Calling all beaders....you whoooooo

Fantastic banner, Filigree!

To be clear, many of my jewelry items ARE specifically scifi/fantasy themed - but not all are. For instance, I have dragon necklaces, fairy necklaces, griffons, etc., as well as items that are associated with fantasy, horror, etc., like ravens, full moons, castles, and the like.

Fillagree awesome banner-- sorry tunnel vision today

Well probably not going to have enough time to have a booth full of stuff anyway so perhaps going to a dragoncon first would work.

A lot of my stuff takes too darn long to do profitably. Well at least until I can ditch the dayjob.

Dragoncon does silent auction in their art show, unless you pay extra (and get into) an Artist's Bazaar table. The Bazaar table, you sell your stuff as you like, no commission. Costs about $200, and is juried. The panels are also juried, but there's more space available, and they are 4X4. You can buy more than one, for a small or large bay. You mount each item and put a bid sheet on it. Depending on how big your pieces are, you can have anywhere from a few pieces to 30

Another thing I'm playing with is crocheted beaded cuffs. (sorry again fb link) they look kind of like these but my own interpretation. Fun to make as you can use a variety of yarn, embroidery thread, beads and sequins.

I hope to have some on my etsy page at some point soon.

Oooo, pretty. Great idea.

My blog post today might be of interest: Getting into art shows

greendragon said:

My blog post today might be of interest: Getting into art shows

Click to expand...

I've got it bookmarked. Not feeling well enough for everything to sink in today.

Cheers - hope it helps when you are feeling better!

Good article!

From someone who sees a lot of booth shots: don't overcrowd your booth, both when you photograph it and when you set it up. You can always restock; a sparse 'gallery' type booth appeals to customers more than swap-meet shelves stuffed with product.

Jewelry artists and those doing small-craft items: shows are not Etsy. If show personnel catch you bulking out your booth stock with mass produced import items you did not make, you will probably be asked to leave.
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Excellent points, Filigree - and very true!

I completely understand that. My booth will be populated with stuff I make. No worries there.

Just a note for newbies who might want to jump into the trade show/art fair circuit. Check Niche Magazine, American Craft, Art Jewelry Magazine, Fire Mountain Gems, and Bead & Button Magazine for helpful show tips.

Me, I left that life a long time ago and never looked back. I will never do another outdoor show again. I don't bother to jury into the massive 3-month tent festivals here in central AZ, because 1) the booth fees are around $2800, 2) I couldn't make enough product out of any of my lines to safely stock a booth for that long, 3) most of my work is too messy/smelly/boring to be done in front of the public, and 4) No one in Arizona is going to buy my beadwork, fiber arts, or book arts pieces anyway. I'm better off with galleries and online sellers.

Yea see that's the issue here. No place to sell here. No galleries local unless I want to head to St Louis or Kansas City--both are over 2 hours away.) Most of the sales I've made in the past couple of years have been commissions. I've rarely every sold any of my stock. Of course I don't have a lot of stock but, none of it sells. I do have an etsy store, have had some bites but again no takers.

Of course I'm not depending on those sales. So I've not been pushing my pieces but I'd like to see some kind of movement at some point. Maybe with a real website and such set up it will get going. Will see.

Not many galleries near here (I live in Amish Country) but plenty of shows within a 2 hour drive. I'm two hours from Pittsburgh, Harrisburgh, Hagerstown, Baltimore, Washington, DC, Morgantown, WV. Lots of choice, there, so I'm pretty happily situated. And I like doing shows - it's lots of hard, sweaty work, but I've got plenty of stock (over 500 necklaces/bracelets, and another 100 or so pairs of earrings). I make it more than I sell it!

I've been asked to do another article for the Nov or Dec edition of the beading magazine. I told them I was interested, but I wouldn't be able to start on the article until Sept (yes my freelance time in Aug is overbooked lol) Article requested is Focal Necklace. I think I can do that.

Yay!

I'm a bit frosted by something I read recently through one of the purported fashion mags (can't recall which one). It compared 'cheap' and 'classy' costume jewelry, with the clear winners restrained, simple pieces mimicking high end minimal jewelry...and the clear losers nearly *anything* beaded. 'Statement' and dramatic necklaces were also roundly mocked for any age group. The comments were priceless, as people wrote in to basically say 'get stuffed, we'll wear what we want!'

In honor of that article, I'm rebuilding a couple of gaudy red and gold beaded necklaces into overdone statement insanity: multiple strands of right-angle tube, blue opal dichroic glass, ruby glass dangles, and a two-inch high red and gold Czech cameo button as the focal. I need to design something feisty for con wear and shows next year, anyway.

Excellent idea, Filigree! Here's some of my better 'statement' pieces in honor.

Filigree, urg.
I hate fashion magazines and how they would like to be the authority on what is in style. Usually they are wrong except for a select few. People like what they like and I don't see any kind of slow down on statement necklaces. The people who love them will always continue to buy and wear them.

Now to decide what to make....

So sat down this morning and outlined my article (very basic outline). Looked through Google to see some photos. I think I'll try to get 2 projects done.

First one of my branched fringe bib pieces. (not difficult just time consuming)
Second something out of my comfortzone - A heavy chain and bead piece. Will have to think about the design and how it will lay. Not even sure if it will work. But that's the best part about all of this.

Urg... don't you hate it when you create a sample to see if your color way works and it's just WRONG?
I've been doing samples so that I don't just ruin several hours of work for something that doesn't work. This morning worked up a sample piece for the bib in oranges. Love the way it looks but the colors are horrible. So either work in in opaques (would have to order beads and I'm broke until Friday), see if there's more transparents available (still broke) or work in another color scheme.

I work a lot in cool colors, which is why I chose to peek at the oranges. Hoped I'd have a good color combo. NOPE!

So I get to put beads back in containers and start over.

My closest bead store is 45 minutes away, so I totally hear your pain!

Yea, it's over an hour for me, closer to two.

Although while I'm at work conference for the next two days, I'm going in early tomorrow to see if any of them do classes and are looking for teachers. I'll drive if they've got students who will pay for classes.

Yup. I have this red necklace that's gone through three iterations. The latest one will be gorgeous, but right now it's kicking my butt.

So my plans on making face to face contact with the bead stores in Springfield failed. Either the places have moved and google hasn't updated information or they aren't there anymore. I'm going to try again in a couple of weeks as B wants to go to the big fishing store (he's discovered fly fishing) and we'll go early enough to do stuff for me and for him. But teaching isn't likely I guess.

So that "for the love" magazine that I wrote for a few months back, They want me to be a regular writer and sometime next year, they will start paying. Not sure what the pay rate will be, but it's a good thing right?

They aren't wanting tutorials from me, just articles, possibly interviews, possibly reviews on supplies etc. I'm glad that they don't want tutorials.

Oh and I've got beads in a shopping cart at Shipwreck. Making sure finances are straight before I order. I found a shirt that I just love and picked beads to match. Interesting colors: smoke grey, pale cream, darker gold and a very pale grey. I've picked out an assortment of beads to fuss with. I'll do a few samples before I create a monster.