Bohemian Mermaid Palace

Please. Artisans. Advertise Your Craft Shows! Well, it seems I am just writing things that get my attention at any given time. Ha. So far it's working for me. Write when the inspiration hits! So yeah, it's holiday show season right now. I thought this year, since I'm not vending at all (still weird to say out loud), I'd try to hit as many local craft fairs as possible. Just to check them out, see what's happening out there, since I don't usually do that when I'm working. Here's the problem. I just missed I think 3 craft fairs this past weekend because I didn't see ANY reminders on facebook. I am on fb a lot lately, I follow many many artists and local groups. What. The. F. Okay it's not all on the artists, the organizers need to be advertising their shows for sure and getting the word out. But you can't count on only them! It takes so little effort to do a few things yourself, and costs nothing. So I guess it's time for...

Taking Custom Orders - Keep it Simple This was on my mind today, as I saw a horror story in one of my embroidery groups. The stitcher had taken a custom order, and the customer fought payment every step of the way. So much back and forth and craziness, until this poor woman was just done with custom orders. It can be frustrating! You put a lot of extra thought, planning, supplies and work into a special order, only to spend days (maybe weeks!) playing email tag and trying to get paid. At some point you have to decide what your boundaries are, and stick to them. Figure out a process that works for you, and spell it out for your customers ahead of time. Everyone will be happy. I guess my general advice here is to make sure you are not doing a lot of extra work for free. A custom order should cost the customer more, not you. And also to keep the process as simple as you can . I'll outline some options in a moment, but overall you want to do this transaction with as...

Craft Fairs Need Feedback! Your Fear is Killing Them Ok I'm feeling frustrated right now, so I guess I'll rant a little bit. Just Idk, about how powerless fear can make us! And it's so easy to get fearful sometimes. Ugh, ok start from the beginning.  A concern I see expressed often in many artist groups I'm in, is how they *must* keep out the show promoters from these groups, so we can freely speak about our experiences at shows. I get that, I do. In my own groups, I have that rule as well. *Unless* it's an artist who is also involved in running a show. I feel like we can trust our own people, artist to artist, and I don't think I could regulate that very easily anyway. I've gotten some flack for it too.  But honestly, even though I understand the desire to feel comfortable expressing opinions freely, I don't worry too much about who's listening. Even if the organizers walked into my booth in person, I would absolutel...

The Ultimate Craft Fair Checklist As I finished up my last post about Your First Craft Show , I was looking around my fb groups for an opportunity to share it. I actually saw a lot of first timers asking for *specific* items they might need that maybe they hadn't thought of yet. I get it! I have said to put everything on your checklist. But of course you may want to know *exactly* what is on that list! So here I'll share my own checklist that I've used for years. As I've mentioned before, the checklist is maybe the most important thing you can use to prepare for your show. Because, if you're like me, you will be stressed and possibly overwhelmed by alllll the many details and items that you have to remember. Using a checklist will help you organize all those swirling thoughts and worries for you. At least mostly. And I'll bet you one crisp dollar bill that you will sleep a whole lot better when you have one.  I started using my own chec...

Your First Craft Show! Everything You Need to Know I am in a lot of different facebook groups for artists and festival vendors. In fact I run 2 of my own: West Coast Artists & Artisans , and Artisan Vendors of Humboldt County . Since I am a total craft show nerd, I soak up all the information posted there. Just like when I attend shows with my booth, I observe and listen to everything. I'm into it! Some of the groups focus on tips for making your booth better, or specifically selling at shows. So I love to chime in, and also take stock of what newer sellers are thinking about. It interests me and I'm always thinking of how I can help.  Very often I see someone say "Help! It's my first show coming up! What do I need to know??" Kind of cracks me up, because that is a huge question! They will get all kinds of answers, long and short. It's always a little chaotic because like, where do you even start? So I thought I'd make a post tha...

  Selling at Craft Shows Has Been Great for My Depression Here is something I've been thinking about lately, esp since I've been on craft show break now for about a year. Wow that's trippy to say out loud, but more on that another time. It's all great actually, just unexpected. Suddenly I felt like it was time for a break, didn't see it coming. And I'm not sure when I'll go back, so there's a lot of pondering the path of my life right now. I guess I should start with the fact that I've struggled with depression most of my life. I consider myself a functional depressive. Like I can mostly do everything I need to do in the grande scheme of things, but day to day I sometimes can barely function at all.  I use many coping techniques,  but mainly I set up everything in my life with strong boundaries. Those boundaries help me keep my life really mellow and drama free, and as much as possible stress free as well. Just a way to limit si...

Winthrop Rhythm and Blues Festival - Winthrop, WA Craft Shows, Art Fairs, and Street Festivals: What's the Difference? My last post about the hierarchy of art & craft stimulated a bit of discussion in some of my fb arts groups. Something I realized reading through it, is that some people have a strict idea of what a venue will be like according to its name. Some artists put a lot of credit and credibility on an event named Art Fair or Fine Art & Craft show. Likewise, some of them have a very specific idea of what a Craft Show is or is not. They have a vision in their minds of what is for sale at a craft show, as if it's always the same. It's not. At all.  I think it's really strange. Because unless you live under a gallery rock, you have to know there is a VERY broad range of shows out there. They are named to be descriptive to their audience yes, but there is no master checklist for naming a show Art or Craft or Fair or Festival or wh...

The Judgement of Art vs Craft is Useless Ah, I have been wanting to write this for a long time. The discussion around Art vs Craft has been happening as long as I can remember. Especially in art school, I heard this talked about a million times. What is art? The conclusion I came to then was that this debate is futile, similar to talking religion. Everyone has a different view, and none of them are wrong. It's a debate you cannot win, and so has always frustrated me. I just don't participate, unless asked directly.  But recently I saw a thread in an artist group I'm in. It's a national group on Facebook called Art Fair Reviews. Many people in that group have very high regard for what they do, and lesser regard for those they consider to be... lesser. The discussion was so arrogant and gross, I had to leave. But I've seen it a so often. And in my own group, West Coast Artists and Artisans , I have struggled with this same tendency toward something I ...

Best Practices for Your Craft Booth Display I visited a new local festival the other day, and it got me thinking. Who is teaching these vendors how to make an effective display? Nobody from what I saw. Lots of nice artwork and handmade goods there, nothing against their efforts. But walking around as a shopper (for once!! I never get to do that!), I was a little appalled by what I saw. And it hit me that maybe they just don't understand how bad that is for sales, to have such a dismal display for their wonderful products. I didn't visit many of those booths really, and not to be mean. There just didn't seem to be any reason to go in. I couldn't tell what was for sale, or they were staring at me behind a tiny table with nothing else around them. I don't know... some of them were pretty bad. It's so important to have a nice looking display. It really sets the tone and expectations for your customer. Think of it as your packaging, your store. What ki...

Rain at one of my best shows. Sad face! What to Do When the Craft Shows are NOT Going Well Bad show. We have all been there! I don't think it matters how long you have been selling your handmade work, a bad show feels terrible. One slow day at a festival can sometimes have you rethinking your entire path in life! ha.  Especially when you have so much of your hard work, heart, and cash wrapped up in your inventory. It hurts. But, when you are brand new at doing craft shows, you should expect the first few to be not great. There are many different factors that make a show good or bad for you... and it's not always predictable even when you figure them all out. It will take time and experience to learn, just like any other job. So don't freak out! Here are a few things to think about when you are having low sales in your booth: Find the Right Shows This is actually an ongoing quest forever. But especially in the beginning, it takes some time to figure o...