Picture This!

Picture This -- that's the name of the gift shop/art gallery in Eagle River that has been carrying my jewelry for about two years now.  I recently called to see if they needed more stock --

note to self: next year, call before Mother's Day

-- the always unexpected, but always welcome response was YES!

I brought my awkward load of stuff fine jewelry into the store on Tuesday morning.  I carry it in this bag that I purchased from this etsy shop.  My cases fit so nicely!

 

Michelle, the store manager had already warned me that the purchase would probably be limited.  To make a long story short, she had a hard time deciding which earrings not to purchase, that she ended up making quite a large purchase:  68 pairs of earrings and 11 necklaces.  

While that did not wipe me out, it did put a serious dent in my earring inventory.  On the way home, while I stewed about selling so much at wholesale, I tried to focus on the positives:

-- I did not have to use 79 gift boxes

-- I did not have to use 79 pieces of tissue paper 

-- I did not have to use 79 business cards

-- I did not have to pack & ship 79 pieces of jewelry

Wholesale?  Hell yes!  The only other time I get to sell in such large quantities is at a show, when I still need to use the boxes, tissue paper, business cards, merchandise bags, etc.  Plus, I have to be pleasant and all smiley-faced for hours on end.  This wholesale meeting took about 1/2 hour.  I can be pleasant and friendly for that short time period with ease!

As a side note, I gave a pair of earrings to Michelle as a gift.  Have to keep her happy, don't I??

Gallery Show at Picture This

Some of you asked for a report after the gallery show on Saturday, April 3 at Picture This is Eagle River.  Well, it was fabulous!

When they opened the doors at 10am, there were at least 100 people waiting to get in.  I had arrived at 9am to set up my jewelry display, which was plenty of time for such a simple display. At shows, you know it takes me upwards of 3 hours, with tables, lights, etc.  This was a breeze in comparison.

Picture This has been doing this spring open house with a free print for about 25 years.  This means that there are plenty of "regulars" that know about this and as a result have a great collection of Alaskan art.  I think they gave away about 500 prints on Saturday.  Susan Watkins (the artist) signed a good portion of those (including mine).  She didn't get much of a break all day.

I saw plenty of old customers and made lots of new ones.  Once the print giveaway settled into a slower, but still steady stream, which happened at about noon, then people started seriously looking at my jewelry.  I sold some of my favorite pieces.  Pink (!) seemed to be quite popular, much to my surprise.  My most fav piece was a large rose quartz rounded marquis brio topped with a cluster of darker pink tourmaline rondelles.  t was a gorgeous necklace and it went to a new home pretty late in the afternoon :D

After a super quick pack-up (I was tired), Michelle, the store manager said she would call to set up an appointment to pick out some new pieces for wholesale.  Yay!

I took Sunday off.

Reminder:  the free earring deal is still going on in my etsy shop.  See my shop announcement for all the details.

Picture This Art Gallery

This coming Saturday, April 3, there is a spring open house at Picture This in Eagle River.  They have been doing this open house for many years. One of the main attractions is a free print by a local artist.  This year's print is a lovely work of art by Susan Watkins featuring birch trees.  You know how I love all things birch!

This year, I was fortunate to be invited to be part of this spring open house.  Since beginning to sell my work at Picture This last October, I've been amazed at the reception I've received by the local community.  It's been a long time since I had an outlet to sell my work in Eagle River.  I used to sell in a gift Shop/Co-op, but that closed over 5 years ago.  There are not that many options in Eagle River, so when I approached Picture This last year, I was thrilled that they agreed to sell my work.

Here's the postcard that they sent to their extensive mailing list:

As you can imagine, I've been making jewelry like a mad-woman ever since returning home from Tucson.  After all, if you haven't made it, it can't sell!

I'll report back after the show.