Craft Alert!

Mark it on your shopping Calender!

September 22 from 9-5 in Greenfield MA, join the Western Massachusetts Street Team and other artists, artisans and crafters for an arts and crafts fair.

CALL FOR VENDORS -

The ETSY Western Mass Craft Fair is back on!! We have found a new and better location. It is STILL scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 22 from 9-5. It will take place on the grounds of the St. James Episcopal Church on Federal St. in Greenfield . The grounds are lovely and if we have good weather we can probably put everyone outside. The church is in the Tudor design and there's also a covered walkway (cloister) where people with small displays could be set up. If the weather doesn't cooperate, vendors without tents can be put inside - in 2 rooms. The church will be selling food and as this is a cooperative event, there will be some select non-Etsy vendors who will be invited.

We will require a $40 booth fee, some of which we will used for advertising. Checks should be made out to Vickie Hutchinson and sent to her at 33 Spruce St . , Greenfield , MA 01301 . Include with your check: your name and mailing address; email address and phone number, Etsy Shop name, preferred space (outdoor with tent, outdoor without, cloister, etc) table and electricity requests. Please note if you should need any special considerations as well.

The church has a limited number of 8ft tables. They will be distributed on a first request basis. Electricity is not available outside. You must supply your own tent.

Unless you have a tent and are outside, spaces may not all be the traditional 10 x 10 size. The cloister is narrow and the inside rooms can accommodate a 10 ft width but not always a 10ft depth.

Etsy is helping us with advertising by supplying us with a large sign that will be hung in front of the church a couple weeks ahead and signs that we'll put in the center of town. This is still the same day as the Old Deerfield Craft Fair and there should be shuttle buses running from the center of Greenfield . Our location is about a block from there (walking distance.)

We have no application so please be sure include all requested information By September 8th at the latest. Once we know how many we need to accommodate, we'll send you directions and instructions.

Questions should be sent to jbajgier@comcast.net. Valley Artisan Craft Fair

Craft Fair Review - Country Folk Art Craft Show – Sturbridge, MA

In our ongoing search for the perfect craft fair to sell our jewelry, I came across the Country Folk Art Craft Show website which sponsors shows all over the U.S. They did advertise that they had "Home Décor & More!" but they also mentioned that they allow jewelers. So I sent in my application fee and a few pictures hoping to get into the November show. I attended the July show in an effort to see what kind of show it was and find out what they meant in the contract by "creating your own room."

Right off I can say that this is probably not a show any of the Etsy crafters I know will want to consider. This is a trade show complete with a woman (with microphone attached) hawking a new kind of cleaner, 2 vendors of pain reducing magnetic bracelets, and a large display of beautifully embroidered table runners and doilies with the "made in China" labels still attached.
There were a few real crafts people, however. Sandy Fair was there from PA selling hand-stenciled, cut and pierce lamp shades. She kindly allowed me to take her picture before I was informed by another vendor that pictures were not allowed. I also met Mary Shalkowski from CT, aka Artful Ramblings. She's familiar with Etsy and knows Pam. She was one of the 3 jewelers (and the only one I would call a crafts person) exhibiting but, as it was only Friday of the 3 day show, she couldn't tell me if she was happy she came.

This show is well-known and gets around 10,000 people over the 3 days. Admission is $6; $5 with a discount coupon. But you only have to pay if you make the mistake of entering the only one of the 4 entrances where they are actually collecting money. People were spending a lot of money. But they are there because they love the distressed country décor in maroon, navy, brown and black and they need some new Halloween or Christmas decoration or some new piece for the mantle. Parking is a mess. Once you get into the parking lot you need a GPS system to find your way out as they block off all the entrances but one.

I did learn a lot though. A "room" is a 10' x 10' space that you block off with pipe and drape configurations that you buy, rent or make yourself. But several people didn't have that and it seemed to be ok. This really angered the people who spent money renting the set up.
I thought my dilemma about this show would be "do I exhibit because I won't have much competition from other jewelers or do I not because no one goes there to buy jewelry". But on Sat. morning I received the letter that we did get accepted into the November show. They only want $460 for a 10' x 10' space (that's on top of renting a "room") and the prices go up to $1100 if you need more space.
I don't think so.

Seller Profile JansJems ~ Jan Bajgier

There are 3 of us creating for Jansjems but Jan will be answering the questions. And the answers may not necessarily reflect the opinions of the other two :)

Jansjems is Jan Bajgier, Bethany Bajgier & Krista Bajgier

Located in So. Deerfield, MA and a member of the Western Massachusetts Street Team and a frequent contributer to the blog!


NEST: How did you end up in New England?
I’ve lived in Mass. my whole life. I grew up in Southbridge where my parents still live. I married a nice boy from Chicopee (met him in college in PA, of all places) and settled in W. Mass where we both had jobs.

NEST: How did you hear about Etsy?
Selling online was always my daughter, Bethany’s, idea. We were going to set up our own website when one of her crafty friends told her to check out Etsy. We’d never heard of it. It appealed to us as a good place to start, where we could refine our online selling skills.

NEST: What do you make? Why do you make them? (what's your inspiration) How did you learn to do it?
We make high quality, beaded jewelry using genuine stones and precious metals. Why? Because we love to wear jewelry and love seeing other people enjoying our creations. We Bajgiers are a crafty, do-it-yourself bunch. We remodeled the house ourselves (gutted bathrooms and a kitchen, layed tile, etc), my husband has built cabinets, my mother and I both sew, my mother-in-law won ribbons for knitted and crocheted items. So when I took the girls to their first gem show, they immediately gravitated toward the beads, decided they could make their own jewelry, and it would be better than what they were buying. We learned by doing and doing it again. We looked at other peoples’ work to see how things were finished off. We read magazines with instructions and talked to other people doing the same things. And although we make a lot of traditional looking pieces for our more conservative customers, eventually we developed some things in our own unique style. Bethany makes light, femi
nine necklaces and chandelier earrings and Krista makes the multi-gem, long, dangling earrings and charm bracelets.
Inspiration—that comes from anywhere at anytime. Color is usually the first thing for me. I see color combinations in the sunset, landscaping, someone’s clothing. Sometimes a bunch of beads fall on the floor and I see how colors I’d never thought to put together look. This is how my cluster necklaces developed.


NEST: Are you a vendor at any upcoming shows/events?
We’re signed up to show at the Publick House Marketplace tent during the Sturbridge Harvest Festival on October 21. We’ve applied and hope to get into the Northampton Winter Craft Fair at the high school on Dec. 1-2.
(Krista is now living in Charlottesville, VA, and we’re hoping she can find a craft fair or 2 down there in the future.)

NEST: What's the difference between Art & Craft? Which are you?
Wow, that’s pretty philosophical. Art is the production of something beautiful so crafting can be art. Artists often refer to what they do as their craft. I don’t know that there is a difference. There is, however, a level of expertise that both artists and crafters aspire to. I see us at Jansjems as crafters of wearable art. And while we’re no longer beginners, we are still perfecting our skills and trying new techniques.

NEST: Favorite midnight snack? Comfort food?
Food! My favorite topic. I don’t stay up 'til midnight much anymore, but when I did it was a grilled cheese or a BLT. Comfort food is always something chocolate—brownies, ice cream, Snickers bars….whatever.

NEST: Recommend a good book or two.
As a librarian in my other life….I like all kinds of books. For fiction I mostly read mysteries. Two great reads are Dean Kontz’s “The Husband” and “The Rule of Four” by Ian Caldwell.

NEST: What is the best thing about Etsy?
That it’s a supportive community. I love the forums (I try t ignore the cranky people). I have learned so much from other people and their experiences. I can ask a question about craft fairs and get 2 whole days of answers and advice, from all over the world. And I’ve met people I never would have otherwise—other crafters that I can brainstorm with, both online and in person.

Old Deerfield Summer Craft Fair

* Jan Bajgier of JansJems and the Western Massachusetts Street Team went to the fair this weekend:

This year’s Old Deerfield Summer Craft Fair provided a number of surprises. Living in So. Deerfield I have the opportunity to attend often. So I recognize many of the vendors who are often in the same spots each year. But this year brought a number of new artisans with very impressive items. Right off the bus (they run shuttle buses from 2 parking lots in South Deerfield) we walked into the white church and found Susan Fine. Her shop is “Forbidden Fruit” and she makes the most incredible belt buckles I’ve ever seen. They’re made from clustered and arranged gemstone beads and chips—everything from turquoise to topaz. Next to her was “Idle Time Crafts” doing a booming business selling handcrafted wooden items—very American Country style pictures, shelves and plaques. I really wish I had more wall space in my kitchen because I fell in love with a great rooster painting. Outside on the street we stopped in at a booth of ceramic scarf slides and scarves. The gentleman there was such a salesman, engaging you as soon as you stop. The booth was filled with women trying on scarves in front of the mirror and matching them to slides in every color on the Sherwin Williams paint chart. Farther up the street was Sha-Sha Beads. Penny Despos is a favorite of ours. She wire wraps natural stones in unique ways attaching coordinating colored gems and crystals. She really needs a website. Both my daughters & I have several of her pendants and today I bought another one.

This summer’s fair had more people demonstrating their crafts than I’m used to seeing. They had a blacksmith in one area, a potter working his wheel, and a couple of jewelers doing some beading. Yankee Candle is a sponsor of the Deerfield Fairs and they had a candle dipping station set up that was perpetually busy. I saw a new food vendor, a woman from Florida with dried ingredients for corn chowder and shrimp scampi. We almost didn’t need lunch with all the sampling we did at the dip and jelly booths.

The most important bit of news, however, is that people were BUYING. Everywhere you looked people were carrying multiple bags and getting back on the bus was a major production. This is important because Deerfield runs 4 craft fairs a year; 1 every season. Two are indoors and 2 are outdoors and the cost to get in runs from $275 to over $600. So you really need to sell. But traffic at the summer fair runs from 9000 to 11000 people for the weekend even with a gate fee of $6. Any crafters interested , more info.

Sadly, Bethany and I didn’t see any Etsy people, at least no one advertising that they were with Etsy. We’re hoping to change that next year. The girls & I are planning to apply for the 2008 Christmas Sampler that Deerfield does at the Big E in Springfield. Wish us luck!