Had my first ever stall this weekend!

[ShinyLauren]

Thanks Jules, that's really helpful advice I should point out I did get a taxi to the show as it was only down the road! If it was further away it would cost a fortune though. I can't drive, so borrowing cars is probably out...

I like the idea of having a bit about how the jewellery is made on the stand. Might get the boy to take some photographs of me whilst I'm working and make it into a little portfolio book or something, with design sketches and stuff.

[pearlescence]

Lucie, I tried a couple of wedding events but found they didn't pay at all. Brides came with entourage and scooped up all the free stuff but spent nothing and in spite of all the ooohs and ahhs I didn't get a single follow up. My experience is that brides spend a fortune on the dress and everything else then go for an ebay level tiara with lots of sparkle, or the ones on display in the bride dress shop. I know there are peeps out there making bridal stuff successfully and good luck to them but it is a specialised niche and my perception is that it is hard to crack

[ShinyLauren]

Wow Lucie, that's a lot of money to pay out! Although I guess balanced against how many people would go through a show like that and see you, it's worth the advertising investment.

The poster I just made really quickly the night before using my website background, my business card design and a couple of my new photos! It turned out alright, given my general cluelessness with Photoshop.

I'll stick up some of my new pictures in a new thread when I get home this evening, as I wanted some feedback on whether I've exposed the silver correctly. I'm so used to taking pictures on a dark background that anything else just looks all wrong to me now!

[ShinyLauren]

Oh, I know what I meant to ask everyone...

Lighting!

What do you use for shows? I didn't need any as the marquee was super-bright, but I'm assuming on a less sunny day I might have done.

If there is no power, what is the best to use? I found these: http://www.display-lighting.com/batt...bkit-tsp3.html but am slightly afraid to email and ask how much they are!

Any budget battery display lighting out there?

[Wallace]

IKEA, their lights are brilliant and approx £10 - £12, but you need power.

[Lucie]

Lucie, I tried a couple of wedding events but found they didn't pay at all. Brides came with entourage and scooped up all the free stuff but spent nothing and in spite of all the ooohs and ahhs I didn't get a single follow up. My experience is that brides spend a fortune on the dress and everything else then go for an ebay level tiara with lots of sparkle, or the ones on display in the bride dress shop. I know there are peeps out there making bridal stuff successfully and good luck to them but it is a specialised niche and my perception is that it is hard to crack

That's really great to know thank you. I have no experience of shows at all, so really want to avoid wasting time & money. Looks like I'll be saving my pennies for the baby show instead. It would be great if the organisers could give you some indication of sales from other "similar" stands, but I guess that's too much to ask for

[Lucie]

IKEA, their lights are brilliant and approx £10 - £12, but you need power.

Agree 100% I love Ikea lighting. If you have a stand with large back boards, they used to sell the clippy lights (nice looking ones) with daylight bulbs.
Make it a day trip. Their display units are worth a look too (and the cafe ).

[ShinyLauren]

I've looked at the Ikea ones before (and had one clamped to my bench for the past 10 years!). Most of the shows I'm looking at have no power though, so need to find something battery operated, which is where I'm getting stuck.

I love going to Ikea Lucie - most of the furniture in our house is from there!

[caroleallen]

Looked great Lauren. I love the frames - they really go with your baroque sort of image (not you personally!) Could you have some sort of folding box covered in a cloth to give you some height? You could always use the box to put the rest of your display in for travelling.

I like these Argos lights http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...er/4312134.htm . They're very easy to direct and cast a large pool of light. Best of all, I think halogen makes your jewellery sparkle better than LED.

I've done shows for years and only a few have been consistently good. Some really expensive ones can only really be counted as advertising as although I've always made money, sometimes I've wondered whether it was worth the hassle, particularly as I have to travel so far to the south east. I agree that wedding shows aren't worth doing. Not sure about baby ones but I suspect they're the same. Christmas shows are definitely the best though as everyone really needs to buy then and not just to browse.

[Petal]

That's really great to know thank you. I have no experience of shows at all, so really want to avoid wasting time & money. Looks like I'll be saving my pennies for the baby show instead. It would be great if the organisers could give you some indication of sales from other "similar" stands, but I guess that's too much to ask for

Have you thought about approaching wedding dress shops to see if they will have some of your cards & stock; some of them are up for having 'artisan made jewellery', or perhaps I've just been lucky...?