Omni Montesorri: EARTH FAIR- Charlotte, NC

So I will participating in the Omni Montesorri Earth Fair fundraiser on May 2, 2009. I am excited this is the first show I will do in 2009. I am going to work on pricing and get some incentives - like buy two get one half off - for anything. Gotta get my seller face on...I am excited and hope that I meet some cool people who appreciate my jewelry.


On another note, one of my girlfriends from growing up is getting married and asked me to make her bridesmaid jewelry :) So I will be working on that this weekend.


AND my other friend from growing up asked me make her baby a pearl bracelet for her baptism (?) or christening. I have never had either of those things, so i get a little confused when it comes to which religion does what with little babies. That sounds politically incorrect - forgive me.


HAPPY WEEKEND !

Taking Chances

April has been about taking chances.

I had my show @ Gamma Phi Beta which went very well! I had a great time and they couldn't have been nicer :)

I applied for three craft shows - two in SC, and the Art Star Craft Bazaar in Philadelphia. The two in SC I am pretty sure you sign up and you are in. I did not get into the one in Phillie :( I am sorta bummed out about it, but I guess they had a record number of applicants this year - which is great for them. I was hoping to have some success out of state. Maybe next year!

The first craft fair I am doing is the 33rd Annual Rice Festival in Walterboro, SC. I am excited because it is out of town and spring is beautiful down here and I will be open to a new audience. I will hopefully make some sales too!

The second one is May 8-10 in Aiken, SC for the Aiken Bluegrass Festival. This is from their website

" Blue Ridge Outdoors, distributed free to
110,00 readers from Baltimore down to
Atlanta, honored Aiken bluegrass Festival
in its impressive "Top 50 Festivals in the
Southeast". Picked for packing "in the
heavyweight pickers" and "a stellar couple
of nights from some of the genre's finest"
it is quite and honor to be listed next to the
likes of Merlefest and Bonnaroo!"

So hopefully this will be fun and profitable.

I am excited and hope that they bring in some business.

I finally went around to try to set up some meetings to sell my pieces in stores. With help from my Aunt and Mom, I made an artist bio/info card that I could leave at stores with the right people. I gave 15 out. This is kind of huge because I have been trying to get over a not so nice boutique visit where a clerk was really rude to me. I think they look pretty good and I hope to get some appointments. :)

Almost ready... all I have do now is sell it!

So today I finally finished! I finished every ounce of completed jewelry to an excel worksheet. 100% of my items have been given a wholesale price AND a retail price. I feel ready.

I am having a show on Friday April 4, 2008 @ the Gamma Phi Beta House at the University of South Carolina. They are hosting my jewelry show and we are hoping to raise a lot of money for CampFire USA - a summer camp for less fortunate kids. I am really hoping this sale goes well for a number of different reasons, but mainly I would like to raise money for this organization. I am donating 10% of my final total to Camp Fire.

I hope that the girls of USC are impressed with my jewelry and that they buy a lot of it! SEND GOOD VIBES HERE! My friend Julia has been helping me out with all of this - she is philanthropy chair of her sorority.

That being said - items on my etsy.com site may not be available after this FRIDAY! SO - now is the time to purchase. If you mention this post or my blog in anyway I will provide FREE SHIPPING and maybe a lil discount via paypal refund!

Goals for April

Well April is quickly approaching and I have decided to make some goals for myself...

• Apply for two to three spring craft shows in the state
• Successfully set up some meetings for wholesaling to boutiques and/or spas
• feature 2-4 etsy artists per month from now on
  
• if you are interested let me know!
  
• Have a local show
  
• have fun
  
• sell more items on etsy.com
  

I hope that I will be able to sell as much as possible and hopefully attain my goals :)

Happy April!

1st Craft Fair EVER .... & some jitters

So as you might know, I am participating in my FIRST EVER craft fair this weekend down @ Palmetto Bay Marina here on the island. I am very excited and have - amazingly - beaten my *to-do* list almost all the way down.

Here is what I did this week:

• Made Appointment to pay taxes - monday morning. I am nervous I have never paid taxes before... this is a big moment in my life.
  
• got my oil changed
• did all inventory except for earrings
  
• made sure prices were correct - this was a big move
• went grocery shopping
• exercised - ran with the dogs and went on a long walk today
• eyebrows waxed (this can be considered an emergency)
  
• created
• made a sale :)
  
• blogged.
  

Dammit! I have been a busy girl. And I am not done yet - tomorrow I will finish making everything I need sign wise and take a picture of my mock set up. So still more to do...

Right, so that was quick

I got this automated email response from Trunkt.org. I understand it is competitive, but if you are going to give an artist a generic message - well - I just don't really know how I feel about it.

So if you apply, you are either going to get a great email or this:
Thank you for applying to Trunkt.

After careful review of your submitted images and your website, we have decided not to accept your application at this time.

*REVIEW PROCESS*

In addition to the products you submit, we look at the way you present your work on websites, blogs and public forums. Our goal is to get an overall sense of you and of your work.

To the extent we can, we also evaluate the way you conduct yourself in all public forums as we believe this is a good indication of professionalism, something we value highly at Trunkt.

*ARTISTS WISHING TO RE-APPLY*

If you're considering applying again, please understand our criteria:

1) FOCUS: We look for artists who create focused, unique work. Your work should have a distinct style that is all yours.

2) MODERN: Our audience loves modern and contemporary work. Browse the work of Trunkt members to get an idea of our taste.

3) SCALE: We don't accept mass-produced products but we do prefer scale beyond one-of-a-kind work. Artists and Photographers looking to sell individual works or looking to license images are the exception.

4) BRANDING: We look for artists who have a superior sense of marketing aesthetic - excellent photography, packaging and communications.

5) PROFESSIONALISM: We look for artists that are mature in their business dealings. This includes the way they conduct themselves in all public forums.

If you simply resubmit 3 different images, it is unlikely your second application will be accepted since we've probably already seen them.

Due to the volume of applications we receive, we cannot provide individual feedback to all applicants. We wish you the best of luck with your business.

Regards,
The Team at Trunkt

Note: This is an automated email box that is not monitored.

So there it is, nothing in particular, nothing specific. However, I think I will apply again in a few months. Maybe I will have better pieces ready. I really thought my art clay pieces would help me here. Maybe a referral from an etsy artist who has already made it (in a different category than jewelry)?

I am still sort of bummed out. :(

Bummer slash Rant

Dear Economy,

You totally suck very bad right now. I am giving you the proverbial middle finger, the bird, the big F-YOU! Why are you making it hard for the small craftswoman? Some of us would like to move out and have a real life, perhaps one fully funded by their love of art and creating? Can you let up a little bit so all of us can feel better? Jewelry looks so nice on everyone, even you! Maybe if you take a break and even out, more people will want to buy more...think about it ok?


Your Arch Nemesis,

Morgan

thefind.com

Hey everyone,

I just found out that a few of my older items from my etsy.com shop made it onto a site called www.thefind.com

That's pretty bad ass and I had no idea my pieces were even on there until someone brought up the site. It is apparently a small section of the NY Times. I am pretty flattered and hope that some of my other pieces (which I think are better) get up there as well.

I am going to being preparing all my prices and doing a lot of changes to really prepare myself for potential wholesaling opportunities. I learned a lot recently about what really happens and want to make sure I will be prepared and as professional as possible. This is a huge task and will require a full inventory of all my items (which will be good for my upcoming shows) and I will really make sure all of my pieces are priced properly.

Have a great day!

- Morgan

Yay for Saturday!!!

I love the weekends!

Today I took my dogs to the beach and they got to run around in the water and sand without their leashes on...it was a really beautiful time and you couldn't help but smile just looking at them. They are so tired though because we jogged down there and then they sprinted all over the place. One of my spring time goals is to get them back in shape...they aren't puppies anymore!

I also got my a shipment of my artclay in this week so I am going to get going on that today. I have gotten a lot of requests for the leaf ring I made and sold on etsy a while ago. I do not know if I can do it exactly as I did before, but I am going to try. I loved that ring and even though I am really glad it sold, I miss it. It got a ton of compliments and people loved that it was actually really organic and made from a real leaf I found in my back yard. So thats what my plans are for this afternoon.

have a great weekend!!!

On the Road Again & Keep on Truckin!

So the minor success of getting my DVD out there was a tough day. I went to a few different stores and while I felt some of my jewelry - mostly the higher end pieces - would fit in very nicely, I was not really given the time of day. I still managed to give one DVD out, so I think the first few will be the most difficult. Hopefully this will begin to get easier.

On a much brighter note...I am preparing this week for my upcoming show at Clemson. I have made a lot of really nice pieces that I hope will catch the eye of a few people. This will be my second show away from my home town. I am very excited.


ciao