This past Saturday, the 13th, was the very first time I participated in a show. Now that it's over AND I survived it, I thought I'd share what led up to it and how it went!
What it was: A vendor show, not a craft show. This was hosted by our local middle school PTO in an effort to raise money for educational opportunities for middle school students. Table space (10 feet) was a mere $35.00! A friend of mine who sells Southern Living at Home shared this opportunity with me and I registered the day I found out about it! (about 6 weeks ago).
There was a large variety of hobby, craft, and home based businesses from Sewing Lessons to Mary Kay Cosmetics to Silpada and Pampered Chef!
What was I thinking?! I was thinking, WOW, local exposure for only $35.00. Wow! I can try and sell some items I have been storing and haven't gotten around to listing, yet. and wow, what did I just do? I've got to get busy!
A month before; Since I had a lot of stock made, I spent time going back over everything to do a quality assurance check! Then, I started on my tags ( I make individually typed tags on labels and attach them to decorative paper ). These are then attached to the piece of jewelry with an inventory number and finally a price. All of this (the name, inventory number, and price is recorded in a notebook). Each piece is also all photographed.
Two weeks before; I needed to work on my booth display. I had already bought an easel, a large (2x3 white board), a table cloth but knew I needed to put it all together in a mock display. At this point, it was too early to do that but I did start pulling things out that I could use.....a couple of metal baskets, two wooden displays for bracelets and necklaces, a white leatherette bracelet display, and some other items.
You see I wasn't a complete novice. I had a little experience as I had been a featured artist at a shop that I had jewelry on consignment last May at an open house. However, it was about this time that I found out what kind of competition I would have! There were to be about 20 vendors and 4-5 of them featured jewelry! Okay, I'm getting nervous now!
One week before; I finished all the inventorying, photographing, and recording. About this time, I had my husband set up my table (the exact one that I would use) in our family room. For the next several days, I arranged and played with my display! Finally, the day before the show, I was set. And so , I took it all down, packed it up, and gathered everything I needed (or thought I needed in a couple of totes)!
By this time, I was kind of in a bad mood. Wow! What a lot of work! And making my bad mood worse was my nerves! I knew this was only a small local show but I was nervous!
How would I fair?
How stiff would the competition be?
Would I be organized enough?
Would the event be a success?
Would I be satisfied with how I did?
All these questions and more were swirling around in my head!! I have to admit, I lost more than a little sleep!
This is where I will leave you for now....Stay tuned for part II, coming in a couple days!
Capitol City Visit
Madison Wisconsin
Showing posts with label artists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label artists. Show all posts
Monday, March 15, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Why do a treasury? It makes you feel good!
I've been a member of the etsy marketplace for 7 months now. It has been a great experience! Yes, there have been a few bumps here and there.....wondering if my creations will sell, having a non-paying buyer due to a glitch in the system, learning "how" to do first "this", then "that". But, I've really enjoyed it.
One of the things I didn't really "get" at first was the treasury. The treasury is a collage of items, centered around a theme that can feature one of your pieces of art and those of others. I have to admit that the first couple of times I did this, I was clueless. It took me forever to "find" the pieces I wanted to feature and didn't get much response, either in views or convos (etsy lingo for e-mails) from it all. But, I kept at it. Surprisingly, when I went back to look at the items I had "saved" in my favorites for the treasuries; many of them had sold since the treasury was posted! Ahhhh, I thought to myself; exposure! That's what the treasury is about.
Well, to me making treasuries are about exposure for my work and the awesome work of others, but it does have some other benefits! You see, I have learned that you can (and should) contact those you selected for your treasury. This way, they get to know their work is appreciated and many express appreciation for the treasury and/or your work, as well. It's about feeling good! It's about networking and support!
This past week I made a treasury using the works of polymer clay artists found on etsy. The treasury was colorful and well received. There are some awesome clay artists out there! I know I will be visiting some of their shops as a buyer in the next year! But what really impressed me was the kindness of those shop owners/artists! They seemed to really appreciate the efforts I made to put the treasury together! (And it really doesn't take me that long, anymore!) I feel like I really made a supportive connection with at least two of these fellow artists.
One has posted the entire treasury on her blog on February 12th. I'd love if you would check it out and then go check out her shop. The links are;
for the clay treasury
http://2goodclaymates.blogspot.com/2010/02/cool-treasury.html
for a shop with wonderful clay items
http://2goodclaymates.etsy.com/
The other artist has been working hard on the products and photography in her shop and it shows! The items are just beautiful, as are the pictures. The piece I featured from this shop sold while the treasury was posted! Boy, what a great feeling. Maybe, there's a small chance someone saw this piece in the treasury and bought it! Of course there's no way of knowing, but it does make one feel good. And I'm sure the sale felt good for mindfulmatters! Take a look at some other pieces from this artist at;
Tropical Seaspray Pendant
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=40475162
mindfulmatters etsy shop at;
http://mindfulmatters.etsy.com/
So, I really enjoyed the treasury I made this week, but what I most enjoyed came after it! I felt connected to these other artists and appreciated. They were both so gracious to me that I had to write about it! I hope you find similar experiences in your artistic pursuits and contacts with other artisits. If you want to try and make a treasury, here is a link on how to do it for etsy;
http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/how-to-make-a-treasury-the-nuts-and-bolts-688/
Have a Great week!
One of the things I didn't really "get" at first was the treasury. The treasury is a collage of items, centered around a theme that can feature one of your pieces of art and those of others. I have to admit that the first couple of times I did this, I was clueless. It took me forever to "find" the pieces I wanted to feature and didn't get much response, either in views or convos (etsy lingo for e-mails) from it all. But, I kept at it. Surprisingly, when I went back to look at the items I had "saved" in my favorites for the treasuries; many of them had sold since the treasury was posted! Ahhhh, I thought to myself; exposure! That's what the treasury is about.
Well, to me making treasuries are about exposure for my work and the awesome work of others, but it does have some other benefits! You see, I have learned that you can (and should) contact those you selected for your treasury. This way, they get to know their work is appreciated and many express appreciation for the treasury and/or your work, as well. It's about feeling good! It's about networking and support!
This past week I made a treasury using the works of polymer clay artists found on etsy. The treasury was colorful and well received. There are some awesome clay artists out there! I know I will be visiting some of their shops as a buyer in the next year! But what really impressed me was the kindness of those shop owners/artists! They seemed to really appreciate the efforts I made to put the treasury together! (And it really doesn't take me that long, anymore!) I feel like I really made a supportive connection with at least two of these fellow artists.
One has posted the entire treasury on her blog on February 12th. I'd love if you would check it out and then go check out her shop. The links are;
for the clay treasury
http://2goodclaymates.blogspot.com/2010/02/cool-treasury.html
for a shop with wonderful clay items
http://2goodclaymates.etsy.com/
The other artist has been working hard on the products and photography in her shop and it shows! The items are just beautiful, as are the pictures. The piece I featured from this shop sold while the treasury was posted! Boy, what a great feeling. Maybe, there's a small chance someone saw this piece in the treasury and bought it! Of course there's no way of knowing, but it does make one feel good. And I'm sure the sale felt good for mindfulmatters! Take a look at some other pieces from this artist at;
Tropical Seaspray Pendant
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=40475162
mindfulmatters etsy shop at;
http://mindfulmatters.etsy.com/
So, I really enjoyed the treasury I made this week, but what I most enjoyed came after it! I felt connected to these other artists and appreciated. They were both so gracious to me that I had to write about it! I hope you find similar experiences in your artistic pursuits and contacts with other artisits. If you want to try and make a treasury, here is a link on how to do it for etsy;
http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/how-to-make-a-treasury-the-nuts-and-bolts-688/
Have a Great week!
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