Decor Sale at Panopolie this Saturday

Join me this Saturday morning for a sale of decorative items and store furnishings at our former North Raleigh store location. We've got lots of rugs, lamps, frames, display items, dishes, a couch and even the fab nail bin (pictured) for sale. Prices are really reasonable.

for more item photos please visit this facebook album
I'll be adding more photos to this album through Friday afternoon!

Saturday, August 21st
9:00-12:00
6320 Capital Blvd. at I-540
cash only, please

Join us as we say goodbye to Panopolie

On April 30th we'll close the doors on Panopolie, our second store in Raleigh. We'll move our stock, staff and inspiration downtown to Ornamentea in May. We opened Panopolie almost five years ago with joy, friends and fancy skirts. Having two stores and dividing our time and attention between them has been challenging, exciting, gratifying and, at times, overwhelming. The economy and our own limitations brought us to the decision to close Panopolie and to concentrate our talents and energies on our original location and our fast-growing online business. In the abstract it is a smart business decision. In the reality that is ruled by the human heart, it is a bittersweet decision. There is a bit of sadness at what we are loosing but it is tempered by the excitement at the change. Here in Craftyland we deal with any excitement by having a party. We are going out with heads high and smiles on our faces. New beads and findings are being put on the walls even as I type this, a new magazine was just put out and the Breakfast & Beads folks are chatting and sipping and laughing like always.

We want to invite you to a pre-packing & moving party on April 30th at Panopolie. We will have tasty sweets & coffee from our neighbor, Espiga Bakery, followed by a wonderful spread of deliciousness from various local eateries and staff for the remainder of the afternoon and evening. We'll have a lovely make-n-take project for you, selected sales and lots of fun and laughter. Denita Purser and Laurel Rupe, some of our favorite local mixed-media artists, will be teaching and various staff members will lend a hand from time to time. You can come make this dainty resin and charm necklace project between noon and 5:00pm. The instruction will be FREE with the purchase of a $5 kit. No need to register for a specific time, just drop by and make a Memento Panopolie Necklace.

While most of the stock is heading downtown, selected merchandise will be on sale up to 50% off on the last day. You can look for deals on glass beads, books, Swarovski beads and more.

We hope everyone that has found a bit of inspiration at Panopolie over the last 5 years will come by and visit with us on April 30th!

Staff Craft Night video and chattiness...

This is a video from our Staff Craft Night last night at Ornamentea. It was so much fun; we ate delish food (Sarah bakes AWESOME cakes!), had a bead swap and then made stuff. We all rolled out of there WAY too late and today I am on Caffeinated Beverage #3. Oh well, it was fun!

If you want to get some of Andrea's fab sawing technique for your own crafty self take her Simply Sawed Bracelet class on April 3rd at Panopolie.

A hard task...

Today I had to send out a hard newsletter to all my customers telling them we would be closing one of our stores. You can read it here. We opened Panopolie almost five years ago to great fanfare and high expectations and it has been so much fun. The current economy and an expiring lease brought us to the decision to close the store at the end of April. I have been overwhelmed with responses from our customers and fans. Everyone seems to understand that this was such a hard decision. The biggest concerns were about how we would accommodate some of the best parts of Panopolie in Ornamentea's smaller, funky space. Folks told me they would really miss the paper crafts, the clubs and events, the accessibility, the sweet birthday party and class locations. I want those customers to be happy when they come to Ornamentea and so I wrote this post for them. Here are some changes I want to make-hold me to them!

Some changes we will be making to Ornamentea:
Creating a Paper Room
We'll be opening up a small doorway to make a larger one and also opening up the kiln room to create a space for art papers, book making kits, Decopatch papers and all our fabulous glitters, binding threads, scrapbook papers and other paper arts goodies. These items have been so popular at Panopolie and we won't let them disappear. This room will also function as a special entrance to our remodeled back classroom.
Adding 'new' events
One of the best things we did at Panopolie was organize parties. We held book readings, slumber parties and club meetings of all kinds. We had a weekly breakfast crafting event where friendships were made. These fun events will move to Ornamentea and we really hope all the Panopolie customers make the trip to join us.
Opening up the sales floor
You'll see less furniture, more open floor space. We need to do this to accommodate our customers with mobility issues and to make room so we don't all bump elbows. We have already traded two large fixtures for three airy spinners and that was a big help. You will have to look a bit to find some of your favorites but the change will be worth it. Oh, and we have staff to actually help you do that looking!
Improving the back classroom
This room was never supposed to be a classroom. It has really ugly carpet and a weird half wall that makes it much smaller than necessary. You enter it through a store room where we keep the kiln. That kiln room will go away when we create the paper room. We painted the classroom and did a good bit of sprucing on the Inventory day recently, but now we'll remove the half wall and get new tables that will allow us to seat 16 for parties and 8 really spaciously for day-long classes. The front classroom will get some sprucing done as well...

Other things? Well, I am sure there are a few. We may try to have two smaller work tables in the store, or add a coffee-table at the couch for overflow crafting. I am not sure. If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them. Our budget is about $0 but we have so many talented hands that we actually can make something from nothing.

I'll miss Panopolie. The store is really beautiful. It is spacious and airy and that sky-blue open ceiling (which our landlord did NOT want us to do!) is so nice you almost forget you are in a strip mall. The sun shines in the windows late in the day, making all the beads sparkle. Those big work tables make me just swoon...over the next month I will cherish the days I am able to be there working but I know that the energy and excitement we will all bring back home to Ornamentea will make that store even better.

Slumber Party Video

Sorry for the bad camera-phone quality. Er, wait, actually I should say 'Don't you love the great hand-held feel of this professional video?'
That was a fun night!

We love patinas!

Don't you? I love the sheen that an old bit of metal gets after sixty or so years. Sometimes, however, I just can't wait sixty years for a nice glow to my metal. We sell findings and charms in four custom finishes that are durable and look great. We have also begun selling quite a bit of naked brass and other metals. The naked metals can be admired as they are or they are perfect for a bit of extra doodling. The heart charm on the right had a bit of acrylic paint applied and then wiped off so that the letters are much more visible. This is a really simply treatment that is very effective on any metal with a stamped-in phrase or design. Think about how a piece of filigree would look with a bright color accenting the curves. Mmm...nice.

If you'd like to see some step-by-step photos and directions for adding painted treatments to metal this old blog post will show you the details.

The love detector heart charms are available here.

We have a few classes on achieving proper patinas coming up at Panopolie, click for details. We also have a Slumber Party coming up on February at Panopolie where you can learn a few quicky patinas. Sign up for our store newsletter here so I can let you know when the registration opens for that event.

Lost and Found

Folks lose stuff in our stores all the time. Car keys, toys, water bottles, jackets and even prescription glasses. We have Lost & Found boxes and we put the items in the box, labeled with the date we found them on the work table, or in the bathroom, or in the parking lot. The items remain in the box for about a year and then we take them to the local thrift store or throw them out, depending on their re-use value. I think this is okay. I haven't ever researched the legality of donating junk people left at my place of business. I don't claim the donated Happy Meal toys on my taxes as a Charitable Contribution.

I find the car keys to be really odd. I always think, gee, you had your keys when you DROVE to the bead store, wouldn't you remember to look around the bead store at least once? We have a set of keys from a Nissan at Ornamentea we've had for two months. We found them in the bathroom. Personally, if I spend enough time someplace to use the bathroom I might remember that event when my car keys came up missing. At least, I hope I would.

So, what do you lose? An American Eagle jeans jacket, size small? We have it. Black-framed sunglasses, cute but they look like you got them on the rack at Wings? Right here. Library books from the local library? Well, actually we take those back to the library since the books weren't yours to begin with but I think you get my point. The next time you are in your local bead store or coffee shop or nail salon ask them if they have that jeans skirt from Forever 21 you can't find. You never know.

(and what do I lose? mostly I lose things in my house; my phone, the book I am reading, my slippers, my drink. Stop laughing. You do it too.)

Um, those keys at the top are not in any of our Lost & Found bins and I am pretty sure they won't unlock a vehicle of any kind. The do make nice adornments, though.

Thrifty&Swifty Gifties part 4

Oops, this post was supposed to go up on Wednesday. Sorry.

Okay, this is a photo frame idea that uses old paperback books...you could do this with a hardback book, too, if you wanted to. If you are an altered book fiend already you have probably done this cutting technique.

It would be fun to put photos of friends in books that pertain to their tastes and interests. You could also mount these, open, on a wall in a group.

Image and the full project idea are from the blog CraftyPod. Go read and subscribe to the blog.

If you wonder what the heck altered books are then go here. And go to Panopolie for Altered Book Club.

Buggy Staff Challenge

We do a monthly Staff Challenge here at the stores. We have secret ingredients or sometimes a theme and the staff members all compete to see who can come up with the best project. This month we had a box of some of our new brass bugs and each person got to pick a few to create something with. This month the prize was Fame as each winner will be featured in a how-to tutorial on our website and in the stores. This month it was really hard for me to decide. I drew on the expertise of our web site designers and we finally decided upon the ones that we would turn into tutorials. After we were finished, however, I kept thinking that maybe you would like to tell me which one should be a tutorial. Would you? Go right there to the side of this blog and vote.

Bee Garden Hair Clip


Beetle Drop Earrings


Bee Hoops Necklace


Triple Spider Drop Necklace


Sacred Scarab Necklace

Posey Garden Box

Golden Beetle Ring


Felted Beetle Necklace

Winged Scarab Pendant


Beaded Web Brooch

Picnic Necklace


Collaged Bee Brooch


Dragonfly Fringe Necklace

Try-It Tuesday

Try It Tuesday is a great weekly event at Panopolie where we feature a quick-and-fun project that folks can try for a tiny price. I have had many requests to put the instructions up here for those who live far away. If you are in the area, come on in to the store anytime on Tuesday to make the project. We also re-run the project on Friday mornings from 8:30-10:00. This week's project is Pumpkin earrings and the cost is $2. Details here. Store location and directions here.


To make these earrings you'll need:

2 copper one-inch headpins
2 orange round Czech glass 'druk' beads, 8 mm
2 green Toho seed beads, 11-0
2 copper ear loops

you'll need a pair of round nose pliers and a pair of chain nose pliers

Thread one druk and one seed bead onto a head pin as shown.

With your round nose pliers loop one end of the head pin and add in the ear wire. Finish the wrapped loop with a 1/4 inch 'tail'. Twist 'tail' to form a curved vine.

Repeat for other earring.

For details on how to form a wrapped loop visit our Tutorials Page here.

I love these rings!

This new ring class is exciting to me. I like big rings. They are dramatic and easy. I never feel overdressed with a big, weird ring on. The one on the left uses a piece of copper filigree and the one on the right has a textured surface. They are both adjustable with wide, comfortable bands. This class would be a great way to make some holiday gifts.

To read more about the class click here. Register at 919-872-4767.

Beyond Metal Drilling at Panopolie

Do you have a desire to put holes in glass, shell, horn, wood or other materials for jewelry or crafts but worry about drilling them just right? I do. I once exploded eleven un-drilled pearls in an attempt to drill ONE. I have drilled glass before but my success rate is somewhere under 50%.

This class by Tiffany is an opportunity to explore different materials and how to drill them. It would be great to finally have a way to use all those found bits-and-pieces I collect for jewelry (other than a great filigree wrap or a glue-on bail, that is!) I wonder if I can talk Tiffany into tackling the pearls for me?

Call 919-872-4767 to register today, space is limited. Class info is here.

Free felt pumpkin project tutorial

This sweet project was designed by Andrea Sousa and you can get free directions right here.

Andrea teaches felting classes in Raleigh at Panopolie. See her upcoming classes here.

Charm Exchange! I've got work to do!

There is a Charm Exchange Slumber Party coming up at Panopolie. I have been thinking of revisiting my ICE Resin and paper charms or maybe riveting some papers to metal. I still have about half of my initial 1,000 resined paper bits lurking on my table in the studio, so making some charms would give me a reason to put them to good use. Etched metal discs are also compelling to me right now...so that is also an option. Hmm, maybe a disc with resined paper attached with a tiny bolt?

The nice thing about making charms is you can work out several ideas and experiment as you produce the tiny trinkets. Sometimes I will make a series of ten or twelve and then not want to swap them because they all look so good together! I have made several charm bracelets from the many charms I have swapped and enjoy looking at all the tiny detail. One of the other great things about charm exchanges is that you have to just do the work. There is a deadline. Since I am such a procrastinator, I really enjoy that aspect of it.

We're going to have a few Celebrity Swappers at the Charm Exchange. Our first to turn in her charms is Elaine Ray. She made some really great ceramic charms. Maybe I'll get one!

Stone restock at both stores...

We've rearranged and added a lot of stones to the stores...I think maybe a bit too much as the wall is jam-packed at Ornamentea and Panopolie has had to rearrange AGAIN to accommodate the new goodies. Oh well, it sure looks beautiful!



Lauren is back at work after a semester in Prague and she is busy putting out all the new beads.



Hannah is trying to figure out how we'll fit 50 more styles of stone beads on the very packed wall. She's a designer, her work has been featured in the NCSU Art To Wear show, so I know she'll come up with some way to fit those stones in.



Pearls!



This is Megan, she is excited about getting a beadfreak tee shirt for just $1. We were also excited to meet Megan's mom. She was down from New York to visit her daughter in Durham and the only thing she asked to do this weekend was come to our bead stores. Luckily for her, Megan is a very good daughter!

Party at the old store, or maybe just a busy Saturday?

A photo of our tiny Glenwood Avenue store, circa 1998?. Lots of old friends in this one, and there, in the middle is Miss Heidi back when she was just a fabulous customer. Now she's a fabulous Panopolie staff member! Wow, Heidi, we DO go way back!

We still sell those Chinese Festival of the Moon lanterns. I love the way they shimmer in low light (like moonlight) and have several hanging at my home.


This is Kathryn walking away from my persistent photo-ing. Actually, I was taking a picture of the space behind our narrow counter...always way too messy for my taste but it worked. Those tiny pink chairs in the background sat at a tiny table and we had a big box of plastic animals and cars that we sold for a penny a gram. Children would pick out the perfect orange plastic snake and we'd weigh it and ring them up. Then mom would bring up her iolite briollettes and we'd weigh those, too! Jennifer B remembers bringing her kiddos in to play at the table and I am pretty sure they bought a snake or dinosaur from us!


The back wall of the store was painted a bright mustard yellow, a color I still love. That is Sierra at the counter.


Those bead shelves on the wall are still in use at our current store. Remember, I never throw anything out. Looking at these photos I recall we had no slatwall (which is retail geek-speak and maybe meaningless to you!) but that's the wall board with the grooves for pegs. How did we manage to cram so much stuff in that tiny store?

Oh, yeah, we hung strands over the counter.


Those pink chairs? My girlies are too big for them now, so the chairs have returned to Ornamentea. Look for a tiny table, soon, and maybe even a box of penny-a-gram animals.

I am going through actual boxes of real photos taken in the days before digital cameras. It is amazing how many bad shots you take when you don't have a delete button or a view screen to preview the images. If you or anyone you know is featured in this edition of Way Back Then, please contact me so I can annotate the names correctly!

Where can you find found objects?

Other than the junk drawer in my kitchen, there are some great places to find tiny bits and pieces to include in your jewelry. Jennifer of Jangles has a wonderful article on the Art Bead Scene blog about searching out the unusual with jewelry potential at her local thrift store. I love to 'borrow' items from my daughter's toy bin. Tiny shoes for earrings, anyone?

Read the article here at Art Bead Scene.

See how I made a ring from a plastic toy goat here.

Slumber Party at Panopolie

We're having another crafty slumber party at Panopolie. Come make this delicious cuff bracelet and enjoy an evening of crafty chatter and friends. Details here. Register at 919-872-4767.

Changes at Panopolie

We are adding a second classroom at Panopolie. We are doing this with a half-wall made of shelving and some curtains and a bit of this-and-that. It will look great when we are finished and it will allow us to have more private parties (a big deal, especially in the winter months) and classes at our largest store. It also means that we get to rearrange the entire store. I am saying 'we' but what I really mean is 'Tracey and her staff' as the store manager is the one doing all the work. I get to pop in and say helpful things like 'please move that entire display seven inches to the left' or something else just as annoying and nit-picky. I am pretty sure that Tracey does not like having her nits picked, but she is so good at her job that, honestly, I don't get to do much picking! My main contribution to this endeavor so far is saying yes and providing new furniture from my magic supply of flea market goodies. There will be some heavy lifting required, thankfully my business partner (a.k.a. my husband!) will be able to handle that with ease.

We are going to have a family day at the store this Friday and do the bulk of the heavy work. Yes, that means that I will be there with my husband and both children. It is a family business, and that means that sometimes the girls get to help dad and mom drill holes in the walls and hang up fancy chandeliers. They love it, don't worry that they are being worked too much. The girls do a small amount of work and then pretend either to be customers or store workers. The games are similar; if they are customers they go around with baskets and fill them up with beads and supplies. Then the girls like to give me the baskets and switch to pretending to be store staff. I pretend to be their supervisor and tell them that we have a new shipment that just came in and it needs to be put out. They walk around the store and 'restock' the items they put in the basket just a few minutes ago. Sometimes we have very serious-sounding conversations about reordering items or mailing items to customers. If you see me giving instructions to a six year old to pull an order for the website, you will know this game is going on. Do me a favor, ask the six year old to help you find the Toho beads, that will make her very happy.

You get to peck the winner!

The fabulous Fifi the hen was overwhelmed at the contest entries at the first (ever!) Chicken Jewelry Contest at Panopolie. She couldn't decide during the contest and had to retire to her coop with a nice glass of chardonnay* to peck a winner.

There are three categories that the entries could win.
Judges Favorite (Fifi already took care of that one!)
True to Theme (a secret panel of professional chicken jewelers decides this one)
Crowd Pleaser (you get to vote for this one right there in the left hand side of the blog!)

So, read up on the entries and vote. Voting closes on July 5th at 10:00 pm. I will announce the winners of all three categories in the store email on the 6th. Entries are listed by title and the artists first-name-only to protect reputations and make sure each artist can still hold down a design job in the future.

Chicken's Favorite features a tiny ear of corn made from Swarovski crystals. Eggstra points for bling! Glass corn beads and singing birds round out this sweet design.
artist: Tracy

Hen's Honey features an image of a fetching rooster with a bail created from chicken wire (eggstra points!) Note the use of organic materials (cherry pits and chicken feed) in this mixed media entry.
artist: Susan

Fit for a Queen is a tiara designed especially for a hen to wear to formal occasions. Eggstra points for the choice of sterling plated wire (more durable) and the ever-useful stand to hold the tiara when the hen is laying an egg.
Artist: Sher

Barnyard Friends features images of several of a hen's closest companions strung with yummy-looking beads. Eggstra points for the mirror (a hen loves to see herself!)
Artist: Nicola

Coop Bling is the most modern of the entries, with a sheer curtain of sparkling beads to accent a hen's best feature, her long neck. Eggstra points for the color, a sheer pink that brings out the color in Fifi's comb.
Artist: Kathy

Yellow and Orange features the favorite colors of chickens everywhere in a playful assortment. Eggstra points for the trendy 'Y' design and for knowing that chickens can see colors (they can!)
Artist: Erica

Pecker is a whimsical and (possibly) naughty design that features a barnyard take on a popular activity of 13-year-olds everywhere. Eggstra points for barnyard humor. Don't get the joke? Click here but be warned, it's a bit risque.
Artist: Erica

Rooster's Tail is a chic take on this season's hot fashion, the statement necklace. The draped beads evoke the tail of a handsome rooster and the rich colors say someone's been preening their feathers a lot! Eggstra points for lavish design.
Artist: Elizabeth
Chateau Polet is a bit of jolie-laide accessorizing that is both timeless and very of-the-moment. Note the mix of materials (shrink plastic, feathers, popcorn and a really nice sterling toggle!) and the use of actual food wins this entry eggstra points.
Artist: April

So, go vote for your favorite in the poll on the left side of this blog. What does the winner get? Well, that's the funny thing. I joked about the winner getting a hen for a week or two, but Fifi's booked up for months so I am still figuring out the prizes. Leave me a comment if you have any good ideas.

You can view contest photos here or scroll down...

*um, no, not a red, everyone knows that chickens are white wine drinkers! Fifi likes hers chilled, with an ice cube on a hot evening. She's a classy gal.