October 2003

Wednesday, October 22, 2003 The Inaugural Trunk Show Before I built the online store, my main outlet for selling my work was my annual Open Houses between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year will be my 7th. One of the most successful aspects of the open houses is selling the jewelry. One year I didn't have time/space to hang up my jewelry, so I left them in their ziploc baggies and threw them into a bowl. Sort of anti-merchandising. BUT folks loved to sort through the baggies, setting aside their favorites and advising each other on what matched what and what looked good on them. Every year the jewelry would go on a pile on the floor with a handful of folks searching for their favorites. This presentation (or lack thereof) and a good gift-giving price point make my jewelry consistent sellers. After a superslow summer lacking both sales and client work, I decided to try something both old and new. The old part was selling the jewelry during the holidays, the new part is having these trunk sales in other people's homes. It's the Tupperware direct sales model. A friend hosts and invites her friends. I bring the jewelry and the display. The hostess gets 25% of my sales in jewelry. I flew the idea past several friends and about half a dozen were keen on trying it! It's all pretty new and experimental. I made over a dozen colorful bowls to sort the jewelry into - so that there was some order while still giving folks a chance to sort. I packed up most of my inventory, the bowls, tools to shorten some pieces and a receipt book into the small suitcase above. Kathleen and Shea hosted the first this last weekend. It was a brunch. Shea and Kathleen are the biggest die hard foodies I know, so I knew we'd be well fed. It was a small turnout but a successful event. Happily, a couple folks came with their gift lists in their heads. So it was a win (they bought gifts they needed)/win (friends got gifts)/win (the host gets free jewelry)/win (I sold jewelry) situation! I'm looking forward to the upcoming trunk shows. posted on 11:16 AM Tuesday, October 14, 2003 I'm back home again. posted on 10:53 PM Wednesday, October 08, 2003 I'm out of state until October 15th. You can still place orders on this site, but just a warning, I won't be able to fill orders until the 15th. CafePress orders aren't effected. Off to a combo of work and play on the Left Coast. posted on 9:59 AM Saturday, October 04, 2003 *WHEW* Apparently today was the day my brain was ready to write my How to Order page! Went unwritten longer than I liked (or you, I'm sure), but it's now up and ready for reading. posted on 5:20 PM Bowls! My bowls were a big hit at the Renegade Craft Fair. Unfortunately, all but two of my designs were for display of my jewelry, not for sale. Above are two designs for sale right now - the bird bowl and the leaf bowl. And keep your eyes peeled - I just received 48 more bowls to make more in time for November 15th's DIY Trunkshow. posted on 3:06 PM Friday, October 03, 2003 Journals! CafePress has added Journals/Sketchbooks to their repertoire! I'm, of course, a big fan of journaling and sketching, so this is a happy surprise. They've got thick front covers (featuring my images), 80 blank pages of 60 pound paper, spiral bound with a black plastic back cover. They are 5" x 8" and I've added 8 designs for $12.99 each: Idea Optimist Pessimist Red Pillhead Green Pillhead Gray Pillhead Blue Pillhead Yellow Pillhead Enjoy! posted on 11:13 PM Thursday, October 02, 2003 Bust, Here I Come! I finally signed up for a Bust Shop ad in the Winter 2003 issue of this fantastic mag. Hoping it's the start of more advertising and more sales. Gotta design my ad this weekend! Oh, and you can go here on their Girl Wide Web and rate my site. posted on 5:24 PM