WWWC Wrap Up, and The Future.

I'm not going to lie to you... Wild Wild West Con did not go as well as I had hoped. In fact, it really didn't go well for me at all and I did not make a profit. This has been the third vending event in a row that has seriously disappointed me, so I am taking the rest of the year off from shows. They simply don't work for me. I spend the weeks leading up to them setting aside other things (dance, updating my Etsy shop, socializing, etc) so that I can make lots of new jewelry and get everything ready, then I sit all day (or weekend!) in a booth for next to nothing. Not to be a total downer, but it really sucks.

This has strengthened my resolve to put my focus this year in beading for beading's sake rather than for business's sake. I am tired of chasing after trends waiting for the one that will actually make me some money. Forget that. There are easier ways to make money. Ways that don't carry the sting of rejection when they fail.

I will be having a couple of Open Houses this year, as I actually made money hosting one of those, and I will be keeping my Etsy shop open, but for the most part I will be spending my bead time exploring embroidery and weaving, making things without caring whether I can sell them. Expect to see more big, elaborate, expensive pieces in the shop and less $10 earrings. I'm excited to see what I make with this new-found freedom, and I hope you're excited for me, too!

WWWCII Preview!

It is hard to believe that the day after tomorrow, my brother and I will be setting up our booth for Wild Wild West Con II, Tucson's premiere steampunk convention. I do not feel nearly ready. I need more jewelry! But here's a preview of what I've been working on, from left to right:

Larvikite cabochon embellished with Swarovski crystal sequins and Japanese seed beads, accented by a tiny black enameled key, hanging from a strand of more larvikite.

Vintage key suspended from a strand of roughly faceted chunks of labradorite, tiny freshwater pearl disks, and smoky quartz.

Pewter winged skull (inspired by vintage gravestone imagery) at the center of a strand of Czech glass and Swarovski crystals.

Black stone cabochon embroidered with Japanese seed beads, accented by a key pendant, strung on a black and gold ribbon.

And wow, is that background way too busy! I remember now why I don't use it for product shots.

I love living in the future!

All of these crystal bracelets are coming with me to the Desert Shakedown. In fact, all of my stock is. But my Etsy shop will remain open because we live in the future! Having a smart phone is one of the best things I have ever done for my business. The Etsy app will notify me if anything sells, allowing me to remove it from the table. Meanwhile, as items sell at the Shakedown, I can use my phone to remove them from the Etsy shop. How amazing is that?!?

And of course, I'll be processing credit cards with Square, aka "the best invention ever!" Seriously, if you are a small business like me, doing business primarily on-line but doing a couple live events a year, having Square or one of their competitors is the smartest thing you can do. Especially if you sell a lot of high-ticket items. Sure, someone will probably have cash on hand for a $10 pair of earrings, but do I really want to take a check from a stranger for a $200 necklace? No, I do not.

So anyway, feel free to visit Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs and do all the shopping you want tomorrow, or come see me at the Desert Shakedown to shop in person, or ask me about the Open House that I am having next month.

Desert Shakedown!

Well, I am all about the vending this week, but you don't have to wait until March for this one! I am returning to the Desert Shakedown for my third year of vending. This year the vendor marketplace is entirely indoors which makes me quite happy... No more worrying about my displays blowing over, no shifting my chair from one shady spot to another.

Not only will I have my usual selection of jewelry and some new work that won't be added to Etsy until after the show, but I will also be sharing the booth with my friend Sandarita who will have various accessories and some gently loved belly dance costuming. You should come see us. Two redheads in one booth? Fun times are sure to ensue.

Time for more steampunkery!

Guildmistress is one of only 7 steampunk items currently in my shop. Well, it's time to do something about that because my brother and I just got accepted to share a booth at WILD WILD WEST CON!!!! Woohoo! I can't even tell you how excited I am at the thought of spending a long weekend hanging out at Old Tucson Studios in steampunk garb, selling my jewelry to awesome people. It's also an excuse to buy new boots! Tee hee! And of course, shop for more vintage beads, keys, and other cool items to use in my steampunk designs. After all, this is going to be a convention full of other vendors in the genre, so I am going to have to stand out!

Luckily the convention isn't until March, which means I have plenty of time to design and create some gorgeous things, plus gem show is between now and then, so I can really stock up!

What to make? What to wear? How will we decorate our booth? This is going to be awesome!

My booth

Here's a shot of my booth from the Desert Shakedown this past weekend! I packed my canopy, but when I got there I found that my spot was under a roof. It was so nice to not have to worry about anchoring my canopy, or tearing it down at the end of the night. Decor is provided by my collection of sarongs and thrift-store saris.

I definitely want to continue replacing my black "velvet" displays with teak wood. The wooden ones may be heavier, but they're also more durable and don't attract cat hair. I had to throw away several of my velvet displays due to flocking loss or breakage.

Happy new homes

 Although Saturday's show wasn't the rousing success I had hoped it would be, I did actually make more money selling jewelry than I spent on new belly dance costuming goodies, so it was still good! And I'm very happy that several pieces went to new homes where they will be worn by dancers that I admire.

This necklace event went home with one of my troupemates, which means that I will get to see it often! She wore it for our photo shoot, which meant there were three of us wearing my jewelry in our professional photos. I'm so happy and excited!

I did create some new items that didn't sell, so I will soon be adding them to my shop Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs. I also plan to get some more destash lots listed soon, too, so if you're looking for more beads (especially leaf beads) keep an eye on the shop or this blog to find out when I have them up.

New Bracelet Display

I bought this beautiful teak wood bracelet display back in February, but I haven't used it until now! I decided to save myself some set-up time and put my bracelets on it now instead of Saturday morning. This also allows me to see what colors I could use to have more of -- like red and orange, for example. And I really should have more than four spiral rope bracelets!

I'm getting really excited for the Desert Shakedown! It's going to be an exhausting day, what with a workshop and a performance and vending all day, but I think I'm going to have a lot of fun... and hopefully sell a lot of jewelry! My Square card reader just arrived today so I should be able to accept credit cards at the show, too. It's so awesome living in the 21st century.

Come out to dance and shop!

Will you be in Tucson on Saturday? If so, you should stop by Fluxx Productions at 414 E 9th St, where we'll be having an awesome, dancey day! There's workshops, performances, and vending... including my jewelry! If you just want to shop, come by during the lunch break from 12-1:45pm. If you'd also like to see some great local dancers and my teachers from Anaya Tribal busting some moves, show up at 7:30 for the hafla, which only costs $5, is expected to run until 10pm, and will also have vending! I'll be there, but at some point I'll have to leave the booth to take my turn on stage :)

I haven't tested my booth set-up yet, but I expect that I will have an assortment of tribal necklaces and all of my earrings, bracelets and anklets with me. I hope I'll see you there!

Where to find me: Desert Shakedown!

Yesterday I signed up to vend my jewelry at the Desert Shakedown! I set up at this event last year (when it was called the Fall Festival) and I didn't really do well, but this year the event will be at a nicer venue and I have ideas to add some lower-priced items to my selection in recognition of the fact that Arizona's economy is still depressed and most of us do not have an extra $50 to drop on an awesome tribal necklace.

One thing that I'm very happy about is that this year, the vendors will be in the same area as the stage, so I'll be able to watch belly dance ALL DAY while I sell jewelry! Last year my booth was facing the street, and there was a building between the vendors and the dance stage. It was fun to see a small parade of classic cars drive by, but it was annoying to only get to see a few people dance, and then only because I kept asking my booth neighbors to keep an eye on my things.

Anyway, I think it's going to be a really good event, so if you're in the Phoenix area on October 8th, you should stop in to see some dancing and do some shopping.

Vending! Dancers! A Parade!

Here it is, the result of all of my crazy running around last week... my booth at the Fall Festival! Big props to Evan and Meghan who helped me with set-up and tear-down and were around throughout the day to keep me company.
Meghan was getting ready for her performance when she realized that she'd left her necklace at home. Oh no! What's a girl to do? Naturally, she came over to my booth and asked to borrow a necklace she'd had her eye on. After the show, she decided that said necklace had to be hers, so now Necromancer's Mirror has a new home!

Unfortunately, Meghan was my ONLY customer. Sales were down for everyone. Other than dismal sales, it was a fun event... a beautiful day, lots of my belly dance friends around, live music from the drum circle, and I took a couple of breaks to go watch the dancers on the community stage.
Of course, I had to go see Meghan and my other friends Jacque and Rosemary, performing under the wonderful name Vorpal Shimmy! Meghan and Rosemary did a beautiful sword performance to Endless Reverie by Azam Ali (currently my favorite song), and then all three of them did a very energetic skirt dance to a rap about Ganesh. A lot of my pictures came out blurry because of how fast they were moving, but I think this photo is beautiful.

You'd think that after a busy day of vending on Saturday, I'd spend Sunday relaxing... but then you'd be forgetting that I live in Arizona, and that we cram all of our fun events into the few months when the weather is actually nice! After visiting the MZ Glass Open House (I'll post my glass goodies tomorrow!) and eating a big lunch, I hastily put together a costume and headed downtown to meet a group of Tucson belly dancers for the All Souls Procession. The costume theme was aquatic, and as you can see, I embraced it whole-heartedly. Not only am I wearing water colors, but my belt has shells and my hat and necklace have fish.

The parade was a lot of fun. I've never walked in a parade, let alone danced one. I have no idea how long the Procession was... it didn't feel too long at the time (though my arms sure got tired!), but walking back to the car felt like it was about 100 miles. The parade terminated in a huge finale, complete with fire dancers and stilt walkers and aerial silks performers and live music and did I mention fire? It was hard to see through the crowd, but still very impressive.

And now it's back to life as usual... except that TusCon and workshops with Mahin are this weekend, and next weekend is Phoenix Faerie Festival... I guess busy is the new norm for me!

So Busy!

Sorry the blog has been so quiet, I've been very busy getting ready for Fall Festival this weekend. Hopefully I'll come back with much less jewelry than I'm leaving the house with. Honestly, I have way too much stock. I have no idea how I'm going to display it all!

I made a few new items for the show, a tribal necklace and a couple steampunk necklaces and some pretty earrings... Whatever doesn't sell will make it onto Etsy next week, so keep your eyes open!

Speaking of Etsy, the necklace above was featured in a beautiful Fantasy Wedding Treasury curated by the lovely and talented Mermaiden.

Have a great weekend, everyone, and don't forget to come to Fall Festival if you're in Phoenix!

Fall Festival!

If you live in or around Phoenix, please consider coming to Levant al Sonora's Fall Festival! Your $10 admission will get you access to a festival with 10 vendors (including me!), food and hookahs, a drum circle, and live performances from professional and amateur local belly dancers -- plus the Gala Show, featuring Princess Farhana! The event runs from noon to 9pm on Saturday, November 6th.

Come out to shop, dance, and support your local dance community! And your favorite belly dancing beader! I will have all my stock with me at the show, and I'm making lots of new things in preparation. I look forward to seeing you there.