Monday Must Haves, or Monday Must Wants

For today's installment of Monday Must Haves I present an inspiration item.  Unless you happen to have close to 10K just sitting around.  Today's item is a stunningly beautiful diamond and platinum ring circa 1915.  Its Edwardian in style with a delicate floral, leafy, berry filigree pattern on the sides.  I love my engagement ring, but wow would this be a kick ass right hand ring!

I apologize...

The last two Mondays have been lacking Must Haves.  Its been a little rough around here for the past two weeks.  Miles has been sick, and thus missing school, which means I no longer have the freedom in my Monday mornings to come up with Must Haves.

In case you are unaware, Miles is the little boy that I nanny for to pay the bills and fund Ivy Haus, but also I happen to love him dearly, which works out nicely for all parties involved ;-)  He is two months shy of turning three and he is the sweetest, funniest, most loving, little whiner I have ever met.  Oh, and he likes to model my jewelry, see...

Hahaha, look at that pose.  He could be a model.  Maybe he will be one day ;-)  

Gotta run, off to pick the little gipper (as my husband calls him) up from preschool.

Ciao!

Happy Fall...

I LOVE fall!  I think fall is my favorite season, just ever so slightly ahead of spring.  You know those perfect fall days when its cool, but the sun is warm, and it smells like leaves outside, and everything just feels so calm and quiet.  Those are my favorite days!  In honor of Fall I created a treasury full of fall-ish stuff.  Enjoy...

Monday Must Haves...

Hello everyone!

It's time for another Monday installment already, whew, these weeks are going by too fast.  I had grand plans for posting on Friday about my impending 1 year wedding anniversary...but apparently those plans were too grand.  I'm hoping I don't end up with a bunch of "Monday Must Haves" and not a whole lot else!

Anywho, before I get to this weeks totally awesome must haves, I just wanted to say that I have the best husband ever :-)  None of this would be happening if it weren't for him and his constant words of encouragement and gentle nudging in the right direction.  I love you Kyle!!!

Okay, cheese factor accomplished.  I couldn't decide which of these two items I wanted more so I'm listing them both.  The first is an adorable little print called Friends.

It's just so vibrant and colorful and puts a smile on my face.  I'm coveting this one for sure.  It is by a super talented woman who lives in Mexico named Gennine Zlatkis.  Check out her Etsy Shop, Gennine, she has many adorable and amazing watercolors for sale.

Here is the next must have item for the day, well items.  I want it in a few different colors, or maybe all the colors!

This is the Modern Striped Bottle Vase from Dalhaus run out of Vancouver by Heather Braun-Dahl.  She has a bunch of amazing pottery available for sale in her shop and it all is deliciously modern and minimalistic like these lovely vases.  Beautiful!

Thats all for today!  Happy Monday everyone and enjoy your weeks ;-)

Monday Must Haves

So, now that my schedule has changed a bit and I have a little more free time I was thinking about getting a bit more serious about this here blog.  I was thinking about doing an entry on Monday mornings about some items on Etsy that I've either added to a treasury, which will be theme based, or items that I covet.  Here we go for today!

How to make a tiny wire bow

I received a message from a fellow Etsy user who was curious to know how my little wire bows were made.  So the following is a tutorial on how to make your very own tiny bow!

I start with 3" of hard 20 gauge wire.

Thanks so much PcbCutie for writting.  I hope this helps and let me know how it turns out ;-)

Vintage Letter Bracelet to be Featured in Etsy's Vintage Photo Reel

Hello all.

I wanted to let you know about a super cool event.  

My vintage letter bracelet will be featured in Etsy's Vintage Photo Reel.  Each day they choose items from among the vintage goodies on Etsy that coincide with a particular theme.  Tomorrow, Saturday, July 9th, my bracelet will be featured!  How cool ;-)

The items are chosen by Gillian Herring, the Vintage Intern at Etsy.  I must say, she has great taste.

So, if you are bored and browsing the web, here is the link:

etsyvintage.tumblr.com/

And of course, if you'd like to snatch one of these beauties up for yourself, they are available here...and they are on sale!

Checking in

Wow.

I have been a terrible blogger.

It's been well over a month since I wrote a single thing.

A lot has transpired.  I have been very busy making new products and selling them at street fairs.  

I packed up my whole apartment in one weekend and moved. 

I went trapezing for the first time in my life.

(So much fun by the way, that's me in the pic below on my first "catch" of the day, woohoo!)

I went to Coney Island.  It was not nearly as ghetto as I expected.

 I have officially lived in New York City for two years now!

  

There are more things I still need to check off my NYC to do list.  

I mean, in these two years I have done a bunch, but there is plenty left I need to experience. 

 I want to visit the Bronx Zoo.  I've only been to Central Park once, I need to go again.  I've never had a Grey's Papa dog. Gotta do that.  I've never been to the top of the Empire State Building or climbed the Statue of Liberty (7th grade doesn't count).  Perhaps the most shocking, I've never seen a show on Broadway.  Yeah, I know, it's pretty pathetic. There is still a ton to do.

I'm open to suggestions!

One interesting thing that happened, I had my cell phone stolen at a street fair on 6th Ave.  I didn't even see it happen.  This nice guy who witnessed it told me and then got the cops for me.  

They ended up finding the guy less than a block away and my phone was returned.

Lucky for me.  I bet that doesn't happen often.

That same night I went home to my new apartment and accidentally locked myself out with food in the oven.  Needless to say it was a rough day. 

Otherwise, I'm still doing my thang.  I'll be selling at street fairs on the weekends for the next several weeks straight.  I might take a break for July 4th.  Be sure to follow me on Facebook. 

www.facebook.com/ivyhausdesigns

That's the best place to get up to date info on where I will be selling and new items, sales, give-aways, contests, and such.

Next Saturday I will be selling at the BAMRA festival on Bleecker between Broadway and 6th Ave.  My lovely sister, Kristen, will be accompanying me for the day.  So stop by if you're in the area!

Busy Weekend!

Hello again.  

This past weekend was a busy one for Ivy Haus!  I was at two different street fairs this past Saturday and Sunday hocking my wares with my fabulous mother in tow.  On Saturday we were in the West Village on Greenwich Street.  It was a beautiful day despite a few passing showers and the shoppers were out in full force.  The vintage letter initial bracelets seemed to be the hot ticket item that day.  They are from the 70s, gold plated, and at $15 add a nice touch to any ensemble.

On Sunday we were in Union Square on Broadway and 13th Street.  Again, the weather was fantastic.  My wonderful mother volunteered to stay an extra day to help me sell.  She was the perfect selling partner to spend Mother's Day with!  

One of the highlights of the day was a when a family came by and the Mom had her eye on a pair of vintage studs and a ring, but left empty handed.  Moments later the Dad returned and said box up those two items as fast as you can before my wife comes back!  It was so sweet.  I hope she was happy when he surprised her with them later :-)

All in all it was a great, but exhausting weekend.  I am taking next Saturday off in anticipation of being too hung over to think straight (plus I have to pack for the big move!), as usually happens the day after one of my husband's shows.  However, have no fear, I will be out and about on Sunday, May 15th at the Fabulous 5th Ave Festival in Park Slope!

Revisiting the 6th Ave Street Fair

Last weekend Ivy Haus Designs was at it's first ever street fair!!!  

That's right, little old me schlepped a huge suitcase, insanely heavy folding table, a tent, and my potted ivy plant (the new mascot of IHD) to the corner of 6th Ave and 27th Street where I sold my jewelry from 11-6.  The weather was nice, but I was in the shade most of the day, where it was much chillier than across the street where they enjoyed hours of sunshine.  I danced in place for hours and sold a few pieces.  All in all it wasn't bad for my first street fair.  As promised, here are some pix!

That's me under my tent.  We need to figure out a way to make the legs longer and weigh that bad boy down.  It almost blew away a few times!

Here is what the table set up looks like.  I think it looks great!  Not only do I have a bunch of great vintage jewelry, but most of my display items are vintage too.  I started with these awesome vintage serve-a-trays from the 40s.  They have ivy vines on them!  Obviously I had to buy them.  

Then I found this great vintage Syroco mirror from the same era.  I found it on Etsy, here is the shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/DenimRoseVintage. She has a ton of cool stuff I covet.

I also found this awesome antique spoon bent into a business card holder, my cards look so cool in it!  Here is where I found that: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ArtisticWood.  

I have a cute green glass bowl on the table that holds vintage studs I find in and around the city.  That belonged to my late Grandma Toni and I am so happy to have it with me when I sell, because I feel like she is there in spirit cheering me on :-).  

To round out the display I have my new little ivy plant that I rescued from Lowes.  It adds just the right finishing touch, don't you think!?

Here is a close up pic of the business card holder.  So cool, right!?

...and a close up of the trays and some of my jewelry.

I'm sure this was just the first of many street fairs that I will sell at this spring and summer.  In fact, were it not cold, windy, and rainy outside I would probably be selling at a fair as we speak...but...april showers bring may flowers!  Stay tuned.

6th Ave Street Festival

I am super pleased to announce that I will be selling my jewelry tomorrow, April 9, at the 6th Ave Street Festival between 23rd Street and 32nd Street.  I think I will be somewhere in the middle, perhaps around 27th.  I have my table spread all ready to go, my tent and table were delivered yesterday, and I've been making tons of new stuff! Woohoo, I can't wait ;-)  If you're in the area come check it out!!!

Etsy Shop Grand Opening...FREE SHIPPING :-)

www.ivyhausdesigns.etsy.com

I have been patiently waiting for all the items to trickle in.  So, now that I finally have all my shipping materials, gift wrapping materials, and business cards, I am pleased to announce the official grand opening of my etsy shop!

In celebration of this momentous occasion I am offering FREE SHIPPING until midnight on April 10th!  All you have to do is enter the code GRNDOPN in the "shop coupon code" section on the right hand side of the purchase page and click "apply" before placing your order.

Here is a picture of my logo.  My dear friend Nicki helped to design it.  What do you think?

In other news, I received my certificate of authority to collect sales tax in New York state and also my Department of Consumer Affairs street vendors license, which means I can apply to sell my jewelry at street fairs!  So...stay tuned.  I'll be selling on the streets very soon!!!

And so it begins!

I've finally done it. I've taken the leap. After almost a year of dreaming, scheming, and obsessing I have officially started my very own jewelry business. Welcome to the world Ivy Haus Designs!

How did this come about? Simple, really. I watched a friend from high school build her jewelry business. (Check her out: www.diamentdesigns.com). She taught me a thing or two and I helped her sell her pieces at craft fairs in the city over the summer. She was super supportive, I was super inspired. She helped me buy the supplies to make jewelry for the ladies in my wedding party. After designing and creating the jewelry for my wedding I was hooked. I made a few more pieces for my self and some for my grandmother for Christmas. A few months later with a gentle nudge from my husband I finally decided to push the self doubt and fears of failure aside and just give it a try.

...So, stay tuned. I expect to have my etsy shop up and running in a few weeks and I hope to be selling at some street fairs in Manhattan in early April!!!