HEY How did this month creep up on me?
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| Oh it's what? |
My husband always says that and I'm usually counting down from JULY!. Well if you are a crafter or make anything your probably thinking the same as I do. How many days do I have to get ready for my craft fair! Well, that's exactly what I do. Sometimes I'm not always in a craft fair and sometimes I'm just doing a last minute oh here's a fair let me go to this one.
When my sone was not even 2 months old I had gone to my first event. It was located at a community association building in a small town. Loved it! I was very young, how young, my baby is now 37! Enough said? Anyway, the people around me were so nice they gave the baby his first ornament and although I probably didn't get more than my entrance fee covered. I was addicted.
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| one of my babies |
My socialization at the time wasn't filled with parent and baby groups. That didn't start until well years later. Since meetups were not organized on the web and invitations weren't sent through email I had to scour ads in newspapers, penny savers, and check local church and organizations regarding up coming craft fairs.
First, I went to these fairs and realized hey I can do better! (Don't we all say that?) My specialty at the time was making Gingerbread Houses. NOW stop right there remember this is during the time when pre-made Gingerbread Houses didn't exist. There were no patterns or recipes or boxes with pre-formed ginger bread. AHHA no.My recipe came from years as a teenager trying to figure out how to accomplish the task of making a gingerbread house. I failed miserably with real gingerbread. Although I did have fans of the base made of ginger. Eventually at the tender age of 17 I figured out from a recipe, my grandmothers cook book had, to use a ginger cookie recipe and eventually that worked. I must admit it was quite a big thing back in the day because no one did that themselves. I would buy my add on, things like fuzzy Santas, angels, or reindeer during the end of the Holiday sales. I would have them for the next year.
Eventually, I decided that fairs don't really work if your selling Gingerbread houses. People look once and move on, so I tried several different things. My second attempt at finding my niche was selling miniatures. After attending the miniature enthusiasts conference in NY I was hooked on all things tiny. I made things out of balsa wood and bread dough and lamps out of beads. Here is were it gets to become a problem. I found that I was enamored by anything crafty. I tried to make, jewelry, embroider, stitch, clay, stamp or fold paper. I was hooked on creating, yes, I did hook a pillow. Moving on.
While living in New York state I figured out how to get into the fairs during Holiday season. Actually that was the only time I was available during that part of my life. In Arizona, it took a little more hunting by then the computer was showing it's usefulness. Instead of going through every local paper and hunting down signs around town. (A good way to note places that do have craft fairs and ask when they plan their event so you can get on their list for the next year.) Check out websites in churches, local charity organizations, farmers markets depending on your locale. Just be open and ask especially now.
At one point I was invited to shows while I was showing at one and you have to judge it based on your needs. Some of these places are just starting and typically are not huge. However, if they have the potential of becoming huge you'll be in just be aware the first year is typically a low volume on new fairs.
There are sites that promote fairs and you can join them for a fee or just look to see what's coming up and then go check it out as a customer.
http://sf.funcheap.com/category/event/event-types/fairs-festivals/
http://www.artfaircalendar.com/art_fair
There are plenty of organizers who work with local areas and they bring craft fairs in on a rotating basis.Type in fairs, art shows, whatever it is you do probably has a website that tells you about locations of fairs. This is great if you want to do something monthly. Remember to have your items ready before the Holiday. So like any good crafter we're making valentines products now.
Was that my husband who just sighed?
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