What to do with craft show earnings

At first it's wow, look how much money I made at the craft show....... and then reality sets in.   Bills have to be paid.  There is rent, insurance, and credit card bills.  Damn, somebody has to pay them.

So I wrote checks for those expenses but made sure to save out a little to put back into the business.  (I usually do.)

Come next spring I plan on buying carrying bags for the tent poles (those are heavy suckers!)  But for now I bought a rolling jewelry case that holds fifteen trays.  I bought divided inserts for the trays and foam covers.  I figured the case is something I can use now so it took top priority.

Before this I was dumping everything into nested white boxes and clear shoe boxes and small white jewelry boxes.  It was a hunt and peck method, often leading to tangled or missing pieces.  It will take longer to load this up, but at least things will be more organized.

I have to admit though at first I thought I got ripped off.   I pulled up the side zipper and un-velcroed (is that a word?) bottom.  The flap would only open wide enough for me to get thirteen trays in.  What?  Why doesn't it zip across the top so it opens wider?  So, I went to bed perturbed and thinking about how I could alter it to make it work.  I'm glad I didn't do anything.  A couple of days later I found another zipper on the left and now all fifteen trays slide in so easily.  Another senior moment!

More AppleFest musings

Haven't posted anymore musings lately and I felt it was time to finish them up....... so here goes.

If a show says it opens at 10:00...... be open by 9:00.  Or better yet by 8:30.  Each day of the show brought visitors long before the starting time.  On Friday the pancake breakfast was over at 8:30 and no one wanted to go home and come back.  On Sunday the car show brought cars in early...... some before 7:30. And what do those people want to do to kill time before the car show starts?  I'm not sure why people were there early on Saturday but they were.

Those vintage cars are noisy!  I was in my tent setting up and the noise as they roared down the street was stifling.  I'm glad I don't live on the incoming street.  (I'm basically not a morning person unless I really have to.)

Having someone to help you out is a must.  (I guess it can be done but it sure is easier.)  Pee breaks and food runs are much easier.  I never did get out to just walk around and look but that was okay.  I might have bought something.

Want a good laugh?  Just sit back and listen to the husband and wife teams go at it as they set up.  Now, I'm not saying that my husband and I didn't provide some laughs too.  I'm sure I barked out orders too (it seemed the wife usually was the one) and then we all made sure our men knew we loved them.  (Hey, we needed them to help take down!)

There is a lot to be learned from your craft show neighbors.  Listen up and pay attention.

Damp air accelerated tarnishing on fine silver.

More Musings on an Art Festival .... what I've learned.

AppleFest is only my second outdoor show, so of course I was nervous about everything.  Did I forget anything, do I have the right displays, does my booth look inviting enough were some of the questions I was asking myself.  Maybe doing indoor shows helped because I really did not have any problems.

Here are some of the things I did right.....

1.  It was rainy and cold and it was MUDDY.  Not even thinking about those things, I took an outdoor rug that we use when we go camping.  My intent was to make it look "nice."  It did look nice and....... it kept my booth from becoming a mud pit which happened to some other vendors. Making a list for future reference....... take rug ...... Check!
2. I took along a small bale of straw in case I needed it.  I figured the Chamber would provide straw and they did.  If I didn't need it the bale would go home and become part of the Halloween decorations.  Friday, my cousin used it as a foot rest and Saturday morning we had to break it open and spread it around.  (There is a ton of straw in that little bale.)  The Chamber was running out of straw and I was afraid we wouldn't get any.  Our straw was very pretty and bright compared to regular hay.  We told customers that it was "designer" hay.  Another good idea..... Check!
3.  Besides the rain and cold, we had wind.  At times it was a very gusty wind.  I took my faux leather displays and my cardboard flocked displays.  ( I fully intended to use the cardboard ones until I ran out of room.)  In the long run I'm glad I didn't.  They would have been blowing all over the place.  Only one of the other displays got knocked off and that's because I had it setting up high on a column.  Next year...... only take the good sturdy displays.   Check!   (But be prepared to dust them all when they are back in the studio......... outdoor festivals can be dirty!

Fall is in the Air.

Every season, I change the decor in my studio.  For the fall I usually add pumpkins and some of these leaves that I printed up a few years back.  They give reasons why the customer should buy my jewelry. I'm not sure they work but they are bright and colorful.  This year I took a batch of these to AppleFest with me, intending to spread them on the tables.  But as we were setting up I could see that they would just blow off so I decided not to bother.  Mother Nature helped me decorate my booth instead with real fall leaves of all colors.  Most landed on the floor but a few landed on the tables and a few landed in my hair.  Needless to say they came out..... the rest stayed and looked pretty

Art festival musings- Home town shows

Here's my first thoughts (of many) on doing Art Festivals.  And since my last post was long, I'll keep this one short.

The only festivals I've done have been ones in my area.  I see pros and cons in this.  I love seeing friends, family and long lost friends but.............. it is very difficult to balance visiting with them and selling my art (which is basically why I'm there.)

My cousin and I tried to handle this by moving outside the tent to talk with people we knew.  That didn't always work as we sometimes got blocked into our corners.  There were many times I felt bad that I wasn't able to visit longer with my friends and family but when a customer appeared interested in a piece I had to direct my attention to them.  I tried to do that diplomatically and hopefully they understood.

Occasionally, it was a customer who wanted to visit a little too long.  I almost lost my very first sale talking to one of them but was able to save it.  Must not have offended the other customer as she came back every day of the festival.

It really is a balancing act and I think I did pretty well.

Here is a photo...... Just because.  One of my negative space designs, front and back.

Memoirs of an Art Festival .... or I survived rain, hail and freezing weather!

Finally did another out door show.  The last one was three years ago.  I bought an expensive tent back then and went for it.  Then packed it all up and let it sit in my vault.

That show was Oil Heritage.  We set up on the road (hence the need for sandbags as a way to hold the tent in place.)  The temperature was ninety degrees in the shade (and the back of the tent was 110 degrees.)   My goal then was to create a feeling that the inside of my tent felt like a gallery .  I wanted to make sales but since it was my first time I felt happy just to achieve my goal.  Luckily I achieved both the goal and money.  My tent also got tested with a major rain storm during that festival, complete with wind.  It held up where others lost their tent and some of their art.

This time I was going for the money (and of course trying to keep the gallery feel.)  Again, I achieved both goals.  I only set out my metal clay pieces (no beading or polymer pens) and focused on selling my jewelry.  Often I tend to talk too much about the metal clay product and promoting my classes.  That was out this weekend (although it did sneak in a couple of times.  I just couldn't help it!)

Doing Festivals is hard, hard work.  Setting up that tent really is easy but I have trouble with those little push button connectors and I'm such a wimp.  The poles are heavy (thank goodness my husband helped out.)   Hauling all those things out of my studio (and then hauling them all back in ) is tiring.  Getting everything set up and making sure I have everything I need is time consuming.  (That's day one.)  Then for the next three days I got up at six AM and made sure I was down there to get a parking spot close.  (Anyone who knows me knows I am NOT a morning person.)  My booth was by the food court and sitting in the tent for eight hours each day, treated me to tempting smells of a variety of foods. 

My husband helped me set up and take down the tent and my cousin Debi helped me all three days.  I couldn't have done it without her.  (Someone has to be there during my pee breaks.)   She also helped out by sharing all that good festival food with me.  

The first festival was sooooo hot.  This one was soooooo cold.  (39 degrees to be exact.)  We had wind, we had rain, we had mud, and we had HAIL...... and my tent held up.  I paid extra for electricity and I'm glad I did as we had a heater back in the corner to keep warm.  The first two days we took turns sitting in front of it.  Today, Debi brought a second heater so we didn't have to share.  (I had already decided I wasn't going to anyway LOL.)  The first day I started with just a sweater jacket, yesterday I had on a fall jacket and today I went full tilt and pulled out the winter jacket and gloves.  Should have gone for the hat too.!

I figure that I've already done roasting and freezing.  As they say, third time is a charm..... so I am counting on the weather being "perfect" for my next festival.

I'll be posting "things I learned at the festival" over the next few days (maybe weeks).  These will be my Musings on an Art Festival.  Stay tuned.  

New Displays

I've been working my butt off making new pieces for AppleFest which takes place Oct. 3, 4 and 5 in the city parks in Franklin, Pa.  This is my first year and I want to put my best foot forward.

Speaking of foot....... I got some new displays for the festival.  One of which is a foot to display anklets.
Now maybe it's just me but why do the foot displays have the heel of a shoe and barefoot toes.  I understand the heel raises it, but why not have a shoe on that foot?  Just saying!  (It kind of freaks me out.)

There is plenty of room in my front studio to display pieces but the tent is only 10' x 10' (a little crowded.)  I needed some displays that saved space and these next two pieces did just that.  In fact, I can't believe how much more room I now have.  (Got to keep the nose to the grind, I guess.)

This display rotates and will hold thirty two pieces.  (Both of these displays could hold much more if my backings were smaller.)

If you are in PA with nothing to do, stop down.  The food is good, the activities are fun and there are lots of vendors.  There's something for everyone.

Keeping it simple

Finally....... I'm going to do AppleFest this year.

So with the festival being only a month away I'm now in production mode.  I have quite a big inventory all ready but wanted to add some to it.  This week I got into the studio four days and got quite a few fine silver pieces started.   Next time I'm going to work on copper and bronze pieces.

Since I want to keep cost and prices down I decided to keep it simple.  I'm just playing with all the new texture plates I got recently and have some new favorites.

 
I used the flex shaft to shine all these pieces.  Guess I never did that many at one time before as my fingers were buzzing long after the flex shaft was turned off.

Then I added liver of sulfur to most of them.  I never polished that many at one time either. Going to need to take Aleve tonight.

Don't let it be said that working with metal is easy.