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I'm getting ready to launch an official email newsletter! It will be sent about once a month, and will include announcements about new projects, upcoming craft shows and special offers. Sign up by visiting this page. Thanks!

Cocheco Valley Humane Society Presents the Summer Sun & Fun Festival

On Saturday, July 11th, visit the Lofted Designs booth at the Summer Sun & Fun Craft Festival in Barrington, New Hampshire. The festival will be in the field of Calef's Country Store and proceeds benefit the cute little animals cared for by the Cocheco Valley Humane Society.

As most of you already know, I am an animal lover and I couldn't be happier to support this great organization.

Stop by and say hello between 9 am and 4 pm. I'll be selling my new line of pet tags, as well as lots of people jewelry. More details can be found here.

Arts Fest Beverly - June 20, 2009

I spent most of the day today hanging out on Cabot Street in Beverly, Massachusetts, during Arts Fest Beverly. The weather turned out to be perfect (despite forecasted rain) and what a great crowd of people! Everyone was super friendly and also very encouraging. I received tremendous compliments on my work as well as several suggestions of beaches to visit where I might find seaglass.

I imagine Arts Fest Beverly is what Portsmouth's Market Square Day used to be like before it got too big. Market Square Day in recent years has become much too commercialized and too crowded to be enjoyable (in my opinion), whereas Arts Fest Beverly still has that quaint hometown feeling about it. I hope to participate again next summer!

Bright Colors for Summer

I've been inspired by the warm weather we're experiencing in New England (finally!). The sun is shining into the loft skylights and bright, colorful beads are finding their way to the Lofted Designs studio. You can find these babies (and a whole lot more) at ellO Gallery in Portsmouth, NH.

The Tower of Song

Photo by Cara Slifka

Last weekend I participated in the Tower of Song Festival in Portland, Maine as an arts vendor, and I just wanted to say how amazing it all was! Thank you to my friends Will, Alicia and John for putting together such a great event. It was their first time coordinating something like this and usually things don't go that smoothly the first time around, but they had all the details ironed out ahead of time which made for a fantastic day.

I mingled with a very colorful audience in the square below while some of my favorite bands (like Chriss Sutherland and Lady Lamb the Beekeeper) performed from the Tower above. What a treat to be serenaded by lovely music all day! Sales were great and I met a lot of really nice people. Can't wait until next year's Tower of Song fest.

The Positive Side of Credit Cards

As most of you well know, credit cards can be dangerous with their high interest rates and ability to induce disgusting amounts of debt. And then there's the fact that they are always conveniently there, lurking in your wallet, ready to jump out and be used at any time.

Well the time has come to finally cut that malevolent little card to bits and put it to better use! This website presents interesting ways to recycle and enjoy our credit cards as jewelry and even gives step-by-step instructions. Why didn't I think of this first?

If any of you lovely readers would like me to make a custom credit card bracelet for you, just email me. I promise not to steal your identity in the process.

Feature in The Bretttorrium - Creative Emporium

There's this fantastic blog called The Bretttorrium, and somehow blogger Brett was brilliant enough to find me on Etsy and generous enough to feature me in his "Weekend Wonderful" section this past weekend. I could not be more thrilled about this!

I don't know much about Brett, but he seems to be from California, and my Etsy stats sure did skyrocket out west this weekend. Don't you just love Google Analytics? Fascinating stuff.

Here is some of what The Bretttorrium had to say about Lofted Designs:

lofted designs does not make jewelry, they make wearable art. i am simply enamored with these great artisans and i think you will be, too.

How flattering!!! Feel free to use the Bretttorrium discount code when shopping at my Etsy store. It expires June 5th.

Brett was also kind enough to tweet about me to his more than 300 followers on Twitter.

Handmade Class Rings

For some reason when it came time to purchase a high school class ring my senior year, I felt compelled to order one. It wasn't that I particularly enjoyed high school...most of the time I despised it. But everyone else was getting one and they had this feature where you could get a little peace sign placed under the stone which I thought was really cool at the time. If only I could have ordered something really unique. Something different but still meaningful to my experience.

Now, years later, I am making that option available with handmade, personalized class rings available for men and women in all sizes! Perfect for high school or college seniors. You choose the band style (thin or thick, wide or skinny) and the finish (brushed, polished or hammered) and let me know exactly what you'd like it to say. Maybe it's your name or a goofy nickname. Maybe it's the name of your school or simply "class of '09". Stamp it on the outside and tell the world you graduated, or stamp it on the inside for a more discreet look.

You can read more and order here.