Selling REAL Jewelry

"This is real jewelry.  Not those store-bought pendants you just hang on a chain."  This is a quote from one of 3 young girls who stopped by my booth this past weekend to look at my fine silver pieces.  Though they didn't buy anything, it was so gratifying to know that they knew the difference.  I'm not certain everyone does.

This was not a very successful show for me and given that the traffic count was easily over 20,000 people, I couldn't help but wonder why I did so much better the last time I attended.   The question of what is handmade came up again as I left my booth in my friend Eva's capable hands and walked around to see how everyone else was doing. 

Crystal who makes "real" handmade bags.

                                   Becky who also makes "real" jewelry. 

About 8 or 10 booths away was a cluster of jewelry sellers, 5 or 6 booths almost in a row, selling pendants for $5 or $7 or the same bangle bracelet in different colors for $10.  I'd like to say that I can't compete with those prices.   But while several of them had people in their tents, it didn't look like they were selling a lot either.

This year on its 10th anniversary stART on the Street accepted 360 vendors, both with 10 x 10 booths and sidewalk tables.  That's over 100 more than last year.  The section of Park Ave. between Highland and Pleasant was completely filled and even included a farmer's market at one end.  As I walked up one side of the street it suddenly occurred to me that I really wasn't taking in anything.  Occasionally a painting would catch my eye but mostly I just browsed.  Between dodging people and the sameness that all the booths became after awhile, I never really focused on anything.

Many of the shows that I do have too many jewelers.  It's not often a problem as my steampunk usually stands out.  I had a corner booth so I was getting traffic from 2 sides.  I just had to put up something that would catch their eye.  So I did a little rearranging and put up a couple of bigger steampunk pieces right out front and some fancier silver pendants on the side.  Anyone who actually registered what they were looking at did stop and comment on the steampunk and the creativity that went into making my unique pieces.  Men in particular were fascinated with what I do with watch gears and sewing machine parts.  And everyone liked the expensive pieces but no one was willing or able to buy them. 

At other shows I encourage people to come in and try something on.  It sometimes leads to a sale. This wasn't an option at stART as we were also very close to one of the stages that featured some very loud repetitive heavy metal type music that made it difficult to hear.   Words don't sound very encouraging when they're shouted.

For me the show wasn't a loss.  Just disappointing.  While the organizers of stART probably did very well financially on their 10th anniversary, adding 100 vendors didn't do the artisans any favors.

You can read a more detailed review for vendors in my side pages.

Recovering from Mattoon Street

So far this season the Mattoon Street Festival is my favorite show. The fact that it didn't rain may have a lot to do with that. We've done so many shows in the rain. And this was a banner year for the festival with 95 artisans.

The weather couldn't have been better and the people couldn't have been nicer. On Saturday they came nicely dressed, many with dogs on a leash, and ready to buy. Some people remembered us from last year and were happy to see us back.



We were entertained both days by a rotation of musicians, singers, and clowns.



We tried out our new sheers and I love the way they look. Makes the tent feel a little warmer.

As usual we made some new friends. Photographer Margaret Burgess was across the street from us. I bought some of her cards with pictures she took in Italy of colorful homes. And I met Kathleen Dequence Anderson from Amherst who does incredible work with polymer clay. More about her in my next posting.

And we reconnected with some old friends. Elaine, the creator of the flower brooches made of zippers whom we met in Templeton, stopped by and chatted with us. She drove out from Worcester County just to check out the show. It was nice to see Rory and Patti of Hotrocks again. They were our neighbors at least year's show.

Sunday was cloudy and a bit cooler. The crowds came a little later and many were just browsing.


The Mattoon Street Association awards first, second and third prizes in each category. Congratulations to Katie Richardson of Katie Ray Arts on winning first prize in the glass category. She's a fellow member of the Artisans of Western Mass. who was exhibiting for the first time. I think she'll be returning to Mattoon Street next year.

With the Old Deerfield Show only 5 days away and stock very low, we'll be creating as much as we can this week. This is why I usually try to space the shows farther apart. But I couldn't pass up the opportunity to do both Mattoon Street and Old Deerfield--2 great fall shows.

Lesson in Marketing -- Less is More

When I first started doing craft shows I tended to display as much jewelry as possible. My theory was that I didn't know what the customers were looking for so the more I had out the better the chance they would find something. Over the last couple of years, my daughter, who comes to all these shows with me, has been trying to convince me to display less. So this weekend we tried a little experiment.

Our jewelry made from recycled found objects, i.e. steampunk, pretty much sells itself. It is so unique and artsy that it appeals to everyone. Even men who won't ever wear it stop and smile and comment on it. So on Saturday we sold lots of steampunk but only 3 pieces of traditional jewelry.

Our customers were primarily well dressed women between 30 & 65. My display of traditional jewelry was minimalist, in my opinion, but Bethany felt we needed more "white space." Her display on Sunday was even cleaner and her thinking was that we would sell more of the traditional jewelry if we made the pieces seem more special. And we did.

We sold equally as many traditional pieces of jewelry as we did steampunk. So I guess I'll have to get over my fear of empty space on the display tables.