Deliciously juicy Yumi

A large number of new items had been created, but many sold at the November craft fairs before they had been added to the shop! However, eight pieces have just been posted including the Yumi earrings, which were made at the Dunbar Holiday Craft Fair! The stones are coloured like candy and they look good enough to eat!

Craft fair wrap up

What a fabulous three weeks it has been! ARIA INDUSTRIES hit up three craft fairs and now that the shop at aileen.etsy.com has been restocked, it's time to work on posting some new items. The number would have been fourteen, but six of those brand new pieces sold at the events!

Grace Locke, who won the $25 gift card draw at the South Arm Christmas Craft Fair stopped by at the event in Steveston and applied the value of her gift card to the Rosalline necklace. She was choosing between that and the Ilke earrings, but the bib necklace won her over in the end. And I can't forget to mention that the Steveston Christmas Craft Fair's winner is Leigh Betteridge!

Lovely lapis

Craft fair number two is done! I was in the basement of the gymnasium at the Dunbar Holiday Craft Fair this year and although I wondered whether the location would affect the amount of shoppers (compared to last year when I was on the main floor), I had no reason to worry. My first customer of the day was a gentleman who chose the Riordan earrings, which are so new that they have not even been posted to the shop. They feature three tiny grey sapphires and beautifully faceted lapis:


As usual, I held a draw for a $25 gift card toward any of my jewellery and the winner is Courteney Chu! I wonder what piece she will pick...

First of three

One of my favourite things about craft fairs is meeting the other crafters. It's fascinating to see how different other jewellers' work can be even though we are always lumped into the same category. And of course I also love seeing the non-jewellery offerings too. In fact, I picked up three items before the event even began today!

Some of my non-sales highlights include running into one of my brother's now-retired teacher from elementary school, learning about honey from my craft table neighbour, and talking about gemstones with someone who turned out to be my last customer of the day. Of course I also held my usual draw for a $25 gift card and the winner is Grace Locke!

Times three!

The winter craft fair season is almost upon us and this year, ARIA industries will be at three events! First up will be the South Arm Christmas Craft Fair on November 15th and then there will be a return to the Dunbar Holiday Craft Fair on November 22nd for the second year in a row. Last will be the Steveston Christmas Craft Fair on November 29th. There will be a gift card draw at each event, which means there will be three winners over the holidays! Put the dates in your calendar!

Save the dates!

The leaves are falling, the winds are blowing, and winter will be upon us soon, and this also means it's almost holiday craft fair season! ARIA INDUSTRIES will be attending three events in November so mark your calendars:

South Arm Christmas Craft Fair
Saturday, November 15, 2014
10:00am - 4:00pm
South Arm Community Centre
8880 Williams Road, Richmond
Bob McMath multipurpose room (A102)

Dunbar Holiday Craft Fair
Saturday, November 22, 2014
10:00am - 5:00pm
Dunbar Community Centre
4747 Dunbar Street, Vancouver
Basement

Steveston Christmas Craft Fair
Saturday, November 29, 2014
10:00am - 4:00pm
Steveston Community Centre
4111 Moncton Street, Richmond
Indoor tennis courts

Here's a visual reminder for the middle show:

Hilde and Kimberly

Goodness, I had forgotten to report on the Dunbar Holiday Craft Fair at the end of November... It was my first time at this craft fair in the Dunbar neighbourhood and I had a fabulous time making new friends and meeting new customers. I even found myself a pair of fingerless gloves to take home at the end!

I had prepared a pair of black onyx earrings, named Hilde, for the craft fair's own draw, while I held one of my own as usual. The winner of the $25 gift card is Kimberly Baker!

Here is a snapshot of a small section of my table that day:

And here are the Hilde earrings:

Craft shopping for the holidays

It's almost time! The Dunbar Holiday Craft Fair is almost here! The prep work is almost done and I only need to wash the tablecloth tomorrow night and check things over one more time. I'll be heading over to Dunbar Community Centre at Dunbar Street and West 32nd Avenue early on Saturday morning to set up and come 10:00am, the fair will officially begin!

Here is the event poster:

Save the date!

I'm back from Italy and the next while will involve adding new items to the shop and preparing for an event at the end of November... It's the much anticipated Dunbar Holiday Craft Fair and there will be 140 artisans in various categories like wood and metal, clay, glass, paper and canvas, and of course jewellery! Mark November 30th down on your calendar so you don't forget!

And then there were twenty-eight

Remember when winners were selected for the gift card draws at the Steveston Christmas Craft Fair and the Urban Artisans Craft Fair? Anna Li applied her $25 gift card toward the Della earrings and Liz Hayes-Brown selected the Letitia bracelet!

In other news, 28 (yes, really that many!) pieces are being prepped for the shop. It is taking a while because a different background is going to be used in the photos and a lot of experimenting was involved. Here is a peek at the upcoming Tarina earrings:

Double win!

ARIA INDUSTRIES was at two craft fairs this weekend - the Steveston Christmas Craft Fair in Richmond on Saturday and the Urban Artisan Craft Fair in downtown Vancouver on Sunday! Many pieces were sold including the brand new Katinka and Lalita earrings...

As usual, there was a draw at each craft fair and I am very happy to announce the winners of $25 gift cards, which can be used for anything at aileen.etsy.com...

Steveston Christmas Craft Fair winner:
Anna Li

Urban Artisan Craft Fair winner:
Liz Hayes-Brown

I also snapped this shot on Sunday - it is of some of the event's raffle prizes and in the white box are the Xishi earrings!

Craft fairs galore!

Alright, the time is nigh! I’m back from Hawaii and this is going to be a weekend of craft fairs, from the Steveston Christmas Craft Fair on the 24th to the Urban Artisan Craft Fair on the 25th! That's why the shop is empty, but it will be restocked on the 26th. In the meantime, if you are in the Metro Vancouver area, please stop by!

STEVESTON CHRISTMAS CRAFT FAIR
Steveston Community Centre - indoor tennis court
4111 Moncton Road, Richmond, BC
Saturday, November 24, 2012

URBAN ARTISAN CRAFT FAIR
Roundhouse Community Centre - exhibition hall
181 Roundhouse Mews, Vancouver, BC
Sunday, November 25, 2012

Urban artists

October is winding down and that means it is time to prepare for the holiday craft fair season again. This year marks our first appearance (on Sunday only) at the Urban Artisan Craft Fair at Roundhouse Community Centre and they created some pretty nifty advertising:

Craft fair season

It's the beginning of October, which means the holiday season is almost upon us! I'm extremely excited to announce that ARIA INDUSTRIES will be selling in downtown Vancouver soon! The event is the Urban Artisan Craft Fair and it will be held at Roundhouse Community Centre. It is actually a two-day affair, but we will only be there on Sunday, November 25th because we have another engagement the day before - the Steveston Christmas Craft Fair in Richmond! For those in the area, please come see our jewellery in person!

Cheryl and Shireen

Cheryl Campbell, who won the $25 gift card at the Steveston Christmas Craft Fair, selected the Shireen earrings (pictured below). Congrats Cheryl!

And the winner is...

I am back home from the Steveston Christmas Craft Fair, where I sold many pairs of earrings and the Eugenie bracelet. The shop at aileen.etsy.com has already been restocked and I have just contacted the winner of the $25 gift card draw... Congratulations to Cheryl Campbell!

Craft fair alert!

Mark it on your calendars! ARIA INDUSTRIES will be at the Steveston Christmas Craft Fair this Saturday. I have been trying a different location inside the building every year and this one just might be my favourite one yet! My table will be close to the entrance and will feature the $25 gift card draw again!

Three pairs of earrings have been made just for this occasion and will be available for sale at the craft fair... Come meet the Diantha, Valentina, and Jacquetta in person!

Home sweet home

I'm back! I landed back in Vancouver yesterday and have tons of goodies from the shops in Sham Shui Po to turn into earrings, bracelets, and necklaces! It might take me a while to settle back into my jewellery-making mode, but I'm sure the pliers and wire will feel familiar as soon as I get my hands on them.

As it is already the middle of November, the gift giving season will be upon us soon and I'm happy to report that I will be selling my jewellery at the Steveston Christmas Craft Fair again this year. It will be on Saturday, November 26th from 10:00 to 4:00 and is a great event for families so mark it on your calendar!

Craft fair debrief

The Steveston Christmas Craft Fair was just a few days ago and my favourite sales were to my high school friend Ashley. She bought my Riley earrings at a previous craft fair and after not driving for a long time, braved traffic and an unfamiliar vehicle just to see my jewellery again! After checking out the selection, Ashley got the Delphine earrings for her mom and the Doreen earrings for herself.

I also held a gift card draw since I love to do small promotions at craft fairs, whether they are draws or bonuses with purchase. The winner of a $25 gift card is Claire Adamson!

In related news, although I no longer have the crowd favourite Riley earrings in stock, they are available by special order. I make an exception for these earrings (silver plated) and the identical Rowena earrings (antique brass plated) because they are simply too beautiful to not share:

Craft fair count down

Today, I started preparations for my third Steveston Christmas Craft Fair and will have to shut down my studio for about a week. This means no more jewellery making until after November 27th!

What kinds of activities take place during preparation? First of all, I inventorize all my pieces and make a detailed list showing the materials and price. This list comes in handy at the end of the fair when I need to figure out which items I sold versus the ones I didn't. Then, I figure out which pieces were made since my last craft show because they require display materials and labels. Next, I prepare the display cards and tie the tags to the new bracelets and necklaces.

When the pieces are done, I review the promotion I plan to run for that craft fair. I will be doing another gift card draw this time around, which means I will need to create signage and entry forms. I also need to make sure I have enough business cards to hand out - this is especially important because some people don't need jewellery when they are at the fair, but want to look at my Etsy shop later.

The remainder of the preparation activities is for supplies and day-of things. This includes having enough bags for the sales and for the first time ever, I will have jewellery boxes as well! I also like to cut and curl ribbon ahead of time because this saves a lot of time on the big day! Then, there are other activities like washing and ironing my tablecloth (there is nothing less professional than a dirty or wrinkled tablecloth), making sure I have extra pens on hand, and cleaning my mirrors.

On the evening before the craft fair, I empty my Etsy shop and put up a note saying all unsold items will be restocked after the craft fair. This is extremely important because most of my pieces are one-of-a-kind and I would have a major headache if something sold at the craft fair and online!