Yesterday I attended a craft show...as a shopper! This is a first for me...I'm usually a vendor. This was a show I had planned on selling at, but my booth partner wasn't allowed to bring her jewelry due to show limitations on that category. So we both decided to skip the selling and do some shopping :)
We had never been to this show before and had been told it was a Big show with High End sellers...so we wanted to see if we could even compete. We were sadly disappointed with the show! It wasn't near as big as I had imagined...we were out of there in just over an hour! And the selection didn't seem very high end either. There were many nice things, just nothing that we couldn't make ourselves.
I think you go into a craft show with a different eye when you are a crafter yourself. You know how much supplies cost, you know how much time something takes, you know what's handmade and what's not, etc.
One thing I noticed and am still confused about was the paper crafters. There was only one paper crafter there and she sold framed pieces and no scrapbooks at all. This makes me wonder if other scrapbookers have tried and not done well in the past? Or if this is a great untapped resource where my items will do really well?
I have a show coming up on March 27th and also one on May 1st and 2nd. I will be anxious to see how well these shows go so I can start making plans for the fall shows. All three of the locations mentioned have fall shows, so I will attend these two and make my decisions after that. Something inside me still wants to attend that "big" show, but for the price, I think the smaller shows are a better option.
Stay tuned for more craft show updates and info :)
And drop me a comment about your craft show experiences!
sounds like there's a lot of activity, in your neck of the woods. I'm just going to one art show in my town this year. Expensive to get in, but like you said, it's high end. Forget about the craft show in the fall... people are looking for Christmas ornaments and lawn decorations... or at least it seemed to me!
ReplyDeleteSounds like it's probably a good thing you weren't in that show. I tend to view craft shows like you do now too and now seek out unique items that catch my eye. Your work would (and does) catch my eye!
ReplyDeleteI haven't been to any in years, but I used to do them and organize them (way back in the dark ages of long long ago =p) Now I just sell online and in one gallery. Hope to expand the gallery thing, though!
ReplyDeleteedi! i think what YOU do is unique and def an untapped resource. you def know more than me about cost etc for supplies and what not but when i see people selling stuff that's NOT handmade it drives me nuts. i think it's super misleading. i'm interested in the craft shows in the fall can you email me some info? also i WILL be in Shen on Friday for photos so i WILL get my albums then! you ROCK
ReplyDeleteI think you have a very untapped resource - I haven't seen that much of it out there - and you have a unique style!
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