20/01/2026
Hello all! I want to start off my saying thank you to everyone who has supported me these past five years. Each of you is truly a friend to me and no matter how you have supported me, it is all loved and grand and I cannot thank each of you enough.
I want to let you all in on my dark secret- I'm no longer doing shows to sell my jewelry in 2026. It was a very tough decision, and was made pretty early in 2025, but it was a necessary step. I've never gone in the black with my business. In reality it was a self funded hobby. But this hobby turned into a huge amount of disappointments when going to shows I expected to do good at and come away in the hole. The market just isn't there at craft shows anymore. Too many "I just don't wear jewelry" and a lot of "I have too much, I can't buy more". Jewelry is too over saturated in the market to be a viable business opportunity right now. The climate of our economy also isn't helping. Less disposable income means less sales. It has been five years of watching too many people say my stuff is beautiful, but walking away. Perhaps I'm not the best seller in the world. Maybe my jewelry just wasn't good enough. Or I wasn't at the right shows. I tried all kinds-vendor shows, festivals, craft fairs, wine and beer fests... no matter the kind of show, it always ended the same, me not making enough money to cover my costs. Shows are increasing their table costs. And the unknown factor of weather could take a good show and utterly destroy it, along with my stuff and supplies.
There is also a secondary reason I am choosing to quit shows and it's a very personal one. I am physically having issues with making the jewelry. I have essential tremor which causes tremors in my hands. I take a high dose of a medication to help, but it never gets rid of the tremors. Trying to thread tiny beads onto thin wires and coiling wires has become exceptionally hard to do in bulk. Making a lot of jewelry in a short period of time between shows two, three even four weekends in a row was taxing. I ruin things frequently or drop as much as I add. Its frustrating and exhausting.
But- this isn't the total end. As of now I am maintaining my Etsy store, so you can find my jewelry there. The sales currently are much more manageable. But, I'm not making money on this.
I'm also not giving up on shows all together. I'm pivoting (PIVOT!) to a new idea and many of you know about this already; I'm delving into the world of being an author. I've already published one book (The Blue Road Home on Amazon), and hope to have my second one out before the end of spring this year. I will be doing a small handful of my best shows, mostly in the fall and winter selling my books and a few minor accessories. I have only one show currently booked- the Glen Burnie Winter Show which is always the first weekend of December. This is not to get sales to make money, but to get my name out there. I did enjoy doing many of the shows, particularly ones where I didn't need my tent, but hauling in tons of stuff, setting up, selling, and tear down was just too taxing on my body. This will streamline this process.
Again, thank you all, especially if you read all of this giant post. I'm not done- but change is inevitable and this is my big change. I hope all of you continue to support me in the future.
-Kelly (Vek)
