Selling handmade jewelry: Tales from the Long Island Vegan Fest

I don't know if the eclipse had any influence, but this was a really good jewelry week for me! It began on a low note with jury duty (Yuck), but then quickly picked up and just kept going. I've once again been accepted to the local art fair, I have a couple more people interested in me teaching classes at their venues, and I sold a piece to a new (for my business) country: Finland. The week was then capped off with my friend Christopher's amazing Vegan Fest.

When Christopher and his husband, Scott, proposed I sell my jewelry at the event, I was skeptical. I wasn't sure that jewelry fit in with holistic doctors, nutritionists and vegan caterers. However, Scott reasoned that they wanted to include a shopping experience at the fair and that my pieces would appeal to an "earthy" vegan crowd. I agreed because I'd planned to attend, anyway, and figured I could make some animal pendants for charity. Chris decided that money would go toward Broome Animal Sanctuary, up in Middleburgh, NY. I designed 18 of these pendants and at least felt that I had a purpose for being there.

Turns out that the guys' instincts were spot-on. I raised $300 for the sanctuary -- and completely trounced my previous sales record from an event. "Earthy" vegans really did like my work!

I usually have a little down-time at fairs, where I can walk around, eat and do some shopping, but at this fair, I barely had time to use the ladies' room. It was great, though. I met some interesting, kind people and enjoyed introducing them to fused glass, as well as the sanctuary. Since this was mainly a Long Island crowd, not too many of the attendees had heard of BAS, which is in central NY, but I explained what the farm is like and how passionate Christopher feels toward this place. Some had visited local sanctuaries, but were now eager to see this one. There was even a case where one of Scott's co-workers did not purchase an animal pendant, but insisted on giving me a generous donation for the sanctuary. I offered to give her a bonus piece of jewelry, but she refused. THAT's what most of the attendees were like: open, warm and giving.

I'd expected my animal pendants to be the main draw and surprisingly, they weren't. People liked them and purchased several, but also bought my regular work. As I'd expected, I got many questions about the materials I use and how I actually create the pieces. Several were intrigued to hear about my microwave kiln. Perhaps we'll hear about some more glass artists in the near future!

I did get to take a very brief lunch break and picked up a combo plate from the vendor across the way. They served homemade black bean burgers with spicy barbecue sauce, potato salad made with cashews, mustard and vinegar -- and the most chewy and delicious brownies I've ever eaten. I never did ask what was in them, but they were rich and fudgy. I'm still dreaming about them.

One company called Pride Enjoy sold vegan rainbow cookies. Rainbow cookies!!! Those are my favorites, but I refrained from buying any because I didn't want to go overboard in sampling treats. The guys bought two containers, so maybe they'll save me one ... if they don't eat them all first.

Jon came for about an hour, but I was so busy working, I didn't even get to talk to him. He had a jack fruit and pineapple curry and was still raving about it hours later. He even said that if all vegan food is like that, he could deal with being vegetarian.

There weren't just food vendors, though. Several organizations gave out literature containing information on veganism and vegan foods; one booth had vegan cookbooks; a couple of tables represented local sanctuaries and farms; a mother and daughter team sold cruelty-free makeup and one company sold hydroponic garden supplies. There were also eight lectures, a masseuse on hand and outdoor yoga classes.

I can't begin to express how proud I am of Christopher. He's a great guy and a close friend, so I'm biased, but he really did a fantastic job in putting this event together. He sought out quality vendors. He promoted the fair like crazy on social media so he'd get ample traffic. And he put together a fair that encompassed an entire vegan experience for attendees, incorporating food, fun and wellness. I've been to dozens of events at this point, and this was one of the most well thought-out and organized. He managed to get over 600 attendees! Just look at the happy crowd. There I am (to the right in blue), selling my heart out:

I'm trying to figure out what I did *right* at this event, so I can do it again at the next fair. I think that some of the reasons I did well here were because A) I had a table right by the entrance, so people saw me as soon as they came in. B) I didn't have much competition since my booth was different than anything else there. C) I've gotten better at schmoozing and selling. That last one is important because it's a skill I'm still working on. I did channel my friend Lani a few times during the fair and managed to close the sale. She'd be proud.

The festival was so successful that Christopher has decided to turn this into a bi-annual affair. I'll definitely be back for the next one. After all, I still need to taste those rainbow cookies!

Check out my jewelry at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Selling handmade jewelry: weird tales from the craft fair

It's September, start of Fall Craft Fair Season... which means it's time for another edition of "Weird Tales From The Craft Fair."

My latest event took place on Sunday. It was my neighborhood's local Community Arts Day and I was happy to participate. Vendors are juried for this event and though this was my third time selling at it, I was rejected for its second year. I no longer just assume I'm going go get in and was thrilled to be chosen. Here are some shots of my table. No, I do not know who Jeff is...

I was worried about being put on a side street rather than on the main road. Even worse, my table was put right under a shop awning and birds pooped on the table (thankfully NOT on the jewelry!!!). My friend Lani was with me, though, and she stayed calm -- and insisted that a bird pooping means good luck.

I'm not sure if it really does bring luck, but we actually got a lot of traffic and Lani was the best sales partner I could've asked for. She has retail experience and is a natural "people person." I always chat with people who approach the booth, but she managed to close a few of the trickier sales. For instance, one woman liked a pair of silver wire wrapped spiral earrings, but thought they were too long. Without missing a beat, Lani said, "Oh, she'll shorten them right now. Give her five minutes." I did... and the woman ended up buying the earrings and a matching bracelet.

There was also a woman who couldn't decide between two pendants. I thought she was just going to give up, but Lani talked her into settling on one ... and she purchased that and matching earrings. Thanks to Lani, I made more at this fair than I ever had.

I have to give myself some credit, though, because I worked my butt off preparing for this event. I spent many late nights finishing glass pieces and came up with new ideas for designs. A few people purchased my wire work, but most of my sales were the dichroic glass.

As always, I met some interesting people throughout the day. The first person to purchase something from my table was a politician, our neighborhood's councilwoman! She was really nice and bought a glass Star Of David pendant. Soon after, I was approached by a woman who was wearing a beautiful wooden necklace. When I asked her about it, she explained that it wasn't made of wood, but was constructed of polymer clay designed to look like wood. She took my card and later e-mailed me to send me some links about working with clay. This might be something my senior students enjoy doing, so I'd like to look into it.

I did see some familiar faces, too. My husband, Jon, stopped by to help me set up and take down the table. I was also visited by good friends Judith, David and Leah. Our favorite "visitor," though was the black and white cat who appeared in a window of the apartment across the street. He sat for almost an hour watching us from his perch. Lani named him "Belvedere." Obviously, we don't know his real name or even his gender, but we enjoyed his company!

I didn't take too many breaks, but during lunch, I took a quick look around at the other booths. A few vendors returned from previous years, including a young woman who paints striking abstract portraits. Last year, she only sold large paintings and a few other vendors suggested she sell smaller, less expensive pieces. She followed the advice and ended up doing well this year.

One of the first-time vendors, who had a booth near me, makes tinfoil sculptures. His stuff is amazing! His most popular item was his foil roses. Leah and David purchased a tinfoil dinosaur for their 4-year-old son.

Overall, it was a great day, but there's no time to relax. Tomorrow, I have another fair AND a gig at the Atria. In the morning, I'm selling more of my glass pieces and in the afternoon, Judith and I are performing a bossa nova program. We're playing pieces such as "Girl From Ipanema" and "Agua de Beber." As a flutist, I love Brazilian jazz, so I'm looking forward to this.

Meantime, the holiday season is quickly approaching, which means much more jewelry-making for me! Check out the rest of my collections at Naomi's Designs, MayaGirl Creations and Glass By Naomi.

Back To Blogging: Exciting Handmade Wire Wrapped Jewelry News!

Wow, OK... so I've been realllllly bad about blogging this year. Last time I wrote something was in March. Yikes! Time to change that and get back into the swing of things. I apologize for keeping you out of the loop. Well, I apologize to all two of you who read me regularly...

The good news is, that while I haven't been writing, I have been busy actually making jewelry -- and have been involved in some exciting projects.

My work was once again selected to be in the Kew Gardens Art Fair. I was rejected last year so gaining admittance was a big deal to me. This year, the event was set up as a street fair with the vendor booths lining the main road in town. I did pretty well, but I preferred the set-up where we were all contained in the local park. I felt as if we were too spread out and a few of my customers agreed.

As always, I had many interesting encounters throughout the day. One woman tried on several pieces, almost broke a bracelet... and then didn't buy anything. Sigh. On the other hand, I got to meet a "fan"! A few weeks ago, a woman messaged me on Etsy and said she'd purchased earrings from me at the first fair held two years ago. She asked if I'd be selling locally anytime soon and I said I didn't know because I'd been rejected from the fair last year. Well, she found me at the event and said she'd complained about my booth being absent the year before. She then bought some more earrings from me. I wanted to give her a bonus pendant as a thank you for seeking me out, but she refused, saying, "I don't want to exploit you." She was very sweet and I was so happy to meet up with her.

What's really exciting, though, is that as part of the fair, I now have two of my jewelry pieces hanging in the restaurant, Austin's Ale House!"

Austin's has been a local institution for over 20 years and regularly exhibits the work of Queens artists. We go there all the time -- I even had my 40th birthday party there -- and have always admired the paintings and photos, etc. that hang on the restaurant's walls. So it's very cool to have my own stuff there, where it will stay for the next six weeks. Hopefully someone will purchase my pieces, but if not, at least people are getting to see my work.

Last week, Austin's threw a little party for the artists. My parents and husband came, which was nice; I don't think I've had any "art" exhibited since elementary school! I'm very impressed with the work of my fellow artists. I'm the only jewelry designer in the bunch, but there are some beautiful paintings and multimedia pieces. If you're in the NYC area, definitely check it out. Side note: Austin's has great food and an extensive, extensive drink menu!

I still haven't gotten my pieces into any stores, but this is a start in getting my name out there. I'm hoping it will lead to even bigger things. Meantime, check out my handmade wire wrapped and enamel jewellery at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Tales From The Art Fair

Yes, you read my title correctly. The event in which I participated yesterday was not a "craft fair," but an "art fair."

A while back I was contacted by my neighborhood's arts council and was invited to apply for this event. I never even knew that my neighborhood HAD an arts council, but it sounded as if it would be a great fair -- and indeed it was! For one thing, it was held at the small park that's right up the street from my home so I didn't have to travel. We also had perfect fall weather, even though the forecast had called for rain.

Only 20 vendors were chosen for this fair, but it seems as if the council chose carefully. There were a couple of painters, as well as a glass blower and a man who carved wooden bowls. One jewelry vendor made pieces by carving wampum (shells) and explained that he has to do his work under water with a special ventilator because the shell residue can dry out his lungs. Yikes! (and I thought using a kiln is risky!). His stuff was amazing, though, much different than anything I've seen. I really enjoyed seeing the work of other local artists.

As for me, I did really well at this fair! It's funny how much more seriously people take you if the event is called an "art fair" as opposed to a flea market or craft fair. But I made a lot of sales and people treated me with respect. I actually sold two high-end pieces this week -- one online and one at the fair -- and it feels good to know that people are willing to pay for my work.

I felt a little badly because the woman who purchased my double-sided "Fire And Ice" wire wrapped enamel necklace was a little confused about the price. She heard me say one thing ... and thought it was much lower than its actual cost. I had to correct her and was afraid that she'd nix the sale, but she just sort of shrugged and said, "Okay" and handed over the rest of the money. I explained to her WHY it costs what it does and she appreciated the amount of labor that was put into it. At other fairs, people would've been like, "That's too expensive."

Not everyone who stopped by my booth bought my jewelry, but many asked questions and were genuinely interested in how I make my pieces. One woman told me that my work should be in a museum. I don't really agree with her, but it was such a nice compliment! Another young lady suggested that I make more statement pieces. I explained that some customers prefer to wear simple designs, but I'm now coming up with more statement design ideas, as well. Then there was a woman who kept trying to get her boyfriend to buy a piece for himself ... so that she could wear it, LOL. He didn't, but he did ask a lot of questions and was a good sport.

What's really cool is that my Nefertiti's Kiss necklace is now "famous," thanks to it being on the poster. Several people recognized it from the ad and came over to admire it. Woodcarving Man's wife told me that one of his bowls was on the poster, too... but when she brought it into her office, everyone was asking her about my necklace.

I'm glad that I did well with sales yesterday, but I don't only care about the money (though being able to pay the rent is a good thing). For the first time in a while, I felt as if I'm a legit artist -- and that my work MEANS something. A lot of people don't really understand my career(s); when I explain that I make/sell jewelry and write novels, they look at me as if I'm a big flake. Honestly, it was much easier to explain my work to others when I had my 9-5 job at the magazine. It meant a lot for me to have people recognize the labor that I put into my jewelry and to appreciate my creations. I'm not asking for others to fawn all over me as if I'm royalty, but getting respect is satisfying.

To purchase my jewelry, head to Naomi's Designs or MayaGirl Creations.

Tales From The Craft Fair

I just got home from the Great Neck Street Fair. Boy, was it a long day! I made a few sales, but I unfortunately didn't do as well as I'd hoped. Still, it was a nice day and I like to think of these events as learning experiences. When we arrived at Great Neck, we discovered that the actual fair was about a two-mile walk from the train station. So we walked all the way there, with me lugging the suitcase with my jewelry and Jon pushing the cart that contained our table and chair. We got a nice workout! Happily, it was a perfect spring day and Great Neck is a beautiful, upscale town so the walk was pleasant. Once at the fair, I tried to sit back and relax and enjoy the experience. We were right across from the food court, which was convenient and our booth neighbors were nice. On the left they were selling handmade wooden bowls, which were unique and beautiful and on the right, homemade paintings and a variety of other things like headbands and junk jewelry. A nice crowd came by today and many more people stopped by my booth than at the last fair. I also got many more teenagers checking in, especially to look at those wire wrapped coil rings. Unfortunately, few people were willing to dip into their pocketbooks. A lot tried on some jewelry pieces and asked questions, but only a handful actually bought. This was pretty discouraging since I was already charging rock bottom prices for my handmade stuff. The guy in the booth next to me said that they experienced the same thing with their jewelry -- that people seemed reluctant to pay $5 for stuff. It's kind of funny because Great Neck is a very wealthy neighborhood, but as Jon said, maybe that's why the people there are wealthy -- because they're also frugal. At one point, our friends Scott and Christopher came by to say hello. I was very glad to see them and was hoping that they'd help with sales, as both are very good-looking guys. But their handsomeness did nothing, LOL. I guess maybe if they'd removed their shirts and danced or offered to kiss the customers or something. But they were useful in that they invited me to sell my jewelry at their upcoming charity party. They're hosting a drag queen event to raise money for an AIDS walk and suggested that I sell pieces there and then donate a portion of the profits. I like this idea because it not only benefits me, but will help them with a great cause. There were some, well, interesting people at the fair. There was one woman who wasn't interested in any of the booths; she just wanted business cards for her business card collection. There was another who came back to my booth three times, but never looked me in the eye, grunted when I spoke to her and did everything with short, quick movements. I wonder if she was stoned? There was one woman who asked me how much things cost in the booth next to me. Then there was the inconsiderate woman who just casually rested her soda can on my display. I was like, "Um... excuse me?" You definitely meet all types at these things. I've decided that I'm no longer going to do these expensive fairs on Long Island. The registration is high enough that I'm losing money since I'm not getting many sales. The traffic is there, but I feel like my booth gets lost in the sea of goods. It also seems like many don't seem to appreciate the fact that my stuff is handmade and that my already very low prices include the cost of the labor I put into them. Maybe my jewelry just sucks and that's why it's not taking off, but I refuse to believe that. I've had enough people purchase my stuff who've really liked it. And I have to have faith in myself. My next fair is in two weeks and then that night, I'm doing the drag queen party. It's going to be a really looooong day, but hopefully something will come of my hard work. To purchase my jewelry, head to Naomi's Designs. To read about my travel adventures, head to Naomi The Traveler.