Thank you Appleton!

As I mentioned in my last post, I got a call last week Saturday from the organizer of the Appleton North High School Craft Fair. They had a cancellation and wanted me to do the show. I agreed to it, but as soon as I hung up the phone, I thought, "What did I just get myself into?" I had one week to prepare and I needed A LOT more inventory.

So, for the past week, I have been frantically working. Late nights, early mornings. Lots of coffee. I made rosettes until my wrists hurt (could I be getting carpel-tunnel? Hmm...maybe I should consult my nurse practitioner hubby).  I strung pearls until I had no more. I glued on rhinestones until the fumes got to me. I think I also successfully shoved needles or pins into each of my fingers.

On Friday afternoon, my time was up, I packed up my car and headed for Appleton (about a 2 hour drive). I was spending the night at my parents' house so I wouldn't have to get up at 4:00am the next morning. Getting up at 6:00 was tough enough for me.

On my way to the show that morning, I couldn't help but be a bit nervous. This was a new market for me. I had never done a show in this area. Would the customers be willing to pay my prices? Would they appreciate the uniqueness of my jewelry? When I arrived, I had a bunch of help unloading. NICE! My display set up went pretty smoothly (SOO much easier when I don't need to set up a tent and walls).  I anxiously awaited the first customers of the day. When the show opened, I had people browse and comment, but no quick sales. I never really relax until I get that first sale. I quickly started thinking the worst (my brain is so pessimistic!) It was going to be a slow show. I was going to sit there all day being grumpy as nobody pulled out their wallets. I peered over at my mother-in-law's booth. It was packed. (Send them my way please!!)

She did. Soon, my booth was packed and the sales were rolling. I quickly sold a $75.00 necklace. Yay! My booth fee was paid for. Profit from here on out! I had some super busy times where I was a little overwhelmed, but mostly the sales were slow and steady. Very manageable. I was really enjoying talking to people about the vintage pieces I found and they would share stories about the costume jewelry they had from their own grandmother. Everyone was so friendly and so complimentary. So many people said, "I have never seen anything like this." That is what I like to hear. I, of course, know there are people out there doing similar things, but I know it isn't common, especially in Wisconsin. 

So Appleton, I'm sorry I doubted you. Thank you for one of the best sales day I've ever had. Thank you for making me feel good about the work I do. Thank you for recognizing the time and effort I put into each piece. I underestimated you. I had a sales goal coming into the day, and I left with double the amount. Thank you so much. I will be back next year!!

My Booth at the Appleton North Show

Success!

I had an estate sale in Waukesha to go to this morning. I was originally planning on being there right at the start: 9:00. It wasn't being hosted by a big-name estate sale company, so I thought it wouldn't draw the usual crowd. My husband (in his infinite wisdom) convinced me to be there at 8:30. I am sure glad I listened. As I turned the corner, I saw cars up and down the street. My heart sank. Is this really happening again? I noticed the cars were empty though, so I knew they had started the sale early. This always makes me kind of mad when they do that. On the flip side though, that means I didn't have to wait in line or wait in my car for a half hour before getting in.

The house was small, and there were a lot of people in it. It was difficult to maneuver through and I was having trouble finding the jewelry. By the checkout? No. In the first bedroom? No. In the second bedroom? No. Finally I found it in the dining room (which was almost hidden in the home's layout). I started grabbing the sparkly stuff right away without even looking at prices. I do this when there are a lot of other people around. I don't want anyone to snatch up the goods. Once I got everything I liked, I started looking at prices. Not bad. Not outstanding, but not bad. I put a couple of the higher priced items down and kept a large crown pin and another rhinestone brooch. I moved on to the $.50 box and pulled out a few more things. I am glad I kept looking, because next I found a bag of skeleton keys. Most were small, but that was okay. They were something I was in need of and the price was fair.I checked out with relief. Finally, after a string of no-luck estate sales, I actually purchased things that I came looking for.

On my way home, I drove by Waukesha's Goodwill. I used to live in Waukesha, and remembered that this was a pretty decent Goodwill. I was right there...it couldn't hurt to stop. I found the locked jewelry case and low and behold, there was a rhinestone brooch in there. Score! I picked out one more pair of earrings (cute little cascading bows). I will tear them apart and reuse them. I was pleasantly surprised. Usually I don't find any good jewelry there. But you'll never find anything without looking, right?


Today's Goodies



New Jewelry 11/8

Second post of the day. My last post got way to long to include photos of the jewelry I've made recently. I got a a couple of calls over the weekend that have spurred a jewelry-making frenzy. First, I got a call from the organizer of the Appleton North High School's holiday show that is taking place this upcoming Saturday (the 13th). This is one of the top holiday shows in that area. I originally applied for the show but they didn't have enough room for me. They had a cancellation and wanted to know if I could do the show. I didn't have anything going on, so I decided to go for it....but I barely have stock built up, so I knew I would need to work hard this week.

The second phone call I got was from Stacia of Stacia's Home and Garden in Hartford. She needed more inventory asap. She said, "You might as well bring everything you have because it will all sell." Now, a lot of stores deal with local artists on a consignment basis (meaning, you get paid once something sells), but she buys my jewelry outright. It is nice to go there with product, and leave with a check in hand. I am grateful that she deals with me that way. Most shop owners consider it too much of a risk.

So...I am going to visit her on Wednesday, and she is making it sound like she will buy everything I bring her. I am not counting on that, but she will deplete my stock significantly. Which is great. However, I am then going to have to turn around and make a lot more for the Appleton show on Saturday. It wouldn't be as big of a challenge if I didn't have to work at Lela 20 hours this week. I know that is not a lot, but that is 20 hours I could be working on jewelry. I know I'll be fine in the end. I've already gotten a good start. Here are some of the pieces I've made so far.

Unlucky week

Every Monday, I sit down with the Sunday paper and scavenge through the classifieds, looking for promising estate sales, auctions, and rummage sales to hit up for jewelry. I also check out craigslist. This past week, there were four good-looking events; three estate sales and an auction.

The first estate sale was in Glendale. I was there minutes after it opened and when I got inside, I was disappointed to find a teeny-tiny box of jewelry by the check out. There was maybe one pin I liked. It was $3.00, but pretty small. I thought, "I'll think about it. Let me keep looking, and maybe there is more somewhere else." As I explored the house (condo, actually) I was seeing a lot of...well....junk. I saw people walking around with their finds...lint brushes and christmas lights. Extension cords. I saw a bottle of Tums for sale. I found one more box of jewelry upstairs, but there wasn't anything I wanted. I went back to look at the $3.00 pin again, but seeing that there was a line of about five people waiting to buy their treasures (fly swatters, cookbooks, Advil) I said "forget it." It wasn't worth waiting in line for.

The second estate sale was in Waukesha. The ad listed lots of vintage clothing, furs and jewelry. I always think it is going to be good when they mention clothing and furs. I think if the person has clothes worth selling that there should be good jewelry to go with it. I got there early enough to get in right away, and quickly scanned the place for jewelry. Why am I always hyperventilating at this point? I found it in the living room by the check out. Not a lot of sparkle. Boo. There were a couple small brooches under glass and when I asked how much they were, one was $10 and the other was $18. They were not worth that. "I'll have to pass today," I politely said. I looked at some of the things that had prices on them, and they too appeared to be overpriced. Moving on.

My $10 find

I wanted to stop and look at the clothing too. The bedrooms were crowded with people, but I wrestled my way in there and of course, something shiny caught my attention. I grabbed for it. It was a black and metallic gold brocade top/ skirt set from the 60's-ish. It was $10.00. The skirt looked like it might fit my hips (always the issue) and if it didn't, I could always sell it at the consignment store I work part-time at.  I left with the top/ skirt set, but was disappointed that I left with no jewelry...again. When I got home, I immediately tried on the set, and it did indeed fit. The top is super boxy, so if I keep it, I will probably get it tailored. The skirt fit my waist and hips perfectly. It is a little long for my short legs, so I am contemplating getting it shortened. I may even wear it to a wedding I have coming up in a couple weeks.

A day later, I had another estate sale in Brookfield. I am semi-familiar with the woman who was running this estate sale. She has a lot of connections with antique dealers (being one herself), so I knew I needed to get there early. A lot of estate sales have "sign-in sheets." They can't let everyone into a house at the same time, so this allows people to sign-in when they arrive, so that if they are the first one there, they get to go in first. Sign-ins usually begin an hour before the sale starts. I decided to be there 30 minutes ahead of time. I was having guests over that night and had a ton of stuff to do around the house. I didn't feel like sitting in my car for a full hour. When I got there, there were several cars parked up and down the street. I thought I might be number 20 or 30 on the list. Damn. When I got to the sign-up sheet, I was shocked to see I would be number 76 on the list. Double Damn. I put my name on the list, but when I got back to my car, I knew that it would most likely be an hour before I got in the house, and with 75 people ahead of me, the worthwhile jewelry would probably be gone. With my time being so precious that day, I just couldn't waste an hour and a half sitting in my car. I stared my engine and headed for home. I was now 0-3 for buying jewelry this week.

Now, the auction I heard about sounded really promising. It was 600 lots of vintage clothing and jewelry. Fun! I went and previewed it the day before and spent an hour carefully looking at the jewelry lots and figuring out what I would bid for each one. There were some boxes of vintage buttons (including lots of rhinestones) that I was excited about too. So many great things. I registered for a number. I got 13. "Uh-oh. Lucky #13," I said to the woman working there. When I came home a little while later, I said to my husband, "I might spend a lot of money tomorrow." and he said, "Good." It would be great to stock up on supplies for the winter. I could barely sleep that night. I was hopeful, excited, worried, anxious. What would the turnout be like tomorrow? Will things go really cheap? Will there be a lot of dealers? I wonder how well they advertised.

When I got there they next day, I quickly revisited a few of the lots I was most interested in. There were a good amount a people there, but it wasn't packed. I figured some of these people had stores, others were probably dealers, and some were just there for their own personal collection. I sat next to a girl who was a local stylist and vintage clothing dealer. It was a relief to know we weren't going to be bidding on the same things. That could be awkward. I told her what I did, and she handed me her card (I, of course, was stupid, and didn't bring my cards) and said she would love to take a look at what I do and use my jewelry for some of her clients.  Yay. Her website (http://www.violetvillevintage.com/) is adorable, and it looks like she does a great job of carefully selecting and editing her vintage collection.   I will certainly be contacting her.

As the bidding was about to begin, I heard a conversation between two women behind me. One was a store owner in New York. The other owned a costume store in Michigan (or maybe Minnesota...one of those bordering states that starts with an "M"). Uh-oh. That was not a good sign. People had flown in for this. Milwaukee's market isn't exactly the same as New York. This meant she could pay more for things because her customers are willing to pay more. As the auction started, I was shocked at how much things were going for. I quickly saw each one of my jewelry lots go for prices that were way out of my league. Like over $100. Junk boxes were going for $30-$40. The woman from Michigan (or Minnesota) was bidding on (and winning) almost every lot...for loads of cash. I can't compete with that. I have to get my vintage pieces for super reasonable. Let's say I am making a necklace. I have the cost of the vintage piece, plus the cost of other beads and supplies, plus I have to factor in my time to make the piece. THEN, I have to sell it. If I am selling to a store, I need to leave room for them to make a profit on it too. I want to keep my pieces fairly affordable to the end customer, and it all starts with how much I pay for the vintage components.

Back to the auction. There was one lot that I was willing to pay $60.00 for. Originally, I was only going to pay $50.00, but I thought I could stretch it a little higher and MAYBE be able to compete with some of the other bids. There were a lot of things in the lot I didn't care about, but there were a couple stunning, sparkly brooches and several pair of earrings that were right up my alley. The bidding started and I held up my card, and didn't put it down until they got to $60.00. I was hoping the woman behind me would show some pity and not bid. I don't know who was all bidding, but the price went higher and higher until it sold for $110. (Sigh.) This was way too rich for my blood. There were still 2 lots of vintage buttons that I had hope for. This kind of fell between clothing and jewelry, so I was hoping that they wouldn't be of interest to anyone else. I sat there forever waiting for those damn buttons. I would pay $40.00 for the first box...for buttons. When they FINALLY came up, I stuck my card up, but the bigging soared past $40. The buttons went for $80.00! There was one more box of buttons, but I figured they would go just as high. With a crushed ego, I gathered my things, and left. I sat there for nearly four hours and left with nothing. Not fun.

It was somewhat entertaining to see all the interesting things and how much they went for. There were a couple of dresses that went for around $400.00 each. Certain namebrand pieces of jewelry went for almost as much. There were some heavy hitters. I would imagine woman from New York shop owner spent several thousand dollars on new inventory for her store. The woman from Michigan (or Minnesota) woman had to have spent upwards of $10,000 once all was said and done. A wealthy looking couple in front of me, who seemed to be collecting very old "period" dresses, probably spent a least $3,000. I could go on and on. I spent $0 (actually, I spent $7.75 on a sandwich, chips, and a soda). Kudos to the auction house though, I am sure made a crapload of money. I just wish I could have given them some more of mine.

I think if I'm ever unlucky enough to get bidder card #13 again, I'll refuse it.  

My unlucky bid card

What's in a Name?

 A lot of people ask how I came up with the name "Lulu's Petals." Well...my middle name is Lynn, so growing up, my Dad called me Lindsey. Lindsey evolved into Lindsey-Lou, then Lou, and then LuLu. This is about the time I started my business, and I didn't want to just be "Staci's Designs" or something like that....so I started with Lulu. Now, my Dad's nickname for me is still evolving...right now he's stuck on Louise. (which has occasionally turned into "Weezie") One time he even called me Lupus (I put a stop to that one right away).

Dad and his "Lulu"

Once I settled on "Lulu", I had to come up with the rest of the name. Lulu's Designs? Lulu's Creations? Art by Lulu? No, still too generic for me. It took me a few days (and sleepless nights) of brainstorming before I remembered ZuZu from the Christmas classic, "It's a Wonderful Life."  This is a movie my whole family loves. In one scene, ZuZu had a flower and a few petals were falling off. Her father, George, pretended to fix it, but all he did was hide the fallen petals in his pocket. I'm assuming most of us know the story, so I won't go into great detail here, but George is pretty down on his luck, and made a wish that he'd never been born. He got to see what his family and friends' lives would have been like if he never existed. He freaked out, didn't like it, and wanted things back the way they were before. Shortly thereafter, George finds Zuzu's petals in his pocket, and exclaims, "Zuzu's Petals!"  This is one of the signs that things went back to normal and he existed again.

SO....I changed the Zuzu's Petals to Lulu's Petals. Does it make sense? Not really, but I don't care.  

Zuzu  and George in the "Petal" scene