Dreaming of Sea Glass

Raining and overcast today on the Jersey shore. Saturday is change-over day and the traffic getting to and on LBI is going to be stop and go, so going to my favorite stretch of beach is probably a crazy idea. Instead I will add a new piece of jewelry or two to my Etsy shop, work on my blogs , pour myself a cup of coffee and dream of finding that elusive piece of orange sea glass. Or a few more like the piece below... : )

'til next time
R

Been A Long Time....

Wow! Nearly 11 months have passed since my last entry.

I recently received a couple of emails about my sea glass jewelry and both of my sea glass themed blogs. I haven't done much creating recently, but I received an invite to be interviewed on another crafter's blog...lol.

I doubt my responses would make for an interesting interview, so I declined. But I am hoping my trip to the beach today yields a piece (or three) of sea glass treasure worthy of a jewelry creation!

I miss my blog and would like to thank the hundreds of visitors since my last entry. Here's hoping today's trip to the ocean leads to a blog entry tomorrow!

'til next time...

Trip to the Beach

So, I finally broke down and decided to head over to LBI. Usually, I stay away until after Labor Day weekend. But the day was so nice, the ocean was calling and so was the urge to see if I could hunt down a piece of beach glass.

I went to a familiar area, found that most of the public parking that had been used for beach goers in previous years, now had a two hour time limit. Instead of having 75% of the spaces full of cars, there were a grand total of 5 cars using the 30-50 parking spaces... brilliant! Of course the side streets were loaded with cars and luckily, I squeezed into a small spot.
Now because of this brilliant decision to limit the parking places to 2 hours, the beach was quite empty. And the badge checkers were probably struggling to reach their quotas, so they were all over us as we hit the beach. "Do you need badges today?", "Do you have badges?" The bizarreness of it all fell somewhere between, I was the ice cream person ringing the bell and all the kids (badgecheckers) came running and I was going to a show and these teenagers in the yellow shorts were escorting me to my reserved seats.

So an enforced $15 donation to use a beach in the county I live in and spending several minutes driving up and down streets looking for a parking space because of some brilliantly stupid decision to put a 2 hour limit on parking places, the day didn't start well.

And it didn't get any better... I thought I/we might have a shot at maybe finding something in the surf. The beach was loaded with shells, mostly broken and quite a joy to step on in bare feet. With the tide moving out and a promising shell bed slightly visible, I had hopes. Heck, for the first time ever, I was encouraged when I saw the net-lady nearby...and she had her net with her!

But it wasn't to be. I gave up after 45 minutes. I spotted nothing at all. My DH spent at least another 30 minutes in mid-shin deep water, walking through what I believed was a shell bed and he saw one piece of "heineken green" green glass that needed about a decade more of cooking before it was ready.. Most of the shell bed appeared to be broken shells (no large, whole shells were found) and what looked like washed gravel rocks.

I have plans to go to LBI next weekend for a family get-together and thankfully, it's in another town on the island, because it is highly doubtful that I will ever frequent the town that we went to today. I'm not sure what official had the brainstorm (or was it a brain-fart?) to implement a time limit on parking places, but I guess this person forgot that the reason why people go to LBI is to enjoy the beach and not to go shopping or dining out during the day- besides a large percentage of the stores look like they still have not opened their doors this season.

Sandy really impacted everything I came across on this trip to LBI. The crowds were sparse as they have seemed to be for a lot of the summer. So many stores never opened their doors and many places still look like they need renovations. The things that appeared to have changed, have changed for the worst and one of the most important draws for me, the sea glass, looks like it may be years away from coming back on the beaches that I have visited.

My next trip will be to the northern end of the island and hopefully, very soon, I can head over to the area my DH called "cobalt beach". At least it was a beautiful day....

'til next time...
R

Listening to My Customers

Listening to your customers can often breathe life into a shop's bottom line. My Etsy shop sales were rather disappointing. My inventory had stagnated, views were low and there was really nothing happening with my jewelry. Rather than just continuing on with my current inventory lines and hoping for a positive holiday sales season, I chose to try to figure out how to turn my sea glass inventory into new product line.

Several customers requested sea glass anklets and these creations proved quite challenging. Trying to avoid making something similar to my bracelets, I eventually decided to take a few pieces of sea glass that were marble and egg-shaped and drill through them length-wise. We had a few casualties along the way, losing a few gorgeous pieces of sea glass that suffered blowouts, but some pieces (like the image above) came through the drilling process perfectly. In hindsight, I'm not sure if I will create many more anklets with this type of drilling, but I will still make them like this...

I also had a few requests for necklaces that were a bit more subtle. I have made custom pieces for customers using smaller pieces of sea glass and people who visited my table displays last season showed quite a bit of interest. So I delved into my sea glass collection and pulled out several tiny pieces- all measuring 1/2" to just short of 5/8" in length and wrapped several. The "Petites" have really turned the momentum around in my shop... my views have increased and my bottom line has improved.

Both of these items came to fruition after listening to customer suggestions. They have allowed me to expand a stagnate inventory and give customers that visit my shop, a few additional options. When it comes to sea glass, you can't always give the customers what they want, if the ocean isn't providing the needed "gems". But in these cases, I'm glad my collection contained what was needed to make my customers happy! 'til next time... R

Final Craft Show of the Season

Tomorrow, I will be attending the 1st Toms River Intermediate South Handmade Craft Show. Wow, that's a mouthful.

I think this show should be a very fun show to do because they are limiting the show to handmade vendors only. And there looks to be a lot of media support for the show. There has been radio coverage promoting the show, it's been all over Facebook and there will be several members of the EtsyNJ team in attendance.

I'm really hoping that the show promoters are able to keep this show re-seller free, us crafters can always use another quality handmade show in Ocean County for the month of December.

The Intermediate School is located at 1675 Pinewald Rd in Beachwood, NJ and the show will run from 10am - 4pm. I personally may not be able to attend because of prior work commitments, but my sons and hubby will be there to sell sea glass jewelry creations (hopefully, I can sneak away and attend the last few hours...lol).

So if you are in the area, and have some free time, stop in and say Hi to the EtsyNJ team members...and check up on my table and see what is going on. I'll be checking my blog during the day, so feel free to leave a comment, reporting on how my display looks...lol

Have a great weekend! 'til nest time...

R

Creating One Product and Selling Another

It's funny. No matter how you figure what you area of your business you believe you need to focus on, your customers always know best.

I've been working on building up my necklace inventory for my upcoming craft show on December 3rd (Toms River Intermediate South, in Beachwood, NJ) because that is my best selling item at shows and also in my Etsy shop. And as I'm looking through my sea glass collection for pendant quality pieces, my shop gets wiped out of earrings- not that I'm complaining. (actually, Yay I made an online sale!)

Just when I thought I knew best, my customers strongly have me focusing on another project because they have made it a glaring weakness in my shop inventory. So it's back to the drawing board, going through smaller pieces of sea glass and marking off the area I'd like hubby to drill holes while I check the inventory of earring components.

While I search I lay out a plan to replenish my earring inventory, I hope you enjoy the images of a couple of my latest sea glass necklaces and one of my favorite pairs of earrings that are departing for the desert of Tucson, Az.

'til next time,
R

Yesterday's Trip to the Beach

Hi everyone, it's "the hubby" (as I'm often referred to) reporting on yesterday's sea glass hunting trip to LBI.

I arrived at the beach about 25 minutes prior to the height of the low tide. It was a sunny afternoon with little wind and the temps were in the high 50s- low 60s. Walking around with a light sweatshirt was quite comfortable.

I went to my favorite stretch of beach on LBI, an area that includes a block long stretch I call cobalt beach (because I have found 10x more cobalt sea glass in this area than any other beach I've set foot on)

As soon as I hit the beach, I noticed the tides were cooperating perfectly. The ocean was pulled well back from where it normally is at low tide, and I thought that I should have brought my waders with me (note to self, bring my water boots or hip waders next time)

As I walked towards the water, I looked to the north and got very excited. There were huge stretches of shell beds that were laying just above the tide line and by huge, I mean some were 30-40 feet long and over 10 feet wide. It was a sea glass hunter's dream.

So I made my way down to the water and preceded north towards the first of several shell beds. The adrenaline rush began when I was about 10 feet away because I knew that I would be spending most of my time on the beach in this small area because the beds were deep. It was about this time, I considered running back to my truck to get one of my sand pails because there was no way I was going to be able to carry the treasures that were waiting for me.

So everything was perfect- sun shining brightly, HUGE stretches of shell beds, with the ocean gently lapping at the bottom of the beds (acting more like a lake than the ocean) and I was the only one on the beach. The only problem was someone forgot to invite the sea glass!

The conditions were absolutely perfect and there was nothing. I went from bed to bed going north, turned south revisited the beds and headed further south to "cobalt beach"- surely there would be a bounty waiting for me there. As always there tide at CB was perfect, the shell beds laying exposed in the sand and every few minutes the water would get into the bed , shifting the shells and pebbles around. But there was no sparkling pieces of glass to be had.

In all, I did find about a dozen pieces of glass that were in various stages of what I call "under-cooked" (meaning they needed more time for the ocean to finish her job on the glass) I did find a nice piece of Coke-bottle glass, very thick and probably quite old. However, it had recently broke in the ocean and had a jagged edge. It will go back into the ocean (in an area where swimmers do not frequent) I also found a couple of sand dollars, and a few small shells for a project that I'm working on for Robin's shop.

This year has been a huge disappointment- between the dune build-up and local townships moving sand around to protect the beach (and burying the glass), the hurricane that arrive at high tide and pulled much of the dunes into the sea, further burying the glass and a very disappointing fall season, where there were no shells or glass to be found anywhere on the beach.

Yesterday, the conditions were perfect and everything a sea glass hunter wants to see was present- except for the glass. Officially, the full moon occurred last night, so maybe the glass was a bit late to arrive.

Maybe

til next time

Upcoming Craft Show, Full Moon, New Creations

Wow, the end of another year is creeping up slowly.

I'm attending a first time craft show on December 3rd. The show is being held at the Toms River Intermediate School in Beachwood. I'll have several new items with me for those that have beach-loving family/friends on their holiday gift lists, along with my Etsy inventory and several pairs of earrings, bracelets and necklaces that have been recently created.
I'll be adding images of new creations that may not make it into my Etsy shop before the final craft show of my 2011 season, so if you are looking for a piece of holiday jewelry created with sea glass, check back often to see what is hot off my crafting table!

Tomorrow, November 10th is the the full moon. On the east coast, we've had some very rough seas that have been hammering the coast line (the already battered coast line) and with the arrival of tomorrow's full moon, the tides will continue to wreak havoc on the beaches. For a hardcore sea glass hunter like my hubby, it should offer the potential to find some nice pieces of sea glass and who knows what else...?

Hubby is excited that the temperature is not yet frigid, and he'll be getting to the beach a few times over the next 3-4 days to see what the tides are leaving behind. Here's hoping the sea glass is plentiful on every one's favorite stretches of beach.

Posted above, are is my latest necklace creations, along with with a Patriotic sea glass bracelet. Enjoy!!

'til next time,
R

Craft Show Results- Upcoming Sea Glass Festival

Earlier this month I did my first craft show of the year, the Beach Plum Festival. This show has been on my "A" list of shows after a few good outings.

Considering the economy, this year's version was pretty good. The weather cooperated, and there was a great deal of foot traffic wandering about. My booth was packed most of the day, as the locals had plenty of sea glass stories to share with me.

Sales wise, it was by far the lowest number of sales at this show since I began vending here. It seemed like people just were out enjoying the nice day. They spent a few bucks to sample the beach plum ice cream or beach plum muffins...but clearly, the economy has forced people to cut way back on their spending habits and I saw many people leaving the show empty-handed.

In previous years, the customers at this show began buying gifts for the holidays and it seemed like that wasn't happening this year. Those that visited my booth also didn't seem to have or want to spend the money they had. In fact, if I didn't offer customers the option of paying via credit card, I probably would have lost 5 or 6 sales.

In all, it was a pretty okay show...certainly not a waste of time. Plus, I had the chance to enjoy the beautiful day, while speaking and sharing sea glass stories with with very nice people.

Not a bad way to spend a September Sunday afternoon.

'til next time...

R

First Craft Show of the Year

After doing several craft fairs/shows for the last few years, it's hard to believe that the Beach Plum Festival at Island Beach State Park on Sunday, will be my first show of 2011.

As much as that surprises me, it's even more shocking to know I do not have another show booked for the rest of the year! Hmmm, I might have to do something about that.

So since the hurricane, the hunt for beach glass has been quite disappointing. Unfortunately, the hurricane came in near high tide, and wreaked havoc with the dunes. By tearing up the dunes and dragging the sand down the beach and into the surf, the hurricane essentially buried anything that was stirred up by the rough ocean. Had it come in during low tide, the high winds and rough surf would have tore apart the lower part of the beach and probably uncovered sea treasures that have been buried for a couple of decades.

Oh well...we were lucky the damage wasn't worse...very lucky.

If you're in the area of of lower Ocean County, NJ and have nothing on your calendar for Sunday, stop by Island Beach State Park.

'til next time...
R

Q & A on Seaglassing

Between work and my youngest son's extended baseball season (yes, he's now playing a summer/fall season for his 4th team of the year) it's been a long time between blog entries.

Over the last few months, we've been asked several questions about the "where, when, hows" of sea glass hunting. My hubby has mentioned that yesterday we had 3 different emails asking info about sea glass hunting when a hurricane is coming. So here are the many questions, and our answers.

Because of the impending storm, we'll go with these questions/answers first.

-Would I consider going out during the storm looking for sea glass? No absolutely not. Visibility will be poor, the winds will be unforgiving and you will be risking your life. Stay indoors until the brunt of the storm has passed.

-(with a hurricane in the forecast) When is the best time to look for sea glass?
I would go out prior to the storm's arrival and after the storm has clearly passed. Depending upon the strength of the tides, I would consider checking out the beach after the peak of high tide, and just before, during and after low tide. I would consider the same process AFTER the storm has passed, especially at low tide.

-Are there specific areas you will go to and will you be kind and share them? Yes, there will be and no, I don't tell anyone where our "special" spots are (they haven't been too special lately) Actually, anywhere that you have found nice pieces of sea glass in the past will probably be a good place to check after the storm has passed.

Final thoughts on this storm... If you do not have a profound respect for the ocean, then you really have no business being on the beach just prior, during or just after this storm. The sea reclaims what it has left behind, and has no problem grabbing you if you happen to be there. If you don't understand the tides, their habits and histories, please stay off the beach until it is safe.
We live on the coast, and we are concerned about the damage this storm may bring. As sea glassers, we are excited about the prospects that the ocean might stir up. The potential of finding sea glass that has been tumbling around the ocean floor for several decades is exciting... but the damage to the dunes and beach front homes can be devastating. If you are planning to go out...be smart and be safe!

Other questions that we've received during the last couple of months...

-Where is the best location for sea glass? While we've never been there, word of mouth indicates the best sea glassing areas is "Glass Beach" in Fort Bragg, Ca. Glass Beach was at one time, a garbage dump. We've been told that the garbage was dumped on the beach, set on fire, and the tide took what was left. We have been shown several pictures of the surf, and the amount of glass (and the amazing colors) is breath-taking. (the top image is from Glass Beach and the photo is taken by Jef Poskanzer)
Puerto Rico has some great areas that often yield some incredible finds. Researching an area's history will often lead you to areas where you may have success. One such area exists in Puerto Rico, where a glass factory once existed. This companies specialty? They made beer bottles...red beer bottles. Red sea glass is very rare, but in this area, it is found more frequently.
We've also never been to the beaches in northern UK, but the beautiful pieces that are found there are usually found in the areas where glass factories existed decades ago.
The Great Lakes have been a very "hot" sea glassing spot recently and the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware beaches have also been "hot spots" in recent years. History also shows that by the time word-of-mouth gets to you about a hot spot and the time it takes for you to get there, everyone else will be there too. The best hot spots are those that you find yourself (that's why we don't spill the beans on our little hot spots) The spot that my hubby calls "Cobalt Beach" is a small stretch that frequently turns up pretty pieces of cobalt sea glass. It took him about 6 months to bring me to the supposed little hot spot, but we did find 6 pieces of cobalt blue sea glass that day, along with more than 50 other pieces

To answer most of the usual questions... I like to go out shortly after high tide, while my hubby prefers low tide. Despite the competition, I like going out during the warmer summer months. Hubby prefers the late fall, winter and early spring. Because of the brutal winds and cold temps in the winter, the amount of time he can spend on the beach is limited and he hits specific locations that have been successful in the past. In the summer, I just go wherever and stroll the surf. When we go to the beach in the summer (to swim, sunbathe)usually produces common color sea glass, but my favorite piece in recent years, a very old piece of deep teal, was found in the surf... so you just never know when and where a beautiful gem is going to wash up.
The potential for great finds increases with the impending storm this weekend. Please be safe, be prepared, and go out to the beach with a partner after the storm has passed.

'til next time...
R

New Summertime Creations

It's been a while since my last blog entry. Hope you like a few of my
newest sea glass jewelry creations!

Hunting For Sea Glass? Today is the Day!

If you enjoy getting out on the beach in any weather to hunt for sea glass, then today and tomorrow are prime hunting days!

The full moon this weekend is a special one...one we haven't seen in a few years. The moon is currently closer to the earth than it has been in quite some time and this full moon is considered to be " a spring tides" or Perigee moon.

Remember your science classes back in elementary school? The teachers always mentioned that the moon affects the ocean tides. Well this moon will be responsible for a little higher high tides, and a much lower low tide. And while I have always found very good pickings after the high tide when the moon is a Perigee, it's the low tide that I am truly excited about.

The last time I went out during a spring tide's moon, the ocean had eerily pulled back some 20 or 30 feet from where the waves usually reach! I was walking around on the sand where normally, I'd be about mid-thigh deep in the water...talk about sea glassing opportunities! I came home with about 150 pieces of sea glass that day and it would have been so much more had it not been soooo cold and had low tide not occurred so late in the day.

So this afternoon, I'll be on the beach with my sons about 30 minutes before low tide, enjoying a semi-warm sunny Saturday, and waiting to see what the Perigee moon does with the tides. Hopefully, we'll come home with a few ocean gems today.

'til next time...
R

A Winter Day at the Beach

For early February, it was sort of a nice day on Thursday. High 30s, sunny and little wind. Considering the recent weather, and several high tide warnings over the early part of the week, I thought it would be a good time to take a stroll on the beach. So off to one of my favorite hunting spots on LBI.

It's amazing to me how different the beaches look every time I visit in the winter. During the summer, there is little change in appearance. But come the winter, you would swear you are standing on a different beach, even on a week-to-week basis. Yesterday's trek was no different...I was a bit stunned at how exposed the beach looked. The dunes in front of the houses were built up, but the beach was basically flat, allowing the waves a clear run at the dunes.

Flat beaches are usually not very good for sea glass hunting, especially when the high tide is way above normal. The flat beach, combined with a rough tide, usually means the sea glass ends up back in the water, rather than on the beach. And yesterday, with a small 2 block exception, this was exactly the case... clean beaches- no shells, no driftwood, no garbage, and no sea glass.

The small exception was several 8-10 foot wide "shell beds" that didn't make it back into the surf as the tide left. Most of the shells were broken pieces, and in a few of these beds were several pieces of sea glass. And interestingly, I found several pieces of sea glass as I walked from one bed to another (they were spaced out approx a 30 second walk from one another) In all, I found about 20 pieces of sea glass in that short span of beach and absolutely zero pieces anywhere else.

As I turned to make my trip back home, I stumbled upon a large piece of bright green sea glass, not more than 4 or 5 feet away from one of my footprints (yes, my feet were the first to travel along the high tide line) and remembered what a more experienced sea glass hunter told me years ago... always pay attention on the return trip, you're almost sure to find a few hidden treasures you missed on your first pass. By the time I had made my way back to the very first shell bed, I added another 15 pieces to my findings for the day.

Every day on the beach is a good day, some are better than others...
but I wonder how many pieces I would have found that day if there had been shell beds all along the beach, instead of just those 2 short blocks. Regardless, it was a very good day.

'til next time...
R

Sea Glass Plans For the New Year

I have to admit, I'm not sad to see 2010 go.
Despite decent sales during the holiday season and a possible upturn in the economy, 2010 was one tough year. Overall, online sales were way down, the craft fairs I attended were often handicapped by rain, high winds or ungodly heat. Even the ocean added to the woeful year by holding back it's supply of sea glass. And I always seemed to be on the wrong part of the beach at the wrong time.
2010 even had the audacity to give us a end-of-year kick to the "groinular" area with a last minute blizzard...sort of a "here's mud in eye" way to end a miserable year.

So as I trudge along in early 2011, I find myself proceeding cautiously with my game plan for the year. I'm not convinced that economy is turning around nor am I sure that consumers are going consume the way they did prior to our little recession. I've been going over my list of craft fairs and some of the late winter/early spring shows will be dropped. I hope to add a few shows in the summer and early fall in/near the beach resort areas and I have always wanted to attend the Sea Glass Festival as a vendor, and I'm hoping that this is my year.

Last year ended on a strong note, so I enter 2011 cautiously optimistic that this year will be better. Heck, I even found a dozen pieces of sea glass on the beach this morning (one or two pieces may turn out to be necklaces) Maybe it will be a very good year.

Have a happy and prosperous 2011!

'til next time...
R

Meet and Greet at Jersey Made

If you are still looking for a gift for a hard to buy for family member, friend, work mate, and they love the beach/ocean, then come on down to Jersey Made tomorrow night!
I will have a portion of my sea glass collection with me, along with wire to wrap pendants, and a few sterling silver chains.

Or you can bring a piece of sea glass and I'll create a custom wrap for you. I also have several new jewelry creations that I will be bringing with me, along with some pre-drilled pieces of sea glass, that can be used to create earrings, or bracelets.

Jersey-Made is located in the Mill Race Village section of Mount Holly, NJ and the meet and greet is scheduled tomorrow, Friday December 17th, from 5pm- 9pm. Stop in and talk sea-glassing and bring your prize "finds". We would love to hear your stories!

Hope to see you tomorrow!

R

Cyber Monday, Coupon Codes, Holiday Shopping....

With the arrival of Thanksgiving, the holidays are now upon us. And so is the holiday shopping frenzy. The news and the internet are filled with the insane videos of shoppers running over each other in the stores to save a few dollars.

Well at Etsy.com, all of the handmade artisans have found a way for you to purchase quality one-of-a-kind gifts for family, friends and yourself. Browse the site today, find coupon codes in the shops to save money, and stay at home with a cup of tea and shop. Why bother with getting rammed by a shopping cart, empty shelves from sold out items, and playing bumper cars for the last parking place in the lot?

I have my Authentic Sea Glass Jewelry creations available at 15% with coupon code
BF10WEEKEND, and I'll pay the shipping fees! Check out my shop throughout the day, as I'll be marking down items today so you can save even more money on Cyber Monday.

So snuggle up on the couch with a cup of tea...I'll be open all day and night. Keep your eyes open for my Cyber Monday specials and I'll be adding new inventory all day!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

R

November Full Moon... Discount Coupon for Sea Glass Jewelry

The Full Moon on Sunday will be a key day for sea glass hunters. At this time of the year, both the sun and moon are nearing their closest points to our planet. If you recall your science lessons from school, you'll recall that the moon affects the tides.
And since the moon will be quite close to Earth during this weekends Full Moon, the tides should be more severe than normal.(bet you never thought you'd ever need that science info...hehehe)

The recent easterly winds we've experienced on the east coast of the US has stirred the ocean up nicely for this Full Moon, and just in time, the winds have now begun to come out of the west. This will set-up a nice situation for a sea glass hunt during low tide.

In previous years, going out to the beach at the height of low tide has proven to offer the chance to walk on the surf that is usually under water. The combination of west winds, and the severe pull back of the ocean caused by the low tide cause the ocean to pull way back during this period...usually by an additional 15-20 feet or more!

So the sea glass hunting stage has been perfectly set for this full moon. Remember that the west winds will bring cold air with it, so dress appropriately!


I have created a discount code for my Etsy.com shop, and all my sea glass jewelry is available to my blog followers at a 15% discount. Just use the following code when checking out to receive the 15% off... NOV2010
And remember, I offer FREE shipping during the month of November! (and the top image in this blog entry has already been marked down over 20% for today only!)

My next blog entry will have more info on my Meet and Greet next month at Jersey Made in Mt Holly, NJ...so find some sea glass this weekend and bring it to Jersey Made and get it wrapped!

Good Luck on the beach, save me some sea glass...and be careful out there!

'til next time...
R

The Economy and the Handmade Industry

There hasn't been one handmade artisan I've spoken with that can say they have not been hit hard by the current state of the economy. Traffic at shows seem down slightly, but more and more of the traffic appear to be "just looking" and often leave the show empty-handed.

Personally speaking, the upper end pieces that used to move quickly from my inventory have stagnated, and even at reduced prices, they remain in my online or brick and mortar consignment shops. There was a time when I could not locate enough rare jewelry quality pieces of sea glass. Now the only time I add jewelry-quality pieces to my collection, is when I find them on the beach. Even when I have a chance to privately purchase a nice lot of quality sea glass, I have to pass because my customers have been hesitant on making higher-end purchases.

The reasons are always the same. They like a specific piece of jewelry, and they may come back to my display two or three times to look at it. But in the end, they walk away from the piece saying something to the effect of "I just can't spend the money"

Creating a lower end line of sea glass jewelry has helped. My surfer necklace line is very affordable, but it's more of a teenagers line of jewelry. The price does bring in potential customers to my display, but at this time the line sells to a niche market, within the niche market of sea glass jewelry customers.

I have found more and more customers asking to purchases a wrapped sea glass pendant, rather than buy the entire necklace. And in a buyer's market, there have been a few customers looking to "negotiate" on the final price.

Selling my handmade creations has been getting harder and harder as this year winds to a close. Show sales are down, online sales are way down, and so are my profit margins. Adapting to budgets of potential customers is a must, and I've had a little success with the newer creations. Adapting further is certainly needed, but I see this holiday season slipping away because I don't know if there will be a mad buying spree in the last few weeks prior to the holidays.

How have the sales been at your shop and shows? Have you found lower prices meant increased sales, or have your sales remained stagnant...and how have you adapted your creations to what the market is willing to bear?

'til next time..
R

Upcoming Events, Craft Shows, and the November Full Moon

Once again days have to turned to weeks, and my blog has gone quite some time without an update. Before I get into the events, shows, etc...I'd like to answer one question that was posed in a convo to my Etsy shop.
"Why do I constantly change out my featured items?"
I base the changes according to the previous day's views. There are periods where I go 3-4 days before changing the featured items, but when I zero out my views using the "Heart-O-Tron" site, I will base the changes on what the visitors to my shop are looking at. Today's changes will reflect the top my top 4 viewed items from yesterday.


And now onto the regularly scheduled blog post...

I will appearing this Saturday in Vincetown, NJ at The Easthampton Historical Society's Holiday Bazaar in November show. This is my 3rd year at the show and the show never disappoints...great traffic, well run (well promoted, great vendor variety) and possibly the best craft fair food. The show runs from 9am - 2 pm and is held at the Firehouse (yes, an indoor show!)
At the show, I will be promoting my upcoming "Meet & Greet" at Jersey Made on December 17th. I will be bringing a large part of my sea glass collection, and will be creating custom jewelry for customers to purchase for last minute gifts. This will be my first attempt of "Creating on the Fly" for customers, so if you have a special piece of sea glass that you'd like to have made into a one-of-a-kind keepsake piece of jewelry, then Jersey Made on December 17th is your chance!
Jersey Made can be located in the Mill Race Village section of Mt. Holly, NJ. They are open Wednesday-Sunday and I believe they will expand to 6 or 7 days a week during the holidays.

One of the most important days for die-hard sea glass collectors occurs later this month during our next full moon. In response to several blog readers questions, the winter is the best time to search for sea glass, and there are two key days, with the November full moon being one of them. I mention this in advance for those that are seriously considering venturing out... prepare to be cold, very cold, and if you have water-proof boots & gloves, you'll be able to find a couple handfuls of sea glass (last year we located approx 75 pieces the first day out and that was only in a 2 block strip of the beach!)I'll have more about this key sea glass hunting day in a blog post next week...so if you have questions, feel free to ask.

Hope to see you at the show on Saturday (and hope to not see you on "my special sections of beach" later this month...hehehe)

'til next time...
R