I’ve spent the last year looking forward to the Art in the Orchard festival. This year it will be held July 10-12, 2025 in the big field next to Way’s Fruit Farm on Rt. 550, just past Stormstown, PA. This is the same weekend as the Central PA Festival of the Arts in State College and the People’s Choice Festival at the Grange Fairgrounds in Centre Hall. Busy weekend for all.
Last year was quite a learning experience for me. Being a vendor is so different than just visiting an arts festival. I discovered how complicated it was to set up a booth, display my stuff and interact with the public for several days. Thank goodness I was with my friend Toni, who had done this before. She had the tent, the tables and the know-how to set everything up. Here was my display last year:
This whole year, my focus was on building my inventory of bracelets to sell. With just two weeks to go, I’ve had to stop making bracelets and figure out how to display things. I also knew I needed new business cards, some kind of sign and my own table with a cover. I would be providing the 10×10 tent and we just ordered the side walls. Next, we need to figure out how to assemble it ourselves.
I’ve been trying to make own business cards, but it’s been hard to design what I want with a Word program and card template. (I sure do miss PageMaker!). My original idea was this:
I couldn’t get the “beads” to center properly and I wanted a line to be the “string” holding them together. I could not get the circles to travel together!
I finally went to the printer and ordered cards…and tried to explain my issues with the program. This is what I ended up with:
Not quite what I had in mind…but I had 200 printed. I’ll revise for next year!
Of course, the vinyl sign I ordered matches the new card:
So now it’s time to assemble my display. (First, Bert had to show me how to open up the folding table!) The cover obviously needs to be ironed!
Last year I used baskets to hold each size bracelet:
This year that won’t work…I have too many bracelets!
I also need to figure out how to hang the sign…it kept falling off! The regular bracelets are on the right, and they will the closest to the visitors passing by. We’ll see how long they stay neat and organized! They will be $10 each and come in three sizes: 7″, 7 1/2″ and 8″.
On the left side of the table will be my specialty bracelets. They will be more expensive ($20) and also come in three sizes. There aren’t as many bracelets… 15 different topics from “Ease Arthritis Symptoms” to “Headaches and Migraines” to “Supporting Weight Loss.” They have become very popular but they use several beads together and have a print out of what each stone contributes to the Intention.
On the back of my card, that is included with each bracelet, is this disclaimer:
When it says “Bracelet with Intention” it means when I make the bracelet I’m thinking about how it might help you, and the beads themselves hold meaning. It is not a medical device but it can help you focus your mind to help with the intention.
Finally, I’m trying to get better at taking some pictures that look a little more interesting. I’d like to make a booklet of the various specialty bracelets I’ve made. Luckily, when I first started learning about the stones themselves I collected a variety that I can now use in setting up some pictures. I’m not sure I need to have more stones. I’ll have to worry about this project after the festival!
Most of my bracelets are made with 6mm beads. I’m now getting more requests from guys (my grandson Ben, age 18, is often asking for a bracelet to help with a specific thing, like clarity and focus when he starts Penn State this fall.) So, I’ve started adding larger beads (8mm) to my supplies. Geez…it’s starting to add up! Not a cheap hobby, but so rewarding.
I did have a question from a friend…did I make necklaces? So far…no. But I thought I’d give it a try to see if my elastic was strong enough to handle a necklace of 6mm beads. I made a necklace of a repeating pattern of chakra stones and then made a matching bracelet:
It looked pretty, but was it comfortable?
It was more comfortable that I expected but I had to use over 75 beads…enough for 4 bracelets! Maybe if I had enough of the 4mm beads it would be worth it, but for now I think I’ll skip necklaces! If you’d like to see more of my bracelets, come find me at the Art in Orchard festival July 10-12, 2025! If you have questions or comments about this post, please just email me directly: maryjkisner@gmail.com.