Virginia Highland Summerfest & Square!

This was my first year selling at the Virginia-Highland Summerfest and Im happy to say it was Zafiro's best show ever!!   I got very lucky with a premium booth location.  I had a corner spot right at the main entrance, very close to the band and neighbor to King of Pops!  (I had to show my support by eating 2 chocolate sea salt and one blackberry ginger popsicle! Mmm)

In addition to great placement under a huge tree, the weather was unbelievable.  This annual June festival is usually hot and sticky, but this year was just beautiful.  80 degrees and sunny.  I think that can make all the difference when it comes to shopping/trying on jewelry.   The wide street was jam packed with people...and the people watching was spectacular.  This is a major party crowd too; lots of house parties were going on during the festival, plus the margarita/hurricane stand across from my booth told me he had record sales.   I had a front row seat to the music and even stayed open 90 minutes after the artist market closed on Saturday because I still had tons of traffic. 

I don't think that I have ever been as tired as I was when the show ended last night.  I was standing for 10 hours each day.  Ernesto was with Mateo so I was there by my lonesome. Does that sound like a complaint?  It's not.  There were constantly people in my tent and I met some great customers. 

 I have been accepting credit cards for years at my shows.  I don't even want to imagine how many sales I could loose by only taking cash.  I started by entering cc info through paypal when I got home.  It was easy enough, but occasionally I would copy a number incorrectly or a card would be declined.  Then I would have to call the customer...yada yada yada.  Of course Paypal has come a long way since those days.**

Have you guys heard of Square?  This was my fourth show using the little plug in credit card reader and I have no complaints.  In fact, it works great every time.  Fast, easy and without a doubt....COOL!  Customers love it.  

Here is how it works;

Plug in the card reader to your phone [headphones jack] and open the Square app.

Enter sales amount on keypad, enter item description (or better yet, take a picture of it) and swipe card.

You have the approval in seconds and the customer signs right on the screen.  You can then email or text the receipt.  Amazing.

The rate is 2.75% per swipe for all major credit cards.  No monthly fee.  No start up fee.  Square will mail you the card reader for free.  Your sales will be deposited into your bank account the next day.  It works with iphones and Androids.  You can sign up here.  

**  Paypal also has an app and card reader for iphone,  but I heard about square first, and honestly, it's just way cooler:)

Zafiro Jewelry at Inman Park Festival 2011

This years' show season for Zafiro kicked off with a bang at the annual Inman Park Festival.  After a weekof storms and tornadoes in the area,  Atlanta's weather held out for the 2 day show.  As a matter of fact it was perfect: 80 and sunny both days!  People flooded the streets.

I enlisted the help of my sister Jenny.  We were due for a girls weekend anyway, so she flew in from Ohio on Thursday morning.  We did some shopping/thrifting, got pedicures, plus got in a few workouts.  (Oh! And I made her and Neto this delicious chicken meuniere dinner from Giada de Laurentiis) 

Inman was a very well run show, hats off to the organizers!  I had one of the easiest set-up/take-downs ever, partly because I had 2 great helpers but also because we live just 2 minutes from the park.   Also, a trick I used in preparing for the show was to stack all of my jewelry boards on top of each other [with the jewelry on them] and then cover them with plastic wrap the night before.  Wow, what great time saver! After we set up the tent and tables we just unwrapped the jewels and we were ready to sell.

And sell we did! Thank you to the patrons of Inman Park Festival for making this one of my best.  I had many new designs and gemstones after coming home from Tuscon Gem Show and my customers loved them!    The most popular style at this show were the bib necklaces and wire shape earrings. The most popular gemstones were the London blue topaz, kyanite, pink sapphires, and rubies.  Unfortunately I was only able to photograph a few of these before they sold.

{PINK SAPPHIRES ON GOLD -$170}

{BLACK GARNET AND SPINEL ON GOLD - $150}

{ARIZONA TURQUOISE ON GOLD - $110}

{GEODE LARIAT ON GOLD - $120}

{VIVA INDIA EARRINGS - London blue, yellow topaz and green amethyst - $68}


I will be showing Zafiro this coming weekend as well.  I hope to see you there.

21st Annual Colors Festival of Arts
Historic Town Square – Roswell, Georgia
May 7 & 8, 2011
Mother's Day Weekend
10 A.M. – 6 P.M.

Inman Park Festival 2011

 

ZAFIRO JEWELRY

at

 Hope you can make it to the festival.  

It runs this weekend, April 30 & May 1 from 10am-6pm

Sneak peak of Spring 2011 collection:  Viva India!

{London blue topaz on gold}

Paideia School's 28th Annual Fine Art & Craft Sale

I am really excited to be participating in the Paideia School's art show this year!  I dropped off my jewelry and I saw all of the great artwork that will be for sale.  All of the volunteers at the school really transformed this gym into a cozy shopping experience.  They beauty of this sale is that I don't need to be there with my jewelry.  I can actually browse leisurely and maybe get some Christmas shopping done myself.   If you are in Atlanta this weekend and would like to find some unique gifts either for yourself or someone else ...head over to Art Visions at Paideia School.  (on Ponce de Leon)

• Saturday, November 13
  10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Sunday, November 14
  12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
• Location: Art Lobby &Practice Gym (Near the corner of Oakdale and South Ponce de Leon)

An artist market featuring the works of local and regional artists

• Offering affordable art during the holiday season in all mediums
• Fine art, decorative art including Chanukah and Christmas gift items, ornaments, garden art, folk art, funky and functional art in all mediums
• Annual fundraiser for Paideia art programs
• Admission and parking are free

Artist Information

What is Art Visions?

A fine art and craft sale featuring work on consignment from established and emerging artists

Art Visions is . . .

A successful fundraiser for the Paideia School's art programs, grosses over $60,000 in revenue each year.

Art Visions is . . .

The perfect venue for artists to sell a variety of fine art and decorative art including Hanukkah and Christmas gift items, ornaments, angels, garden art, folk art, funky and functional art in all mediums.

Art Visions is . . .

A wide range of artistic mediums including: oil, acrylic, watercolor and mixed-media painting, wood, metal, textiles, glass, pottery, ceramics, photography, jewelry and more

Chastain Park Arts Festival This Weekend!

Zafiro Jewelry will be at the Chastain Arts Festival this weekend and I have been feverishly whipping up new designs to share! 

This is the 2nd Annual Festival for beautiful Chastain Park, which is the largest park in Fulton County.  It is also right in the middle of one of the most gorgeous neighborhoods in Atlanta.  (IMO)

The festival hours are:

Saturday : November 6, 2010 from 10:00 a.m. till 6:00 p.m.
Sunday : November 7, 2010 from 11:00 a.m. till 5:00 p.m. 

ZAFIRO WILL BE IN BOOTH # 30

I am very excited to be involved this year, and even though it is going to be quite cool this weekend, they are calling for sunny skies!  It is going to be a great Fall weekend to get out and stroll the line up. Also a great time to get started on Christmas shopping!
There will be close to 200 artists at the festival, 90% of them local to Atlanta.  Oh, so much talent!
Advertising has been big the last couple months.  I have seen billboards, news coverage, blog write ups and this commercial is being run on TV. 


I believe this is one of the last outdoor festivals of the year and I predict a big turn out!
Stop in to the Zafiro Jewelry booth to say hi, it will be lots of fun!

Zafiro Jewelry: Going Going Gone

The Candler Park Fall Fest was a lot of fun last weekend.  Even though I was by myself at the Zafiro Jewelry booth, I did get to walk around a little bit and I saw a lot of great artists there.   I like that I am getting to know artists I see at different shows.  I learn so much from talking to them, and come home feeling inspired to try new things.

I also learn a lot from Zafiro customers.   I watch people shop.  I like to see what colors draw them in and what are their favorite designs.  

Yep, very informative they are, not to mention fun...especially if people are trying things on and buying! Yay!

Good and bad news: My favorite piece sold !

FIVE STRAND GOLD WRAPPED TURQUOISE NECKLACE

  Good, because Im so glad it found a happy owner.  Bad, because it was the piece I always had on my mannequin out in front of my tent.  It was a showstopper and always got people's attention.  So many women commented on it.  They loved it, but thought it was "too much for me."  I knew the right woman would come along.  She decided to buy it in 5 minutes.  It was made for her.

Some other pieces that sold at the show:

FROM TOP L :CHRYSOPHRASE, SMOKY/LEMON TOPAZ, RUBIES, APATITE, GREEN AMETHYST, FLUORITE

I only have two more shows this year, but I need to get moving and make some new pieces. Next up for Zafiro Jewelry:

Paideia Art Visions

28th Annual Fine Art & Craft Sale 

Saturday November 13  - 10 am to 5 pm

Sunday November 14  -  12 pm to 5 pm

Location: Paideia School (Near the corner of Oakdale and South Ponce de Leon)

Decatur Holiday Marketplace

Clairemont Elementary - 155 Erie Ave,  Decatur  30030

Friday December 03- 5:30 to 9:30 pm
Saturday December 04 - 10 am to 8 pm

Candler Park Fall Festival 2010

Come one and all! 
What:  This weekend Zafiro Jewelry will be at the Candler Park Fall Fest 2010. 
The weekend will be filled with a variety of events including an artist market, a food court located at the end of the festival street, live entertainment, free children’s activities, the Candler Park 5K at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday morning and the Tour of Homes on Sunday from 12:00 ~ 6:00 p.m. They anticipate up to 15,000 attendees during the two-day festival.

When: Saturday and Sunday noon-7p

Where: Inside Candler Park, 1500 McLendon Avenue, Atlanta, Ga. 30307 • One half mile east of Little Five Points on McLendon Avenue • Three blocks walk from Candler Park Marta station (East line)  
Zafiro will be in booth #8 on the right side of the street near the entrance of the park. 

It looks like the weather is going to be a beautiful, so come out support your local artists!

Atlanta Arts Festival!

Wow!  What a great weekend! The Atlanta Arts Festival was AMAZING!  Thanks to everyone who came out to Piedmont Park.  Even though it was a bit hot (low 90's) we managed to stay comfortable.  We were so lucky that our tent was directly under a huge tree and  we didn't get any direct sun.  

ME AND TREF IN FRONT OF OUR BOOTH

 

 

I love how we set up the booth.  We used both my full size tables with the beautiful fitted slipcovers that my mom sewed for me.  I repeated on old idea and painted a tree branch to sit on the front table and dangle necklaces.  This time instead of silver, I painted it gold, and it was beautiful!  The tree really attracts people to the booth, and it seems like everything kept selling on the branches and and we would have to put  Two coral colored fabric panels hung from the back wall, and two white fabric covered boards leaned against a side wall.  A nice size mirror on an easel sat on the back table flanked by two smaller covered boards.  Since we were showing two collections we needed all the space we could get.

 

 

 

 

The show was pretty big.  200 artists looped around the ball fields in the park.  It was exactly what you want as an artist in a show:  steady traffic all day, both days.  We heard wonderful feedback from our customers.   Many people seemed happy as they walked away with their purchase. 

SHOPPING CUSTOMERS

Tref and I participated in the first year of the show 4 years ago.  Since then Zafiro Jewelry was born, but our collections still meld together beautifully!  It was a great show, I would love to do it every year!

SOME ZAFIRO PIECES THAT SOLD

 

 

Next show on deck for Zafiro Jewelry:

Sandy Springs Festival

6075 Sandy Springs Circle, Sandy Springs, GA 3032

 September 25 & 26,  2010

Saturday 9am-7pm and Sunday 11am-5pm

Thank You Arts on the Creek!

Thanks to everyone who came out to Arts on the Creek this weekend!  This was the first time Zafiro Jewelry participated in this show and I must say it was a very well organized.   Last year they estimated 10,000 people came through.   It was nothing but blue skies and heat [although low humidity] and I think this drew all of John's Creek out to the festival.

This weekend I tried something a little different in my booth.  Not as much turquoise!  I wanted a brighter color and found a gorgeous coral-salmon color fabric to replace my turquoise panels.  I also purchased a glass case to show off some jewelry in the front.  I liked the new set up because I was "behind the counter" so to speak and was able to work on some necklaces while still being attentive to customers.  I didn't get to take any great pictures of the whole booth, but I will share the new booth pics with you after my next show in a couple weeks.  Here I have some glimpses of the new color:

NEW CORAL COLOR

NEW GLASS DISPLAY CASE

EARRINGS ON DISPLAY

Unfortunately I don't have pictures of all my pieces either, but here are a few that  sold:
ps.  if you are interested in one of these styles, I may be able to do something similar provided I can find the stones. 

AQUAMARINE AND LEMON TOPAZ SPARKLER $92

RUBIES ON GOLD $98

GREEN AMETHYST ON STERLING SILVER $160

LABRADORITE-APATITE ON GOLD $92

LEMON TOPAZ - IOLITE ON GOLD $ 62

IOLITE ON STERLING SILVER $62

GOLD DIPPED CORAL BRANCH AND CITRINE $72

First Zafiro Jewelry Show for 2010

This weekend I had a booth at the 29th Annual Colors Festival of Arts in Roswell.  Roswell is a about 30 minutes north of Atlanta (with no traffic) and the historic square where the festival was held was just beautiful. 

I want to thank the Roswell Junior Women's Club for organizing.  They were all very helpful and available the whole show, and the set up and take down process was the easiest I have ever been involved in.
The skies were blue and the sun was shinning all weekend; perfect weather except for the gusts of wind that moved my tent.  I watched my earring board get thrown to the ground, but luckily the earrings were fine.  Zafiro Jewelry is very sturdy:)

Neto helped me both days, and Smita came up on Sunday to hang out and do some shopping as well. I was very happy with my assigned space and had enough room to spread out , leaving one side tent wall open. I rearranged my booth a bit differently than last year and I put up the turquoise necklace banner I just had the made at Fast Signs.  Many people told me that is what drew them in the tent.  

I sold that necklace on the second day.  It seems every chunky turquoise necklace I have ever made sells immediately.  Good thing I have pictures, I really loved this one.  Here are a few pics of some things that sold this weekend.  If you are interested in any, I could possibly make something similar provided I can find the stones again.  Just let me know!

{turquoise mixta $125}

{black tourmaline w/ peruvian opal $92}

{ruby with blue topaz on gold $92}

{turquoise bib necklace $110}

This next one I was very very said to see go.  The lady who bought it said she saw it early in the day and kept thinking about it.  When she came back to buy I told her it was my favorite.  She said "I wouldn't have come back if I had known it would break your heart"  ha! Labradorite is one of my favorite stones.  I love its depth and iridescence and use it a lot in my designs.

{labradorite bib necklace with kyanite $125}

{flourite earrings $60}

{topaz drop earrings $60}

If you weren't able to come out to Roswell last weekend, you are in luck!  I have shows the next 2 weekends here in Atlanta.  

Kirkwood Spring Fling

Saturday, May 15  10a - 6pm

Bessie Branham Park

Buckhead Spring Arts & Crafts Festival

Saturday & Sunday, May 22-23 10am - 6pm

Chastain Park

In other news:  my Zafiro Jewelry site  has been published with more pages.   Now mind you,  I have been working on this myself for months.  "With that being said" (Larry David)  I think it looks pretty good!  It does not yet have online shopping, and actually my gallery pics are not posted yet either. work work work!  It's coming though my friends, I promise! 

I would love to hear your opinions/suggestions.  Yes!  Leave a comment!

I also just created a Facebook fanpage, so shoot over there and become a fan!

ZAFIRO JEWELRY DEBUT

WELCOME TO ZAFIRO JEWELRY!

With a new name, logo and booth design, I was ready for my first show of the year!  My business cards were a joint venture between a graphic designer in San Diego and one in Mexico! (thanks Mario!) I told the designer that I am obsessed with peacocks and turquoise (did you know that?) and he ran with it.  Mario is Ernesto's cousin and he made some adjustments and helped me a lot in general. I can be a bit indecisive! surprise!

Printing was done in Mexico as well. Just in time for the show, I received them [and my little price tags] via FedEx. Whew! They are really cool. They are printed on both sides and have raised lettering. They also are smaller than standard business cards and have rounded corners, all of these details make them unique. I received many compliments.

Here is a look at my booth at the Candler Park Fallfest this past weekend.

I must say, in spite of the weather, it turned out to be a nice show.  I was a bit worried when the first day passed with very few festival goers and ZERO sales. I wasn't upset at all actually, I think its because I was so excited about my booth and after talking with several other artists, it seemed it was slow for everyone.

{new tags on every necklace}

Sunday proved to be much better. It was a beautiful day. There was a huge crowd this time and I managed to make it worth my while! It was no Inman Park Festival, but it was a repeater!

Below is the booth shot that I will be submitting for future shows. You can't have the name visible. I would love to hear any feedback you may have. (especially if you have been a judge before in a juried show)

Kelli, my niece told me about a great DIY website called WIX, You can use it to build your own flash website, it is easy to set up even if your not an expert.  They have designers too if you are not brave enough to try it.  They have 4 different packages for web hosting, one of them with e-commerce. That means having a "shopping cart" on your site and it is only $15/month!  The sites are professional [as you want it to be] and you are able to cut out the WIX ads for only $6/month. It even includes Google Analytics.  Below is the temporary page I set up for Zafiro Jewelry. Since I was having a show, I wanted to give customers a place to contact me. (plus the website is written on my business cards already. ha!) I will be working on it and loading pictures soon.  Trust me, this is not the final look I am going for, but its simple and to the point.  "Contact me here while me site is under construction"

The address is www.zafirojewelry.com

Here is a screen shot of the page . I would like your preference on this one, or the one below it with the wood texture as the background.  Please please leave your choice in the comments below.  This is only temporary, so not such a big deal, plus I plan to have the "new look" up and running before my next show. 

Now that I am all set up, I am looking for more venues to sell before Christmas. I am too late for many of the holiday shows, so I will have to get creative. You know that is what I like to do anyway!  Stay tuned for jewelry pictures and updates of where I am selling Zafiro!