Tradition!

We have a number of traditions in our family – our holidays are saturated with them but we have traditions throughout the year.  Traditions give us comfort.  Traditions make us unique.  Traditions help us keep the memory of important people and events.  Traditions give us confidence.

Every Christmas Eve, sometime during the evening, we read the Biblical account of the birth of Christ from Luke 2.  It’s a precious time to break from all the busyness of the holiday and focus on the reason we celebrate.  The 4th of July has always been a big holiday for us – filled with parades, picnics and fireworks. 

Certain foods have a place in our traditions.  Recipes handed from one generation to the next make our holidays special.  I have a recipe from Norway called “Jule Kaga” (meaning Christmas Bread) that’s been handed down through many generations of my mom’s family.  It’s made with raisins, citron and cardamon seed and it’s not quite Christmas without it.  We slice and toast it for breakfast on Christmas morning and slather it with real butter.  Mmmm.   My dad’s family has been in America for 13 generations.  I don’t know how old the recipe really is, but holiday dinners have to include Squash Rolls - a yeast roll made with squash so it’s moist and golden yellow, but for the non-squash lovers, it doesn’t actually TASTE like squash. 

Several years ago, our daughter and her family moved 1100 miles away.  As a grandma, I wanted to maintain a special bond with my grandkids.  I visit them at least 3 times per year and sometime during nearly every visit, my granddaughter and I have a tea party.   We lay out real linens and have special dishes and Grammy makes fancy finger foods to enjoy with our tea.  We practice all our best manners too!  Often during my visits, we let Mommy and Daddy have a date night – and Grammy makes her special French Toast (with secret ingredients) for dinner with the kids.  After dinner we read stories and play games.   These traditions help us make memories!

Some traditions start by honoring a memory.  I know a couple who goes back to the same restaurant where he proposed, every year on the anniversary of their engagement.  Another couple had gone to a particular movie for their first date ..and they often watch that movie on that anniversary.  Traditions help us mark the milestones of our lives.

Businesses have traditions too.  Long standing family businesses often carry on the "traditions" of service, honesty or value.   As my jewelry business blooms, I think about the "traditions" of integrity and service I want to offer ... and want to be known for.  Those traditions don't come without effort .. but those are values worth working for.

What traditions are important to you? 

Monday Madness!!

It’s Monday Madness!  Garnet is the color of the month ..the birthstone for January ..and have I got a deal for you!  Get 25% off any garnet jewelry you order!  This is how it works:  
Choose any style from my Etsy shop (look for the girl’s names for styles available in garnet)
Place the item in your cart (regardless of the color shown in the listing)
Write “garnet” in the notes section
Use coupon code MondayMadness when you check out

It’s that simple!  This is a one day only special so make your selection quickly!  All items will be made to order and should be ready to ship by Thursday.  This offer is good until midnight (eastern time in the US) and only available on garnet colored jewelry ... so don’t delay!  Oh, and if you’d like ball posts or leverbacks instead of French wires, please go to the Special Services section of my shop and add the desired alteration to your cart.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/gentleadornments

What's New

Ok.  Admittedly it's been a while since I posted.  This past year has been filled with many changes, and there have been some tough moments.  I'm a very private person ... and wasn't prepared to share all that was going on.  But I can give you some highlights now.

After 18 years in full time Christian work, God "closed the door" on our ministry.  It was not a change we sought, and frankly, it was not a change we were prepared for ... spiritually, emotionally or financially.  But God wasn't abandoning us ... just moving us.  He opened the door for my husband (a guy in his late 50's) to find a good job.  In this economy, that pretty much qualifies as a miracle.  We haven't owned a house in 16 years and were not prepared to buy one ... but some wonderful friends came along side and made it possible.  On November 1, we once again became homeowners!  It's a fixer upper and it will be a bit yet before we can move in ... and I'll try to share from time to time some of the challenges and changes.  After considering Michigan "home" my whole life, we now live in Wisconsin.  Much to the dismay of our local friends, we have not become Packer Backers or Badger fans.  ;)

Perhaps the greatest joy of our year is the anticipation of grandchild #3, a boy, due in mid-February.  This is the first for our son and his wife.  Everything is going well in the pregnancy and we're on baby countdown.

One of the challenges in our move was finding WI craft shows for me to participate in.  Not all shows are created equal and it's taken some trial and error to find my niche.  As I write this, I'm trying to map out a plan for shows this year.  Last year, we moved too late to make the application deadlines for some of the shows I might be best suited for and we experimented with some of the shows we did ... so I have a list of shows I'd like to repeat that would cover about 2/3 of my show year and about 1/3 trying for shows I've never done.  We'll have to see how that works out ... and I'll be letting you know my schedule.

In keeping with my goal of taking a more proactive approach to my online business, I will also be offering specials and sales from time to time.  The first will be coming up Monday -- and it's a one day only sale -- so don't miss it!!  I'll be posting details late Sunday night .. get ready!!!

Makes You Smile

Ellie:  These earrings are a pain in the butt to put in

Mom:   If it hurts there, then you're doing it wrong

Ellie:  ???

The Resolution

Happy New Year!  I hope this finds you healthy, happy and ready to take on the year!

I typically don’t do New Year’s Resolutions.  It seems like it’s always about something I know I should do but just don’t do it ... and then it feels like I fail.  But this year, I’m making one .. sort of.  Let me explain.

For some reason, I’ve been thinking that my online business should just be an extension of my craft shows, my business cards, my offline efforts....without really doing anything to make it happen online.  I can’t really explain just why this was my thinking.  A few weeks ago, my online sales were discouraging and a decision needed to be made whether I would continue or whether I’d give up.  In my “real” life, I’m actually quite shy ... I struggle with all kinds of insecurities when I’m around people... and if I depended on face time with people, it might not happen.  But the virtual world is my domain .... I can be Superwoman here ... and Superwoman doesn’t give up!

SO ... I’ve been doing some reading and some research.  Not sure if I’ve got it locked down yet, but there is a direction, a plan in place.  And not sure if one could really say it’s a “resolution” ... I’ve never put this much advance planning into a resolution.  It’s certainly going to be a ride!  Come ride with me!!

Simply Thankful

It all started with a peach.  

I was making dinner -- roast beef, potatoes and gravy and carrots -- and peach cobbler made with fresh peaches.  As I worked on the cobbler, it occurred to me how life has changed in the past 50 years.  More specifically how our food supply has changed.  

I live in northern Wisconsin and it's going to be 2 months, maybe more, until we see fresh local peaches.  My grandmother would never have thought to have fresh peaches at this time of the year.  Yet there I stood slicing those fragrant fresh peaches.  Those peaches probably came from someplace in the south -- most likely Georgia.

Then I thought about the rest of the meal.  Beef from Iowa.  Carrots from the Imperial Valley of California.  Because the meal was so simple, I drizzled the carrots with a touch of maple syrup from Vermont and lightly sprinkled them with pecans from Alabama.  The flour in the gravy and the cobbler came from Kansas.  The potatoes happened to be the final ones from last year's garden.  And milk?  Well, that would be pretty local (since I live in the Dairy state!).  

Every day, all across America, Moms fix dinner, taking for granted that everything they need will be at arm's reach ... and if not, a quick stop at the grocery store will provide it.  It's become so common for us, we don't even think about it anymore.  My kids have never known a time when they couldn't get fresh fruits and vegetables.  My grandma had to preserve everything she would need until next year's harvest.  

In the insanity of everyday life, sometimes it's good to stop and think about how we are blessed ... and be simply thankful.

The Application Season Has Begun!

It's that time again .... time to make application to craft shows for the coming year!  Some of the shows this summer have application deadlines coming up soon.  So just how does a person go about locating and choosing a craft show?

THE HUNT

Because of our ministry, we usually move every 6-15 months and usually the moves are to entirely new states.  All the advice I've seen about finding good craft shows says that you should attend one year as a customer to get a feel for the show, then apply the next year if you want to be a vendor.  I don't have that luxury ... I'll probably be gone next year.  So how do I pick the shows I apply for? 

I start my internet search by using Google.  I use key words "craft show" then the cities and towns in my very near area.  I make a list of my finds with a few pertinent details -- date, location and fees if I can find them, and whether the show is part of a festival.  If the info is available, I also note how long the show has been in existence and whether it's juried.  Then I use alternate phrases like "craft fair", "art fair" and "art show" and keep googling.  I also expand to include the state, rather than the specific towns near me.  I've found that some states have very organized directories -- those are wonderful!   I also check the various towns for their own Chamber of Commerce, visitor information or city events listings.  Compiling this list can take some time but is well worth the effort.

Once I have my list, I begin the sorting process.  Schedule is important to me -- I prefer not to do shows every weekend so I try to pick the best shows available on the weekends I'm available.  I look at distance -- how far is a show from home?   I like to keep them within 60 miles, although if a show sounds really great, I'll go further.  I next look for juried shows -- even if I've missed the application deadline, I"ll check to see if they have space available -- sometimes they do, especially if someone dropped out.  In my experience, a juried show that has been in existence for many years is a good bet -- they will likely have quality arts and crafts with a good reputation which usually draws serious buyers.  But sometimes, that's not the kind of show available .. so then what?

Open shows can be good or bad .. and there are several factors that I look for.  Where are they located?  I'll risk a show if it's located in a tourist destination during the summer (or main tourist season).  How long have they been an event?  Are they supporting a school, team, or community group?  Are they part of a festival?  What is their booth fee?  If I can find out previous attendance and how they advertise, that can be valuable information.  The longer they've been around, usually the better they are and the better they're known.  A long running annual event will generally attract repeat customers and because of word of mouth, will have a larger customer base.  Those shows benefitting an organization will depend on how actively the community is involved -- and I can't always tell that by looking online.  I've done one show, benefitting a fire department, that had hundreds of people -- another show, in the very next town only had about 150 attendees.  Festival related shows have also gone either way.  I've come to the conclusion that if the festival sounds like lots of fun to ME, the show is worth the gamble.  Two of the best shows I've ever had were part of festivals .... as were the 2 worst shows I've ever had.

Often the booth fee can be an indication of a show's success.  For one, shows with higher booth fees have bigger advertising budgets.  Most of the shows I do fall in the $75 - $150 range.  Shows that are cheaper are sometimes poorly advertised, with fewer attendees -- and lower profits.  Shows that cost more require that I sell a lot more just to break even but they normally have a good track record and are worth the risk.   This year, I'll be applying to 2 shows that are new to me -- and they top $200 in fees -- cuz I like living on the edge!  Really, I don't think they're that risky -- both are in the summer in tourist destination communities and have been around for over 30 years.

Organization is important.  Look at the application -- is it laid out in a logical way?  Do they ask for information that seems pertinent?  Are their regulations and guidelines easy to understand ... and do they make sense?  Some applications include a map of the venue -- does the layout make sense?  Do they have adequate parking -- for vendors and for customers?

If you have no experience with a show, and especially if you have any concerns about the show, NETWORK.  If you do online sales through a site like Etsy, get involved with a team from your area -- ask questions in the forums.  Use social networking sites (like Facebook and Twitter) to connect with other vendors from the area.  Some shows offer an online list of the vendors who participate -- connect with some of  them to inquire about a show.  Some vendors post their schedules online -- contact them (politely, of course) to ask about their experiences with certain shows.

THE QUESTIONS

Besides the questions I've suggested above, there are a couple other important ones.  What is the attitude of the show organizers?  Are they sensitive to vendor concerns?  Or are they more concerned with getting your booth fee?  Are they organized about unloading, setting up and loading up?  Do they do a good job of keeping similar types of crafts from being located to closely to each other in a show?

A COUPLE CAUTIONARY TALES

I've had some interesting experiences the past couple years.  

I sell jewelry.  In one show, all the jewelry vendors were located in the same area of the venue.  I don't really care about the "competition" -- but other vendors also make good customers.  If the vendor next to me is selling baby blankets or pottery, she is much more likely to purchase something from me than if she's selling jewelry.   

I also did a show last fall that was terrible -- it was a 3 day show,  the fees were high and they indicated that jurying would take place at the show (those who passed would be offered an application for the next year).  It sounded for all the world like everything at the show would be handmade -- it wasn't.  There was a ton of "buy/sell", especially a lot of imported, cheap junk.  A flea market is a lousy venue for me -- and this show was the most expensive flea market I'll ever do -- you can bet I won't get burned again.  At this same show, which was an outdoor event with about 300 vendors and located in streets closed off to vehicle traffic, about 15 of us were put on a street that was a block away from the rest of the show, across a busy highway.  We only got a fraction of the foot traffic.  One of more irritating aspects of this was the number of empty spaces in the main area of the show -- we easily could have been located where the customers were.    At the end of day 1, one of my neighbor vendors spoke to a show organizer suggesting some changes, only to be arbitrarily dismissed.  It appeared that once they had our booth fee, they really didn't care whether we were successful or not.  Of the 8 vendors we talked to, 7 stated that they wouldn't be back next year -- the one who would was from that town but intended to ask for a different booth space.


This got longer than I expected ... sorry.  But I hope it helps someone.  If you're new to craft shows, start small.  Try to do either indoor shows or plan to borrow a canopy.  Do a lot of reading up on doing craft shows.  You'll learn a LOT from your first 2 or 3 shows.

Most of all, have FUN!  And have an awesome sales season!!