::goodbye oh nyne::

art show, and holiday promo, and new studio, oh my! the end of 2009 was hectic to say the least. in a nutshell, here is what the heck we've been up to...

first of all, we moved! our new studio is at 2101 winter street. studio A-7. houston, tx. 260 plus sq ft of creative heaven! feel free to drop by and keep an eye out for an invite to a future open studio soiree! www.winterstreetstudios.com

secondly, zoé klutch and isabella dean were invited to LA to participate in holiday festivus! the private sale/art show was the mastermind of the one and only, talented ms. jenny ewing of lily kate showroom. the event was pure bliss-a compilation of talented young artists/photographers/origami creationnaires/live music/hot eats/lots of free booze. thanks to all who came out. check your inboxes for an invite to the next private sale. possibly march 2010.

what else. we wrapped up the holiday season with a huge promotion. sale in the etsy store and buy one get one 1/2 off for customs! it definitely kept us super busy. thank you for all the business!! will post total amount donated to alzheimer's association for the year (aug-dec 09) very soon. please feel free to post pics on zoé klutch's facebook fan page opening/receiving/gifting your new clutches! also be sure to check out our latest zoé klutch fan and her very own dual sided custom chargers clutch. i've give you a hint-her name isn't kendra wilkinson baskett. and she was not formerly the sportiest playboy playmate ever. ok, not much of a hint.

whew, i'm exhausted. what's in store for 2010...stay tuned to find out!

::review, spa alchemy::

thanks to spa alchemy for the blurb/shout out!

http://www.spaalchemy.com/reviews/2009/09/your-newest-accessory-from-your-oldest-treasure-zoe-klutch/

::c. jane::

select isabella dean jewelry and zoé klutch bags are now available at c. jane on the drag.

::no, thank YOU::

a big thanks to everyone who bought a clutch in july/august!!! we just sent a donation off for almost $55 dollars! that's awesome! grandma sends her gratitude too! see her pic above. sometimes it helps to put a face to a name...she and 5.3 million other people suffer from this horrible disease.

Thank you for your friendship to the Alzheimer's Association. Your donation of $54.35 is greatly appreciated and will be used to help advance vitally needed programs and services as well as critical Alzheimer research.

::zoé klutch got made::

over that is. special thanks to the talented melissa sims for creating the new logo.

::DIY trademark::

well kids it only took 20 months to get my trademark!!! whooo hoo. a testament that with a little bit of research and a lot of persistence and you can do these things on your own. sin help. sin lawyer. sin huge bill. trust me, if i can do it, anyone can. here is my official document that came in a matte manilla envelope straight from the good old United States Patent and Trademark Office. now i need one for zoé klutch but i think i'll just go to legalzoom for that!

::white linen night in the heights::

jlamm and dad unload

super coop helps with the lights

fan is surgically attached to jayme's lap

the gang minus mom

almost finished booth

clutches with pockets

grandma!

jewelry on natural cypress tree cross section

writing up a sale

other display unit

well folks white linen night in the heights came and went sat august 1st. it was my first experience at an art show and my do they take a TON of work. never would have been able to do ANY of it without the help of my family and friends so THANK YOU mom, dad, brother, cooper and jayme, and lisa and sophie and even brent for the handtruck (saved us a lot of back pain)!

i now have a new found appreciation for these artists that take the time to set up every month at these local shows. unless you've done it, you have NO IDEA what's involved.

so my thoughts on white linen night?? it wasn't a success for me money wise but overall a great experience. it was hot and sticky but something about seeing a sea of white linen parade by my booth made me feel cool. i adored my little 100 square feet of space. everything in my booth was used and my favorite piece was the army surplus medic cube that converts to 2 fold out tables and a cube with shelves when unlatched. i wanted my booth to look original and a little less boring that all those banquet tables covered in cloth.

as for traffic, there was loads! tons and tons of ppl out, it was GREAT. 2 of my old IP co-workers even stopped by. thanks gary and daniele!

as for sales, i did sell some things and gave out prob 91 cards regarding custom orders (ok maybe not THAT many but pretty much every visitor to my booth walked away with one fine eco-friendly business card. as for sales, maybe it's the recession i don't know, but i think these days in general, people just want something for nothing. why can joe shmoe painter create a 15x15 square painting of a chihuahua for $300 and that's reasonable yet you think (no sure who you is here) $65 for a 14k gold necklace is too much. that is VERY reasonable. gold is over $900 an ounce and doesn't handcrafted, eco-friendly slash i'm trying to raise money for a good cause mean anything these days? i'm giving you a steal...16 inches of gold plus x amount of grams for the disc and you want it for nothing. go to any retail store and try to find a chain alone for under $80. go on, i dare you.

anyway enough about that. i made some good contacts, sold some clutches and jewelry, and got to take in a one uber HOT summer night. here are some pics from the event.