Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Handcrafted Holiday Shows

I'm not really inspired today, I apologize in advance for a potentially boring blog.  I have to make jewelry for upcoming shows but I'm tired and worried all at the same time.  There are so many shows upcoming I wonder how well attended any of them will be.  I also wonder if going to shows is popular at all anymore, plus has the economy turned around enough for people to be shopping for handcrafted items?  If there are so many,  how does a potential customer choose which show they are going to?  How do artisans decide which show to vend at?  For me it's trial and error, and sadly lately it seems to be mostly error.  I didn't have the luxury of walking through all sorts of shows to decide whether or not I would do them the next year, I just had to try and see.   For some I tried more than once, and then either continued or gave up.   I did look on the websites of every show (if they had them) to see what vendors had done them before, to see if it was something I would like to go to.   I do tend to try to sell at shows that are considered more "indie" and I really try to be at shows where the vendors are all handmade.   It's hard to compete with all $5 made in china items when I handcraft each item.   So with that said I'm hoping I made some good decisions for this holiday season.
My next show coming up is called Patchwork show.  (actually they now have two)  I really was (happily) surprised at how good this show was last year, and can only hope for another great year.   www.patchworkshow.com   This show is Nov 21st in Long Beach and Nov 28th in Santa Ana.  It's a smaller show but I think the quality of the work is great.   I'm excited to see some of my friends like:
amanda k lockrow jewelry

Blue Platypus 
Roscata Jewelry
for a complete list of my upcoming shows http://www.myfriendroze.com/events.html

handmade jewelry every day -  myfriendroze

No comments:

Post a Comment