Monday, July 26, 2010

BEAD & BUTTON 2010...

Bead & Button was fantastic. Exhausting... but successful! Saturday & Sunday were on the slow side all around... Thank God that Thursday & Friday were uber busy. My best show EVER... beyond any expectations I had.

A BIG THANK YOU to my friend, Kelly Hazel of KLH Designs, who was @ B&B all week for classes & a little shopping... she stayed an extra day & helped me out @ my booth. And another BIG THANK YOU to my awesome friend, Kimberly Polka, who showed up & helped me tear my booth down on Sunday!!

Really great bead sales...my acorns & the etched copper leaves, OMG...they cleaned me out!! It was quite awesome! I've always enjoyed watching customers select their acorns... trying to find the one that speaks to them (they all have their own personalities!), but now watching them try to pair an acorn up w/ a copper oak leaf, priceless!! :o)
I haven't posted these copper leaves before, have I? (other than when I first learned to etch w/ Robin Koza) I knew last year that I wanted to come up w/ some sort of oak leaf element to go w/ my copper & glass acorns... these are what I came up w/ & they are FABULOUS! (if I may say so!) Some designs are from rubber stamps & some are hand-drawn. Alot of the backs I did by hand... some included words, like STRENGTH, BEAUTY, BELIEVE, COURAGE, etc. Robin saw this picture when I posted it on Facebook last month & sent me a message, asking if I would share my source for the stamp I used for the leaf @ the top w/ the bullseyes & wavy lines. I'm always happy to share a source... of course this source is difficult to share, since that is a hand-drawn design. I love it & had a few others that were similar... they all sold, of course! I will definitely do more... it's nice to have pieces that are uniquely mine.

I got a few wholesale orders that hopefully will turn into returning customers. My sweet friend Nicole Valentine of N Valentine Studio came to my booth with an amazing fine silver birdhouse from Christi Anderson of Elemental Adornments... she was looking for a miniature electroformed glass acorn to hang underneath the birdhouse. She found one & a little while later, Christi showed up @ my booth looking for acorns!! My stock was pretty low @ that point, she found some, but I'll be making her more. They're absolutely perfect w/ her pieces. How exciting! I actually met Christi when I first started lampworking @ a show here in the Twin Cities... her work is phenomenal. It will be fun to work w/ her & see some our pieces together!

It was awesome to see & hang out w/ long-distance friends...a fun dinner out w/ Andrea Guarino-Slemmens, Nicole Valentine, Donna Mehnert, Kristi Brokaw, Marion Ogle & a sweet friend of Andrea's from Israel, Ilana Magriso. The Blue Angels were in town & we ran into some of them a few times. A man in uniform... nice... Nicole was quite smitten w/ them & Andrea took the opportunity to put Nicole in the middle of them a time or two w/ a picture w/ a few of them & a phone call. LOL. Quite funny.

I missed out seeing so many people that I would've loved to see since I was on my own @ my booth... what a drag. Thankful that some came & tracked me down!! Wonderful to meet Heather Powers & Erin Prais-Hintz! I wish I had gotten a chance to come visit Heather's booth!

It was fun having customers from last year (my first year) return for more... (some w/ my business card w/ little notes written on the back!) and great to have customers that I've gotten to know through teaching @ the Madison Art Glass & Bead show the last 2 years come by to see me. I really enjoy continuing to build these relationships w/ such wonderful & creative people. 


Fantastic feedback about my booth space as well. That makes me happy. :o) It's ridiculously fussy... not necessarily fussy looking, but so many layers...pieces & parts... it takes me forever to set up & tear down. But I love the look! My friends laugh @ me & talk about how I need to pare it down! I'm so thankful that Kim showed up & helped me tear down on Sunday!! I do look wistfully @ the next aisle of well-known & talented bead artists w/ their single artisan tables & watch them show up just a few hours, if even, before the show starts to set up their space (& tear down quickly, too!) & think to myself "Hey, I'm just a glass bead artist, too... why do I have to have not only a full size booth, but why do I find it necessary to have all of the extras... like ribbons, chains, findings, etc... that keep me from quickly setting up & tearing down?" Well... I suppose, for one thing, I don't have the name (yet!) that draws customers directly to my table just because I'm me (& I make fabulous beads!)... so having a booth that draws people in has been helpful... & having the extras helps sell my beads, too. Can't tell you how many people walked away w/ a bead, acorn &/or copper leaf hanging from their necks as they continue on their way to shop the show.... FABULOUS advertising for me. So, for me, it's been worth it. A hassle, yes... but it's working.

Anyway... it was a wonderful experience. An awesome show. Can't wait till next year!!

Till next time...

~ Julie

7 MUCH APPRECIATED COMMENTS:

TesoriTrovati said...

Thanks for that fun recap! I was actually fondling, er...admiring one of my acorns last night. I know that I am hoarding it like it is the last bead on earth, but I love it so! I am not sure that I can part with either of them. That must mean that there is jewelry of my own in my future!

It was such a treat to meet you, to see your beautiful booth (which by the way would have drawn me in even it if weren't for the lovelies displayed there - so, yes, it is worth it! I do similar things with my displays...) and to leave with a goodie that I swear you must have created just for me.

And those leaves are fabulous. I am kicking myself for not getting one!

You? Such a delight.

Enjoy the day!
Erin

Julie said...

LOL! I've had this post in draft mode for a month just waiting for me to finish up a sentence or two! About time, huh?? :o) It was so much fun meeting you, Erin... next time we need to spend some time together after hours!! I'm so glad that you love your acorns so, that makes my day! I'm hoping to have some more leaves made up after I get back from Colorado mid August... have a bunch of items to get up on Etsy. I'll post here, for sure, when they get listed.

Thanks Erin!

~ Julie

Jen Judd said...

You are a riot...a month for tweaking sentences. That's what makes your beads so phenomenal!!! I think I may have to make Bead Fest an adventure for next year just so I can see this fabulous booth and walk away with my own perfectly unique oak leaf. :) Take care!!! Jen

Vickie Hallmark said...

The leaves are gorgeous! Maybe next year I'll get to see them in person.

Julie said...

Thank you, ladies!

LOL, Jen... it's called A.D.D. :o) Bead & Button... you DO need to come & hang out w/ me, I'd love to meet you (finally). :o)

Thank you, Vickie! I hope you do stop by & see them next year... would be nice to meet you, too!!

Lorelei Eurto said...

Hey Julie!
are you still making these etched leaves? I was wondering, I would love to use a few of your leaves and maybe one of your cool acorn beads in a submission for a publication for the Fall season. lemme know!

Julie said...

ABSOLUTELY, Lorelei! How quickly do you need them? I have some that I just posted pictures of on my new FB Page of what I have available right now... (http://www.facebook.com/JulieNordine.CreditRiverArtGlass)... but I'm about to make a nice batch of them in the next week or so... I'd love to do some hand drawn ones to see what you think. (like the top center one up there that Robin wanted & the words & such on the back side.

I'm also making acorns TODAY (& beyond), if you have a request, let me know! :o) I'm building up stock over the next week...it's a 4 day process & I need to get them online SOON! I have some available right now, but the selection is smaller than normal. I can take a picture of what I have & send it to you. Can do that in a bit, I just had to take a quick break from the torch & am right back @ it. :o) Let me know what you're looking for, if you're trying to work around anything specific.

Thanks for thinking about me, Lorelei! I'm honored!

~ Julie

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