Andrew’s September Beading Challenge

I knew I wanted to participate as soon as I saw that Andrew’s September challenge included all of this purple goodness! I had a bit of a thing for purple lately. Not only that but he included some really great art beads from some of my favorites: Polymer floral charm from Humblebeads; Enameled flowers from C Koop Beads; a GROW connector from Swoon Dimples and some beautiful purple Soft Flex beading wire. I love the seed bead mix and the Swarovski’s- I couldn’t wait to get started!

I crafted a necklace first. Using the double linked silver plated chain around the back, I beaded 2 strands using the seed beads and crystals at the front.   The large crystal rounds, have holes big enough that you can pass the wire through twice so instead of just stringing them, I looped the wire back around and through the hole a second time creating some interest, and allows you to see some of that cool Purple Soft Flex wire. I attached one of the Extra components, [a beautiful handmade copper flower pendant], layered with the smaller C Koop enameled flower, to the strands with a large seedbeaded bail.   I added a few of my own elements. A Tierra cast flower button and toggle bar that links into the looped soft flex wire button loop. 

The necklace has a very nice and Romantical feeling to it.  I can see it being worn with the perfect dress to a wedding, or even with a nice suit to a business meeting.

My second piece is a bracelet. Using the purple wire, I strung some faceted purple Czech glass, a few curved brass tubes, the dichroic glass Mystery component, Swoon Dimples grow connector and Enameled flower. I love how this piece turned out. The curved brass beads really modernize the bracelet. I dangled the Humblebeads charm on a large jump ring and it slides along one of the brass bars. I capped the shimmering dichroic bead with one of Mamacita Beadworks pewter bead caps.

I really look forward to what Andrew has up his sleeve for his next monthly challenges. This one was a blast!

Be sure to head over to Andrew’s blog to get the list of participants in this month’s blog hop!

Sally Russick
Tara Linda
Paula Kramer
Melinda Orr
Beth Emery
 

Wordy.

Bead Table Wednesday

I just finished up my projects for Andrew Thornton’s September Challenge. The reveal date is Friday Sept 30th, so be sure to head on over to see what everyone came up with! If you missed the post where I showed the kit, the beads this month are purple, my new favorite color on the planet.

The next challenge on my plate, is our LimaBeads challenge! I have to be honest, haven’t really thought about it or looked at the beads since they came in the mailbox.  I must say, there are a LOT of beads in this kit! I am going to try to make as many things with all of the beads as possible. A little challenge within the challenge! ha!

Enjoy your Wednesday!

Plan your own Open House

 Last week I sat down and picked my date for this year’s Open House. This will be the 4th? year I’ve had one. Maybe it’s the 3rd year, I dunno. Anyway, I can’t imagine not doing one but it’s important that I plan it for a good time, with plenty of space between the show I just did, and the Winter show at the Jewish Temple. So this year I picked November 5th. Just before the real Christmas shopping gets under way.  I like having this event around the holidays because it’s easy to decorate! I have had the open house in October and can decorate for Halloween/Fall which is fun. November will maintain the Fall/Harvest decor.

 These photos show last years Open house which was in December. Lots of Christmas decorations, including our tree.  I am very excited for my new displays, these displays from last year look so flat to me! That’s the cool part, I am always trying to improve my display and so people never see the same set up each year they come. Always something interesting and different.

Once you have established your date, order some postcard invites. I use Moo.com for mine, and usually add a nice picture of my jewelry to one side, and the details on the other.  Order them in plenty of time though- you want to hand those invites out as soon as you can as people tend to have busy schedules in the colder months.

 Who to invite?  I have a good situation because of my regular full time job, so I hand out most of my invitations to co-workers at the museum. I also send some invites with Joe to hand out to his fellow teachers, and I invite some local friends. I usually order about 40 invitations. I get about 20-30 people at my open house on average.  There have been times I have handed out invites while at the Jewish temple show, if my open house is after this event. But then you run the risk of total strangers coming to your home and that can be kind of a scary thing. I did give my open house info to 2 ladies I met at the Harvest Festival who live in my home town. Unfortunately I had to write the info on a scrap of paper because my invites haven’t arrived yet.
 I think it’s good to stick to people you know, and encourage people to bring a friend. In the past I have offered a small discount if they bring someone.

What to feed your guests:  I try not to go nuts with this aspect of the event because it can be stressful enough just getting the jewelry made, and set up. I offer several types of drinks, coffee, soda, and the first time last year, I offered wine. I generally always make a chocolate chip zuchini bread, some sort of savory snack like the Smoked Gouda/Artichoke baguette, chips and salsa,  or chips and dips. People do snack a little while they’re there, but I generally always have food leftover. Make something you really like so that the leftovers aren’t a hassle to have. 🙂

I plan my open house for about 4 hours, generally in the afternoon from 1-5pm.  I think you could also do one in the morning like 10-2 – some people are early birds. And an evening show like 4-8 would be a good time too, with different lighting. I have poor lighting in my house so the 1-5 works out perfectly for me.

I hope these tips were helpful for you and that you consider having an event like this too. It’s really a good time, you get to chat with people and see their reactions to your designs, and provide them with a comfortable shopping experience. I know they’ll keep coming back year after year!

Harvest Festival Day 2

Day two!
Did I mention I had an awesome helper for this festival? My friend Theresa came along and helped me out both days of the show. I cannot thank her enough. Seriously could not have done it alone, the tent  was a bear with 2 of us, I can’t imagine trying to do it by myself. She showed up at my house this morning with a matching pair of Croc Mary Janes in a flashy red.  🙂

We arrived in Sharon Springs at 8am, and had to do minimal work this morning- I took all the jewelry home with me but kept the tent.tables.and props up overnight. So we just reorganized and set the jewelry back out. It was probably lunchtime before we started getting customers. Definitely a slower day than yesterday.

Overall, it was a great experience. I wasn’t sure what to expect, how many people would show up, what kind of buyers I would encounter, what the atmosphere was like. All in all it was a great weekend. It helped to have a friend there to pass the quieter moments.  The people were very friendly and I was showered with the nicest compliments concerning my displays and jewelry and “brand” as a whole.  The compliments came with or without purchases, and that is perfectly fine with me. As a first time exhibitor outdoors, it was great to hear this feedback either way.

I didn’t see any camera crews. I didn’t run into any celebrities. I did see Megan and Brent at the Beekman 1802 Mercantile shop when I went into the store to pick up some cheese.  I didn’t really get to get a good glimpse of the competition or see what other vendors were around.

I was wishing there was some louder music playing. I could hear something softly in the distance. The weather was beautiful. We encountered some critters throughout the day: a garter snake,  a wounded butterfly, many a spider, and lots of curious yellowjackets. (i am convinced they just like to haunt me)

Learned quite an important lesson. Do research the area beforehand to make sure they have good cell service before depending on using your Square credit card scanner. There is zero coverage in sharon springs, but I forgot to bring my card reader anyway.
Bring snacks and drinks- Theresa brought the best stuff and kept us hydrated and fed all day.
Bring lots of receipts, I ran out today and had to use my owl notebook- not the most professional.
Be sure to get phone numbers, and billing zip codes if you are running your credit cards manually.

I got to pet so many great pooches today, so if you go to craft fairs, bring your dogs. it was one of the highlights of my day. And babies. They are fun to see too!

I have to go to bed. Before I stop making sense.
I’ll probably think of stuff I wanted to add. So I may blog again in the morning, a continuation of this rant.

Harvest Festival Day 1

Yesterday was day one.  We arrived bright and early for 7am. It took about 45 minutes for them to tell us where exactly we needed to set up. A frustrating start, it seemed really unorganized. We are set up fairly easily, and people didn’t really start showing up until sometime after 11 am.
Another bummer- I forgot my Square card reader. But come to find out, there is zero cell phone service in downtown Sharon Springs anyway, so it wouldn’t have worked any way.
 Here are a few shots- I’ll be uploading a full album to Flickr after today, day two.

I forgot a tablecloth for the work table. But I do like that big green box, it was almost like a counter.

Obsessed!

Yuki Designs

*indonesian glass seed beads 5-8mm

Worth Every Penny

Kelley just filled her shop with beautiful lampworked eggs. What are you waiting for? Snatch some of those UP while they’re available!

Nile Corporation Displays

Woo Hooo! My displays arrived just in time for the weekend. I ordered these lovely busts and Bracelet bars from Nile Corp.  Great prices, and the quality is really great. I love the natural color of these much better than the typical black velvet. The prices weren’t too bad either!  Check out the selection here.

To break up the monotony of so much linen/khaki and tan colors (my displays and my tent, AND my current tableclothes are all the same color)  I went to target and picked out some nice teal blue tableclothes to break it up and add a little color.

The weather prediction is 30-40% chance of rain for the entire weekend. I really hope they’re wrong.
Just in case, I’ll bring my wellies. At least I’ll have cute boots while I’m soaking wet.

Bead Table Wednesday Vlog