Pick Up Sticks, Annie and Isabel, and Kicking Cancer’s Butt

Gifts Anna received during her battle with cancer

We received this e-mail a few days ago and decided we had to share it.  Annie and Isabel is a blog written by sisters Anna and Selena, registered nurses who decided to make hospital stays more dignified by creating Designer Hospital Gowns.  Their motto is “When you look great, you feel better.”   Check out their blog and website for some amazingly pretty hospital gowns.  We hope you never need one, but just in case. . .

Recently Anna was the patient instead of the nurse, with a stay in the hospital battling thyroid cancer.  Her blog posts are inspirational and we’re pleased the hear that Pick Up Sticks helped her in her determination to “Kick Cancer’s Butt.”

Here’s a bit of the e-mail we received:

Anna with a painting she was given by a friend

Dear Pick Up Sticks:

I just wanted to email you because I was given a necklace with your charms by a couple of friends to give me strength during my battle with thyroid cancer. I wore the necklace every day and I absolutely love it!!!! It was purchased through a retail store but I found your name on the necklace and looked you up because so many people have asked about it. I also have friends battling cancer and they were interested in purchasing one so I referred them to your site.

I thought you might enjoy reading a couple of blog posts I wrote that included pictures of the beautiful necklace. I have just finished treatment and am getting stronger and looking forward to living a great life:-) Here are my posts:

More Blessings of Cancer and On To Treatment

Bye Bye Cancer

Thank you so much for making a product that helped inspire me through my battle with cancer!!! I will always cherish this necklace.

Sincerely,

Anna Ryan

Check out Anna’s posts – despite the fact that she’s obviously feeling less than 100%, she does a great job of seeing the gifts hidden in her illness.

Anna proudly wearing her cancer scar AND her Pick Up Sticks necklace

In one post she says, “Another gift I have been given is to appreciate my health! I may never completely have the energy I had prior to my cancer diagnosis, but I will definitely value having a healthy body that allows me to get through everything I need to do in a day. I also want to mention that while cancer has temporarily taken my health and energy, it will never take away my spirit, and that is what is going to keep me going, to regain my strength and appreciate my health and life as I have never done before. I posted this picture on my personal facebook page a week ago but wanted to share it here too. For me, it is a visual of what I think about this whole cancer experience and I will proudly show off my scar because there is no reason to hide a badge of courage and strength.”

Congratulations on kicking cancer’s butt, Anna, and thanks for inspiring us all!

Have your own special story about Pick Up Sticks Jewelry helping you through a difficult time in your life?  We’d love to hear it and share it with Pick Up Sticks collectors everywhere. Just e-mail us at pickupsticks@suddenlink.net.  Be sure to include images if you have them!

Pick Up Sticks Retailer of the Month – Sadie Devaney and Sunny Days

When we chose Sadie Devaney at 269 Forest Avenue in Laguna Beach, California as our April Retailer of the Month, we wanted to get a feel for how it would be to shop the eclectic boutique.  So we checked out their Facebook Page .  And immediately wished we were close enough to drive over for a stroll through the store.  This place is cute, cute, cute, and full of what looks like a lot of fun and color and great products.  Including Pick Up Sticks.

Owners Deanna and Chelsie Frieze are the team behind Sadie Devaney.  They also own Sunny Days, another gorgeous boutique in equally gorgeous Newport Beach, CA, located at 304 Marine Avenue.

As an aside, we want to go on record saying that we’re very envious of retailers who get to have not one but two stores in places with the word “beach” in the name.

When asked how they chose the line, the Friezes say that they loved best the unique story and charm that went with the line.  “Pick Up Sticks is always coming up with fun new pieces that create excitement to our stores.”  They also like the vintage feel of the line and that it allows customers to create their own individual pieces to tell a story.

Trinkets and initial charms seem to do well in both Sadie Devaney and Sunny Days.  “Show customers how they can use the clips to easily change out their look.  And display the charms so that their accessible and can be flipped over so the opposite side can be seen.  Customers want to see what’s unique about each charm.”  The ability to mix and match seems to keep customers coming back for more.

Pick Up Sticks has changed the atmosphere of the store in that “Customers have fun reading the charms and designing their own pieces.  They tap into their creative minds and put together something that has meaning to them.”

When we asked them what we could do to improve the line, we got a great response.  “We love the line.  Keep adding fun new charms and our customers will keep coming back.”

If you’re lucky enough to find yourself in Laguna Beach or Newport Beach, stop by and give Deanna and Chelsie our best.  And pick up a new charm or two. . .

Pick Up Sticks Girls Tell Their Story Part 2

A couple of weeks ago we posted the bios and photos of the Jalaina, Candace and Brenda.  Now we want to introduce Anna Lee Henry, who’s in charge of our retail website, and Bunny Terry, our copywriter/blogger.  While they don’t spend as much time in the studio as the other girls, they’re essential to the operation and they both have extensive history with Pick Up Sticks.  Anna Lee has been around since the beginning (okay, since Glena’s and Sabrina’s birth. . ) and Bunny had been around since Glena was in first grade.

It’s amazing to get to work with friends and family.  In fact, it’s part of the Pick Up Sticks magic.

Anna Lee Henry

Pick Up Sticks Jewelry Company is known for their charms that celebrate strong, creative women who have achieved their goals or are in the process of making their dreams come true.  It’s only appropriate that the person in charge of the retail website is one of the women that has inspired Glena and Sabrina from day one – Anna Lee Henry.  She may be Glena’s Mom and Sabrina’s Aunt, but much more importantly, she’s one of the smart women in their lives who taught them that anything is possible through hard work and just a little bit of magic (magic that you create for yourself, of course).

After years in the real estate development and marketing field, Anna Lee turned that energy for selling property into making the Pick Up Sticks retail website a success.  She’s always been a picture of style and grace under pressure – making this venture work is like second nature to her.

And the best part of all?  She gets to be in the studio with the other Pick Up Sticks girls, helping with the design process and overseeing how the line is perceived by customers.  We think this is finally the perfect use for her positive energy and creative force.

Bunny Terry

A native of Logan, New Mexico, and longtime friend of Glena and Sabrina, Bunny has been with Pick Up Sticks from the inception.  From peeking over Sabrina’s shoulder as some of the first charms were designed to traveling to market in the early days to getting Pick Up Sticks national magazine coverage, Bunny has forever been a champion of all things Pick Up Sticks.  She now writes the company’s blog (right here!).  She also does most of Pick Up Sticks’ copywriting for publications, direct e-mail and just about any other piece of paper on which Pick Up Sticks might want to promote themselves.

Besides writing for Pick Up Sticks, Bunny blogs for several other clients, develops and sells real estate on the shores of Ute Lake, writes a personal blog at www.ilovenewmexicoblog.com,  and spends her time counting the days until it’s nice enough to get on the water.  To comfort herself through the New Mexico winter, she eats a lot of green chile.

Pick Up Sticks Mentors Part II: Carol the Seaglass Girl

Here’s the second in our series on the folks who have been such incredible mentors to us over the years.  As we said in our post about Hondo and Alice, we never could have been so successful without the help of our fellow artists.  Carol Hall (we’ve always just called her “Carol the Seaglass Girl”) was one of the first people we met at the Atlanta show at AmericasMart.

Carol Hall and her beautiful daughter, Rowan

Back in the day when we really had no idea what terms like “net 30″ and “lead time” and “minimum order” meant, Carol sat across the aisle and gave us great tips.  She shared show stories and advice on where to spend our market booth budget wisely.  And she told us hilarious tales about how much fun this life would be once we figured out what we were doing.  When we asked her to write a bit about our relationship, she totally skipped the details about herself and her fun jewelry and only wrote about Pick Up Sticks.

A pair of Carol's seaglass earrings. Find them and more at http://www.seaglass.us/

Our advice to you?  Check out these photos of Carol’s beautiful seaglass creations and then check out her website at http://www.seaglass.us/.  You can also follow her on Facebook.  It’s a totally different look from Pick Up Sticks, but we love Carol’s jewelry!

Here’s what Carol had to say about Pick Up Sticks:

“I can’t remember the first time I met the Pick Up Sticks girls, and I’m not sure any of us want to mark that many years going by, for the sake of our own vanity. We clicked so fast it feels like I’ve known them forever. I do vividly remember the first time I introduced my daughter, Rowan, to them.

She was about 12 and knew their work from seeing it scattered throughout my enormous jewelry box, and from having a few special pieces of her own. She loved the eclectic, glamorous aesthetic, that felt like they had been made for her, so she was excited to meet the two girls that she believed personally created her entire jewelry wardrobe.

Little did Rowan know that Glenna and Sabrina are as fun and beguiling as their work. We were at a trade show (an important working event for both the Pick Up Sticks Girls and myself, where we meet our clients and write orders for the coming season). I thought we would dash by for a quick meet and greet.

Rowan modeling her Mother's seaglass jewelry

The introduction quickly turned into a “Rowan, come by the booth at the end of the day and hang with us!” And “hanging” turned into exploring through all their beautiful jewelry, and exploring turned into Rowan, Glenna, and Sabrina playing dress up; wearing more necklaces than I would have thought possible and still looking effortlessly fun.

My daughter is 18 now, but she, the girls, and I still make time to “hang out” during every show. Dress up with Sabrina and Glenna after long days of work is always the best!

One of our favorite pieces from Carol's collection - the Coca-Cola bracelet

I have always been smitten with the loving relationship the girls have with each other, and how that translates into jewelry that feels so personal. Their designs have always spoken to a desire to express individuality – revealing unexpected choices by layering designs or finding hidden messages on the backs of pendants, and combining simple style with over the top bling.

There is joy in their work and in their working together as soul sisters. I can remember being across from them at shows and secretly desiring to be 6″ taller, blonde and have a buttery Texas Drawl. Ah, to be a Pick Up Sticks Girl…..

But that’s them. And isn’t it joyful that two girls so different than I am, can so effortlessly express what I want with their jewelry, and what a young girl wants, and so many others. They prove more than any artists I have met, that joyful work attracts people into your spin. I am lucky I was one of the many drawn to them!”

Awww!  Thanks Carol.  Your kind words bring tears to our eyes.  Can’t wait to see you down the aisle in New York soon!

Pick Up Sticks Mentors Part 1: Hondo and Alice

Alice Seely, an early Pick Up Sticks Mentor

It’s impossible to talk about the “Why” of Pick Up Sticks without talking about the people who have mentored us through the years.  When we started going to trade shows, we had no idea how the business worked, and we made it a practice to get to know the people who looked like they had figured it out.  Luckily for us, a lot of those people became our friends.  Some became like family.  This is our story about a couple of those folks.

Our earliest mentors were David Hall and Alice Seely, aka Hondo and Alice.  We ran into David at one of our first San Francisco shows, and we were immediately drawn to each other because of the New Mexico connection.  As Sabrina says: “David is a fast-moving high energy freakishly intelligent man.  His hair is like Einstein, and the brain inside is just as valuable.  Alice has the kind of beauty that hits you hard.  Hard with envy.  When I look at her, I wonder if I have ever looked so pretty.  At any age.”

David, Glena and Sabrina

Besides being gorgeous herself, Alice makes gorgeous jewelry  and she paints and she creates tapestries, and together they run a retail store and iris farm  in the incomparably beautiful Hondo Valley in southern New Mexico.  These are folks who have been creating and selling art for a while, and they know exactly how to do it.  We’re lucky to have met them.

Alice Seely designs

We asked them to put together a little narrative of what they originally thought of Pick Up Sticks.  Here’s what David sent us:

“My name is David Hall.  My partner, Alice Seely, has been designing and crafting pewter jewelry for fourteen years.  We attend various trade shows around the country and have had a customer base as large as 500 galleries, museums, airport stores, and National Parks.

About ten years ago I was attending the San Francisco gift show and was standing outside taking a break.  I struck up a conversation with a very attractive tall woman and we soon discovered we were both from New Mexico and had a common background in the area where I live – near Ruidoso, New Mexico.   Glena said this was her first trade show, that she and her partner, Sabrina, had been worried that their jewelry ideas wouldn’t work, and that very few stores would be interested.  She went on to say that a trade show was a substantial expense and they weren’t sure they could afford the risk of many more.

The Hondo Iris Farm in full bloom

I was curious about what they had designed and accompanied Glena to her booth.  At first I wasn’t sure about their product – it just looked like a bunch of charms and chains.  But then I looked closely at their jewelry and was amazed.  The images and sayings were better than anything I had seen—catchy ideas, fun, great graphics, and tremendous detail.  I told them their only problem was going to be to get people to look closely at their pendants; that their product would appeal to anyone who was interested in detail and their customer base could span age groups from 18-70.

My main message was to tell them to keep working, keep going to trade shows.  I told them they would get their foot in the door that year and next year their sales would double.  I predicted that in five years, if they continued to develop and expand their market, they would be very successful and able to make quite a good living.  I also told them they had to streamline their booth display to make it easily shippable and simpler.

I am not always right in my predictions, but I was dead on in seeing how great they were.

Over the years, we have continued our friendship; we make it a point to have dinner together at common trade shows, we know each other’s families, and they have become great friends.  I am, however, disappointed that they didn’t take Alice and me with them on their recent exciting trip to China. “

Well, David, we’re sorry we didn’t take you along as well.  The trip would have been much more memorable with you along for the ride.

Many thanks to David and Alice for giving us such invaluable insight and for continuing to be our friends through the thick and thin of it.  Please be sure to check out their websites, and if you’re a store owner, take a look at their wholesale site .  They do beautiful work.

Pick Up Sticks makes Craft Business Heroes book – We’re published!

Several months ago,  Craft Business Expert Alison McNicol (find her on Facebook here) from the UK sent a very friendly e-mail to Sabrina.  It said something like, “I’ve seen your product and I think it’s lovely – would you like to chat about how the business got started and tell me something about your artistic process?  I’m working on a book to help other crafters profit from their creativity. . .”

Well, you know how we are – Quay County girls always want to be friendly and helpful, and we’ve been mentored in so many ways by other artists that we couldn’t say no.  So we said yes, Alison sent us a set of questions, we responded as nicely and succinctly as possible, and then a few weeks ago, she sent us a link to her two books, Craft Business Heroes and The Craft Business Handbook, both now available from Amazon.  Holy mackerel, we were published!  Or, at least, Alison was published and our interview was included.

And listen, folks, these are no ordinary books.  As Amazon’s blurb reads, these are books to help you “turn your talent for making lovely things into cash.  Bored of the 9 to 5 and dreaming of starting your own crafty business, but not sure where to start? Then this is the book for you !”

“The Craft Business Handbook has ALL the information you need to get started making money from your crafts – NOW !  From setting up as a proper business, producing and pricing your goods for maximum sales and profit, to the various options for selling online, at craft fairs, trade shows and getting your products into retailers, right through to gaining magazine coverage, promoting your business online and managing your business as it grows, this is THE essential guide for any would-be crafty entrepreneur!”

PLUS – some of the most successful crafty business people around (that’s us, according to Alison) share their stories – how they started and grew their successful craft businesses. Prepare to be inspired with in-depth interviews from some of your favorite crafty entrepreneurs around!”

Order the book here.

Craft Business Heroes expands on the ideas in The Craft Business Handbook and provides “in-depth interviews from some of the biggest crafty business names around – Jan Constantine, Pick Up Sticks Jewelry, Sublime Stitching’s Jenny Hart, Poppy Treffry, Amy Karol, Gilliangladrag, Emily Peacock, Subversive Cross Stitch’s Julie Jackson and lots more – 30 leading crafty entrepreneur’s share the secrets of their success!”

Alison was kind enough to send us a pdf of our interview responses from the books, and we plan to share part of that with you soon.  So stay posted.

Sabrina with her copy of Craft Business Heroes - a little dogeared, and a little doggy chewed. Annie the Poodle couldn't resist it!

And in the meantime, order her books.  She’s done an amazing and in-depth job of providing information – Sabrina has read and reread her copy several times, earmarking and post-it marking great tips and quotes.  And as you can see, even Annie the Poodle had to get her hands (or teeth) on it. . .

We’ll post interview excerpts on February 8.  Don’t miss it!

Pick Up Sticks Retailer of the Month – Terry’s Floral of Logan, New Mexico

Betty Terry of Terry’s Floral and Gifts, located at 1001 Yucca in Logan, New Mexico, might seem to have a distinct advantage over most Pick Up Sticks retailers.  After all, her shop is located in the hometown of Glena and Sabrina, the team behind Pick Up Sticks.  In fact, it’s in the converted garage of Sabrina’s childhood home and just down the street from where Glena grew up.  Just by virtue of her store’s location, you might think there’s some Pick Up Sticks creative brainpower floating around in the air.

 

And of course, she knows Glena and Sabrina personally.  They grew up with her daughter, played in her yard, ran their car up and down her driveway, even ran through her front door for years, either in search of Bunny or something to wear out of her closet.  Betty knows the why and wherefore of Pick Up Sticks because she knows the why and wherefore of Glena and Sabrina.  Sounds advantageous, doesn’t it? 

But then there’s the size of Logan – not such a distinct advantage.  With a population of approximately 1,100 (yes, you read that right.  Glena and Sabrina grew up in a village without stoplights, crime or a movie theater. . .), Logan lacks what most retailers need most:  buyers in large numbers.  Despite this lack, Betty became an exclusive retailer just a few months after she began selling Pick Up Sticks. 

 

So we decided to make her our September Retailer of the Month.  We figured if Betty and Terry’s Floral can become an exclusive retailer and order $1,500 of product in a year’s time (although truth be told, she’s way past that number), anyone can do it.  We asked her for tips to pass along to you, and here’s what she told us:

“It’s all about getting charms out there where everyone can see and touch them.  My business is primarily floral, and for a small town, people in Logan really love to buy flowers for one another.  When I put a loaded  Judy bust form on the floor right in the path of every shopper, Pick Up Sticks started flying out the door.  My Judy’s an eye-catcher, and once she stops them in their tracks to take a look, customers are hooked.”

Terry’s Floral also has an active Facebook page (http://on.fb.me/oNGBQ8) on which Betty posts lots of Pick Up Sticks images, news and links to any new blog posts.  She makes sure her fans know when she gets a new shipment, posting several times each week so that collectors don’t miss the chance to buy something new.  She says if you’re not using Facebook to promote your product and your Pick Up Sticks, you’re missing a great marketing tool.

Finally, she offers initial charms on a ribbon to go with floral arrangements.  It’s a relatively inexpensive add-on that makes a bouquet immediately more personal. 

And of course, when she heads out to the Post Office every morning to pick up the mail and visit with her neighbors, Betty’s wearing her Pick Up Sticks.  “Sometimes I think I sell as much on the street as I do in the store,” she says. 

“I love selling Pick Up Sticks.  My shop is a hodge-podge of new and old things – a fun place to shop.  Pick Up Sticks is very popular here – possible because the owners/designers are local gals, but most of all because the charms are unique.  Every customer can find one that fits her personality or that of a friend.  They are great gifts for any occasion – some are quirky, some are serious, and I find that most shoppers want several to mix and match.  And the new clips are great – they make charms easy to exchange quickly.”

Great tips, and great job, Betty.  Congratulations to Terry’s Floral and Gifts of Logan, New Mexico (575-487-2420), for being our September Retailer of the Month.  Terry’s is proof positive that anyone anywhere can be a successful Pick Up Sticks Retailer!

Pick Up Sticks Retailer of the Month – Pear & Simple

“Fun, chunky, blingy girlfriend gifts!”  That’s the response we got when we asked this month’s Retailer of the Month what they think of when someone says, “Pick Up Sticks Jewelry.”  You know us – we love fun and we love our girlfriends, so we thought that
response deserved top billing in this post.

Our August Retailer of the Month is Pear & Simple, located at 314 Franklin Street in Port Washington, Wisconsin.  It’s the kind of place where you’d want to hang out for an hour or two, trying on their extensive line of accessories, admiring their home goods, choosing a baby gift for someone special, or leafing through their stationery and books.  And if that’s not enough, they offer unique classes and demonstrations to add a little fun and excitement to your shopping experience.

How did they choose Pick Up Sticks for their store?  Here’s what they said:  “The quality of both the actual jewelry and the artwork.  Many companies use stock work and kitchy sayings.  Pick Up Sticks artwork are both the best in the photo jewelry industry.  We love the silver frames around each charm.  You also offer a very nice selection of trinkets and charms that sell well.”

Pear & Simple’s advice is to display your Pick Up Sticks in a manner that’s creative but easy for the customer to search.  If a customer can easily locate a charm and a matching trinket in a hurry, they’re more likely to buy several complimenting pieces.

Pick Up Sticks has proven to be a great addition to Pear & Simple and they’ve served to make folks feel better as well.  “We have lots of folks who buy the inspirational charms after a long illness – say, cancer.”  In their store, Word Candy charms have long been the best sellers, and on Valentine’s Day, they had an expectant dad who came in and brought the candy initial of their soon-to-be-born baby boy for his wife.  That just happens to be one of Pear & Simple’s favorite Pick Up Sticks stories.  And now our’s too.

Check out Pear & Simple if you’re in the neighborhood.  And give them our best for best for doing such a great job displaying and marketing their Pick Up Sticks. 

Pick Up Sticks Display Ideas – D’Accord Boutique

D’Accord Boutique in Shepherdstown, WV (134 West German Street), was just one of the many Pick Up Sticks retailers who entered our display contest, but we found their bird house display one of the most unusual we’ve ever seen.  We’re thrift store and flea market junkies at Pick Up Sticks, and we love the idea of using found items to create displays. 

We were so intrigued with Debbie’s display for D’Accord that we asked her to give us some details.  Here’s what she said:

“It was springtime, and we were enjoying an outdoor antique flea market.  In one of the booths, a vintage wooden birdcage caught our eye.  We began thinking of the Pick Up Sticks Display Contest, and thought it would be fun to display our charms in a birdcage. 

What a great way to display our bird-themed charms and trinkets.

After debating how to display the charms inside, we decided to hang them on  the outside with small clothespins.  We continued walking around the flea market, and began noticing a lot of small teal bottles at several booths.  We bought several, deciding to place them inside the birdcage to display our necklaces.  To complete the springtime display, we placed a decorative bird inside.”

“Our customers often tell us of how much they enjoy our display.  It is one of the first things you see upon entering our store, and sits atop a jewelry case.  Several customers have told us that they love birds and birdcages, and that our display is what drew them into the store. Having our Pick Up Sticks display in a birdcage allows our customers to stop a while and peek inside before looking at our example necklaces in the jewelry case beneath.

Or the bird necklace. . .

“We have found that the easiest way to sell Pick Up Sticks jewelry is to display them in a fun, cute manner and have many example necklaces present.  We have pieced together our necklaces to have certain themes, such as birds, bees, luck, royalty, flowers, and Paris. Since we are a French Boutique, our Paris themed necklace is the most popular, with some customers buying the chain and charms as a set rather than buying one of the charms on its own.”

Thanks Debbie, and thanks to D’Accord Boutique for so cleverly showing off
your Pick Up Sticks.  Find D’Accord’s website at http://daccordboutique.com/
or join them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/DaccordBoutique.

For those of you who are still searching for the perfect Pick Up Sticks display idea, feel free to use Debbie’s.  Or stay tuned – we’ll be sharing more ideas from our display contest entrants in the weeks to come. 

Our best advice:  Do what Debbie did – keep your eyes peeled for great vintage finds at junk stores or flea markets (or in your grandmother’s barn. . .).  There’s no better way to display our vintage-themed charms.

Pick Up Sticks Giveaways from our Favorite Blogs

The Graphics Fairy is one of Sabrina’s favorite blogs, and for a good reason.  For years, the Graphics Fairy has given away a daily free graphic image from the public domain (usually vintage). . .so Sabrina’s morning routine is coffee, check out Graphics Fairy’s image of the day, more coffee, and then get to work designing.

From the Graphics Fairy Blog

In fact, one of our favorite new charms uses the cutest little fairy girl we’ve ever seen, and we got her image from the Graphics Queen.

From the Graphics Queen blog

These images are screen shots of The Graphics Queen’s latest post, which just happens to be a giveaway of Pick Up Sticks Jewelry.

From the Graphics Fairy Blog

See her giveaway details below and on her Blog.

From the Graphics Fairy Blog

Of course, we wanted all of you to know about the giveaway – if you want to enter to win Pick Up Sticks jewelry, you have until 10:00 p.m. tonight!

A couple of weeks ago, Pick Up Sticks was featured as a giveaway in the I Love New Mexico Blog.  The only requirement for entering the drawing was to either comment or subscribe to the blog.  After a pile of comments and 22 new subscribers, a winner was chosen.

Got a blog of your own?  We’d be thrilled to hear from you and maybe offer a piece of jewelry as a giveaway piece.  Comment below and provide a link to your site.  And for those of you who want to be informed about any Pick Up Sticks giveaways?  Just become a Facebook fan and we’ll keep you posted!