JUMP START THURSDAY (3RD EDITION)

So yesterday, I got to attend the 3rd edition of the networking session that is Jumpstart Thursday. For those of you that do not know what it is about, it is a networking forum by Christine of Craft Afrika that gives crafters an opportunity to grow their trade through sharing ideas and putting them into practice in their various businesses. The theme this time round was separating yourself from your business, a huge problem among many crafters/designers. It is a common occurrence to find that we do not have separate bank accounts for our personal use and our craft businesses, and if we were not there for any reason the business cannot go on! It is such a common disease that Gillian, one of the designers attending said that she is everything in her business so much so that when she is having a bad hair day so does it! LOL.

Me and Zawadi of Zero by Zawadi

Jacinta of Niro Collections and Christine of Craft Afrika

Wangari from Peperuka and Mukami of Kihuruta

Kaye from Sasa Africa, another company that supports crafters was at hand to facilitate the first session of the forum. He gave us valuable information on marketing our products, working in a team among others.

Kaye from Sasa Africa

The last session was facilitated by Grace Makosewe, she of the Nairobi VIP fame. The wisdom she shared was extremely helpful! She gave us various tips, like the importance of having one or two employees to help so that even when you are not there, work goes on. This does not have to be an expensive venture, you can even have some of your friends help for free! Her personal story inspired us not to give up on our dreams, to start small and keep going no matter what. Her energy is something I have seen in very few people, and I know everyone that was there enjoyed every minute of interacting with her.

Grace Makosewe

The team!

Looking forward to the next one already, and to seeing how far it will help me push my brand.

Have a lovely Friday and thanks for stopping by!

Love,

iQuira

A TULIP INSPIRATION!

Been working hard, I think I spend half my time sewing nowadays.  No worries because I love every minute of it! I made a tulip resembling skirt for a school assignment, and I totally love it! I did not want to quite make a tulip because of the slit it has the front so I just used the gathered details at the hip and waist. I was advised to use chiffon because of the drape. I have never used it before and assumed it would be a tricky fabric to work with but the opposite was true. It cooperated very well!

The back was just plain, did not want to over do the style and make it too busy.

Love the details on the waist!



Later,

Love,

iQuira

SHOPPING THERAPY!

The shopping party at Serena this past Saturday was a great success! We all made plenty of sales, got to meet and mingle with lovely people and had lotsa fun. Thanks for coming out and making our day!

Wendy who blogs as 'thrifting diva'

OPI Nail polish that Wendy was selling

With Nancie 

With Wambui

My stand all set up

Wanbui consulting with a client

Ain't this clutch bag pretty?

Clutch by Wambui Mukenyi

Thanks again for supporting us and for coming through!

Love,

iQuira

SHOPPING PARTY!

So this Saturday, Wambui Mukenyi is having a sale at the Serena Hotel here in Nairobi and I will be selling my jewelry alongside her and Ellah of  'jewELLAHry' . You will be able to get clothes there for as little as 500kshs! That is a deal I tell ya.

Outfits  by Wambui Mukenyi

A piece by jewELLAHry

I will also give a free pair for every 3 pairs of earrings bought! Yup! You heard me right!
See you there, come shop, mingle, and have fun!

Enjoy your Thursday and thanks for stopping by.

Love,

iQuira

JUMPSTART THURSDAY

Last Thursday, I joined a group of amazing people for the 2nd editon of Jumpstart Thursday. As I mentioned earlier, Jumpstart Thursday is an initiative by Craft Afrika to support craftpreneurs and help them grow their business. Craft Afrika is a A social enterprise with a mission to support entrepreneurs in the crafts sector.
This time round, the theme was 'Raising finance for your Craft Business' and we got lots of good advice form Christine, the brains behind craft afrika, and Hellen from Musoni, a micro finance company. We learnt a lot from mingling with each other and got to appreciate the talent all round.

If you are a designer or crafts person feeling stuck and want to network with others similar to you, make sure you come through for the next one!

Hellen making a point

Kevin Rombe of Mapambo

Me, Ziki of Afrofanatic

Admiring a bag from Peperuka made of recycled bill-board material!

My earrings going round

Wamuca of 'Hadithi Store'

Zawadi, Wangari, Christine

Ziki of 'Afrofanatic' showing us one of the bags she makes 

Someone trying on my earring

This bag is made of polythene!

Gillian assessing my earrings!

Tea time!

Mululu from 'Mama Mikes' telling us what she does

Gillian showing us her beautiful clothes form her line

Christine and Hellen

Ziki with Wangari of Peperuka Ltd

Zawadi showing us her lovely yoga bags

Photos C/O Samir Khan


Have a lovely Monday,

Love,

iQuira

ART AND BEER FESTIVAL VOL 2

It is that time again! I has so much fun at the last one, not to mention the sales were over the roof! There was no missing the second edition. Bamboo will perform, among artists like the Villagers band, parking lot grass and many more! Those that wish to stay there on Saturday night can come with their tents and sleeping bags and set camp on the grounds. How cool!!!

Artists (tatoo, clothing designers, jewelry designers, fine artists ) will get a chance to exhibit and sell their work, and I am glad to be one of them. Come through to support local talent and above all have fun with friends and family! Come with your kids as well who will definitely enjoy the bouncing castle, trampoline and puppet shows.

Tickets are 1500kshs for Saturday and Sunday, and 1000kshs for sunday only.

Here is a sneak peek on what I will be selling tomorrow..

Hope to see y'all there tomorow or Sunday. Make sure to swing by my stand and say hello !

Enjoy your weekend,

Love,

iQuira

DIAMONDS IN THE RUFF.....

People are always asking me why I keep all the 'nice' pieces of jewelry for myself and I never have a response, up until yesterday when it all dawned on me! I was making some earrings for Art and Beer Festival this weekend and one of them back-fired. In my attempt to salvage the piece, I hurriedly put this and that together and decided to put it aside until I figure out how to correct the 'mistake'. I gave up on the piece and decided I could not sell it since it had 'backfired' so I would just wear it myself. I tried it on in front of the mirror and for some reason..... I loved them! As back fired as they were, I loved them!

 That's when it occurred to me that all the pieces I keep for myself are the 'backfired' ones, the ones my head decides did not come out the way I intended and so they were not worthy of selling. So I wear those failed pieces, get all these compliments, then people buy them right off my ears and it confuses me to no end!!

I guess there is no failure in art and what we convince ourselves is crap is a gem to other people. Well there is no failure in life really I guess, just our minds convincing us otherwise. I am thankful for those around me that love my work enough to see the beauty where I cannot, and to make me realize that my most beautiful piece is the one I had no plan for, the one where the wire went left when I wanted it to go right, the one where I put a green and blue bead together because I was out of matching beads, the one where one is slightly shorter than the other. I am learning to see beauty in the imperfection. It's a work in progress but I'm getting there!

I met someone today who 'knew'me before she had met me, because of my work. She sees my earrings on my blog and with other people and tells them, 'I Know the chic who makes these! I can tell her work from a mile away!'

I was flattered that she had followed my journey enough to KNOW my work, without ever buying a piece, without ever meeting me physically. Then she told me something else I found really profound, ' I know you because your work speaks louder than you do'. That struck a chord, because those who know me know I do not talk much, so I guess my over the top jewelry has become my voice, my vessel that speaks for me when I have no words to express myself.

 My art has become a spiritual path, teaching me the ways of life as I go along, patience, acceptance, I could go on all day! Above all, I get to meet all these lovely creative people that are on a similar path as mine, and I do not take that for granted.

Well, that, ladies and gentlemen is the end of today's sermon. ;) ;)

Allow me to share my 'backfired' pieces up until now...

Almost all these pieces (apart from the ring) were bought right out of my ears, and those that were not were bought as soon as I put them up on the blog!

Then, the backfired piece form yesterday that put everything into perspective.

Photo C/o Samir Khan

Photo C/o Samir Khan

Thanks for stopping by,

Love,

iQuira