YazBerry Open Studio in St. John's, NL

You are now invited to visit my studio in St. John's, NL near the Village Mall.

• Shop my collection, in person, on your schedule. 
• Appointments available days, evenings and weekends. 
• Simply contact me to schedule a shopping visit.
• I would be happy to bring a curated collection to you in the St. John's metro area.
• Through a series of questions I can customize a micro collection to your taste and bring it to you to try on and view.
• Do you want to host a YazBerry party at your house with some friends? Contact me, gifts and % of sales credit to the host. 

Currently, I am working to build up my business since I have spent the last few years winding it down in anticipation of my relocation. Leads and contacts in the following areas are sought and highly welcome at this time:

• I am currently seeking vending opportunities at craft and art fairs in the greater St. John's area, now through the Holiday season. 
• I will consider fairs throughout the province on an individual basis.
• I am seeking retail sales opportunities within the province. 
• I also plan to establish retail partnerships throughout Canada in the next year.
• Please contact me with any leads or to discuss my stock lists which I intend to customize to your store's aesthetics.

My current product offering includes the following and will change and expand as I discover the interests and tastes of the local market (links take you to my portfolio on facebook):

• Handmade jewellery
• Handmade baby shoes
• Handmade patchwork infinity scarves
• Vintage jewellery
• Vintage scarves
• Vintage neckties
• Vintage assorted accessories and decorative items

I can be reached by e-mail here. I would be happy to provide my phone number to interested parties or arrange a meeting in person. 

YazBerry Jewelry Now Sold at Susie's Seaside Crafts & Oddities, Birchy Cove, NL

A lovely selection of YazBerry's sea glass and beaded jewelry is now available at Susie's Seaside Crafts & Oddities, Birchy Cove, NL (10 mins outside of Bonavista, NL). Watch for signs to Susie's Cafe, the craft store is adjacent to the cafe (eat there while you are out that way...good feed!). If you are looking for a variety of crafts made in Newfoundland, Susie's has everything from paintings to hand hooked rugs by the owner and other talented hookers, whimsical mummer dolls and a variety of knit hats & mittens as well as many other great items. Owner Shirley also stocks handmade frames for rug hooking and handmade hooks. In the fall she teaches rug hooking classes.

YazBerry Jewelry Now Available at Cabot Crafts, Cape Bonavista, NL

YazBerry is available again in a brick & mortar space - Cabot Crafts at the Cape Bonavista Lighthouse in Bonavista, NL. (click link for exact location: http://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/planyourtrip/Detail/210514) Open 7 days a week, this shop carries handmade souvenirs & gifts from area artisans. Don't miss the amazing hand knit sweaters, hand knit socks and hand carved bone jewelry! Here is a taste of the YazBerry inventory available in store.

I also plan to make some more crafty souvenir items. I have collected slate from a nearby village and intend to paint on it and make it into magnets, ornaments & jewelry. Stay tuned in the next month as this month I'll be making inventory for the Puffin Festival, July 18-21 in Elliston, NL.

YazBerry Finds Home in Northfield

My handmade creations are now available all the time in Buttons, Bows & Babydoll Clothes at 500 Division St. S., Northfield, MN 55057. Thank you Eileen Seeley for extending me the offer of space. Here are some pictures of my display:

STORE HOURS:
Mon-Fri 9-5
Sat 10-3

Don't worry, for those of you not living in Minnesota, you can still get your hands on YazBerry goodies on my website, yazberryfashion.etsy.com.

TUTORIAL: Fabric Covered Bulletin Board

I've been offered retail space in Northfield, MN and was looking for very inexpensive display ideas to jazz up a 3"x3" black metal grid display panel and to economize on the space (2'x 5' total). The goal was to find a creative, effective, space efficient idea that wouldn't cost me much dough -re-mi.

I'd been dying to check out a newer thrift shop in Northfield (new to me) and was glad I did. I scored a 2' x 1.5' bulletin board for a buck! The cork wasn't pretty, but that is totally okay, I planned to cover it in fabric anyway. I like the idea of displaying jewelry within frames, but needed something large enough to house a lot of jewelry. This fit the bill. MATERIALS:
-bulletin board
-fabric (larger than bulletin board)
-iron
-scissors
-staples, tacks or straight pins.

1.) To get started you will need a bulletin board. Any size will do. Pick out a fabric you like to use to cover it. Something stiffer or heavier is better as it won't sag or show the pin marks as much as finer fabrics. I used some sort of heavy woven rayon, it reminds be of 'burlap-lite'.

Depending on what you want to use your bulletin board for will help you decide what fabric to use. If you're using it on a wall in a room, think of a fun print that compliments your space. Pictures and notes will jump off nicely. If you are using it for jewelry display like I am, consider a solid color, or a very small scale/monotone print or texture.

I go back and forth as to whether I find jewelry pops better on a light or dark background. It all depends on the jewelry and the lighting. I opted for navy blue this time around. I thought it would make the subtle natural frame pop more and give me that framed jewelry look I was hoping for.

2.) Make sure you have a piece of fabric a little larger than the bulletin board. Once you have picked out your fabric, iron it. Then place it over the board and cut around the edges. IMPORTANT: make sure you cut 1/2"-1" extra on each side as you will be tucking this under to give a finished edge to your look.

3.) Once you have your fabric cut, center it over the cork. I found it works best to start in the center of the longest edge. Fold the edge of the fabric under. Here you get to make another style decision: staples, tacks or pins. I find staples to be quick and to give you a long lasting hold. Tacks are also good. Pins may need to be readjusted periodically to keep the fabric taught. Once you have decided which sharp implement to use, tack down the edge of the fabric in one spot.

4.) Smooth out the fabric and pull it tight to the opposite side. Fold under the fabric edge and tack it down.

5.) Repeat this step working your way from the middle out. Once you reach the corners, you will have to fold down the edges of both sides at once.

6.) As with the long sides, start in the center, fold fabric under and tack. Pull taught to opposite side, fold fabric under and tack. Repeat until all edges are securely tacked down.

7.) Fin!

Here are some pictures of my finished fabric covered bulletin board.


And here it is in action!

It's Official: I'm Opening a YazBerry Fashion Storefront in Salem MA

In early April, I applied for one of 4 stalls on Artists' Row in Salem, MA and just last week heard the excellent news that I have been selected from a group of 14 applicants, to receive an artist space!!!

I will be sharing the space with a potter, Bradley Backer of Impart Art. We've been in there the last few days doing some renovation work. A few years ago the space was outfitted as a take out restaurant. Accordingly, Steve & I had to rip out the old take out counter and will patch the floor with cement.

Here are some progress pictures for your curiosity:
My space is a long rectangle roughly 16.5" by 9.5". This is the front portion as you enter the doors.
This is the back portion. Steve and I tore out this counter and the bright green will be painted a light gray.
I'm lucky Steve has a lot of construction knowledge. I had no idea you could chip out bricks with a chisel and hammer. Really tough work. Thank you Steve!!
The counter is gone and there is a hole we will patch with cement. Another great skill Steve has.
Me cleaning up on day 1. I think we made a lot of progress today!

Stay tuned for the next installments of our progress of remodeling and setting up a YazBerry Fashion store in Salem, MA.

Oh, also, this is fun and exciting: part of the agreement for being awarded a store space is that I will be offering free classes, workshops and performances on fashion design, sewing and more! I'll post the class offerings here.