Artist-in-Residence: Table Rock State Park

Table Rock State Park is in the upstate of South Carolina, only about an hour northwest of where I live, but it’s another world out there - the tall mountains and windy roads, the pitch black sky at night, the never ending hiking trails - there’s no shortage of inspiration.

I recently spent a week as Artist-in-Residence at Table Rock State Park, my 6th residency with the South Carolina State Parks Program. Each time I participate in a residency, the experience changes me. Sometimes in major ways, like becoming confident hiking alone, and sometimes it’s little things, like learning the difference between various woodpecker calls. I explore and create all week, and it fills my soul. Part of me wishes I could do this every day, but then it probably wouldn’t be so special. I get to slow down and sit still if I choose, but most of the time I get out and see as much as possible. The residency is a true gift!

This particular residency included over 25 miles hiked (both inside and outside of the park), it included 27 needle felted pieces, 1 painting, 6 towns visited, 2 nights out in the cold watching the meteor shower, and several exciting creatures sightings including an armadillo, wild turkeys, and a huge black bear on my very last hike of the week.

I hope you enjoy this short recap video that shares a little more about what I did, what I saw, and how it inspired me. It’s so hard to condense a week, which felt like a month (in a good way) into a few minutes of footage!

All of the pieces shown in the video (plus more) are available for purchase on my website. If you see something you like but would prefer a different size or frame, please message me, I’m happy to recreate any of these.

Shop the collection!

Greenville Open Studios: This Weekend!

Calling all Greenville-area art lovers! This weekend (November 13 & 14) is Metropolitan Arts Council’s Open Studios event, where over 100 local artists open up their workspaces and invite the public in to see where the magic happens. Greenville is a very artsy city, and if you live here, there’s a pretty high chance you have an artist living in your neighborhood. Now’s your chance to get out there and meet them and learn about their work!

Plan your route using the Metropolitan Arts Council (MAC) app on their website - you can filter my name, medium, location. I’m stop #59 in Greer.

I’ve always enjoyed visiting studios in the past, but I’ve never participated. Our previous home, where I grew this small biz from 2011 up until about 9 months ago, wasn’t laid out in a way where I could have a lot of visitors, and my workspaces were separated on 3 different floors. Not great for Open Studios. When we started house hunting, one of top things we were searching for was a home with a large workspace, where ALL of my artistic and business needs could be met in one place. We got lucky - we found such a space in Greer, SC, just 4 miles away! I can’t wait to invite you into my home studio next weekend to show you where I create jewelry, fiber art, and run my small business.

I’m not the only artist out this way - there’s so may of us here! I just met my neighbor down the road, artist James Greene, because of Open Studios. He’s a mixed media sculptor and he’s new to the event this year as well. Go check him out while you’re in the area. His barn / studio is full of so many fascinating treasures, and there’s a very sweet, very large pig living in the backyard. Win, win, if you ask me.

One stop you should not miss is the MAC art gallery downtown. The current exhibition is all 12x12 work from each artist participating in Open Studios this year. That grid wall is a dream, so many different subject matters, mediums, and styles, all scaled to this one uniform dimension. It’s a great way to get a taste of the art scene in Greenville and may also help you plan which studios you want to visit.

Here’s a look at a blog post I wrote after touring some of the studios in 2018.

Year in Review: 2019

I’m about to celebrate 11 years in business as Once Again Sam and 2019 was another great year. Although it wasn’t a record-breaker like last year, I felt like I had way more opportunities and more fun in the last 12 months than compared to 2018. I factor so many things into “was it a good year?” so even though my total sales dipped by about 10% compared to 2018, I still count this year as one of the best yet.

The biggest changes I noticed this year was that Etsy Sales were way way down, but craft show sales were up, so thankfully it mostly balanced out. If you had asked me last year, I would have predicted the exact opposite - craft shows seem to be drying up and Etsy seemed to be holding steady. My crystal ball was wrong about 2019! A big win this year is seeing my Wholesale reach continue to rise because it’s by far my biggest financial investment since 2016. So nice to see it paying off longterm!

2019 brought lots of new milestones and opportunities - here’s a look at some of the highlights:

Teaching Opportunities: I taught 12 needle felting workshops this year (through Greenville Center for Creative Arts and SkillPop) and that included a total of 159 students. I had about 10% of those students return for a second, third, and even a fourth class. Either I’m a terrible teacher or they’re having a lot of fun learning this magical medium! I also taught my first hand painted jewelry class (at the Artisphere ArtLab) and I’m thinking about adding that to my workshop offerings next year.

27 Commissions: This is certainly a new record for me! I don’t count any of the custom handmade jewelry because honestly, 75% of the jewelry I make IS custom and/or made to order. I consider a commission to be a needle felted landscapes made from the customer’s photos or needle felted animal portrait. 27 commissions over 12 months is way more than I realized until I went back and looked at my records from this year. This is a tiny sampling below.

5 Magazine Features: Thank you again to Belle Armoire, TOWN, Local Life, Country Living, and The Pioneer Woman for featuring my work this year!

4 Exhibitions: I was honored to have my first large-scale long-term exhibition this summer at Greenville Center for Creative Arts. My 100 Day Project was part of the Fiber Paper Scissors show and it was truly one of the highlights of my year. I also had a fiber art landscape piece in the GCCA Members Exhibition, 2 in the the Friends of Lake Robinson juried exhibition, and a triptych at the Artfields Exhibition in Lake City, SC.

2 Grants: I have Metropolitan Arts Council to thank for not one but TWO grants this year. They helped fund my material costs for the 100 Day Project and Exhibition in the early spring, and then the second grant came in the fall which I used to take a rug hooking course at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC.

1 Artist in Residence Opportunity: My second consecutive residency with South Carolina State Parks occurred in May at Edisto Beach State Park, and as with the previous year, that time away surrounded by an abundance of natural inspiration was another high point of my year. Read all about my experience in this blog post.

So it was a great year, as you can see! Taking time to reflect on the last 12 months on an emotional level, artistic satisfaction level, and pure numbers level, is a huge help in planning my next year and beyond. It’s easy to see what’s not working and it’s easy to see what worked way better than I expected. I’m starting to truly understand that one of the big reasons my small business has lasted this long and continues to grow each year is because I’m extremely diversified. I work in multiple mediums that appeal to completely different customers and I sell on multiple sales platforms so if one is suffering, I can wait it out or move on. A dip in Etsy sales this year didn’t actually matter in the grand scheme of things, which is a relief. If I had all my eggs in that basket, it might have hurt way more than it did. Same goes for last year with craft shows - I didn’t do as well in that arena in 2018, but I hung in there, tried again this year, and had fantastic results.

I’m so grateful for every single compliment, opportunity, sale, like, share, email, feature, and student this year and every year. All of these things - small things, big things - they all add up and they all matter. From the bottom of my heart - thank you!

Lastly - if you’re into stats and am curious about the journey of this handmade business, I’ve posted several reviews and recaps from previous years.

They can be found here:

Year in Review: 2018

Year in Review: 2016

Year in Review: 2015

Year in Review 2014

Rug Hooking at the Folk School

Last week I had the pleasure of returning to the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC for an intro to rug hooking course. This fascinating fiber art form is something I’ve wanted to learn for years, but I was having a hard time finding anyone locally who could teach me (or who had ever heard of rug hooking, for that matter). The history of traditional rug hooking is interesting, and the craft itself is quite remarkable, but I had a very specific reason for wanting to learn this new medium. I knew somehow, some way, I wanted to incorporate this dimensional texture into my existing needle felting work. Even though I could easily envision how I’d combine the two mediums, I had absolutely no idea where to start, so when I saw there was a rug hooking course coming up at the Folk School, I knew the stars had finally aligned and it was time to find out if this idea was possible.

 The Folk School is located in the misty Appalachian mountains, about as far west as you can go and still be in the state of North Carolina. It’s remote, it’s beautiful, and it has a special community that’s been teaching a variety of traditional handicrafts for nearly 100 years. You can learn blacksmithing, chair caning, felt making, book binding, metal smithing, pottery, glass bead making, photography, wood turning, and weaving, just to name a few. The class sizes are small, typically less than 10 students, and you learn by total immersion. By the end of my week, I had put in 40 hours in the fiber art studio! 

The first hour of class, we learned about the tools, materials, and techniques required for rug hooking, and then we were off to hook our first practice piece – a small coaster, using a simple log cabin pattern. Learning to hook a rug seems simple, but it’s not simple at all. After cutting thin strips of wool, you use a hooked hand tool and pull them through the open weave of a piece of fabric. It sounds so basic, but there’s a lot to it. You have to pull the loops through the fabric just so, and space them out enough, but not too much. You can work with a predetermined pattern, but after my first practice piece, I chose to make up my own or work free form. 

By day two, I was hooking away on my first large piece and finally had the chance to try out my idea of combining rug hooking and needle felting, and I’m thrilled to say – IT WORKED! I hooked a landscape, creating a foreground and mountains with little loops of wool, then I needle felted the sky with roving. I absolutely love how the two wool textures look together. I’m comfortable with landscapes, I make them almost daily (in felt), so this seemed liked a good place to start. 

The third day, I tried a more abstract piece, a longer tapestry wall hanging in a pale color palette, still experimenting with mixing roving with the wool “noodles” I was hooking through the linen background fabric. I also learned various ways to finish the pieces, like binding the edges with yarn.  My loops aren’t perfect, my edges aren’t straight, I ran out of wool so the finished piece is about an inch shorter than I had been planning, by I learned so much by the time this one was finished and I’m in love with the irregular pattern and soft earthy colors. 

 Towards the end of the week, I challenged myself to try hooking precise geometric shapes with curves and points, change colors more often, work with smaller scale fabric strips, and switch directions with my loops. I created two more pieces, both using scrap wool and remnants. I also went bold with my color choices and have no regrets about that! 

After my first 40 hours of rug hooking, all in one week, I’m only just starting to understand how it works. I’m a beginner and will be for quite some time, my work is far from perfect, but I’m so happy to be off on this new adventure in a different medium that compliments what I’m already doing. My fiber art is bound to change in the future, and that’s exciting in so many ways.

Check out this short 5 minute video showing highlights of the week, time-lapse footage of my first few hooking projects, and work from the other students in various classes.

I would like to extend a special thanks to Metropolitan Arts Council (MAC) who made this educational undertaking possible by awarding me a grant to help fund my week at the Folk School plus the investment of the new tools and equipment required to continue to pursue a new dimension in my fiber art. Thank you thank you thank you!

This program is funded in part by the Metropolitan Arts Council which receives support from the City of Greenville, BMW Manufacturing Company, Michelin North America, Inc., SEW Eurodrive and the South Carolina Arts Commission.

Indie Craft Parade 2016 Recap

What a weekend. The 7th annual Indie Craft Parade took place this past weekend, and it was, as always, one of the best weekends of the whole year. This festival of all things handmade takes place every September, and it’s extremely competitive to get a spot as a vendor, but it’s a total blast once you’re in.

It’s also a LOT of hard work. I spend every minute of the summer preparing for this show, and when the weekend is over and the dust has settled, it feels like I’ve just accomplished something big, something that’s been months in the making. Today, as I write this, everything is sore: my face (from smiling non-stop for 3 days), my feet (from standing for the better part of 18 hours), my back (from load in load out), and my brain (from keeping track of sales and trying my best to remember names), but I’m beaming with joy. I met so many wonderful customers and fellow artists, and I got to share my work with 7,000 people. There’s something really thrilling about that!

This year was another record breaker, and I’m so thankful for everyone who came by my booth. I absolutely love to see people coming over to shop who are wearing jewelry they purchased from me years ago.

I did lots of shopping as well, and these are my 2016 purchases. 

1. Bird cup from Moonbird Pottery
2. Necklaces from Twenty Two West
3. Ceramic ring cone from Paper&Clay
4. Screen print on wood from Bone and Ink • Drawings by Jennifer Janeiro Allen
5. Painted ornament from Origin Tale
6. Print from METHANE STUDIOS
7. Metal bunny bowl from January Jewelry
8. Large woven wall hanging from WARP & WEFT
9. Angry cukes, Little Rock Caviar, and Drunken Tomatoes from Doux South
10. Bible verse cards & holder from Thimblepress
11. Push-pop Confetti from Thimblepress

As in years past, I’m sharing some show stats, mostly because this event is fun to track from year to year. I sold less items than I did last year, but I earned more, and I also noticed I didn’t do as well on Sunday as I usually do, but I did almost double my usual sales during the Friday night VIP gala. You just never know how things will shake out!

In addition to stats, I thought I’d share a few practical tips and tricks that have worked well for me over the years. These things might be useful to anyone considering doing a craft show, or even the craft show veterans out there.

1. If you’re going to sit down at any point during the show, bring a director’s chair or taller stool so you’re still able to chat with customers and handle transactions without being hidden behind your display. It will feel more natural to talk to customers when you’re eye level with them, even if you’re going to sit. I know some pros say you should never sit (or eat, or be on your phone, etc.) but let’s get real here - you will probably need to do all three at some point!

2. If you know you’re going to be standing for the majority of the show (either because you’re in the “never sit down camp” or because it’s going to be a busy show and sitting isn't an option) bring one of those comfort mats to stand on. Half the time I’m standing barefoot on one of those things and it really helps keep my legs from tiring out over the course of the show (and nobody can see it anyway!).

3. You can never have too many business cards, bags, or dollar bills on hand at a show. Every stinkin year, I think I have more than enough for Indie Craft Parade, and I’m wrong. This year I packed over 400 bags, nearly double what I packed the year before, and darn it, I still ran out. I also took 100 bucks worth of one dollar bills and ran out by the end of the day Saturday. Be prepared, or better yet, be beyond prepared! I have never run out of business cards as of yet (thankfully) but I have seen plenty of vendors who did, and I just hate to see them losing potential follow-up business because their customers have no way of finding them after the show.

4. Pack lots of food and water. If a show is really busy, you may not be able to leave your booth for a meal, and only a handful of shows offer lunch deliveries. Also - when you’re thinking through what food to pack, I find it a lot easier to eat things with a fork (no sandwiches or pizza, etc.), so you can sneak in a quick bite here and there, then get back to your customers after minimal chewing without having to worry about leaving to wash your hands, food in teeth situations, or having to take a long break to eat something big & messy in one shot.

5. Be prepared for 60 through 90 degree temperatures, because both are possible and you have no way of knowing which. I’ve done shows where the AC was so extreme my fingers went numb and I shivered the whole time, and I’ve also had shows where I was a sweaty mess when the AC wasn’t at it’s best, so dress & pack for both extremes, no matter what time of year it is.

6. Rethink your packaging for busy shows (or prepare it ahead of time). Unless you sell really high end or fragile items, I’d say the simpler the better. I always feel really awkward when I’ve made a purchase and I have to stand there while the artist makes fancy ribbon curls. I know not everyone agrees on this, but I wanted to put it on this list as something to encourage you to think through ahead of time.

7. Bring back up devices for accepting credit card payments, extra battery backup, and all the chargers in the world. You don’t want any technology mishap to shut you down.

8. Pay attention to the questions your customers ask (or keep a list, if that helps), because you’ll catch on to some repeat questions after a while which is a clue you may have something that needs to be addressed. For example, when I first started selling my Curious Cameo pendants, people were always asking if I had longer chains. I never even thought of that until people kept asking about them, so now I keep extra chains if people would like to upgrade to a longer one. Easy solution!

9. HAVE A SIGN.

10. Consider taking custom orders during the show. For the longest time, people would ask for a custom item and I’d give them a business card and send them to my Etsy shop, and never hear from them again. Now, I offer to take their order right then and there, and I’ll even apply any show specials I have going on, so that I’m not leaving this possible future order up to chance. I also make things easy by bringing a color chart to the show so customers can see all the available options and choose exactly what they want.