Thursday 17 September 2009

Handmade and an Award



I’ve had a busy week! The end of last week was flat out as I prepared for my first spring show at the NEGS Spring Fair, Armidale. The co-ordinator of the fair was very helpful and after a looooong drive, we got set up quickly and for once I was actually ready BEFORE the show started! I even got to do a quick tour around and see the other booths quickly.

I was surprised to find that I was in the vast minority with a handmade product. There were only two other noticeable stallholders with quality handmade items there – a milliner with fun hats for children and women and a fibre artist with the most incredible felt objects d’art. The rest of the stall holders were resellers which was disappointing.

Although I have clear signage that my jewellery is handcrafted one woman got a huge surprise when I told her I was a gemmologist and she realized my jewellery was ‘real’ and handmade. Another vendor later informed my husband that I need to get some lower priced items to sell – he told her that that is difficult since I make everything at the lowest price I can already. She was shocked into silence for a moment before stuttering….’she makes ALL of that????’ LOL.

When you visit a show or fair (not necessarily a market), what do you expect to see – resellers, imports, handmade/artisan goods?

On to other things, I was pleased as punch to receive The Uplifting Blogger Award from Shraddha and April at the The Self Love Project. Thankyou!



I’m passing this award onto

Keri at Life of Logan for sharing her wonderful family days.
Jennifer at It’s a Beauty Filled Life for posts that always making me smile.
Veronica Lee of OF MICE AND raMEN for posting great pics of amazing things all the time.
Julie at Momspective for making me laugh out loud, even when I shouldn’t !

I must point out a fantastic pic – if you like pink and dogs (yes, I know, you don’t normally consider both together) check out the photo on this post at The Tall Poppy! :D

On another note, I’m still working on my new wordpress blog behind the scenes and will tell you where it is soon (or you can go looking !) but I’m having dramas with technorati and can’t seem to log a help call with them. I noticed that Robin at Sweet Little Memories has been having issues too - anyone else feel like they’re banging they’re head agains a brick wall over there at Technorati?

Pic for today is a pair of lemon quartz 12ct goldfill earrings. These wondrous gemmies have been hiding in my special stash box which is getting a bit full since I've been hoarding them! A cut of gem that is not commercially available they are half carved and half faceted they are stunning quality! Feminine and delicate.

Gosh, look at the time! I must dash – I’m going to be at Merriwa Show tomorrow and Saturday and have to finish piling things up at the door to pack the car at dawn! Wish me luck :)

Till next
Annette

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

When I go to a market I am always delighted to see handmade items, but to be honest I guess I mostly "expect" resellers. Your items are beautiful though!

Veronica Lee said...

I love to see handmade items!!

Congrats on the award and thanks for awarding it to me.

Annette, you rock!!

Anonymous said...

i love hand made products!!

you desrved the award! i adore your blog

shraddha

Jennifer said...

I am still at a loss at your talent, Annette! These earrings are just gorgeous! And the stone is beautiful, truly.

Thank you for the award - and congratulations on being awarded it, yourself! :-) I appreciate it so much!

ChezChani said...

I expect to see handmade items. And if it was just filled with resellers I'd leave immediately.

I signed up with Technorati long ago but never get back there and don't even know what to get back there for. So many things I could/should be doing but I just don't get it and don't spend the time to figure it out.

Jan said...

Congrats on your award, well done! Isn't it sad that handmade things seem to be getting less and less at markets? When I go to the markets, that is what I want to see. If I want mass produced products I'll go to a chainstore or supermarket.
Handmade is the best, I don't think you can beat it! and those earrings are just beautiful!

Pretty Things said...

I hate it when I arrive at a show and see so much buy/sell -- it just skews the customers' idea of what is what, especially when the resellers say they MAKE what they're selling!

Your jewelry stands out, though, so don't even think of changing what you do. I've seen some great jewelry designers feel they have to do that to compete -- but it's just a matter of finding the right target market. You rock!

Brian said...

Definitely a beautiful pair of earrings.

Congratulations on a well deserved award.

Jackie said...

congrats on your award! i have another one for you over at my blog http://3little1.blogspot.com/2009/10/our-house-of-awards.html

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