Celebrate the Holidays with Ioni's Creations!

Happy Holidays everybody!

If you are spending any time at all in New York this December, the come see us

Ioni's Creations is gearing up to meet you, and to show you what we've been working on for the holiday season.  Come visit Created by Ta Ankh, Sherlock's Leathers, and Ioni's Creations and see how many items you can cross off your holiday shopping list.  And don't forget about yourself!

• This Tuesday, December 2, 2014,  we will be participating in a celebration of the new Southeast Queens Chamber of Commerce. 



 

 

• Saturday December 6th, we will be selling at The Buy Black Holiday Market, given by the Queens chapter of Marcus Garvey's UNIA.



 

 

• Sunday December 7, 2014 is Tribal Truths Annual Coat Show.



 

• We're going to be selling at the Diaspora Art Mart (where we sell every 2nd Saturday of the month) at Brooklyn's Restoration Plaza on the 3rd floor in the Skylight Gallery, from 12pm to 7pm.  But this month we will be there twice, Saturday December 13th, and Saturday December 20th!  There is always "edutainment" at these events, so we'll make the flyers for them closer to the date when we know what artists will be performing.

• And last, we'll be at Sista's Place on Saturday December 27th.





Whew!  It's going to be a busy month!  But we are so excited and we sure do hope to see you this season!

 

Come Enjoy Queens Fashion Week!

Nervous, nervous, nervous.
A long time ago, I wrote about how I nervous I was to finallly be doing outdoor vending.  Now that's a piece of cake.  I was so scared of putting up the tent, but now I'm not.  Actually I've never done it alone.  A man just pops up out of nowhere to do it for me all the time, so I'm still a teensy bit nervous about going it alone for the first time, but I'm ot exactly shook though.

Now, this is something else again.  This is the first time I will be attending Queens Fashion Week.

Queens is in New York City, but it doesn't quite have the sophistication of Manhattan, or the cultured-ness of Brooklyn.  It's a nice, quiet place to go home and go to sleep and raise your children, at least most of it used to be.

But fellow designer and Queens resident Delali Haligah has decided to change all that.

For 5 years, she has single-handedly been the force behind Queens Fashion Week, which she calls the Jewel in the Crown of New York City.   And this thing is fancy.

There is always press and interviews, music, food, fly designers and fierce models.  And this time, Created by Ta Ankh will be there too.

I will attend Meet the Designers on Thursday, September 18th.  I'll bring along a few pieces to show and a slideshow of some of my hats and accessories.  Then I will attend the Red Carpet Gala Fashion Show on Saturday, September 20th.  I'll have a little setup and will sell afterwards too.

Both events will take place at the Jamaica Performing Arts Center at 153-10 Jamaica Avenue.

Nervous.

Here's a promo for the show:

And here's an interview with Delali Haligah, founder, on NY 1 (if you have Time Warner Cable):

Queens Fashion Week Interview

 

See you there!

A Little Secret About The Bijou Jewelry Expo that Starts Tomorrow...

 

 

As you know, the Bijou Virtual Jewelry Expo gets started today, and Ioni's Creations is busy gearing up.  We'll be showing you things about ourselves, our process, and best of all, showing you the pieces we have been busy creating for you.

So here's the secret.

On the four days of the Expo, there will be flash sales every night for one hour.  Ioni's Creations will be offering a 20% off discount through the coupon code BIJOUAPRIL2014

But since you are already our customer, this offering for you is anytime in the four day period, morning, noon, or night.  Just visit our shop and see what you like!

 

 

There's a few more things we have to tell you.

 

We have created a Pinterest board and we are adding to it daily, so if you are on Pinterest, press the picture and you will get to see not just Ioni's Creation's jewelry, but pieces from the other artists as well.

The Bijou Virtual Jewelry Expo Pinterest Board

In addition, there will be giveaways every day.  The first giveaway will feature an item submitted by us, Ioni's Creations!  Here is the link for it, although the contest hasn't started yet.  It's free to enter.

Entry Time: April 24th 8am - 11:59pm
1 Winner Randomly Chosen
Winner Announced on Bijou Virtual Jewelry Expo page at 10am April 25th!

 

 

Last,  here are the links for the Expo.  If you enter the contest, you will probably be prompted to visit the links, but I'm going to include them here anyway.

 

The Bijou Virtual Jewelry Expo Facebook Fan Page

The Bijou Virtual Jewelry Expo Pinterest Board

The Bijou Virtual Jewelry Expo Twitter (Intense High)

The Bijou Virtual Jewelry Expo Webpage

The Bijou Virtual Jewelry Expo Youtube Playlist  (Look for Ioni's Creations' video to be added soon!)

 

We are really looking forward to this Expo.  See you there!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





Bijou Virtual Jewelry Expo...Online

Hello everybody,

     Ioni's Creations is excited to announce that we are participating in another online virtual expo, this time for jewelry.  We will be joining other jewelry artisans and showing off our creations across Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

If you're on facebook, like the Bijou Virtual Jewelry Expo page.





If you are on Twitter, follow Intense High.

And if you are on Pinterest, follow the Bijou Jewelry Virtual Expo board.

We are thrilled to be a participating in the upcoming 'Bijou VIRTUAL Jewelry Expo' from April 24-27, 2014. It's an incredible opportunity because it is VIRTUAL which means it will all take place online and it is FREE to 'virtually' attend! Myself and other artists will be sharing our products and services with you on the Expo's Facebook and Twitter pages as well as the Pinterest board. Plus we will be sharing more about ourselves and what we do.  There will also be great specials you won't want to miss! Check out http://intensehighexpos.com/bijou/ for more information and to sign up to receive email reminders the week before the Expo opens

There's sure to be a lot of beautiful bargains to be had.  See you there!

And, enjoy this video!



Hi everybody!

As you know, Ioni's Creations consists of 3 people:  Ioni Dodson, Patricia Heath, and Sherlock Dodson.  Sherlock is Ioni's son and is so multi-talented.  Along with being a photographer, he also crochets and works with leather and wood.

We'd like to invite you to our website to view some of the beautiful leather pieces that Sherlock makes.  This is by far not everything, but we have some really nice samples on our Check Out our Styles and Made to Order pages. 

We also have some items in our Etsy shop for sale.  Just press the Shop Ioni's Creations button on the website menu on the left.  You'll also see some other items like his Horus cuff and his wooden walking stick. 

Finally, he makes custom orders as well.  Just use the Contact Us button on the bottom of any of our website pages and tell him what you want.

In the meanwhile, here are a few pics.
Thank you until next time,
Patricia
www.IonisCreations.com

Spring is in the Air

Hello everybody,

Spring is here, and with it Ioni's Creations is feeling a new wave of creativity.  Please stop by www.IonisCreations.com to check out what we have in store for you.

Speaking of our website, soon we will have a special Made-to-Order page where you can order our best selling styles in the sizes and colors you want without having to email us back and forth.

Also, vending season is almost here.  If you live anywhere near New York, look out for emails about where we will be vending next.  As always, we are vending at Diaspora Art Mart on the second Saturday of every month on the 3rd floor (Skylight Gallery) of Brooklyn's Restoration Plaza.  Ioni's Creations as well as other artists of the Diaspora Art Mart also have merchandise at Kiini Ibura, the Skylight Gallery's gift shop.  The shop is open Thursday thru Saturday every week.

Last but not least, check out a new series of pouches Created by Ta Ankh.



The New Handmade Collective Video

Ioni's Creations is a part of a Facebook group called The Handmade Collective.  One of our members, Tiesha of Fly Tie Clothing, put together this beautiful video to talk about our group that is over 700 members strong.  This group is responsible for a lot of the marketing, website and other business knowledge that we have. 
Check it out, and also check out the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TheNewHandmadeCollective

We’re so excited!

Join Ioni’s Creations and other talented handmade artists for a full week for The Indie Clothes Rack Expo, March 1 thru March 7th

Learn more about us, see our work, and snatch up some deals during our Flash Sales!

 

Like The IndieExpo Facebook Page

Follow The IndieExpo on Pinterest 

Follow The IndieExpo on Twitter 

Check out TheIndie Expo Live Page 

 

It's gonna be a week of Intense Highs!

Our New Venture - The Indie Clothes Rack Expo

I have always believed in communities of business people or artists coming together to meet their needs.  This seems to be even more of a necessity for handmade artists and independent entrepreneurs.  We can share our resources and assist each other, and more importantly than that, we can create our own virtual shops for people who love to handmade work, and things that can't be found in the local mall.  We're here for your style.

That's why I'm so excited to be a part of The Indie Clothes Rack Expo next month.  It will be for the first week in March, and you will get to see not only Ioni's Creation's designs, but that of other artists that we love and respect (and bought from) as well.  This is going to be great!

This flyer showcases Ioni's Creation's work.  The hooded cropped sweater is by Ioni, the cuff if by me (Ta Ankh/Patricia Heath) and the tan vest is by Sherlock.  Throughout the expo, we will be sharing more about our business and our work.

Here's a link to the expo.  If you like, you can scroll down to the bottom of the page and sign up for reminder emails.

Enjoy!
Ioni's Creations



Are You a "Black Friday" Person?

I must confess.  I was never a "Black Friday" person. 

I never went out of my way to get the best bargain, or to attend sales.  As a matter of fact, I was the opposite of frugal...until I began to do my business full time.  That got my attention.

And even then, I still wouldn't go to the Black Friday sales because I hate crowds.  If ever I got my Christmas shopping done early a particular year, you can best believe it was because I thinking about avoiding those crowds.  I sure wasn't trying to end up in the middle of this:

 

 

Now that I am watching my finances a little more closely, I do try to catch the sales sometimes.  For instance, I buy my lingerie just after New Year's when my favorite store is doing the "Buy 2 Get 2 Free" thing.

 

But my best triumph is that I am even more expert at crowd avoiding.  I shop Handmade.

 

I LOVE Handmade pieces, more than I have the words to say.  It started over 20 years ago when I discovered street festivals.  I could get funky, afrocentric pieces that nobody else had at those fairs.  They, to me, wer the poor man's designers.

 

Now I only get the basics at regular retail stores.  Thanks to the internet, I no longer have to wait till warm weather to get the items I love.  I get many of my health and beauty products made from scratch by MyCoCreation's, not to mention these cocoa banana slivers she makes that are to die for.  I can shop for everything from headwraps to couture at JahfyaRoyalworks.  I can shop through Etsy (one of the world's biggest online handmade sites) to find artists I know in The Handmade Collective, or shop where I vend in Brooklyn every month with the artists of The Diaspora Art Mart. 

 

Who needs the noisy, overcrowded malls?

 

And of course, there is us, Ioni's Creations.

 

We are offering a coupon just for you for Black Friday.  Come to our Etsy Shop and choose something.  Upon checkout, type in: HANDMADE2013

The sale starts Thanksgiving Day (November 28)  and continues through Black Friday (November 29), Small Business Saturday (November 30, where we'll be vending at the Tribal Truths Fashion Show at Brooklyn's LIU campus), and ends on Cyber Monday (December 2).

We at The Handmade Collective usually designate that Sunday (December 1) as Handmade Sunday.

And don't forget to stop by our website to check us out and learn more about us!

 

Happy Shopping!

and thank you from Ioni's Creations!





Catch us at Bed-Stuy Alive this Saturday!

 

 

We're vending again, this time at Brooklyn's Atlantic Antic!

 

This is the first time I've ever even been to Atlantic Antic.  I've heard of it, but back in the 90's when I was going to every festival I could, I didn't know about it.

 

I'm pretty excited about it.  I never planned to vend so much in the year 2013.  I only intended to visit to get a feel of them.  Then, I would show up in 2014 with a fabulous selection specifically tailored for each event.

 

Well, you know I vend with the Diaspora Art Mart every second Saturday at the Brooklyn YWCA on 3rd Avenue.  Being with them has exposed Ioni's Creations to more festivals in Brooklyn.  When they run to one, we run too.

 

But I have to analyze everything to death.  So I want to know stuff like what the style is of the people who attend each festival, and if they are conservative or funky, mostly young or mostly old, diverse ethnic groups or mostly one ethnic group, etc.  I want to know what the people like, so I can give the people what they want!

 

Anyway, I'm nervous as usual, trying to get some more knitting and crocheting in, when I should be just packing up, lol.  This festival looks really crowded by the picture on top of the flyer.

 

Hope to see you there!

 

Ta Ankh

(Patricia Heath)

Hello everybody, long time!

Ok, this is Ioni's Creations very first outdoor vending together, and it's a big one!

I attended the International African Arts Festival back in the day when it was still at Boy's and Girl's High School in Brooklyn, before it moved to Commodore Barry.  Sometimes I would go there and help out with the big spread they had every year at Ausar Auset Society. 

It's a grueling four days, and I must admit, I'm a little nervous.  I remember my legs aching if we were on the concrete.  I remember young twenty-somethings complaining after one day that they needed rest and massages, and these were vegetarians that were in shape!

Mama said not to think about that though, so I'm not.

I'm just thinking about how I started with just hats and now have grown to a full accessory line.  Altogether, I have more than 100 pieces by myself.  Add that to my partner Ioni's clothing line, and her son's leather line, and this is going to be an exciting array of products.

Summer was always a slow time for me.  Even the cotton hats I made in the past seemed to be too heavy.  But this year for the first time, I am proud to introduce the beginning of a line of straw hats unlike any you have ever seen, I promise you that.

Ioni and I were talking, and she has everything from clothing, to cell phone holders to these fabulous pens that make wonderful gifts.  Her son Sherlock has a selection of leather bags and accessories that are jut beautiful.

We all do special orders, so if you don't see what you like, just ask.  We can ship it to you.

And of course we have our website, www.IonisCreations.com as well as a host of other places on the internet that you can find us (just check the website).  Keep us in mind all year round for your clothing and accessory needs!

Pat (Ta Ankh)

Hey everybody,

A pic of Russell Crowe knitting found it's way to my Facebook wall, so I thought it would be fun to show some famous people doing their thing.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Oh!  I found someone of color!