Author: ShebaMakeda

Goth wedding gift: First peek

ShebaMakeda 4 Comments

IMG_2061In yesterday’s post i showed you this beautiful packaging for a custom order i completed a few weeks ago.  The order was requested as a gift for a Goth wedding – the client wanted something one of a kind, unusual and specifically designed to suit the personalities and lifestyle of the engaged couple.  So what do you get for the couple who has everything?  Why custom, handmade beads of course!!!

I love the design of this box – most especially because it doesn’t have to be destroyed in order to open the gift.  It’s a lovely keepsake that can also be used to store their beads (or anything else they’d like)…  IMG_2081The wedding was yesterday so i guess we can open the gift now, right?  I mean a little peek wouldn’t hurt, would it? 

Here’s the gift card, custom of course… created and signed by me, then aged to suit the theme – I hope they like it!IMG_2080Oh wait… reception… wedding night… late morning…  hmmm, might not be quite time to fully open this gift yet.   We can’t open it before the newlyweds.

Tomorrow might be better, no…?IMG_2062

Special packaging for a custom order…

ShebaMakeda 1 Comment

IMG_2057I recently completed a custom order for a wedding and not just any wedding  but a Goth wedding!  If you’ve never seen a Goth wedding it’s definitely worth googling.  The pictures range from downright funny to extremely glamorous – and in all the pics (much like any other wedding) the couples and guests look like they’re having a ton of fun… just in highly non-traditional ensembles.IMG_2058I tried to incorporate the dark yet glamourous aspect of the goth culture into the beads but once they were completed realized i couldn’t just deliver them in my normal (fairly simple) packaging – especially since this was meant as a wedding gift!  

So i called my neighbour Sean (master merchandiser and designer of my past show displays) for help once again.  I told him i needed something elegant, black, gothic and completely over the top.  I’d found one picture of a Goth bride who arrived at her ceremony in a coffin – a look  i thought was hilarious and particularly appropriate for the theme.  I explained the vague idea of what i wanted, Sean nodded, disappeared… and the next day he showed up at my door with  THIS:IMG_2059

My jaw literally dropped, i swallowed whatever i’d been in the process of saying, was left mouth hanging open and all i could strangle out was a less than eloquent “HOLY SH*T!!!”  Have you ever seen anything so beautifully designed and so very suitable to the theme???  I immediately dropped whatever i was doing and gave him a big hug and a huge thank you!  Doesn’t he just completely ROCK???  His custom designed packaging was so far beyond my expectations!!

Soooo… I guess you’d like to take a peek inside?IMG_2060Not yet.   Like the bride and groom, you’ll have to wait until after the wedding (it’s today)…

Goodbye Michael…

ShebaMakeda 4 Comments

rbst_rip_mjIt’s Michael Jackson’s funeral today and while normally i don’t pay a whole lot of attention to celebrities, this particular celebrity death is hitting me hard – a harsh combination of sorrow shadowed by guilt.  jackson-5Since the news, I’ve found myself teary-eyed and nostalgic – there isn’t a period in my life from childhood to my 20s to which an MJ song, dance move or TV appearance can’t be associated.

And i’m not the only one: in the first days, everywhere i went strangers would randomly stop to talk about how sad we all were about Michael Jackson’s sudden death.  michael-jackson_47712903Family members and friends from around the world contacted me to share the news or reminisce about which moments of their lives will be forever associated with which Michael Jackson song…

If you only know the MJ of the last 20 or so years – that ghostly, surgically sculpted figure with bizarre habits and a constant subject of questionable accusations and behaviours – then you might be confused at the worldwide outpouring of grief.  michael_jackson-2If most of these people are like me though they’re likely grieving for the other “before” Michael – the young pop star genius Michael who won every award available and completely transformed videos and the pop music scene.  The one who’s every song we can identify with some significant moment in our lives since childhood – the one who we’ve always wished could have found the inner peace necessary to live a more normal and happy life –  THIS Michael:

I SO wish things could have turned out differently for him.  I wish he was still making music.  I wish he hadn’t ruined his career.  I wish he hadn’t ruined his face.  I wish he was still just being fantastically talented and  musically brilliant in the way only Michael Jackson (and no one else) could be.Michael_Jackson-Off_The_Wall-FrontalI wish i could still listen to his music without that momentary flash of doubt and distaste.  And I wish i could still feel the pure and innocent fan worship that kept this picture happily posted in my highschool locker:  Michael-Jackson-p06

xoxo  R.I.P. Michael  xoxo

michael-jackson-021507jpg

Great news: I’m Artist of the Month!

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ShebaMakeda - TheArtlist.com July 2009 Artist of the MonthWhen TheArtlist.com contacted me and asked me if i would be their July 2009 Artist of the Month i didn’t even hesitate.  (Duh?)  I’m the first glass artist they’ve ever featured and it’s also my first time being acknowledged like this. 

I’ve been doing the happy dance all week and grinning so hard my cheeks hurt… 

(Click either screenshot to read the full interview)TheArtlist.com July 2009 newsletter

Well, THAT was fun!!

ShebaMakeda 5 Comments

ShebaMakeda @ the New Art FestivalThe New Art Festival was an incredible amount of work but at the end of it (surprisingly) also a TON of fun.  It was my first outdoor fine art show and a great learning experience plus it’s been a long time since i laughed so much in one weekend while technically being at work.DSC_0042I had a large selection of goddess beads – which have seemingly become my signature bead –  they are definitely the beads i sell the most.  Three years ago (when i first picked up a torch) if anyone had told me that i would be making beads of little naked ladies and loving every moment of it i would have looked at them as if they were insane!DSC_0032Next in line would be the Pandora beads… I still can’t stand making lots  and lots of little beads like these but then when i have a group of (what i now refer to as) the Pandora Ladies excitedly searching through the beads for their favourite colour combination to add to their bacelets, it all seems completely worth it.  Plus,  i DO love exchanging them on my own bracelet every couple weeks.IMG_1939My booth location was right by the creek under huge, old trees which made for lovely surroundings.  My friend Dex drove us and took care of the loading and unloading, my sister was there to help me man the booth and the Teenager even cracked a smile or two despite being dragged out of bed before 7am both Saturday and Sunday to help out.IMG_1947My neighbour Sean helped me with the booth setup and design again – i thought he did a fantastic job!  He somehow manages to pull all kinds of random things from around my house, arrange them together and Voila!  IMG_1946As usual, i had a small corner where i keep a binder and a chest with components i use to make my beads.  There were still lots of blank expressions when i explained the process but at least things have progressed from the looks of complete disbelief i received a couple years ago when i would say that i make glass beads…DSC_0044I also finally had some business cards made and I’m quite happy with this new design.  Up to this point, i’d been using laser cards the Teenager designed for me for last November’s show – not the best level of professionalism…DSC_0035 

There was a great turnout for the duration of the show – even on Sunday when it was cold and raining.  Attendees were patient despite the crowds, seemed appreciative of the labour involved in the work on display and most importantly willing to pull out their wallets to show their support.

As it turns out my booth location was incorrect on the site map but most people were still able to find us.

I have to say, the other artists displayed truly fantastic, professional work.  I could have spent all my sales at the other booths at the show.   I did get myself a couple treats at the end of the show  that i’m completely thrilled with.

At the end of this though i realized i had completely underestimated just how much work participating in a professional fine art show would be.  Now that i look back on it – even though i made a profit,  i can acknowledge i was woefully underprepared.  I’ll be taking the lessons learned though and using them to prepare for my next show.  I’m still mulling things through in my head and will create another post shortly with details. 

More pics HERE.