Working It Wednesday: Picking and Choosing

Hello all! It's been a few weeks since I've blogged here but that doesn't mean I've forgotten my work. After the success of the Fall craft fairs I did I took a little time off from working and just enjoyed the holiday season. Now that the new year is here I've been busy planning out what I'll do this year to improve upon the success I had last year.

The first task at hand is deciding which events I want to participate in for 2017. I've started both a mental list and an official list. Different events bring different clientele and each event has its own pros and cons. I spent a good bit of time looking back at the events of last year and weighing out my options. And of course I'm always on the hunt for new events that I haven't yet participated in.

For now, I've officially signed up for the Hutchison Beeline Bazaar on 3/4/17
and the Bartlett United Methodist Spring Craft Fair on 3/17-3/18. If you're local to Memphis come visit my booth at one of these events! As soon as registration opens for East Buntyn Artwalk and the V&E Artwalk, I plan to register for those as well. I've literally been checking the website for the East Buntyn Artwalk daily waiting on registration to open! It was my favorite event last year and the one I am most excited about this year. You can follow my Instagram account or watch here for updates as I get signed up for events.

As previously mentioned in other posts, I'm working on refining my products. I am still not planning to sell my painted rocks anymore because of the 901 Rocks movement but I am working with a few ideas to elaborate on what I was doing before they came into the picture. I'm considering making magnets out of some painted rocks and I'm also considering doing larger rocks which would serve as paperweights or even larger ones that could be garden stones. And my sister and I have done a little brainstorming on my garden markers to make them better sellers. And in October there will be a new style of Nativity set introduced. So painted rocks aren't totally out of the picture but they won't be sold as they were last year. Canvas art will still be at my shows but I'm working on creating series of works instead of random individual paintings.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Working It Wednesday: Creating a series

As those of you who have been following my blog know, I've been pondering the idea of no longer painting my Nativity sets. I've gone back and forth about it and decided to do both. That's right, both!

I'm going to retire the current Nativity set at the end of this Christmas season. I will then reveal a newly designed Nativity set next year in October for the 2017 Christmas season. I've decided to start a series where every year I recreate the Nativity set with a new design. This will keep my best selling Nativity sets available while also keeping my design unique and fresh. I'm excited to see how it all turns out! Note to shoppers, if you want one of the current Nativity sets you need to go to my Etsy shop and order one now because it disappears forever on Christmas Day!
You can visit my shop here: Etsy Shop

I've read before that artists should try and create a series out of items that have been successful sellers. I've never done it but feel it's a good time for me to start focusing on that. I've got my Nativity set that sells wonderfully but I've also got a few canvases that sell consistently that I may try to turn into series as well. There is a canvas I sold back in April that I've missed like crazy ever since then. It's a bird silhouette with a perfect turquoise background. On Pinterest, it's my most repinned pin. Seriously, it's at like 9,600 pins! That means 9,600 people liked my painting! I'd like to do a series spinoff of that. I honestly think it's my best painting I've ever done. And I never even took a truly decent picture of it! I've done other bird paintings but nothing ever looked quite as good as that one.

And there's a colorful, whimsical tree painting that almost always sells every time I paint it so that's a thought too. You can check out the colorful tree here: Whimsical Tree

While craft fairs are on hiatus until early Spring, this might be a great project for me to work on. So stay tuned for insight into series I'll be creating!

Working It Wednesday: Craft Fairs, Copycats and Custom Orders

Being that it's the day before Thanksgiving, I'm having a busy week! I've got pumpkin pies to bake and potatoes to mash but I also have art stuff to take care of too.
This past Saturday I had a booth at the St.Louis Catholic craft fair and it was an excellent way to end my craft fair year. It was busy pretty much from start to finish! I sold a couple canvas paintings, including one of my larger ones. Story stones, especially Nativity sets, sold very well too but the best seller of all were the polymer clay gift tags. They sold very well! I took a few custom orders for story stones and I've been busy getting those painted and ready for delivery. This was my final show of the year and aim looking forward to just focusing on Christmas now but I am already starting to plan out next year's events. Stay tuned and I'll post a list of events I'll be attending soon!
In addition to craft fair orders, my etsy shop has been busier than usual, all with Nativity orders. I love that the Nativity is still holding true to be my best selling story stone set. Recently, the 901 Rocks group I've mentioned before had a member copy the picture from my Etsy listing for the Nativity set and post it to the group Facebook page and ask if anyone would make her a set for free. And then someone, several someones actually, proceeded to do just that. The members of the group actually painted sets that mirrored my design almost exactly. Someone who had seen my work saw this happening and tagged me in the post. It's hard to explain how it felt to see my work being copied so exactly and given for free. Yes, it was super flattering that my idea was so well liked but it also hurts to see other people stealing my ideas. If they would've just put their own twist or influence on the Nativity sets it wouldn't have bothered me at all but they didn't. They just painted theirs to look like mine. And until that one person recognized my design and tagged me in the post, no one was even bothering to credit me as the original artist. Not being credited as the artist in the initial post lead to a few uncomfortable moments at my craft fair when more than one shopper mentioned they'd seen that exact set on 901 Rocks just that week. My husband said I shouldn't care and that people who paint 901 Rocks aren't the people who are buying my story stones. But while I do hate missing out on a few sales, it really isn't about that for me. It's more about my thoughts, my creative design being stolen. I'm trying really hard to be positive and not think negatively about it but it definitely is pushing me further away from painting rocks in the future. I'm actually contemplating not painting rocks at all anymore. We will see.
The most exciting thing I've been doing this week though is a custom canvas painting for someone who saw my work a few months back at Cooper-Young and decided she needed a new painting for her living room and she wanted me to paint it for her! This is perhaps one of the biggest compliments you can get as an artist. Her color palette was a bit different than my normal go to color palette so it was more of a challenge but still incredibly fun. Here is a picture of her finished custom canvas:

Well, my work is calling so that's all for blogging today! I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! 

Working It Wednesday: After the show

The Bartlett United Methodist Craft Fair was a smashing success! It was a 2-day event and by lunchtime on the first day I'd already made back my booth fees and started turning a profit. Usually 2-day events are mostly looky-Lou's and vendor to vendor shopping on opening day but this event had excellent turnout both days.

My booth was a great corner spot in the gym which meant I had space for people to shop and had walls to lean my canvas artwork against. This was a huge advantage as some of the vendor booths were squeezed along hallways and some people even ended up outside. I'm not sure how I got so lucky as to the space I got but I am thankful. The show was huge and had the most vendors it's ever had.

My Nativity story stones almost sold out and would have had I not gone home and painted more on Friday night. The set I donated to the church's silent auction ended up selling for double what they sold for in my booth. And many customers mentioned that they came to my booth just because they saw my Nativity set in the silent auction so it definetly paid off to donate the set. Many shows ask for item donations and I typically always give something. It's good advertisement. Other sets sold as well and I had several customers place special orders for story stones of themes I didn't have currently available. I was able to get those painted, glazed and delivered today.  I sold a few of the wooden trays I'd stained so I'm glad that I listened to customer requests from the previous show because it made a nice add on sale. I sold out of holiday gift tags and almost out of the more generic gift tags too. Three of my canvas paintings sold and I had several people ask if I ever offered paint and wine classes. This was mentioned to me at another show but I hadn't thought much about it. Perhaps I should think about it. It could be fun.

My next show is coming up next weekend! I'll be at St. Louis Catholic Church on Saturday 11/19 from 9am-4pm so if you're local, stop by and say hi! It's an annual event that apparently brings in vendors from all over so it should be a great opportunity to do some Christmas shopping! In the meantime, you'll be able to find me painting more Nativity sets and making more polymer gift tags!

Working It Wednesday: Website Building

So this past week I've been working on building my own website. It's something that I've been thinking about for a long time and I finally decided to go for it. Being that I'm one of the least tech-savy people I know, it has not been a quick process. Not totally miserable or anything, just not fast.

Why pay money and take the time to build a site? Well, it's something I've noticed that many of the artists I admire have. Sort of a place to tie everything related to my artwork together. I'll still have my Etsy shop and still blog here but my website will link it all together. My shop, my blog, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest all happily accessible from one site.

If you want, you can check it out here: www.wishesandwonderment.com

Keep in mind though that it is a work in progress. There are still a few glitches that I'm working out, especially on iPad view. Desktop and iPhone view seem to be okay though. And once I get all the little issues worked out, I'll fill it with more content and liven it up a bit. For now it's just bare minimum basic.

You may also notice that it has only canvas art featured. That's something I'm thinking of working towards. My love of art and crafting often have me doing a huge variety of things from painting rocks to canvases to glassware to gift tags. Personally, I like that I like a lot of different things. But I also don't like the lack of clear focus my shop and booth can sometimes have. And one piece of advice I've heard over and over is that I should aim for just one thing. I've been told this and I've read it and heard it in webcasts. I can easily narrow it down to two. Rocks and canvases. But the rocks have become a touch of an annoyance lately so I'm focusing on canvases for now. Back in July I hid a few painted rocks around town for people to find. Less than 2 weeks later, a group was started on Facebook called "901Rocks" where people paint rocks and then hid them all over town. And it went practically viral overnight. Initially I loved the idea and enjoyed watching people get so excited about painting rocks. I've even participated in hiding them around town. But then people at craft fairs began asking if I was the lady who started 901Rocks and when I said I wasn't, they ALWAYS ask if I took the idea from her. I didn't. I've been painting rocks for several years now. The thing about it that bothers me is I don't ever want people to think that I took someone else's idea, twisted it and tried to make money off of it. See, 901Rocks are supposed to be a free thing. My painted rocks are not free. So, until the luster wears off a bit for the whole 901Rocks thing, I won't be selling any individual painted rocks at craft fairs. I will still sell the sets of story stones that I have, including my nativity sets, but once they sell out, I may stop making them altogether aside from any special requests. We'll see. I just hate the thought that anyone could possibly mistake me for stealing an idea and profiting from it. In the meantime I think it will be fun to try and focus on just my canvas painting. It should bring improvements and strengthen my painting skills if nothing else.

I am also gearing up for a show this weekend. I'll be at Bartlett First United Methodist Church this coming Friday 11/4 through Saturday 11/5 from 9-5. My booth is #13 and is located in the corner of the gym. If you're local, stop by and say hi!
You can learn more about the event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/562359350639506/

Craft Fair Checklist

Since all I'm working on this week is organizing my art room I decided that this week's blog post will be different than my usual Working It Wednesday. Instead I'm going to share my craft fair checklist. It's a master list of must have items for vendors at a craft fair. Why a list? Well, because I like lists. And because when I was brand new to the whole craft fair thing I found several similar lists on Pinterest and they were quite helpful. Often times the days leading up to an even t can be so hectic and stressful that lists like this come in super handy the night before an event when your brain is just dead with exhaustion. So here's my personal list of must have items at a craft fair:

-Cash (Broken into a variety of small bills)
-Card Reader
-Phone
-Phone Charger
-Pens/Pencils
-Sharpie marker
-Notepad/paper
-A book (This gives you something to do while you wait for the crowds to roll in)
-Scotch tape
-Duct Tape
-Paperclips
-Rubberbands
-Binder clips
-Glue Dots
-Trash bags
-Pop up laundry hamper (Use as a trash can hidden underneath a table)
-Wet wipes
-Windex wipes
-Paper towels
-Kleenex
-Advil
-Bandaids
-Gum/Mints
-Water (Occasionally I'll bring a cooler with sodas too)
-Snacks (You do not want to blow all your $ on concessions)
-Business cards
-Bug spray (If an outdoor event)
-Sunscreen (If an outdoor event)
-Small portable fan (I got a great battery powered one from Walmart for $6)
-Inventory
-Display props
-Tables
-Chairs (The camping kind are great, especially if they have cupholders)
-Tissue paper/bubble wrap
-Bags (I bring a variety of sizes)
-Folding dolly/handcart

And that's my list of must have items. Every artist/crafter will have their own version of this list. It took several shows before I felt I'd created the best list for me. If you're new to craft fairs and wondering what would be best for you, I'd suggest browsing Pinterest and reading as many lists as you can, pulling out what applies to you and soon enough you'll find that you have your own list. I have a board on my Pinterest page where I've pinned tons of great articles and lists and tips for craft fairs. You can visit it here: https://www.pinterest.com/starrygirlb/etsy-and-craft-fair-tips/
It's a Pinterest board that I still pin to fairly often so feel free to follow it.

Working It Wednesday: After the show

Last Friday and Saturday was the Bartlett Hills Baptist Church Annual Craft Fair and it went really well. This was my first experience with a 2-day show and I think I like them better than single day shows. I also was allowed to set up tables the night before which I loved since it gave me a chance to see the space I'd been assigned and decide on my layout. Plus the added benefit of having one less thing to unload and set up on that Friday morning. I lucked out and got a corner space for this event and was able to try a new layout that pulled traffic through the booth rather than around it. My next event already notified me and told me that I've gotten a corner booth so I plan to use pretty much the same layout again.

As expected, my Nativity sets sold the best, followed by my gift tags. I did sell two canvas paintings as well but this event was much more geared towards holiday shopping than art shopping. I did not sell individual painted rocks at this event like I usually would've. It can get confusing when I sell the individual rocks and sets of rocks at the same event. People never seem to understand the difference and it just complicates things. Since I knew I wanted to sell the Nativity sets at this event, I opted out of the individual rocks and did a semi-mass production of some of my best selling sets. I stained wooden trays to display samples of each set on and then behind each tray I had a basket with pre-bagged sets of that sample. It actually worked well this way and I will continue to use this method of setup/display going forward. In fact, several of the customers who purchased sets of story stones actually asked if I sold the wooden trays that I was using as a display. Based off that, I've purchased a few more trays and plan to stain them and sell them alongside my Nativity sets at my next show. They're just simple, unfinished wooden trays from Michael's that I stained to match my other display props but they do look nice. If they do end up selling, I'll likely continue to make them. We shall see.

I've got two more craft fairs this year and I'm currently working to replenish my stock. I painted more Nativity sets and I'm about to make more gift tags. I bought some new holiday rubber stampers so I can offer a bigger variety of gift tags. With Christmas only being 9 weeks away I figure these will be a good seller and at only $1 each they'll make a good alternative to my $1 rocks that I usually sell. Awhile back someone told me to always offer something at a cheap price point when I do shows and so far, that's proven to be great advice. Those little dollars here and there do add up pretty quickly!

I have started to receive notifications of events accepting applications for 2017 fairs but haven't yet signed up for any. I'd like to do more than I did this year but want to be sure I take my experiences and make wise decisions on which events are right for me. I definetly seem to do better with smaller school and church hosted fairs than massive community hosted events so I'll be giving those priority. I'll keep you posted here as I start scheduling those events.