Last weekend was the Hodgepodge craft fair in my hometown. It was my second year at the fair. Last year, I was very pleased with my sales: I sold 5 purses. I signed up again this year, looking forward to it. I love the feel and spirit of the fair. I love meeting other artists and new people. It's fun to talk to people about my work, since I usually do all my sales online.
This year didn't work out so well. As I talked about in previous posts, I've been dealing with a lot of health issues. I had a hysterectomy this past Wednesday and came down with a fever the second day of Hodgepodge. My friends and family really came to my rescue and took care of my booth for me. My brother and his fiance ran the booth all day Saturday!
Unfortunately, I didn't sell one single purse! Blame it on the recession, my prices, the fair, whatever. All I know is that I cannot afford to continue with this fair. It makes me super sad because I love doing it. I was able to make a small profit with the jewelry I sold but that's just not enough. I think I'll just attend Hodgepodge as a customer next year and throw my business cards at people like ninja stars.
One new project I came up with was my price tags. I bought a digital collage sheet from The Old Design Shop on Etsy that featured vintage pastel library cards. I shrunk them in Photoshop and added the info on the tags in an American Typewriter font. Cute, no?
Well, the positive side of all this is that all the fantastic stuff I didn't sell is going in my Etsy shop! I'm very excited to show them off. : )
6 comments:
Of course you got sick working just a few days after surgery!
I do admire your determination. :)
Now take it easy!
Em--I actually had surgery the Wednesday AFTER Hodgepodge. I wrote that wrong. There's no way I would've survived if I had to do it after surgery!
Oh my gosh! I thought you and your family (for letting you) had gone crazy!
I'm glad to hear that. Such a bummer that it didn't go as you expected though. I think giving out cards is a great idea though. That way they can buy the purses from the comfort of their own homes... where they can peek in their closets and make sure they have plenty of outfits that will coordinate. :)
Sorry to hear it didn't go as planned! I just wanted to say that I adore your tags!
That is dedication to want to do the fair right after surgery- glad you're okay....do you take debit/credit cards with an app like Square on a smart phone? Wonder if that would help with pricier items?
Maybe next year we could split a booth... what do you think? I could do my jewelry and you do your incredible stuff, and we would split the cost of rent. Half is always better than whole price. I couldn't make money with regular price but if I split with you maybe I could! Watcha think?
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