Sorry about having to take a month to post this, work + a small business + life = The blog takes the back seat a lot, but I get to it when I can.
While I'm at it: I would like to thank everyone who's left nice comments under my blog posts - I read all of them, but lately I've been so busy I just can't respond to every comment I receive. I do appreciate all of them though. I love it when someone takes the time to let me know I'm not just talking to myself here. XD
Ok, so now the much delayed post about the reptile show
- The Buffalo Niagara Reptile Expo!
- It was interesting. (I mean that in a good way)
First the setup;
As I said earlier, I was really at this show to help out Nate. I did bring some of my own art/mini work, but it was off to the side and I forgot to photograph it once that portion of the table was set up (oops). Look how many displays this kid made though.
I don't really have much to write or say (other than recommend you go to the one next fall, you will see some some cool stuff, I promise ^_^ ), so here are just some of the odd/fun highlights I managed to also take pictures of;
The table right next to me was a case full of pythons. The people running the table had no problems letting you hold these guys.
Some of the friendliest snakes ever, I've been told. Actually, I've held these kind of snakes before, didn't have any problems. But still, table full of snakes 2 feet away from me all day. I did not hold any snakes at this show (just because), but my mom did,
which is a big deal for her since she doesn't like snakes at all.
There was this guy;
I would've tried to get clearer photos, but despite being in this building for hours, after this turtle person walked by once, I never saw them again...
And one thing that I really wanted to bring home with me (but sadly didn't),
Baby Tortoises!
Baby tortoises are so cute because they act like big old tortoises, while still being adorably small. And I do like great big tortoises too, so please no comments about how irresponsible it is to buy a pet when it's a cute baby and forgetting that it will grow. :P Maybe someday when I can afford one I will add a new reptile to the family....
And there you have it, The Buffalo Niagara Reptile Expo!
Honestly, I don't know what else to say - If you live in the area, I recommend you check it out next time, and if you don't live nearby go to the reptile house in your nearest zoo or something - Go see some cool snakes/turtles/lizards and such. Maybe there is even a show like this near you. ^_^
Along with Nate's work, I will also be bringing
this pile of handmade miniature riker mounts, mini hedgehogs, what's
currently available from my Mini Patchwork Dragon Series, a few assorted
mini plushies, art postcards, and every metallic art print I have in
stock - Including the [finally available in print] Yellow Spotted
Salamander illustration I've had floating around online for the past
couple years. ~ I have a long day ahead of me, should be fun though.
Might take pictures, so stay tuned.
>>>
The Western New York Miniature Enthusiasts are having their 34th Annual
Dollhouse Miniatures Show and Sale on Sunday, September 28th!
<<<
If you are in the area and love dollhouse
miniatures and/or you want a chance to see some really cool small scale
scenes in person, you should go to this show. More info on the club's site; http://www.wnyminis.com/
And please note ~ New location this year; Marygold Manor, 770 Maryvale Drive, Cheektowaga, NY (If you go to the old place, you will be disappointed)
---
I will be one of the vendors at the show again this year, and am currently busy getting everything ready to go. I still have a lot to do, so before I forget, here are a few more announcements;
Time permitting, I will be adding some photos of new items made for the show over on DeviantArt; http://kyle-lefort.deviantart.com/
Since I know many of my regular customers will not be able to make it
all the way to NY for a dollhouse show, I will also try to list a few
items as short eBay auctions beforehand.
*** And a quick
heads up about my online shops. Most of my listings have been set to
expire within the next week or two (even the possible new ones I just
mentioned). The weekend of the show my Etsy shop will be closed and my
eBay shop will probably be completely empty. When the shops are back
open again (It may take a couple days), some things may no longer be
available and I may be making changes to sets/lots/etc. depending on
show sales. So if you are one of my auction watchers or were thinking
about making a purchase this month, keep in mind that changes are on the
way and the listings are disappearing soon - fair warning.
Looking forward to the show, and if you plan on going, I'll see you there!
I still have to post about Undersized Urbanite, The Curious Concepts Project, and maybe another neat project in the works, But before I get any more behind on my blog this week;
Pretty good. Since it was my first time selling my miniatures at an actual dollhouse miniatures show (and I really only had a month to prepare for it/and I never went to this or any miniatures show beforehand) , I was expecting a learning curve. So I was considering the entry fee "advertising money" and if I managed to make some sales-yay me. My main goal was to inform as many interested western New Yorkers as possible that I exist and that I have creative miniatures available online-year round. Pretty sure I did that, so I'm calling this a success.
Despite my optimism about shows, no matter what the outcome, yes I have been really disappointed with some of the shows/sales I've gone to-Not this one though. A lot of good things cam out of this show;
*I met pretty much all of the WNY Miniature Enthusiasts. A nice bunch of people. This is the first show I've ever gone to where I was given a bag of snacks. I already knew one of the members, but even the people I hadn't met before were checking in on me and stopped to talk a few times throughout the day.
*People were taking my business cards. That is super important because it's pretty much the only way to get the urls for my etsy shop and website (which sadly, is never 100% up to date, but it does link to everything else online) without having to stumble onto the links online somewhere.
*I got to meet a ton of local people that are into dollhouses, and we talked. I learned about a few peoples' projects, I explained how I made a few things, I tried to help fix a few creative/supply dilemmas, and I found out that 1/4 scale is really popular here. Also, the micro mini pumpkins I made a while back, are 1/4 scale (I'm starting to run out of those now).
*I didn't turn a profit this time around, but I sold a lot of miniatures compared to the other local sales, so it's a start.
*Because people who are really into dollhouse miniatures are also for some reason, some of the nicest complete strangers you will ever run into, I ended up with some good advice from a couple of the other sellers. The woman in the booth next to mine even gave me tips for marketing the new furniture I've been working on.
Pretty happy with how the whole thing went, and yes, I plan to be at this show next year.
Thank you to all of my blog readers that wished me well, thanks to everyone that stopped at my table at the show, and thank you to anyone who found there way to my blog. Much appreciated. ^_^
This is just a quick post to let everyone know that this weekend is,
The 33rd Annual Dollhouse Miniatures Show and Sale!
Again for anyone interested:
It’s being held by the WNY Miniature Enthusiasts at the Hearthstone Manor in Depew, NY - September 29, 2013. 10am-4pm. (their website; http://www.wnyminis.com/)
I just closed up my Etsy shop for the weekend, and am currently in the middle of getting everything together and packed up for Sunday.
Haven't had the chance to respond to any of the comments I've received since my last post, but I read a few in my inbox. It sounds like I might be visited by some of you at the show (awesome), so if you are planning on going to the show here are some things you might want to know;
1. If you read my blog you will probably know which booth is mine
(The Steampunk House will be there, and my name will be on all sorts of stuff)
2. There are going to be two women at my booth (my mother volunteered to be my helper this weekend) If you're wondering which one is me-I'll be the younger, less talkative one that looks like she's been up late working on miniatures the past few nights. Apologies in advance if I come across as grumpy. (I'm also not a morning person, but I'm hoping my excitement for this show keeps me friendly all day)
3. Since many of my blog readers aren't using their real names/real photos - If you stop at my booth to say Hi, I'm 99% sure I will not know who you are. So feel free to mention that you read the blog. ^_^
I'm trying to photograph everything that I've made, new for the show, but that hasn't really happened yet. What I have managed to photograph so far is already in my DevianArt gallery for those interested. Maybe I'll make another blog post full of photos tomorrow, we'll see. For now though, it's back to getting ready for Sunday!
After about 2 years of saying, "I need to get into some [dollhouse/miniatures] shows", I was finally directed to one within driving distance here in western New York. I think it was a relative's coworker that knew about this one (my local miniatures network seems to be growing).
The 33rd Annual Dollhouse Miniatures Show and Sale!
It’s being held by the WNY Miniature Enthusiasts at the Hearthstone Manor in Depew, NY - September 29, 2013. 10am-4pm.
I found out about the show in August, so I figured that I was too late for this year, but after talking to two very nice ladies involved with the show-they found room for me, so I'm in! I will be one of the vendors at this year's show. ^_^
As soon as I thought that there might be a chance to be a part of this show, I started working on some new miniatures. I was getting a bit anxious waiting to hear back, I'll admit to that. If you're following me on Tumblr, you probably saw the post I made about making things and going sir crazy, so it's not like that was some big secret. Once I got the official notice that my application was accepted I posted again on Tumblr and Facebook, but I held off on the blog until I had something new and finished to show off.
Well...
1:12 scale pumpkins were going to happen with or without this show,
but the pottery is definitely a new addition.
I have dozens of bowls already, and I always planned on making more of this pottery because everyone seems to like it. Finally had the motivation.
There are also white pumpkins on the way, a few more pottery pieces waiting to be sealed, some furniture (some I made, some I'm painting), and whatever else I manage to turn out in the next week or two. I've got 8 feet of space to fill, but only about 3 feet worth of sale ready miniatures (inventory + my Etsy listings). So the more I can make the better. Every miniature thing I'm working on right now is strictly for the show, and oh, a quick heads up ---> My Etsy Shop will be closed the during the show (Sept. 29th).
I'm making plans to take The Steampunk House with me this year too. Provided I have room for it. Not for sale of course, I love it too much. I just think that some display pieces would be a good idea, and it's been packed up in the basement all summer. It would be nice to put in on display somewhere for a while.
(btw - Undersized Urbanite starts Sept. 30th this year, the day after this show-Good timing Christina ^_^ )
I've got a ton of work to do, so I'm going to get back to that. If you're going to be in the area, miniature show, September 29th - You should go. :)
In an effort to finally get caught up on blogging, I'm making this one catch-up post about the many of things I feel like I need to blog about, so that I can mention it all and then move on with everything else I should be doing. If you're not into what you're reading, feel free to scroll down until you find something more interesting. ^_^
(I would also like it known that I have just about caught up on my blog reading, but to catch up on my reading-and everything else-I really couldn't leave comments on many of them. I do read them all though)
1. Update on the Market I took my work to;
I'm not saying it went badly, but it could've gone better. Compared to the last time I had a booth somewhere, I think I was more prepared and professional, I even remembered to take photos of my setup this time;
There was some wind, and the tear down had to happen in the rain,
but it all held together pretty well.
Because I was basically trying to sell my work in the same location as last time, and I already know it's not a great market for my work, I really wasn't expecting much, but the one sale I made more than covered the entrance fee and quite a few people took my business cards, so it wasn't a loss.
Honestly though, I wish I had more of a budget for shows. I'd like to try some outside of Lockport, but I keep picking paying my bills over entry fees and other overhead. Stupid me, right? I dunno, I'm hoping that either I finally snag a long term job in my field or this freelance designer/artist/craft-person thing I do starts getting more regular business. Getting to the point where even a minimum wage job anywhere wouldn't be a terrible option, but it's going to take tons of time away from what I actually want to do, so I keep dragging my feet on that one.
2. Every year my church has this sale called, "Trash and Treasures", which I can only describe as a great way to clear all the junk out of your house(donating it to a church) and a great opportunity to get some neat stuff for dirt cheap (other peoples' junk-that you want), because unlike a garage sale, the church is the seller AND they're in charge of donating/recycling/giving away/throwing out whatever is left when the sale is over.
I love going to Trash and Treasures, but I purposely skipped it this year, waaay to much budget breaking temptation. The sale goes on during a yearly picnic/car show that I volunteer at, which makes avoiding it tricky, and wasting money at the picnic really wasn't any better that spending it at the sale, so instead of what I usually do at this thing, I skipped it and stopped by afterwards to help clean up (which went well with the church people because they have a tough time getting volunteers for that).
Well, my Mother did volunteer during the picnic and she spent some time at the sale, where she found and bought me this;
It's a weird little house! (That blue disk is a turntable/base for the house to sit on) I say it's weird because it's a bird house at the top, the front is one big out of scale tole painting, and it's part lazy Susan. I like it. A week before all this I was looking at the Steampunk House thinking about how much I enjoyed Undersized Urbanite and wishing I had another house on hand because, whether or not that Challenge becomes a yearly thing, bloggers are always coming up with things that a spare house would come in handy for. Now I have one. (Thank you Mom!)
3. Clay-A-Palooza!
This was already a few weeks ago, so I'm going to save some time and direct you to a journal explanation I posted over on DeviantArt >>> Here.
Here's the results;
Miniature Pumpkins,
micro miniature pumpkins,
And micro miniature Penguins!
Out of season stuff, but it's what I felt like making. And look how tiny it all is! It's all up on Etsy now if anyone's interested. (The photos are linked to their listings).
4. After seeing my new micro miniature penguins, someone placed a custom order for some equally tiny charms.
If anyone in the U.S. wants to a custom order of miniatures/jewelry pieces,
Seriously, just ask.
The order was for 4, I ended up making a batch of 7 though. I was planning on posting the extras on Etsy, but the shop's pretty full right now and a friend just reserved one of them. So I guess the 2 left are for sale online by request only.
(2 for $9 USD + shipping, if you're interested-feel free to contact me about them)
5. While I'm talking about Etsy, I'll mention these too;
A year and a half ago I opened my Etsy shop and the first thing I posted for sale were these miniature caramel apples. They sat in the shop, weren't selling, but they got tons of views and brought people to the shop so I kept renewing the listing. They weren't super expensive or anything, more expensive pieces were being bought up, but not theses apples. I guess the right person needed to see them or something, because right before that awful thunderstorm came through a couple weeks ago-someone finally bought them!
Normally wouldn't just post about a sale, but being the first thing I ever tried to sell online, I dunno, It's kind of a bittersweet sign of progress. :)
6. Pumpkins
They're back again. ^_^
Yay, pumpkins!
(I love pumpkins)
Boo, whatever did this! It can have that one,
but I'm hoping this isn't the year of the groundhog all over again.
It even ate the seeds this time.
Bonus photos;
City People: This is a field being harvested
This is a slug,
which of course is crawling across my brother's arm
(Check out that slime trail)
And This...
...was probably a bad idea,
but hanging out with some friends
and figuring out how to use this canoe without paddles was pretty fun.
7. County Fairs
I usually go to two of them. Niagara County (Remember this?), where I mostly just hang out with the 4-H members I know, and Erie County, where I spent all of yesterday enjoying dorky things like the pig races. ("Swifty Swine Racing Pigs")
Winner gets a cookie. They're so cute.
And that my friends, brings us to today. There all caught up, woo-hoo. ^_^
This weekend I have a booth at a local Summer Market. It's being run by "The Warehouse", in Lockport, NY. I wasn't planning on having a space, but I got talked into it. And then of course last weekend screwed up my plans a little, so nothing ended up being official until the other day when I finally had the chance to drive down there and fill out the forms.
It's a decent sized space and a lot of my work is really small, so most (if not all) of my Etsy Shop inventory is coming with me. The only way I can do that is to close the shop for the weekend.
Once my shop closes for the weekend I can't promise that everything will be back in stock when it reopens after the market. I might sell a lot, I might sell nothing. First outdoor show, no idea what's going to happen.
If by chance though, you're reading this and are trying to purchase something, but can't before Friday night because you're stuck waiting for a Paypal transfer or something-feel free to contact me, NOW. I'm fine holding things for people, and followers kind of get first dibs on whatever I post online.
Wish me luck, I'll let you know how this goes later. ^_^
(The weather report looks iffy, but nothing like last week-that's promising)
A place online where you might be surprised to find miniatures; DeviantArt. Recently, the DA staff was talked into adding a miniature section (It's under, "Artisan Crafts", btw), but outside of that, I also submit my work to a few of the member formed groups.
One of the groups, Little Dreamers, had a holiday contest last fall/winter. I entered just before Thanksgiving with this scene (which you may remember);
It won third place! Since I've entered a handful of group contests, but had yet to get past semi-finals, I was pretty excited.
And there were prizes that came along with third, donated by some of the group founders (Thank you).
A brick of polymer clay, two tiny plates, and a pile of tiny fruit slices from Small Creations by Mel.
A pack of head pins, mini-plates (which were a pleasant surprise), and a cake stand from Bon AppetEats.
Thanks again, you two!
And on a side note, last weekend I went to a model train and toy show over at the Erie County Fairgrounds. It was mostly trains (which are neat setups to see), but there was also a table for a local dollhouse/miniatures club. Found out there's actually two local clubs, and that just a few blocks away from my house someone has a Bostonian, which I've been invited to go see for myself (might take them up on that if I run into them again closer to town). None of this was planned and I really enjoyed it. If you've ever been outed as someone with a dollhouse to someone who isn't into minis, and forced to then explain 'everything' (frequently), then you know how great of a feeling it is to meet someone, in person, who understands the fun of it already. It's like winning a game of Marco Polo, that you didn't know you were playing.
I've got some family that lives out of town, and as it turns out, we won't be together on Christmas or Thanksgiving this year. The solution to this problem? A Pseudo-Christmas celebration, like right now.
OK, I did get a two week notice, but let's see you try to both buy and make a handful of Christmas gifts in two weeks when you normally would have a couple months ( *Mmhmmm* ).
And, while I'm typing up this post-I'm also working on throwing together an adorable table top Christmas tree for my mother. Basically, after my stint at a craft show last year, she thoughtfully bought me a faux-tree better suited for a show table (sadly, no shows this year though), which I then volunteered to use for Pseudo-Christmas. First, I was told not to bother, but any other tree we might have would need to be dug out of storage, along with all the ornaments. I've still got some leftovers from the show, a couple experiments I haven't quite figured out yet, and some new ones that should be up for sale on Etsy this week. Plus, let's face it, I'm a crafty person (So I got this).
And while all that can be summed up rather quickly, I have been a little pressed for time, making a few gifts (for my niece again) along with an assortment of Christmas items for the Etsy shop. On Friday, I was hoping to have all gifts made, bought, sealed, and wrapped, but then I got caught up in running errands. Was I annoyed? A little, but some of it was kind of fun. And I came home with some remnant bin finds, which led me to my fabric stash in the basement, which is when/where I decided to post some teasers about what I'm working on right now.
Since Billy has a semi-permanent table to sit on now and it looks terrible as-is, I decided to add a yard(or at least some sort of ground cover). No budget, but I had this gray, liner type fabric (Billy's upstairs carpet is the same stuff-in blue) that I thought could work...if I paint it maybe... I tried it out with the Halloween scene and then left it there, hoping it would grow on me. It didn't, that's OK though because my remnant find of the day was that same material in, "Outdoor Green", 30% off (ha-Ha!...I'm such a dork).
Didn't have time to work on it, so I just rolled it out to see how it looks
(already much better than brown beat up table).
So that's WIP 1.
WIP2. Maybe it should be #1 because I'm currently working on it, but...Christmas stuff!
Been working on these since September, I'll let you guess what they are.
Mixed Media Ornaments
The bottom one is a gift, top right still needs paint, but the other two I'm hanging on the tree tonight. More on the way. I keep looking for excuses to do mosaic work, sort of as practice for some ideas I have about the Van Buren. Speaking of which...
...No that's not the Van Buren. It's a neat little shelf/cabinet I picked up at an antique co-op 2 summers ago. It's not really an antique, but I got it for $20. From my understanding, front open houses are pricey, so this really was a find. I'm mentioning this house because, like the Van Buren, I want to do exterior stonework siding of some sort. So I think I'll use this little guy as practice. Better to have to redo a botched siding project on the small house instead of the big one, really though I can handle mosaics. How hard could faux stone siding be?
This isn't gong to happen for a while though so, oh hey, did I ever post about my type set drawer?
I got this one last summer at another co-op. I've been wanting one for a while now. They're neat because: A) If I were a graphic designer and/or printer, "Back in the day", (like before I was born) I'd probably use a printing press, and would have a bunch of these filled with letter blocks. And B) I wanted something like this to display my mini work. I had to glue together some spots, and clean it, and seal it (because there was so much smeary ink/grease in the sections, I couldn't use it otherwise), but I still think I got a deal on it. The WIP part is that I'm still considering adding some scrap paper to a few sections for color.
If you're keeping score, I think this next one is WIP #5...
Progress with what I'm doing with the lamp shades, and some other house accessories. I like where it's going, but it's slow work, so it might be a while before any of these make it to the shop. Also, I think I made more lamp shades than I will use for a while, so maybe I'll start selling batches of lamp shades? Or DIY lamps, what do you think?
Lastly, (I really need to go finish decorating that tree) WIP #6,
Wood and vinyl...hmmm, What am I making?
Well, I hope you've enjoyed this, and are intrigued. Will I finish it all? Maybe...I'm also working on a couple challenges too, we'll just see how it all goes.
I'm going to finish decorating so I'm not up ALL night (and then it's family time).
I'm concerned that I go too long between blog posts. Actually I know I do. Mostly I blame time, and my inability to find some so I can finish all of my side projects-and then blog about them.
Soooo, we'll call this a progress report.
1. A month or two ago I decided to make a gift for someone, and that's been eating up most of my spare time lately-it's more involved then I thought it would be. I can't really show or talk about it much as I'm not sure if the recipient(s) read this, but I'm hoping to finish said gift on time and get some decent photos before I give it to them. Kind of stressing at the moment though because I'm still sketching at a time that I should be finishing the final painting. (Ah!)
2. I was hoping to have photos of my finished dollhouse, but it still needs some touch ups. If I photograph it now I'll end up not bothering to finish it, which I will regret later. So this is my motivation. What I can do is tell you that it's a Snow Country Chalet by Real Good Toys , which I named Billy so that I'd remember to actually build it (sounds stupid, but it worked). So if I'm talking about "Billy" it's the Snow Country Chalet. Ok? Ok, moving on...It's actually more of a summer home than a ski lodge they way I'm using it, but I live a couple of hours north of a ski resort that switches to a golf course in the summer, so I'm thinking that it really isn't all that weird of a thing to do. Anyways I promise that the next post will be photos of the finished house.
I decided to bite the bullet and just tear the shingles off of the Van Buren. Billy's roof took forever, so I didn't want to have to start over on this one. Really Did Not want too.
Before
After
Lots of shingles were broken, missing, falling off, painted on, or just
not right and I felt like this was the best solution. Plus the front of
the roof curves, but the shingles didn't, so that was covered up until
now. I also noticed that the chimneys needed to be fixed and popped
those off too. Glad I did because it turns out that this neat little
lamp was trapped inside one of them.
~ I kept hearing something rolling around when ever I moved the house-it all makes sense now.
I'm going to have to sand all the glue and stray bits of wood off the roof, and then figure out what to do with it-I don't want to deal with wood shingles again. I want to use egg carton bricks for siding, so Paperclay maybe? That's going to be a lot of Paperclay...
3. I was working on getting into a local community market, so I could spend the summer selling more of my prints and craft work, but that fell through, *sigh*, again. It's ok though, more for the Etsy shop (and fall craft shows). I'm alternating between being away from my computer and out of town for the next few weeks, but after that I plan to post tons of new items, so keep an eye out for them.
Well I think I've been talking enough, and I really do need to finish that gift...So that's it for now.
Talked to a local store owner in Lockport about selling my prints on commission at her establishment. She recommended I give her upcoming, "Christmas Show", a shot and then go from there.
I was thinking about doing a few art shows next summer (which means I'd need to take care of the legal stuff anyway) and the entry fee was pretty low, so I thought a one day craft show might be a good place to start.
Selling prints at a craft show is a dumb idea, btw. People don't go to craft shows looking for art-they might buy it, but functional stuff is more likely to sell. I knew this already, I've been to craft shows and seen the booths that only sell prints- they're usually pretty dead.
I do, "make stuff", as a hobby though. And I was also looking for an excuse to start selling some things.
So I did the craft show and then for a week or so afterwards various people would ask, "So, how did it go?", but of course what they meant was, "Did you make any money?"
The short response is No.
The slightly longer, but still short response is:
No, but I was expecting a loss to begin with so it went pretty well*.
*Read on for the long response(or if you want some perspective on selling stuff at a craft show).
Reasons why I shouldn't have made money at the show;
I only had a month to advertise that I would be there-not ideal.
I'm a craft show newbie-Craft show people didn't know I existed until they stumbled upon my booth.
I had no idea what the Lockport market was like in terms of people who would be interested in my work-though it's something I'd like to learn.
I had no idea what kind of vendors would be there-also something to learn from.
I've never done a craft show,
and would probably mess something up-look at all the learning.
I had to create an entire booth worth of inventory at once-that's a big expense.
I had overhead(display material/tablecloth/promo materials)
and an entry fee to factor in-more expenses.
Yeah, with some luck I could turn a profit, but like I stated earlier, I was expecting a financial loss.
So why would I spend my time and money on something when I might not immediatly turn a profit?
The local exposure alone is well worth the money spent. The number of people who now own a quality example of my work or, at the very least, a promo card with my Deviantart page, Facebook page, email, and other contact info, the amount of self-promotion I got within a 5 hour time span is well worth what I spent to get it. And it's not like nobody was interested in what I had, I did make some sales(lots of small purchases), so the 'loss' is really only on paper.
Here's how it actually went;
The ornaments were a bust this time around-I was inbetween a booth selling them cheaper and a booth giving them away with each purchase. The main purpose of having them was so that my booth fit in with the Christmas theme, so that's not the end of the world.
My minis sold the best, mostly thanks to the dollhouse and Barbie owning little girls who stoppd by. Although little boys thought they were cool too, or at least, they thought it was cool that I could make something so small and detailed. I had some fairly long convos with both groups.
I sold 1 illustration, at half size, unframed, and that took some talking. This would be discouraging were it not for the legitimate feedback I'd gotten throughout the day.
Interactions with customers(that did not result in sales) typically played out like this;
Person walks up to my booth, looks at my work, asks a question, looks through the mini portfolio I had on the table, asks if I'm online, I give them a card, and then they'd move on-they didn't buy anything that day, but I've gotten into their heads for the next time.
Or;
Person walks up to my booth, looks at my work, asks a question, looks through the mini portfolio I had on the table, asks if I'll be around tomorrow, I explain that it's a one day show and try to give them a card, but they don't want it because-they don't have the internet. This usually led to a conversation about what shows I might do in the future(One woman made sure she wrote down my name/what I sell before she left).
This all looks very promising.
And I think I may have uncovered a no-internet Craft Show going sub-culture. Anthropologists, feel free to look into it, but I'd better be credited in your next book.
And all the kids that were looking through my portfolio. I've been looking into doing children's books("You should do children's books", is the most common comment I get about my illustrations, which I agree with comepletely), but up until this show the only feedback I've gotten was from adults. Granted, adults are the ones who pay for such things, but seeing a young child looking at your illustrations, clearly amazed by what they're looking at-that's pretty encouraging.
So....
Was this show worth it?
Short response: Yes.
The slightly longer, but still short response:
This craft show, cost me about as much as seeing a movie, opening week, while enjoying some popcorn and a drink. After factoring in sales, the 'loss' was less than half of what I spent.
Losses happen, but the way I see it...
If you're willing to invest more money in the entertainment industry then you are in your own work-quit now. You are probably just blocking the way for someone who may actually be successful.
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~Side note, I'm still working on the blog design. I can't find a Sans Serif type I like, but that's probably a boring rant to read so I won't get into it-Be sure to introduce yourself to all of the fish before you leave.
~~Another side note, since I promised entertainment in my last post, Please enjoy this bizzare Christmas animation I made with my little brother back in high school-using nothing but MS Paint, Windows Movie Maker, a microphone, and some bells(Turn your volume DOWN). Ah, memories...
