Handmade Starfish Cuff Bracelets on Spring Sale Now for Only $159

Knock, knock? Spring is here, and so are YIKES! Studio starfish cuff bracelets in five exciting colors!

These bracelets are YIKES signature pieces that represent all the fun, sparkle and creativity of YIKES Maine-made jewelry, and they are on sale now for only $159.

Each bracelet is individually hand-crafted in the YIKES lakeside studio, where form and color combine into special, entirely original jewelry pieces that are so much fun to wear!

As a special for you, a YIKES blog follower, take an extra 10% off with code SPARKLEBRIGHT2014, until March 31. There are only nine days left to take advantage of this extra savings on a signature YIKES piece handcrafted in Maine.

See more views of the Sparkle Bright Starfish Cuff in Bright Blue below, and then head right over to Etsy to see more!

Check out a YIKES cuff in Pretty Pink, Bright Blue, or Mint Green >>

Mix it Up and Request a Custom Color >>

View all YIKES! Products on Etsy >>


Suzanne Anderson is the creator of YIKES! Studio Jewelry. Suzanne has been busy creating for most of her life. After graduating with a BFA from Maine College of Art, she worked as a graphic designer and a painter. Suzanne works to ensure that YIKES! Studio creates work that is fun, beautiful, always interesting, and adorns the wearer with joy. Catch up with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Etsy, or her website at www.yikesstudio.com.

New Neon "Slope Style" Pins

This new pin from YIKES Studio is fun and pretty, racy and bright! The ski slopes are filled with neon touches and that's where the inspiration for this line of pins came from.  

More views here. $28 + S&H.

This pin arrives in a cute chocolate colored gift box and is ready to ship now. Or see more ColorPop styles at YIKES! on Etsy. ❉




Suzanne Anderson is the creator of YIKES! Studio Jewelry. Suzanne has been busy creating for most of her life. After graduating with a BFA from Maine College of Art, she worked as a graphic designer and a painter. Suzanne works to ensure that YIKES! Studio creates work that is fun, beautiful, always interesting, and adorns the wearer with joy. Catch up with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Etsy, or her website at www.yikesstudio.com.

Three Months, Three Winter Vacations in Maine

If you like a combination of indoor coziness, foodie delights and outdoor sports, a Maine winter vacation is actually quite ideal. It's also a nice way for us Mainers to break up the winter monotony while saving money and staying closer to home.

What's there to do in my home state of Maine during the winter? Here are three ideas, one for each remaining winter month:

January in MILLINOCKET, MAINE
Millinocket Lake and New England Outdoor Center

A cozy winter vacation with all the amenities and access to almost every outdoor winter activity right on your doorstep-- that's the way to explore Maine in the winter!

The New England Outdoor Center (NEOC) has everything you need. It features beautiful guest houses with gas fireplaces, private bedrooms, living room, kitchen and private baths. 

Nearby is the River Driver's Restaurant, open year round, if you prefer to dine out.

NEOC's guest houses are the ideal base for a Maine snowmobiling vacation. You can rent a snowmobile (and warm winter clothes, if needed!) and have a blast on groomed, well-marked trails. 

Or try cross-country skiing, snowshoeing or hiking.


Dogs are welcome for a small fee (includes bed, bowl and treat!) See NEOC's Website for more information.






February in CAMDEN, MAINE
Camden, Camden Snow Bowl and the Toboggan Nationals

While many seaside towns in Maine shutter many of their shops and restaurants for the winter, Camden stays open. 

A quaint storybook New England town, it's festive all winter. Award-winning restaurants dot the streets, which are decked out in twinkling lights. 

For winter outdoor recreation, the Camden Snow Bowl offers downhill skiing, snowboarding and tubing. Eight marked trails are ideal for beginner and intermediate skiers and boarders. You can rent equipment if needed.

Camden is also home to the Jack Williams Toboggan Chute, a 400-foot toboggan run, and to the National Toboggan Championships, held February 9. Stalwart toboggan teams don crazy costumes and load into sleds for descents reaching up to 45 mph.

Nearby you will find the Camden Hills State Park, with 30 miles of hiking and snowshoeing trails, and the 66-acre Merryspring Nature Center, with trails open year round. 

March in PORTLAND & YORK COUNTY, MAINE
Portland, Maple Sugar Sunday, and Biddeford Pool

Portland, Maine, is full of things to do all year round, but a visit to Maine's biggest city is an especially good pick-me-up in March, when the winter is feeling too long.

Try an ice skating lesson at The Portland Ice Arena, go shopping in the Old Port, and visit one of the city's excellent restaurants (Portland has loads-- check out this dining guide to help narrow your selection.)

Thirty minutes outside of Portland is the small town of Lyman, where you can find Brookridge Boilers. They'll be celebrating Maple Syrup Sunday on March 24 with an all you can eat pancake breakfast at 8 am.

Self guided sugarbush tours, syrup making demonstrations, free syrup samples, maple products for sale will comprise the rest of the festivities, lasting until mid-afternoon. For more celebration of Maple Syrup Sunday, check out the Maine Maple Sugar Association's map.

❉

Suzanne Anderson is the creator of YIKES! Studio Jewelry. Suzanne has been busy creating for most of her life. After graduating with a BA from Maine College of Art, she worked as a graphic designer and a painter. Suzanne works to ensure that YIKES! Studio creates work that is fun, beautiful, always interesting, and adorns the wearer with joy. Catch up with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Etsy, or her website at www.yikesstudio.com.

Give a Yikes! Studded Stacking Bangle. Get Joy.

Stock up on stocking stuffers from YIKES! Studio's selection of handcrafted Studded Stacking Bangles!

Need a different color that you do not see offered online? You are invited to contact me with your questions and color requests. Just email suzanne@yikesstudio.com.

To see more views and select your perfect color, visit bit.ly/sstackers.

New Fall Gold, Red and Black Bangles and Earrings from YIKES! Studio

What's new at YIKES!? Here's a new bangle with a lovely autumn hue and an interior richly detailed with red and black.

I've been working with lots of red and black this fall, and I'm loving the combo. I think the gold really plays it up and makes it a perfect fall piece.

To go with the bangle, there are a pair of earrings in matching hues, in a new YIKES! Studio style.

It's a very contemporary design that combines intricate, traditional milliefiori-style polymer caning on the inside with a modern design overall-- really revving it up with that rich golden hue!

The ear wires are sterling silver. The earrings are approx. 4" in length.

Both of these newbies are available online from my YIKES! Etsy shop. Check out more views there. ❉


Suzanne Anderson is the creator of YIKES! Studio Jewelry. Suzanne has been busy creating for most of her life. After graduating with a BA from Maine College of Art, she worked as a graphic designer and a painter. Suzanne works to ensure that YIKES! Studio creates work that is fun, beautiful, always interesting, and adorns the wearer with joy. Catch up with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Etsy, or her website at www.yikesstudio.com.

Studio Party

On Saturday, September 21, I held a private studio party at my jewelry studio on Lucerne Lake in Maine. What a great time! It was wonderful to meet you all. Here are a few photos:

If you would like to book a private studio party for your group, please contact me to schedule one! I provide wine and snacks with jewelry demos and opportunities for shopping. A fun afternoon or evening in the studio for a group. Beautiful lakeside property on Lucerne Lake, gorgeous in all seasons, but especially beautiful with the fall foliage that's just beginning to kick in!❉


Suzanne Anderson is the creator of YIKES! Studio Jewelry. Suzanne has been busy creating for most of her life. After graduating with a BA from Maine College of Art, she worked as a graphic designer and a painter. Suzanne works to ensure that YIKES! Studio creates work that is fun, beautiful, always interesting, and adorns the wearer with joy. Catch up with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Etsy, or her website at www.yikesstudio.com.

Blues, Zydeco and the Peking Opera at Bangor, Maine's American Folk Festival

Photo credit: americanfolkfestival.com

One of central Maine's most exciting cultural events, The American Folk Festival, is happening this weekend-- August 23 through 25 on the Bangor waterfront. This huge festival is a colorful whirlwind of performances hailing from all over the country, with cultural roots all over the globe.

In years past, I have participated in the fest as a vendor. This year I decided to enjoy the festival in a different way-- Sadly, I won't have a booth in the artists' and vendors' area this year, but I'm excited to instead take the time to enjoy the festivities and performances with my husband, Anthony.

To plan your weekend at the American Folk Festival, grab a schedule and check out the performers! Here are a few that will pique your interest:

Rosie Ledet, the "sweetheart of zydeco," is an American Zydeco accordion player and singer, and is among the few zydeco artists who still sing and write some of their own material in Creole French. She will perform on Saturday, August 24 at 2:15pm on the Bangor Daily News Railroad Stage.



The Qi Shu Fang Beijing Peking Opera Company, shown here performing in Wuhan City, capital of central China's Hubei Province, will be showcasing their talent at the 2013 American Folk Festival. They will be on the LL Bean Penobscot Stage at 1:30 pm on Saturday, August 24.




International festival favorite Sista Monica Parker, shown performing at Cisco Blues Festival in 2009. She will perform on the Bangor Daily News Railroad Stage on Friday, August 23 at 9:30 pm.

A Sanctuary for Art (and Wildlife): Maine's Gilsland Farm Audubon Show

YIKES! Studio necklace

This year I'll be wrapping up my summer craft shows with the Gilsland Farm Audubon Show in Falmouth, Maine. I'll be showing the best of my summer collection, and I'm excited to share these pieces-- from earrings and bangles to showpiece necklaces with loads of beautiful detailed patterns and colors.

The show itself takes place this upcoming weekend, Aug 17 & 18, at the Maine Audubon headquarters, a sixty-five acre wildlife sanctuary on the Presumpscot River, near Maine's most populous city, Portland.  

The sanctuary is a hub of education and environmental advocacy, with programs to help protect and preserve a number of animal species in Maine. (You can find out more about getting involved with their very interesting tracking programs here!)

The sanctuary is not only a beautiful setting for a craft show, the Gilsland Farm Audubon Show is also raises money for the Maine Audubon. The small admission fee ($3/members, $4/nonmembers) benefits the Audubon's programs.

If you want to check out the rest of the sanctuary, you'll find that Gilsland Farm’s 2.5 miles of trails wind through meadows, in and out of woods, and along the shore of the Presumpscot River estuary. All of the trails are gentle with no steep grades.

Along the way, you might see meadowlarks, warblers, frogs, and red fox. It's the perfect chance to see some wildlife and some lush greenery before summer starts to slip away!

A print from 2013 Gilsland Farm Show artist Kathleen Buchanan of Grey Seal Press	A YIKES! Studio necklace headed for the show!

This juried show is in it's 17th year and presents only handmade items from over 70 craftspeople. The show will be open from 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday, August 17 and 10 am to 4 pm on Sunday, August 18 at 20 Gilsland Farm Road, near Rt. 1 in Falmouth (see a map here) Catered food will be available and the walking trails will be open, so come by and make a day of it! ❉

Summer Adventures in Rockland, Maine: Archipelago, The Farnsworth, Gelato and more!

(source)

It's summer, and a wonderful time for a drive through gorgeous Maine towns-- Boothbay, Camden, Belfast and many more.

I'm privileged to be able to show my work in several wonderful galleries and shops throughout Maine. I'd like to share with you a few of my favorite towns on Maine's coast  and spotlight the shops that carry my work. I hope you'll stop in!

This week the focus is Rockland, Maine, located in the Midcoast region between Belfast and Brunswick. Rockland, with its lively and vibrant art scene, is a must-visit town whether you live in Maine or visit for the summer.

Here's why you should visit Rockland!

Rockland, Maine

Things to do: Visit the nationally recognized Farnsworth Art Museum; get a gelato at Lulu's Ice Cream and Gelato shack; take a morning walk around the historic Rockland Breakwater Light, attend a lively First Friday Artwalk.
 
Find my work at: Archipelago

Rockland is really fun in the summertime. It's a big art town, with the famous Farnsworth Museum, showing generations of Wyeths, and galleries lining the main street. It has a number of fun, affordable eateries, so you're never more than a few steps away from a relaxed, fun place to get a bite to eat. And it was recently named one of the two "coolest small towns in America" by Budget Travel!

Rockland also has some of the liveliest artwalks in Maine! Participating galleries of Arts in Rockland (AIR) hold receptions on each first Friday, May through December. Twenty-three galleries, in addition to the Farnsworth, participate each month. Friday, July 5 is the date for the next Walk.

I recommend Lulu's Ice Cream and Gelato shack for a fun late-night treat (look for the colorful gelato shack on Oak Street, between Main and Union.) The ice cream is made is Maine and it's out of this world!


In Rockland, you can find my work at Archipelago, located centrally at 386 Main Street in Rockland. The establishment, which is part gallery, part store, carries a beautifully curated selection of artwork and fine crafts--from housewares to clothing to paper goods-- from Maine. ❉

Kickoff to a Great Summer: What To Do and See in Maine

Memorial Day marks the beginning of Summer Proper in Maine, and I thought I'd take the chance to point out a few things to do in Maine that are especially fun or noteworthy! Have a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend, and check out all Maine has to offer this summer!

The town of Gardiner's Ride Into Summer Parade on Saturday, May 25, is "a wicked tasty way to kick-off the summer season in Maine"! This event includes a motorcycle and bicycle parade, a local pizza contest, live tunes and Maine's biggest fireworks display. 

On Monday, May 27, Memorial Day, towns across Maine will host parades and honor veterans. Memorial services will be held across the state. For a list of the parades and memorial services taking place all across Maine, click here.

In the Downeast/Acadia region, daily birdwatching tours will be taking place from Friday, May 24 through Monday, May 27 as part of the 10th Annual Downeast Spring Birding Festival. The area is one of the important bird areas in the US. The Festival offers birders self-guided explorations as well as guided hikes, boat tours (including a puffin trip to Machias Seal Island), and presentations led by area experts. See more here.

The Piscataquis Heritage Hot Air Balloon Festival (the very first!) takes place May 31 through June 2! Check out their website for a full schedule of events, which will include music, artisans and crafters, demonstrations, and kid activities. The full schedule of balloon lift-offs and other fun stuff is found here.

Wherever (or whenever, if you're a part-time Mainer!) you are in Maine, make sure you make time to visit a farmer's market. If you're planning a BBQ, it's exactly where you want to go to pick up fresh produce, even fresh cuts of beef, pork, or chicken. Visit the mainefarmersmarkets.org website for a listing of farmer's markets in Maine!

"Starfish" earrings in pink (See more whimsical
beach-inspired earrings on my website.)

And of course, whether you live in Maine or will be coming here this Memorial Day weekend, I hope you'll support local artisans, craftspeople, farmers and businesses. Thank you for shopping local, sending your money back into the economy and building a more vibrant local economy!

The gallery in which I am a member artist, SevenArts Gallery, in Ellsworth, is open Monday - Saturday and will be open Memorial Day. I have a great selection of new, exciting jewelry for the Summer season. Please stop by! ❉