Hello fellow Ultimate Blogging Challengers. I feel a bit remiss because here we are almost in the middle of the month and I haven't mentioned my Etsy shop or my crafting work at all! Very poor in the marketing division. I'll have to speak with someone about that! (I AM the marketing division, along with every other division - LOL).
For about 10 or 11 years I have had an Etsy shop where I sell my handmade greeting cards, mini scrapbook albums and other paper crafts. In the last five years I have begun attending craft fairs, mostly around the holidays but I'm beginning to branch out to other times of the year as well. A lot of my creations are interactive and I find that they are best shown in person, although Etsy does now have a spot for videos of your items.
At any rate, one of the things I did recently was be a vendor at an outdoor evening event. It was at a local church and as part of their festival they were having a holiday night market. I have done outside events but none at night so I thought I'd give it a shot. We just recently got a canopy so that outside events would be possible and I must say that we put it up really quickly.
I knew that it might get a little windy, especially as night came on, but the days had been really warm so I wasn't too worried. Still, I didn't display everything as I usually do because most of my products are made of paper and I didn't want to have to chase everything if the wind came up. Which it did. Forcefully. I had weights around the legs of the canopy but it almost blew away. Thankfully my vendor neighbor helped secure it by sharing some of their weights. One of my items did fall off and unfortunately it was a glass frame which broke.
Since it was going to get dark, I bought some twinkle lights to spread around the table. I really liked them and decided I was going to get more for the upcoming holiday craft fairs I have scheduled next month.
Sadly, I didn't make any sales. I think it will be a while before I attempt that venue again. It is was definitely not worth setting it all up and sitting in the cold and wind for 5 hours. It was a three day event but I only could do Friday night. Perhaps if I had done the Saturday one it might have been more profitable.
These are examples of the products I make.
Here is a little tour of my studio. This was from a few years ago but it is basically the same, just more crowded with stuff!
I also have a YouTube channel where I share some of the processes for making my items. That's another aspect of the business that I want to enhance.
And that's about it for now. Hope you enjoyed the tour of the studio. After watching it again I can see how much has actually changed in the 5 years since I made it and I'll have to do an update. If you are looking for unique handmade greeting cards or need an album for a special occasion I'd love to work with you. Send me a message on the Etsy site! Happy Saturday!
