Looking forward

It's a sunny Sunday, and I am beat!  Vended all day yesterday at Assembled, and the evening prior, celebrated Afro-Brazilian music and dance with Uhuru Afrika, an amazing DJ/drummer collective that performed at Naga in Cambridge.  Lots of Carnival-style dancers in full regalia shaking everything, conga and dengue drums, strobe lights and Afro-Brazilian beats.  You know how I know I'm getting old?  Every muscle in my body was sore the next morning.  But that's a great sign that you've had a lot of fun, right?  Being sore the next morning!
I'm going to produce another Assembled market on September 7th.  I am really excited about it because many of the vendors whose products I absolutely love, like Kristilyn Stevenson of Zombie Romance, who couldn't join us for the May

Art by Kristilyn Stevenson of Zombie Romance

18th opening show of Assembled, will be there for September 7th!  YAY!  So, in a really selfish way the September 7th Assembled will somewhat be a live version of my Etsy favorites list or my Xmas shopping list, but, you're just going to have to trust my taste, folks!  These vendors really are exceptional, they're stars in their own right, and we really are lucky that they're going to be there!  Here's a preview of some of their fantastic wares!
  Maybe you have no idea what Assembled is or why you should care, so let me back up a little and explain; Assembled: A Handmade Arts Market at Assembly Row is a weekly outdoor arts market that takes place at the Assembly Row development at Assembly Square in Somerville.  Assembly Row is kind of the re-birth of an old, delapidated strip mall, which has been razed, and will be turned into a brand new, swanky destination, with a movie theater, a collection of restaurants (Legals' C-Bar, Papagayo, JP Licks, etc.) and outlet stores.  They're even building a T-stop (public transportation in the Greater Boston area) at Assembly Row, to increase access for the public.  It's major, because frankly, Assembly Square was a bit of a waste before.  There was, and will still be, an art supply store there that I shop at all of the time, but the area just wasn't well-kept, there was nothing of interest to do or see there, and it wasn't inviting. 

Fabric Bag by Moozydoo

I'd drive there to grab supplies, then high-tail it out of there as quick as I could.  Now there really will be a reason to visit Assembly Square and stay to hang out.  They've already put up a brand new Starbucks with a ton of outdoor seating, and Assembly Row actually has an oft-ignored waterfront which they're cleaning up beautifully.  At the first Assembled show on May 18th, a lot of people who live in the area came by to check things out and inquire, and the overwhelming commentary was that they were grateful for something cool to do in the area, and that the development was getting some much-needed attention.  The Assembled market is such a great way to draw folks to the area, AND support local artists, and allow us to connect with customers.  So I'm happy to be producing another Assembled show.  As the show approaches, I'll post more about the artists who'll be there and the things they make.  Assembled takes place at Assembly Row at Assembly Square, 145 Middlesex Avenue, Somerville, Mass, Saturdays, 11 AM to 4 PM.

And what's new is....

Everyone's out and about these days, enjoying the sunshine (which lasts about 5 minutes here in New England!), myself included; I spent last Saturday sweating it out at Assembled in Assembly Square, and so appreciate all the folks who came out to visit and shop!  I'll be back at Assembled this coming Saturday, July 27th from 11 AM to 4 PM, so if you're in the Greater Boston area, stop by!  There'll be food trucks (Bon Me and Frozen Hoagies, to name a couple!) and a live band and Hieropice in our new spiffed-up tent.  Think carnival-style bunting.

  If you haven't checked out Polyvore yet, you should.  It's a wonderful resource for fashion/style ideas; think a collection of crowd-sourced digital fashion collages.  But, with things you could actually buy.  Without mortgaging your house.  Polyvore users have been virtually-styling Hieropice jewelry in the coolest ways, and coming up with ways to wear our pieces that I'd never thought of!  You can now see some of the collections Polyvore users have put together in our Facebook album, "Hieropice Styled."  The image above is one of the many Polyvore collages featuring Hieropice.  Snap snap Polyvore.
  Citrine Yellow Maasai Beaded Earrings.  We want to make sure you can see our pieces in all their glory, even if it's only virtually!

We've also got some new photos up for Hieropice's Maasai beaded pieces, like our
  And, finally, Hieropice pieces will now be featured at Uni-T in the Natick Mall on an ongoing basis!  Two months were not enough, we just couldn't let go!  So now all of you brick-and-mortar shoppers in the Natick area can see Hieropice pieces in person, try them on....and then buy them.  Cause that last part is important.  :)  Happy days!
See you on Saturday!
Dara

Spring is Sprung, Assembled, and New Additions

Hi all!
  The sun is finally out, on a regular basis, here in New England.  The sun and I have a troubled relationship (I'm allergic) but I'm still glad to see it!  Things are blooming, and my allergies are punishing me, but I'll take it!  It's Summer show season, and I can get back to taking photos for Hieropice outside, in gorgeous natural light.  Doing that in January was brutal.  We're just coming out of a tricky, scary period here in Boston, and I'm happy to feel good about going outside again.  After the Boston Marathon bombings and the manhunt for the bombers that followed, we were on lock-down here in my neighborhood as they turned up about 10 minutes away, in Watertown.  We were prohibited from leaving our homes, and it turns out the local man who they car-jacked in their escape attempt was car-jacked two blocks from my house.  I have several friends who live in the neighborhood that was a constant fixture on the news for days, as the police exchanged gunfire with the bombers and searched for the surviving bomber in resident's homes.  Everyone I care for is safe, thankfully, and I'm relieved the worst is over.
On a positive note, on May 18th, I'm taking on my first craft show as Producer, and I'm quite nervous, and excited about it!  I've been reaching out to all the artists' whose beautiful work I've seen at shows, purchased on Etsy, found in consignment shops like Boutique Fabulous and Magpie, or elsewhere online, and asking them to apply for the May 18th show, particularly those with Etsy shops. Somerville Beat interviewed me about the show, and did a great piece on it here , wherein they featured my Orange Flower Terrarium Necklace and we chatted about the vision behind the Assembled show on the 18th.  And, I'm even more excited about some new, one-of-a-kind pieces that I'm about to launch.  I'm finishing them up now, and can't wait to show them off, I'm really proud of how they've turned out and they're really different/unique, which is my constant goal.
  I've never seen anything like them in my 31 years of life, so I hope you'll all respond as positively to them as I hope you will!  Anyway, get outside and enjoy the proliferation of Spring, if you can!  I know I will.
I've had this vision of making an all-Etsy craft show happen for a while now, and it's finally going to happen!  The

Cheers!
Dara

JP Rocks and Rolls

I'm a little late in posting this, but tomorrow, Hieropice will be a vendor at JP Rocks and Rolls in Jamaica Plain, MA.  JP is a unique place, very quirky, with a lot of creative people in it, so I really enjoy hanging there.  The show tomorrow also has an old record sale portion, so if you actually own a functioning record-player, it might be worth checking out.  It's 12-3 PM, at 45 Danforth Street, JP. 
Anyhoo, hope everyone is enjoying a lovely Saturday, the sun's actually out here!

Arts on the Arcade, Tomorrow!

Arts on the Arcade is tomorrow, 11 AM to 3 PM, at City Hall Plaza, Boston.  Hope to see you all there!

Arts on the Arcade!

Hieropice is back in Boston!  And I'm excited for the art/craft/farmer's market/concert series sponsored by the City of Boston, Arts on the Arcade, beginning tomorrow!  Hieropice will be one of the juried art vendors, and I've got some pretty cool new items to debut. 
Arts on the Arcade will be every Wednesday, through August 29th (so Aug. 15th, 22nd, and 29th) from 11 AM to 3 PM, in City Hall Plaza/Government Center.  We'll be under the tent, and hope to see you there!
For more info on the event, check out the City's site here: http://www.cityofboston.gov/arts/visual/artmart.asp
Or, check out the Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/417390741650449/