen so far is new spring and summer fashions...so colorful, light and wispy. I think winters like this inspire warm weather fashion dramatically because we can't wait to get out of our homes and feel the sun on our faces...wearing light and wispy dresses as colorful as the flowers we're standing in.

Here are designs of ours that helps me break the winter blues...I see blossoms blooming and hear birds singing. I hope you do too!

Hand painted is a trend for Spring!

Look what I found at Vogue. http://www.style.com/trends/trend_report/011408/nicestems. It's so exciting! Now you absolutely must have a graceEmae handbag to go with your Spring fashions. Visit our Etsy shop and stock up!

Pictured is our Large Hydrangea handbag, wouldn't it look great with Anne Klein's beautiful dress?

A Creative Friend

Our friend Liz Larson created our graceEmae logo. We get compliments on it all the time. She is a talented graphic designer in our area and has recently started a jewelry business. You can see and buy her creations at http://www.larsondesignstudio.etsy.com/. She also has a blog at
http://larsondesignstudio.blogspot.com/ Her work has been featured in the treasury on Etsy more than once. Larson Design Studio is growing and if you look around Galena and the Tri-State area you can see Liz Larson's work all over.

Designing a website

We are not a huge business, but we are covering our expenses and having fun. The dreams are big, but we're not in a hurry to get there just yet. What we are doing right now is acquiring the skills and the materials, so when it is time to make the leap we will be ready. We both have young kids at home and it isn't time to focus on a full time job right now.

One of the skills I've been acquiring is website design. As an artist I have an idea of what looks good to me...those little details that make something look clean and professional. I've been spending this time learning Frontpage. It takes time...time to mess around, make mistakes and try things out. The manual is intimidating so I use it as a reference when I get stuck. I'm happy with the current version that I just published today, but there are still some mysteries, like how do I get those white bars off my picture on the About Us page?! It will be interesting to see how many times I change our website this year...I always see something out there that inspires me to try a new approach. That's what this time is for...exploration and education.

On the current version of our website I had fun with hyperlinks, if you click on Galena it will send you to the Galena CVB website with all of the local information.

Beth and I are starting to make plans for our spring trunk show. We want to introduce everyone to these pillows that we are working on. We'll keep you posted on the date and location.

New year, fresh start!

I have been freezing my buns off for over two weeks now. Nothing inspires me more than a frosty nose and tingling toes!

Beth and I have been working on our new line of hand painted pillows. We hope to have photos of our samples within a week and have them listed in our Etsy shop within the month. We have listed our new note cards with our colorful designs printed on them. You can buy a set of six for $10...what a deal!

graceEmae started with one cute little hand painted bag we called "Ribbon". Here it is smushed into my scanner. We see 2008 as a fresh start with new ideas and more designs. Better photography, better website and more Etsy sales are our goals. Keep checking in with us, we've already made progress in these areas and it isn't even February yet!