XMAS in July: New Listings 7-14-09

In honor of Christmas in July, I have decided to add some stocking stuffers to my shop. I listed two of these fabulous necklaces last night. At $6.00 each AND FREE SHIPPING, there is no excuse why these beauties should not end up in your stocking this month! Look for more of these wonderful stocking stuffers to be listed soon. Buy them while supplies last, in my experience, they sell out fast!

Aqua Blue Sea Glass Pendant!

Cherry Red Sea Glass Pendant!

Craft Show Etiquette?

I had the opportunity to visit a friend who was particpating in a new craft show. As I understand it, the promoter has only put on one or two other shows before this one. I had heard about this show, had even been contacted about participating myself, but I wanted to check it out first.

My husband and I took off on Saturday and drove about 3/4 hour to attend this show. It was located at a sports and fun center in Wake Forest, NC called the "Factory". The venue definately has great potential for foot traffic, if the show is presented at the right time. Saturday was not the right time, some of the business were closed for holiday (no idea why), so there was not a great amount of foot traffic.

What bothered me about the show was not the traffic or the advertising (not great), it was some of the vendors themselves. My husband and I arrived in the last two hours of the show, and we got to view the wrath of several unhappy vendors. They were fussing the promoter out in public view over the lack of traffic and advertising. That really rubbed me the wrong way.

As crafter and a vendor, I always try to get to know a show before I participate. If I jump into a show without confirming advertising, show potential, cost/benefit, ect; then whose fault is it if I do not make the type of cash I want (notice I did not say expect)? Even if I needed to speak to the promoter about an issue, I think it is very unprofessional to do so in a public space with raised voices so everyone can hear.

Not all of our shows are going to be winners. Sometimes it is the venue, sometimes advertising, sometimes it is other factors. As vendors, we are responsible to determine if a show will fit our crafts, not the promoter. If we did not research the show, its following and the proceeding advertsising, the promoter is not responisble for that either. I am not saying the promotor is always blameless, however what I saw Saturday appeared to be more of a case that the vendors did not do their homework and took it out on the promoter.

When you are participating in a craft show, be considerate of your fellow vendors and your customers, take your issues to a private venue, do not yell them to the world.

A run down of my MIA..

I have not been a very good blogger the past week. I have not posted once. So here is a quick run down as to what I have been up to:

My son just broke through two new teeth, which has (of course) resulted in my husband I being very sleep deprived. The night before the teeth broke through, he was so restless that I was sure my son had an ear infection. So on Wendsday I took him to the doctor, just to discover that his new teeth had just broken the surface.

With a teething baby comes a clingy baby, so I had not been able to get alot done until the past day or so. I am finally back creating jewelry. I have created 15 or 20 new sea glass necklaces. I hope to get pictures of them and have them posted sometimes soon.

I have also secured a new wholesale supplier and drawn up some new designs. I am delving into the idea of wholesaleing some of my work. So I guess my next step is to order supplies for my wholesale line and create some prototypes. I think I need to create a jewelry line sheet with those prototypes.

Here is hoping that I am moving in the right direction.

Also a quick note: Monika Rose has posted her feature of my etsy store on her blog here.

Happy July 4th!!

I just wanted to wish everyone a happy fourth of July. I am enjoying my holiday by relaxing with my family.

I also wanted to share some good news with you. I have my first consignement agreement. One of my local stores has agreed to sell my sea glass earrings on consignement.

Last week, I bought two louvered shutters and have redesigned my earring cards to work with those shutters. So now I am working on re-carding my sterling silver earrings on new cards. I hope this new display will be more eye catching during my upcoming craft shows. Wish me luck!
I will post pictures and updates involving my consignment and the new show displays at a later date.

I recieved a conversation from MonikaRose last night that she is planning on featuring my etsy store on her blog next week. Stay tuned for more information.

My New Cards!!!

I have talked alot about marketing lately. I am looking for new ways to be seen, both online and off. I want to drive traffic to my website. Research suggests that we need business cards to give out everywhere we go.

When I first started my business, I created a logo and a business card. I have done little to update those, even though my business has changed somewhat since that time. Here is a picture of my old business card. (I have changed the email address in these pictures to prevent spam.)

^THE OLD ONE ^

As you can tell it is a little tired and plain. The colors are also a little hard to see. So yesterday I got a bee in my bonet and decided to create a new business card. Here is the new look!

^THE NEW ONE^

I am also creating a tear-off flyer to hang on local pin boards around town. If I am lucky, they will bring some new attention to my business!

So do you like the new business card's look? You can vote with the poll on the right hand side to let me know!