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For those of you doing retail shows, here's a suggestion that worked wonders for me at my last show...

I made 2 pieces that were identical, fused one, and superglued the other together. Then when people started asking me "is this painted on, etc." I showed them the "before and after" pieces. I also started taking digital photos of my panels before they were fused (like the one Dick Ditore used on his maglesses) and sticking them on the backs of the panels. Then when people ask how was it made, I just turn it over and show them the photo. It made a world of difference in how my work was received, and because fusing is relatively new to most people in my neck of the woods, I think it helped people understand it a little better.

Now, if I could figure out a way to keep people from trying to scratch the dichro off of everything.....

This sounds like an excellent idea! I am definitely going to try this at my next craft fair. Thanks a bunch!

Cheers,
Suzan

kelly alge wrote: Now, if I could figure out a way to keep people from trying to scratch the dichro off of everything.....

....or asking if it's Friendly Plastic.... GEEZEEEEEEEEE can't they buy a vowel..... let's see.. Glass Orchids.... yeah we make stuff out of plastic.....

~N

this one guy thought that i had a piece of plastic, sprinkled it with glitter, then coated it with a lot of layers of polyurethane. he took 5 minutes to describe the whole process of what i did. he got really creative.

he was really, seriously, honestly surprised when he was wrong.

i mean, COME ON.

(ps i totally stole the check box idea - no, it's not plastic (it's glass), yes i made it, yes blah blah blah...makes everybody laugh. but then they still ask if it's plastic. oy. or if i say all necklaces come with the silver chain, i get a 'yeah no sh*t' look from ppl, but _every_ single time if i don't mention it comes with a chain ppl ask 'so does this come with a chain?' signage doesn't matter. i give up)

I can't help but laugh at these posts since I've had the same experiences in dealing with the public.

People don't read signs/tags often and when they do they're sometimes not even sure what they mean anyway. LOL.

Don't give up! Get used to it. Some of these incidents give you great stories to entertain family and friends with, like my barrette licking customer some years back. Whew! I still laugh when I think about that one.

Geri

I had a chocolate shop for years and I made and sold truffles which were then displayed in trays, each clearly labled with the flavor of the truffle, I had about 15 different flavors and a couple of times each day customers would come in and ask what EVERY flavor was. It was increadible. New employees were always stunned, wondering if the people were being serious or fooling with them. The whole back of the shop was a kitchen area, always in full opperation, and around every third customer would ask "so, where is this made?" It truly is amazing and requires patience and a smile.

In college I worked at an amusement park during the summers (Cedar Point in Ohio). We always joked that there must be a sign at the front of the park that read "Please deposit brains here", because we encountered the stupidest of stupid people on earth (as well as some of the most amusing) on a daily basis. I'm starting to think they must have a sign somewhere at a few of these shows I've been at lately also! I had a guy at one show that just couldn't get that you could melt a "real" bottle. He kept asking me what "it really was".... hmmmm. I told him finally that sometimes there is a lot of pressure in my studio and this is the result. He didn't ask me anything else.

I shrug when they ask about my "smashed" bottles and imply that the contents were so really, really, really good that I had to get the very last drop out.

Kinda the reverse of the joke about the blond who had hail damage to her car. She took it in to a body shop and the guy decided to have some fun..

He told her just to go home and blow into the tail pipe really hard, and
all the dents would pop out.

So, the blonde went home, got down on her hands and knees and started
blowing into her car's tailpipe. Nothing happened. She blew a little
harder, and still nothing happened.

Her roommate, another blonde, came home and said, "What are you doing?"

The first blonde told her how the repairman had instructed her to blow
into the tailpipe in order to get all the dents to pop out.

Her roommate rolled her eyes and said... "HELLLLOOOO. You gotta roll up the windows!!!!

hahahaha makes you want to have a brick wall near your stand

All of this is nothin special to people at art fairs. Ever go into a Best Buy? See all of those employees with Blue polo shirts with the yellow "Best Buy" price tag logo? Ask one how many times a day he or she is asked, "Do you work here?" The other thing they always did was attach an "s" to the end. My favorite joke while I worked there was to ask fellow employees if they worked at "Best Buys"?

I remember visiting a tourist lookout at a hydroelectric dam. There was a guest book with comments. One comment was "What do you do with the water after you take the electricity out?"

Cheers,

Bob

'did that hurt?'

no...it tickled. of course it &$#*@&( hurt!!!!!!

(re: my tattoos and plugs)

at LEAST once a day. people sometimes stop me in the street to ask me that. and it's not like a conversation develops from there, that's all they want to know.

that water and electricity comment tho is stellar.

peace
-l

I shrug when they ask about my "smashed" bottles and imply that the contents were so really, really, really good that I had to get the very last drop out.

When I first started melting bottles, my teenage daughters friends would ask how it was done, I would just say that I had a drinking problem and wanted to get every last drop and sucked it dry. I think some of them still think it's true I'm their HERO

GlassOrchid wrote:

kelly alge wrote: Now, if I could figure out a way to keep people from trying to scratch the dichro off of everything.....

....or asking if it's Friendly Plastic.... GEEZEEEEEEEEE can't they buy a vowel..... let's see.. Glass Orchids.... yeah we make stuff out of plastic.....

~N

yup, gotta love that one nan ;P and it is frequently prefaced with the INFAMOUS "did you make all this?" when one is at an ART/CRAFT show ;P the joys of the retail show circuit ;P

D

dee wrote:

GlassOrchid wrote:

kelly alge wrote: Now, if I could figure out a way to keep people from trying to scratch the dichro off of everything.....

....or asking if it's Friendly Plastic.... GEEZEEEEEEEEE can't they buy a vowel..... let's see.. Glass Orchids.... yeah we make stuff out of plastic.....

~N

yup, gotta love that one nan ;P and it is frequently prefaced with the INFAMOUS "did you make all this?" when one is at an ART/CRAFT show ;P the joys of the retail show circuit ;P

D

LOL. The first time someone asked me where my work was made, I mistakenly thought they were asking me where my studio was. So I said "San Jose". She then said, "Oh, this stuff is made in Mexico?"

DUH! I finally got it and explained that I actually make it myself in San Jose, CA.

Another favorite of mine is that people are always telling me my work looks like Venetian glass. I think they just want to tell me they've been to Venice before or something because I just don't see it. Whatever. I tell them how lucky they are to have been there to see it in person and hope that moves them along...Yikes!

Geri

LOL. The first time someone asked me where my work was made, I mistakenly thought they were asking me where my studio was. So I said "San Jose". She then said, "Oh, this stuff is made in Mexico?"

DUH! I finally got it and explained that I actually make it myself in San Jose, CA.

Another favorite of mine is that people are always telling me my work looks like Venetian glass. I think they just want to tell me they've been to Venice before or something because I just don't see it. Whatever. I tell them how lucky they are to have been there to see it in person and hope that moves them along...Yikes!

Geri[/quote]

hahahaha they have no clue do they? and yes, there are certain booth visitors one gets at these shows that you hope move quickly along to someone else ;P
D

Don't you love it when people come into your booth and tell everyone else there how your stuff was made? This weekend I had a guy come in and tell others he was with (loudly) that he knew all about this stuff and I used a furnace and dropped globs of glass onto TIN FOIL, then put a hook in it while it was WET.... AAAAAAGHGHGHH!

Other interesting but strange things I saw this weekend: A very happy 3 legged dog, a woman carrying a dog in a baby sling (with its back legs in the leg holes of the carrier) and a woman with a ferret around her neck- she was letting it lick the sides of her mouth as she ate...

kelly alge wrote:Don't you love it when people come into your booth and tell everyone else there how your stuff was made? This weekend I had a guy come in and tell others he was with (loudly) that he knew all about this stuff and I used a furnace and dropped globs of glass onto TIN FOIL, then put a hook in it while it was WET.... AAAAAAGHGHGHH!

ARGH! This is one I have a REALLY hard time letting go by. If I possibly can say something nicely, I'll do it to correct the misinformation, or in this case, Mr. Information. But sometimes you just have to listen and let it go. GGRRRRRRRR!

So what did you say? LOL. Or did you let it pass in quiet dignity?

Geri

So what did you say? LOL. Or did you let it pass in quiet dignity?

Geri[/quote]

I took a deep breath... then I showed them the super glued before/after pieces and told them that I did them in a kiln... the guy left pretty quickly, and there were a few ladies snickering quietly in the corner. They'd been in a booth with him down the way, where he was explaining raku firing...

On another note, I sounded like a drunk all afternoon on Sunday, as I had to take migraine medication in the morning that usually screws me up for the rest of the day... so here I am selling beer bottles, with slurred speech and fumbling around with my credit card slips... LOL Lucky for me I didn't fall out of my chair or throw up!

kelly alge wrote:So what did you say? LOL. Or did you let it pass in quiet dignity?

Geri

I took a deep breath... then I showed them the super glued before/after pieces and told them that I did them in a kiln... the guy left pretty quickly, and there were a few ladies snickering quietly in the corner. They'd been in a booth with him down the way, where he was explaining raku firing...

On another note, I sounded like a drunk all afternoon on Sunday, as I had to take migraine medication in the morning that usually screws me up for the rest of the day... so here I am selling beer bottles, with slurred speech and fumbling around with my credit card slips... LOL Lucky for me I didn't fall out of my chair or throw up![/quote]

Funny stories! Thanks for sharing them!

Geri