Back to Work

So the Gifts Galore and So Much More Shopping Event

which benefitted the Cumberland County's Special Olympics is over,

as well as my last-minute move.

That means more time to

pHoToGrApH and add oodles of NeW ItEmS to the shop!

And, to get back to my EtsyMom and NCTriangle Team Features on Mondays and Thursdays...

know y'all have been missing them.

As with every fair/event I do, I've got to share what I took away. I met some awesome vendors at this event, like Jeanna Goodpasture,

owner of Tiffany Brooks Design,

the cutest little pet boutique!





Mostly, I worked on improving my display in preparation for some bigger shows later in the year. To see how far I've come, you gotta see how it all began...

Oh those earlier days! Guess ya' Gotta start somewhere.

Military Spouse Appreciation Day, May 2008.

And the transformation...still learning what works and what doesn't, but I am tickled pink with my latest display!

First, I had a heck of a lot more product to offer. Next, I lightened up the colors to make the table more inviting. I also got innovative with some of Vistaprint's free offerings (with paid shipping),

like the price list is actually a lawn sign...lol! Price lists will shave mounds of time off your prep work, no tagging every item.

That cute litle birdy header is from an invitation I designed some time ago.

Working on achieving a uniform look, but until then,

this sweet little banner from VP will do just fine!

In keeping with creating a consistent look, I stopped using whatever random hodge podge of containers I found around the house

and got the mini trunks at Hobby Lobby for 50% off, to display my items.

So sweet!

For giveaways, I designed my own business card magnets and coordinating promotional postcards.

Have you visited Moo yet? Keep your eyes open for their special promotions; last month was 25 free cards with your initial purchase.

I used examples of my work for the cards. You can pay an additional fee to have the watermark on the cards removed. The card quality is excellent!

Do you have any tips on improving booth display?

We'd love to read them.

Until next time, xoxo!

Craft Fair Tips for Papercrafters

Ensure your packaging has your shop name/url on it

Just getting your feet wet with craft fairs? Here are some thoughts and insights I gained from my recent multiple-day fair experience.

• The 1st tip, unfortunately is, stay away from venues that are not specifically geared towards "handmade". While the press release for this event called for "handcrafted vendors", out of the 12 booths onsite, only 4 of us actually made what we were selling. I ended up next to the lady who sells really inexpensive mass-produced jewelry at one of the local flea markets, whic is exactly what the fairgoers were interested


• So, how do you find out info on upcoming shows in your area? There are many online eventlister services, some are free and others provide you a list of fairs a few months in advance for a membership fee such as Eventlister. Your local Etsy Street Team will probably also have a list on their blog or forum. Start looking early, at least 2-3 months in advance as some shows have a fairly large list of established vendors and are very competitive to be selected for. For example, applications for Ft. Bragg's November Yule Mart go out in the summer and are usually due by September.
• When choosing a venue, seek as much info as possible about the fair, ie., is it new? Been around for several years? Is there an admission price for fairgoers? Will there be onsite concessions? All of this will affect your potential sales, especially in this economy.




• If possible, set up your booth in advance, either in your yard, or wherever you have space (I used my living room) and take pictures to facilitate quick set-up at your event. Be creative with your booth, afterall, it's HOW your booth looks that will draw people in. Look around the house for interesting items, like baskets, picture frame stands, you can use for display. Use on-hand items like boxes hidden under your tabloth to create "risers" or heighth on your table. Check out Etsy for great banners, design your own (with cardstock and vinyl lettering that you can have laminated) or take advantage of free offers from internet marketing companies like Vistaprint. I use their free rubber stamps to stamp the back of all my cards. For smaller items, I print my shop info on a mailing label and adhere it to the outside of a clear resealable bag. Business Cards with a punched hole can also be tied to bags and larger items.


• Draw more attention by offering freebies or having a drawing to win some of your wonderful goodies. Use up those scrapbook paper remnants by creating little matchbook notepads. Sometimes I enter people in the drawing just for signing up on my email listing (have a clipboard set up for this and one for custom orders too).


• Set up a Make N' Take Station. Big Kids as well as wee ones enjoy craft-making so why not set aside a little space to let them make a card on the spot. Since the fair opened just before Mother's day, I assembled several card kits from leftover paper and cardstock and sold them for $2.00. I printed out various Mother's Day sentiments on cardstock and let the kids choose their desired phrase. Be sure to advertise your station and the price for making the craft.



Photo Memory Board came in handy to protect against wind.

Elevated photo trees make an eye catching dislay

• Prepare for varying whether conditions. We had to contend with rain and strong winds, either could spell catastrophe for our fragile papergoods! Relied on this memory board to keep cards from being blown away. I displayed cards with a greeting inside on this board. I hung blank cards in clear resealable bags (to protect fragile ones from too much handling) from this photo "tree". Don't forget to snap pics of your booth for future craft fair applications if needed.

Memorable experinces? Please share! For more great tips, check out Etsy's blog, the Storque and happy fair-going!