World Card Making Day….

is next weekend! I am so excited. I have so many ideas for new crafts and cards for my show. I know that there is a day for everything, but I love this day! I can dedicate a whole day to crafting without feeling too guilty because after all, that’s what the day is meant for.

I probably won’t be just working on cards. I have my goddaughter’s scrapbook to work on, as well as her sister’s first year book. Then, I have to start working on the twin’s books. I have pictures printed out for three of the four books, so at least I am a head on that one!

And then there are the craft fairs. I have one on November 1st and the other on November 22nd. I am very excited about both of them. The second one is one that I have done for two years now and I love it. It’s a great show – very well run with amazing people. The first one is a new one for me, but it is also at a school. I seem to do really well at school craft fairs. People there come to buy. Last year I remember there being a line at ten of nine to get into the craft fair! It was a constant stream of customers. I am hoping that the first craft fair will be the same way. I just got my confirmation for that one and I got a corner spot! Love corner spots because that means you can make an “L” and still have room!

Well, I am off to make more things! My To-Do-List keeps getting longer each day it seems. Off to make cards, scrapbooks and bags for the craft fair!

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Michele

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Beginning of Craft Show Season

Well, it’s that time of year again. Once September hits, it’s the start of a new season – craft show time! It seems that every town around here has a show between September and December. Which is great because it means that there are many opportunities to make money. However, it also means that consumers have tons of shows to choose from – great for them, maybe not so great for vendors?

I recently did a show called the FAF – Fall Arts Festival in Woodbury, NJ. I was excited because last year, this event was my first craft show. This year, they decided to extend it to a two-day show. I excitedly applied and was devastated to learn that I had been rejected. Unsure of why, I began to tell my other crafty friends. I heard lots of theories, but nothing definitive. One of my friends spoke to someone at the FAF and the next thing I knew, I got an email that they “reconsidered” my application. However, it seemed like they were doing me a favor. I should’ve taken that as a sign to not do it.

The first day came and I went to go get my spot. I was disappointed to learn that I was on a side street because I heard the vendors that were put there last year complain. I then saw my friend and she also told me that she was on the side street. Sales were extremely slow. I was put next to an empty spot, which was nice because I had more space. However, due to lack of sales on the first day, the second day was worse. There were FOUR empty spots next to me to the right, one vendor to the left and then two more empty next to hers. Right after that was a traveling “play” that would perform every hour at the exact same time as the band at the top of the street began their set. The poorly timed music competition was distracting to customers. You couldn’t hear what they were saying and the crowd often drifted out of tents to go see what was going on.

Needless to say, this was not a good show for me. I didn’t make my booth fee back – in fact, I lost a lot of money. I think that this year they catered to the food vendors and not the crafters. I wrote to them to tell them what I thought and some suggestions and they responded with a nice enough email. However, I don’t think I will be doing that show again.

I am looking forward to doing the show at my high school next month. I did really well there last year and this year I will have my sister to help. She is making deco mesh wreaths and I did sell 4 out of the 6 she gave me at the last craft show. I am hoping that this show will make up for the disappointing show I had in September.

With so many shows coming up, I hope that consumers aren’t craft-showed out! I hope that these next two that I am doing are going to be well attended. It’s closer to the holidays and I think that’s the key. This one show is the Saturday before Thanksgiving so people are getting ready to shop!

What do you think? Are you ever tired of shopping at craft shows? Is there now a craft show overload?

Let me know what you think! Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to leave a comment or question and subscribe!

Michele

Finally!

I finally managed to pick a new logo for my business cards and banner. Last night I ordered them, along with 250 double-sided post cards for around $60. I was so happy. I have been spending the better part of the year looking for logos, banners, business cards, etc and nothing looked right.

Then I found it! I think it was a new design that was recently added because I’ve scoured their site and haven’t seen it. Unless the reason I didn’t see it was because it wasn’t something I was looking for. At all!

I thought I wanted something with blue or purple in it, so I think I ignored most of the other designs. I was looking for something with an artsy feel – a scrapbook, paper, brush, paint. But that is NOT what I ended up with!

My design is very classic – black and white with a touch of hot pink for a little bit of modernness. The banner has a light grey and white stripe on it, which I am okay with. I thought I wanted to keep it to three colors, but I do like the added color.

I was even able to add QR codes to my banner and business cards! I am so glad I thought of it because the one thing I did forget was my email address. DUH! How could I be so dumb to forget that???!! But, they can always contact me through my Etsy account. So, not all is lost.

Here is a link to the banner: http://www.vistaprint.com/share-design.aspx?doc_id=2591704296&shopper_id=DPIEPJLLU2W7W313TWITKETWWKOOTE1M&xnav=sharesource_2&share_key=58bad274-e495-4495-b231-18db8cf8d3ce&GP=6%2f24%2f2013+11%3a48%3a44+AM&GPS=2877452594&GNF=1

Also, Vistaprint is offering a great deal – $50 off a $100 order! I got 1500 business cards, 250 postcards and my banner for about $50. (They get you with shipping, but if you do the $50 off instead of the $15 off $50, it works out to be a pretty decent deal!) The offer is only good until the 28th. They always have deals though!!

Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to leave a comment or question and subscribe!

Michele

Craft Fairs

Lately, almost all my projects have been in preparation for my upcoming craft fairs. When I am not working on projects, I am doing research on craft fair set ups or ways to market my Etsy shop. I’ve been reading a lot of marketing books and even the Idiot’s Guide to Selling on Etsy. I am in preparation mode, to say the least!

Most of my resources are spent on making pop-up gift card holders. They don’t take as long to make as cards and they proved to be very popular in my past two craft shows. However, you never know what will sell well at a show. At my first craft fair, my lollipop gift tags were a big hit. They did sell at my second fair, but they were a distant second to my pop-up gift card holders.

To help expand my offerings, I have also started making Post-it Note holders. I’ve made two so far and I think they’ve turned out cute. They are made from the lucite photo frames, scrapbook paper, ribbon and of course Post-It Notes! I am also adding a pen so it can be an all-in-one gift. With some of my shows being close to the holidays, I am hoping that people will see it as a great gift idea.

I am also researching new ideas for things to sell at the craft fairs. The next two shows I have are down the shore and I am sharing a 20 x 20 booth with one of my fellow Etsians. I will have lots of room, so I feel like I need to offer more. I’ve been watching YouTube videos to see what others are offering. When I find an idea, I always change it to make it my own.

For any of you who have done craft fairs – how do you package your items? For my first two fairs, I used simple Target ziplock bags. I didn’t want to invest a lot of money if I wasn’t going to continue to participate in craft shows. However, now that I am committed, I need to find some more decorative ways to package my cards. I’ve been looking on sites to see how much boxes are so I can make sets of cards. I am trying to offer new price points because for the most part, all of my items are around $5. While this is great for the customer, it makes it harder for me to make back my table fees at some of the shows.

I also want to make sure that my products are displayed nicely. I am constantly looking for new setup ideas – anything that will be inexpensive, but eye-catching! I pinned several ideas awhile ago and now I just have to go back and look. If anyone has any ideas, suggestions, comments or helpful hints, I’m all ears! Let me know what has worked for you. I love seeing what other people have done with their displays.

Back to the craft room. I have a little less than a month to get ready for this next show so it’s crunch time. It’s a Christmas in July show so I am working on some Christmas themed items today! Thanks for stopping by. Feel free to leave comments and questions and subscribe. I’ve listed all of my sites below!

Michele

http://www.etsy.com/shop/scrapsecrets

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