For the first time in my creative life, I am participating in a local holiday craft fair.
I have made cards for years now as a hobby. I make cards for all my family and friends for birthdays and other occasions. Over the years, many have told me that I should sell my cards.
I never gave it much thought and just enjoyed making the cards and occasionally participating in swaps.
At some point last year, a wild idea entered my brain and I thought that maybe I would give selling my cards a try. My reasoning was that it would be a fun way to keep making cards enabling me to purchase more craft stuff!
A few years back, I attended the Belmont Holiday Craft Fair and thought it was pretty cool. I was impressed with the handmade items for sale but also with the very local nature of the event. Everything at the fair has to be personally handmade and the vendors were definitely more small business/hobby business.
I targeted this craft fair mostly to keep me motivated and on track. It is also very close to my home and it was not crazy expensive to get a table.
I also opened an Etsy shop as another avenue to sell my cards and keep me motivated to make cards and come up with new designs. I haven’t done anything with the shop because I’ve been focused on getting the cards made for the fair but after the new year, I plan to put new cards in the shop each month.
Here are the cards I will have for sale at the fair which is taking place at Twin Pines Park, 30 Twin Pines Lane, Belmont, CA 94002 from 9-5 on Saturday, November 18, 2017.
As you can see from the cards, I have 3 Christmas, 1 Hanukkah, and 1 thank you. My reasoning for having a thank you card is that people always need them but don’t have them on hand. This way they can plan for the holidays and get a couple thank you cards to have at the ready. If I have time (and I don’t think I will), I will also add a generic birthday card.
One thing that is abundantly clear is that I really need to learn to take much better photos of my cards. I’ve learned that I can’t wait until night after I come home from work and I can’t use my iPhone! I have a lighting kit but have yet to set it up so I guess that’s something that should happen soon. This of course requires that I plan much better and make better use of my time. I really enjoyed creating and making the cards. I got so caught up in that part but I didn’t really leave time for the extras.
Oh well, live and learn. Should I participate in another craft fair in the future, I will add this to my knowledge base!
I’m nervous but looking forward to participating in this event. I figure the worse that can happen is that I won’t sell any cards. If that happens, the good news is that my personal holiday cards are already done!
What advice do you have for me with regards to planning and executing for a craft fair?
Wish me luck!
