Anything can be used for a display. I have used baskets, black metal tree sculptures, and funky wooden tiered baskets from Africa. If your items are extremely colorful, you may want to try all black for your display items. Vintage luggage makes a cool display for items (and an easy way to transport them, too). Break up your display visually by adding height and dimension. Fabric covered boxes and cake stands add height. Vintage bowls are interesting and keep small items tidy. Look at what you already have in your home and how it may be used for display. Scour flea markets and antique shops. Look at items for their display and hanging value. What can you create on your own? Your local garden shop or hardware store is a treasure trove of possibilities! Inexpensive clay pots or piping can be used in hundreds of ways.
Finally, place business cards, postcards, or other marketing materials in strategic places on your table. Also include a small notebook and pen for an email signup sheet.
Set up your display at home a few days before the show. Make sure it all works before you get there! Change items as needed. When you are satisfied, pack all the display items in a box or plastic tub. This makes set up so much easier on the day of the show.
Inventory
I only have three golden rules for inventory. First, bring enough to make the day worthwhile. You don’t want to pay $100 booth fee and only bring $75 worth of inventory. Second, bring multiple price points. Different price points make your booth attractive to lots of customers and may mean more sales. Third, try your best to match inventory with the potential customers. For example, if it is a fair with ice cream and face painting, I may not bring many silk wraps.Make sure that all items are priced. Many people are uncomfortable asking for prices. If you have many small items at the same price, a clearly written sign near those items is fine. Small blackboards are great for this.
Create an inventory sheet before you go. This helps you later when you reconcile cash with inventory, as well as helping at tax time. Storing inventory in clear plastic tubs is a great way to transport and store items. As you need to restock during the day, you can easily see what is in each box.
Other Things to Remember
Bring snacks and water!! Food at many venues can be very expensive and eat away at profits. Bring some with you. Extra water is especially important at outdoor summer fairs.
Bring a friend if you can. Everyone needs a bathroom break during the show times. If you must do it alone, become very good friends with your neighbors. The crafting community is very supportive and you can usually find someone to keep an eye on your booth or table.
Do not bring your pets. Outdoor fairs may seem like a great place to bring Fido for the day but they are not. Dogs make messes, need to be tended to and may scare away potential customers.
Don’t forget what I call the “magic box”. This contains all of those items that you may need in an emergency. Load with items like tape, scissors, band aids, etc.
Next time … the third and final installment – How to Create Your Own Show.
Written by Beth
Third Floor Designs
http://thirdfloor.etsy.com/
www.3rdfloordesigns.com
Q: Tell us about yourself
I am 30 and live in a town called Paisley, just outside Glasgow in Scotland. I graduated from Glasgow School of Art in 2002 with a BaHons in Design, and my specialism was knitted textiles. I set up my business that year and have been making ever since.
Q: What you do?
I make jewellery, greetings cards, wedding stationery commissions, and do book keeping to get extra cash. I am a bit of a design all rounder and love a new challange.
Q: How did it started?
Since I can remember I have been making cards and selling them to family, when I was six I set up a stall at my Granny's house and sold 20 cards I had made for 20p each, I felt like a millionaire. I suppose that has always just stayed with me, the fact I can make things that people want to buy!
Q: How did you get to do what you are doing now?
When I left school I took a year out because I didn't know what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I spent that year in schools, offices, and at a portfolio night class. I did about 20 work placements that year and found that the thing I was getting most pleasure from was the art cource, so I applied for college and did a years portfolio preparation there and was accepted to the Art School.
We are ready to kick off Project Debutante with the Fashion, Design and Lifestyle Team on Etsy! To debut the new team on Etsy, we will create individual items using the theme of a debutante ball. These balls are fancy, formal and lavish affairs introducing young women into society. For our ball, the “debutante” is our team and the “party” is virtual.
We will be creating an FDL Team shop, similar to other Etsy teams. This shop will display and sell individual member’s items under the team banner. The listings will also include member’s shop names and other info. Use of the team’s shop is not mandatory but will allow us to garner press when we do projects together. Details on the shop will be forthcoming. In addition, we will be looking for other ways to advertise the debut, including a possible Storque article and mention in any blogs or articles that our team members may be able to get us on. Start thinking!
The date for the actual debut will be June 1st. This is a Sunday which is usually a high traffic day.
Here are the guidelines:
If you have questions or would like suggestions on items to create, please feel free to ask away on our Yahoo message board.
Have fun!
Beth @ http://thirdfloor.etsy.com
photo from missbubbles card collection
Every artisan out there has thought about or participated in an arts and crafts fair at some time. There are countless stories about the wildly successful fairs, and the others that were a dismal failure. This first in a series on fairs focuses on two questions: should you participate in a fair and what fair should it be?
Why should you participate in a fair?
If I were to ask 100 artisans the number one reason they would participate in a fair, 95% would respond with one of two answers: to make money and to increase exposure. While both of these answers are valid, I believe the number one reason to participate in a fair is for feedback. There are many ways to make money and many ways to increase your exposure in the marketplace. There are very few venues that provide the direct contact with potential customers like a fair or show. We don’t often see who does or does not buy our items in a retail venue. We never see the customer in the internet environment. The person who does not buy your item, and the reason why, is just as important as the person who does.
At a fair or show, you can chat with people, as well as watch them. What item is picked up most often in your booth? Do they put it down after looking at the price tag? Do they ask for your business card? Do they keep coming back? People love to chat with vendors. Chat them up! Listen to what they say to others while at your booth or table. Listen, truly listen, to the feedback. Making money at a fair for one day, or two days, is wonderful. Having a marketable item that people will keep coming back for is gold.
Fairs and shows are a venue. Just like your website, or Etsy, they should be one part of your marketing pie. Most of us can’t quit our day jobs to follow our passion by selling on one venue. Relying on fairs to support your business is a very time-consuming job but they can be an important piece of the overall picture.
What fair should you participate in?
Okay, you are sold. You want to do a fair! With the plethora of fairs out there, how do you decide which one to do? The great thing about a fair is that it brings together lots of people. You want to make sure they are the right people for you. The first step, if you have not done so already, is to determine your target market. Don’t skip this step. Most fairs attract certain markets through advertising, word of mouth, all the way down to the types and prices of items at the fair. Do you make hip, funky, lower priced items? Street fairs may serve you well. Paying up to participate in a show with big-ticket items won’t. If you make expensive items, street fairs where people are looking to buy items under $10 will not net you many sales.
If you can, visit the fair before you sign up. Look at the booths, the items, AND the people browsing. How many are buying? What booths seem to be selling the most? Are these items in line with yours, in terms of target market? Are there too many items like yours? Or no items like yours? If you can not visit the fair, try to get a list of previous vendors. Ask the same questions as you peruse their websites. Try to email some if you can. The best question to ask: would you do this fair again? Why or why not? Returning vendors are the bread and butter for most show promoters. If they have to recruit a whole new group every time, it is not a successful show.
If your item is clearly a unique artisan item, you may want to avoid fairs where resellers participate. These fairs often attract buyers looking for a deal. If you make unique handmade purses, it is very hard to compete with the guy next to you selling mass-manufactured bags from the wholesale district of your local city. Check the rules for the fair. If everything must be made by the seller, you are safe. If it does not state this, ask the fair promoter.
Many shows are juried. In a juried show, photos and descriptions of your items are judged by a group of artisans for entrance into a show. These shows normally limit the number of vendors in a particular area to prevent too much competition in one area. The more well known the juried show, the more highly elevated your item becomes in the eyes of the buyer. For instance, entrance into the Sugarloaf Crafts Festivals in the US is highly competitive. These shows can be very lucrative. In addition, these shows help to build a “resume” for your art. Participation in these shows can be used on your websites and marketing materials, thus lifting your profile. Usually, the best, most competitive shows do the best advertising.
Other artisans are some of the best resources for good shows. Don’t be afraid to ask someone where they participate. Take time during this show season to browse through as many fairs as you can. Stop and chat with the vendors. Most of us love to talk about our art. Ask them about the fairs they participate in.
Art fairs and shows can be very costly and time-consuming. Taking the time to check them out before hand, asking questions, and matching them to your target market can save money, time, and many headaches! In the end, you must decide which ones work best for your art or craft.
For the next two installments:
What you need to know for an organised artisan fair
How to Create Your Own Show
Written by: Beth Rowan
Third Floor Designs
http://thirdfloor.etsy.com/
I had this idea to pursuit my journalist's passion and write in my third language about interesting people around me. People in our Fashion, Design and Lifestyle team are these interesting ones: extremely different, interesting personalities we pass by.
This is the first blog like that, so please take your time to stop and have a read of my email chat with Rebecca, a busy artist and mum who works as Art & Philanthropy with her two children (for the link to her shop click on the blog title).
Rebecca's very personal photos... Rebecca and her son.
Rebecca: I am Rebecca Peragine, a self-taught artist and collector of unfinished projects. I do my art for a living, selling on Etsy and brick and mortar boutiques. I also do work for an organization called PEACE (http://www.peace-islamujeres.org/) creating prototypes of marketable products for the org’s Women’s Cooperative. I also create exclusive art for that particular organization, using the images to create a number of textiles to market to the tourist population. I have lived all over, for a big part in the Yucatan Penninsula of Mexico where I met my husband. We currently live in Wisconsin, where I grew up, with our two children.
-What is your dream for your life?
Rebecca: I wish I would be magically ”found”, become crazy successful and never have to worry about web upkeep, cross promoting, printing, packaging, creative dry spells, taxes or wrinkles again; until that happens, I’d be happy to live somewhere with a palm tree in my yard. They make me happy. They don’t grow in Wisconsin.
-You say you create art for children, though it is very postmodern and I could imagine myself buying it. Who are your customers?
Rebecca: I’m lucky to be able to market to moms, new moms are especially fun to work with. They are sooo excited and love the idea of custom art for their new little ones. I keep my prices low on purpose; I’d rather have my work enjoyed by 100 everyday families instead of one very rich one. My art is made predominately with recycled materials, so although they have a childlike feel, they are bought by big people too. I think it’s safe to say that my art makes people feel happy, and that’s why they appeal to a diverse crowd.
-What inspires you?
Rebecca: My kids reaction to my art ideas, hearing my son tell his friends that his mommy is an artist, positive feedback, progress.
-How did you get into what you are doing now?
Rebecca: Total fluke, I have been a crafter, jewelry maker, body product inventor, potter (for a day) - pretty much a jack of all trades. A while back my family moved into a new house in the country and my older son was afraid to sleep in his new room. So, I gathered whatever was unpacked, which was a canvas, glue and some left over papers and started making a “protector dinosaur”. One piece led to another and before I knew it, I found my thing.
-Is there something missing in your life? If so, what is it?
Rebecca: Quiet, sleep, a clean house. The basics of running a business out of your home with two young boys on top of you. Travel, that’s a big one. I’m trying to be a good, stable, rooted mom, but I guess you can’t hide your free spirit when it’s so deeply seeded in your soul. I need to embrace that.
-What is your passion?
Rebecca: Right now, it’s my art. I love nurturing it and watching it grow. I’m working soooo hard to make this a lucrative career. That would be such a gift to be able to truly do what I love….and be paid well. And if I can keep going and make it, I’m going to deserve that palm tree.
-Is there anything you would like to do in our team / for our team?
Rebecca: Promote, promote, promote. I can give you any info I come across that might help all of us. I’m constantly plugging myself, so I can do the same for the team.
-What would you like to tell me / our team members?
Rebecca: Let’s all make it a priority to find promotional opportunities for each other. I’m sure you all know how time consuming self-promotion is. Any extra help would be so great!
Rebecca, thank you for your time. It was pleasure talking to you.
P.S. You are in as our team's promoter. Let's help Rebecca with promotion ideas and assistance!
Trend forecasting companies employ more designers then fashion houses. Fashion houses and independent designers do not publicly admit using trends forecasters...
They summarise top designer fashion shows and street wear. This specific website lives on the subscription basis (prices start at over £500 per 3 months of full access to the website).
They give a broad overview of trend coverage on colors, materials, clothing, graphics and accessories. They provide inspirational visuals, material for the mood, color boards and images from the catwalk shows and streets.
The TRENDSTOP (click the title to visit their website) is just one example which caught my eye whilst I was browsing the web and there are a lot of them (share the information on this if you found something amazing!).
Many forecasting companies put together style books and specification of prevailing and emerging styles, with predictions, suggestions for the next season.
New trends, according to Sue Jenkyn Jones (the author of "Fashion Design"), are supposed to arise from three main sources: high culture (fine art, classical music, theatre and so on), pop culture (TV, celebrities, music, movies) and low culture (activities pursued locally by special-interest groups, for example skateboarding).
The online Vogue home
