Two New Books!

We are excited about two new books that we’ve just added. It was a big thrill to look through both books and see our cord featured in many of the projects, and also to have our store mentioned in the acknowledgments.

 

Twenty to Make - Micro Macrame Jewellery Easy Projects by Suzen Millodot

Twenty to Make – Micro Macrame Jewellery, a great little micromacrame project book, was written by Suzen Millodot, author of the well-known Chinese Knots for Beaded Jewellery, Celtic Knots, and Ornamental Knots books. Twenty to Make is a good starter book if you have been wanting to try micro-macrame and want to start with some easy projects. Suzen, as in her other books, gives clear explanations and diagrams for the knots. The projects in this book are all user-friendly enough to be made in an afternoon or less. Richelle in our office took one of the books home in the evening and brought in a finished neckace the next morning. For each project, the knots used in the project are diagrammed on the same page so that you don’t have to keep flipping back and forth. The size of the book, 8.5-inches by 6-inches, makes it a perfect size to pop into a bag and take along. Most of the knots can be tied without a micromacrame board. Stick the book in your purse along with a little cord and you’ll always have something to work on when you find yourself stuck in a doctors office or anywhere else.

 

Korean knotting - Elegant Knotted Jewelry by Becky Meverden

Elegant Knotted Jewelry is by Becky Meverden, author of a number of craft books and frequent guest on the Carol Duvall show. Becky took advantage of the two years she lived in Korea to learn the art of Korean knotting (maedeup – pronounced my-doop). Her book is a beautiful mixture of clear instructions, good pictures for every step in her instructions, a number of projects, and interesting tidbits of the Korean culture thrown in. (I’ll have to tell you that I kept up with Becky’s blog as she chronicled her Korean adventures, and the pictures of the wonderful food that she posted kept me salivating!). While many of the Korean knots are similar to Chinese knots, she also introduces some new knots and puts a different spin on many of the already familiar knots. Most of her projects use Korean knotting cord, which comes in a large array of colors. The Korean cording is a little stiffer than the Chinese knotting cord, and knots created with this cord hold their shape well.

Why we will be closed March 26 and 27

No one sees what goes on behind the scenes at the Satin Cord Store, but at any given time, you will see our employees working as hard and fast as they can to get your orders out.  They are consciencious, dedicated, reliable and we are lucky to have such a great team. 

Since we feel that our employees are worth much more than they are paid, we want to reward them.  We are using the award points on the company credit card to take them on a short cruise.  Now with the AIG bonus issues, this is definitely not the time to use the B(onus) word, but this reward is for each and every one of our employees, not just company officers.  And it isn’t costing the company (or customers or taxpayers) anything.  We are lucky enough to live in a town with a cruise port, so all we have to do is drive over and hop on the boat.   And our employees have agreed to get off the ship Monday morning and come straight back into work to start getting your orders out. 

This is the first time the Satin Cord Store has closed since we opened in 2005.  We have been open (and have taken customer calls) 365 days a year – even Christmas day.  We thought about putting up a notice saying something like ‘closed for inventory’ but we’re just going to admit it – we are grateful for our family of employees and want to do something nice for them. 

Against the protests of everyone else, I will take my laptop on board and respond to e-mails received during the time we are gone.  We will listen to voice mails as soon as we return and will respond as soon as possible. 

We will get back into the shop as soon as we can on Monday (sometime mid-morning) and will fill orders in the order in which they are received.  We appreciate your patience, and will run a sale when we get back to express our appreciation for you, our valued customers.

Please Please Please Buy Handmade!

Almost everyone who buys from our site makes stuff, and many of you sell what you make.  Some of you even make your living selling what you make.  That said – with the holiday season coming up, please consider supporting your fellow artists and buy handmade gifts whenever possible!

One good source – Etsy (www.etsy.com) ! For those of you unfamiliar with Etsy, for the artist, it is a quick and easy way to get a store up and running. Kind of an eBay, but limited to handmade goods or supplies for making such. Some people just have a few items up for sale, others make their living selling there. For the buyer – no auctions or bidding to have to keep up with – just a wealth of hand-made items that can be immediately purchased. A lot of sellers will even send gifts directly to the recipient for you.Some things that you might consider:  Cards – there are loads of cards out there – either handmade, or printed from original artwork. Buy Christmas card sets, or buy a bunch of birthday cards to keep on hand for when you need them. I gave one to my step-daughter for her birthday and she said, ‘Somebody made this! This is really cool!’. Soaps, lotions and lip balms – you can’t go wrong with these on hand to give out as gifts. Of course – Jewelry! Loads and Loads of it! If you know anyone with a Pandora, Troll, Biagi or similar bracelet, you can find lots of beads to fit the bracelets. Purses, totes, diaper bags, wallets, credit card holders, jewelry rolls and pouches, travel bags, makeup bags, ipod cases – the list here goes on and on! Artwork – from small inexpensive prints to original paintings. Ceramics, pottery, sculpture, mixed media! Really cute children’s clothes, hats, socks, toys. Pet or pet-lover items and gifts! Just to put in a little plug here, April does a really cute Naughty Cat card series at her Daisy and Friends Shop . If you have a cat, you’ll definitely relate! Music – from engraved guitar picks to original CDs. Food – wonderful baked goods! If anyone has an Etsy shop that you’d like to plug, just reply to this post with your Etsy store name. If I get a chace, I’ll blog some of the shops.

The Good News – People Are Still buying Jewelry

Hi everyone,

Like many of you, we sell jewelry at a number of art shows during the year.  Last weekend, we packed up and headed to Atlanta for our first show of the fall.  Considering the economy, we weren’t expecting great things.  However, to  our surprise, we had a very good show. 

As small business owners, and like everyone else, we’ve been watching the economy news with quite a bit of trepidation.  If you listen to enough news on TV, it will pretty much convince you that everyone in the country has run out of money and the economy has gone way down the tubes.  But lo and behold, there are still people out there with good jobs, who still have discretionary income. 

Granted, we have a wide price range in our jewelry booth, and most of the sales were items that were towards the lower end of the price spectrum, but there were people who bought 8 or 10 of the lower priced items. 

Cathy, one of our employees, theorizes that when things get really bad and people feel powerless to solve the problems that we are facing, they are still willing to spend $18 on a small jewelry item to make themselves feel better.  That, plus the fact that a lot of people were Christmas shopping, probably contributed to the fact that our show was every bit as good as any other show we have done over the past few years. 

So take heart – we know that many of you buy our products to make jewerly to sell.  The buyers are still out there, and people will always want jewerly, no matter what else is going on in the world.

Thelma

Hi everyone,

It is with great sadness that we report the loss of a dear team member, Thelma.  Thelma lost her battle with lung cancer at the end of May.  None of you ever talked to her by phone, but if you ever bought 10-yard coils of cord, Japanese cord, Chinese knotting cord, hand-dyed cord or packets of findings,  Thelma bagged them for you.  When we fill orders, we’re still pulling out bags that Thelma packed, and we miss her every time we see the familiar handwriting on the bags.  Thelma was 73 years old and worked up until 2 weeks before she passed away, helping to support a disabled son.  What we’ll miss the most is her cheerful smile and always upbeat attitude, even in the face of great pain.  She had a difficult life, but always focused on helping others.  She will always be an inspiration to us. 

Art Insomnia Beads – Meet our Friend Dawn

We would like you to meet our friend Dawn of Art Insomnia Beads. Dawn is a lampwork bead artist and is truly the ‘Queen of Raku’. She is an absolute master at coaxing color from Reichenbach 108 Iris Orange – affectionately known as ‘Raku’ by the lampwork community.

Dawn and I met in 2003 (eek – has it really been 5 years?) when we were both selling polymer clay beads on JustBeads.com, and have been internet buddies ever since. Several years ago she made the leap from polymer clay to lampwork and her lampwork beads became an immediate hit. Last year she was gracious enough to invite us down to her beautiful studio in Port St. Lucie, Florida to give us a lesson in beadmaking. Watching her effortlessly apply stringer was a humbling experience.

She sells her beads on eBay and has recently opened an Etsy store: ArtInsomniaBeads.etsy.com . Be sure to stop by and check it out!

How is the situation in Kenya affecting the Ladies who make the Kazuri Beads?

Several of you have expressed concern about the ladies who make the Kazuri beads. If you haven’t yet seen the beads or read the story, click the link:

See the beads and read the story!

We received the following update:

Kenya Update

I’m sure you have been wondering how the situation in Kenya has been affecting the women of Kazuri. Fortunately, at the moment, the location of the factory is not in the area where the violence has been the most intense. They continue to carry on as best they can. When things heat up, transportation stops and the women cannot get to the factory. Unfortunately, the stores and other essential services have been shutting down sporadically as well, creating shortages of food and other necessary supplies.

Here is a quote from a woman that is involved with the New Life Orphanage in Kenya:

“Conversations with our friends and partners in Kenya make it clear that there is much more peace than violence throughout Kenya, and the arrival of Kofi Annan and the fact that the leaders are meeting brings the hope of some sort of closure. But they also agree that tribal relations have been set back decades. And the long term impact on the hundreds of thousands of women and children who have been left homeless, fearful and vulnerable is immeasurable.”

Our hopes and prayers are with the Kazuri women.

For people who have asked how they can help, this is the word that we’re getting from our supplier: We are telling our customers that the best thing they can really do is buy beads. By buying beads, we have to order more, which keeps the women employed or allows Kazuri to hire more women, which with their salary they are able to support 10-15 other people, which is much better for them than having to rely on the relief agencies. The factory is in one of the nicer suburbs of Nairobi, it has security and is surrounded by a wall. Unfortunately, the women have to leave the factory to go home.

Welcome to our Blog!

Welcome to our new Satin Cord Store blog! Stay tuned for tips and information as we get time to add it. Please bookmark us, stop by occasionally and say hi! We’ve met a few of you in person and become friends with lots of you by phone. There are others with whom we have not had the pleasure of chatting, but your name is starting to look familiar when we see it on our order slips. We’d love to hear from you!

First, we will take a little time to introduce some of our team members.

Robin	Bob	April	Guy
Cathy	Thelma	Reilly	Lucy

Here are some interesting tidbits about some of our team members. A few people didn’t want to toot their own horn, so we’re posting some of this information over their protests. We won’t tell you who is who just yet – see if you can match them up!

One of us:

- Just had a heart transplant (August 21, 2007)!
- Was a TV news anchor, a governor’s press secretary and was the first host of Morning Edition on MPR
- Grew up in an area that produced most of the iron used for weapons, vehicles, tanks and ships for World Wars I, II and Korea.

One of us:

- Won awards for outstanding bandsman and outstanding musician in high school and plays a mean Dixieland clarinet!
- Has a degree in graphic arts and has worked as a graphic artist and art teacher.
- When a would-be robber stuck a gun in the car window and demanded money, grabbed his hand with the gun and banged it against the window till he turned and ran.

One of us:

- Can rip a magazine to shreds in 6 seconds flat
- Learned to ’shake’ (hands) on the very first try
- Fiercely growls and barks at dogs at least 4 times her size (if they’re behind a fence).

One of us:

- Worked as a floral designer for 22 years
- Is a cancer survivor
- Was born and raised on a farm that grew tobacco, corn and potatos

One of us:

- Played viola in a local symphony’s three-night, one matinee summer production of South Pacific using the original handwritten musical scores that were used on Broadway.
- Has rescued and kept as pets countless animals over the years ranging from cats and dogs to chickens and alligators
- Is a Level 2 Reiki Master, which is a Japanese-developed method of natural healing and energy work.

One of us:

- Will guard a rawhide chewy bone with her life
- Was rescued from the shoulder of a very busy highway with a serious wound on her leg
- Can sniff out a lizard or a frog from any clump of grass.

One of us:

- Plays folk harp, recorder, accordion, and could at one time play The Stars and Strips Forever in its entirety on a chromatic harmonica (till the harmonica disappeared – we suspect the neighbors).
- Built a 6-string electric bass guitar from scratch (among other instruments)
- Won Award of Excellence among 80 juried artists at a recent art show

One of us:

- Is a master woodworker who builds gorgeous furniture and cabinets
- Subdued an armed disgruntaled former employee who smuggled a gun into the building (at former job – not this one).
- Over the space of several years of working in an office cublcle, accumulated dozens of pencils embedded into the ceiling above the desk.

Thanks for reading our first blog entry. If you actually read to the end of the blog, here is a little treat for you – enter the code BLOG10 at checkout throughout the remainder of February and get 10% off your order!!