Friday, October 19, 2012

Quiet Waters Arts and Music Festival 2012

Last weekend my husband and I headed to Annapolis, Maryland for the Arts and Music Festival at Quiet Waters Park. I was one of 65 artists exhibiting. We stayed at the Taylor House Bed and Breakfast less than a mile away from the park. It is a gorgeous home set on beautiful land, owned by an energetically friendly woman named Sophia. If you are spending time in Annapolis, this is a lovely place to stay. You will feel like you are at home!

This was my second year participating in the festival. I spent several weeks preparing for it. As some of you know, I had set a goal of creating 80 new pieces of jewelry, at a rate of 20 per week. I actually surpassed this goal!

Here a few of the pieces I created...

Ceramic bead by Elaine Ray. Ceramic leaf by Shaterra Clay Studio.

Lampwork beads by Sue Beads

Ceramic starfish pendant by Firefly Design Studio.

Once I completed the jewelry, I then worked on earring cards. 
I created the cards with recycled kraft cardstock and stamped them with various tree and autumn stamps. 
It is the same cardstock that I use to create my price tags. Creates nice continuity.
This really helped the earrings stand out on the tables and they make a really nice presentation for each pair! 

I had been getting requests for jewelry for little girls, so I decided to make some pretty hair pins with resin flowers. Turns out that my customers liked them more for themselves! The cards that the pins are on were made from cardstock and scrapbook paper. They were actually quite fun to create!

 A beautiful sunny weekend at Quiet Waters Park...

 All ready for day one!

 My amazing husband helps me at every show! He loads, unloads, carries all of the heavy items and even helps me set up the booth. We each take a table and set it up. He did the table on the left and I set up the one to the right.  
I have proudly given him the titles of "Tech Support" and "Creative Director".

One of the fun aspects of having a booth is the artistic expression that goes into it's design!
I purchased these beautiful wood bowls at The Old Luckettes Store in Lucketts, Virginia. 
What a great find and perfect addition to my booth!


I really enjoy creating a unique space for my customers to browse in.

I had a steady stream of people in my booth for most of Saturday. 
While we were quite busy, it gave me the opportunity to meet some really wonderful people! Each of them commented on how much they liked my booth and the displays. Several asked to purchase them! It is such an honor to hear those compliments and very rewarding to create a space that people enjoy being in!


 Getting ready for day two!



Some of the other artists at the festival...

 My neighbor at the festival, Claudine Intner.

 Aimo Hill, a watercolor and oil painter from Annapolis.

 Mary Daugherty creates handbags from recycled leather garments.


 Once again, we had a gorgeous view from our booth!

We were very fortunate, not only to have beautiful weather but also have a successful weekend of sales. I sold 65 pieces of jewelry! As most of you who exhibit at arts festivals and craft shows know, you really can't predict how it will go. You can only hope for the best!


17 comments:

  1. your booth looks amazing! I am taking notes, love those wood slices!
    thanks for sharing these pics!

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  2. Congratulations on a successful show! I love your booth displays--elegant and earthy at the same time. Your earring cards and hair clip cards are so sweet. Thanks for sharing the photos of your booth. They have given me some ides on how to freshen up my own display.

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  3. Your booth is gorgeous!! Lovely, lovely baubles!

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  4. Wow, Kathleen, you are such an inspiration to me. I love your style of jewelry design AND decorating! You created such a beautiful and inviting display. Congratulations on a successful weekend!

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  5. Congrats on a great show! I love those earring and hair clip cards, adorable! It's always nice to see different booths, yours is beautiful :)

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  6. Kathleen...your booth is just gorgeous!!! One of the very best jewelry booths I have ever seen!! Great job and the jewelry looks beautiful !!

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  7. What a beautiful venue--and your artistic set-up suits it beautifully! I certainly would have lingered at your booth. (I particularly like the simplicity (with variety) of your earring cards.)

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  8. Wow Kathleen - your booth is beautiful! I really love it, it seems to peaceful - and your view was perfect! How nice your husband helps you - my boyfriend does as well! And thank you for letting me know about the lady who purchased those earrings!

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  9. Beautiful booth and I too love the earring cards!

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  10. Kathleen, your artistic talent shines through both in your wonderful jewelry, as well as all your displays. You certainly have a creative eye. ' very good of you to share your talent with all of us.
    Congratulations on a successful show! That must feel great! 'wishing you continued success!

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  11. What a beautiful post - the next best thing to being there! Your pieces and your booth draw us in, inviting us to come closer to fully appreciate the lush colors and textures. So glad it was such a great week-end!

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  12. Great job with your display and jewelry designs! I love what you did with the starfish you bought from me.
    Michelle from Firefly Design Studio

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  13. Your booth setup is absolutely gorgeous!! Your attention to detail is amazing Happy for you that you did so well, too!

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  14. I love your modern, stylish jewelry and your booth is top notch. Your display is one of the best I've ever seen! I know I would want to hang out in that booth and never want to leave.

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  15. Kathleen, your booth is fabulous! What a great venue for a show and congratulations on the sales!!

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  16. Hi what a lovely display. Wish i could start over but costs too much.
    Where do you get those small glass blocks with indentation for earring cards?
    I have black/cream and glass for my display. Still needs a lot of work though. Wish you could come over!

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    1. Thank you for your comments! The glass cubes were purchased in a paper crafts shop in Vancouver, Canada back in 2009. It was a really cool market on Granville Island filled with shops and unique vendors named Granville Public Market.

      It has been a while since I have blogged (been busy with my 3-year old) and is nice to know it still gets noticed (a little bit)! I do plan to return to it, hopefully sooner than later.

      Good luck with your display!

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