Vacation Jewelry Making

Good news: I'm on vacation on the beautiful coast of NC. Yea! Bad news: I have a 2 day show the week I get back and I'm low on inventory. Ouch! Gotta squeeze some jewelry making into my trip. What to take? What to carry it in? I can get myself and 3 kids packed up without breaking much of a sweat. But pack up my jewelry making supplies? I was breaking out in hives!

To carry my supplies, I ended up using a travel organizer toiletry bag that I already had. It's sturdy and is big enough and has enough pockets  to give me room and organization. I brought a set of letter stamps and a few design stamps: No wonder that these were checked by the TSA, huh? They look a little suspicious!

Stamps

Assorted Pliers and Cutters

 

Blanks and Dapping Block

Cleaning, Polishing and Buffing Cloths

Beads and Stones

Wire - of course!

Components Pre-made at Home

Findings

Guess what I forgot? Clasps! Hard to finish any jewelry without them. Luckily, Raleigh NC has a great store for beads and jewelry making supplies called Ornamentea. Great excuse to make a creative supply pit stop!

Ladybug, ladybug

Every July we trek to the garden center for annuals and end up getting talked into adding ladybugs to the cart. (Actually, I love this and it doesn't take much convincing.) They come in a plastic tub that is generically marked "ladybugs".

You are supposed to wait until dusk to let them out, which only adds to the kids anticipation. You release them, along with the food in their container, near low plants and hope that they will make your garden their new home. In the process, the ladybugs crawl and fly onto everyone.

 I don't know if they make the garden grow... but they grow some good summer memories.

www.mjanedesigns.com

Giant Jewelry?

I just added some sweet photo enlargements to my booth display. My daughter said my banner should now read “I make giant jewelry”!
They came like this from Nations Photo Lab
I went to my local FastSigns & they put grommets on the corners. Then another trip to Home Depot to figure out how to hang these big suckers from my booth back wall. I ended up with zip ties at the top, attached to cable wire. (jewelry makers: the thingy you use to hold the cable in a loop is a giant crimp tube!)

I hung the pics from the top rail of my tent using Bongo Ties, love these!

Here’s how they look “in action”



Next show will be Sunday, July 10th,  Sundays on the Streets, Southglenn Mall!

Simple Craft Show Tricks

I’ve been doing A LOT of outdoor shows this season, and I thought I'd share a couple of tips I’ve picked up along the way. None of these are rocket science, but if you’re new to this crazy business of setting up shop in a 10x10 outdoor booth, they might help you out.

TUB TALK

Try to consolidate the items you carry to shows into containers, like these storage tubs. Before you go to your show, while you have them all neat and organized, take a picture of what goes inside each tub & tape it to the inside of the box lid. Really helpful when you’re tired & packing-up at the end of a long day.  Also great if other people are trying to help you and don’t know your system.

RISE ABOVE

If you’re selling small items, like jewelry, you’ll want to raise your tables higher than standard height so customers have a better view. (Also helps to deter curious little fingers!) I’ve tried several methods to raise my tables and these bed risers are the easiest to use and transport. Pick them up at any retailer that sells home goods, Target, Bed Bath Beyond, Wal-Mart, etc.

HOLD ‘EM DOWN

If you’re doing outdoor shows, the wind is your enemy. Actually, even a light breeze can even wreck havoc on your display. Behold the table cloth weights! These beauties are nice looking, inexpensive and HEAVY. I clip them on my displays, table covers, side walls…I might clip them on you if you stand still too long! I bought these on Amazon. Here’s the link: Amazon, tablecloth weights
DISPLAY DIVA
A good display really can make the difference between customers stopping or walking right on by. It takes a lot of work to get it looking fantastic. If you’re doing shows frequently, you aren’t going to want to reinvent the wheel every time. I have a pic in a plastic sleeve of my basic set up, without merchandise:
and with merchandise:
Boy this is helpful. Because sometimes I’m running late, or I’m tired, or I had an extra glass of wine the night before. Or sometimes all three…and I need a little memory crutch. The booth still changes a bit every week, ‘cause I’m kind of a perfectionist. But having the basic framework at hand is fantastic.

Have a great show!

If I Had A Hammer

It's a good thing I do have a hammer, several actually, because I've been doing a bunch of stamping this week!

      

Baby Gift

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mommy Necklace

Teacher Gifts

There were also quite a few other stamping projects that I can't list here 'cause the gift givees might see this! My hammer is tired, she's calling it a night!

Pushing forward when you keep getting pushed back

As anyone following a passion or a dream knows, there are always setback and detractors. There are always people who will tell you that what you're doing is not worthwhile. I've had some less than positive experiences lately. My share of self-doubt for sure. Some days it feels like every step forward is followed by 5 steps back. But no one blogs about those things, huh? Read people's blogs or Facebook status and it seems like everybody is just great. Not true. We are all struggling out here together. Ups and downs. Sometimes way more down than up!

One of my necklaces was chosen this week as a finalist for voting in the Bead Star 2011 contest. This is at least the third year I've entered and I was very sure I wasn't going to make it this far. Bead Star works kind of like American Idol. Thousands enter, the judges choose the best 20 in each category, then readers pic the top 4 from each category. There are prizes, but more exciting is the publicity and recognition from Bead Star Magazine. A national publication entirely devoted to the winning designs!

Every once in a while, you'll get a boost like this contest was for me. It can pump you right back up and get you going again. So keep pushing forward with your dream. Whatever it is. Be the one that hangs in there and tries one more time. It could make all the difference.

Vote for Aquamarine Cascade!

Here's the link for my Bead Star entry. If you'd like to vote for me I would really appreciate it! You have to register with Beading Daily in order to vote, but it's quick and easy. Thank you!!

Vote for Aquamarine Cascade! 

Cool links to distract you from what you really should be doing...

Here are some fantastic links that you might enjoy. Come, join me in completely losing your focus and flitting aimlessly from link to link. : ) Just kidding, there's some great content here. Enjoy!

Inspiration is for amateurs  Great advice on getting down to work by the always fabulous and inspirational Jenny Doh.

Jenny Doh

Copyblogger Best of 2010 Copyblogger is a great source for info on blogging, writing, and SEO. Here are their all star posts from 2010. Guarantee you'll learn something!

Paper Source If you're even 1/2 as addicted to beautiful paper and stationary as I am, you'll drool over this website!

Testing the Entrepreneurial Life NY Times interview with the very cool and smart Pam Slim of Escape From Cubicle Nation. If you think you want you own business, read this 1st!