Comparison: Imagine Bookmarks

At this moment I have two Imagine bookmarks. Both photos were taken at the John Lennon Memorial in Strawberry Fields, though at different times. As I start to restock my almost-out-of-stock bookmarks I'm trying to decide if I should keep both available or if I should retire the first one.

What do you think? Which one do you like better? Or do you like both?

Running and Never Arriving

Lately I've been feeling frustrated. I feel like I'm running running running and never arriving. Don't get me wrong, I am super proud of everything I've accomplished since September and I'm keeping on keeping on, but occasionally I get a little down and lose my focus. This is what happened post our Niagara Adventure.

We had a great time, and it was really good for me to take a few days and not worry or think about anything but enjoying myself and the beautiful amazingness of Niagara Falls. But I got home and almost immediately hit bottom. After a few false starts and a couple break downs, I'm feeling a bit better and back to getting organized. I still feel, though, like I'm running and not arriving. I don't want miracles, but I would like to see more of an income coming from all the work I've been putting in lately.

I very much believe in what I'm doing, in my work and my products. I very much believe that I can do this and build this and make it work. I'm splitting my time between fallenpeach and searching for full or part time work, which can be frustrating, but I'm making it work for me. I just wish it would all move forward a little faster.

My list for today is short, but I'm determined to cross every little and big thing off of it. So far, so good. What do you do when you get frustrated?

FRIIIDAAAY!

I've been having a sort of rough month so far, I'm hoping that the next week will start fresh and wonderful and improve the way things have been going. For today I want to make a few announcements:

1. I'm back to trying to list one item at least a day in my store, so please remember to check in as I won't always post the item here. (unless you want me to) - today I listed Spring Garden Magnets . And I might list a new bookmark later on in the day :)

2. I noticed a lot of helpful comments on my How to Craft Shows post earlier in the week and I'd like to ask you to comment on my facebook page. I'm going to take your comments and make a new "addendum" post sometime end of next week.

3. Have a good weekend everyone! :)

Special Post - How To: Craft Fairs

Liz from The Meetup asked me to write a special post on how to do craft fairs and I gladly said yes. Here it is, I hope you enjoy it. And if you have any questions feel free to leave a comment or drop me a convo or email :) 

How to: Craft Fairs

 Craft fairs are a way to be visible in your area. They are a great way to meet customers and talk up your products in way that is still easier to do in person than online. Fairs are a lot of fun and also a wonderful way to meet other crafters, make friends and get advice where you can. At every show I do, I talk to the other crafters and see what their techniques are, what kind of shows they are doing and if they know of any more that I should look into.

The key to making the most profit is finding the right fair for you at the right price. The smaller the fee, the more chance of a profit for you. The bigger the fee, the bigger the fair and also the more chance of a profit for you, but also a bigger risk. Look at how much money you have for fairs and how many fairs you think you might want to do during the season. Think about your craft and your customers and where they might be shopping.

Fees can range from $20 - $600 depending on the fair, the location and the number of days. When you are just starting out, it’s best to find fairs that are under $100 to test the market and see how your products sell. It’s also a great way to start figuring out what type of fair is right for you.

 Example: The first fair we did was at a small private school in a very woodsy part of Connecticut. Sort of out in the middle of nowhere. The fee was $100 for two days. At that point, we didn’t really know how our products would sell or to what crowd we should market them. This was an opportunity and we jumped at it. We made about $120. Which means that we made a $20 profit after taking out the fair fee.

This was not the best fair for us and a lot of elements factored in. Two major factors were that the fair was only really advertised to people that attended the school and we were placed right next to the school store’s booth – people tended to stop there and then not move on to us. The lack of publicity combined with the $100 fee made this fair not a great choice. But we gained experience, met people and had fun. So it wasn’t a total loss.

Even if you don’t make a lot of money, remember to talk to your fellow crafters and have fun.

Now, if this fair had been advertised in the papers for weeks ahead of time and/or been in a more public place (not hidden in the woods on a back road) then we might have made a lot more money in those two days and it would have been worth it. I’m not saying to skip expensive fairs, because sometimes they can be worth it, just in the beginning do your research.

Craft Fairs with smaller fees usually take place at public schools and churches around holidays – Christmas, Mother’s Day etc. and can be a great way to get yourself out there without too much of a risk. Also, fairs that take place in very public places like town greens and on major roads will most likely have more foot traffic than fairs on back roads, and may be worth the higher fee. 

 Finding Fairs

The first place I usually look for fairs is the newspaper. All newspapers have a community section with coming events and that is where you can usually find “Vendors Wanted” listings. You can also check the want-ads in the Tag Sale/Craft Fair section, but my experience shows that they usually are only listed there when it’s too late to apply.

Another way to find fairs is just to keep your eyes peeled when driving around. Before the holidays schools and churches will often put huge signs out front advertising their Holiday Fair. When you get home, google that school or church and see if you can find out who to contact.

If you are on Etsy, that can be another way to find fairs. Often people will advertise in the Forums when they are looking for vendors.

Also, let your family and friends know you are looking, especially if they live in another town. If they hear of something you might want to participate in they can tell you about it.

There are also tons of websites out there that have full listings of fairs in your area. Simply google "craft fairs" and your state and it's sure to bring up a slew of websites that list fairs, their fees and when deadlines are. If you know of any specific, general sites please let me know and I'll add them in here!

 How Many Products Should I Bring?

One of the first things I was worried about was how many products to make and bring. My best advice for this is look at the fair. How much was the fee? How many people do they expect? At most small fairs one or two of each product / style should be fine. If you have a small amount of stock and want to just bring it all – go ahead! It can’t hurt to have it. Also, make sure you have enough stock to make more than just the fee back. If the fee is $100, bring at least $200 worth of product. The key is to make your table look full and inviting. Bring enough different styles of product to draw people in.

 Display

Great cheap finds can be sought out at places like Home Goods, Marshalls and Goodwill. Be creative with your display and don’t be afraid to change it up if something isn’t working or you find something better. 

 Example: When I started I used small dish racks from Walmart as greeting card displays (see above). Months later I found a fancier display at Marshalls and decided to use that instead.

Decide on a mood for your display and stick with it, make sure your pieces fit well together and there aren’t too many patterns or crazy colors to distract from your products. Check out this wonderful blog (Craft Show Designs) for ideas, and don’t be afraid to use flickr or google to find other examples of tables selling similar products. 

Cash? Check? Credit Cards?

When you are first starting out, accepting Cash and possibly Checks is the norm. Accepting Credit Cards takes extra machinery, and usually extra fees that may not be necessary. If your products cost under $40, you should be fine with just Cash. If they cost more, you may want to consider paying the extra fees for a Credit Card machine. Most people at craft fairs have a certain amount of cash on them to spend, but lately credit cards are becoming more normal at craft fairs.

Checks are a personal thing. If you trust your customers, by all means accept checks. Always make sure to get the person’s phone number, address and license number so that you can contact them if the check does not go through for some reason.

In order to provide change to your cash paying customers, be sure to bring some cash with you. The standard is to have about $200 cash on you in various bills and coins. I usually have at least $50 + in singles, less in $5’s and $10’s and no $20’s. I also bring two rolls of each coin, although I’ve only needed one of each so far.

When you get home, take $200 out of your cash box or apron – the rest is your profit from the day. 

 Checklist of Things to Bring

Here is my basic checklist of things to bring. I found a lot of lists online and in books and then added some things to it. Feel free to print this list and add things to it yourself and keep it for each fair. Make copies if you want to and check things off as they are packed so that you don’t forget anything.

Table (or tables)

Chair(s)

Tablecloth(s)

Display pieces

Sign with logo to hang

Business cards

Price signage

Cardboard for last minute signage

Receipt books

Calculator

Cash box or Vendor Apron

Pens, Pencils

Notepad

Shopping bags

Tape (I usually bring three kinds of tape just in case)

Stickies or S Hooks to hang artwork (if necessary and if there is space)

Scissors

Snacks/drinks

Garbage bag (for your own trash, there isn’t always a garbage handy)

Extra change (standard is to have $200 in cash, see above for more info)

Freebies (if you’d like – candy is a great example)

Lighting (if necessary – some fairs you must pay extra for electricity though)

Extension cords

Clipboard

Camera (take photos of your booth!)

Tissues

Inventory list

Inventory (don’t forget your products)

Sales tax form/Business documentation

Clean up rag to catch spills

Finally, have fun. The most important thing is to enjoy yourself; if you look sad or sullen, your booth with have less visitors. Stay standing and active. Move things around on your table occasionally, SMILE, talk to people.

Don’t forget to promote the fair – tell your family, friends, put it on facebook, your blog, twitter. Spread the word.

Good luck with your Craft Fair Adventures and if you have any questions, feel free to comment on this post or drop me an email.

A Conversation

Happy Tuesday everyone! I am skipping my weekly Etsy Tuesday post in order to have a conversation with you (and so that I don't get distracted and get my non-etsy but equally important list of things done today).

I've been thinking about my blog and I'm wondering:

What are your favorite posts?

Least favorite?

What features do you just not care about?

What would you like to read more about?

Let's start a conversation so that I can make this blog even better :)

thanks!

Sneak Peek: Greeting Cards!

This morning I'd like to offer you a sneak peek at the next product line at fallenpeach: Greeting Cards! It was very difficult thing to choose just 28 images to start with and have made into cards for the craft fair I did, but I chose and I think I chose well. Two of them are almost sold out, as I was only able to make a few of each, and after my second craft fair on Saturday I'll be listing what is left on Etsy for sale. I will also eventually be making more (of the ones I have and of different photos).

Above are two photos of my greeting cards being photographed. I generally use a bendy neck halogen lamp to photograph my work, unless I feel an outdoor "look" would work better and then I use direct sunlight. I love the bendy neck lamp because you can very easily adjust the lighting to suit your needs. The only trouble I had last night photographing these cards was with very rich red tones, I'll have to work in photoshop on those images and if that won't work I'll have to take more photos outdoors to get the color right.

Night Time Craft Fair Thoughts and Questions

As night time fell, my boyfriend and I both started to feel creative and thoughtful. We relaxed most of the day (and went to see the Boondock Saints 2 movie, which was awesome), but right now we're both hard at work. He's working on painting a banner with my logo on it to hang on my craft fair table (or behind it) and I'm researching craft fair table displays and looking through the list of things I still have to buy.

And that's where the questions and thoughts really start to flow. I have not yet bought shopping bags for my customers and I just realized that I ordered greeting cards made but have not even thought about how to package them. I just started looking at prices on papermart.com and they don't seem too terrible for either type of bag. I just wish I didn't have to buy them in packs of 1000.

Those who have done this before - should I definitely buy Polyethylene bags for my greeting cards? Or do you think they can just be loose? The prices don't seem too terrible, I'm just curious what you think.

I found a couple cute wooden (easily paintable) crate things at Home Goods to display my prints in, but I still have no idea how I'm displaying my bookmarks or my greeting cards. It doesn't help that the greeting cards are on order and I don't have them here to play with. Nor do I have my prints yet. So I'm doing a lot of this shopping blind right now.

I really would rather buy display pieces in stores than online but I'm running out of places to look for cheap ways to show off my products. I found one of the book boxes that I can open to display some of my bookmarks, but the definitely won't all fit in it ... I don't think.

So some questions for those who have done this before or even those who haven't

How did you display your greeting cards? Did you put them in bags?

How would you display bookmarks ( I have about 50 different ones, about 10 of each) ?

Any other advice on displaying things for me?

Also, this is an indoor event and I'm not sure how much space I'll have, so I'm sticking to a 6ft folding table for my first event and I'll see how it goes.

YTT: Sick Week Almost Done

I'm almost back on track...

Yesterday: I was still sick and therefore lazy. I did work through a few photos and promote a bit though. Oh and I sent out an order!

Today: I'm blogging up a storm, promoting and working through my massive to do list.

Tomorrow: I plan on continuing my being back on track and listing a couple new bookmarks ;)

I had an idea yesterday that I'd like some feedback on - If I offered custom bookmarks (like put your own photo etc) for the Holidays how many should I sell them by - like would you just want one or a pack of 5 or 10? Anyone?

We are the Music Makers and We are the Dreamers of the Dreams

Reading through the new blog The Creative Life I find myself pondering even more the situation I myself (and many many others) are in.

I'll start with what I commented on that blog and then continue my musings:

I'm definitely relating to the "stuck" end of things. At 27 most previous generations were secure in their jobs and their life, but I think our generation kind of got screwed in a way. So many of us are floating and not sure where to go or what to do. And we certainly don't have the money to do the things we want.

Or.. we don't have that kind of knowledge to know how much money we'll need. Being jobless has it's ups and downs. On the one hand you have the freedom and time to do things you might not otherwise have time to do (in between job searching of course), but on the other you don't have the income to feel totally secure just running off and chasing a dream.

If I knew without a doubt how much money it would take to choose a place and open a shop or a bakery or a freelance office or what have you I might take the chance. But I don't. And that makes me scared. What if I run out of money? What if I have to come back home? What if a year passes and I'm still in this same position - and out all that savings I blew trying to take a chance?

And so I stay home and I start small and I see where things go. Since I lost my job I've taken several freelance graphic design clients and I've started to build up fallenpeach. I still have a long way to go, but the risks I'm taking are minimal right now. But at least I'm not stagnate. I'm moving in a direction I like and it keeps me motivated and happy, most of the time.

I wish I had the guts to take bigger risks, though. Maybe someday I will.

So, I guess that's my advice to those in a similar situation - find something you enjoy and just start doing it. Start small and see what happens. Hopefully you and I will be able to grow with our dreams and make them all that we could want and more. Step by step I've started something and I can't wait to see where it goes.