Saturday was a Beach Day...and there was Sea Glass!

This past Saturday was a rare day indeed. We arrived on LBI shortly before noon to see the mass exodus of renters, as they made room for the thousands of new renters just starting their vacations (yes Rt72, was backed up for miles, and luckily, the back roads were smooth sailing)

Almost always, this means a less than full beach and that is exactly what we found! Some fairly wide open areas made up of mostly year-round citizens of the island. The water was warm, and we were arriving smack in the middle of low tide...perfect for a little sea glassing!

While I watched my youngest venture out beyond the sandbar, my DH headed south to an area that has turned up some pretty pieces in past summers (DH swears that heading south on the island- no matter what part of the island we are on, offers the best opps for sea glassing)My DH came strolling back with 4 pieces of sea glass, and since our sons were just getting out of the water, we ventured north to check out the shell beds in the surf.

These beds turned up pretty much empty...a piece or two of small browns, a couple of "undercooked" pieces, nothing special...so north bound we continued, and as we passed a jetty we noticed a HUGE pile of shells along the jetty and up on the beach along the high tide line...and I mean H U G E! A few inches deep, and several feet wide...3 big collections that were apparently left behind by what must have been an especially powerful high tide...and this collection of shells was found nowhere else on the beach...and we walked several blocks and never even came across a sign that anything like this would be possible on this day (I had not seen a collections of shells on LBI in a couple years, and that was immediately after a severe Nor'eastern that coincided with a New Moon)

So as my oldest son and my DH checked down by the surf, my youngest son and I searched the largest of the shell beds... all while the tide was rising to reclaim the shells it had left earlier. As the waves came up and reclaimed a bit of the shell bed, I was their to examine what might have been uncovered in the bed, while the surf patrol scooped up what was heading back to the sea. Of course we attracted a couple of locals and several other beachgoers...most of those were there for shells.

After about 30 minutes, I had enough. The crowds around the shell beds were growing to large, and the beds were shrinking. Eventually, I was muscled out of my area (how rude!)and I headed back to our chairs to enjoy lunch, and examine our finds.

My DH stayed behind long enough to see a local pick up a nice cobalt piece (the first he's ever seen on this stretch of beach) and as the waves reached further up the beach, he found a nice piece of an old Coke bottle, and a well-frosted piece of what appears to be an old ketchup bottle.

In a short 30 minute span, we found more sea glass on the beach than we had found in the last 5 or 6 months! The Sea Glass Gods smiled upon us on this day, when they left behind those huge shell piles mixed with sea glass. Several of us scooped up pieces that were several decades old...and just as quickly as those shell beds were left, the sea came back to take them away.

I cannot remember the last time I found this many pieces during the summer...and on a bright sunny day! I'm off to take some pictures of a couple new creations, and I'll take a few pix of the weekend finds for my next entry.

Looking For A Great Craft Faire ?

Have you ever had the urge to spend a Saturday, strolling around in a beautiful park, viewing handmade creations?

If this is something that sparks an interest, and you live anywhere near Burlington County in New Jersey, then mark your calendar for next Saturday...July 17th, because Freedom Park in Medford, NJ will hosting the 4th edition of The Handmade Faire.

Last year's summer edition of the Faire at Freedom Park, attracted several thousand visitors to the event. Show coordinators Abbie and Pola Galie have once again selected the spacious park for the 2010 show. Visitors and vendors were thrilled with the wide aisles which allowed patrons to move about freely. The park also offered areas for all to sit and enjoy food and drink, and there was plenty of room for children to run around, and safely play in the park.

The 2010 edition of "the Faire" expects to attract 100+ handmade artisans from the tri-state area! If you are looking for a little variety in your summer, come down to the artsy town of Medford, NJ and plan a day at Freedom Park next Saturday. I'll be there with my sea glass jewelry...stop in and say Hi!

I hope to see you there....

R

Looking Ahead to the Spring/Summer Selling Season

In past year's my online shop was able to generate enough sales each month to keep me busy during the off-season. With the start of 2010, sales appear to be down by nearly 70% through the first two months. Certainly the competition in "my niche" market hasn't helped. Just a couple of year's ago, there were but a few sea glass jewelry makers on Etsy. But as Etsy has grown in popularity, many more shops have opened and there are know many more options selling into a niche market.

I also believe that my sea glass jewelry sells to the niche market better in the warmer weather. (though in past years and a better economy, I was busy selling 12 months a year) Rather than be dismayed at what could appear to be a slow-down, I'm gearing up for what should be a busier season.

Anyone who finds themselves in the same boat should also be looking ahead. The economy has begun to take a turn for the better and history often indicates that in the warmer weather, people begin to go out more often and spend their discretionary income. With the rough winter weather we've experienced up and down the east coast (and actually the entire US and the rest of the world) being ready to go could be the difference to having a great 2010 and just an average year.

For me, the lull means time to look back at 2009 to see what was successful, where I need to improve, where I need to increase inventories and perhaps what I need to pull back on. I planned on debuting a few new ideas last season. They were met with varying degrees of success. One exceeded my expectations, another did slightly better than expected, and the third wasn't received as well as I had hoped. It could be a simple as a different type of promoting is needed or perhaps the disappointing item needs to be improved upon or discontinued for awhile.

During this break, I'll be looking to add to components. Finding sea glass in jewelry quality has become quite expensive. Sea glass is referred to as a "vanishing gem" for good reason. Plastic has been for many decades, the replacement for glass and most importantly, garbage dumping in our oceans is illegal. The is a finite amount of sea glass and while there will always be pieces to be discovered, it also has become harder and harder to locate as the years pass. Searching for quality pieces is a year-round constant, but increasing competition and decreasing supplies (not to forget man-made or altered pieces made by the unscrupulous who greedily take advantage of the popularity of of sea glass) is making it harder to continue offering the same quality year after year.

I'm also looking to take advantage of the drop in silver to purchase my metal components before the price goes up. Purchasing in a down silver market is the way to go in my opinion. Getting a better price means I can continue to offer quality pieces for reasonable prices. It is often hard to lay out the money when you know that you'll be sitting on the components for a while, but with the price of silver down around $2 an ounce compared to less than 6 weeks ago, it's an easy choice...stock up now and continue to watch where the market goes.

At the mid-way point of February, I have my plans in place and I'm working toward bringing each plan to fruition. Take advantage of the lull, look at what/where you can improve your craft and see where you can expand your product line. Examine what works for you and look at what your competitors are doing well. This is the time to plan and adjust!

The market will return and I'm taking the necessary steps to be ready when my customers are ready to look at my sea glass jewelry. Winter is winding down (not soon enough, but it's getting there) I'm taking advantage of this lull to spend time with my family outside in the snow and inside during "family movie night". It's free time that I haven't had in the recent past and I'm enjoying the free time, while gearing up for GO TIME.

Enjoy the rest of the winter and have a Happy Valentine's Day! See you soon


'til next time...
R

End of Summer...Fall/Winter Show Schedule, Milestones...

With September just around the corner, Labor Day Weekend is next weekend and the kids go back to school in a little over a week...it's the end of another summer. And it doesn't even feel like summer ever arrived! A couple of the nicest weekends we had this summer, I spent doing craft shows and when I was ready to go to the beach, the sun didn't cooperate...and now we had back to back weekends of tropical storms.

With the end of summer near, it's time to concentrate on getting my inventory levels built up Etsy and my Fall /Holiday craft fair season. I have a bunch of shows already booked, a couple more pending and a few more applications to consider.

My show schedule is booked for September.

Sept 13th- The Beach Plum Festival, Island Beach State Park

Sept 26th- The Spirit Of Chesterfield Festival, Village of Crosswicks, NJ

Sept 27th- Arts In The Park, Historic Smithville Park, Easthampton, NJ

I'll have many new handmade sea glass creations for these shows and a few will appear in my Etsy shop starting in October.

I hit a few milestones this past month, my 2ooth feedback, my 2 year Etsy anniversary and my 200th sale! If someone would have told me that I would have made 200 sales on Etsy in 2 years, I would have told them they were crazy. I've come along way in the last 2 years (just check out the images above of the 1st item I sold and one of my latest items listed on Etsy) and much of my success can be contributed to my friends in the North American Sea Glass Association and especially to my friends in the EtsyNJ street team. EtsyNJ members have been invaluable in sharing info, tips and support over the last 2 years and I would not be close to 200 sales without the team.
Looking forward to another fun year with my Etsy friends!

'til next time...
R

Summer Shows, Economy Woes & New Sea Glass Necklaces

I was hoping for a great show this past Saturday at OM Baby in Pt. Pleasant. The weather report was for mostly cloudy skies and no rain. (two days before the show) The day before, the weather called for partly cloudy skies... the day of the show was... sun, sun and more sun. Not a cloud to found in the sky... and abundant sun in a beach town usually doesn't bode well for lots of traffic...except near the beach.

The traffic flow was resembled a leaky sink. People dripped in every once in awhile.... that doesn't mean it was an awful show... far from it. Doing a show with 20+ EtsyNJ vendors is always fun. I had not had the chance to talk face to face with some of the members before, so it was great to put a face/faces to the shop. There was quite a bit of future show info being shared, lots of show stories being shared, etc. It also helped that Kim, our show's organizer, brought in a jazz guitarist for a bit a flavor.

In the afternoon, the beach started clearing out and we did see a bit more traffic. Many tables did see a bit of customer action, a couple sales at the end of a show are usually a great way to end a show...no matter how well you've done during the day.

Some insight into buying habits at this show... It certainly appears that the slow economy is on people's minds. Disposable income seems very limited and in many cases non-existent. I watched several people walk away from a vendor's space empty-handed, even in spite of raving about a product that they loved. I also noticed that the vendors that accepted credit cards, were using their knucklebusters during the show. IMO, accepting credit cards is an absolute must when it comes to doing shows...at least at this point.

This show was the first where people seemed to be buying items for themselves, rather than buying items as future gifts. In all, I think I need to re-think what makes a show successful. For me, the benchmark for a good show used to be 8x-10x table fee. I think in this economy, that number needs adjusting. And marketing/promoting my shop with potential customers at shows needs to be paramount. Buyers have so many quality handmade items to choose from, so getting them to stop at one of my online shops after a show has become more important than ever.

My new silver order was delivered today, so I'll have several new items over the next few days. The images of my latest Etsy listings are above.

'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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