Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Mark Your Calendars for Friday October 30




Mark your calendars for Friday October 30 from 5 pm to 9 pm. Lake Erie Artists Gallery will be hosting a Trunk Show for Artist Mindy Sand. Mindy will be bringing all of her hand painted glassware and functional ceramic pieces. The event is free and open to the public and a terrific time to pick up those holiday gifts that you need. Mindy's work is dishwasher safe, and perfect for a wedding gift, anniversary gift, or just a gift for yourself.


Shop online for unique gifts and local art at Lake Erie Artists Gallery at Shaker Square.

Viktor Schreckengost--Entrance to the City



This beautiful print by artist Viktor Schreckengost is available for sale at Lake Erie Artists Gallery in our store and on our website. The Schreckengost print is one of a series of 12 prints that were made for a calendar in the late 1980's. Each one depicts a scene from Cleveland Ohio done in the colorful style of Viktor Schreckengost.

To see this print, and more local Cleveland art, go to Lake Erie Artists Gallery.

Shop online for unique gifts and local art at Lake Erie Artists Gallery at Shaker Square.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Pottery by Tracy Shea



I really love this pottery by Tracy Shea. We have this bowl in stock right now, and I am sitting here falling in love with it. Tracy's work is just so beautiful and functional. Tracy makes all of her pottery in her studio in the Akron area. Her glazes are hand mixed and dipped, and all of her pottery is safe for oven, microwave and dishwasher.

To see this bowl and more of Tracy's work, follow this link.

Are you looking for Trollbeads? Unique Gifts and Local Art at Lake Erie Artists Gallery at Shaker Square.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Preparing for the Colder Weather


Today is October 1, and Lake Erie Artists Gallery has been in our new home officially four months now, because we moved out of Tower City in April, and took one month to really get things going in May. The store has taken on a life of its own, and now we move into the cooler fall and winter weather heading to the holiday shopping season.

Due to the fact that October is the Breast Cancer Commoration month, Lake Erie Artists Gallery will donate 5% of any items purchased in our store or online during the month of October 2009. We like to support good causes and breast cancer research is one of the best. I am currently working on the October newsletter which should be out later today, and planning the month going forward.

As the weather changes, you can still expect Lake Erie Artists Gallery to be open at 8 am on Saturdays, but we will only be at the Shaker Square Farmers Market on the good weather days.

Are you looking for Trollbeads? Unique Gifts and Local Art at Lake Erie Artists Gallery at Shaker Square.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Lake Erie Artists Gallery is Part of City Vistor


Check it out! Lake Erie Artists Gallery is now part of City Visitor. We are on their website, and will also be in their magazine starting October 1.

This is a site that is linked with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame site, the Football Hall of Fame site, and the magazine goes into the hotel room of every visitor to the Cleveland area, so this is a big deal. I am very excited. Check out the page.


Are you looking for Trollbeads? Unique Gifts and Local Art at Lake Erie Artists Gallery at Shaker Square.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Saturday Evening at Shaker Square



I am sitting in our classroom in Lake Erie Artists Gallery after a pretty long day. The weather has been rainy and sunny and windy during different parts of the day. My husband and I sat outside in our booth at Shaker Square Farmers Market this morning, and it seems like families are getting ready to go back to school this week. One of my daughters starts back Monday, but the other one does not start back until September 1. It is so hard to believe the summer has pretty much come and gone. We have done so much this summer, but yet there is so much we did not get an opportunity to do.

September is coming nevertheless, and this will be our first fall season at Shaker Square for Lake Erie Artists Gallery. In many ways, the fall and holiday season is the true test of a store. This is when many retail companies really measure their success. September is also the beginning of a new quarter for us, and even though we haven't accomplished all I set out to do this summer, we have begun to establish a presence here at Shaker Square. Today I had the pleasure of giving a customer her third piece of wall art from our store, and she wants to come back and buy another. This is the kind of loyal business we are working on building here, whether it be online or in our store, and the only thing holding us back is revenue. So as our revenue grows, so will our merchandise base, and so will our customer base, and so on as the cycle goes around again.

Every time a customer buys something from our store, part of that money goes to our artists, part to our vendors, and part to our government. We use local businesses as our vendors for packaging, printing, website services, and so on. So I like to think of the money flowing outward from here to our vendors.

Today has been a day of lots of traffic, but mostly browsers, but tomorrow is the British Car Show, so I think we will have a lot of shoppers when they get tired of looking at cool cars. We will be open tomorrow from 11 am to 6 pm, and closed on Monday.

I happen to be a Jaguar fan, so I am really looking forward to seeing the Jaguars tomorrow. My husband, two daughters, and I will be taking turns in the store and looking at cars.

I have been working feverishly on the website, now that it is back up, so keep checking for changes. Here is the link: Lake Erie Artists Gallery

Are you looking for Trollbeads? Unique Gifts and Local Art at Lake Erie Artists Gallery at Shaker Square.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Our Website is Back Up





Our website is back up and just needs a little remodeling to go with the new store. I am very excited about this, and you should see some vast changes to the site within the next week. Getting it up-to-date is going to be one of my top priorities. In the meantime, take a look at some of the terrific items that we already have on the site. More will be coming soon.

Here is the link to bookmark: Lake Erie Artists Gallery

Are you looking for Trollbeads? Unique Gifts and Local Art at Lake Erie Artists Gallery at Shaker Square.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Final Change to Our Hours



I have made one final change in our hours. Starting today, Lake Erie Artists Gallery will be open the following hours:
Monday, Wednesday 11 am to 6 pm
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 11 am to 8 pm
Saturday 8 am to 9 pm
Sunday closed

The only exception to this is going to be holidays, events or classes which will be announced ahead of time.

The first event is going to be Sunday August 23, 2009. We will be open that day from 11 am to 6 pm because of the 18th Annual British Car Show that will be held at Shaker Square.

We will be closed Monday August 24, 2009 so we can have a day off.

Are you looking for Trollbeads? Unique Gifts and Local Art at Lake Erie Artists Gallery at Shaker Square.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Updating Online Information


Been updating online information this week. Our website should be back up by next week, and I am working on all of the auxiliary pages that we have. Spent some time today updating our Recipes Using St. Aubyn's Pride Gourmet Sauces page. Sold 3 of the St. Aubyn's Pride sauces today to a family from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They are really excellent, and I love to share them with people.

Speaking of Baton Rouge, I was able to inaugurate the new Lake Erie Artists Gallery Visitors Journal today with visitors from as far away as London, England. There is a new link on the right side of this blog that you can click on any time to see where our visitors are from and what they have to say.

Are you looking for Trollbeads? Unique Gifts and Local Art at Lake Erie Artists Gallery at Shaker Square.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Getting All Kinds of Tourists Here at Shaker Square

Jazzin by Brian Jones

I have been both pleased and interested to find that we are getting a significant number of tourists here in our new location at Shaker Square. In the last couple of days, I have had visitors from Taiwan, who were bringing their daughter to CWRU for Engineering School, and a doctor from Lima, Peru who is staying with his fiance (a resident at Cleveland Clinic) while he hunts for a job.

I didn't really expect to have so many people from out of town here, and really it is good for us. I had a very good suggestion made to me today to create a journal of visitors from out of town. Each person could put their name and where they are from, and a few sentences about what brings them here. How much fun is that? I think that I will publish some of it online, on a separate page of this blog. I will let you know when I get started so that you can check in from time to time.

See you all at the North Union Farmer's Market tomorrow!

Are you looking for Trollbeads? Unique Gifts and Local Art at Lake Erie Artists Gallery at Shaker Square.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Summer Saturday at Shaker Square

VivaBeads Black Lace Bracelet

VivaDiva bracelet for girls


Spent today at Shaker Square at the North Union Farmers Market in the morning, and at our store the rest of the day. It was so beautiful today, sunny and warm, very enjoyable.

My sister is visiting from Los Angeles,and she came to check out the new store, and just loved it! Had nice day in the store, and while I was there I made two new necklaces to list on Etsy. Way behind on online stuff though.

We have been selling a lot of VivaBeads jewelry lately. They make terrific gifts for co-workers or friends. There is even a line of children's bracelets, perfect for a birthday party.

Are you looking for Trollbeads? Unique Gifts and Local Art at Lake Erie Artists Gallery at Shaker Square.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Newest Class List


Fused Glass Pendant by Paula Atwell

The newest class list just went out via email, but if you have not gotten it or have changed emails, be sure to visit live on our new updated class website. This site will be updated every time the classes change, and classes do get added and cancelled between newsletters. So bookmark this page, and check it every once in a while, and you will have the latest information.

Today has been a very good day so far. I have been busy all day. I sold a new customer a beautiful Trollbeads bracelet, including a lace lock, dichroic ice bead, and white steel bead. It really looked good on her when she wore it out of here, and she was so happy.

I also found out that we are going to be able to hang some artwork in Dewey's coffee shop, hopefully sometime next week. We are just waiting for the wall space.

I am already getting signups for the next batch of classes, so if you want to take the classes, don't wait to sign up. I would hate to have a class closed out and you not be able to get in.

Viva Beads have been very popular here too, and we have a new shipment coming in soon. I can't wait to see the new colors, and patterns.

Got to meet Kristin Esser, the commercial property manager for Coral Company today. I have talked to her on the phone but haven't gotten to meet her in person until today. I have to say that Coral Company has been great to work with, and Kristin was just as nice as everyone else has been.

I am making some new jewelry styles using my pearl knotting technique, and combining it with my fine silver pieces. So back to that. Here is the first piece to give you an idea.

Are you looking for Trollbeads? Unique Gifts and Local Art at Lake Erie Artists Gallery at Shaker Square.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Introducing You to A Piece of Cleveland



If you haven't heard of A Piece of Cleveland yet, and you are interested in local history, you should definitely check them out. According to APOC, "APOC designs and constructs quality furnishings and accessories out of materials reclaimed from deconstructed buildings in the Cleveland area. We work to preserve the history of these buildings by salvaging constructed materials and turning them around as functional products that tell a story."

APOC makes both retail items, and custom items depending on your needs. We carry several of their retail items in our store, and if you would like a custom item, we will connect you to them directly to see if they can meet your needs.



APOC's work is truly beautiful. Right now I have a coffee table in the gallery that I am in love with. And each item comes with a rebirth certificate so that you know the story behind the item.

So, come in and check out their work. Really a piece of local history.

Are you looking for Trollbeads? Unique Gifts and Local Art at Lake Erie Artists Gallery at Shaker Square.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Introducing You to the New Lake Erie Artists Gallery


Since we have a new gallery at Shaker Square, I thought that for the next few weeks, I would reintroduce you to http://squidoo.com/lake-erie-artists-gallery">Lake Erie Artists Gallery, tell you about the items we sell, our classes, and our mission so that you know what we are all about.

I thought that I would start out with a jewelry line we carry in the gallery that is not a local artist line, Trollbeads. Trollbeads is a jewelry line that I brought into Lake Erie Artists Gallery last year when I was looking for a unique jewelry line that was artist designed and driven, yet could be purchased in gold as well as silver.

I chose Trollbeads because it was a line of very beautiful jewelry, that could be personalized and would make a terrific gift for a graduate, bride, or mom. It is a very collectible line, and includes Murano glass beads, amber, and now jasper. Below are some pictures of sample Trollbeads jewelry:



One of the coolest things about Trollbeads is the company's website. You can go to the website, create a virtual bracelet, then print it out or email it right to us and we can build the actual bracelet for you. It is a great way to create a wishlist for your family to buy for you. Check it out and if you have any questions, contact me at sales@lakeerieartists.com.

For up-to-date information about classes and events, visit Lake Erie Artists Gallery at Shaker Square.

Friday, July 24, 2009

New Trollbeads Promotion




Good news! I just got word today that I can run a Trollbeads promotion without a Trunk Show. So starting right now, customers can get a free bracelet (chain) if they buy a clasp for $40 or more. The bracelet is a $36 value, and would be a great start on a gift for the holidays or for another occasion. So hurry in and get your free bracelet, to get started on a terrific gift for you or a loved one.

Or if you would like, email me sales@lakeerieartists.com to have the items shipped to you.

For up-to-date information about classes and events, visit Lake Erie Artists Gallery at Shaker Square.