Shop Categories
Your Reviews
Read More
Trade Account Login
REGISTRATION
Art in the Pen here I come….
Art in the Pen here I come….
This year I have been more strategic w.r.t. the markets and events Joolzery is taking part in, and so I thought I would give Art in the Pen a go....
Decided to take a risk, do something new, try a new venue in a new market town.
Art in the Pen has been popping up in my Instagram feed at te beginning of the year, and I saw it as a bit of a sign, checked my diary, and that weekend was free, so there was no reason not to apply.
Jewellery is always an over subscribed craft especially with the the high calibre events, so when I was accepted and did a little happy dance inside and jig on the outside.
As the name suggests the art fair takes place in an animal auction mart within Skipton:
As I had months to prepare, I wasn't that worried about the event, and never gave the set up much thought, but I did talk to others who had done Art in the Pen and/or Craft in the Pen before, and I looked at what other stallholders did with their 2m x 2m space.
With all of these things I have no concept of space or size as I cannot visualise how ot works, until I actually see it, and then create my setup then.
With all these big shows its sparks my creativity, but between other commitements, delivery delays and procrastination, it always comes down to too much to do and not enough time.
Added to this, I wanted to get all my jewellery pieces that I wanted to launch hallmarked, so had to ensure all the sterling silver settings was finished the weekend before.
Looking to offer something completely different to the other jewellers at Art in the Pen, I decided to create a Druzy and a Asterism Collection, consisting of rings and pendants.
Everything was going to plan, until it came to the hallmarking, which was sent on Monday, for next day service, but unfortunately I was sitting around waiting for its return, Friday morning.
The car was packed the night before, Crossiants was ordered and ready from pick up from The Wild Loaf, and I planned on get to the Skipton Auction Mart for 2pm, to begin setting up.
Unfortunately for me, those timescales went out the window, and I didn't leave Liverpool until after 3:30pm, arriving at the venue at 5:45pm.
Not much time to set up my space, as we had until 7pm.
Arriving, finding my pen, and unloading took a bit of time, and I began to feel a little bit under pressure:
Joolzery space in Art in the Pen
I have to say this is the first time I didn't know what to do with the space.
Checking out what others had done, half of me didn't want to drape the pen, As I liked the idea of showing the jewellery in situ, as if to say, my pieces are so versatile they can be worn anywhere, but I buckled and went with the flow.
I had planned to get some muslim to drape around the pen, but felt it would look too clinical, and put on the back burner, until I completely forgot about it.
Luckily for me I always have an extra long sheet of material and I carry zip ties, and proceeded to drape the pen, only to hear, 10 minutes to go!!!
Not completely happy with the drapping, I decided, to leave it and concentrate on getting the tables assembled and positioned within the pen, before almost getting locked in!!!
Nothing like a shower, or 2, and a good nights sleep to sort out the dliemna of how to make the pen look professional.
Super early start and with only 50 minutes to turn a disaster area into something presentable, although I wasn't 100% happy with the draping, I concentrated on putting my display together.
With the door opened promptly at 9am, I was 95% done with my set up.
Luckily with the venue being so big, and with Joolzery being a new comer, there wasn't a rush to my stand so it gave me some valuable extra time to add the finishing touches.
As expected the Fordite garnered a lot of interest, and customers love the story behind this upcycled waste material, a few customers were aware of what this material was, but had never seen it up close and personal.
I gave the Druzy and asterism collections prominent positions on the healing crystals stand, with the rings receiving a lot of attention, and this stunning Druzy Azurite in Quartz pendant was a show stopper!
As this was my first Art in the Pen, and to be honest with you most of the bigger events have been under performing this year, so I didn't have high expectations.
Sales was slow to start, but I was pleasantly surprised as it was mainly the bigger pieces of jewellery, rings and pendants, that were selling, along with the selection of healing stone cabochons that I had brought, but when receiving them, I wasn't feeling it. After all I think you can only get th best out of the designs if you love the stone that you're working with.
The second day, as I had less to do, I decided to checkout what the other stalls had to offer, and it was at this point that I realised how big this event really was and was totally blown away by the calibre and talent of my fellow artists, crafters and makers.
In that short space of time I was only about to see 75% of the stalls, before the show opened at 10am.
By 3:30pm the show was beginning to wind down w.r.t. customers, and I was looking forward to a slow breakdown, loading up the car, and a 2 hour leisurely drive home.
With these things I am usually the last one to leave, partly because I have to put all the jewellery in their individual bags, but also I find that when it comes to car space, you're better off being one of the first or last to leave, being one of the first to leave with my setup is never gonna happen so I might as well chill, take my time, as we had until 7pm to vacate the premises.
At 15:58 my phone rings, and I notice it's an old, as in long time, friend ringing, granted it's not the best time as I'm jut about to start breaking down the stand, but I'm thinking no worries I can multitask, and answer, to the question where are you?
Which I thought was a bit of a strange question to ask, as I had told her months ago, where I would be an maybe we could make it a bit of a mini break.
Whilst talking to her I walked into the aisle only to see her walking down it, she'd decided to surprise me instead of doing her housework!!!
Taking this in my stride meant that the jewellery bagging was done in half the time, and I was able to go and collect the car, whilst she broke down one of the tables.
Loading the car was quicker, although somehow, things didn't fit in quite as well as when I packed the car on Thursday night, but everything was in, before we headed off to find something to eat and catch up.
We found a random pub to stop on the A59, with a lively atmosphere before departing our separate ways.
Returning home at 10:48pm, happy, full, tired and everything aching, I managed to park up the car, but decided not to unload it until the next day.
I all in all Art in the Pen, although hard work was totally worth it.
Would I do it again?
Absolutely, assuming I'm selected again next year.
A number of customers suggested that I do Craft in the Pen too, as it's a bigger event, unfortunately it usually clashes with Pop up in the Palmhouse, but I might do it in 2025, so watch this space!!!!
Joolz xxx
0 Comments
