Bizarre Reflections about the Bazaar

I had a lot of fun this weekend at the bazaar! Sorry I didn't get this posted up sooner. I had a million things I was trying to do yesterday, and just as I was starting to feel on top of things and ready to get this post put together and put up...I sprained my ankle! Yah. I'm talented. I know. The good news is that up until I sprained my ankle I was still going strong after the bazaar, which makes me really happy :)

I'm also really excited about getting to actually meet two of my team mates in person this weekend! On the left is the fabulous Char of Char Spirit Creations. In the middle is Dori of Sassy Clay Creations. And I'm on the right! Yup...proof that I was there :P

I did some new things that I really liked with this bazaar. The first is that I made a second level for displaying my fancy necklaces! It was really simple. All I did was drape a piece of cloth over one of my storage boxes that I had brought my jewelry in :P

The second thing I did was I added a bracelet display! Made things a lot less cluttered. And made things look a little more professional. And I STILL had things lying on the table :P Next bazaar I think I'm going to put my strand and wire wrapped bracelets on the bottom level of the display and put my memory wire bracelets loose on the table. They didn't get as much attention as they usually do and I think it's because it wasn't as obvious as it normally is what they are.

There's one more big thing I want to change. I like my earring display - it's cute and I get compliments on it - but it's awkward to carry and I can't fit all my earrings on it! I'm thinking eventually (like for the spring bazaars) I might upgrade to rotating earring displays...but I haven't decided yet. The other solution is to upgrade to a bigger table and use my second display as well, which would allow me enough room for all my earrings and then some. I'm thinking I may need to upgrade tables by spring/summer anyway if things continue to go well, so the question will then be is a table upgrade all that's needed or do I need a table upgrade AND a display upgrade...

I had a lot of fun this last weekend and I'm really looking forward to the two that I have lined up between now and Christmas! I'm also talking with a close friend of mine about teaming up in the new year to do bazaars. Doing 10x10 booths and splitting the fees with me paying 2/3's and him paying 1/3...I'll set up two tables and he'll set up 1. He does a variety of fantasy and other interesting art along with his wife, and part of the reason for teaming up would be that he has a vehicle capable of transporting a tent! Something I don't have which currently limits me and prevents me from doing outdoor markets. Not to mention its always more fun to work with a buddy :)

I did get some more pictures at the bazaar - but I don't want to overwhelm you guys - so if you want to see the rest go check out my flickr page!

Bazaar Update!

Dori and Char :)

Yesterday at the bazaar was a lot of fun! It wasn't super stellar with sales or anything - but it was decent, and the most important part, is that I'm having a ton of fun and still feeling pretty good! I had a lot of fun meeting Dori and Char in person, and I look forward to talking to them more today!

Today is day two, and I'm hoping we get a huge influx of people when the three Churches on the corner get out :P But even if we don't, if I even do what I did in sales yesterday, I'll be happy :)

I have a whole bunch of pictures and I'll be posting a much longer blog post either tonight or tomorrow with more pictures and my thoughts about improving my displays and everything :) Although...looking at my pics this morning...I need to give someone the camera and actually get a picture of myself...

It's Bazaar Time! (And a Treasury)

It's Bazaar time again! I'm excited! It's great to finally be getting strong enough to do bazaars :) Hopefully this one will be more succesful than the last one. But no matter what - I plan on having fun! Two of my best friends are going with me, and I'll be meeting two of my team mates for the first time! If your in the Portland/Vancouver are and you'd like to come out and see us here's the details:

Sterling Heights Apts.

1221 SE Ellsworth Rd.

Vancouver, WA 98664

11-4, Sat. & Sun

Hope to see you there!

Both my shops will be in vacation mode for the weekend.

I'm also in another treasury! HUGE thanks to Liber Teas for featuring my necklace in her treasury :)

Purple Passion

Here's a shot of my current treasury! Thanks Meg of Little Studio Photography and Jewellery for getting a picture for me :)


We tried turning my lap top on last night and it was having problems. So we took the case apart and let it dry over night. I have a dentist appt that we're leaving for soon...and we'll try again when we get back! Hoping and praying that it works! If not...I've come up with a plan so I can do a make-shift inventory for the new items for tomorrows bazaar.

Oh! And I signed up for two more bazaars yesterday :D

It Seems Like Things Always...

Some times it seems like things always go wrong at the worst times! There are days I'd like to hunt down Murphy of famed Murphy's law and insure that he/she had never been born! *sigh*

Today I managed to baptize Jack. Who's Jack? Jack is my laptop. Yes, I know, your not supposed to baptize laptops! It was an accident. I would never purposely subject my baby to half a glass of water for any other reason. The fact remains, it happened, two days before my bazaar. Ahhh!

The good news is that I can still borrow my hubbies computer today for e-mail and blogging and the like. The bad news is that we won't know for sure if Jack's ok until we try turning him on tomorrow...and I can't access my inventory until Jack is turned back on. Which means I will have a bunch off last minute stuff to do tomorrow (in and around appointments and other plans) that I planned on working on today!

I was panicking earlier, but I know that the hard drive should be intact no matter what, and I can figure it all out eventually. It's just bad timing. And, if for some reason I can't access my inventory before the show, I've figured out a plan to wing it without it. I'll just be grumpy :P

Oh! In good news - I managed to snag a treasury this morning! I call it Purple Passion :) I'd post a pic of it - but I don't think my hubby has any photo editing software on here. *sigh* Can someone snag me a shot of my treasury and send it to me in case I don't get Jack up and running quickly enough?

Now I'm off to get my monthly newsletter out! If you don't get a copy of it in your inbox by this evening, and you'd like to (especially if you want the bazaar info), send me an e-mail to roseworksjewelry@gmail.com and I'll add you to the list and send you at a copy of this month's newsletter :)

Featuring My New Necklace

Today I posted my "Crystal Flowers Necklace." It's a new look for me, but then again most things are lately! I think one thing that defines my style (other than ecletic) is that I'm continuing to try and explore new things! This was inspired by the Etsy Bead Weavers challenge for an exotic flower. I think it falls far short of the other entries I've seen so far, but I'm proud that I came of something I came up with that I could achieve!

I want to learn to bead flowers that are realistic - it's on my list of things I want to learn - but I'll need to follow someone's pattern for the first few of those and that can't be entered into a challenge or even necesarily sold. I do have on pattern that I got permission to recreate and sell - but I haven't gotten a chance to start it yet. Oh well...maybe after Christmas? LOL

I was also featured in other treasury! Actually both of my shops were :) Thanks Cheryl! My "etsyholic" bracelet is in the top left and my mom's purple hair clip is in the second row all the way on the right :)

Crafty ADD Update #15

I'm late with my ADD post - but I really doubt anyone cares about that but me :P It's been a busy week! And last week was no fun as I dealt with getting my tooth pulled. Still...I got lots of crafty stuff done :)

Knitting

18 Inches! That's 13 inches since last week :) I'm trying to knit some every day. An hour if I can, and if I can't just sit and knit for awhile, I at least usually have it next to my computer so it gets picked up for a random 5 minutes here and there :P Apparently that plan is working! Maybe I'll be able to achieve my Christmas goals...

Cross-Stitch

This book mark is so close to being done it hurts! I just need to add the border to it. Not sure if I'll find the time to do it this week though. I have a lot I'm trying to get done! And this is more for fun where as the jewelry is both fun and a business.

Jewelry

This first shot is two colored hemp bracelet I made myself earlier this week! I know the pic isn't the best, but I hope to have a bunch more like this in my shop soon! I have some made up...now to get them photographed...and listed...

Speaking of things to get photographed and listed. I might as well admit that I am just way behind on the whole listing thing right now. Which really isn't that great considering Christmas is coming up! The above snap shot is three things I made this last week, that I'd love to get good photo's of and list some time soon. I don't know that I'll have the energy to take any photos today (yesterday was a bad day and I'm recovering) but I'm hoping to work on listing some of the things I already have photos for :)