Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Ornamentea: Part 1-Book Signing & Make n' Take

I'm back from my whirlwind trip to Raleigh, NC to visit Ornamentea! Last Friday, Ornamentea hosted a book signing for our book, Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry. Then, on Saturday, I taught my Bohemian Knotted Earrings Workshop. What a great time. First of all, shop owner, Cynthia Deis was the most amazing, gracious host. I'm so thrilled she wanted to have Lorelei and I there. She runs an incredible bead shop and after chatting with Cynthia and seeing her shop for myself in person, I have a much deeper appreciation for her and her business. I was blown away. What a gem of a store. I really don't know how she gets customers to leave when it's time to close up and go home. It must be difficult because Ornamentea has a wonderful inventory of anything a beader or crafter could possibly want and everything is displayed so beautifully from ceiling to floor! Plus, helpful, friendly staff, great bead events and truck shows and cool classes. I can't say enough about how wonderful this shop is. You must visit.

This table is in the middle of the shop when you walk in. It is brimming with all kinds of treasures. Beads, buttons, crepe cord, spools of linen, silk ribbons, jewelry and even chocolate! Yum. Copies of our book are on display here along with a fun box of fibers and beads to go with it. One lucky person who came to our book signing on Friday night won this stash of goodies.

Along with the book signing event on Friday night, Ornamentea hosted a Make n' Take project from the book. The chosen project was my Leather Ruffle Hoops. Most of the supplies I used in the original earrings came from the store. I helped some of the staff set up the work table for the make n' take before the evening got started. Above, I am showing Jordan how to make the earrings. I was lucky enough to have her as my assistant for the project that night.

Here I am helping Lil with her make n' take earrings. Lil was actually the lucky winner of the fun box of fibers Ornamentea gave away at the book signing later that evening! Lucky girl.

Here's Jordan running the second round of the make n' take project. She did a fantastic job of making sure everything went smoothly. I'm so thrilled with how it all went. Everyone seemed to really be enjoying making the earrings. It was busy the entire night, but I did get to chat with a few after they finished their earrings. They loved them and most everyone I saw wore their earrings out the door.

Here's Lorelei and me at our signing table. On the table, we have a few of the original jewelry pieces from the book. We're talking to Amy, one of the lovely gals who came that night. She was really sweet and cute. It was so nice chatting with her and absolutely everyone who stopped by. And speaking of some others, Lori and I got to meet some special friends we know from the bead blogging community. The amazing LeAnn of Summers Studio. We have 3 of LeAnn's handmade components incorporated into projects throughout the book. We also got to meet the lovely Marcie of La Bella Joya! It was such a pleasure to meet both of these ladies in person. I've admired each of them for years now. Marcie actually came the following day on Saturday for my Bohemian Knotted Earrings class. I'll be talking more about that in another upcoming post. Stay tuned for Ornamentea: Part 2-My Class!

Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry
now available at Ornamentea.com!

6 comments:

  1. It was my first trip to Ornamentae but won't be my last. Lovely to meet both of you after knowing you for so long via the interwebs!

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  2. looks like a wonderful event! love that table in the front, full of so many treasures and the color of the table is gorgeous too and matches your book cover!

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  3. Why oh why do there have to be like a dozen states between me and that store? I have always wanted to own a shop much like Ornamentea. Miss Cynthia is the most welcoming and enthusiastic person. And I am so thrilled that you got to teach again. (I still want to take a class with you) and that you met some of my favorite people like LeAnn and Marcie. What a great trip! Thanks for sharing it with us. BTW... you look STUNNING in that blue dress. Knockout pretty!
    Enjoy the day.
    Erin

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  4. Love that store! Such a great write-up--sounds like you had a wonderful time!

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  5. Looks like you had a very successful trip Erin! Ornamentea is a dream of a store - although I have only been able to shop online. Cynthia does have the best selection of supplies ever! Thanks for sharing and I agree With Erin - you look great in that navy dress. Wonderful color on you!

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  6. Looks like a great time! I will make sure to stop by her shop if I am ever out that way. It looks amazing. So lucky you got to meet LeAnn and Marcie! Isn't it wonderful to get to actually meet people whom you get to know online first?

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