week 31 - readers

this post is dedicated to kathy and kelly...and all of our weekly readers. we deeply apologize for the short post last week, and hope to make up for it today. really, i can't believe how many of you are out there and depending on our monday night post to make your tuesday morning a sensation...okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, although i am truly impressed that we have readers at all...so thanks!

sherry and i have been off of our weekly beading nights, due to busy travel schedules over the past month or so. we see each other at our shows as we haul our goods out of our cars and into our venue for the evening. we have been meshing for so long now that we don't really have to see each other to run this side business of ours as a team. we are already coming up on our 5 year anniversary show, IIDA bizarre bazaar at the mart (november 11th, 5:30-8:30pm). i can't believe it has been that long already...this was our first show in november of 2005! yowsa, how time flies.

we are doing everything we can to inspire ourselves and keep everyone surrounding us intrigued. we have a spectacular new year of products around the corner and can't wait for you all to share in the excitement.

as i was beading our six-hundredth (or so) one-of-a-kind necklace tonight, i can't help but think of where they all are. i hope they are not in your dresser drawers waiting for a special occasion, because tuesday is an occasion enough to make a mesh statement...even if it is faceted glitz, offset by multi colored felted wool balls...work it mid-week!

on the table | over-stated combos

-melissa

week 30 - countdown to christmas

so, it’s 67 days until christmas. and guess what…? mesh is making this really easy for you.

you can complete all your shopping for the women on your list the first weekend of december. that is, if you attend our two day / two city open house!

saturday, December 4th 2010 | sherry’s house
(chicago’s west loop)
10:00 am – 2:00 pm
RSVP @ meshdesigns@yahoo.com or on facebook


sunday, december 5th 2010 | melissa’s house
(oak park)
10:00 am – 2:00 pm
RSVP @ meshdesigns@yahoo.com or on facebook

in addition to our one-of-a-kind necklaces, come browse our scarves, earrings, bracelets, cuffs, clutches, ear mufflers,headbands….well, every type of woman’s accessories! scarves make a great stocking stuffer...and all are $20.

FREE mesh T-SHIRT to all attendees!

-prices range from $20 - $150 -cash, check & credit card accepted

on the table | everything listed above!!

week 18 – it’s never too hot for style

the oddest thing happened this past week. melissa and i took part an awesome home | show in la grange. not to mention it was held on one of the hottest days of the summer…tipping a sweltering 94 degrees. (i think it was actually still that hot outside when we left at 10:00 pm….that’s how hot it was!)

as mesh was setting up for the show we laughed at ourselves as we set up a display of scarves…thinking “who is going to buy a scarf on the hottest day of the summer?” well, we convinced ourselves...they are ‘summer scarves’…lightweight and airy. and we had just gotten a new batch of large checkered patterns…very transitional for the summer/fall season. let’s try it. so we left them out on the table.

[insert drum-roll here]

we sold so many scarves on thursday night! I think it was our highest scarf sale night to date.

then i got to thinking….what is it about the summer scarf that is so attractive these days. we used to only wear them in the winter to keep warm or as an attempt to add a bright accent color our black wool coats. i personally own about 20…and think i continually need more.

these are the reasons we've decided we love summer scarves...get yours at the next mesh show!

1. you feel a little fancy wearing them.

2. can’t decide which necklace to wear…no worries, use a scarf.

3. cost is no issue! you can get great scarves for under $20.

4. get too warm? take it off and tie it to your purse bohemian style.

5. best defense against the pesky air conditioning vent at your favorite restaurant.

6. easiest way to show your creative personality through texture, color and pattern.

7. there are a gazillion ways to wear a scarf. a woman thursday showed me a pretzel tie. be creative.

8. one-size fits all. (how much do we love this ladies?)

9. all the hollywood stars are wearing them. does jessica look great or what?

10. it's another excuse to buy new winter scarves. you can’t wear summer scarves in the winter!

-sherry

on the table | the brightest chunky necklace i've ever made

week 16 - neck ache

i woke up sunday morning morning, sat up and immediately wondered “why does my neck ache?” yoga perhaps? i couldn’t be (shouldn’t be!) that sore as it had been 3 days since my last class. then I realized the pinching pain was from the massive amount of beads we were carrying in shoulder bags saturday morning at the bead show we attended to buy summer/fall mesh raw inventory.

don’t get me wrong, look at the beads we got!....it was worth the pain!

saturday morning, melissa and I attended one of the great quarterly gem and jewelry shows that comes to chicago. vendors are there from all over the world and have the best beads hands down…they have the beads we cannot typically get in any chicago bead stores even! there is every shape and size bead at this show. other than this event, we mainly get our big and chunky beads from our trusted new york vendors. we even met a woman from nepal this trip. she was carrying our favorite worsted wool beads which we typically order from portugal!

anyhow, this was our best ‘buy’ to date. all the beads we typically search for were right in front of us! we got such an amazing inventory of beads….so much so, that I didn’t even put them away when I got home. I laid every strand on my island counter. (my husband must be wondering by now when we will eat dinner at the counter again...sorry!) i went straight ahead and made a necklace (#590) from these great citron stones. they are that perfect yellow that is found everywhere in fashion right now. intermixed are light gray striations which make a perfect warm and cool color combination. this piece will transition right into fall.

we have three home|shows booked over the next 30 days and we're thrilled to unveil the new products.

-sherry

on the table - more beads than I ever thought possible to carry

week 1 - spring time bibs

It is mesh Monday again…how do these weeks fly by so quickly?!

Spring is in the air, and I am feeling inspired! The more the sun shines, the more mesh-driven I become. There are so many things that inspire us to keep going with this little business of ours. Inspiration finds us in many places, including the sunshine: a flight above the clouds to a project destination; a magazine article about someone we aspire to be like; MLS photos of abandoned homes that we hope to live in and revive someday; displays at stores that are so creative, they make us want to go home and start reworking a wall in our living rooms…the list goes on and varies greatly. If only there were more time in a day, perhaps all of these inspirations would lead us to our mesh dreams.

So...back to reality, we are meshing tonight, and that can only mean one thing…I need to catch Sherry up on all of my amazing new shoes that I found on DEEP discount this weekend...okay, so it means other things too. We need to start producing our spring line! We are working on multiple ‘new wave’ creations including, but not limited to, bib neckwear. Yes, you know all of these bibs that you see women wearing around town. It is obvious who purchased theirs off of a production line shelf, and who’s was hand crafted with the most exquisite trinkets you have ever seen! mesh will of course follow the latter protocol for these one of a kind creations…and see what in the world we can come up with at the kitchen table. We just invested in a slew of AMAZING vintage appeal broaches to add to this collection. These one of a kind bibs will be obvious statement pieces created from ‘grandma’s entire jewelry drawer’ J

What do you think of this bib style necklace? What inspires you?

-melissa