Wow, it’s been over two years since I last posted in this blog! I’ll do my best to be more consistent but we shall see how life works with that haha. In any case, much has happened with Sparkling Creations Jewelry in the past two years. I have start placing my jewelry on consignment in the Skyline Café near Massanutten Resort, a quaint eatery, which showcases the work of over twenty local artists/crafters. Possibly the biggest change has been that I have joined the Artisans Gallery in downtown Harrisonburg as a Member Artist. Despite these changes though, I am still participating in local crafts fairs/festivals in the Shenandoah Valley!
Last weekend, on October 5th, I participated in the Dayton Autumn Celebration, possibly one of the biggest fall festivals in the Shenandoah Valley. The small town of Dayton lies around three miles south of the city of Harrisonburg, where I live. It is a peaceful rural town, with many local business and several small galleries. However, on the first Saturday of every October, over 350 craft vendors and 75 food vendors descend upon Dayton, setting up their canopies and food trucks in the streets and meeting places there. Despite the large number of visitors, the vendors and townspeople of Dayton peacefully coexist on this big day. Some of the townspeople even offer access to their homes to plug in electrical cords or let them park closer to their booth. 2013 marks the second year that I have been accepted to this event and I must say out of the dozen craft venues that I participated in, it has to be my favorite.
Although the Dayton Autumn Celebration lasted from 8:30am to 4pm, due to the large number of craft vendors, I had to set up my booth at 6:30am. Yes 6:30am. Getting up early doesn’t bother me too much though and my dad woke up early to help me set up my tables and canopy. I had the same booth assignment as last year, which was strategically located near the food vendors! My vendor “neighbors” also stayed the same-a couple who sold handcrafted wooden lawn signs and a group of families, which had set up sand art activities for children. Below is my jewelry display layout. As you can tell, the sun was pretty brutal in the morning, but it definitely helped my jewelry be extra sparkly. :)
Although I do not know the exact number, tons of people came to this event, crowding the streets as early as 8:00am! The day was unusually hot for October, but not completely unbearable. My ever supportive and loving parents sat me for the day and helped out tremulously! I also saw many friends from my church (Aletheia Church) and several other acquaintances in the area. I sold a variety of jewelry pieces, but by far the most popular pieces were my copper bracelets. Below are a few pictures of the bracelets that various people purchased:
The festive atmosphere and friendliness of my fellow vendors and booth visitors made the day unfortunately pass by too quickly. Definitely looking forward to next year’s event!
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