Friday, June 18, 2010

A Display Opportunity

It took me a very long time to figure out the best way to set up a display for shows. I was always looking for something out of the ordinary, which a lot of times ended up looking more bizarre than anything else. I admired the way other exhibitors artfully used large shells or wooden Christmas trees or an elegant suspension, but I finally realized that a set-up like that only worked if what was being presented was all the same style. In terms of style, my jewelry has lots of color, and that's about the only consistent theme. So what I have discovered is that I do best with black and white as a background and the simplest possible display pieces.


I am part of the retailers' group of Plomelin, the town I live in, and the local optician offered me the opportunity to do a window - couldn't pass that up! But I've never done a display window with my beads, and it took some thinking; luckily, his major display piece is white, and so my display forms fit right in. I had enough to select a dozen necklaces and a dozen pair of earrings (no bracelets this time, but I'm out of them anyway), but I had to ponder what extra touches to add. I finally came up with some silvered chunks that I had bought a box of to decorate for Christmas and never used, and those filled in the empty spaces on the shelves. To add visual appeal and to show off (frankly!), I took two square glass vases and filled them with all the rest of my necklaces. (I was tempted to just fill them with beads, but the idea of having to sort all those beads later was too overwhelming. In any case, getting all the necklaces out of my work space has given me a bit of time to reorganize!)



Then I had rather a difficult time getting a photo, as the glass window reflected everything. I managed to get a couple off-center this morning, finally, before the sun was shining directly on the window! I like driving by and seeing the window filled with my creations ...

Thursday, June 3, 2010

A New Season

To wrap up the last post ... my mother and I took a splendid cruise together at the beginning of May down the blue Danube. I brought both necklaces with me and gave her first choice (of course, she had already read the post, so she was prepared!). She picked the one with the blocks of color, which is the one that I had put her preferred clasp on ...

Now the summer crafts season is starting, and I did a small show last week, for which it was necessary to show some new merchandise, since the potential clients all saw my stock last December. I decided to focus on bracelets:

The one on the top is a large-link bracelet with a toggle clasp - each link has attached to it an aluminum ring in a bright color with a large-hole bead in a very bright color. I sold it right away, and I think I'll have to make another one for myself! The third one down is the same basic bracelet but with a different kind of bead. The other two are charm bracelets, one with glass and sterling hearts (which continues to be one of my favorite forms) and the other with small rounds in assorted stones.




On the high tech front was this necklace, a chain mail variation done with aluminum links in black and hot pink and small rubber o-rings in purple and orange.




Below is a very interesting necklace (more interesting than the photo, perhaps ... ) of teardrop beads in a frosted silver gray with little color dots on them, interspersed with small beads in frosted colors. I haven't worn this one yet, but I'd like to put it on with red or blue.


I have another small show coming up next week, and then I want to do one good-sized crafts market this summer. I'm also planning to start selling on line ... stay tuned!