art festivals

Hi,
Has anyone done any outside art festivals? One of our organizations is putting on a fine arts and crafts one Labor Day weekend. I think it will be fun and can't believe some of the pictures I've seen. They are beautiful.
Its another way to contact artists if you are looking for classes or a group working on stuff.
I loved how you use table cloths. So many great ideas.
Maggie

Hi Dotsie,
Thanks for replying to my message I appreciate it. I would like to change from private to public but cannot find my profie to do that. Can you help me with this please?
I have enjoyed this site too. Going through the some of the same stuff and find the arts & crafts helps me out a lot.
Thanks,
Maggie

I'm a full-time craftswoman, for about 30 years. I sell my product mostly at arts and crafts shows. I know the business as well as anyone but don't want to write an essay about it right now. Did you need specific information?

I LOVE doing craft fairs -- the people you meet are wonderful people -- both the other crafters and the people that come to the fairs.

Meredithbead -- what is your craft ?

Hello,
So glad you answered the posts. Mainly I was curious to see if anyone else has done them.
I am doing four this year and have done them since 1988. I agree you do meet a lot of nice people at the festivals, fairs and bazaars.
Am curious now what kinds of items do you sell?
Thanks,
Maggie

Hi Maggie and Lionspaaw,
I make semi-precious gemstone beadwork jewelry. I sell maybe 90% at arts and crafts fairs, and 10% galleries and shops. I also have a website but I think Forum rules prohibit listing it. What crafts do each of you make?

This forum is very interesting to me because it seems as though many boomer women are rediscovering talents from their past and making businesses out of them.

I have a neighbor friend who is in her first show this weekend in Baltimore. She left her job as an art teacher 2 years ago and is now selling original silk scarves and jackets. She has spent the last 2 years researching and getting her act together. This weekend it all comes to fruition for her. I think it is awesome when we take advantage of our God-given gifts.

I have another friend who is trying to get organized enough to market her beaded jewelry. It is beautiful and very popular right now. I am encouraging her as much as I can to make a go of it.

Hh Meridithbead,
Your jewelry sounds awesome. That's neat how you sell it too. I've haven't made it into a gallery yet so am taking more Calligraphy classes even though I have taught a couple of classes. It never hurts to take it again.
I do Calligraphy, Tole and Decorative Painting and now Rubber Stamped Art. I enjoy it all and love other artists & crafters work.
I had a Crafters Mall for four years and it was interesting to see the crafts that people had done. I sold stamps and scrapbooking items too.
We did have some classes there and they were always fun. Lots of laughter.
I have also found it healing when some of us gather to do our crafts and visit.
I am happy that you have joined us in the forum.
Dotsie good luck to your neighbor too. Maggie

Hi Lionspaw,
I forgot to ask what kinds of items you sell?
Thought about it later sorry, I can be pretty ditsy at times.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Maggie

Re doing this as a business: I just finished 3 weeks in a row of working 80 hours a week (big gallery order PLUS big wholesale order PLUS several awesome craft fairs). For anyone thinking of doing this as a full-time source of income, it can be feast or famine. It takes a lot of organization and self-motivation. And good budgeting skills because the money is seasonal. This said and done, it beats filing papers or waitressing or working for idiots, all of which were jobs in my former life. BTW, Dotsie said it's OK to post my website, so here it is: http://pages.ivillage.com/meredithbead I put it together because ivillage advertises "build your own website in 15 minutes." I think 150 hours was more like it.

Is it more profitable to do the shows because you don't have to give gift owners a percentage?

Most of the shows i've done have to do with my moms' and my yarn shop -- selling items we've made in the shop and taking customers goods to show and sell also. It got started more to let people know we were in town -- but I really enjoyed it so we did every local one that we could. I havent done one in about 2 yrs now -- but one of these days ------

My husband makes beautiful items out of mirror. Pictures, frames, boxes, license plates, hand mirrors, etc. Not the stained glass art work -- he takes pieces of mirror and makes things from that. He has a wet belt so they are really finished well -- like mirror flamingos or fish done in both regular mirror and bronze mirror mounted on blue plexiglass -- He made a lighthouse once for the employees of a restaurant for their boss at Christmas -- (the restaurant used to be a lighthouse). He sat outside and drew the outline of the restaurant and then came home and designed it in mirror -- it was wonderful -- and is hanging in the restaurnat now

His items don't go over too well at the craft fairs around here though -- he really needs to have them in the fine arts shows --

I miss doing shows -- hopefully things will calm down around me one of these days and I can get back into it

Hi Lionspaaw,
Sounds like you, your mom and husband are talented. I admire anyone who can knit, crochet or sew as I haven't been able to do these arts.
I have family members who do them all and they are wonderful. In our gift exchanges we all have received some really nice gifts like a rug with our name on it, stitchery, afghans, quilts and lots of Christmas ornaments. I have shared booth space with people who sew and make animals.
Your husbands mirrows sound neat to me. Different like a gallery would enjoy seeing.
Was it your website I saw here with the yarn?
Thanks,
Maggie

Ladies, be sure to check out Meredithbead's web site. She is very gifted. Looks like the jewelry I see in the local shops. No wonder her name has bead at the end!

Meredithbead, I'd love to hook my friend up with you who is a jewelry maker and just starting to sell. Her brother is creating a site for her to share and sell her jewels. Only problem is that she doesn't use computers.
So...now she has to get onboard with computers so she can sell her jewelry online.

The added stresses of being an artisan in 2003!

Maggie

here is the link to a piddly little website I have -- I too am trying to figure out how to do a professional looking website in 15 min

http://hometown.aol.com/lionspaaw/myhomepage/textilearts.html

there was a time we had a real nice "website" -- shopping cart and all -- but the host we were going through went out of business and so there went our website -- it's still sitting out there in cyberspace somewhere

there's some reallllly good "how to" books out there to learn how to knit and crochet -- maybe there's a shop near you that could help you get started ?? We'll help you out here in the forum too

Hi,
Yes, the websites are wonderful maybe someday I will get brave enough to do one or find the time. I really enjoyed looking at yours.
Dotsie you asked a good question about doing art fairs as opposed to gift shops. At the art fairs you are in direct contact with the public and can take orders. Gift shops and galleries are good also because then you can stay home and do the work. They make the contacts and sell for you.
The gift shops and galleries do take a good percentage usually but if its worth it then you stay with them. The fairs sometimes introduce you to new shops and galleries. It is about half business/half art when you do this.
Maggie

Thanks Dotsie for the positive words about my site! I love craft fairs because I have a very loyal clientele, people who have been buying from me for years. It's also instant feedback about whether a new product sells. My work does very well in certain neighborhoods, and not at all in others. You don't know until you go out and try. The advantage to galleries and shops is that you can do it from home, but the disadvantage is that you have to knock on a whole lot of doors, often unsuccessfully. I'm not fond of doing that, so I don't aggressively seek out new stores. Your friend has to be prepared for rejection as well as success. I've had so much trouble with iVillage, I don't know that I'd recommend them as a website.