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What to Cut?


Vector01

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As I mentioned in my "How much" post, the craft fair is coming to town again. They have made arrangements for a train to come in from Boston, MA. The question is now what to cut? I would think a few considerations would be 1) seasonal themed items...We have thanksgiving, holloween and of course christmas coming up. 2) Your particular location...Midwest, south west, new england, etc...This also comes into play when considering your themes. 3) What items have sold previously at your particular fair.

 

Thanksgiving, hollowween and christmas ornaments are a given. My area is partial to sea scapes, lighthouses, ships, native american, religious and wild life themed works. What seemed to sell last year was ornaments (detailed fretwork), religious pieces, native american and mini clocks.

 

Unfortunately, like the regular vendors I hadn't planned in advance for the fair. I have a few cut already but will cut a few more this and next month. The problem is you don't want to get stuck having to store those items that don't sell. Luckily, in any event they make great gifts . How do you plan on what to cut for fairs/craft shows?

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If I don't have any orders and I'm cutting just because I like to and slowly building up an inventory, I cut what I like :) I figure if it doesn't sell I'm happy to keep it and chances are if I liked it so will someone else.

 

For the show I'm doing next month I'm trying to build an inventory in a hurry. Given my region I'm doing mostly wildlife and relgious themed stuff with of course some holiday themes mixed in. I'm doing a few more detailed items for orders taht I can stack cut and have extra for the show, but when cutting just for the show I'm doing low to medium detail so I can my prices fairly low and still make a profit.

 

One thing I'm going to do is buy Sue Mey's cross that has "Faith, Hope, Love, Courage" in it along with the ribbon shape and make some pink backers. I think people will LOVE those for Christmas gifts for cancer survivors. She has another one that is for autism I plan to get.

 

Not sure if that helped but just a couple of the ideas I'm going with for mine :)

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Christmas is coming up fast. Sue Mey has a good deal going. You can get forty of her popular cross patterns for around $40. You can do an internet search to find her or there's a direct link over on Steve Goode's site. Also, Sheila Landry has been doing a lot of nice Christmas patterns lately. Jump from page to page here at SSV and watch for the ad at the top of the page to jump straight to her designs. Either of those are good suggestions for things that would sell good soon and are pretty easy to cut.

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I enjoyed reading this post of your art and williams added comments,.How fast time flys.i do try not to leave the house aS I FOLLOW MY NOSE TO MUCH AND GET FURTHER AND FURTHER FROM HOME AND NOTHING GETS CUT,oop's hit the capitals again.i need to empty my small peice wood collection baddly .the 5 gallon cans eat up my tiny shop walking space.this post is a good reminder that the season is apon us.wish i had room to set up the other scroll saw for quick rips .My stencil collection is out of hand too, that i made for orders to save time of copying and downloading everytime i need something .Problem iwas thinking to big ,it never happened.Sue and Sheila have saved us so much time and thinking ,good girls!mmme too matt i cut what strikes me as great and i enjoy looking at it till it sells.Cjswoodcrafts never stops,he's busy as bees with shows ,holidays ,charities,gifts.He's got a handle on what sells .Great post guys ,i got to get moven in the right direction now ,thanks :)

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Great info...I like the keep it simple idea. I can usually turn out a medium detailed 8.5X11" cut in about 4 hours (breaks included). I just received my issue of CW&C with quite a few xmas ornaments. There are a lot of great patterns in the library to choose from also. This will be a hit and miss for me. Ya never know. If all goes well I will actually plan for next year :lol:

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