The top 2 photos were a dry run the night before the show, taken in my living room. The rest are the day of the show itself. The last 2 photos are of my friend, Linda's displays. She makes amazing seed bead items as well and we shared a table.
I remember now why I hate doing craft shows. I think it has something to do with all the resellers selling mass produced jewelry...who can compete with $5 necklaces made in a factory in China by small children? Or the person next to me that sold candle giftware and picture frames?
If you want quality jewelry and lampwork beads, there has to be a better way to sell your wares. There are better shows of course, but the fees in the NY area at least range from $150- $300 per day for those shows. With no guarantee of selling ANYTHING, I just can't make that kind of investment for possibly no return.
There were some good things that came out of all this. First of all, I did make some sales, covered my expenses and got to meet some very nice people who all made a point to say that our jewelry was the nicest there. That made us feel a lot better. I also got to meet Russell, the owner of Bead Unique magazine, who seemed to take an interest in my work. I had a nice time chatting with him & he asked for my card. I could kick myself for not asking for his....DARN!!!
So what's a girl to do? Luckily for me, my preference is making my own lampwork beads, which, though may not make me a millionaire, it does generate some income for me. As for the pieces that didn't sell this weekend, look for them on etsy and artfire in the days to come. :-)
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