FIRST CRAFT SHOW!

[amazingkevin]

Ok ,Ok,here's the scoop. out of 10 venders at a county park craft show i was the only one to pull any money out of it.what a good feeling that was.Nobody bought anything till the show was over ,is'nt that strange.this was my first craft show as a vender and i loved it. Most had jewery some tee shirts ,glass vases,wreaths,clothing,brick a brack,cards,candles 2 venders had, and me with scroll work,lot's of steve good puzzles and dog stuff and key changes,one lady bought $90 worth of keychains all custom order,lots of religous stuff,names,recession fund steve good stuff,mostly free steve good stuff maybe you can see from the pictures what i had.thanks everybody for the help with scrolling know how that i learned from ssv,it all helped.I helped one vender with the blues and let her put together all the dog puzzles i had .she really appreciated it. gave each vender something i had that was fitting for them. nice gesture to liven their spirits.The table was small 3" x 6" for $20.00 that a vender at a craft show across the street from me that i visited gave me to get in this one as he seen my work and knows i have no money. he did'nt even want the money back,

[DWSUDEKUM]

1st of all Congratulations! I know from experience that small shows can sometimes mean a lot of business... I only did 3 shows this year and in all 3 I was the only scroller vendor. At your show did you have to provide your own table or did they have some for rent? Suggestion, get another table and spread out a little bit. A bright cover for the table would not hurt either. Sounds like you had fun. An idea I have been playing with is to have a pedal powered saw that I can take to shows that I do not have electricity in. Granted you can not cut real thick stock with it but a key chain here and there to entice the cutomers to stay around a bit and perhaps buy.

 

DW

[wombatie]

Congratulations Kevin.

 

Marg

[amazingkevin]

thank you Thank you Thank you,I had more fun than a barrel of monkeys talking to the other vendors,to see what they've done ,where they've been how shows have gone ,the prices of other shows etc,shop talk.They were amazed at the quality of my work,just another day for me sawing away. The table was small and 20 bucks,one vendor offerd to let me us a pink cloth to cover the table with but i was set up and the show started.for 4 hours.I did $140,The lady running the show pushed me ahead of everybody as only 10 are to be picked for youth day on the 26 or 21,so buttons are pressed and wheels are turning in my favor right from the start.i really need something to display the portraits ssv does to get on that band wagon for customers.something thats going to be a show piece in homes as free advertizment so to speak.i need the big buck stuff to get out of the hole were all in with this recession balonie.But like a taxi driver it all adds up when finished.thank god for steve good on this craft show sales and ssv's patterns.if i was on my own i would starve more than i am in 4 years.Steve goods keychains and patricks "rapid resizer" put bread with butter on the table many many days when there was no other way of making money.a 21 gun salute to everone for all the encouragement and help these past 4 years !

[Clayton717]

congrats Kevin, I'm glad you was finally able to get into a show and to sell stuff makes it better.

[Dan]

Way to go Kevin!!

[Oges]

Congratulations Kevin, was great hearing you finally got into a craft show and even better that you made some sales. Your name will soon get around about the fine work you do and people will be coming to you for orders. Hope this is the start for a better year for you next year

[amazingkevin]

Yeah buddies ,It feels good to be in the saddle Really antisapating the next and the next.guess i need bags and cards.I'd like to give something trivel to everybody that stops at my table just as a thanks for lookin!I'm a giver by nature anyway.I still can't order patterns from anyone as i'm getting deep in the hole.I need to get some kathy wise intarsia patterns bad,about 7 of them.Thank you dwsudekum,Marg,Clayton717,Dan,Oges.now i can get off the porch with the big dogs and run! i needed this kickin the beehind to lift my spirits.when i unloaded the car the mail lady pulled up and bought 7 items!She's been good about getting things for birthdays and holiday's.i stoped at a yard sale just to check and see if there might be a scroll saw i could trade for.The lady asked me if i was kevin,really caught me by surprize. end's up she was the manager at pearls art's and craft and i had made her name with the beach scene on it quit a while back.She bought 15 bucks worth too!It takes time but all the 800 beach scene names i made for free and gave away are now surfaceing in a good way.I find out that 99% of them are on top of their tv's .Makes me fell proud to her that they look at it every day!

[Oges]

When I demonstrate at the Sydney wood working show each year with my club, we cut simple three piece puzzles and give them to kids. This brings people over to look and see what we are doing, then hopefully they browse around and buy something. We find having a range a small/cheap items helps for that impulse buy too

[Helenm2807]

Congratulations Kev!!! Really good to hear you doing so well on your first outing.

Just to add to what others have said; we have a laptop that we take with us - it has a powerpoint presentation on it of stuff I've made and sold or that's just to big to take to the show. We have it chained to the table (so it doesn't wander off) and it certainly grabs people's attention.

 

H.

[inspirations]

Kevin It is a pleasure to congratulate you on your first successful craft show what ever the out come may be on future Shows keep plugging away and you will be successful.

Your table presentation is very important and never let your quality drop i am speaking from many years of attending craft shows and organizing them

well done again

Brian

[amazingkevin]

Thank you Brett,Hellen and brian.I feel like royalty with all these kind comments.It's most encourageing!.Brett that's the perfect quick and easy free trivial gift for folks who vist my stand.3 piece kids puzzles.I'll have to make tanks of food coloring to dip them in another quick and simple idea from ssv!I ordered in and refillable cartridges for cheap from buy ink now or ink 123 on e-bay at a real fraction of the copy store prices and can do 5 times more copys for 10 times less.I won't get it in time to hammar out xmas items for sale but i'll try to get ready to hammar stuff out when it gets here.To buy 5 ink cassettes 2 blk.3 color from the copy store in epson it's $95.00.The same thing and fill your own from buy ink now is $28.00and you can fill it allmost 5 times with the ink that comes with it.So allready i save $560.00 and it cost me $28.00.an ssv member showed me this trick.thay' the deal of a life time.

[Barry5180]

Congratulations on a successful first craft show Kevin. I'm so glad to hear that your first experience was a positive one. You do some great work and it's just a matter of time before even more people start ordering stuff. Can't wait to hear about the next one.

 

Barry