Tuesday, May 18, 2010

the BIG crafty

We got into the Big Crafty!  It's a super cool handmade market in Asheville that has been getting bigger and bigger.  We applied last year, and were rejected.  (We decided it was because of drastic overflow of applicants since we didn't get a rejection letter.  Hope that was it!)  But this year we made it!  Last year I didn't get to go because I was in Peru, but I went the year before that, and it was amazing.  It's great to see that those sellers on etsy and artfire are real people.

We've only been to one craft fair, this past winter at a high school in our area.

Other way around in this photo.  Rachel's making a silly comment!So we're trying to figure out ways to make our booth extra special, and market well.  I had the idea that it would be great if we could have our label printed on cheapo tissue paper/ wrapping paper--apparently not really feasible. 
My other thought was stickers.  I was thinking that they would look good on our bags, and the boxes I'm planning on making for the jewelry.  If anyone has had any luck with cheap personalized stickers, please please let me know where you got them!

I'm also hoping that we can be a little more organized at this fair and do a little more thinking ahead.  It's surprising how difficult it is to think of ways to display your things in a short time.

If anyone has any craft fair tips, please let us know.  We're pretty inexperienced, and would love some advice!

2 comments:

gina said...

I bought some inexpensive custom stickers on Etsy. There a tons of different sellers who do this kind of work. You can even submit a request into the alchemy section and set your own price!

I also have a custom stamp that I bought on Etsy. I sent the vendor my logo and within 2 weeks received a stamp. I use it to stamp on the front of thank you cards or on cheap white bags that I use when someone buys an item.

I have only done two fairs, but my advice is to not let you table get too cluttered and rotate things throughout the day. It keeps it interesting for those that might stop by the second time.

Also, have lots of business cards and leave them out, many will just grab one of those.

Good luck and congrats on getting into this show!

Unknown said...

Thanks Gina, what great tips. I'm going to have to do some searching on etsy for stickers! I think you're right that the alchemy could be a great tool for this.

Stay tuned for a compilation of some of the useful craft fair tips from crafters all over the web. I will certainly include yours!