The R&T Extra! March 2007
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The R&T Extra! March 2007 |
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Subscribe/un-subscribe to our e-mail newsletter In this issue: |
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Adorning the World, Hawaiian Style: Interview with R&T Customer Gayle Chavez Gayle Chavez has always been attentive to her customers' needs. As a result, her ceramic business has evolved from creating large objects to jewelry.
R&T: What's your artistic background?
R&T: So how long have you been making jewelry?
R&T: What is your favorite medium?
R&T: Where does your inspiration come from?
R&T: Thanks! Any other favorite aspect of doing business with R&T?
R&T: Do you have any advice for novice jewelers and crafters?
R&T: What obstacles have you had to overcome since you became an artist? R&T: Thank you Gayle for your time, insights and enthusiastic patronage. Aloha! |
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Festivals & Fairs 101 – Part One: All the World's a Show The 2007 arts and crafts fair season is about to begin, and even for seasoned veterans there's a lot of work to be done. For someone just getting started in the world of craft shows, the process can seem overwhelming. But with a little advice and a lot of drive, you too can enjoy showing and selling your wares at festivals and fairs! Part two of "Festivals & Fairs 101" will feature how to determine which shows best fit you and take a look at the essentials of a good application. Part three will go over what to do once you've been invited to a show. For now, we'll focus on the dizzying array of shows that exist and how to find out more about them. Your primary task in entering the world of craft shows is to determine if it's viable for you to participate during the current year and, if so, which ones. This may sound like a no-brainer, but in fact it is vitally important! Choices you make at this initial stage can determine whether you are about to embark on a long, successful career with festivals and fairs, or whether you'll have a short-lived, disappointing experience.
Home shows and open studios can be a fun, easy way to get your feet wet in the process of showing your wares. If you're doing your own show, there is no application process and you'll be setting up on your own time, in your own space. You can simply start out by inviting friends and acquaintances and go from there. Of course, if you're interested in the business of selling your goods, inviting people you know will only get you so far. At some point, you'll have to decide how comfortable you feel inviting strangers into your private space. You'll also need to decide how aggressively to advertise the event. How much time and money can you spend on advertising? Plus, it's a good idea to check your home-owners or renters insurance — are you are covered for injuries that may happen in your space? Anyone can slip and fall while visiting, and you don't want to open yourself up to legal liabilities. Sometimes artisans join together to create home or studio shows that feature more than one person's work. This can be a great way to share tasks and overhead costs, especially if you know you can work well with the others involved. A variation is the "art walk," an event in which several artisans hold separate open homes/studios at the same time. Art walks can be hosted by the artists themselves, or hosted by a city or private organization. If you participate in an art walk sponsored by a city or organization, that body will typically take care of advertising and provide patrons with maps and related literature. These sponsored events may require an application and/or fee, though, so you may end up trading one inconvenience for another. To find out more about organization-sponsored art walks and open home or studio tours, ask local chambers of commerce, art schools, colleges and art galleries. Street fairs and farmers markets are also great ways to get your feet wet without having to dive into the deep end. They typically only require a modest application process and a small booth fee (money given to the hosting organization to cover overhead and advertising costs). Farmers market booth fees typically run from around $15-$20 per day you participate, plus sometimes a percentage of your sales. The types of sellers farmers markets look for vary — some encourage a wide variety of crafts, while others might only allow consumables or a small number of non-food vendors. Street fair booth fees typically run about $50-$100 for the entire run of the fair, and may also require a percentage of your sales. It's important to consider that these types of shows tend to be seasonal, and outdoors. If you don't want to mess with the possibility of rain and mud – or intense heat and dust – these venues may not be for you. To find specific street fairs or farmers markets in your area, pay attention to your local media. It's always a good idea to spend one season focusing on research: visit various fairs and markets in your area and talk with participants about their experiences. If a vendor is put-off by your questioning, don't give up! Some people are simply more proprietary than others. Plenty of participants will be happy to share their experiences with you and provide advice on all aspects of participation. Also, pay attention to who shops at these markets. This will help you decide if your wares will sell (for the price you want) at that location or not. After researching the various options in your area, you can better judge which shows will suit you best and then apply to those shows the following year. See "Non-juried arts & crafts shows" for additional relevant information. Non-juried arts & craft shows are often similar to street fairs and tend to be less competitive than juried shows. They generally require an application process and a booth fee. But, the type of competition you will face will primarily consist of two things:
Several directories of shows, fairs and festivals exist online and in print. Rings & Things provides links to some of these directories from our links page — just look under "Craft Show Listings." Often, these directories list both non-juried and juried shows, so be sure to pay attention to the details. Also, many local organizations, including public schools, hold non-juried craft shows as fundraisers. To find these shows, pay attention to local media. And remember, it's always worth spending one season visiting shows and focusing on research. Some non-juried shows allow booths to sell commercially produced goods, including imported goods that might undercut your lowest prices. You'll want to determine if your goods can sell at prices that won't bankrupt you, plus whether the overall atmosphere fits your work. Juried arts & crafts shows encompass a broad range of events! Some are fairly easy for beginners to participate in, while others are highly competitive (in part because they tend to provide better sales). Keep in mind, too, that jewelry sellers may find it tougher than other craftspeople to vie for spots because jewelry making is an art form in which many (great) people work! What all juried shows have in common is that your creations will have to "win" the approval of a critical jury (thus "juried") before you are admitted. Typically, the application process requires good quality digital slides of your wares in addition to paperwork and an application fee. Some shows might also require an additional booth fee and/or a percentage of your sales once you are accepted into the show. Before that stage, though, comes the judging process. A panel of seasoned arts & crafts professionals will judge slides of your creations to determine who will be allocated the limited number of booth spaces. What juries look for differs from show to show, but one thing they always want is quality construction — and quality construction will only be obvious on good quality digital images. Good quality photographs are thus essential, but they cannot win the day alone. Your products will also need to reflect the types of goods a particular fair is interested in showing. This means that thorough research is even more important for juried shows than non-juried shows. Don't waste your time and money on paperwork and photos for a show that specializes in "fine art" ceramics when you make glass-bead necklaces! Again, use craft show listings and directories to find information on specific juried shows. Gallery exhibitions are a year-round, weather-resistant way to show your work. Plus, they can be a great place to send show patrons for repeated business after the show is over. Another advantage is that, just like consignment shops, you won't need to be present during business hours. There are, however, disadvantages too. For one thing, you won't usually have any say in how your work is displayed. You'll typically only be allowed to show a small number of items. And, galleries typically take 40%-60% of your sales to cover their overhead. In addition, they might ask you to provide your own advertising for your exhibit. A less daunting option is a "raw space" event. This type of show temporarily transforms a vacant building into a non-juried exhibition space for several artists. Participants typically provide a small booth fee and might be asked to help with set-up. For more information on raw space events, ask your local chambers of commerce, art schools, colleges and art galleries if they host these types of events and what the application process is. Wholesale shows (sometimes known as buyers' marts) differ from other types of shows in that you typically won't sell already-produced products at the show. Instead, you'll take orders from buyers for the upcoming year. This means that you will need to supply production schedules (that you can follow through on) in advance of making your products. This, in turn, requires a product that can be produced consistently and en-masse. Merchants at the Philadelphia Buyers' Mart (one of the largest wholesale shows in the country) may generate up to 50% of their year's business at that single show. They then spend a large part of their year filling orders already generated at the show. While this process works extremely well for some artisans, it goes against the grain of how others think about and create their wares. To make it in the world of wholesale shows, you need to be even more business-minded than for other shows! Some show directories include information about buyers marts. Conclusion: Additional variations of shows certainly exist, but the above provides a good overview. Before you begin applying to shows, it's vitally important that you research your options. That's the only way you'll be able to make knowledgeable decisions on where to focus your time and money. In part two of "Fairs & Festivals 101," we'll talk about how to determine which shows will work best for you once you've investigated your various options. Plus, we'll go over some basics of creating a quality application. Till then, happy researching! |
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Fiery Prices versus Firepolish Beads It's true that world market fluctuations have forced us to raise prices on some of our products. In the last two years, silver prices have jumped a drastic 107%! Copper prices have risen 73%, gold prices 54% and oil prices 31% since 2005. This means that our sterling, copper, gold-filled and plastic items are necessarily pricier than they used to be — unhappy news for both you and us.
Additionally, many firepolish colors are now available in loose masses. This lowers the price even more because the manufacturer didn't need to pay a worker to string the beads! For these optimally low prices, look for firepolish stock numbers that include an "L" at the end of them. Here's an example of how "loose mass" savings works. Our 6mm opal firepolish rounds used to be sorted only one way. Now, they are available two ways: #23-446-012 (the original sorting) typically arrives strung in full masses (a mass = 1,200 beads), and #23-446-012-L is available only in a loose (unstrung) mass. If you buy a mass of strung beads (12 x 100 = 1,200 beads), you'll pay $27.00. But, if you buy a "loose" mass (also 1,200 beads), you'll pay $25.85 (view both options here for comparison). For those of you who buy in large quantities, this savings can really add up! These beads won't disappoint in terms of history or tradition either. Archeological evidence suggests that Bohemians have been making glass since the fourth century C.E.. Glass production has continued ever since in Bohemia, a cultural region that encompasses a large part of the Czech Republic. A cottage industry – manned primarily by peasants in their homes – thrived in the area until World War II. In 1945, the newly installed Communist government nationalized the industry, moving it from people's homes into factories. Since the fall of the Communist government in the 1990s, private production of glass beads has again taken over. It's a testament to the quality and demand for Czech glass that the industry has survived such drastic changes over the last 100 years. The firepolish process in particular has been employed in the region for over 170 years. It begins by taking molten glass and shaping it in molds (presses). Once the pressed-glass beads are cooled, they are then reheated just enough to begin melting the surface. This use of heat to "polish" the surface provides two benefits. First, it slightly dulls any rough edges. Second, it creates a brilliant sheen to the surface of the bead. It also creates slightly imperfect shapes, which some people prefer to the precision of machine-cut crystal. In fact, many people use firepolish glass as an economical substitute for pricier crystal. Their shine is subtler than that of leaded crystal, thus firepolish beads offer a slightly softer look. And, of course, the fact that they are lead-free is a plus. Despite such differences, firepolish beads share many similarities with their historic cousins. For example, firepolish beads are often treated with the same coatings used in crystal production, including aurora borealis and vitrail. If you haven't worked with firepolish beads before, now is a great time to start. For newly lowered prices on a variety of shapes and colors, check out our Czech firepolish beads today. |
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We Want You to Steal from Us — Ideas, That Is!
You can follow tip-sheet directions step by step, or use them as inspiration for creating your own designs. To view older Designer Tip Sheets, visit the Projects section of our Web site (where they are organized into "easy," "medium" and "difficult" skill levels). Designs shown in our new 2007-2008 catalog are linked from their Gallery entries. Simply type the name of the design you are looking for in the Gallery's search function. Or, request the Designer Tip Sheet by name when you call in an order. |
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R&T's String of Events: March 2007 Calendar
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Thanks! Russ, Kim and the whole Rings & Things crewP.O. Box 450 Spokane, WA 99210-0450 USA Phone (509) 252-2900 Fax 509 838 2602 Order toll free 1 (800) 366-2156 Web site: http://www.rings-things.com You can subscribe/unsubscribe (it's free) to our newsletter in seconds! If you've moved, please help us get our next catalog supplement to you. Just fill out this form: www.rings-things.com/addressform.htm. Newsletter Home |
R&T: Hi Gayle. What's your business name?
There are a mind-numbing variety of types of arts and crafts shows, and it's important to do your research and choose shows that best fit your business style, your budget and your products. Main types of shows include:
Between road shows, classes, purchasing trips and more, there's a lot going on at Rings & Things! Here's what's happening this month: