BluRoseBeadz

Here are my newest polymer clay pieces.My designs are still pretty basic but improving as I learn.let me know what you think!Thanks.

As alot of my friends on here probably know,my first craft show in October did not go well.It was called the Baalis Sanford Bazaar and Craft Show.They said that it was well advertised but the turnout was really low.This one was a very small show and probably not very well known to peopleI at least,made back the cost of my table($25).Most there  did not.I was disappointed but it being my first I didn’t know what to expect.But I wasn’t going to give up!It was a learning experience.For my 2nd show I signed up for the  “34th Annual Fall Flea Market and Craft Show”at the Temple Beth Emunah.I thought it might be a better one because it had been ongoing for 34 years.I asked the man running it what kind of turnout they usually get.He said between 400 and 500 people most years.So I was really excited to do this one!I had never been to this one myself so I didn’t know what it would be like.When I got there it was even bigger than I had expected.Three rooms of people selling their wares!Since I knew that you could sell just about anything you wanted(excepting food and religious items),my boyfriend and I thought we would bring some things sitting around the house that we did not want anymore.We had books,videos,dvd’s,and other items.I set up the table with my jewelry on one side and the rest of the items on the other side. My table was set up in either the 3rd room or the 1st room depending on what entrance you came in!So I was going to be either one of the 1st tables people saw or one of the last!Which I didn’t think would be very good for me!!Before it opened I took a walk around the 3 rooms to check out all the tables.I would say that it seemed that the majority of tables were offering their handcrafted items of all kinds as opposed to the number of tables only offering the “flea market”items.Of course there was ALOT of  people with the handcrafted jewelry in all price ranges. It opened at 9am and the crowd of people was pretty good for most of the day.There were alot more people showing up for this one!Not the 4 or 500 that were expected but pretty close.As the day went on we were doing some selling but I had not sold any of my jewelry.Our “flea market”items were selling pretty well.There was just alot of oohing and aahing over the jewelry!Which of course I don’t mind but I am there to sell it!LOL!By around 1pm we had made about $53 on the other items and $0 on my jewelry.So we had at least made our table back($20)plus some.We had about 2 hours left before it closed.Finally in the last couple of hours I was able to sell 2 pairs of my earrings.I believe my jewelry prices are more than reasonable but to sell the 2 pairs of earrings I did I had to knock a couple of dollars off of each!By the top of the last hour I decided to take a walk around again.When I  went out to the two other rooms I noticed that at least 10 of the other tables had already packed up and left.I talked to some people and they said that most of the tables selling the handcrafted items were not doing well but the tables selling the “flea market “items were doing better.The woman at the table next to me,who was selling her handmade items for dogs,like collars and toys and little hand sewn and crocheted outfits did not make at least the cost of her table back(which again was only $20).By the end of the day we had made about $65.$12 from my jewelry(two pairs of earrings) and $53 from the rest of  the stuff(which was priced from $1 to $5).So if we had not brought the other items the day would have been an even bigger bust than it was!I don’t know if what is going on is due to the economy or not but you would think that people would want to save money by buying inexpensive hand made gifts rather than going to the expensive mall stores?I have worked in retail myself for many years and usually by this time the christmas season shopping has already started.My guess is that this year it seems like there is going to be more people doing last minute christmas shopping than  I have ever seen before.I may try to do another show sometime in December.I’m not sure if I will be able to yet.If any of you have any upcoming shows I wish you good luck!I would also like to hear if anybody is running in to the same problems at your shows recently.Let me know what you think!

                                                      Thanks for listening,

                                                                                                     Tracey