Juli's Jewels Schedule Through the Holidays

Hi all! Halloween is just 3 days from now and I'm ready, but just barely. Eight weeks 'til Christmas though, and I am certainly not ready, how about you?

To help you plan, here's a quick update on what's happening with Juli's Jewels through the holidays...you know, for gifts and stuff.

We have two craft shows coming up. The first is the St James Holiday Bazaar; it's on both Saturday and Sunday, November 9th and 10th from 9am to 3pm at 1375 B Street in Davis, California. The second is the YMCA Holiday Art, Craft and Gift Festival. It is Sunday, December 15th from 10am to 7pm at 2021 W Street in Sacramento, California.

We'll be offering free shipping on all orders from Black Friday through Cyber Monday! Please use coupon code FREESHIPNOV2013.

For quick and inexpensive gifts, don't forget the $10 Specials section of the shop and the Clearance 20% Off section, too! There's a lot of really nice jewelry in both of these shop sections, they just aren't really what I'm making anymore, so I thought I'd clear them out. There are some pretty awesome bargains in there, some of the $10 items are actually 1/2 price!

I've added over a hundred items to the shop with more being added all the time. Once I get all the items in I can back to the fun of making jewelry.

Gift boxes.

Do you read me?

I haven't really had time to write a good blog post this week, but we'll see who's reading any way. I have been working more hours at home on my ArtFire shop than I have been during the day at my day job...and I still have so many things to post! Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win something and save me from having to list that one more thing in my shop. Thanks for reading!

Juli's Jewels ArtFire Shop - What is up with the $10 Specials?

I need your help. 

There, I said it. I need your help. 

Those four little words are very hard to say, but I am finally saying them. One more time...I need your help. I need money to pay for my car insurance next month and I need to clear out jewelry that is just not what I am making these days. I need to have all the items sold by the end of November, which is awesome because it is just before Christmas! Think of the stockings you could stuff or the little co-worker gifts...the kid's teacher? How about your sister- or mother-in law?



Example of $10 Special

I will have at least 100 $10 items listed in my ArtFire Shop in the $10 Specials section. All of the items listed in the $10 Specials section will be worth $10 or more and are all very nice pieces, they just aren't really what I'm making these days and have been working on clearing them out of my shop anyway. Each person who purchases one of the $10 items will also receive a coupon for free shipping for their next order.

Most of you (my fans and followers of Juli's Jewels) only know me as the girl who makes jewelry and does give-aways and maybe gets a little too posty on facebook sometimes. I also write a blog about crafting business and life, I have an on line shop, I get pretty excited when someone adds one of my pieces to their ArtFire Collection, and practically squee myself when it gets on the front page. The people who know me think I'm nice. I'm introverted and shy, but once I get to know you and am comfortable enough to open up, you'll find me funny and caring. My heart is big and I believe in paying it forward. Frankly, those of you who do know me, know I'd really rather give the jewelry I make away than sell it...but can't because I'd quickly not be able to make anymore....all that being said, this is the hardest post I have ever written. 

Please look over my ArtFire Shop in the $10 Specials section and find something awesome that you would like to give a home to, and help out a hand made jewelry artist in the process.


Juli's Jewels Anniversary Fun; The Metamorphosis of My Craft Fair Booth

I've been selling my jewelry at craft fairs since October 2007! Wow! That's six years! In honor of my business anniversary, here is a look at my booth through the years.



My first booth; West Sacramento Neighbors Fair - 10/2007

 

Last Year's booth; Taylor's Art Park - Summer 2012

My newest booth - 09/2013



Combining Colors; the Basics for Craft Design

A big thank you to Kari Ackeret for suggesting this topic. :-)

Oh so many colors! How do you decide which color will pair nicely with some other color? Let's start with color basics before we move on to combining the colors.

The primary colors – Red, Blue & Yellow

The secondary colors – Violet (Red + Blue), Green (Blue + Yellow) & Orange (Yellow + Red)

The tertiary colors – Red-orange, Orange-yellow, Yellow-green, Green-blue, Blue-Violet & Violet-red

For information sake will keep it to primary and secondary for now, but the rules apply for tertiary as well...

Color mixing basics -

Primary colors easily pair with each other, 'nuff said.

Complimentary colors (these sit next to each other on the color wheel and combine easily); Red with orange or violet; Blue with violet or green; Yellow with green or orange.

Contrasting colors (these sit opposite each other on the color wheel and are a bit more challenging to combine; Red and green (think Christmas); Yellow with violet (think pansy flowers); Blue with orange (think Denver Broncos).

Tones (warm and cool) -

Complimentary Cool Tones

Complimentary Warm Tones

Cool tones; Violet, Blue & Green; these will pair easily with silver, pewter and steel (complimentary), but will pop paired with “warm” metals like gold, brass and copper (contrasting).

Warm tones; Red, Orange & Yellow; these pair easily with gold, copper and brass (complimentary), but will really pop when paired with “cool” metals like silver, pewter or steel (contrasting).

Tints and Shades -

Tints and shades are the degree of a color (i.e.. Light Red, Red, Dark Red). Tints are a color made lighter by adding white; Shades are a color made darker by adding black. It's an easy way to combine colors, as they are all the same color just different degrees of it.

This actually takes me back to my painting class in High School; My teacher required us to do a color blend chart for all of the primary colors using black and white in various amounts (ie. ½ white + ½ red = pink). The Chart actually had white and the bottom, red (or blue, or yellow) in the middle and black on top. It didn't go too deeply into each color gradation, but was kept pretty simple; 100% white, ¾ white + ¼ red, ½ white + ½ red, ¼ white + ¾ red, 100% red, ¾ red + ¼ black, ½ red + ½ black, ¼ red + ¾ black, 100% black...but I digress

Neutrals -

You can combine neutral colors (i.e.. White, black, grey, brown, etc.) with most other colors and with themselves to lovely effect.

Now that you have the basics, take a little time to lay out your crafty project, or paint some swatches next to each other and just see if you like the way the colors look together. If you do, well, get crafting!

The hidden costs in running your crafty business, or what is overhead exactly?

Some of your crafty costs are obvious and you can easily recoup them. For instance, a simple pair of earrings cost you $5.00 in assorted parts, and about 15 minutes to make at your $20 hourly rate (or whatever rate you are paying yourself, as discussed in “Starting your crafty business, Part 2 -Okay, I've decided how I want to sell it, how do I price it?”), so, about $5.00, but what is this mystery overhead?

Overhead is all the hidden costs of doing business. Did you buy a canopy for your outdoor craft shows? The cost of that gets paid in your overhead. Folding tables? Display pieces? Business cards? How about the tools you used to make the earrings? That is all covered in your overhead, as well as the less obvious, but still very necessary. In my overhead are things like the fuel I need for my torch so that I can enamel or work with metal clay; also, my enamel powders. It would be impossible for me to figure out how much enamel powder I use per piece (or fuel for that matter), so I can't assign it a price when figuring out my cost for pricing, it absolutely has to become part of my overhead or I wouldn't be able to continue enameling.

If you don't figure your overhead into your prices, you might as well be giving your crafty awesomeness away. The same goes for making sure you get your time paid for and you recoup the cost of your parts. If you think your stuff is good enough to sell, do it right.

Super Model Mannequins = Overhead!

Craft Fairs - How to Choose the Right One for Your Crafty Business

I've recently been trying to reboot my business by doing more craft shows. Let's face it, people are more likely to buy a piece of jewelry that they can touch and try on over the one they can only see pictures of online. (That's actually why I bought my super model mannequins, Mathilda and Lucille, so people viewing pieces in my online shop can get a better idea of length, hang, drape, etc., but I digress.) So, I've been tuning up my booth display pieces and have been searching out shows to do. It is starting to be craft show season, so there are quite a few out there, but how do you know if it will be a good show?

There are a lot of "Craft Fair(e)s" out there that have almost no crafters. If the show you are doing includes Cookie Lee (and other catalog/resale jewelry vendors), Tupperware, ShamWow, Avon and/or Mary Kay, etc., it isn't a craft fair, it's a vendor fair and you will have a very hard time making sales, unless you under price your craft, which only hurts you. When searching for your show, search for Handmade Only. Also, see if it's a juried show. A juried show will ask you to, at minimum, submit photos of your work and booth set up. Some will even ask for your artist's statement and process pictures (you assembling your jewelry or knitting your hats, etc.). These are usually more expensive for your booth fee, but the people coming to the show are expecting quality handmade goods so you will actually have better sales. The next part is deciding what craft shows are a good fit for your type (and style of craft). I do better in and indie craft fair environment with my collage pendants and bottle cap rings than I do in a church fund raiser craft fair environment, but that doesn't mean I should consider the church one, it just means that I should check out a sow really well before I commit to one. The church may be in a neighborhood like Sacramento's Midtown, where I would be a very good fit. Your hand knit baby hats and blankets will be a hit in a neighborhood with lots of young families, just do a little research.

How do you know if the show was a success? That is the big question, and frankly, there is no right answer. Some of the articles out there say you didn't have a successful day unless you made 10 times your booth fee for that day ($75 booth fee = $750 in sales), other's say that just being out there and networking and giving out business cards is a success. Frankly, you are the only one who knows if your day was a success. Do you feel like your time was wasted while you sat there, even though you made a few sales? Not a success. Did you sell nothing, but felt like your time was well used and you wish you didn't have to leave because it was all just so much fun? A success!

Anyway, it's food for thought. Go out and find yourself a good fitting craft show and sell your crafty awesomeness!

How my booth used to look. I'm looking forward to posting new booth pics soon.