Wedding Jewels...

I have decided to expand my business to include jewelry for weddings especially bridesmaids. I have been asked by a couple colleagues at school over the past year to do the jewelry for their wedding, so I decided to add it my etsy site also!

Wedding jewelry is a little more difficult that one would think because it requires more personal preferences as well as coordinating with the theme of the wedding. I decided to start out simple, so that it would lend itself to being very versatile! I only have two "lines" of necklaces and earrings up so far, but I plan on continuing to add items! I hope it is profitable!

Check out what I have so far on my website! Here is a sneak peak:

Hammered metal pendant:

Silver framed glass pendant:

A Year in Review...

Well, it has been just about a year since I started to make jewelry and turn my new hobby into a business. I have learned SO MUCH! Going to school to be a teacher doesn't really provide you with the business background necessary to be a business owner. Luckily I have an awesome support team around me that have helped me every step of the way.

I wanted to take a minute to thank everyone for everything they have done for me this past year in order to develop and expand my business.

To my Aunt Ann, thanks for always being the one to come through and buy some jewels. You have attended every craft show/market I have been a part of all year long! I appreciate the support and love you have given my business as well as me! You are definitely our mascot!:-)

To my mom, thanks for being so willing to jump in a help ALL THE TIME! Where do I start to thank you for everything you have helped me with including helping me change my set-up (even though it resisted) in order to get more sales, tirelessly sitting with me during the craft fairs, and allowing me to take over your house for 3 different Saturdays in order to have trunk shows:-)

To my dad, thanks for putting up with craziness and being supportive no matter what. Every craft show you were the FIRST one to jump in a help us load the car. You did whatever you could to help and never asked questions or questioned my decisions.

To my sister, thank you for EVERYTHING you have done. You have been my rock in this business and you weren't afraid to speak your piece even when I wasn't willing to listen. You have been my business guru and my excellent cashier (who dealt with my crazy requests with a smile on your face).

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Thank you to EVERYONE who showed up at craft fairs, farmers markets, and trunk shows. It really meant a lot to me that you showed up! A special thanks to the following people who also helped went above and beyond to contribute to my business: Erika Klick, Leigh String, Liz Cayne, Franny Wooler, Sarah Thomas, and Monica Fiegel. It brings me so much joy to show up at school as well as family events and see so many women wearing my jewelry.

Let year two begin! I hope to have more new adventures and continue to make jewelry that people love!

Second Trunk Show...

I think I am getting the hang of the art of hosting a trunk show! Yesterday was my second show and it was VERY VERY profitable! I used what I learned from the 1st trunk show and it worked!

I had 14 people come and everyone had nothing but positive things to say about my jewelry and the food! I eliminated some of the dished and it was the perfect amount! Still had some left overs, but overall it was awesome!

Also reviewed the types of things that people bought last time and realized I need to rearrange my set up to have more necklaces right when people walk in instead of my huge earring display:-) I also put all the appetizers in the living room instead of the kitchen so people would eat as the chatted and looked at jewelry! Lastly, I had my sister sit in the kitchen as the cashier so there was a central location for them to come and buy their jewelry!

Only upgrade is to get little baskets for people to carry their purchases around in (which is awesome because that  means people had too many things in their hands), so I will look at finding some little cheap baskets to have at the next show:-)

Next up, my family and friends trunk show in two weeks! I need to make A LOT of new jewelry in order to replace what I sold:-) Let the creating begin!

Until next time...

First Trunk Show...

Yesterday, I had my first trunk show! IT was a huge success because I MADE MONEY!:-) It was overall a great experience and I learned a lot.

On friday, I had 16 people coming...but only 7 showed up, which was a little frustrating because we had so much food. But it was a learning experience. Everyone who came bought something, so obviously people love the stuff I made!

Okay, so what I learned...
1. I need to send out reminders the day before through the evite and also send out text messages to ensure that people are still coming.
2. Make less food!
3. Had the right amount of alcohol for the 7 people, so need more next time.
4. Need to rearrange my set up, so people buy more necklaces because a lot of earrings sold!

Things I will do the same...
1. Make the same type of drinks because I got really positive feedback about them!
2. Make the same food, but cut out come of the options.
3. Do a 10% off discount for everyone who buys at the show because it was an incentive for them to buy there instead of buying later:-)

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures...

Food!

  

Drinks!

Display and Set up!

So, hoping to be successful on my next two shows also! Loving every moment of this journey!:-)

The Art of Hosting a Trunk Show...

So, I am learning that throwing a jewelry trunk show is much more involved than one would think. I am having one of my three shows this coming Saturday and I have kicked into gear with the planning.

Questions I have asked myself...Am I making enough food??? How much should I have to drink??? Where should I display the jewelry in my house??? I have been researching, but there isn't much out there about hosting an trunk show of your own jewelry. Doing shows through bigger companies is slightly different because they give you more support since they have consultants do them all the time!

I have gotten a great response from family, friends, and co workers about coming, which is GREAT! Everyone is really excited and so am I, but the nervousness has also start to set in! EEEEKKK!

I came to realize that food wise making stuff early in the week and freezing it would be a safe way to go. Then all I have to do is pop them in the oven and I am ready to go! Here is what I have so far...the 1st picture is some pizza rolls and the 2nd is mozzarella sticks!

Food wise...I am making lots of cold dips, so again I don't have to worry about heating stuff up! I will continue to post all week about my process in preparing for my jewelry shows! 

Being a business owner has opened me up to so many opportunities that has helped me grow as a person and learn a lot! I am always thinking of creative new ways to get my jewelry out there! I will keep you posted on my progress!:-)

Jewelry Trunk Shows...

I am back! It has been awhile since I have posted anything to my blog, but here goes nothing!

I have recently decided to scheduled some trunk shows hosted at my house to exhibit my jewelry to co-workers, family, and friends! I am very exciting about planning the party and hoping that I will generate from revenue from it!

Since I am now a seasoned craft show exhibitor (well kinda), I have noticed at a lot of the shows I have done that people come to these shows to not necessarily buy jewelry, which is a problem for me! My thought behind doing a trunk show at my house is that it focuses the attention onto my jewelry only;-) I am VERY exciting to host everyone at my house, eat some tasty food, and enjoy some cocktails!

Given the size of my staff, family, and friends, I had to set up 3 different shows so that we don't have too many people at one time! It has also worked out because when people can't come to one show then I can give them other options, which has been proven to be VERY helpful!

I started the invitation process by sending out evites, which are awesome because it keeps track of your numbers and allows you to send messages to people through the site! I have also designed my own invitations through vista print that I am mailing out and handing out at school! You can see my creative work below! Through this jewelry endeavor, I have realized that I have quite the eye for graphic design...who knew!

So what is next you ask? Well now I am planning food and continuing to follow up with people about their RSVP for the show! I will keep you updated on my progress and hopefully this will prove to be very helpful with sales!:) Until next time...

Dark and Stormy...

This past weekend I did the Maryland Seafood Festival and it was a quite eventful weekend! Here is a little recap...

The first day was VERY VERY windy! Luckily I brought the sides to my tent so I could keep my jewelry from flying everywhere. I have learned that WIND IS NOT MY FRIEND...it doesn't bode well with light necklace busts!

Around 4:30 pm, the event staff started coming around saying that there was a storm coming. They suggested that we drop down our tent and put all of my jewels in the middle. Suddenly, I looked behind our tent to see this coming our way...

My sister and I went into survival mode. We put all of my jewelry into my plastic containers (which ended up saving all my jewelry) and did our best to secure the tent. We ran to the car and decided to wait it out, but with no end of the storm in sight we started towards our hotel! As we left Sandy point park we saw this...

 Which led to me to think that if this tree couldn't survive the storm...how was my tent going to survive. After dinner we went back to try and get into the park to check on my stuff, but it was blocked my cones. I had to hope for the best and wait to find out in the morning.

The next morning, my mom and I went back to the festival to find my tent in this condition...

The entire back part of my tent had snapped in half. BUT I only had two jewelry busts damaged, wet table cloths, and some jewelry that needed to be restrung. I kept reminding myself "it could be worse, it could be worse, it could be worse!"Here is the tent graveyard from all the tents damaged in the storm...

Then I jumped into survival mode again...we found the closest store open on Sunday and bought a new tent. At the end of the day, this is what my new tent and set up looked like..

One of the vendors creatively made a memorial structure for the tents that didn't survive the storm..so creative!

Overall, it was a great weekend! I learned a lot and made money:-) On to the next one...