Too many shows on the same weekend !

Well last weekend, 9-17 & 18, my sister and I did the Sandy Spring Festival. And that same weekend is the Atlanta Arts Festival in Piedmont Park and The Roswell Art Festival in the square in Roswell. I my opinion, this economy cannot sustain 3 big art shows on the same weekend. 4 years ago we were at the Roswell Arts Festival and easily did over 10 times our booth fee. Those days are gone, but I pray they will be back soon. Until then, I really wish the promoters of art show would consider what other festivals are happening , before scheduling theirs. Splash Festivals is one of the BEST art show promoters in the southeast and you can bet they check the calender first. Well if you did one of the shows this past weekend and what to share your thoughts, please do so.
Until next time.........we give the Sandy Springs Festival 1.5 thumbs up !

It's been a YEAR ??

Yeah, It has been a year since I blogged. Why do I find it so hard to just write a little something everyday, or week or even every month in my blog ? I don't know. But I am writing in it today.
Our 2010 shows were ok, some were better than others and some really were bad.
So this year, we are cutting back, just doing the ones we know we do pretty good at. And with gas prices going up, can you believe $3.40 per gallon.....sheesh...

We will see us at the nbew Jasper Art Festival , April 16th and 17th, and of course we will be at the 2nd annual Dunwoody Arts Festival Mother's Day weekend, May 7th and 8th.
So come out and see us at the festivals !!

And check out our web sites and etsy shop at
http://www.dkdesigns.biz
http://www.daughterdogbeads.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/dkdesignsbiz
http://www.etsy.com/shop/daughterdogbeads
http://www.etsy.com/shop/steampunksisters

Our Shows for 2010

Well we have submitted all of our applications for the shows we would like to do for 2010.
Can you guess how many ?? 20 shows, wow I am tired already !!! Just kidding. We are very excited and looking forward to a very profitable 2010. This is OUR YEAR !!! Come out to the shows and support us !

So to keep up with us and were we will be, Please go to my web site and sign up for the newsletter updates !

http://www.dkdesigns.biz/

Oh and I almost forgot !!! You need to join my NEW Bead of the Month Club !
You will get Fabulous Beads at Fabulous Prices !! Don't miss out of this !

The First 5 members to sign up will get a FREE set of beads ! A value of $30.00 !

http://www.dkdesigns.biz/bead_of_the_month.php

We'll be in Peachtree City this coming Saturday at the Buy - Design Jewelry Show

http://www.dkdesigns.biz/shows.php

See you at the shows !!
Diane

Long time no blog....i'm a bad girl....

Well I had promised to blog more but life just happened. On 9-21-09 my studio flooded with 3 feet of water. It was a nightmare. But thanks to all of my friends, fellow artists, family and customers, we survived and I am back up and running.

check out the pictures http://www.flickr.com/photos/dkdesignsbiz/

Happy New Year and I promise to do better at blogging this year !

Chapter 4 - The Yellow Dirty Festival - The final chapter

The sales for Saturday and Sunday were less than desirable, They had no idea how anyone other than the guy that sold the weather vains made any money, cause the girls sure as s*&t did not.

So many artists had told them in previous years they had made enough dollars to buy a newer car....yeah right....maybe a car without an engine.

The dismantle was no fun, they try to laugh, but as they removed the jewelry from the display the lines it left from the dirt was UNBELIEVABLE !!! You can not begin to imagine just how dirty everything got. And NO OTHER ARTISTS had EVER mentioned this, and they could only guess that those artists had made so much money that the dirt did not matter. HMMMM.....they sure did not....sad

So as they were packing everything up and trying to avoid packing grand daddy long leg spiders in the bins, one of the girls got stung in the crouch area by a nasty bee and then she wet herself and was screaming and leaping around. One of the other girls ran around to get a cigarette for the tobacco to put on the sting.

Now it is starting to get dark and even though they had lights, they had to turn them off so that they could cool off to be packed and so they clipped 2 lights to the chairs to finish packing up.

Then after cramming 2 vans with their displays, tents and merchandise. It was time to get the last 2 lights and extension cords. It was around 9:30pm , so they turned on one of the vehicles headlights and drew straws to see WHO would turn off the lights.

You see there where hundreds of bugs swarming around the lights....yes hundreds.

So, I hope that you have enjoyed this little story and that if you have ever wanted to do the Yellow Daisy Festival, you have been warned !

P.S. The festival is well organized and the people who volunteer are GREAT !!!
Also we met The Negron family who supplied the festival with 3 VERY NICE bathroom trailers.
These were wonderful, clean, attended and had A/C, running hot and cold water, soap and music !!! Thank you PORTA TOILETS OF ROME !!!!! WE LOVE YOU !!!
Oh and thank goodness for the BEER tent !!

The girls welcome all and any comments !

The Yellow Dirty Festival - Chapter 3

So in anticipation of a busy Friday, the girls arrive early to be ready for the crowds. Thursday had been so busy.....but as the day went on they crowds were not as they had expected and they notice that there seemed to be a lot of dirt accumulating on there displays.....Later that night as they were home they noticed blowing their noses....it was black !!!! They had never had Black Boogers !!! So you can just imagine how much dirt was in their booth, on their displays and on their jewelry !!! They were not very happy. But they were excited and looking for a GREAT saturday and sunday !.....right

Chapter 2 - Yellow Dirty Festival

The girls were so excited that they got there at 8am the next morning. Ready for the crowds of people to come and buy their creations. Even though the ants were marching in their booth and the grand daddy long legs spiders were there too, they did have a good amount of customers shopping the first day of the show.

Other artists seemed to enjoyed the unusual crowd of people, shopping and buying.

It was a good first day !!!

A Story - The Yellow Dirty Festival.........

Chapter 1

This is the story of 4 girls that set out to do the Yellow Dirty Festival. They had worked so hard all summer long. Creating new jewelry designs, making new beads to go into their designs. They were so excited as it got closer to the day of the set-up for the show.

That day finally came and they went out into the woods to set up their exhibit and jewelry for this great 4 day show. They took 2 long days to set everything up , just so it was perfect and everything looked great! One of the girls drove 45 minutes one way to get to the show, so she had to get up even earlier then the other ones, and also got home much later than the others.

But that did not matter as they were all very excited. They had heard from many other artists that this was the BIGGEST, BEST and most PROFITABLE show. In fact some artists called it the " New Car Show", meaning that you could make enough to purchase a new car. Hmmm.....

Chapter 2 .... tomorrow, check back then.....

2nd Annual Art-B-Que - Avondale, GA

Well I have to say that this was one of the BEST new Art shows of the past 5 years ! Bart Webb, of Bart Webb Studios, put on an rockin art show ! It was held in Avondale off of East College and North Avondale. Over 60 Artists lined the streets of Franklin and Pine. There was music, BBQ and beer. I believe that most of the artists did very well today.



Bart had the help of the city of Avondale with promoting the show, and it was a winner. Advertising is the key to any successfull show, and this was proven today.



We'll be back next year ! Thanks again Bart for a GREAT show !!!

Spring Art & Craft Shows

Well, it is spring, almost feels like summer. We have done a few shows already and some have been good, others not so good. Conyers Cherry Blossom Festival, March 28 & 29th, the last weekend of March. The weather is always unpredictable and we will NEVER do a show on this weekend, that is outside, ever again.

Lemonade Days in Dunwoody, April 17 & 18th, was pretty good. They lined us up on the mail street leading down to the amusements and I believe this helped with more sales. Weather was ok.

Inman Park Festival, April 25 & 26th, was our best Inman Park. We had a new spot on Hurt Street, and with our new display, that my wonderful sister Donna Myrick designed and build, was a show stopper and we had pretty good sales. And thanks to our neighbors for the FREE carpet !!

We will be at Roswell Square this coming weekend for the Colors of Arts Festival. Come out and see out new display and buy your Mother and nice handmade gift.

Hope to see you at one of ours shows !
Diane

I'm a bad, bad blogger

Well I promised that I would blog at least 3 days a week, way back in March and here it is May.
So I have decided to set my home page as my blog, so that I will have to blog more often. I have lots of stuff to blog about, but I just put it off, thinking I am way to busy to do it.

So, I am going to do better. Blog about shows I do, classes I teach, contest/challenge I enter.
But for tonight, this is it. I really need to list my van on Craig's list. The transmission died in it and I need to sell what is left of it. Yes, Bill and I are working with one car......hopefully I will be able to get a newer vehicle in a month or so.

Night Peeps !

The Pineapple Bead

Well I think that I might just be hooked on doing sculptural beads. I have a wonderful customer/student that requested a pineapple bead, and the pineapple means "Welcome".

So, for all of your South Carolinians, I will have these available on my etsy shop soon.

http://www.dkovach.etsy.com

Yummy, I think all this talk about pineapple has made me hungry.

So, have a great evening !!!

Diane

Check out my beads !!!

Here are my beads that I created this past weekend in Marcy Lamberson's Sculptural bead class.http://www.flickr.com/photos/24197544@N03/

This class was great !!

Marcy will be teaching at the Gathering this coming July. for more info go to her website
http://www.studiomarcy.com

Happy Beading !!!
Diane

Wow - What a GREAT weekend !!!

I just finished a 2 day glass bead making class with Marcy Lamberson on how to make sculptural beads and it was the most fun I have ever had making beads !!! Marcy, Thank you so much !!
I will post some pictures of what I made later this week.

I am also making a commitment to BLOG 3 DAYS PER WEEK ! Yes, I will post a new blog 3 times each week. Starting today, February 22, 2009.

In Marcy Class we created the cutest creatures, I really can't believe I made them ! My favorite was making Hair Cane. It is really pretty easy and you can do so much with it. From using it for person hair , Lion hair and dog hair too. I will pick up the rest of my beads tomorrow and get pictures to post on my new blog entry for this week.

Well my wonderful husband has just place a warm cup of his homemade lemon chicken soup in front of me. So I have to go now. More in a day or two, I promise !!!
Happy Beading !!
Diane

http://www.dkovach.etsy.com

A New President

Well, I am pretty excited that old George is out of the white house and that we have a new president. I am excited to see what he can do to un-frick the mess that George made and get us back on the right track. Which to me is a thriving, prosperous, economy. Where people make money and spend money. Also to spend our tax dollars on education, health care and creating jobs, instead of the war, and bailing out banks. Don't the banks make enough money on us as it is ? So, I am looking to the future, with hope that we can change. Yes we can !

The beginning of a GREAT year 2009

Hello everyone !!
Happy New Year !!!!!

Well we are gearing up for a great year of profitable shows. Remember that the early bird gets the worm. You need to get your applications, checks and photos into the shows you want to do this year NOW. Don't wait til just before the deadline as that will be to late. Especially if you do jewelry. That is the biggest category in most shows and they usually jury that category first.

If you would like to find out about shows in the SE area, please join my "Fellow Artist" email list.
Just email me at diane@dkdesigns.biz and let me know that you need the 411 on shows.

Well I am off to my studio, time to make the beads as I will be at the Atlanta Gem Expo: Jewelry & Bead Show this coming weekend - The 1st bead show of 2009 !! for more info on the show and directions go to : http://www.americangemexpo.com/beadshows-list.htm

Happy Beading !!
Diane

Holiday Fair in Greenville, SC

Well, I am a little late in writing this post, but it took me a little bit to get out of that long 2 week holiday. My sister and I did the Holiday Fair show in Greenville, SC , December 3, 4 and 5th.
This show has been held for over 30 years, so one would think that it is a good show. Well don't think anymore. I am learning that it does not matter how many years a show has been held, what matters is that it is ADVERTISED well. This show should be changed to a big Flea Market.
We applied to be in the handmade section and just on our aisle there were many "made in china" items, not to mention the other half of the convention center full of stuff like "WOW SHAMMYS", steering wheel covers, jewelry from the mart, junk and crap.
Needless to say, this was the 2nd worst show we have ever done. With the booth fee of $300.00 and the electrical of $65.00 and then the sales tax license fee of $20.00, and out travel expenses. We would have done better staying in Atlanta and doing the Sugarloaf festival.
Live and Learn ! This year 2009 WILL be a better year.

ICE Holiday Spectacular

Well the show was Saturday and I have decided that I really don't create and "Indie" type craft. My friend Sharon did very well at the show and she does produce and "Indie" craft. I did have a great time at the show, met new artists and saw a couple of my friends. As far as reviewing the show, the lighting was horrible. I am guessing that the show promoters must have seen the building on a very sunny day, which with the tall windows does let in a lot of light, but yesterday was mostly gloomy out.
All in all I am glad I did the show, Sharon and I have a lot of fun together.

Marist and The Down The Street Bead show

Well, it has been a long 2 weeks. Marist was last Saturday, November the 1st. It was a very good show, considering the Georgia/Florida game started at 3:00pm. Much improved sales from last year.

Just finished the Down the Street Bead show this weekend, 5 days after we have elected a new president, and a very historical moment in history. The news is speaking about a recession. What recession ? The bead show was great. Thank you for your support. We are very blessed.

We have 3 more shows for the Fall season and then we can rest and enjoy a very blessed Holiday season.

I need to relax, rest and sleep for about 10 hours.

Diane's Fall Fesitval Review

That's right I am going to give you my honest, and maybe not so fair Fall Festival review.

We have just finished show number 7 of 13, and it was a terrible show. We were at Avondale Autumn Festival this past weekend and I have to say that it was not advertised enough and there were NO signs leading into the neighborhood where the festival was held. Some of the people, the few that came, had mentioned to me in talking that they really had a hard time finding the festival. What could have been a good festival had the promoters done their job, which is to MARKET THE SHOW, we might have had a good weekend and entertained the thought of returning next year. Ladies, you really need to do a better job. Diane's FF Review gives this show a 5 thumbs DOWN !!!

Last weekend we were in Lookout Mountain Tenn, at the Ketner's mill show. Not bad for a country festival, but not really good enough since we had to travel. Good crowds, well advertised. Great mountain views, CLEAN air, cool temperatures, and a great meal on Sunday at the festival of Beans, Greens and a piece of cornbread !!! Diane's FF Review gives this show 4 thumbs UP !!!!

The weekend of October 11 & 12, we were at the Brookhaven Arts Festival. We have done this show since it's inception, 5 years ago. It started out as a one day show, all art, all handmade, NO buy/sell, Thank you Gretchen ! Last year our sales were down from the year before, in fact it was our best show, sales wise for 2 years in a row, but last years sales started to decline, and this year even more. My thoughts are more advertising is needed, promotion of the artists, not just the festival as a whole. Gretchen Roberts, you do a great job and I will wait until after November to apply, as I know that the fees will go up an additional $25.00 to help cover the cost of more advertising. Diane's FF Review gives this show 4 thumbs UP !!

October 4&5, had us at the WORLD FAMOUS Norcross Art Festival. This is the BEST show in the metro area, hands down ! Frances Schube puts on a fabulous festival. She has the entire communities volunteers help with everything from checking in to unloading your vehicle, to passing out FREE bottle water, to manning a air-conditioned hospitality center with a REAL bathroom. Our sale have been THE BEST 2 years running at this show. This was our 5th year at Norcross, and we'll be these again on 09. Thank you Frances for all of your hard work and marketing of this show. Did you know that Frances had CNN at the festival interviewing artists and have 2 TV commercial 2 days before the show. Great Job Frances !!! Diane's FF Review gives this show 5 thumbs UP !!!!

Well I hope that my thoughts are helpful to my fellow artists and that you can use this to help in getting your 2009 show schedule planned.

Please follow my blog for more festival information !!