End of Summer Event!

Southern California!! 

We've decided to have a End of Summer at our Lemon Grove,CA  shop! 

Come out and join us for food, fun and some great raffle items, which we'll be posting photos of as we put them together!

We hope to see you there! Please feel free to share this event as well.

Confirmed upcoming events:

Here's the latest event schedule for Wyng'd Lyon:


April 25-27, 2014

Kingdom Con is San Diego's gaming convention held at the San Diego Crowne Plaza in Mission Valley. This will be the first time for Wyng'd Lyon vending there and we're looking forward to the fun times to be had. Visit their website for more information.

May 2-4, 2014

Back for its 4th year and probably one of our favorite events, Gaslight Gathering is again being held at the Town and Country Hotel in Mission Valley, Ca. Come out for some great panels, performances and costumes! Ticket can be bought at the Gaslight Gathering website.

May 17, 2014

Join us again for the North Park Festival of the Arts street fair, a fabulous one day event of art, music, food and many other fun activities for the family and the best thing, there is no admission fee! For more information, visit their website.

May 31-June 1, 2014

Wyng'd Lyon will be vending at Long Beach Comic Expo for the first time, join us and Tawmis & Maico from the Comic Relief Podcast to see what type of  mischief the three of us can wrangle together. For more information about Long Beach Comic Expo, visit their website.

Stay tuned here to the blog or visit http://wyngdlyon.com/events for an updated listing of the events that we are going to be at throughout the year.

Hope to see you all soon!

HRM Steampunk Symposium (Recap - Part III)

Here are Part I and Part II  for those of you who are just joining us.

The second day of conventions always tend to be the least stressful, mostly because everything is set up already and all we have to do when we get to the vendor room is uncover the booth and reset a few items that we laid down so they don't get knocked over and broken, like our Absinthe glasses.

That and by then my body has decided that I get to sleep in, or maybe it's because I've whacked out my sleep schedule because we'd stay up until 1 or 2 am the night before laughing and giggling about whatever our sleep deprived brains decide is funny. Of course, the biggest problem with this is we end up being loud and not know it until the adjoining wall gets pounded on by the occupants we've woken up or by getting a phone call from the front desk. Thankfully none of that happened this year.

Again, my brain decided that I needed to be the first one awake as soon as the sun came up, though I did actually get to sleep in until 7:30 am, trust me this is a milestone, just ask any parent with kids under the age of 7. Grabbing my phone, I read email and checked Facebook while I waited for the rest of the crew to wake up, or in this case, I ended up waking them up as everyone was enjoying their slumber, this was of course after walking the obstacle course of bodies on the floor to and from the bathroom.

On to making coffee and ironing the yards of red fabric for my dress, which had been balled up in a pile since the last time it was worn, which I think was back in July 2013, all the while the 5 of us were doing the hotel room dance around each other, trying to get in and out of the bathroom and around the room to get dressed and our make up on. Despite no real choreography, no one tripped, died or fried themselves on the hot iron.

Once we were all corseted up, we grabbed our things and headed upstairs to uncover the booth and get ready for the days customers. Cindy and Andee ventured off to the coffee cart to obtain some more caffeine and some much needed food and we were ready for the day! Bring on the sales!

Saturday was as busy as Friday and we could tell when then panels and other events let out as we were graced by a wave of customers each time. Cindy was cranking out the commission sketches between customers and friends stopping by and Andee was working on some creative quilled items, while I sat and finished sewing the string ties and ascots that I hadn't finished before leaving San Diego, if you can't tell, this is a reoccurring thing for me, of course it also gives me something to do during the slow times in the booth.

Come the end of the vending day we were more than ready to go change, grab dinner and then come back to get ready for the ball.

Dinner was once again at The Auld Dubliner, though it was just the three of us this round and we lacked the fun bus ride of Thursday night, but we did remember to get off the bus at the stop closer to the Pub! (See we can be taught!) After a round of Irish Coffees, a lovely glass of Oban Scotch and some really good food, we made our way back to the Queen Mary and donned our finery for the Saturday night ball.

We made it to the ball just in time for Abney Park to start their second set for the evening. Being a big fan of their music I was very excited to see them live, though I wished that the kids could have been there, because they would have had a blast as well. Once the set was over the came out and did a couple more songs as an encore and then threw out the sets lists from the second set. I was standing there talking to Cindy when I felt something bounce off my chest, lo and behold, it was one of the set lists.

After the crowd dispersed a bit we went over to get in line and get autographs. I also picked up a copy of Abney Park's book Wrath of Fate and had that and the set lists autographed by the band. I even managed to get photos with the guitarist and the lead singer, Robert. I told him how my kids love to sit in the back seat of the truck and sing along with Airship Pirates. He also noticed Cindy's stuffed ferret, Senor Squeaky Pants and asked if it was a weasel, when she said no, he asked if it could be a weasel (if only for a moment). Seems  the guitarist has a thing for weasels. She laughed and said he could be a weasel if they wanted him to be. Robert then pointed our Senor Squeaky Pants to the guitarist and he dug out his phone and asked Robert to take a photo with the comment "I think this the first time I've ever asked to have a photo with a fan."

We chatted for a few more minutes and then made our way to the midnight buffet line and since we were not only full from dinner a few hours earlier, we lived by the ideal that "Life is uncertain, eat dessert first" mantra and went straight for the tasty dessert morsels.

After our fill of sugary goodness we made our way back to the hotel room, chatted for a bit and then passed out.

The 4th and final part is here

Happy New Year!

I hope that everyone had a safe and wonderful holiday, what ever you may celebrate and Happy New year to everyone. I hope that 2013 bring you all joy and happiness without any strife.

Cindy & I at HRM Steampunk Symposium

 2012 was a big year for Wyng'd Lyon Creations. We started off the year vending at HRM Steampunk Symposium on the beautiful Queen Mary. Our review of the event can be found here.  From there we did a few craft shows with the North Park Independant Bazar over at The Queen Bee Arts & Cultural Center and then prepped for GasLight Gathering in May. This was a second year at Gaslight Gathering and as usual it was a great time. The staff and all the participants are all so wonderful to be around. I did however slack on a review this year for the event. 

The next event was the North Park Festival of the Arts. The weather was beautiful and there was so much to see and fun to be had, though we ended set up near one of the stages and at times the volume was a bit unbearable at times. We're hoping to vend at the event again this year, but will have to see what the rest of the calendar looks like. 

Tawmis and his cool dog Odin

I actually took a couple big steps forward this year, the first was swallowing my pride and admitting that I really have too much stuff on my plate. I  asked my dear friend Tawmis from Pirate Booty & Neverending Nights to help out with the social media stuff for Wyng'd Lyon. For anyone who has a small business, you know how difficult it is to turn something over to someone else, but really I couldn't have picked a better person to handle it all. In addition to being smart, creative, and fun to be around, Tawmis has been there with lots of encouragement and to help life my spirits or talk me off a ledge when I'm on the verge of freaking out. 

Booth setup at SD Pagan Pride

For the first time I also vended at SD Pagan Pride. It was their 10 year event and to be honest it was the first that I have ever heard of the gathering. I vended with Sarah from Sinda Aran Glass and as always had a great time.  The recap can be found here. The people and the weather were amazing and I'm looking forward to getting out there again this year. 

Grand Opening Celebration

The second big step this year was signing a 6 month least for studio/retail space out in Casa De Oro. August was a full month of painting, moving and organizing the new space to make it workable. Not to mention nerve wrecking since it was such a big step for me and the business. We held a Grand Opening Celebration at the end of September and had a great turnout. 

SD Comic Fest Booth setup

Another new event that we participated in was SD Comic Fest at the Town and Country Hotel in Mission Valley. The event was a blast and was reported to have over 800 people for it's first run. The booth setup was quite attention getting because it was so out of the norm for a Comic Convention, but we had lots of people stop by and check us out. This is another even that we're looking forward to giving a second run in 2013. 

We had one more small craft show in November at Qualcomm Inc, which was our 8th or 9th year doing the event. This year we shared booth space with Elizabeth from Atomic Kitty and were blessed with beautiful weather and lots of great customers stopping by. 

Sewing on patches for a client

The Saturday after Thanksgiving was Small Business Saturday and we had an open house at the shop and had a nice amount of customers and friends stopping by to help support us and all the artisans that we feature at the shop. 

We wound down the year with family and friends for the holidays and then started up production for 2013. 

We're starting off 2013 back at HRM Steampunk Symposium, and then in March we have the honor of vending out at Wild West Con in Tucson, from there we'll be back at Gaslight Gathering and then who knows what the rest of the year is going to bring. 

Thank you to all the friends, family, customers and patrons for all the support and business that you gave us in 2012. We look forward to seeing you all in 2013 and joining us on the ride that we're about to embark on. 

We have some great things in the works for 2013 and we hope that you will be as excited about them as we are!

Best wishes in 2013,

~Colleen

PS: And because it was too cool not to post, here is a photo from Halloween of me as Mina Harker and Tawmis as a Pirate.

Mina & Capt'n Tawmis

Holiday Shopping Event

Come join us December 22, 2012 for our Holiday Shopping event and get a special and unique gift for those left on your shopping list!

Small Business Saturday TODAY!!!

Please come out and help support small businesses today:

Wyng'd Lyon Creations will be open from 10 am to 6 pm and we'll have items from the below artisans and crafters:



Wyng'd Lyon Creations
Original Cin
Atomic Kitty Designs
GCat Studios
Lee Kohse
Twylite Creations
Christal Blu Creations
Leon de Glas
Little Vampires
Ms Formaldehyde



Wyng'd Lyon Creations is located at

10028 Campo Road
Spring Valley, Ca 91977

phone: (858) 876-7398


We hope to see you there!!!

Happy Shopping!

~Colleen

Small Business Saturday!!

The Holiday season is fast approaching and what better way to start off by getting something handmade by those on your holiday list.

Come join us on November 24, 2012 and help support some great local businesses.

We'll have items from the following artisans and crafters:

Wyng'd Lyon Creations
Original Cin
Atomic Kitty Designs
GCat Studios
Lee Kohse
Twylite Creations
Christal Blu Creations
Leon de Glas

Grand Opening Recap

First off, I want to say "Thank you!!!!" to everyone who came out for Wyng'd Lyon Creations grand opening celebration on September 29, 2012.

You are all amazing with your support and patronage!! People like you are the ones who make running a business worth the time and effort.

I'd like to put out a very special thank you to the following people:

My dear friend Tawmis Logue from Pirate Booty &  Never Ending Nights. With out all his hard work promoting things not only on the Wyng'd Lyon social media sites but also on his own pages, and all his support in keeping me from freaking out because of the level of stress I was dealing with, I would have been a total wreck come Saturday morning. Besides that he gives some pretty damn good hugs! I'm fortunate to have such a great person keeping me grounded and from running around like a chicken with my head cut off.

Katie is another one of those great people that I am honored to call a friend. She took the time out of her crazy, busy schedule and made all the food for the grand opening. Not only is she a fabulous person, she makes some seriously amazing food!

The DJ of the day: Michael over at DramaFree Productions. He spun some great tunes and endured the heat  outside to keep things going. If you need a DJ here in San Diego, check him out!

And last, but not least, my husband Tom. He's been there to deal with the ups and downs of everything and has been supportive of this endeavor. He's done all the installation work at the shop and helped set things up as well as took care of the kids so I didn't have to worry about them running rampant around the parking lot.

I'm looking forward to the upcoming days with the shop and growing the business. The grand opening was just the first of many events to happen. so please stay tuned for more.

Here are some of the photos, more to come soon!

Partial setup before the opening

More of the partial shop setup

Food & DJ setup

Me & Tawmis

Photos on top row by GCat Studios, Art Prints by OriginalCin

Final setup

Artwork by Lee Kohse & Handblow glass vases & goblets by Lance Burcham

Fabric ornaments by Wyng'd Lyon Creations

Vest by Wyng'd Lyon, Hair Barretts by Original Cin & Tshirt by SighCo Graphics

Bottles & Pillows by Wyng'd Lyon Creations

Ascots & Gift bags, by Wyng'd Lyon Creations

Outside the shop

San Diego Pagan Pride

September 8, 2012 Wyng'd Lyon Creations will be sharing the booth with Sinda Aran Glass at San Diego Pagan Pride. Also we will have some incredible art from Cindy over at Original Cin - You can visit Cindy's FB page by going here:https://www.facebook.com/originalcinart !

We'd love to see you out and about so grab a friend, family member, or a random stranger and come visit us at the San Diego Pagan Pride!

For more information on the San Diego Pagan Pride you can visit their site here - http://sdpaganpride.org/

Hope to see you out and about!

~Col

Exciting News!!!!!!

Here is it ladies & gentlemen.....Wyng'd Lyon Creations has a new home! We will be opening our doors to our new studio/storefront August 1, 2012 out in Casa De Oro off of Kenwood Drive.

Home again, home again.

Back and unpacked  from Gaslight Gathering II, recap of the event coming over the next couple of days!

Hope everyone had a grand weekend!

Gaslight Gathering 2012

I'm currently gearing up for my weekend at Gaslight Gathering II and trying not to run around too much like a chicken with my head cut off.

I've got a lot of great new vests on the sewing table, even a few in kids sizes that will hopefully be completed by load in tomorrow morning and maybe a few more to be hung up when I come in on Saturday. I also did another run on ascots and purchased a nifty new display for them as well.

Cindy over at OriginalCin will have some of her prints in the booth as well and we have some great Absinthe glasses this year for sale as well.

If you're going to be at Gaslight Gathering II, stop by and say hi!

Gaslight Gathering II

We're happy to announce that Wyng'd Lyon Creations will once again be vending at Gaslight Gathering this coming May.

Let the sewing commence.

Support small business

Being the owner for a small business, I know how much work goes into keeping it up and running which is why I'm asking for your help in supporting a great small business, Last Wear.

Starting tomorrow, January 23, 2012, they're having a "Staying in business sale". For more information on this sale go here and support a great business that proudly stands behind their "Made in America" tags on their clothing.

Thank you!

North Park Independent Bazar

There was a great vendor turnout today for the North Park Independent Bazar. Thank you to all of the shoppers who came out and supported the local crafters & artisans!

May you all have a Happy Holiday season!

Join us for December's North Park Independant Bazar

Still need to shop for Christmas gifts for that special someone?

Come out, buy local and get some last minute Christmas shopping done at the North Park Independent Bazar. Sunday December 18 from 1pm-6pm at the Queen Bee's Art & Cultural Center in North Park.

Lots of great vendors will be selling some great items!

Admission is free!!

Guest Interview - Pat Turpen from GCat Studios

 
Today's interview is with Pat Turpen from GCat Studios. Pat has been playing with photography for over 20 years, but just recently started his business around it. He's been my clothing photographer for the last 10 years.

What got you started in your business?

     
Basically being unemployed got me to start up. I had no revenue coming so it was time to buckle up and see if I could actually sell my services.

How long have you been in business?

Not very long. Maybe a year.

What are you focused on right now?

Mostly scenic shots around San Diego. People love this city and it shows. I have sold a lot of cityscapes and random abstracts that people can identify with.

How do you balance real life, work and your business?

This is my work and real life at the present. I'll go out for a couple of hours just looking for things to shoot if I don't have an idea already lined up. I'm working pretty much all the time when I have a camera in my hand.

Are there any local businesses or artisans that you are exited about right now?

I love working with Dark Goddess crew and I feel lucky to be the only guy in the group. I hope this group can go further with this endeavor too. A lot of great gals are putting a lot of hard work together for people.

Any tips for setting up a table for vending?

In photography a table is all about getting your work seen. Also letting people know it's OK to look through books and pictures that are there. Pricing is also key, you want to be able to have a price available so you don't have to think one up on the fly or if you're away from the table someone there can handle a transaction for you without having to wait for you to return.

Do you have any upcoming shows that you are doing?

Hopefully a January Dark Goddess show.

Do you have any suggestions for getting your name out to the public?

The internet. It's the best and most widely accepted way to get your name out. Plus leaving your card in local shops is a good thing as well.

What is one thing you would like people to know about you or your business?

I take requests.

Do you have a website, blog, store front ?

The main site is www.gcat-inc.com and it will be up before the end of Jan. Meanwhile, I'm going to be doing a lot of advertising and showcasing on my Facebook page. I have a raffle going on right now till the end of the month (December). www.facebook.com/pages/Gcat-Studios or just look up Gcat-Studios. I'll also be looking into an Etsy Store as well.

 Is there anything else that you would like to add?

While I don't do events or weddings I am looking to start some portraits. Mostly of children and pets because they're a lot easier to work with and for some odd reason kids love me. I also do product photography. If you need your merchandise shot for a website I can do that as well. I'm very open to creative shoots that a lot of people stray away from. So if you need something done drop me a line and lets see what we can do.

Like Pat said he's available for portrais, product shots or other ideas that you may have. If you interested in getting in touch with him, he can be reached via email or on his facebook page.

Guest Interview- Kari Niebell

Today is our first guest interview in a series and we're talking with Kari Niebell, the founder of Dark Goddess and owner of Biejo by Kari.


What prompted you to start the Dark Goddess event?
 I think cross-promotion is a powerful tool. I felt that each of the entrepreneurs that I invited to join Dark Goddess had a commonality in their client base. This commonality being individuals who prefer their fashion and art a little dark of center. It has resulted in increased exposure for each of us. Not to mention, the events are a lot of fun!
   
How long have you been doing the Dark Goddess events?
Dark Goddess launched on 6-6-2010.
 
Where do you see the Dark Goddess event going?
I would like to see Dark Goddess Events expand. We are outgrowing our current location. I would like to see it become a traveling event; taking place at other various locations such as night clubs, hair salons, even homes. I would also like to see additional Goddesses get involved.

How frequently do you hold the event?
Dark Goddess events typically occur every two months. This schedule has changed from time to time to accommodate holidays and special guests.



What got you started in your business?
I was working in the tech industry for 17 years and was recently laid off. I decided I wanted more control over my future. In parallel to that, a friend of mine was carrying this beautiful handbag; when I inquired, she explained that it was a company called "Beijo" and it is designed to be a work-from-home business.
How long have you been in business? 
Since April 2010

What are you focused on right now?
I am focused on establishing and maintaining a customer base as well as creating an on-line awareness.

How do you balance real life, family, work and your business? 
Currently, Beijo is my full-time job. Also, my showroom is a short walk from my home, so it is very easy to work whatever hours I choose, and still be available for customers when they need me.I am fortunate enough to have an incredibly supportive boyfriend who not only attends and helps at most of my events, but also shares his Real Estate office with me and my business. Beijo is very integrated in both of our lives.

Are there any local businesses or artisans that you are exited about right now? 
I am very excited about a boutique hand-made jewelry line that will soon be integrated exclusively into my business. Details will be announced soon.

Any tips for setting up a table for vending? 
It's not about covering every possible inch with merchandise. Less is more and makes it easier to shop. It is also good to utilize height whenever possible.

Do you have any upcoming shows that you are doing? 
I have a few home parties scheduled. They are always a lot of fun!

Do you have any suggestions for getting your name out to the public?
Create a facebook page for your business and always carry business cards. There are also many good networking groups.



What is one thing you would like people to know about you or your business?
You will always get more for your money with Beijo. If you were to buy a comparable handbag at a department store you would spend at least 3 times as much. Also, Beijo Bags are extremely durable.


Do you have a website, blog, or store front ? 
www.sdcondo.com/beijo.
I also have a showroom inside Lew Breeze's Real Estate Office in Little Italy: 1774 Kettner Blvd. San Diego, CA 92101.

Is there anything else that you would like to add? 
My business is flexible and adaptable. I am available to share my Beijo collection with my clients at my showroom, private parties, or events.

Kari is available for home parties and other vending opportunities and can be contacted via email at beijopurse@gmail.com, via twitter , or on her facebook page.

Thank you to Kari for taking the time to answer my questions.