York Village Marketfest

This Friday & Saturday!
October 12 & 13
9 AM-4 PM

Visit Lofted Designs this Friday and Saturday at the annual Marketfest celebration in historic York Village, Maine. The forecast looks lovely and I can pretty much guarantee you've never seen more beautiful fall foliage in a such a quintessential New England village setting. 

As if Lofted Designs wasn't enough of a draw, this festival features:
• Dozens of talented artists and craftspeople
• An amazing variety of delicious foods
• Sidewalk sales
• Musical performances
• A "prisoner performance" (WHAT?) at The Museums of Old York
• Petting zoo
• Scarecrow contest (vote for your favorites!)
• Book sale
• MUCH more! You can seriously make a whole day of it. 

I will have a booth just behind the big food tent on Friday and Saturday from 9AM - 4PM. Unfortunately, the event website has virtually NO information on it, however this newspaper article lists a schedule of events. I've also created a Facebook event with all the details. 

Meet Sammy

Meet Sammy, one of my happy 4-legged customers, proudly wearing his "Rub My Belly" tag! He's had this tag on his collar for many years, and it looks to be holding up pretty well. 

"Belly Rub" tags and many other styles (including custom stampings with your pet's name, address and phone number) are available in my Etsy shop.

Jitterbug Perfume

If you tell me you are ordering one of my beet necklaces because of an obsession with the Tom Robbins book Jitterbug Perfume, you'd better believe I will wrap it up in passages photocopied from the book for you. Obviously. 

Wedding Inspiration – Alicia & William

On June 23rd, I was privileged to witness the marriage of two of my closest friends – Alicia and William. It was a truly magical day filled with laughter, sunshine, dancing, singing, happy tears and the most genuine and joyous revelry imaginable.

When the bride requested my earrings as gifts for the women in her wedding party, I was tremendously honored. She clearly had a vision for the day and knew she wanted the ladies to wear my brushed sterling silver teardrop earrings. Modern and simple, they would go with anything, which worked out great since the four fabulous ladies in the "wedding posse" (as they were called) were told they could wear anything they wanted.

Images by Jess Sheldon, Hazel Brown Photography

In these photos, the lovely Lizzie can be seen wearing Lofted Designs sterling silver teardrop earrings. Thanks to Alicia and William for including my jewelry in your special day! And special thanks to Jess and Lizzie for allowing me to share these photos. 

If you have a vision for your wedding that calls for something uniquely handmade, I hope you'll consider Lofted Designs accessories. Sterling silver tie bars also make terrific gifts for groomsmen. 

Picnic Music + Arts Festival - Saturday, August 25th

Guess what? It's time to get excited if you live within a reasonable driving distance of Portland, Maine! That's right...this coming Saturday is the 5^th Annual Picnic Music + Arts Summer Festival! Check it out on Facebook and tell all your friends. I am so honored to be a part of this festival again, surrounded by all of my favorite Portland artists!

This will be the first Lofted Designs public appearance of 2012, which means I will be debuting tons of new stuff at this weekend's event. I've just made some gorgeous picture jasper necklaces, lots of new sterling silver earring styles, fun new pet tags, and if we are all very lucky (and my husband can finish them on time), some gorgeous handcrafted dog collars.

All the details:
Saturday, August 25th – 11am - 6pm 
Lincoln Park, Portland (corner of Congress & Franklin Streets)

Rain or shine (but let's all hope for shine)

There will be live music! (view schedule)

Preview all the amazing vendors here

My booth this year is near the corner of Federal & Pearl Streets. 
I sure do hope you can make it!

The Big Thaw - Saturday, May 12th

If you live in the Portland, Maine area and you forgot to buy Mom a gift, you're in luck! The Big Thaw is this Saturday. As in tomorrow. As in the day before Mother's Day. And it's the perfect place to find something unique and awesome that will rock her world and show her how thoughtful you are.

Here are a few ideas to get you started – there will be more than 30 incredibly talented vendors there besides me though, so come see for yourself.

What mom wouldn't love these super sparkly "diamond" earrings. OK, so they're CZ's in sterling silver settings, but hey, for a mere $18 you'll still have enough cash left over to get her some flowers to go with her sparkles.

Some new necklace designs will be premiering at The Big Thaw. These are a combination of my always-popular bubble necklaces and my one-of-a-kind beach stone necklaces. Bubbles meet the beach. The bubbles are drilled through the stone, and they swing and move in a fun way.

Need an adorable Mother's Day gift from the dog? How about one of these handmade heavy-duty aluminum dog tags?

And, just in case you have already covered your Mother's Day bases and are already shopping for Father's Day next month...well, I've just started making sterling silver tie bars for savvy, stylish gentlemen. Something for everyone!

Here's the nitty gritty: 

Date: Saturday, May 12, 2012 

Time: 10am - 4pm 

Place: Mayo Street Arts Center, Portland, Maine 

Directions 

Check out the complete list of vendors.
RSVP on Facebook here.
Amazing organizer Audrey of Little Eye Designs has been posting daily vendor spotlights here.

I'll be downstairs (in the basement), so come find me and say hello! Hope to see you there.

2012 Graduation Jewelry - It's Not Too Late

Graduation is an exciting achievement for many young people this season. If you know a student graduating from high school or college in the coming months and you're looking for a unique gift idea that won't break the bank, I have just the thing!

Class of 2012 Graduation Jewelry - Custom Necklace - $45

A gorgeous sterling silver circle is hand cut and custom stamped with "Class of 2012", the school name, graduate's name or initials, a date and even school colors! A sterling silver chain, polishing cloth and gift box are included so you receive it ready for gifting.

Order yours here. Please allow up to two weeks for custom orders to be shipped.

Custom Rings - The Boo of Your Dreams

I make a lot of custom rings – in fact, these are one of my best-selling items. Many people choose to customize the inside of their rings with personal messages, initials or dates. Recently, I received an adorable custom ring order I can't resist sharing. 

A couple wanted matching sterling silver rings and they are huge fans of the TV show Parks & Rec. They were inspired by Tom Haverford's recent serenade to his "boo" Ann Perkins, and wanted their custom rings to pay tribute. Here's an audio clip for those of you not familiar with the show:

His ring would be stamped "I can be..." and hers would be stamped "the boo of your dreams" on the inside.

I took this "in-progress" photo as I made the rings.

As if their idea weren't awesome enough, I also received this amazing thank you email from them:

"We'd like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your creativity and time that you put into our purity rings. We have worn them every day since they arrived. We were also able to show them off while were in Nashville to our fellow Parks and Rec fan friends and they adored them. We are loving them, and are very pleased. You're awesome."

Hooray for happy customers!!! :D


Order your very own personalized ring here or contact me to discuss your creative ideas.