How To Create Stackable State Rings with Your Besties

These sweet, stackable state rings are our newest private party here at the shop and this one is POPULAR! It's a fun way to spend an afternoon with your bridesmaids, sorority sisters or girl friends. Each person can make her own favorite state, or you can all make your home state! We have all 50 states. 

Taught by Sarah Tector, expert metalsmith, this is a fun, 2-3 hour party for a group.

To schedule, call the shop at 919-834-8634

If you are at a distance, and just interested in the states, see them here. 

Gabe Bratton's In Our State Magazine!

Raleigh native Gabe Bratton is featured in Our State magazine. She creates beautiful cast-lace jewelry that is hard to describe, but absolutely beautiful!

Read the full article here. 

New Items in our store...

These softly-toned wooden beads from Germany are lovely and very well made. 

This mix of vintage face beads and cabs is incredible. 

These Inspiration Tubes contain a color-matched mix of vintage and new beads in stone, glass, wood, shell and metal. They are ready to be strung or worked with wire. 

Ornamentea loves...the Carter Building

Long ago, when Ornamentea first began, we had a jewelry design-and-manufacturing business in the Carter Building. It's down Glenwood Avenue, almost at Hillsboro Street. This weird, cut-up-and-out-back-together building was exactly the right place for us to start our bead store. We had a wonderful, generous and forgiving landlord, Barry Carter, and a whole building full of the kind of people you usually only meet in sit-coms. Barry never batted an eye when we asked to knock down a wall. Or add a door. Or paint solid pine paneling a pale, pearly pink. He even let us put a whole bunch of fol-de-rol wire and lights on the 'good' window on the front of his building. Our store had one door that opened on the street, another that opened onto a shared hallway. That hall door was usually closed, but I always loved the random, tossed together look of the whole space. I still miss that pine panelling.

In the basement, under our store, the band Corrosion of Conformity had their practice space. Wow, that floor really vibrated when they were playing. Across the hall, through that door, we had a neighbor who restored 18th century portraits for ancient ladies. One I remember would swan in, trailed by a butler carrying her esteemed family member's crumbling portrait wrapped in an old Christmas table cloth. She might incline her coiffed head in my direction, but she'd always wait for the overburdened butler to open the door for her.

That in my picture window might be dressed for the holidays..or it might just be dressed for Tuesday. I can't remember. There is a picture in the window that was taken by Shonna Greenwell (she owns Rebus works, now) and I think the doll was concocted by artist Ashley Carter, but that window was a long time, and a lot of glitter ago...and honestly, we often pulled out all the stops in decorating. Even for a Tuesday.

The Carter Building is still a warren of artist studios and offices. There are amazing painters in the basement, writers on the third floor and a few jewelry designers I love tucked in, here and there. The mix of personalities and styles and work is a unique and potent blend. I'm pretty sure it was the perfect place for Ornamentea to start out, fifteen years ago.

read more about The Carter Building

Elaine Ray bead sorting - Elaine is having a SALE!

Are you ready for Elaine's next trunk show? It's Friday, October 4th from 6-9 pm.

Skip the mall this holiday season and make your own holiday fun. We'll have a party to kick off the craftiest time of the year and you are invited. Elaine Ray will be here with a collection of her beads, including some special, one-time-only grab bags with fab prices. There will be wine tastings, delish food from D'Burritos and a free First Friday project you'll love. 

join us for:

-Elaine Ray trunks show with special sale prices on selected beads

-New product debuts, including a findings line you'll love!

-Wine tastings from Sip ... a wine store

-Food from D'Burritos

-Three fabulous drawings:

for a professional craft studio organization (courtesy of Raleigh's Green Gables Organization, a $225 value) 

for a $25 Ornamentea class gift certificate

for a Handmade Holiday starter pack, with kits and more!

-all finished jewelry samples will be 1/2 off their marked prices (so you can give handmade, without making it with your own hands!)

-we'll have a free project in our classroom (the super-sweet Acorn Earrings!)

-we'll have make-n-takes you'll love!

Oh, those beads in the pic? They are some of Elaine's sorting work for the Grab-Bags. She's planning a way for you to purchase these EVEN if you aren't local. Keep up to date with the specifics by subscribing to our Newsletter or following the store facebook page...the links are right there in the side bar >>>>>

Animals Can exhibit benefiting Second Chance Pet Adoptions

The Animals Can exhibit opens tonight at Second Chance Pet Adoptions. You can see what an amazing group of area artists have made from...pet food cans. Really, these beautiful frames above are all created using cat food cans. The art work in this show will make you think twice about your recycling bin!

Want to make your own can art? Join us Sunday at Pop-Up Sunday and make a can-art treasure box! Pop-Up Sunday is from 12-5 in the Ornamentea parking lot and this month all the proceeds from beer donations go to Second Chance. We'll have beer from Carolina Brewing and a great group of vintage and handmade vendors.

See the full N&O article about Animals Can right here. It's going to be fun!

Animals Can Party and Exhibit

UPDATE- this event has been cancelled. The volunteers who were bringing pet food cans are not able to make it. I'm sorry for the VERY late notice, we were just informed!

Please call the store if you have questions.

The kind folks at Second Chance Animal Adoption are holding an exhibit and sale of pet-food can art in September. This event will raise funds to provide food and adoption services to hundreds of homeless pets.

We're hosting a 'prep-party' where you can view can art and learn tricks for turning your own cans into art on Saturday, August 17th, from 2-6 pm. The party is free, and we will have tools available to use. You'll leave with some new techniques and may be inspired to enter the show yourself! 

The idea for this exhibit and the events came from artist and animal lover, Martha Walton. With multiple pets eating canned food, she had a full recycling bin every week.  Dutiful recycling of cat-food can after cat-food can didn't seem like enough. She thought about 'upcycling' them.

With a few snips and bends, Martha figured out how to turn empty cans into intricate frames, sculptures and decorations. She's even making me a fancy floral corsage! 

"Every time I opened a cat food can I noticed that without the top, it looked like a frame - a picture frame” she said, “and with millions of pet food cans being tossed out, I knew if some form of art could come of them─ that would be a really good thing.” Martha created the “Animals Can” organization and solicited other artists to help. Together they have created whimsical mirrors, frames, ornaments, decorative wall art and more – all out of used pet-food cans.

These whimsical works of “can-art” will be on view Sept. 13 and 14 at an art show and sale benefitting Second Chance Pet Adoptions from 5-9 each night at Second Chance’s headquarters at 6003 Chapel Hill Road in Raleigh. On Sept. 15th you can join us at Pop-Up Sunday and make a pet-food can treasure box and donate to support Second Chance. 

Please join us at the prep party on August 17th!

I can't wait to see what beadfreaks do with Martha's techniques for transforming cans into art. 

Learn more about Animals Can  

Follow us on Instagram all week for photos of can art! The link it right there in the sidebar!

Magical fish...

Saturday night I stayed late at the shop and, with the help of my business partner/husband I made a stick chandelier. It's just a blue-painted crepe myrtle branch with five winsome felted fish hanging from it. There's also a printed paper lantern that completes the scene, with grass and flowers and trees and soaring birds.

It makes me smile.

The fish were felted by McLeod Skinner, an artist who I am proud to say teaches felting classes here at the shop from time-to-time. She also sells her work on her etsy site, MilePost13.

Check out McLeod's upcoming needle felting classes. She's a great teacher.

Here's a quick Vine video I tweeted of the chandelier that night...


One of the best things about working with my husband as my business partner is that he understands why I might want date night to consist of making a stick chandelier. He's cool with it.

Our date night went like this: We ate dinner with my mom and the girls, then we changed our clothes and walked out of the house. We passed lots of swanky couples heading out to fancy dinners here in Glenwood South. We just kept walking, into the store. We turned on the music and I opened him a beer and then he got out the REALLY tall ladder. We took down the old light extravaganza over the work table. After a lot of discussion, we worked together to create this one. He kept me from (possibly) starting a fire with some of the lighting combinations I wanted to use and I tried not to stress him out too much with my crazy ideas.

It was fun.

Sometimes people will say 'I don't know how you can work with your husband! We'd kill each other!' and I have to say, I don't know how I could NOT work with my husband. Ornamentea wouldn't be the place it is, heck, it wouldn't even exist without him. He moves the big ladders, keeps me organized and keeps the whole place a bit safer. I paint the sticks and remember that we have beer in the fridge.

That's love.

Fourth Of July Food Truck Rodeo

We are closed each year on the 4th. It's usually blazing hot here in Raleigh and everyone is focused on food and fireworks, not crafty goodies. Plus, I like to spend that day with friends and family, celebrating our political system by arguing about discussing politics and eating frozen treats. It's very American. 

The Raleigh fireworks have, for years, been out at the fairgrounds. This last year they were moved downtown. This excited some folks (me) and distressed others. After the works were set off a bit too low for anyone to see, there was a bit of a brew-ha-ha over the whole thing and many, many folks groused and complained. This year, the City of Raleigh promises us that the works will be MUCH higher. They have said that the second show of sparkly pretties will be visible from Glenwood Avenue, among other locations. 

We've donated 300 sparkly pinwheels to the Raleigh Convention Center to give out, for free, at their tables along Fayetteville Street. Get one if you can, they are a nice, quiet, way to celebrate the day. 

Our store will be closed on Thursday and we are turning the parking lot over to some of our favorite food trucks. They'll have a mini Food Truck Rodeo right here at Ornamentea. You can come here from 7-11 pm and listen to music from DJ Rob and have a great dinner. They tell me that there will be a children's coloring tent and even tables and chairs for the adults!

Trucks joining the fun include:
Sweet Stacey Cakes
Chick-n-Que
Captain Ponchos Tacos
Sarges Chef on Wheels
Virgil's Jamaican 
Sunset Slush of North Raleigh

Of course, you can just watch the fireworks from here if you want. You can also stop here for a bite and then head downtown on foot or on the R-Line.

I'll see you there! Happy Fourth!

*That image above is from this N&O story. It shows LAST YEARS fireworks, too low to see unless you were super, duper close. 

Creative Summer Camp for Adults!

Join us for a four-day Summer Camp like no other! You'll enjoy inspirational projects, fun new techniques and make friends. It's like the camps for kids, without silly songs and bug bites!

Click here to learn more about Summer Camp at Ornamentea. 

Ornamentea on The Scene with Sharon Delany

Check out this clip from NBC17's The Scene...it features me doing a party with Sharon Delany and some friends...it was a fun time!

Small Business Saturday - Shop Local Raleigh!

We're participating in Small Business Saturday this weekend and the News & Observer interviewed me regarding the importance of supporting local businesses. Read their article with the surprising statistics; shopping with your locally-owned store puts MUCH more money back into your local community.

We're participating in the American Express Small Business Saturday on November 24th and hope you'll shop local, small businesses on that day. If you register with American Express in advance, you can receive a $25 credit for shopping at a participating merchant. Ornamentea is one such merchant.

See you Saturday!

Shop Local, Shop Small

Where will you spend your dollars this holiday season? Think about patronizing a small business as a way to give TWO gifts. One is the gift you purchase. The money goes to the crafter or small business owner, who in turn spends it with another small business (accountant, landlord, their employees) in ways that directly improve and affect your town, your state, your country. They pay local/state and U.S. taxes. They are much more likely to provide better wages and benefits. They are your neighbors. Read a few more reasons here.

Local craft and art shows are also a good way to support your neighbors. Here in Raleigh we have the Handmade Market (see that link in the sidebar) coming up this weekend. The show is put on by the Handmaidens, a Raleigh-based craft collective that has been working together for years. Those ladies put Raleigh on the indie craft map and have created a show that is so well-run and profitable for the vendors that the list of applicants is bigger each year.

The show is also fun to shop.

The Handmaidens work really hard to jury the applications so that the show feels like a very hip boutique. There are no crocheted toilet paper holders or guys selling fake handmade imports, just items you really, really like.

I'll be telling you about other handmade options throughout the next two months. If you have a show you'd like to see me mention, or more reasons to buy local and buy small, please leave them in the comments here on the blog. 

Metal Night - Thursday, December 15th

Come help us fill the food pantry at Urban Ministries with-
TWO metal-banging projects!
Free PBR beer!
Special Metal-night music by DJ Mark
Klausie's pizza truck will be in the parking lot-
See you there!

Don't forget to bring your canned food donations. Be generous.

$20 on the 20th!

Did you know that the dollars you spend with a local merchant are magnified in your community?
Of course you did! Purchases made with a local business create more jobs for the community, add to the local tax base and keep Raleigh unique.

One way to make sure you don't forget to patronize your favorite local merchants is to add '$20 on the 20th' to your calendar. This will remind you to make some of your purchases at locally owned businesses every month.

This month I am thinking about the holidays and entertaining. I am going to head to the Corner Store at Marbles Kid's Museum for these fun chopsticks. I don't know what we are serving for meals but I think adding these to the table setting will be sure to keep diners of all ages laughing and engaged. The Corner Store is a great place to get kiddo-oriented birthday gifts all year round, by the way!

For more information about the $20 on the 20th program and the Shop Local Raleigh campaign visit this site. You'd be amazed the impact your purchases make on your local community!

Raleigh's Holiday Shopping Passport

 

Don't forget to ask us for a Shop Downtown Raleigh passport the next time you are in the store. This fun contest is back again this year with GREAT prize packages, including a swanky gift basket from us! There will be 5 winners in all with the prize packages all worth at least $250! I can't enter, but you should!

It's easy, just stop in to Ornamentea (or any of the participating stores) and you can pick up a card and a map. The card has 5 $20 spots on it and you get a sticker for each $20 you spend at a participating retailer. You can fill your card up right here at Ornamentea if you want! 

The contest continues through December 24th and the winners will be notified on January 3rd and notified by email. Click here for more details.

Raleigh Treasure Hunt

The annual Raleigh Treasure Hunt, created by artist Lillian Jones, has begun again...
head here to get the details...

Alison Stanfield to speak at Visual Arts Exchange

Did you know that there is a career-coach for artists? Alison Stanfield has made a difference in the lives of so many artists and creative people around the world and she'll be speaking in Raleigh on Saturday, May 21st at 5:00 pm at the Visual Arts Exchange. This talk is sponsored by the Carolina Mixed Media guild and the focus will be on self-promotion for artists. Alison recently released the book I'd Rather Be In The Studio! the Artist's No-Excuse Guide to Self-Promotion. I love that title. Wouldn't we all prefer to be in the studio?

This Saturday will be a busy day for a lot of us. I will be in my garden most of the day, showing visitors around for the Henside the Beltline Tour D'Coop garden tour, Artsplosure will be poured all over the downtown streets and sidewalks and there are even some great classes at the store. If you are coming to my coop, or to Artsplosure, or to take a class spend a little more time in downtown Raleigh and hear Alison read from her new book. Her advice may just make your work a little easier.

Carolina Mixed Media Guild
Visual Arts Exchange
Alison Stanfield's website

Worth Remembering

I saw this sign at Revival Antiques in Raleigh. One of my favorite places to get things for the store and my home...

Support the Raleigh Tornado Relief

Please visit the fine folks at Indie NC and purchase some of the amazing items that have been donated to help victims of our recent tornadoes here in Raleigh, NC. Artists and designers from all over have donated some lovely items that you or someone you know really needs. 

Check it out here. Please share this link or post with your friends and family...

(work pictured is all donated...go get some love!)