Roseland Cottage Fine Arts and Crafts Festival

Well, I didn't get accepted to this one again this year.  So I took a ride to Woodstock, CT., to find out just what kind of jewelry did get accepted.  Last year I applied with pictures of my steampunk jewelry.  While it seems to be what gets me into shows like West Hartford, Historical New England probably didn't find that classy enough. So this year I sent pictures of my nicest fine silver pieces.  And it appears that too was a mistake.  

Taking a tour around the festival I found that though the jewelry category wasn't more than a quarter of the vendors, there were many, many with silver jewelers.  Silver clay pieces and those made by metal smiths tend to have similarities.  There were jewelers with shiny sterling silver, some with oxidized silver, a couple with some interesting designs, and a few that set stones.  On the other hand, I think there were only about 3 bead jewelers and they were all different from one another--riveted, soldered, and crocheted but no strands of plain strung beads at all.

So my dilemma now is what should I apply with next year.  Steampunk is the only genre with no competition. But I'm not sure this show is ready for what might be considered "gritty and industrial" just yet.  I've thought about a high end steampunk with gemstones and no rust.  Play up the whole recycling thing.  Or should I go back to my roots and try gemstone cluster pieces.  I guess I'll be working on this for awhile.

The show, however, is still quite successful.  Traffic was great on Saturday morning despite the $5 admission fee.  And people were buying.  The wind was an issue and I heard that a couple of tents blew away.  There were also a few empty spaces where it appeared people didn't show up.  But this is a show I hope to get into again one of these years.

I did see two members of the Artisans of Western Mass. selling there.  Fortunate enough to get is was Little Birch Farm and Armeith Naturals.  They both have great products.  I hope that had a great weekend.