Amy Peters' Studio Buzz

For Me Monday: CEO Summit

One of the best things about my time at trade shows, especially New York is time with friends.  Each year I spend time with other amazing business women.  It is so inspiring to talk with them about their businesses, challenges as well as successes. We talk about business our ideas for the future and tell silly stories. 

So this week I was able to go to dinner with some amazing business owners and dear friends.  April from Catching Fireflies and AI paper, Michelle from Allen Designs and Leigh from Curly Girl. 

This time is so precious to me and gets me so fired up to push my business to the next level.  We are already talking about planning a CEO summit where we can get together and spend a few days talking business.  I can't wait!

I {heart} NY

Each year when I travel to NY.

I find more and more to love about this great city.

Here are a few of my newest favorites.

 
The lights and fun people watching in Times Square.

Silly tourist kitch in every store.

Indian food delivery in less than 30 minutes.

Have you ever traveled to New York City?

What are some of your favorite things about this city?

 

I {heart} words

From my jewelry I'm sure you could tell this without me really saying it.  But if you've ever met me in person you KNOW this.  I'm a talker, I love to talk, share ideas, get ideas, be inspired and just in general TALK. That's why this time of year is so much fun for me.  Trade show season. I spend weeks talking.

 

Not only do I love the spoken word, but I love the written word.  Especially inspiring, whimsical or snarky words on great products.  So I'm going to share with you some of my favorite people and their amazing products with WORDS inscribed on them.

The first time I met JoDee and Coleen from cutting up, JoDee squeeled and said "Oh my god, Amy Peters, I love you, I love your jewelry"  And of course after I saw their T's the feeling was mutual! If these T-shirts look familiar to anyone it's probably because on almost a daily basis Kyra can be seen wearing one.  I think she is their biggest fan.  Love Love Love them! Visit Cutting up now. 

 

Those of you that read my blog on a regular basis have seen way more than one mention of my dear friend Michelle from Allen Designs.  We have been trade show friends for more years than I care to count.  She is my sounding board, my advice column and biggest chearleader when I've needed it over the years.  I just LOVE her! Visit Close2Myart.com

 
April and Steve are two of the most genuine people you will ever meet.  Whenever I'm with them it make me want to do more, be better and in general just tap into their energy.  They now own 3 stores and a wholesale business. April is always laughing with this amazing infectious laugh.  Her beautiful giving sprit just shines from her art. If you are a store owner be sure to check out the amazing ideas for giving back to their community, while at the same time promoting their stores.

It's not often when I'm talking that I have to pause to wait to talk because someone else talks as much or a quickly as I do.  Martha is this person and she is just lovely! A mutual friend Rani from Random Acts of Art, told me we had to meet.  Well we did recently...and I love Martha, she lives where I do.  Not literally, but in her mind, she resides in the crazy, inspired neighborhood where I live.

She owns a fun company The 3 sisters design company. 

 

 

Leigh's work at Curly Girl Design just makes me chuckle.  I have this canvas of hers at my front door and it reminds me to slow down and smile as I leave the house each day. Leigh's funny and silly art is so much fun, be careful you could get lost in her card section for awhile!

 

I just met Houston at the ACRE Orlando show.  Isn't he talented!  This copper enameled picture is coming home with me, I have the perfect spot..yipee.  On the edge of the frame it's enameled with the quote "Our love can't be measured by the nmber of words we share-Milan Kundera"

 

Do you have a favorite artist that uses words?  Do you have a favorite quote? Do words move you?

 

 

Blizzard Bloghop

Thanks for hosting a linky party Household6Diva

Welcome everyone, come on in and get inspired. I couldn't squeeze Blissdom into my trade show schedule.  I just finished the ACRE Orlando Show, The ASI Orlando show and I set up for the New York International Gift show tomorrow.

I design, create and sell inspirational word, message and mommy jewelry.  If you are a shopper and love to frequent little boutiques, galleries or even get catalogs, you might have seen my designs over the years.  I currently sell to over 1500 shops in the USA and Canada. 

I just celebrated my 15th year in business, but I've been making jewelry since the age of 8.  I'm as far from self taught as I could get.  I've taken more classes than I can count.  I am passionate about learning. I even took a large scale foundry and forging class to get more metals credits towards my degree in Metal Arts and Jewelry design.  I was the only girl (and in a mini skirt no less) on the first day of class.  I quickly earned the respect of the old school male teacher when I was teaching "the boys" how to properly forge a chisel on day two of the class. Metal is in my blood. It facinates me and I'm still passionate about my designs 15 years later. 

As for my personal life, that's here too.  I'm married to Jim my husband of almost 15 years who owns Way Out Ware a music software company.  We have two beautiful children. Kyra our 12 year old is obsessed with Aerial Silks. Nikolas our 9 year old bundle of energy loves video games and playing all sports. We live on what we call our little farm of 3 acres, with 8 chickens, a duck, two frogs, two lizards, two fish, two cats and two part time dogs that live down the street but visit us for treats. 

Visit my studio to see more of my jewelry designs.

Follow me on Twitter

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Inspired: Michael J. Fox

After the ACRE Orlando show wrapped up I stayed in Orlando to visit with family. I also was able to go to the ASI show. Since we are considering doing the San Diego show and I wanted to see if it would be a good fit for us.

But what a treat...the keynote speaker was Michael J. Fox.  Those of you that have been reading my blog, know that my mother has Parkinson's Disease.  I bought Michael J. Fox's book Always looking up, the adventures of an incurable optomist,  on tape for my mom, when it came out. He has been such an inspiration to me and my family. 

While I wasn't able to score one of the tickets to meet him. They sold out long ago I'm sure.  I was able to listen and be inspired and overcome with gratitude, because he has chosen to use his celebrity for advancing Parkinson's Disease research.

My mother was recently chosen for a Parkinson's Disease study and I'm sure I have Michael to thank for the reasearch that has advanced the medications to this point. 

While I listened, I laughed, I cried and realized that I need to join Team Fox, and do my part to help him advance research.  So that is on my to do list when I get home. 

If you don't already own his book, Always Looking Up, the adventures of an incurable optomist. It truly is an amazing testiment to positive thoughts shaping your life. 

Have you ever seen Michael J. Fox speak?  Have you read his book?  Did you just love him in Back to the Future?

 

Featured Store: Bliss Knoxville

 

Today we'll be taking a short trip to Bliss in Knoxville for an interview and a peak into their fun shop! Ok, I wish I was really heading to visit them.  This will be a virtual trip!

Where is the Bliss store located? 

We are located in Market Square in downtown Knoxville.

24 Market Sqaure

Knoxville, TN 37902

865-329-8868

 

How long has your store been in business?

Bliss began in 2003 and then 2 Bliss Home stores were opened in 2005 and 2008.

 

What makes your store unique?

Bliss is a unique and interesting place to shop! We have such a wide variety of gift items, clothing, jewelry and accessories so that you are sure to find something new each time you visit!

 

What is something you would like customers to know about your store?

Shopping can be boring and frustrating sometimes if you don't know what you are looking for.  With our funky displays, unique gift items and our great mix of trendy and classic apparel-there is no way you can't have a good time at Bliss! We want Bliss to be a FUN place to shop!

 

How can we find you in cyber space?

We can be found online at:

Shopinbliss.com

Twitter.com/blissknoxville

Facebook.com/blissknoxville

How long have you been carrying Amy Peters  Studio jewelry?

About 5 years now!

 

How did you first discover Amy Peters' Studio jewelry?

We first saw Amy Peters jewelry at the New York gift show and knew that it was something that Bliss needed in our jewelry cases.

What other collections do you sell in your store? 

We carry clothing and accessories from Free People, IT! And Miss Me jeans, Desigual, Kersh, Jane Marvel, Maggie Bags, Tulle and many others! We have gift and home items from Kikkerland, Umbra, Fred and Friends, Boston Warehouse and lots more!

If you are lucky enough to live close to Bliss, stop by soon.  This Valentines day window is AMAZING!

We just shipped them a big order of our jewelry, so stop by soon for the best selection of our lovely jewelry!

How to Tuesday: Organizing Magnets

To organize my Command Central even further I decided to create fun magnets for all of our weekly scheduled activities.

This is a quick and fun project. I used a vintage scrapbook kinda feel with my magnets.  But any theme could be used.

What you need:

1) Digital scrapbooking images.  I use images from scrapgirls.com.

2) A knowledge of a photo processing program. I use photoshop. 

3) Adhesive magnet sheets or inkjet magnet sheets.

NOTE: You could just do old school scrapbooking papers and images to do this project instead of steps 1 and 2.

 

One way to create them is to choose papers and brushes to create a fun look.

 

Then I add in the copy. 

Scrap Girls also has loads of premade tags, ephemera and tons of other fun stuff. So you could just add copy to these. I ended up doing both styles, so I'd have more variety. 

After you print out all or your images, you are ready for your magnet sheets. I used several styles.  The cheaper ones (purple package) I found were really too thin and don't stick as nicely to my board.  

To conserve the magnet, I trimmed the papers and attached them one section at a time. 

I looked everywhere locally for these Avery magnetic inkjet sheets so I could skip the sticking to the sheet step. But no one had them!

Use scissors to cut the magnets apart.

I got this cool galvanized bucket at my favorite thrift shop for $1.91.

The best part about it is that I can organize the magnets on the inside and outside of the bucket!

Each week on Sunday while I organizing our upcoming week, I switch out any differences in our schedule.  Since we have the most of the same activities scheduled, this only takes a few minutes.  Anything that is out of the norm I write on a small tag and put it on with a "remember" magnet.  It is really making our weeks run smoother!

The Cost Breakdown:

Scrap girls images $12.49 (they were having a 17% off sale and I went a little crazy)

Magnet sheets $4.59 larger style, $5.78 business card style.

Galvanized bucket. $1.91

$24.81 total cost.

I have loads of left over magnets, so I could have just purchased one of the two styles. 

 

What keeps you organized?  How do you plan out your week?

 

I shared this blog with Thrifty Chick Decor

check out the fun stuff going on over there.

 

For Me Monday: My guilty pleasure.

Ok...I hate to admit it...but here goes. 

I love reading romance novels. There is just something about the escape of them.  Don't get me wrong it's not all I read.  I read the classics, books off the bestseller lists, marketing books and blogs galore. 

When I'm travelling for trade shows or during the winter months curled up by a warm fire, my reading of choice is sappy romance novels. So that's what I did for me time this week. I grabbed a book while running through the Phoenix airport to catch my flight to Orlando. 

Do you have a silly guilty pleasure? Are you a closet romance reader? How did you take some me time this week?

 

New Rings

Some of the new designs that we are showing at the trade shows this winter season are new rings. This picture shows our sample board where all of the stores can look at these fabulous new designs.

I'm introducing five new Statement Rings.  Each ring is inscibed with a statement.  I've used our lower case typewriter font on these new rings.  So cute!  The sayings are: Always Dreaming, Findind Joy, Forever Grateful, Learning to Fly and Seeking Peace.   They will be available at stores and online in March!

The two new message rings: in our small font.  You are loved beyond measure and Love you to the moon and back. Also available in March! 

 

 

A taste of home...

well, not really home, but while I was growing up Kissimmee was as close to a second home as I had.  My mom grew up here and we visited every year.  Spending time with my Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins too numerous to count. Days spent at Disney, Epcot and Wet and Wild my memories are precious and perfect.

After I set up the trade show booth last night for ACRE Orlando.

I went out to dinner with my Aunt and Uncle to my favorite BBQ place in the world, Fat Boys BBQ. It is not the fanciest place in the world, but there are so many memories for me there. 

 
Even after all these years (It's been 5 since I visited) I didn't need the menu. 

I picked the sliced pork platter.  Yum. At the first bite I was transported back to my childhood.

Do you have a favorite restaurant you don't often enough?  Are there foods from your childhood that bring back a flood of happy memories?