If you are in this for the long run crafters insurance is a must, it is very reasonable. For the first two years, my shows were mostly flea markets and very tiny festivals. After I started working the larger shows I witnessed quite a few accidents. (EXAMPLES: A complete lighting system fell down on top of a customer and they had to be rushed to the hospital. A tent blew away in the wind and crashed into a booth selling pottery. Everything in the booth was destroyed and the owner injured. A customer leaned on a glass display case and shattered it, cutting herself severely.

Once you create a work it is copyrighted from the time of creation and YOU CAN NEVER LOSE IT! Now, if you are going to be able to protect it from someone who steals it, well, that’s another question!

I would only copyright a jewelry design if it was sure to go worldwide. Or some type of jewelry media such as a book, a pamphlet, a tutorial, a video, a dvd or something that will have mass appeal.

I have made thousands and thousands of pieces of jewelry and all I have copyrighted is one design and my dvds, videos and ebooks.

Orders with different bill to and ship to addresses

We recently received two orders using stolen credit cards. Fortunately, they were small orders. If we had investigated these orders, we would not have fulfilled them. Our rule of thumb is not to ship this type of order unless the party is reached by telephone. If we had called the telephone numbers on these two orders, we would have discovered that they were disconnected or belonged to someone who was not even involved with the purchase.

Today people or I should say SCAM ARTIST are sending out massive amounts of e mail and asking for out and out donations for:

* There little girl in an iron lung
* Cancer patients
* PTA functions
* Aids victims

But before you send any hard earned cash ask them for there 501 C3. This is a license from the good old U.S.A. giving them permission to be a non profit organization. If they can’t send you this not only will you waste your money but you cannot even deduct it as a charitable contribution unless they have a 501 C3. Don’t get caught short. Know who you’re doing business with and always be cautious of companies courting you. Once you write a check and it is cashed you have no recourse. You have 30 days with a Pay Pal payment and more time with a credit card payment. Any company that does not take Pay Pal or credit cards are not really in business they have something to hide usually.

If you’re working a show and have some valuable pieces and have an opportunity to store them into “THE VAULT” (usually a room set off with a guard for storing jewelry), then you should do so by all means. It usually costs about $25 for a vault fee. But it’s well worth it if it helps you sleep easier at night.

If a vault is not available, you might want to consider taking your tools, wire and jewelry with you at night. And by all means, don’t leave them in your trunk unattended at night. I can’t tell you how many people have been wiped out by thieves stealing their jewelry from their car trunk and even stealing the whole car to get the jewelry.

Shoplifting is the most common form of theft and it can easily be prevented by keeping most of your more expensive pieces under glass. Most shoplifters don’t look like thieves. They look like your grandmother, grandfather, brother, sister, etc. Usually they wear baggy clothing, a coat, a big purse, shopping bags, etc. The most vulnerable time for you is when you are breaking down and setting up so be cautious when breaking down for the evening and don’t try to sell to a customer and break down at the same time. It will cause problems most of the time and that’s why the pros do it.