New Friends and Strange Trading

I was truly blessed this year with the perfect conditions and location at the Strange Folk Festival. I was located right next to the stage so I had one quilt rack on the far end of the table and the other on the steps. I set my chair up on the stage so I was queen of my domain and could see everything going on below me. This shot to the right is from my perch with a few customers browsing my table.

I was also blessed with the friendliest vendor neighbors you could possibly ask for. Directly next to me was Lisa from Cornflower Press seen above. I was captivated by her original linoleum block art of rural images that reminded me of my childhood. I bought a plaque with the white barn house image as it reminded me of my Nana's old house. By the end of the weekend we were laughing like old friends and I hope to stay in touch with her. She has been making a living from her artwork for many years and I found her quite inspiring.

Straight ahead of me was the utterly tempting Dyeabolical Yarns. I always enjoy visiting with Rachel and drooling at all of her colorful fibers. I actually got one of her amazing handspuns in my favorite fall colors in a trade for one of my organic cotton creations. Trades are actually as good if not better than sales in my book as you get something that you probably wouldn't have bought otherwise to remind you of the day.

I also traded a hat for a set of all natural beauty products from Erin. I got the anti-aging lotion, the blemish treatment (how sad is it that I need both of these at my age), the mosquito repellent that uses catnip of all things and smells really good, and the cut and scrap balm.

I traded for a very cool fused glass plate from ArtLady Designs that she made out of a recycled shower door. Turns out she lives in the next town over from me and her husband works for the community college.

My goofy trade of the day was for a floppit from Tindlebears. I always need to get one item that will make my husband question my sanity and that will remind me of the inherent strangeness of the event. She also makes some really adorable teddy bears that would make great Christmas presents.

I bought a Christmas present for my Mom from Three Strands who does hand embroidery of nature images from rural Missouri. She is an ecologist from the parks service and I admired some of her photographs she was selling on notecards. One was of a controlled burn and when I told her that my Dad burns every year she got way more excited than a person should at that news. I love when someone is really enthusiastic about things other people don't think about so I instantly liked her.

And finally I once again enjoyed the yummy concoctions of the Hot Cookie. She was my booth neighbor last year and even though she was at a much healthier distance this year I couldn't resist her double fudge drops and Lemon Tarragon Sables.

Meeting unique people and making new friends really is the best part of Strange Folk each year, and is why I look forward to it more than any other event of the year.

Strange Folk Wrap up!

I've mostly recovered from this weekend. I would have to say that this was my favorite Strange Folk Festival yet. I had a perfect spot in the covered pavilion right next to the stage so I could spread out more than those in the center aisles. I had the best booth neighbors, which I will talk about more tomorrow. Saturday was an absolutely gorgeous day in the upper 70's with huge crowds most of the day. I had a perfectly acceptable number of sales but nothing spectacular. Sunday was a rainy, cold, and somewhat miserable day and guess what. I had my best day ever at Strange Folk!

On day one I didn't sell a single hat. I sold mostly lower priced scarves and a whole lot of wristcuffs which I had marked down. On day 2 I sold over half of my hats, most of my higher priced scarves, and several of my higher priced scarf/hat sets. What a difference 15 degrees makes. I felt terrible for the vendors in the tents on Sunday as many people just weren't venturing out into the park with the rain and cold. People were taking their time in the covered pavilion and those who hadn't worn a scarf that day were buying them off the rack and wearing them around. A couple of nice folks said they were leaving the tags on them for free advertising for me.
I really had some of the sweetest customers this year. My absolute favorite was the girl in this shot (posted with her mother's permission.) She bought one of my favorite hats and she had her own quirky style which I loved. I actually made 3 in this style with the tufts of Ozark Mountain Handspun sticking out every 5 rows. I will probably end up keeping the one that I didn't sell for myself. This girl fell in love with the hat as soon as she tried it on and her face just lit up. . But her Mom told her she wanted to look around to make sure there wasn't one she liked more. An hour later the girl comes running up to the table and says "I tried every hat in this entire place on and this is the perfect one." I couldn't resist taking a picture since the hat really was made for her with her little curls poking out.

My second favorite customer was a little girl around 7 or 8 who came up with her sister. They tried on every one of my wrist cuffs. She picked out a wire wrist cuff, which is the most grown up item I sell, with Eiffel tower charms, probably the most grown up of my wire wrist cuffs. It fit her barely but she had made up her mind. She got her wallet out and handed me her $7 so grown up like. I was a little worried about what her mother would think. Around 15 minutes later the whole family comes up and the mom says I just wanted to tell you that she had been shopping all weekend long and your bracelet was what she chose to spend her money on. I told her how special that made me feel and we chatted for while. The mom had bought a scarf from me the year before and I think she was a vendor.

My last customer of the day was my biggest sale of the weekend, just like the first year I did Strange Folk. It was about 15 minutes before closing time and a family came up in a flurry. Her daughter picked out one of my most expensive scarf/hat sets and the mom chose one of my $30 scarves for herself. If I had started to pack up like many of the other vendors, she probably would have passed me on by. Mike had come to help me pack up and he was sitting on the steps next to my booth. The sister sat down next to him and he was sharing his popcorn with her and they shared a moment. When the family was leaving the girl gave Mike a big hug which everyone thought was so cute.
I was pretty happy with the booth display. I sold way more items off the table this year than last year. The display items I talked about here were much more effective than the shelves I spent so much money on last year. I didn't change much from day 1 to day 2 except putting out only one head since I got tired of taking things on & off of the heads all day long Saturday. I also arranged the quilt racks by color on Sunday and not price. I ended up pricing things as $15, $20, and a few $30 scarves.

I'll share more about the weekend tomorrow, including the great trades and friends I made.

Craft Show Tidbits

Last year I did a whole series of posts about craft shows as I was getting ready for the Fall season. This year not so much. I was rereading them this morning to reassure myself that I was ready for the Strange Folk Festival this weekend and thought I would share some of the highlights.

From the post Craft Show Ideas:

Another thing to consider when choosing a show is whether it is juried or not. Personally I prefer juried shows since it keeps the resellers out but there is the stress factor of waiting to see if you got in. I am not in the league to consider the high end art shows but if you are than you need to plan pretty far in advance and be willing to put out some bucks in fees. The most I've ever paid for a booth fee is $90 but I have heard of shows that cost in the hundreds of dollars that attract a high end clientele. Shows that have been around along time and have a built in clientele are worth the investment in most cases. You should consider how long they have been doing the event and if possible find out how many attended the year before. I've never done an event that charged attendees to enter but I've been told they bring out people really ready to shop.

Missouri has a site called MissouriArtsAndCrafts with a list of events and I'm sure your state probably has something similar.... Another comprehensive site is Festival Network Online. You can search events for free here but to get full details and other services it costs $49 a year. This is more than I can justify paying but I do use it to search and then I google events that sound interesting to see if I can find more details.

From the post Fall Craft Show To Do list:

Figure out how you are going to accept credit cards. I think that it's vital to have a method of accepting plastic. You are missing out on so many sales if you just take cash and checks. I use Propay and it's super easy and very reasonable. I just renewed my membership and it was around $30 for a year which is so worth it.

Stock up on business cards. I recently bought 1000 cards from Vista Print with one of their many coupons for around $15. I have heard that some people had bad experiences with them but I've put in 3 different orders and never had a problem. You have to be careful to opt out of all of their silly promotions and you will get spam e-mails from them but I'm okay with that for such a good price on a business necessity. I've also been thinking about ordering some postcards to use as follow up with some of my return customers.

From the post My Craft Show Checklist:

1. Vendor information. The organizer will usually e-mail you info like your booth number and parking directions that you will want to have that day.
   
2. notebook. I like to keep a running tally of how much I've made. Be sure to keep track somehow of how much you make so that you can pay sales tax.
   
3. calculator
   
4. receipt book
5. credit card receipts
6. 
   
7. cash, I usually bring $100 in cash.
8. cash apron, I prefer to keep my cash on me rather in a cash box that could walk away when I turn around.
9. Mirror, I'm always amazed at how many vendors forget this one and ask to borrow mine.
10. Shopping bags of some sort. Paper lunch bags can work for small purchases.
    
11. Tools to "fix things", if you make jewelry bring some extra findings just in case.
12. camera, so you can take lots of pictures of your booth for your blog!

From the post First Craft Show Anxiety:

The best way to elevate your anxiety is to be as prepared as possible. Set your booth display up at home and get everything just the way you like and then take a picture. Save it to your phone or make a copy of it so that you have something to work from on the big day.

Don't be disappointed if you don't sell a ton of stuff at this first show, just look at is as a dry run to get over those first show jitters. Keep telling yourself that this is your hobby and it's supposed to be fun. That helps me for some reason. I will also tell myself that this is not my job and my mortgage doesn't depend on it. If it did I can't imagine how nervous I would be. I'm usually a mess until I have my first sale and then I will calm down a bit. Once I make my booth fee I breathe a sigh of relief and am much calmer for the rest of the day.

Definitely get a good night's sleep the night before. Don't, I repeat Don't, stay up all night making new items to sell. If it relaxes you to work on your craft do so but having a few extra things will not be worth the all nighter if you are tired and cranky the next day.

Try not to have a thin skin and don't take it personal if someone turns their nose up at your booth or doesn't get the inherent wonderfulness of you and your product.... As creative types we tend to have a more sensitive disposition. Don't let this stop you from trying something new and putting yourself out there. Most people will be complimentary and you will get more feedback in one day about your work than in a year on line. I have had some wonderful interactions with customers that gave me warm and fuzzy feelings for weeks afterwards. When someone really gets you and wants to actually buy something you made with your own hands it's one of the best feeling in the world.

From the post What I learned about craft shows:

Too much is not necessarily a good thing. I always brought all of my merchandise to the shows but I found that over filling my quilt racks and table actually overwhelmed shoppers. If someone was interested in a different color I could always get out the plastic tubs with the rest of my inventory and let them look through them. I sold a bunch of scarves right out of the tub.

Make friends with the organizers and keep a smile on your face even if it's painful. The last thing you want to do is to be seen as a trouble maker by the organizer, especially if it is a juried show.

If you can't set up the night before than at least pack up the car and be ready to go. Have the mapquest directions printed out and read through carefully. Try to get a good night's sleep.



I know this is not my first time at the rodeo but I still get those pre-show jitters. Hopefully I will be able to take my own advice and enjoy the weekend!

Strange Folk Here I come!

I'm getting so excited for this weekend's Strange Folk Festival. I can't believe that it is almost here. I thankfully took Friday off so that I can get myself fully ready. If you let me know that you are a blog reader I will give you 15% off your entire purchase this weekend!

Here are the details from their press release:

The 5th annual 2-day Strange Folk Festival happens September 25 & 26 in O’Fallon Illinois from 10am to 6pm both days! There will be 150 indie crafters and artists from across the country. Live music, good food, activities for kids, and you have the Heartland’s largest outdoor indie art festival. Just 15 minutes from downtown St Louis, easily accessible from both sides of the Mississippi. Family-friendly Strange Folk offers free admission and was voted "best craft festival in St Louis" by the River Front Times.

Log on to www.strangefolkfestival.com to see a preview of vendor crafts! Other highlights include a wide variety of food and drinks, The Upcycle Exhange, Authors Pavilion and book signings, live blogging stations, performance art, sewing demos, hand-on crafts and demos, alpaca petting zoom, animal rescue booths and more!You can also meet our good friend Brian Katcher, author of two Young Adult novels, on Saturday afternoon in the Writer's Block booth.

It looks the weather is going to be perfect, knock on wood. I'll be under the covered pavilion so if we should get another rain shower like last year I won't have to worry. I hope to see you there!

Pricing Delimmas

I've been really struggling this year with how I want to price my inventory. The past 2 years I've streamlined everything into very narrow price points. I priced all of my scarves at $15 or $30. My soft wristcuffs were $7 and the wire wristcuffs were $11. Scarflettes were primarily $25 except for some lower end ones that were $15.

Last year at the Strange Folk Festival I started out like the year before with one quilt rack of $15 scarves and one of $30. Two years ago I sold more $15 ones but I sold a good number of $30 ones as well. Last year for the entire first day I didn't sell a single $30 scarf so I eventually took them down and put out all $15 ones. I sold some $30 ones at the Rock and Roll Show but I think with the economy in the state it was in, $30 was just too much of an investment for an accessory.

I'm seriously considering adding a third price point this year at $23. This is right in between the two and would give me more profit on those scarves that I don't feel comfortable selling at just $15. I will only have the top tiered scarves with the highest quality yarns at the $30 mark. They say it is good to have some items that are out of most people's price range to let them know that you are a quality vendor. Mike says that I should make it an even $20 since most people don't want to make change but I don't think there is enough of a difference between $15 and $20.

I'm even more confused by how I want to price my new scarf/hat sets and the single hats. I have used such a range of yarns and techniques on them that I really feel like I should individually price them as I see fit. I want to sell the sets with both pieces and I will probably connect them with twine. They will have the prices marked and I will have all of them on my table.
For example the scarf/hat set at the top of the post was made with a 100% wool, hand dyed yarn. My yarn cost were $8 but if I'd paid full price the yarn was worth much more than that. I used the exact same pattern for this second set and the time was approximately the same but the yarn is an acrylic that I only spent a few dollars on. I wouldn't feel comfortable asking for anything less than $40 for the first set but I would be happy with $25 for the second set.

I also have some individual hats with a wide range of yarn costs and time spent on them. Do you think it would be appropriate to price them all differently or would that be too confusing? I like it when vendors have some consistency in their pricing. When I'm looking at a display or rack I like to know that what I'm looking at is in my price range but I just don't feel comfortable putting the same price on such varying items. Any thoughts about either of my dilemmas would be greatly appreciated.

Strange Heads for Strange Folks

In between long stretches of good knitting time this weekend I think I got my Strange Folk Festival booth display ironed out. I am completely changing it from last year. I used those fold up shelves last year which were easy to transport but a total failure I'm afraid. People were unwilling to look through the piles of scarves on the shelves. Things just sat there until I moved them to the quilt racks. I will continue to use the 2 quilt racks on either side of the table which is where almost all of my sales came from last year.

So I've decided to retire the shelves and use only display items that are drapeable. I set up my table minus the knitwear on my back porch this weekend. I found the rack on the right at a Salvation Army for $7 and painted it tan but I think it probably needs another coat. It will hold a lot of scarves/scarflettes draped over it without being overwhelming like the shelves were. I already had the child coat rack on the far left which will be perfect for displaying hats. I gave it another coat of tan spray paint. I got the plant stand in the middle at an antique mall in Rolla for $10 and painted it a deeper beige.

I painted my Styrofoam heads which I bought at Sally's Beauty Supply for $4 a piece with a metallic copper acrylic paint. I had a failed attempt at spray painting them tan. Who knew that there was a chemical in spray paint that would turn a styrofoam head into a mutant creature? It started bubbling up but for some reason I kept spraying until the eye socket completely sunk in. Only then did I research what you should use to paint styrofoam. I obviously won't be using this one at Strange Folk. I will use the heads to display scarf/hat sets.

I will probably use 2 of the levels on the stand to hold mug racks that I got for a few dollars at Goodwill and painted the metallic color. I will hang some of my left over wrist cuffs from last year on them.

I got the table cloth at Goodwill for $4 and I really like the colors. I will probably put a cream sheet over the top and just show the print on the sides of my table but I haven't decided yet. I will use my banner from last year with my Lenox Knits logo on it.

So I spent around $40 including the paint this year on improvements to the booth which I think will pay for itself with more sales off of the table. What do you think? Do you like the tablecloth or do you think it will be too busy once I put all my colorful scarves on the table?

My best Dressed list!

I spent most of the weekend working on my craft show booth which I think I have finally worked out for this year's Strange Folk display. I have everything painted in my earth tones and I still have paint smudges on my hands and feet. Yes, I paint barefoot. I promise to share pictures tomorrow.

Last night as I was painting the last of my Styrofoam heads I saw the stunning Rutina Wesley above from the show True Blood rocking her handpainted dress from designer Douglas Hannant. Mike and I have this show on our Netflix que but since we are right in the middle of Mad Man currently it will be awhile. With his attention span we can only watch one series at a time.

I also really liked her costar Carrie Preston's look below. She has my current hair color and she's not afraid to wear a bold custom made print from Japanese designer Makoto Takada. I love everything about her look from the hair to simple shoes. I actually found both of these looks on a lot of the worst dressed lists which says a lot about my fashion sense compared to the "authorities" in the fashion world. I love when someone wears something that was made just for them and shows their individual style whether it be a student in my office or on the red carpet.

I prefer watching the Emmys over the Oscars since I actually have seen most of the shows unlike the Oscar nominated movies. And I think the fashion tends to be more diverse and accessible. Did you have any favorites from this year's emmy awards?

Back to Knitting!

Since getting admitted to the Strange Folk Festival again this year I have been knitting my fingers to the bone. It was exactly the motivation I needed to get my business act together. For some reason my knitting has been on the back burner this year. I guess my enthusiasm for my new DSLR and learning more about digital photography has caused me to be distracted. I used the shot above as one of my texture shots for my Image Within Class a few weeks ago. It's a lacy mohair blend scarf hanging on a little mannequin.

It's funny because I initially wanted to learn more about photography so that I could take better pictures of my knitting but before I knew it photography had overwhelmed my free time leaving little time for my knitting. I know I'm going to have to strike a better balance next year. I didn't realize how much I had missed my knitting time until I started doing it full force about a month ago. I never really stopped knitting but I didn't have the passion that allows me to sit and knit for hours at a time almost in a meditative place.

I'm also getting excited again about trying new stitch patterns and coming up with new designs for the first time in a while. I'm really enjoying creating my hat/scarf sets which is something new to my collection this year. I'm having trouble with the pricing issues but that is for a whole other post. This weekend I plan on getting a lot of pictures taken of my inventory before I start tagging things for the show. I hope to have my Etsy shop back up and running with all new pictures by the beginning of September.

Quick trip home

So we had a birthday party on Saturday night that was about halfway to my parent's farm so we went ahead and drove down there that night. Mike went floating on the river the next day with a few friends and I spent the day with dear old Mom.

The pictures above are a few I'm bringing to my class this week of patterns that I captured in Dad's barn. I love the colors of the rusted out truck with the tangled barbed wire. I thought the dirty gas cans lined up in primary colors really popped too.

Mom and I went shopping at a few antique malls and ate lunch at Sybill's Restaurant in St. James. It's actually a very upscale place for brunch that a school mate of my sister's opened right in the middle of a hick town.

I was shopping for a few things for my craft show booth at the Strange Folk Festival coming up in a month and we found one thing I was looking for and one I didn't even know I needed. Those are the best kinds of finds in my opinion. I've been thinking about my display a lot and I'll be talking about it once things slow down a bit more.

Cream of the crafty crop!

I mentioned a month ago that I was worried that I wouldn't get into my favorite craft show, the Strange Folk Festival, this year due to record number applications. I heard today that I had gotten in which literally made my month! They accepted 150 crafters out of 350 applications and she called us the cream of the crafty crop.

I really think the longevity of my blog and number of followers made a difference this year as they said that they were using web presence as a factor. Since my Etsy shop is on vacation for the summer and my twitter account has been a ghost town for months this little blog is about it.

I will definitely need to start speed knitting to get myself fully stocked for the fall. I will be in good shape for the Strange Folk festival in terms of inventory but if I want to do some other shows I need to get busy.

If you are local in the St. Louis area there is another great show coming up this weekend called theSoulard Market Park Arts and Crafts Fair. There will be 80 local independent artists and crafters selling unique, modern handmade wares. I plan on going by with my nieces to check it out. The Upcycle Exchange will be there collecting donated craft supplies if you have some things cluttering up your craft room, unlike me of course.

No blog Vacation!

Someone asked if I would be still blogging during my summer shop holiday. For sures to that. My blog is definitely just as important of a hobby and outlet as my knitting now. As work gets stressful over the summer I may not have as much time to keep up with all of you but I'll still be around.

I just applied to my favorite craft show of the year, the Strange Folk Festival. I got an e-mail reminder but also a notice that they are getting record applications this year with the growth of the festival last year. She stressed that just because we were accepted last year does not guarantee a spot this year. So keep your fingers crossed with me that I get a spot. I do so enjoy the spirit and camaraderie of my fellow strange folks each year.

The application stresses the importance of branding and web presence. I hope that my shop being closed this summer doesn't affect my chances. The fact that my blog is the first one that comes up on the first page when you google it should help. I'm wishing I'd had time to do some new pictures to enter but I really wanted to get my application in before we went on vacation. I used the one at the top which I think is interesting and has a lot of views on Flickr and a few other favorites from last Fall. I'll keep you posted.

Birthday Ham?

You all made me feel better about my first bad experience with a craft show customer. I definitely learned from it and will be prepared next time. I don't think it would have bothered me so much if she hadn't chosen 3 really nice scarves including the one above which I had actually contemplated keeping. I may have enough yarn to recreate in if I make it more narrow. It's all a learning experience that's for sure. I had so many good interactions with customers that I really can't let one bad apple spoil anything for me. I particularly loved the women who bought one scarf on Saturday and loved it so much she came back on Sunday to get 3 more for herself and gifts.

So, moving on. I have obviously been a bit focused on Strange Folk the past few weeks. I'm sure you're ready to hear about something else. Unfortunately I've got nothing. So I decided to look at my webmaster tools to see what people were actually reading on my blog and saw some interesting things. First off did you know that you can use it to find out which searches you are ranked in? Here are some of the top google searches that I come up in and the ranking:

strange folk festival

5

craft show ideas 9

fall scarves

7

good advice for life 7
birthday ham 1

sales dance

1

color quizes 9

booth display

3

lenox anniversary gifts 9

someone who knits

10

I'm happy that I'm the first blog to come up in search under just about any combination of the words Strange Folk Festival. I have also had a lot of people find me by searching for craft show ideas and other combinations including the words craft show recently and I hope they found some things that were helpful to them. But who knew that I was a source for "good advice for life." I think the Birthday Ham is hilarious. I did a happy birthday post for my brother, whose name is Hamilton or Ham for short. I don't think whoever was searching for birthday ham ideas got what they were looking for here.

That's all I've got today. We're going to Archon this weekend in Illinois. It's my husband's favorite weekend of the year when he can be as nerdy as he wants to be and nobody judges. I should have some interesting pictures to share on Monday of the festivities.

Strange Folk Wrap up: The Not-So Good

As I've said I had I was happy with how the weekend went for the most part but there were a few things I would have changed looking back. One thing that I had no control over was where I was located. When I first found out I was going to be in the Big Tent rather than the Pavilion I was disappointed. You roll with the punches and make the best out of what you are given, and honestly I'm really just glad that I made it into Strange Folk again with all of the entries that they are getting.

If I had been under the Pavilion as last year I would not have had to deal with all of the mud and I wouldn't have taken such a hit on Saturday with the rain. All the shoppers ran to the Pavilion when it started and a lot of business was going on under there while we were all huddled under our tents. The positive side was that I think I had more room to spread out where I was and I didn't get claustrophobic like I did last year when all the crowds were coming through the narrow lanes in the Pavilion.

I was never really happy with how my table looked all weekend long either. I went ahead and used both of the shelving displays and I think it looked too busy and crowded. I didn't sell that much off of the larger display and I wonder if it was because people were overwhelmed by all of the colors and prints going on. I'm going to have to do some experimenting before the next show and figure out what I'm going to use and what is not going to cut it. Mike thinks I need to shelve the shelving units entirely. He says I should get some sort of rack or wall bracket system to hang things from. The booth really is always a work in progress so we shall see.

The other negative came at the very end of the second day. I was absolutely exhausted and somewhat vulnerable. I was hoping for one last good sale to get me to last year's numbers when a women ran up and started working me over. She asked if I would take $30 for 3 scarves, which are normally priced $15 a piece. I said how about $35 and she hands me $30 and a few singles and says that's all I have. I tentatively said okay and she started grabbing. She ended up walking away with 3 very nice scarves and I felt like I'd been taken. I really wasn't prepared despite the stories I've been told about how people can be at shows. I'm used to people going on about how reasonable my scarves are and was not ready for someone to try to completely low ball me. I should have said "I'm sorry but the prices are as marked and I do take credit cards if you are interested." As I said I was in a weakened state.

To be fair if handled properly it's not a terrible thing to ask for a discount. Earlier in the day a women had waited until my booth was completely clear and approached me about taking a few dollars off a scarf. I had only spent $1 or so on the yarn in this item so I was OK with it and we were both perfectly happy with the transaction.

So I've shared the good, now the bad, and here's a little ugly. These are my poor, swollen, achy feet after day 1 with the lovely backdrop of the cheap hotel bedspread.

Strange Folk Wrapup: The Good

I'm going to break the wrap up from Strange Folk into 2 parts. The good and the not-so good. Today will just be my observations about the weekend so I will probably ramble on a bit. There were definitely some things that I learned from this experience and that's what I'll talk about tomorrow. I'm certainly no expert on shows as I've only been doing them part time for a few years. I do like to share what I learn here so that I don't forget it and so that others can learn from what I do both right and wrong.

I really never got a good shot of the whole booth display. I took pictures both mornings after I set up but the sun was always either too bright or not bright enough. This is from the first morning. When I got there I was in a total tizzy because I couldn't figure out how I was going to configure my booth to fit both quilt racks. About 30 minutes into set up I looked up and saw the other vendors setting up facing outwards not inwards into the tent. Oops. No wonder they were all looking at me like I was overreacting.

This is why I always get there well over an hour before it starts, with plenty of time to get things set up right. So I turned my table around and placed the racks outside of the tent in such a way to draw people in with the bamboo rug as a nice balance. I liked this overall configuration. I sat my stool next to the table not behind it, so that I could come out and talk to people and hold the mirror for them. I was never really happy with my table displays but I will talk about that tomorrow.


I had the sweetest booth neighbors I've ever had in every sense of the word. Sarah and her mom from The Hot Cookie were such a treat to hang out with for the weekend. When I needed a pick me up a great trade was made, cookies for a headband, you can't beat that. Her cookies really are amazing and she sells them on Etsy here. Mike's favorite was the Lemon Tarragon Sables and mine was the chocolate with oats. They each bought a scarf from me and wore them proudly sending customers my way.

Kai was such a great helper this weekend. This was my first show that I had any help since my first one that I did with friends. It made such a huge difference. If you have an agreeable friend, spouse, or teenager I highly recommend it. He took his responsibilities very seriously. His main job was to make sure that no scarves were touching the ground since we were outside and there was a great deal of mud after all the rain. He restocked after things sold and made sure the display was in place. He was also a great help during what he called the Cabbage Patch Kid moments when 4 or more women were in the booth in a frenzy. These were the good times that customers were trying everything on, throwing things to each other, and "fighting" over scarves.

It was so nice to be able to walk away occasionally and not worry about things walking away from the booth. He gave me this update when I came back from one bathroom break. "I explained about the scarflettes to the lady and she liked that one but she didn't think it would match her coat." For some reason I found this exchange cute. He took lots of pictures with his new camera and we traded for some art with one of the vendors nearby.

Staying at the hotel on Saturday night was a good decision even if their wi-fi wasn't working and Mike spent most of the evening complaining. Mike hung out with his brother and Brian most of the time that he was there. He did give me one good suggestion. I was complaining that things weren't moving on Sunday morning and he told me to get more things on the racks. I had decided to just put out $15 scarves on Sunday and a few $30 ones on the table since the lower end was what was moving on Saturday. I had kept it nice and neat but they were beginning to look bare which was not drawing people in as much. Once I put more out I got lots more interest as they was more selection to choose from.

He also entertained some people with his commentary. At one point before he left on Sunday he cracked up a woman who overheard him say that part of his soul had just died from boredom. Luckily she was a fellow vendor and he didn't offend a customer with his sarcasm.

I don't know if I will ever be able to get Mike to come back but I do think that Kai would help again with the proper amount of incentive, i.e. bribery. By the time he is too old/cool to spend the weekend hanging out with his aunt, Ani should be old enough to make a good helper. She and her Dad, Gandolf the Grateful Dead, came out on Saturday and had a good time despite the rain.

Overall it was a successful and fun event. Strange Folk really is my target audience in every sense of the word. The free spirits get me and my aesthetic and I love being a part of it all. The other vendors are such amazing artists and with the music and other activities I always come away so inspired. I also came away with a box of yarn from the Upcycle Exchange and nothing beats free yarn.

Oh the Strangeness!

Well, I'm home. I'm tired, dirty, and achy but it's all good. I'll give a full update tomorrow but I thought I would share a few pictures tonight. Above is a little taste of the booth in action. Below is a taste of Saturday afternoon with a shot of one of the booths across from me trying to keep warm and dry. We had wind all morning and then over an hour of steady hard rain. It definitely put a damper on sales but it picked up again with a flurry right before we closed. Today was nice and sunny, too sunny in my opinion. No one was trying on the heavier scarves or scarflettes. Despite the weather fluctuations I made just about what I did last year at the festival so I'm happy about that. At the bottom is a picture our friends Brian and Sandy with their too cute daughter Sophie checking out the booth.

Strange Folk Here I Come!

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I've got just about everything ready to go. I just need to pack up the car and get a good night's sleep. That is easier said than done, getting a good night's sleep that is. I always have tons of manic energy right before a show. I'm fine once I get set up but until then I'll be a nervous wreck.

If you are coming by this weekend I'll be in the Big Tent towards the middle of the vendors, not in the pavilion like I was last year. My sister in law, Gray Eyed Scorpio, will be near the music stage, and be sure to check out the author's booth and get a copy of my friend Brian's Young Adult novel, Playing With Matches signed.


I got my hair done today so that I would look presentable. Here is the lovely shot I just took. I also went to Good Will. My twin had just been there again and I snagged 4 pair of pants and 6 tops all Lane Bryant or other favorite brands. I think I've decided to wear the two new shirts below. Yes, I know they are both tie-dye but they are nice and it is Strange Folk after all. They also happen to match the two scarves that I had already set aside to wear this weekend. Kismet I believe.

There will be a blogging station at the festival but I don't know if I will have time to do a post or not. I'll probably be lucky to get a tweet or two in. I'll update on Sunday night and will hopefully have lots of interesting stories to tell.

A few More Pieces of the Craft Show Puzzle.

I didn't get nearly as much done this weekend as I had hoped. I was feeling very lethargic for some reason. Thank goodness I have 3 days off this week so that I can get everything ready for Strange Folk this weekend. I can't believe that it's almost here. I went ahead and booked a hotel room for Saturday night. It's less than an hour away and last year I just came home but I decided it would be much more enjoyable if I had a place to crash Saturday night. I will have to be there by 8:00 a.m. Saturday, work all day, and then get up Sunday to do it all again. Mike and Kai are going to come down later on Saturday & spend the night too, so it will be nice to have someone to help me this year.

My sister and law, Gray Eyed Scorpio, and her family are staying at the same hotel as well as one of Mike's best friend's Brian Katcher. They are having a local author booth this year and Brian will be promoting his current Young Adult novel Playing with Matches and his new one that comes out in October Almost Perfect.

So what have I gotten accomplished so far you might ask. Strange Folk has a rule that you can't use plastic bags so I decided to create some personal shopping bags for my customers. I bought some Kraft paper bags and ribbon with a coupon at Michaels. I used my logo stamp that I got from Terbearco on Etsy awhile ago. I think the bags came out cute. I'll probably stamp some paper sandwich bags for smaller purchases as well.

It's not a great picture above but the backdrop is a cool fabric that I got for a few dollars on that other E site. It's a burlap type material that I'm going to use as a tablecloth with a cream sheet beneath it that goes to the floor. Thanks to my friend Kristin from My Art and the Mom in Me for the idea to use burlap in my display for a natural and rustic effect.

So this week I need to get everything tagged and inventoried. I also need to get everything I'll need for the weekend packed up and ready to go. Wish me luck!

Craftivism in Action!

I know that most of you who read my blog are pretty crafty folks. So did you know that there is a whole movement to combine your craft with activism? Autumn Wiggins who also founded the Strange Folk Festival is a major proponent of the Upcycle and green crafting movement. She is the head writer for the website CraftingAGreenWorld.com and has written several very informative articles for Etsy's Storque called Earth Tones: Make Like a Tree, Part 1 and Part 2.

These articles explore our use of mass produced supplies as crafters and the effect our handmade items have on the environment. She also discusses ways that we as makers can reclaim what others see as worthless trash that would end up in a landfill and turn them into treasures and even useful everyday items.

She is putting her talk into action this year with a new program called the Upcycle Exchange. It's trial run was at this Spring's Big Ass Indie Show and Strange Folk is next. I've signed up to participate and I'm very excited about the concept. Here is description from the website:

"The Upcycle Exchange is an pilot program aimed at initiating a cradle-to-cradle inspired production concept for the indie craft community. The basic premise is that customers can receive incentives, such as discounts on merchandise or other perks, when they collect and donate materials that crafters use to create handmade merchandise."

So I've signed up and put in my requests for what supplies I would be interested in receiving and I also plan on going through my craft room to find things I'm not using to donate to other crafters. I also am giving a coupon to be used on-line to anyone who donates to the Exchange at Strange Folk for free shipping and 10% discount for any on-line purchase.

I am going to have a give away of a $40 gift certificate open to anyone who donates and I think I will also open it up to anyone who purchases from me that weekend as well. This way I can hopefully get my customers e-mails more easily for my mailing list which was another goal for this year's craft show season.

Strange Folk Festival!

I got news recently that I made it into the Strange Folk Festival again this year. I posted about my experiences with it last year here. It was absolutely my favorite show ever. It was such a success not only financially but it was the first time I really enjoyed a show and felt like I was in my element. It has a very youthful and free spirit vibe to it which I love. I'm sure I'll be talking about it a lot between now and the end of September as I prepare for it. The website has been completely overhauled and is now a great PR spot for the festival. She has written lots of little posts about the vendors and other happenings for the weekend. I'm excited that one of my scarves is the representation for the knitting page which you can see here.

There is going to be a very green and eco-friendly focus to this year's festival so I'm going to incorporate that as much as possible into my preparations. Here is another update from the website that I'm really interested in:

"This year, Strange Folk celebrates the art of writing by welcoming local and regional authors to showcase and sell their books. We are working to bring in writers from a wide variety genres, and our schedule has not yet been finalized. If you are an author interested in participating, please e-mail christinegerrish@lcls.org by August 31st for more information.

This exhibit will also include a “Live Blogging” station – 10 computers available with internet access provided by The O’Fallon Library!"

So I can blog from the festival which will be cool and maybe next year if Mike has finally finished his book he can participate. They also have bands play but the boys didn't decide until too late to apply for this year.

I've been thinking a lot about my booth display for this year and how I can make it much more appealing and eye-catching. I'll be talking about it next week as I have started to put some of my thoughts into action.

Strange and Happy Weekend

I am just now coming down from the high of this weekend. I had an amazing time at the Strange Folk Festival. I didn’t see much of the place beside my little corner of the pavilion but that was all I needed. I met a lot of lovely, creative people and got some great feedback about my work. And I had sales that exceeded my own expectations. I had a goal and I sailed right past it, which felt wonderfully validating.

The pictures are from Saturday. I learned a lot on this day and made a few minor but important changes on day 2, which resulted in even better sales on Sunday than Saturday. I de-cluttered the table a bit by leaving more scarves and scarflettes back. I put fewer of the wire bracelets out but put them in the front and center since I found that they drew people in but they rarely ended up buying one. I only sold one of the wire cuffs but many times people started out looking at them and ended up buying one of the yarn wrist cuffs.

I wore one of my necklaces on Sunday so people could see them in action and put them in a more prominent spot on the coat rack. I ended up selling 2 of them on Sunday to a sweet woman and traded one for my Strange Folk memorabilia item. I also kept my quilt racks much more organized on Sunday. I let them get chaotic and overfull on Saturday so I think people were overwhelmed and didn’t want to take the time to dig through them. I kept them single-file and color arranged on Sunday and put more out as they sold.

I was also much more calm and confident on the second day which I’m sure helped. I hovered a bit too much the first day and since I’d only brought an uncomfortable lawn chair I spent most of the day on my feet. Sunday I brought a stool and I was much more comfortable. I made several large credit card sales that I know I would not have made without Propay so I’m glad that I made that investment.

My favorite customer was the girl who said she had seen my wristcuffs on my website and came out that day to find me. I also loved the woman who stood at the table just taking it all in for about 5 minutes and then said I just love the way your mind works. That was the best compliment I could have asked for.