1. My Copper Ring was featured in Boston Magazine in April, 2011. I got a huge response from this and sold no less than 20 copper rings as a direct result.

2. An assortment of pieces were featured in Yankee Magazine in Nov/Dec. It was fun, going through the process, and having my work in such a big magazine for their holiday issue.

3. Uncommon Goods contacted me,  interested in carrying my custom Silhouette Charm Necklace. I’m happy to report it’s now up on their site. This was a nail biter, as they kept me hanging while my piece was up on their “voting tool.”

4. I made the decision to participate in the Boston Gift Show, a wholesale trade show, in hopes of bolstering the wholesale side of my business. The cost of doing wholesale shows is significant. I have always known that I would work my way up to these shows, but the opportunity to share a booth with a friend this year made it a no brainer. The image above is the postcard I’ll be sending out to prospective galleries and shops, pre show. The show is in March 2012, so technically this shouldn’t be on the 2011 list, but the big decision to go for it was made last year. The rest is just gettin’ it done.

5. I took the advice of my friend Liza (who happens to be the same friend I am doing the BGS with ) and started bringing gobs more jewelry to shows, resulting in a huge jump in sales. I know it seems obvious– that more product would mean more sales– but given the cost of silver, I always hesitated to bring so many pieces. I was afraid I wouldn’t make that money back fast enough. Turns out I was very wrong. So here’s a huge THANK YOU to Liza-lou for that very useful tidbit of business advice. Sometimes I can’t see the forest for the trees.

So it’s onward and upward to AG Ambroult. I wonder what this wrap up will say next year? If all goes according to my little world-domination plan?  Big things.

Super Horsey has some friends called the Fruities. The Fruities are multi-talented athletes and all around happy folks (look at those smiles!). Skiing and weight lifting are among their favorite pastimes, but sometimes…

…life gets the best of even the Fruities, and they’ve been known turn to robbing banks.

My girls write about these characters a ton, and we have volumes of Super Horsey adventures and Fruitie tales.  We were all so smitten with them that I decided they needed to be “taken to the next level,” as the girls say. Yes, it was high time to have Super Horsey and a Fruitie brought to life. I knew just who to ask.

Jen from Zooguu is an amazing artist and crafter, and she makes the most fabulous plushies. I have had the pleasure of getting to know her at the local art markets and I was sure she’d do Super Horsey and the Fruitie justice.

Of course she made them better than I had ever imagined they could be. Exact replicas of my girls’ drawings but even better, with bendable arms and legs and a perfectly huggable size. She even drew (sewed) the mouths in a sketchy style, a nod to their paper-and-pencil beginnings.

We’re all so happy that the adventures of Super Horsey and the Fruities are no longer limited to the written page. I think you folks living in the NYC area can sleep soundly now, knowing the hero horse is at the ready. As for the Fruities, well, we can only hope that the physical world doesn’t drive them to a life of crime.

Check out the Zooguu website for games, tons of freebies, adorable plush toys, and even a PDF pattern to make your own stuffed narwhal.

The little dude on the front? He’s a “Fruitie,” a character my girl made up and writes about frequently. You’ll see a bit more of the “Fruities” in the next few days.

Before it was a monkey house…

…it held a necklace with a husky charm, a “Power Puggy” charm (another of her frequently-drawn characters), and a Fruity.

…and a small copper ring with her initials stamped into it. In this picture, she’s peering through her new birding binoculars, looking for more birds to add to her life list. The girl’s list is already much longer than mine, and I’ve got 29.5 years on her.

Switching gears, I’d like to take a moment to thank the local public school officials for banning bringing in food treats on a child’s birthday. I know, I sound like a total party pooper, but seriously…it was getting to be a bit much. But what I don’t think the school rule-makers know is that they opened up a window for something super sweet to happen. Wanting so very badly to bring something in to school to celebrate her birthday, my girl made 29 “cyclops bixters” for her classmates, with 29 little construction paper envelopes to put them in. And she’s not the only one who has created little something’s for her classmates on her special day. All of a sudden these kids are having fun giving as a way of celebrating. Now that is a reason to celebrate.

A little someone’s eighth birthday coming up quick and these little chickies will be made and gifted to her, per her request.

We’re going to make art with milk and food coloring because, wow, these colors are amazing.

I wanna make a couple of these cell phone charger pouches because they are totally awesome. And functional. And cute.

I think some doily luminaries would be a pretty addition to the dark winter evenings.

My girls would definitely appreciate these Angry Birds for lunch.

My mini clips are going to need an Artsyville-style face lift with washi tape. It’s very important.

I’m pretty sure these confetti eggs are gong to make our little New Year’s celebration way more fun.

Fried pickles are among my favorite foods, but pickle fries? Even better. These will be essential this week.

Happy Week Between!

Recently, a few great things happen to my business. The first is a mention in the holiday issue of Yankee Magazine (both photos). I am not ashamed to shout it out to the world. It’s exciting, validating, and just plain good for business, so why wouldn’t I?

The second is an opportunity to have a piece on the Uncommon Goods site/catalog. For me, this is huge and I was over the moon about it. Until I learned that my piece would be put in their “voting tool.” The voting tool is their way to gauge the public’s opinion on a product they are considering, as well as their way of creating “hype” around an item.  And I, like a good little egg, went out and pretty much campaigned for votes. I did it because I really want my piece in Uncommon Goods. Because this could mean big things and create even more opportunities for AG Ambroult. But boy, did it feel contrived asking people to vote for my piece, and you can bet I wasn’t asking for a “thumbs down.”

Just when I thought I was comfortable with the idea of promoting my art, my business, I was asked to take it to the next level. While it seemed a little forced, I can appreciate the value of creating buzz, and in the end, buzz is good for both me and the catalog. Right?

Sometimes it feels like I’m bragging, sometimes it feels like good business sense, and sometimes it just feels weird. I certainly don’t want to be the next Donald Trump, but I do want to continue on as AG Ambroult. And I want my business’ “brand” to reflect AG Ambroult, the person. I have to make sure I am keeping the “voice” of AG Ambroult true to the artist behind the name. As long as I am doing that, I’ll call this little venture of mine a success.

Do any of you ever feel uncomfortable with self promotion? I’d love to hear about it.

In the past few weeks I’ve shifted into production mode because this year, people, this is the year I will be sufficiently prepared for the busyness that is the holiday season. For the next five weeks, it’s go, go, go, so for the past few weeks it’s been make, make, make. Here’s a peek at some of the little piles of pieces in various stages of production.

A bunch of nearly-complete Bouquet Rings.

Piles of Ripple Bracelets, in three different finishes

Roughed-out ring shanks by the dozen

A big pile of potential. Leather wrap bracelets, coming soon.

And this? Well there’s production going on outside of the workshop, too. Five Elf hats down, five more to go!

I’ll be hanging around these parts a little more now, I think. I might even get crazy and post again in the next few days. Why not add the blog to the production line too?

It started with a tour of the USS Constitution where we met in person for the very first time. We explored the ship and learned some fascinating facts but the highlight for some of us was playing on the giant weights in the shipyard. They came this close to moving those.

Later that day Valarie and two of her kids came to our house for dinner. We ate, chatted, and laughed like we were family. The younger kids broke the ice with a puppet fight and moved on to some Lego building. After a little resistance and lots of talk about how “rusty” she is on the keys, we convinced Valarie to play the piano for us. Let me tell you, folks, if that was her “rusty” then I don’t know what to think. She’s amazing.

Her boy, “O” spent much of the night as my husband’s apprentice, which was equally as thrilling for each of them. Alex had someone to enthusiastically babble on about woodworking with, “O” had someone willing to teach him how to use the tools and show him the process behind a finished product. And that boy has a love for learning like none other. When he and Alex were done in the wood shop, “O” and I went to my shop and he tried his hand at soldering, hammering, and bending metal. I see a future in the skilled crafts for him.

Meanwhile, Valarie’s older daughter, “Zuzu” told stories of exciting things in her near future, and she beams with potential, enthusiasm and a surprising amount of insight for a twenty-three year old.

We snuck a “girls only” picture while the menfolk were in the wood shop, and later got a great one of the whole group too. We said our goodbyes and promised we would meet up again someday. Well, that day ended up being a week later, because Valarie and “O” joined us for apple picking! You can read all about our day at the orchard here, at Valarie’s blog.

While meeting people you know from online is generally something we tell our kids to avoid, I highly recommend it! Here’s to friends, “cyber” or in person, or otherwise.

I would be full of inspiration, bursting with enthusiasm, finding wonder in anything and everything.

I would have thought to make the flour jar into “Flour Beach” all on my own. But instead I take that jar out and put it away time and again without notice.

I would have spotted this praying mantis near our front steps with my own keen eye, but instead I was hurrying into the house, going through my mental “to do” list.

Ideas for new pieces like the Cloudbreak Necklace would spin in my head, swirl around my dreams, and push their way to the surface each day. But instead I have days where I sit at my workbench or with my sketchbook, searching for new ideas that never come to me.

If I could see the world through my girls’ eyes, my inspiration would be bubbling up and spilling over, manifesting itself in delightful and surprising ways. Like theirs, my art would be prolific. I wouldn’t have to go looking for ways to flex my creativity.

Lately I’ve been pouring through books like The Creative Habit, and listening to podcasts like the Craftcast interview with Todd Henry, trying to find my mojo again. But it turns out the solution, the answer, the motivation I seek is right in front of me. So, my “to do” list to day is:

1. Splash in a puddle (check!)
2. Glance through their sketchbooks (check!)
3. Pat the cat for a prolonged amount of time
   
4. Sit on the floor and eat cookies while chit-chatting about how mad they are (but they’re not really mad at all) at the boys who chase them at recess
5. Join them in a game of “wacky ball” 
6. Snuggle with a favorite blankie 
7. Fall asleep with a pencil in my hand, notebook on my chest
8. sleep soundly, worry-free

Yes.  I think I could see the world through their eyes, maybe if I just stop thinking about it so much.

Masterpiece.

I don’t wanna hear it again. But the sorry truth is, I was the one who started saying it. “oh, sweetie! What a beautiful drawing! It’s a masterpiece!”

So, like any kid who hears time and again that their art/writing/music is a masterpiece, my girls started thinking that everybody considers their work the be-all end-all. They started saying things like, “when will they play my song on the radio?” “When will they hang this in the museum, Mama? It’s a masterpiece, right?” Of course they assume these things, I mean, I practically brought each and every piece to the MOMA myself, hammer and nail in hand. I’m positive Simon Cowell would be blown away by my girls’ talent, and I’m tempted to get on the phone with Random House Publishing to see if I can secure them a book deal…

It wasn’t long before I realized I had to check my praise, lest I end up with two little girls walking around thinking they’re the next Renoir, Steinbeck, and/or Beethoven, when really they would be on the fast track to becoming the next Lindsay Lohan.

When the girls were babies, “A” and I listened to an NPR story that talked about the way parents encourage their kids. At one point, the parenting trend was to say things like “You can be anything you want!” “You can do anything!”  “Of course you can win/succeed/achieve!” Problem was, this resulted in an era of kids who grew up thinking that yes, they can do anything, without ever considering the fact that they would have to work for it.

After hearing that, we decided we would emphasize hard work, effort, practice, the ol’ try, try again. Our girls now know, with complete certainty, that they will have to put their nose to the grindstone and work for what they want. And if they choose to do so, they could study, practice and persevere so that, yes, perhaps one day their work will be in a museum.

I’m their mother, and it’s my right to think every creative thing they do is pure perfection. I delight in every detail of what they make, and I praise them to a certain extent but nowadays, I stop myself before I declare it the “M” word. But, between you and me, when the girls go to bed at night, “A” and I ogle and shake our heads in admiration at that their latest achievement. Their seminal work. Their masterpiece.

a big pile of water balloons that lasted approximately 2 minutes

monkeys

a familiar sight from my childhood

Ambroult girls

trail-side design

dune jumping

recently restored local carousel

taking the playground to the next level