Wordless Wednesday- St Patty's Day Edition-New Creations

Back from vacation and I have a show in 3 days

There's nothing quite like a Disney vacation to make you wish for another vacation (or even a long weekend) to recuperate!
I really thought my long treks on the beach, looking for sea glass, would have me ready for all the walking at the Disney parks. No such luck... but I did lose a few- 10 pounds with all the walking, 90+ degree days and high humidity.

I considered bringing my laptop with me on the trip, but decided that this vacation would be a no-promoting, (other than wearing some of my personal sea glass jewelry) no Etsy vacation. After arriving home and getting the boys to bed, I checked my shop and now wonder if that was really a great idea.

Even with no promoting, I made a sale, have an item in a treasury and received 4 convos. It sometimes takes a month or more for me to receive 4 convos...lol. Maybe on the next vacation, the laptop needs to join us.

It's supposed to be sunny later today and I hope to have a few pictures of some of the new items I created before my vacation and the creations I make today. Above is an image of one I created and listed on Etsy before I left.

I'll be in Point Pleasant this Saturday, at OM Baby for a show with all EtsyNJ vendors... if you're near the Jersey shore this weekend, stop by OM Baby and say Hi!

'til next time...

R

Sea Glass Everywhere...New Items, & Finalizing my Summer Show Schedule

Sea Glass everywhere...well not on the beach, there hasn't been too much in my favorite hunting spots, so far this year...but I'm hoping that an early morning trip to the beach turns out to be an adult Easter egg hunt.

I've been matching up pieces for future projects, so my sea glass is spread out on a few tables. I've been pulling pieces for future earring and bracelet creations and I've pulled some not great pieces to practice a few new wire wrapping techniques on. To this point, I've kept my wrapping to what I would term "very basic".

Very Basic is my preferred style because I really don't like to take away from the beauty of the glass and I definitely don't want to drill a hole in some of the nicer pieces that can be used for pendants on a necklace.

These larger, well-rounded shards are becoming very hard to find and to drill a hole into it would be a shame...it's just my opinion and personal preference... I guess when I create, I create what I would be excited to wear myself and that preference is what shows up in my finished pieces. I guess I would drill a hole into a larger piece if that's what the customer preferred (or do a more involved wire wrapping on a piece, if the customer so desired)

So anyway, I'm looking to create a couple of 4th of July items and as usual, I'm a bit stuck on the red pieces... reds are the most sought-after of colors, so it's not at all unusual. I think I have enough for a pair of Red, White and Blue earrings and if I can get away with using only one red piece for a bracelet...lol

It is a lot of fun playing mix and match with the sea glass and I can spend hours sitting at my craft tables looking at/for possible matches.

The above pictures are my newest items...the forest green necklace sits in my Etsy shop, while the beautiful soft seafoam green necklace is a new entry in my ArtFire shop.

I have a couple of pending dates for my summer show schedule, along with a definite show and one that I'd like to do.

First off...the definite...

July 11th, OM Baby in Point Pleasant, NJ- This is a EtsyNJ team event and there will probably be anywhere from 20-25 team members present for this beach resort show!

Pending dates...

June 7th- Barnegat Bay Festival- This is the 12th annual show and they often have thousands of visitors at this show. I haven't received the word that I'm accepted, but since they cashed my check... : )

July 18th- The 2nd annual Handmade Faire- Still waiting to hear if they were able to get permits.This is another EtsyNJ team dominated event and one of the best shows in NJ...last fall's show saw over 90 vendors and lots of traffic before the tornado/hurricane- like weather moved in. The show is juried and they do a great job offering variety...vendors from several states come to do the Handmade Faire!!

I'd like to add a show in Cape May for the month of May. There's also talk of a show at the NJ Museum of Maritime History, where I have some of my sea glass jewelry on display. This show is a work-in-progress and we'd like to try the month of August for this show...we'll see how everything shakes out.

So that's my summer...hopefully, I'll find some time to do a little sea glass hunting and boogey-boarding with the boys. Now off to the museum to bring in some jewelry!!

til next time...
R

Holiday Sales, Cyber Monday, Crafts Shows & Sea Glass

So the big shopping weekend has come and gone. Once again Etsy's promotions forums were quite busy during the holiday weekend. Lots of shops promoting sales, free shipping, etc and many, many new items were listed.

I listed a couple new items and really struggled for views. Even after hitting the promotions forum a couple of times, I could only manage to garner 6 views on one of the items and 10 views on the 2nd item.

Working the forums didn't prove to be a waste of time, as I had better holiday sales in 2008 than I did last year, but it really is tough for potential buyers to find your work. My Cyber Monday sale was included in a EtsyNJ member's private Gift Guide that was posted on the EtsyNJ site. (and our team site was heavily promoted by several team members and received a few hundred views on Cyber Monday)

My Holiday Craft Show schedule is winding down to the last 2 shows over the next 2 weekends.

Tomorrow night, I'll be at the LEH Winter Festival show. It's held at the George J Mitchell School on Rt 539 in Little Egg Harbor, NJ. The show hours are from 4pm - 9pm. Santa will be there posing for photos (photo packages available) It's a fun show and it gives some of the town's students a chance to do a little Christmas shopping for teachers, family members and school aides.

Next weekend, on Dec 14th, I'll be at the Holiday Village at Smithville Park event. Smithville Park is located in Easthampton, NJ. There will be many wonderful activities planned for families and I'll be at the Crafters Village with many new sea glass creations.

This should be a fun show and I'm looking forward to bringing my whole family and having my sons take part in the holiday activities.

Speaking of sea glass, there's a big beachcombing opportunity coming next week during the New Moon. This past week a couple of planets lined up with the moon and next week, the moon and sun will be closer to the earth than normal. The tides should be rather severe and that may lend itself to the sea leaving behind a few more pieces of sea glass than usual. My hubby will be there early, in his favorite spots, looking for a few choice pieces that we can work on through the winter.

Hope to see you at one of the shows!

'til next time...

R

Craft Shows and Beachcombing for Sea Glass

I fully intended to do a blog about the wear and tear of the Autumn/Holiday craft show circuit and promote the show I'm doing tomorrow with my fellow members of the EtsyNJ street team.

Tomorrow's show is-

OM Baby Studio
726 Arnold Ave
Pt Pleasant Beach, NJ
12pm-5pm
Free EtsyNJ Swag Bags will be handed out to the first 70 to attend!

The wear and tear commentary will have to wait for another day because I got to the beach today and for the first time since late July... I found beach glass!!

I have found a piece or two on previous trips to the beach, but nothing worth talking about...just the same old Kelly Greens or Budweiser Browns (lol) and certainly no jewelry quality pieces.

Today's trip didn't offer any pieces that fit the quality I'm looking to make jewelry with, but besides the usual greens, browns and whites, I found a cobalt blue and a cornflower blue. And I haven't found a cornflower blue in several years!

Plus the shell beds that can usually be found on the beach where the high tide crested and along the edge of the surf line were finally back...especially in the surf, where I saw several pieces of glass just waiting for someone brave (or crazy) enough to pluck them from the chilly waters.

If you've been following my blog, you know this coming week is a big week for beachcombers. During this new moon, the moon will be very close to our planet and as a result the tides will be a bit more severe. Factor in a hurricane that is heading towards Puerto Rico this weekend, before shooting off into the Atlantic (not a problem for the US mainland, thankfully)

But rougher waters and perhaps an easterly wind, coupled with the strong tides caused by the New Moon, could wash up all of the gems that taunted me today. And maybe a few more of those cobalt and cornflowers will be of jewelry quality and find their way into my shop (and hopefully around my neck or wrist !!!!) I definitely psyched-up for my trip to the beach this weekend!

To my local readers... if your anywhere near Pt Pleasant, stop in at OM Baby. It's free and there will be 20 EtsyNJ members there to greet you...oh yea, please stop by and say Hi!

'til next time...
R

EtsyNJ Team...What's coming up?

The full page ad the EtsyNJ team ran in the upcoming issue of WeirdNJ should be hitting the news stands shortly. Etsy.com helped our team with a grant for the ad and it should benefit all the particpating members of the team.

30-40 of the NJ team is taking part in the Fall Handmade Faire toward the end of next month in Medford, NJ (check out the banner to the right!) and there will probably be at least 60 crafters total for this outdoor show.

The show is being held at an airfield and along with a huge tent which will house about half of the crafters, the other crafters will have 10x10 tents set-up outside.

A few weeks later, about a dozen members of the EtsyNJ team are planning a show in Pt. Pleasant, NJ. We're hoping to have 18-20 vendors total and we have a store-front in downtown Pt. Pleasant for the shows location.

Unfortunately, I missed getting a treasury this afternoon. I had all the items selected and I was sitting there watching the treasury, when my youngest son asked for lunch... next thing I know, I see 600+ treasuries listed...LOL Oh well, I have a nice list for next time!

The image above is a bracelet in my shop and I'm currently working on something similar as a custom order...maybe I'll post the image in my blog entry later this week!

'til next time...

R

Labor Day Weekend, Autumn, Craft Shows

The unofficial end of summer is upon us. I didn't get to the beach as much as would have liked, but I'm not really too upset that Labor Day weekend is here. The Jersey shore is soooo much nicer in September. The dog days of summer are gone, the ocean breeze is refreshing and the water is probably the warmest it has been all summer.
All of that makes for some glorious beach days! The vacationers have returned home and most won't be back until next June, leaving us locals with clean, wide-open beaches. And that means less competition for BEACH GLASS!!!

Never before have I ever witnessed so many people looking for these ocean gems. Last summer, there were a couple of obvious people in search of beach glass, but this summer it was crazy. It was like people searching for gold or something. Of course if you match up the prices that sea glass sold for a year ago to the current prices, especially on FEEBAY, you might also be out on the beach looking for the new "gold". What used to sell for $5 a year ago, will often sell for $15 or more today. I bought a brilliant red piece of sea glass last spring, paying about $15 for the piece (for those not familiar with sea glass, red pieces a considered to be very rare and I believe this piece to be about right at the time) I wanted to put it away and create a piece for Valentine's Day later next yr. The piece had a curve to it that I couldn't see in the photos and I just wasn't happy about the way it was going to sit if I wire-wrapped it. It was such a beautiful piece, I didn't want to drill a hole into it, so I decided to list it on Feebay, just to see if there were any takers. What I bought less than 7 months ago for 15, sold for almost 35...crazy!

Sorry for a little rant about beach glass, I'm a bit excited because tonight will be the last full moon of the month, and the ocean often yields some beautiful pieces after a full moon (plus I'm off from my JOB for the next week and sooo looking forward to spending a lot of time on the beach)

I'm busy making several new pieces, most of which are Autumn themed and many will head into my shop on Etsy in the next few days. I'll add a few images of the new creations in another blog entry later tonight or early tomorrow.

I still haven't decided on a September craft show, though I know I'll be doing at least one, probably middle to end of the month.
I have an early October show that I did last year and know I can just as easily do again, unless I find something else that with a larger turnout. The end of October is filled.

October 25- The Handmade Faire (see banner at the top of my blog for more info, they are still accepting applications) in Medford, NJ. The show's curators do an outstanding job of promoting their shows and I'm very excited about this show. The EtsyNJ team will be represented by at least 25 members (and probably closer to 40 team members) for this show.

October 26- The Lacey High School Fall Festival- I've done a few shows here and they are always well run and heavily promoted. This year they are eliminating the "tupperware/avon" type vendors and concentrating on Handmade vendors.

November is still wide-open. I'm doing a show on the 15th and have a possible show on the 8th. The EtsyNJ team is talking about doing a show in November, renting a store with about 15 members selling their items.
My December shows will most likely be local shows and I'll be announcing the dates as they become available.


Check back, if you'd like to see my latest creations. Images will be up very soon!

til next time...
R

Etsy, My first Year, EtsyNJ, making crafts for the fall/winter season

So my one year anniversary on Etsy.com has come and gone. It was very nice of Etsy to pick up my fees for the month, as an anniversary gift (yea, right-don't I wish...LOL)
Looking back it is very funny to see the items I listed in the beginning. I started with scarves...in August! 90+ degrees every day and I listed scarves.
Then I moved onto making earrings, everyone loves earrings! My problem was I had a camera that couldn't capture ANY detail and close-ups were just a blur. My immediate solution was to
SCAN the earrings (okay, I'll wait until you've stopped laughing).......
Yes, scans. Now I was able to capture some of the details at the expense of the colors.
So it was either blurry, very colorful digital pictures that hurt your eyes or fairly detailed scans with washed-out colors. And yet the Etsy community took pity on me and bought some of these earrings. Okay, the earrings really weren't sooo bad, but there were so many shops with brilliant images of their creations, I really don't know how I sold as much as I did.

When the Gift Guides came out around the holidays and I wasn't in any of them, I knew it was because my images were holding me back. So late in November I bought a real camera. I'd like to say that the camera made all the difference. But my sales didn't improve and November and December sales were big disappointments. After the fall/winter show schedule and endless promoting on Etsy, I was thinking about a short break in January, just to re-charge the batteries and step away from my crafting table. For the first time, going to my table was becoming a chore and I began questioning if the amount of time I spent promoting was really worth the effort. A short break was in order...but there I go thinking again.
2008 started slowly, but by the middle of January my items started selling, with minimal promoting. And they continued to sell going into February, like every couple of days!
So back to the creating table and back to the promotion forum. I was excited that things were selling, but it was still a grind to create and especially tough to want to promote. I didn't want to lose the momentum my shop had, but I was feeling a bit burnt-out.
Then the economy fell apart and so did my momentum. I guess I was a bit disappointed when it slowed, but looking back, I should be happy to average a sale a week during March, April and May. I know I was happy for the break from my craft table. With my s/o doing most of my promoting, I was able to go on Etsy when I felt like it, promote whenever I wanted and with the exception of a couple of custom orders, I did little else.
June started slowly, but finished well and the shop picked up the momentum into July. And I found it fun to once again sit down at my table and create. I'm enjoying being back at the table again and find it therapeutic once again (after working all day at my J-O-B)
With a year under my belt, I guess I have an idea of what to look forward to and maybe this time can pace myself better to avoid burning-out
At least that's what I think....but I know what happens when I start thinking : )

EtsyNJ
I'm very excited about the EtsyNJ team. We have a grant from Etsy to run an ad in WeirdNJ (which comes out next month) and hopefuly I'll have some New Jersey type items, along with Halloween and holiday creations ready to go when the issue hits the stands.
One of the team's leaders has put together a craft show for the end of October and I hope I'm one of the vendors selected (there's already about 40 applications from the EtsyNJ team, plus whatever she receives from local crafters) The show will be held in Medford, NJ on the 25th of October. The show is called the Handmade Faire and the first show was held this past spring (I didn't do the show, but I know I paid for quite a few of the vendors show fees...it was an awesome show and I know I'll need my s/o with me to hold the money or I'll go into debt buying everything at the fall show!)
The team is planning on more advertising and have several more ideas in the works. It looks like everything we do will only help promote ourselves and promote Etsy outside of the site. More to come, along with a banner for the Handmade Faire show!

I'm so busy looking for supplies for the upcoming holiday season and planning my creations for upcoming craft shows and Etsy (along with the above mentioned EtsyNJ happenings) I wasn't very prepared last year to do Halloween and I really didn't think there was much of a market for handmade Halloween items. Of course, there I was thinking again. Halloween was indeed a great opportunity for sales and I hope to have a bit more ready to go by the beginning of next month.
I'm already to begin creating my autumn line of jewelry and I'm starting to build up inventory for the fall/winter craft show season (at least this time I think I'm ahead of the game....did I just "think"?)

No new creations this time around, but I'll be back in a few days with a craft schedule (for my non-Etsy friends ) a few new creations and the banner for the Handmade Faire

'til next time...
R

Craft Show, New Items, Etsy.com, etc....

This past Saturday, I did the craft show that was tied into an Annual CrabFest in Forked River, NJ. Originally I had thought about only bringing a couple of large umbrellas to give my table a bit of shade.
But when the weather for Saturday was forcast to be in the 90s with a lot of humidity, I changed plans and opted for my tent. And it was a very good decision.
There was a steady rain early in the morning and the vendors that didn't have umbrellas were trapped in their vehicles, while I was able to get my tent up before tha hard rain began. Once the tent was up, I was able to set up my tables (yes I went from one table with umbrellas to the tent and 2 tables) and by 10:00am start time came around, the rain stopped and the sky's cleared and I was ready to go.
Customers were a bit slow to show up, but I had a few minutes to relax, sip some coffee and tweak my displays. Other vendors were just getting started, but the EtsyNJ contingent were prepared to start selling.

The show over all was pretty good for me, but some sellers didn't do well. And many vendors never even showed up. All in all, it was a fun show for me and I enjoyed meeting with the EtsyNJ crew, chatting about upcoming shows, plans that the NJ group has in the works and meeting a couple of new members.

As usual in Forked River, my sea glass creations sold well and a few of my favorites sold, as did some of my inexpensive earrings (they always do well at the shows... they aren't huge $$ makers, but they help pay for the fees and supplies)

I have a few new items ready to go into my Etsy shop. The sea glass creation above is called "Ocean View Stacked Sea Glass Necklace" and it really is beautiful (because of internal server problems with the blog site, I can't upload the image at this tiem, I will try again after posting this blog). During the show, many people claimed they thought the dark brown piece of sea glass looked red in the light. It gave the necklace a red, white and blue look. The necklace may not ever make it to Etsy... well maybe as a Reserved Custom Order... a couple of customers at the show showed a lot of interest in the necklace and I was contacted earlier today by an Etsy customer who liked what she saw, so we'll see. The only thing I can say about this necklace is, it looks so much nicer in person than the photos show.

Before the show, my shop was well under the number of items I like to have listed on Etsy. But now, after the craft show, my shop is pretty wiped out. The pieces that were all ready to go into my shop, sold...of course (one of which I had a lot of trouble getting the type of photos I wanted and all that time spent was for nothing...LOL)
I'll be trying to take photos this week and adding an item or two each day until I get my shop to where I like it.

It doesn't appear that I'll be doing any more shows before the end of the summer. This weekend's show was draining, the heat and humidity just wiped me out and I really need to focus on getting my shop back up to speed and begin building my inventory for the fall and winter shows.

My next scheduled shows are...

October 25th-
The Handmade Faire in Medford, NJ This show is pending, for me. It's a juried show and it will feature many of the EtsyNJ team. The Handmade Faire had a spring show in Barnegat this past spring and it was by far the best show I ever attended in this area. The overall quality of the vendors was just incredible. The show's organizer does an incredible job of promoting her shows. I'll be there hopefully as a vendor, or as a customer... the show is not to be missed!

October 26th-
Forked River, NJ -The Lacey High School puts on an excellent show and they are gearing their show more towards handmade items first. I've done this show before and they do a nice job promoting and the locals do come out to support the show. (This show is also pending)

November-
I have a few shows with apps in and I'm waiting for other locations to announce dates. It looks like I'll be doing the Southern Regional High School show on the 15th of November. I've done many of their shows in the past and they've been fairly well supported by the locals.
I also have a pending application for Nov 8th in Toms River NJ and an invite for Forked River on the 22nd of Nov.

I don't have anything scheduled yet for December. I'm trying to convince my s/o to do a couple of shows (by himself) while I do another show, but we'll see how my Etsy sales go and if I can keep up with my inventory.

My one year anniversary is this week on Etsy.com and I'm thinking about a little special sale and maybe a blog give-away for everyone that follows my blog. Check back in a couple of days!

til next time...
R

EtsyNJ Street Team-- We received a grant from Etsy!!

The EtsyNJ street team received a grant from Etsy last week and pending Etsy's approval, the NJ street team will be running a full page ad in Weird NJ. The ad will run during the October issue, which is just in time for the holidays.

The ad will feature several of the NJ members and have a link to a in-progress web page that will feature links to all participating members. All participating members will agree to a little special for any purchases made from this ad.

The team unexpectedly received more support from our members than originally thought. So it looks like another ad featuring the team is in the works and probably several more to follow.

It's great to be a part, albeit a small part, of the EtsyNJ team. They are so involved in the promoting of the team with a daily promotion in the Etsy forums, a Yahoo group (where we share info with each other) a couple of team websites and who knows how many treasuries each week (I believe I'm currently in 3 or 4 treasuries) It always great to run into team members at craft shows and to meet many of the members I only know through Etsy's forums or our yahoo group.

EtsyNJ ROCKS!!

Okay now to my personal Etsy happenings... My JOB has been beating me up a bit this summer. After taking it slowly for much of the summer, I'm now trying to play catch up. I have a show coming up in a less than 2 weeks and I really need to bear down and spend some quality time with my creating-table.

I did put in a few hours this past weekend, putting together several sea glass pieces and then a nother couple of hours taking photos, downloading, cropping , etc the images to be listed on Etsy.

Of course out of the 6 I listed, half of them have already sold and I have a pending inquiry on another piece. I'm very thrilled for the sales (Okay, I'm more than thrilled-- I scream YAY---to myself ) but I almost don't want to list anymore pieces before the show. I'd really like to have a couple of pieces of sea glass jewelry that will WOW the customers, as I do a show in this town later in the fall.

It would be great to continue to establish myself as one of the sellers in the area to see if you're interested in buying sea glass jewelry. My s/o and I often have people stop by my table to chat about sea glass and pick our brains on where we look for our gems or how I make the jewelry. It's always fun to sit and listen to their stories about their best finds (my s/o always make a mental note when people mention exactly where they always find a lot of sea glass...and never gives up our secret little stretch of beach where we continue to find rare colors and the odd jewelry quality piece)

Just another quick thanks for the EtsyNJ team... with so many member promoting the team, it really does wonders for all of our stores and I'm so very glad to be a part of everything we are involved in!

til next time...

R

PS- The above sea glass bracelet is the next to go into my Etsy shop.... or perhaps I'll hold onto it until the craft show (tho I'd like to keep it for myself...lol)

On the Front Page of Etsy!!

I check my Etsy site early Sunday morning and noticed one of my Sea Glass bracelets had a significant number of hits. Upon checking the buyers who hearted the item, I noticed it had picked up 6 hearts on Friday and Saturday.

But when I checked in at the EtsyNJ street team site, I then found out the real reason... the team had a treasury selected for the front page!! It seems one of the EtsyNJ team members, ShutterKate, who just happens to be a superb Etsy treasury builder (she's had several front page treasuries and several more that were front page-worthy) created an EtsyNJ team treasury and it was selected to appear on the front page of the Etsy site. My bracelet is the first item in the second row.

After reading through the street team's blog, it seems many of the items had over 100 views (I think my bracelet, which had been in another treasury last weekend also, was between 100-120 views)

Thank you to the members of the EtsyNJ team for creating beautiful items and a standing-ovation for ShutterKate for putting it all together... it was a fun way to start my morning!

til next time...

R

Father's Day, Summer, Beach Glass and more....

Summer is here... well almost, but living in south-central New Jersey after Memorial Day means it's summer. Seasonal rentals begin in June and since it's been pushing 90 degrees every day for the last week, the "bennies" are here for the next 3 months.

My s/o took a beachcombing trip early this morning in search of some beach glass. We haven't gone to LBI searching because the severe storm we had about 5 weeks ago, really took it's toll on the beaches and the beaches were pretty torn up. The beach crews really did a great job putting the beaches back together in time for for the early beach visitors.

The beach glass however, has been buried, perhaps until the next big storm. This morning's search for beach glass was pretty much a waste (but my hubby thinks someone beat him onto the beach. He said there were footprints along the washed up shell beds) and even though he came home with a handful of sea glass, it was mostly browns and ambers. He did find an olive green piece that just isn't good enough to be considered "jewelry quality".

Hopefully, we'll stumble upon a couple of jewelry quality pieces in one of our future trips.

I haven't had much time to sit down and create to many new pieces, but I do have a couple that I need to take pictures of. Of course today was hazy to overcast and I just couldn't get the lighting correct...maybe the sun will come out long enough tomorrow for me to get my hoop earrings and a sea glass bracelet onto Etsy.

I'd like to wish my hubby and all the Dad's a very Happy Father's Day!! Enjoy your day Dads!!

The May Recap, General Ideas, And Coming Soon...

A couple of late May sales saved the month from being my worst on Etsy, but that late momentum carried over into June with an Etsy trade with fellow EtsyNJ team member CreationsByDanielle. The trade was followed up with 2 sales late this past week (one being my favorite bracelet...a pretty turquoise sea glass creation. The pics didn't do the bracelet justice, as I just couldn't get the lighting right)

My last few sales have been for pieces with soft shades of blue, so I might be back to my craft table later today to make a few new pieces in Teal and Turquoise.

Sea Glass continues to be very hard to locate. Jewelry quality pieces are now selling for a premium and the harder to find colors are rarely found for sale. Authentic sea glass jewelry has become popular in Central and Southern New Jersey, especially in the summer months and trying to keep up my inventory has become a challenge.

I do have a few nice pieces of sea glass ready for creating and hopefully, I can get to those pieces during the week.

Besides the sea glass items that will be added to my Etsy shop soon, I just added a couple new bracelets and have a few pairs of earrings waiting for pictures.

No new shows are planned currently, but I'd love to find a good show for the end of this month or early next month, before concentrating on my Etsy shop and building inventories for the Fall and Winter craft show seasons.

til next time...

R

Proud member of the EtsyNJ street team

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Show results, comments, Etsy happenings, new items

Hi all... My shop has all been re-activated after this past weekends craft show in Manahawkin. I even made a sale about 2 hours I put everything back in the shop, which was very nice.

The show itself wasn't too bad for me, but for many other vendors, it was not a good show. It seemed well-organized, perhaps a bit shaky on the promoting. I did find it listed in a couple local papers, but outside the school, the signing was very weak and hard to read (it's a 40 mph speed limit and the lettering did not stand out) I don't really think the community did a good job supporting the show and even though the school was raising money, the support just didn't seem to be there, especially on a day that was overcast and unseasonably cool.
There were vendors that didn't show up, and far too many vendors that were not ready at the start time. There were still vendors walking in the door 5 minutes before the start of the show, along with vendors openly complaining to the promoters on the show floor about location and the fact there was another vendor selling the same type of merchandise as he was (he was also a vendor still clearing up the aisle in front of his tables after the show had started)
My polymer items and sea glass creations have sell okay there and it's a promoter that is very nice, but I'm just not sure if I'll be back at this show next year. One vendor told me he polled almost all the vendors and none did this spring show before! It wasn't a waste of time for me and it could have been far worse!

I'm still searching for another show or two before the end of next month, when I'll take the summer off, to concentrate on making fall/winter items, devote more time to promoting on Etsy and get involved with the EtsyNJ Street Team.
Right now I'm either going to do the Woodbine show on June 28th or the Hammonton HS show on the 29th. I was just informed of the Hammonton show and told last year's traffic was well over 5,000. not sure which way I'm going just yet, Woodbine gets a lot of beach traffic and my sea glass would probably do well there. Hammonton, I believe, is an indoor show and would probably get a lot of bad-weather traffic.
I'm still looking for a good show between now and the June shows to fill out my Spring show season...

I've listed several new polymer creations on Etsy and I have a couple more to sea glass pieces to list, including the bracelet above. My Etsy sales for the month is at 2, but I have received quite a few hearts recently, so perhaps so sales are just around the corner!

That's it for today...til next time...

R

Proud member of -
EtsyNJ Street Team
BuyHandmade.org

Spring Craft Shows, Etsy- April Report, New Creations

Hi everyone! It's been about a week since my last blog entry and I just wanted to catch up.

I'll start with my upcoming craft show this weekend in Manahawkin, NJ. The show will be held on May 3, at the Southern Regional High School, starting at 10am. Shows at this location do very well traffic-wise. It's located on a major road in Ocean County (Route 9) and in past shows in Manahawkin, I've been able to compete well against other jewelry vendors.

I have added some hair accessories for this show (Inexpensive, fun and colorful) along with some pretty earrings in a price range that will attract younger girls. I've done very well selling many lower end items at this type of show and it's always been the difference between a weak show and one that wasn't too bad. I find Mom's love the lower end items for the little girls, especially when they are buying one of my sea glass items...it's easy (on the pocketbook) to make their daughter happy with a small $5 pair of earrings or $4 hair-tie.

The weather is supposed to be overcast for Saturday, with a chance of rain...hopefully the weather doesn't prevent the traffic from coming to the show!

As April winds down, it's been another slow month on Etsy. Sales haven't been coming as fast and furious as they did in January and February, but they still trickle in. The positive about Etsy is the changes to the site that are being made...IMO, these changes will benefit my shop and items. The changes will allow my items to stay on or near the top pages of the category longer, no that they will be removing the supplies from the jewelry sub-categories.

This change makes a lot of sense, as buyers will know be able to see what they are searching for, rather then 7 straight listings of supplies. It can't possibly be a good thing for a buyer who's looking for bracelets, to see listing after listing of loose buttons, and other supplies for making bracelets. It certainly isn't good for a seller's items when they quickly get pushed off the top couple of pages, because a supply seller has put on a half-dozen button listings.

Once again, I have several new sea glass creations for this weekend's show, along with already mentioned hair accessories and lower-end earrings ( I say lower end because of the price point, not the looks or quality) I also have a few new polymer clay pendants ready for this show and I'll soon be starting a couple with etchings, to be hand-painted. These pieces that were very popular last year.

That's it for today's blog, I'll somehow update between my boys baseball games later this week...I hope : )

til next time...

R