Saloukee at Origin ’09

So Origin was a little bit ago now but what with the aftermath,  followed by Christmas … time now comes to put up some piccies of the event!

Moon Young Shin’s Cactus Jewellery

Highlights for me included:

• Sharing a stand with the both lovely and talented Moon Young Shin even if she did give me a stinking cold ; )
• Meeting countless inspiring designers who exhibited beautifully in the surroundings near my stand, Louise Chesshire, Clare Pardoe, Leila Arzaghi, Sangeun Kim, Jacqueline Cullen, Mary Jane Evans, Jo Gordon, Tanya Igic, Laura Thomas and Sarah Tyssen. What an honour and fulfilled  ambition it was to be a first time exhibitor at Origin, accompanied by both new and established creative minds!!
• Having students tell me that my work was their favourite at the entire show 🙂
• Being ask to write a book, become a visiting lecturer and undertake workshops giving arty folk an insight in my paper world!
• Having the biggest orders placed by gentlemen for their wives as Christmas presents- ahhh!!
• Having my work appreciated by not only English folk but from visitors from countries worldwide, it really made for interesting conversation!
• Having my work selected by top fashion stylist Sophie Kenningham as one of her favourite fashion items of the entire show!
• Having people comment on my display choice, nearly as much as my jewellery!!
• To finally have months of stress, hard work and sleepless nights culminate into something I could show friends, family and admirers alike, what the fuss was all about!

All in all, I can honestly say it was a hugely successful show for me as a first time exhibitor and a real accomplishment & milestone for Saloukee! : ) x

I decided to begin tweeeeting today…

ok … ok so I caved today and joined Twitter … I’ve been intrigued for a while and heard people talking about it for ages … so with any of these things … I say … why not give it a try, I have to see what all the fuss is about after all!

So far, so good … although some how my whole morning has been eaten up by having a nose around this ‘free social messaging utility for staying connected in real-time’ … however already I’ve seen some great design so I shall remain optimistic and open minded and keep you posted on my progress!

I’ve also created my very own Facebook group too where I even have my very own fans…this does excite me, although I’m more than aware that all of them are very lovely and supportive friends and family : ) but hey, the more the merrier hey … everyone loves a bit of paper art don’t they ; )

Lastly on my monthly round up (tis about time isn’t it!!) I shall be exhibiting at the British Craft Trade Fair in Harrogate from the 5th-7th April along with my gorgeous fellow designers from my Design Space workshop!

It shall be a great opportunity and for anyone interested in having a nose, do get in touch! To check out just some of the lovelies exhibiting with the spiffing Saloukee splendour, see these links for some of my favourites 😉

Tusheeta David: A very clever lady creating stunning contemporary pieces in acrylic

Clare Pardoe: A beautiful lady both inside and out creating sensual silverwear and jewellery…devine!

Louise Chesshire: A very kind, workshop buddy of mine who works with precious metals to create exceptional handmade silverware and jewellery!

Jennifer Ann Peel: A top lady who has a love for vintage fabrics and colourful creations…a must for tailor made pieces!

Ellie Murphy: A smiley lady who uses amazing colour and fantastic shapes to create dazzling pieces of jewellery..check out her thing!

Miranda Hughes: A lovely lady and uni friend creating gorgeous vintage beauties!

Ok that’s the lot for now … will keep updated with more exciting happenings soon … there’s sure to be some just around the credit crunch corner … right??!!!

All yours from the paper jewellery corner of the world,

Saloukee x

My First exhibition…Flux, DONE!

Ok so it’s was a bit strange at first … a group of gals dropped into a room with 30 shiny display cases, exhibiting their hours and hours of hard work, all hanging around nervously, not entirely knowing what to expect or really even do with themselves …

And as the VIP’s arrived, more chatting commenced and although you want to shout and sing to everyone about what you do and how you do it and that ‘yes of course you can buy it!!’ You realise that everyone at an exhibition has their own thoughts. Though you want to be helpful, you don’t want to seem intrusive. I assume this game playing, feet shuffling, word choosing thing is a something you do/have to get used to after a while in ‘the industry’.

After shimmy-ing towards other display cases as opposed to mine, and drinking orange juice just so that my hands were busy … I did get the chance to chat to a few people … nice ones and all : )

The first lady that went all ‘Dragon’s Den’ on me asking, made me completely lose all my guff, prowess and confidence. She wasn’t being mean … it’s just that initial …’oh my god, someone is talking prices to me’ thing!! I’m completely froze! She wanted to how exactly I price my product, how do I work out what ‘paper‘ is worth and what would be the price connotation if buying several in for a retail outlet/gallery??!! EEk, ahhh, ummm!!

So after her pointing at specific pieces and me fluffing every single word that came out of my mouth, I resigned myself to the fact that I was better to claim defeat, offer to send her prices at a later point and attempt to turn the conversation around by asking her what she did instead … not ideal. However after speaking a little further, I took her card and she promised to pass on my details to a colleague who dealt in exhibitions specifically with paper. Less than ideal but lesson learnt!!

Binate bracelet

Oblique bracelet

Adjoin bracelet

I was left at the end of an evening speaking to a ‘Business Angel’ who after some chat claimed I was ‘pretty gutsy’ and would be very interested to ‘follow my progress’. So after feeling a little deflated, feeling the need to justify the use of paper in my work (I assume this will be a never ending battle). I realise that you have to remain positive, even when on the inside you may be screaming for help!

So, we hope to see ‘Mr Business Angel Man’ once more as we invited him to our private view, at this point cue ‘my mate Clare’ looking glam and getting straight to the point by asking this fella for his business card : ) I guess I could or SHOULD have done it 10 minutes earlier but hey, as a team, we got there in the end!!

So next time, at least I’ll be a little more prepared!!