Encounters of the "I'm not so sure" Kind

I discovered a store in Brookside called Stuff recently, when out with a group of friends. My first impression upon entering the store was "wow, what a lot of stuff" :) I was overwhelmed by the multitude of products. Being involved in jewelry design, I of course browsed other jewelry desigers' products that were displayed. There was quite a selection...perhaps too much of one. It seemed the glass cases were overflowing with so many products, one artist sort of blended into the next. I had to search in most cases to find a tag or card that identified the artist.

While browsing, one of the employees commented on my jewelry I was wearing and I told her I made it. I wrote down my web store address for her on a scrap piece of paper, thinking "I still don't have business cards! I've got to get on that!" I thought about offering to sell her the piece off my neck, but did not because it seemed a bit tacky. Hopefully she will visit my shop and perhaps make a purchase :) It is always nice to get the positive feedback!

I met one of the shop's owners, who was obviously busy behind the counter. When I asked her if they did consignment, she replied, "Well, we don't discuss that in public." I thought that was a strange response. A simple yes or no would have answered my question, but I took the artist information packet anyway so I could have a look.

When I read through the artist requirements, one statement jumped out at me - "Our guidelines include regional exclusivity and one-on-one access to you, the artist." Whoa - that one made me do a double-take. To me this sounds like if you sell at their store, you don't sell at any other store within the same "region". Whether "region" refers to a one mile radius or a twenty mile radius, that sounds like a good deal for the store, not so much for the artist.

I did some more online research and discovered an article in the Kansas City Star http://www.kansascity.com/business/story/582832.html that discusses a local team of artists that sells recycled purses at Stuff. It states that the team gets 50% of the proceeds. I am assuming that means the store takes the other 50%. Again, sounds like a good deal for the store, not so much for the artist.

Needless to say, I don't think this store is for me as a seller. I doubt there would be a place for me with such an overabundance of products, not to mention talent. Oh, well, on to the next great adventure - tonight I am going to help paint the inside of Now and Then, where I currently sell on consignment (and receive an 80% cut, might I add - I even have my own dedicated display for my product - it doesn't get better than that!). Cheryl Hocker (the owner) is an awesome gal to work with!

New Pendants!

I am so excited about these new pendants! I am using recycled "play-doh" caps as the mold to create them. Some feature inspirational words and some feature glass beads. Creating the glass beads version is somewhat tedious, as each bead must be slowly positioned into the resin. This drives me nuts, but I love the way they are turning out! I will be listing more in my etsy shop soon, so stay tuned :)

The Mighty B

Many of you without young children may not have seen it yet, but oh, my gosh! My daughter saw the first episode of this new cartoon and is HOOKED. It was created by a Erik Wiese, a writer on Sponge Bob, Cynthia True from Fairly Odd Parents and Amy Poehler, from Saturday Night Live. Amy Poehler provides the voice for the main character, Bessie Higgenbottom, who is nine years old (she is missing her two front teeth and Poehler is great at inflicting that lisp you get without those teeth). Bessie is a honey bee scout and is attempting to win every scout award possible. When she faces obstacles in her everyday life, she imagines she is the "Mighty B", a really "buff" bee-like superhero (very humorous to watch).

Anyway, Sophia is hooked on it (it's nice to have her obsessing over something other than Sponge Bob) and asks me every day when the next one will come on...luckily tonight we remembered to tape the episode so she won't go into too much of a withdrawl between episodes :)