Southtown Arts and Crafts Show

This is the week that I usually spend getting ready for my first craft show of the year.  I've been doing this particular show for at least 10 years, and probably a lot longer than that.  It's always been a good show for me, and I love love LOVE my regular customers who stop in to see me.  

I'm sorry to say I won't be able to do the show this coming weekend (March 22, 23 and 24).  

This makes me sad because I've made a TON of new jewelry, and I love sharing it with you, my faithful customers.  A few of my new pieces are in my Etsy store, so stop on over there as soon as you can while the selection is at a premium.  Use coupon code 20PERCENT for 20% off your entire purchase.  Click on this link:  Etsy store

I'm sorry that I can't say hello in person, but know that I'm thinking of you and wishing you all the best.

Here are a few teasers:

    
       

Hope to see you soon!!

What's New?

Hope you all had a very Happy Thanksgiving!  

Seems like the planning, cleaning, preparing, and cooking go on forever, and then in just a few short hours, the food is gone, the holiday is over and family is on their way out the door on to their next adventures (hope the Black Friday shopping excursion was successful!!). 

November is nearly over, and here I am again wondering where the time went.  Seems like I rush and hurry all day long and only have time to sit down at the end of the day to watch one of my favorite TV shows.  Since that's the time when I work on my jewelry, there can never be too many of those hours in a day.  And sometimes when I'm on a creative hot streak, I have a hard time putting it away for the night.  Those are the days when bedtime is pushed past midnight.  I try not to do that very often since DH is trying to sleep, but it does happen, just ask the neighbors who often see my light still burning.

I do want to send a huge thank you to all my customers and friends who came out to the Arts and Crafts shows at Southtown Mall in Bloomington, MN, in mid-October and again in mid-November.  I had one of my better shows there this month;  I truly couldn't have done it without your support.  Many of my favorite pieces found wonderful new homes with some of my favorite people. 

My next venue will be a boutique at St. Nicholas Episcopal Church, 7227 Penn Ave S. in Richfield, MN.  Thank you, Barb, for stopping by and asking for my participation.  Barb does a fantastic job of putting the boutique together and staging all the craft items.  She's also my step-daughter's mother-in-law and a very sweet woman.  I don't know the boutique hours yet, but it will be Saturday and Sunday, the 10th and 11th of December. 

I'll be making some new items for the boutique so stop by if you're in the area.

Now it's time to rush off and make supper.  Then it's time to sit in front of the tube and CREATE! 

Have a good one!

Laurel




.

Thank you!

Thank you to all my great customers who stopped and shopped and talked and bought!! 

Southtown Mall in Bloomington, Minnesota is a nice little mall with a good mix of shops and nearby restaurants.  With Kohls across the parking lot and Herbergers to the east, the parking lot is always full. 

I've been doing this show for 15 years now (hard to believe!) and I always feel like I've come home, despite living on the opposite end of the city.  Fellow crafters have become like family and catching up with them after the summer months is always a joy. 

There are times when lots of people come through the mall looking at crafts, and there are also times when we crafters joke that the aisle looks like a bowling alley and the only people we see are fellow crafters.  If it weren't for those "dead" times, I would never get to eat (McDonald's) or go to the restroom, so I do appreciate the slack as well as the busy times. 

I also make use of the quiet times by pulling out my tools and supplies and making new jewelry pieces.  This time I pulled out a few necklaces that I made this past year that I saw could be improved with a few changes.  I'll get some pictures up soon to show them off.  I do have a couple of before shots of one so you can see what improvements I made.

What I like best about doing Arts and Crafts shows is seeing what pieces people like and being able to customize them as far as length and color.  Like taking a pair of earrings and changing them from silver to gold, or adding a bead or removing a crystal, or lengthening a bracelet or shortening a necklace.  All of those variations are easy to do at a show.  I bring a small portion of my supplies with me to shows, and sometimes I can make changes right then and there.  Other times I might have to bring something from home but will have it ready the same weekend.  Still other times I mail a finished piece or have it ready for the next show.

The other reason I love doing shows is being able to talk and socialize with my customers.  I'm not usually an extrovert, but there's something about sitting in my little booth in the middle of a shopping center that makes me want to chatter away with all the people who came out just to see me.  It seems for those 3 show days I have an abundance of energy and a mission to be as entertaining as possible.  It certainly is not the life for everyone!!

So after a long, lonely summer with no shows, it sure is great to be back visiting and selling as a vendor. 

Here's to the greatest customers a girl could ask for!!

Hope to see you at the mall!

Laurel