Creative Every Day

One of a Kind

June 5th, 2008

This afternoon, I dropped off a whole bunch of art at Oak, a new store in Boston. It's in such a great location, on Gloucester Street right off Newbury Street (prime time shopping area.) I got to meet Keara, the owner, at the shop and she was super sweet. I love the way she had her shop set up, it had a very cool vibe to it, lots of great stuff with out being stuffy, if you know what I mean. I knew the store was all about handmade crafts, but I didn't realize the name, Oak, came from their theme of "one of a kind" items. Too cool! At any rate, if you're in the area, I'd definitely recommend checking it out. It was a gloomy day today in Boston, but the weekend is supposed to be beautiful. I bet it'd be great for doing some shopping and people watching in the Back Bay neighborhood. If you can't get to the shop, Keara has some of the store's items for sale online too. Check it out here.

After the trip into town and watching my brother overnight last night, I'm zonked and have a headache. Business has been great this week and I'm thrilled about that. I'll be able to relax and have some extra spending cash for thrifting this weekend!

Lots of links to share, where to begin?

- My friend, Jennifer, has put together an e-book all about creating a right-brained business plan. This sounds incredibly appealing to me and I think it would synthesize well with I'd Rather Be in the Studio and The Boss of You, a book that I'm reading. Great work, Jen. It looks awesome!

- Another friend, Melba has been working away on her own self-published book, Creating in the Midst which you can pick up here. Melba is planning to lead a group through the 12 week process this summer. Congrats, Melba on all your hard work coming to fruition!

- And even more congrats are due! The sweet and talented, Jes has her beautiful jewelry and writing in a magazine and two books this year. I'm so excited for her! Yay, Jes!

- With all this business talk, it feels relevant to mention the slow economy and its effect on artists and craftspeople. I've felt some effect, but I'm not really a big enough business at this point to be taking a major hit. It doesn't have to be all negative though. A downturn in the economy can mean a time to explore other avenues or beef up your business in other ways. I enjoyed reading this article from craft:boom (cool site, by the way!) about running your craft business when times are lean. I think it applies to any small business. And after you read that, check out the rest of the site for interviews with inspiring business women like Amy Butler.

- Speaking of Amy Butler, Holly at Decor8 is hosting a mood board contest with the opportunity to win great Amy Butler related prizes. Check out all the details here. Even if you don't participate, check in after the due date to see all the amazing creations people put together!

- Check out this interview with the ever inspiring Christine Mason Miller at art and letter webzine. And if you need some more inspiration after that, go visit Christine's other site, Sparkletopia.

Holy guacamole! I didn't realize I had built up so many links  to share. I could keep going, but my big orange cat is telling me to stop typing by laying across my arms. Hehe.