It's that time of year again! The weather is warming up, flowers are blooming, and the shows are starting. Which means.....getting our booths ready.

Oh the dilemma. Do I stay with last years design? Should I add/subtract one of the tables? Do I need a new tent? New table coverings? Should I change the lay out of the tables? On and on with the things to think about.

Each year, and usually half-way through the "season", Jim and I  are tweeking our set up. Trying to find that X-factor that makes  people want to come in and shop. So many times we've seen it on peoples faces as they walk down the rows of vendors. That same ol' same ol' look. You can almost  hear it in their heads.....jewelry, pottery, paintings ho hum....BORING! Yes, there are a  lot of jewelry, pottery, paintings booths......so how am I going to make my booth POP? Make people stop in their tracks because what I have is "New"!  Exciting! One-of-a-Kind! But mose importantly, due to the economy, so spectacular that they will spend their hard earned money on it.

Here's a tip we've found to work:

Theme. Theme. Theme.

In our jewelry we only use all natural fossils, gems, and minerals. We know there are other items that are beautiful, ie  Diochroic,  fiber optic cabs, etc. However, the all natural is just our schtick. So we felt that our set up should reflect that theme. We use natural linen table coverings. Topping them with artist pressed paper in vibrant  solid colors. ( We tried multi-colored paper but it was too distracting.) We then use bamboo place mats under each tray of jewelry. The trays are filled with natural pea gravel. (Think fish tank gravel.) We then place the jewelry on the gravel. We also use a slab of rose quarts on a plate holder as a bust for necklaces.

One of the items we use that really draws people in is our hands. We have plaster molds of just our hands holding various pendants or bracelets. My hands we put in a tray with gravel surrounding it and pendants strategically placed. The tray sits in the middle of a table as the focal point. We can't count the amount of people that come into our booth just to see the hands and end up buying.

Another thing we always use is fresh flowers. Two vases on each end of the table. We started using fresh because Jim hates artificial ones. They start out looking nice but after a couple of shows they show their age so to speak. We once had a lady come up to see what we were selling just because we had the fresh flowers. She was another vendor and kept looking at the flowers all morning. She came up to us and started talking. She then saw a ring that she liked. It was an adjustable ring. She said that she wanted to buy it for her mother who had arthiritis. What's really cool is that she was another jewelry vendor and she bought from us. The next time we saw her booth she had added flowers. As they say," Imitation is the best form of flattery".

This is some of the things we've done. What has worked for you? What booth design do you feel is good or even one you've tried that you won't do again? I'd love to hear from you.

Happy planning!

-Kim

I have really ben busy trying to come up with some new designs. Here is my latest. It is an earring design that I am REALLY excited about.

You know me, I am always trying to figure out how to make somthing elegant, but different. I like how the stone (a button pearl in this instance) appears as if it is floating on nothing.

The really cool thing about this design is how much you can change it. You can change the shape of the earring, the size, you can even change the position of the pearl. You can flaot the pear anyplace along the earring body on this piece.

I loved coming up with this design, and I jnow that you'll love it too. Stop by and have a look at the tutorial...http://www.macjewels.com

Just to let everyone know, I am currently working on a NEW bracelet design. I hope to get that tutorial finished early next week. This one is also a really interesting design.

See Ya Soon!

Jim

Sometimes running a website can be a bit of a problem. A couple of days ago I noticed that we had a major problem with our product buttons. It seems that our shopping cart buttons weren't working, making it virtually impossible for anyone to purchase any of our tutorials. That was a major problem.

So if you visit the site, you'll notice that we had to temporarily go back to our "Buy Now" buttons. I know that this causes some big problems for those of you who want to purchase more than one product, however, I hope you can understand the situation.

We are working on the problem and we hope that we'll have it fixed very soon.

Thanks for understanding.

I also wanted to let you know that we are working on two NEW Tutorials that we hope to have on the website late this week. We're working on a beautiful set of earrings and a NEW Cuff Style Bracelet. You'll love 'em.

Talk with you soon.

Jim

For several weeks I have been trying to figure out the best way to share my thoughts with everyone. I tried doing it through a newsletter, but that really became a huge problem. Many people who read it said that they couldn't read part of it, I had some problems with formatting, I didn't like the look...we had tons of problems with it.

So I thought that a blog would be a much better way to get all of the thoughts about jewelry making, tutorials, whatever, out of my head and into yours. The great thing about a blog is that I can do it as ofter as I wish, so when things happen at the web site, I can pass it along to all of you. If I think of some new technique, I can send it out instantly to everyone without having formatting problems.

In the blog, I plan to pass along a lot of the same information that was in the newsletter. I'll write articles on various facets of jewelry making, my wife Kim will still write about stones, plus we'll talk about new developements at the web site. I'll let you know about specials that are coming up, as well as new tutorials that are in development.

One of the best features about a blog is that you can post comments. I suggest that all of you take advantage of that. Let me know what your thoughts are. I'd love your feedback.

So are you ready??? Then lets get started.

This has been a really exciting week. We have been hard at work booking some classes in various parts of the US. The classes that we are planning to teach will be either onbe or two day very intensive classes. In a one day class, we'll spend the day working on three projects, two wire wrap rings and a freeform pendant. In our two day class, we'll complete five projects; two wire wrap rings, the freeform pendant, a pair of earrings, and the Empress Bracelet! We'll also spend some time talking about design and various other wonderful subjects. I can't wait! 

We'd like to announce to everyone that we have verified classes in July! Here's the info-

July 11/12 Columbus, OH at 1 Stop Bead Shop
Phone: 614-573-6452
WebAddress- http://www.1stopbeadshop.com

July 18/19 Jackson, MI at Bead Culture
Phone: 517-841-9173
WebAddress- http://www.beadculture.com

These are only the first two classes that we are planning. We have been actively looking for classroom space in the Houston Texas area, Chicago Illinois, Indianapolis Indiana, Cleveland Ohio, Kansas City Missouri, and St. Louis Missouri.  So stay tuned, we should have a lot more information when we confirm dates, times and places.

By the way, if I haven't listed a city near you, let me know where you are and we'll start working on your area. If you have a few of your friends that are already interested in taking a one or two day intensive class on wire art, let us know.

That's all for now.

Jim