The Retired Quilt - Artists on my Team

Cindy Strader of The Retired Quilt is the featured artist this month. I met her online about 3 years ago.  About once a month we will feature an artist in my "TEAM".  I have been selling my work online and have a great TEAM of people whom I consider my second family. Here you will learn about the artist and their work.

Cindy's response when asked why she started her business & the products she sells.  She was contemplating retirement from my “real” job and knew that she needed a plan after retirement.  She had been sewing for more than 40 years and it was what She loved to do.  Cindy had had so many requests over the years to make/create things for others that her husband suggested that she start her own business doing it - it really started as a hobby and has grown into something wonderful.

The most popular request that she get is to create T-shirt/Memory quilts for people. As for what is the most fun to make, the same item. Because she makes so many t-shirt quilts, they really have become one of her favorite things to do - each one is different and unique.  No two are the same - the creativity part and seeing the final product is what makes it fun.

As for what to say to someone starting out in the quilting world, what advise would you have.  Her Grannie taught her how to sew when she was just in high school - the best advice she could give is “listen to your Grannie” - but if it is too late for that - then listen to your heart.

Absolutely she accepts custom orders.  All of her t-shirt quilts are custom orders.  She has also accepted many quilt custom orders.  The turn around time is really dependent on the item requested.  T-shirt quilt are just 2 weeks currently.  But around graduation time and Christmas time you want to be sure to get your order in early - Cindy becomes really busy with them at those times of year.


Want to know where to buy her wonderful creations?    Cindy has an Etsy shop, a web site, a Facebook page, & sells in a local Galleria.  She has tried the craft fair/ art events and does not feel they were successful for her.  She gets a lot of referrals from past customers also.

   Contact info for Cindy

   The Retired Quilt

Website

Etsyshop

 Facebook

My stores: Jewelry shop
                 Cabochons and Supplies

Facebook:  PW Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  

Flowers from Highland Park Rochester, NY

We have a new feature on the blog.  About once a month we will feature an artist in my "TEAM".  I have been selling my work online and have a great TEAM of people whom I consider my second family. Here you will learn about the artist and their work.  Another team member will be posted next week.  

This s a photo from my Highland park visit last week.

New Direction for Panda Wear - Stone DIY

New direction and focus for Panda Wear...what is this about you ask?
 
I am a lapidary which means I hand cut my own stones.  Having enjoyed cutting gemstone for many years, there is a surplus of stones I am unable to use right away. Also, there is a surplus of rough stone - which is the rocks before they are cut into cabochons.  The rocks started to accumulate (pile up) around my home.    To make space,  I decided to start selling the extras.


Above is a Unakite boulder in the quarry where I have collected some rough in NY state.  The travel mug in this pic is about 10" tall to show perspective. The boulders are over 3 feet tall.  The blue rocks on the left side are mostly calcite.
 

Steps to make a cabochon

1. select a rock
2. cut a slab form the rock
3. decide  the shape of the cabochon & draw it
4. trim the slice around the lines
5.  dop the trimmed piece
6. start cutting the cab
7. polish the cab

Michigan Kona dolomite slab.  This is a piece of the selected rock cut into a slice.

Texas graveyard point agate slab.  This is a slab or a slice from the rock. the slice is the second step to making the rock into cabochons.    Imagine the rock as a home made loaf of bread cut into slices.  They can be cut whatever thickness I desire. Clear or transparent rough works best cut thick to show the beauty in the stone when finished. 



In my work, I have bought nice quality supplies for many years. Having bought the high quality beads and cabochons for years I believe I have an idea what other designers are looking for.  Your referrals of friends whom are jewelry designers or jewelry store owners are always appreciated.   Most of my cabochon sales are to other jewelry designers right now.   A few are sales to collectors. Yes, I still sell my OOAK jewelry.  It is just that my focus is on the gemstones right now. 

On the right, a piece of the Unakite I collected as a finished cabochon.  I went through all of the 7 steps above with this rock.

Below is a Montana Moss Agate cabochon ready to be set into a piece of jewelry. This is a transparent stone and the light is reflected best when the back of the piece is left open.

My cabochons are free form which meas they are not round, or oval like most of the ones I see for sale.  This makes them unique and OOAK.
OOAK means One of a Kind. Cabochons are also called cabs.

Please feel free to ask any questions about the process of stone cutting or making cabochons that you have.   I have taught wire wrapping and jewelry making for years.  I also taught my boyfriend to cut cabs. He is a natural and is a better cutter than I am.

My stores: Jewelry shop
                 Cabochons and Supplies

Facebook:  PW Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  

First Harvest of 2015

Welcome to the beauty of my gardens.  a few pic \s of what I saw this weekend..Please enjoy and share with your friends.

 Happy to say I am enjoying the first harvest of the veggie garden for this year. Having a home grown salad with my garden lettuce.  Harris seed grows fantastic and quickly in my garden.
Looking down on the snow peas at right with lettuce on both sides of the row.  Before long, the  snow peas will be 4 feet tall and ready for harvest.  I guess about a 3-4 weeks to wait.



The photo on the left shows the leaf lettuce  on the one side of the trellis from above.  Red and green leaf lettuce are being grown this year.   I should have my first head of lettuce in about a month.  Salads are on the table at my house most nights on the year.  They are especially welcome early like this and when the first tomatoes are picked. 

This is a close of of the snow peas on the right and was taken at ground level.  They were hard to see in the above photos. 

On the left here is the mesclun I harvested for my dinner tonight in the ground.  Below you can see how much there is of the harvest stacked on my kitchen counter top.  

For anyone who has not see this blog before I am an avid gardener and lapidary.  Most of my inspiration comes from nature as can be seen in my work.  Whether it is the arch of a branch, the stem of a bush or the pattern of a flower... I picture designs I make with wire and gemstones.  As a lapidary, when I am cutting a stone my design can take shape based on what I see in the natural stone.  With some pieces, I need to find a stone the right color and shape for my design.

My weeping cherry tree in the front yard.  Did not want to miss showing off some of my flowers.  Lucky to get a good shot this year.  My helper behind the camera is Herb. He does more then help me plant veggies when I am unable to kneel.  He has been a rock through this injury and recovery for me.  I could not be here now without him. He is a keeper.

Every garden has hidden gems.  I found this yesterday and was surprised.  Never had the trunk bloomed before.  May your week be filled with sunshine and nature's beauty.

My stores: Jewelry shop
                 Cabochons and Supplies

Facebook:  PW Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems 

Goodbye Crutches, Hello Garden

Recovery going well after ACL ligament replacement surgery.   Sunshine and transplanting more vegetables, energized me and I am now walking without any crutches. Saying  goodbye to my crutches feels fantastic!  Being spring, there were quite a few weeds to be pulled in the gardens this past weekend.  Such a happy feeling to see the snow peas sprouted and the lettuce are  doing well.  Plan to harvest mesclun this week for the first time.  Fresh home grow spring salad, what a great side dish. Photos of the Veggies next week


Also working to grow the gemstone/rock side of my business.  I sell rocks! Do you know a jewelry designer or small local Jewelry store?  I custom cut my own stones and have many one of a kind cabochons I sell both retail and wholesale.  Please feel free to contact me if you have a friend with a shop who uses one of a kind gemstones.  The rocks I sell are available uncut as slabs for those who enjoy the stone cutting as I do or as specimens to put on a shelf and display.

Cabochons

My stores: Jewelry shop
                 Cabochons and Supplies

Facebook:  PW Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems 

Show schedule is still in process.  It will be posted as soon as I have it.  Looking at what my summer and fall show options are at this point.  It is quite late in the year for show applications.  Considering Naples Grape Festival, AppleUmpkin, and a few smaller shows for late summer and fall.  

 

Topic suggestions always welcome.  Still taking orders for Mother's day.  Happy gardening to you all.

April Showers Today

I should be writing about the shows I am doing this summer and fall.  I do not knew where I will be, yet.  My ACL ligament reconstruction  in December last year did not have the quick recovery I expected.  I just had a second procedure to put me back on the road to recovery. 

Soon you will see more of my one of a kind creations.  I am working more in copper this spring.  inspired by all the colors and activity outside after this past winter. 

 Toad with fish watching

Hope you enjoy some of the spring beauty from my Pond and Garden. The links below are great ways to reach me and see more of what I create.  Suggestions for blog topics are always welcome. 

May you have a sunny and flower filled day. 

 

My stores: Jewelry shop
                 Cabochons and Supplies

Facebook:  PW Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems 

Welcome Spring, My Garden Begins

Welcome to my veggie garden.  Just planted snow peas and transplanted lettuce.  Looking forward to the fresh vegetables for my meals.  I tastes so much better home grown.  Amazed I have been gardening for so long,  friends are asking my advise for their gardens. Does not seem so long ago I dug and planted my first vegetable garden in the backyard of this house.

My love of this comes from my Grandma on my dad's side. Growing up I helped her in her gardens.  I have fond memories of her yard in the spring bursting with colors.  I helped pull the weeds from around the roses.  While her children were growing up, she grew fruits and veggies.  She had plums, raspberries and blackberries still when I was growing up. These were from when her kids were in school.  I tried to transplant her raspberries a few times. My garden was too wet when I tried.  It was also very early in my gardening journey.  I know better now.  I have them from a friend who had way too many extra bushes in her garden.

Summer flowers in Grandma's garden: roses, zinnias, geraniums, peonies, pansies, petunias, snapdragons and many others.  She had a second garden at the family cottage up north of Alexandria Bay, NY in the 1000 islands.  The flowers were in whiskey type barrels at the entrance to the front porch.  She was always happy to tell me the name of any flowers we saw.  My favorite up at the cottage was the wild snapdragons which were everywhere along the privet road.  Especially fun was rock collecting at the top on the hill with my Dad and coming back down with snapdragons.Grandma always put them in a glass and on the kitchen table.

Toad in my garden

This little toad was hatched in my pond last year and apparently overwintered in my veggie garden.  My digging in the dirt seemed to make him want to be somewhere else.  More on the lovely vegetables I am growing latter in the year with photos of the plants.

My stores: Jewelry shop
                 Cabochons and Supplies

Facebook:  PW Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems 

Spring Planting 2015

Back about 6 weeks ago we started the first of the seeds for the vegetable garden.  The tomatoes are doing fantastic....transplanted and over 10 inches tall.  I have added greens, parsnips and carrots to my seeds planted this year. 

Spring color

As the days warm up it becomes time to transition the plants from inside to outside.  A few veggies do well direct sown into the garden, radish and snow peas.  We will be planting snow peas outside next week. I am trying some new natural pots this year.  I am not a fan of peat pots and their impact on the environment.  Stay tuned to see how the new containers do.

In a bit of limbo right now with shows because of the my recovery from my new  ACL ligament knee surgery in Dec 2014.  The plan is to have a second surgery in about two weeks to remove scar tissue.  I hope to bounce back quickly and be able to do some summer shows in July or August. If you have been to or think of any great art shows/festivals, feel free to share  & recommend them to me. 

New things for the business......
On twitter
shopping cart coming to website
selling slabs  and cabs to other jewelers & designers

Shop here: Jewelry shop
                 Cabochons and Supplies

Facebook:  PW Facebook
Pinterest:  Panda Wear Art
Twitter:  Panda Wear

Zuffolo - New Feature Artists on my Team

We have a new feature on Panda Wear's blog.  About once a month we will feature an artist in my "TEAM".  I have been selling my work online and have a great TEAM of people whom I consider my second family. Here you will learn about the artist and their work. 

Zuffolo

Handmade chic attire for the little ones you love

Cynthia Baker is the owner of Zuffolo. She started her business after moving to Atlanta in 2011.   After they moved to the Atlanta area in 2011, she spent a year making new friends and learning the ropes but found that she really needed something creative to do. Cynthia had many creative outlets in her life in Connecticut.  She was unable to find any similar outlets in her new home, Atlanta, so she started sewing again. It first started as costumes for children and then for adults.  It was all very successful but there was not much  latitude as far as creativity went.  People wanted copies of things.  Now that she has gone back to what she originally thought she wanted to do, she is have lots of fun!

 Why start Zuffolo and make clothing for children?  Cynthia says, "It sounds crazy and trite, but I had a son and never got the chance to buy ‘girl’ clothes."    The dresses and things that have embroidery work on them are the most fun to make.  Watching something turn from a cute item into a one of a kind DARLING item is the best.  

Aqua Dress

As for advise for someone starting out in her line of work...Get a local following first.  If she had done the same work in CT, she would have had a HUGE local following.  Here it is a bit different because she and her husband are still considered new to the area. Cynthia is married with grown children. 

 Purple Boho Jacket

Are you wondering if she accepts commissions or special orders?   She does accept custom orders as time permits and it is usually a 2-3 week turn around time.  New things on the horizon for your company......Slated for 2016 she has plans for local shows and boutique sales.  She is working to build her inventory first.

Backhoe Jacket boy's

Contact info for Zuffolo and Cynthia      Zuffolo shop      Facebook

My stores: Jewelry shop
                 Cabochons and Supplies

Facebook:  PW Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems 

New Feature for Panda Wear

Proud to announce a new feature on this blog later this week.  Having sold my work online over the past several years I have many new friends. We have become a great "team" which I am proud.   I have a very diverse and international group I can count on my team  They will  tell me if I have a great idea or go back to the drawing board.  They are also the first people I am excited to share their good news. Sharing our success and failures has help us to grow together as this team.

Happy Spring

Stay turned to meet my "TEAM".......




My stores: Jewelry shop
                 Cabochons and Supplies

Facebook:  PW Facebook

Pinterest:  Panda Wear Art

Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems