You really need to do some festivals. Some set up fees are very expensive, but some are really cheap (some even free).

A friend and I also make jewelry and did festivals all summer a couple years ago. It is a lot of work, but we also had a blast and made some money in the process!!

From my experience doing these festivals, attendees (for the most part) are looking for unique, hand crafted, good quality items. I say this because I, too, feared that setting up at festivals would some how make my top-notch jewelry seem less than that. But it was just the opposite, festival shoppers are generally looking for items that they cant find anywhere else, which is exactly the image I was wanting!!

We also had a sign up at our tables for individuals to get on our e-mail list and business cards with our web-site info. I would say 8 out of every 10 people who purchased at the festivals, made future purchases on the web site; and probably 4 out of every 10 individuals who didnt make a purchase but signed up e-mail, became on-line customers. That may not sound like huge numbers (although I think they are pretty good), but when you consider some festivals have thousands of attendees, it can really be a great way to get your name out there, and start "branding" your jewelry.

Unfortunately I lost my jewelry partner to another vocation, so I am not doing it right now. But it really worked for us at the time. Good luck to you!!!

P.S.--where in VA? I am in VA!! need a partner? :)