Thursday, January 6, 2011

Craft shows of 2010



For the craft shows of 2010 that I was in, all I have to say is, WOW! It's been a hell of a ride at 2010 with these shows. Some were good. Some were bad. I was involved with 12 craft shows for 2010 and that is a new record. Here's what went on.

It all began with my 2nd appearance at the Wearable Art show in Marlton, NJ. This time, it was indoors. It was good timing because the weather had heavy winds. For me, this was my first indoor show. I ran into a few old acquaintances from past shows. This show had dogs and cats in it. This show included the Animal Orphanage. It was a nice show with the animals in it.

A week later, I made my third appearance in the Cherry Hill Blooms show. This wasn't a 2-day event. It was only one. For this show, they added Earth Day to it. I applied at first, but got rejected. I was somewhat mad that they did that because they have never done that before. They had always added me in. They didn't add me in because the materials I use were not reusable? Thats ridiculous. First of all, my stuff is reusable. Fortunately, the sponsors of the show got me in. I'm assuming they did some convincing to the Earth Day people. I was thinking,"Maybe I should make Captain Planet to shut them up." lol. This show went pretty well. I didn't enjoy this show too well back in 2009 because it was hot, hazy, and slow. The weather was fair and cloudy. It started freezing after the show. Good timing. An old couple usually comes to this show because of me. They love my fuzzies. At first they went for a centaur. Second year, they went for Superman. Last time, their next target was Oscar The Grouch. He's good on how I made him. Around the end, I sold my first xmas ornament. I didn't have too many at the time. I sold Mr. Hankey. Funny ornament.

This next one that I'm about to explain took a dramatic turn. A month later, I participated in a show in Magnolia, NJ called "Magnolia Mayfair" This was a baseball show. Just for that, I ended up making a few Philly Phanatics before the show started. This show was out in a baseball field. Everyone was setting up their stuff like normal. As the show got underway, It picked up in a certain way. I sold quite a few at this show. I had kids that were running around playing and they kept approaching my booth. They loved my fuzzies. I did sell a few philly phanatics. I predicted that would happen and sure enough. Here's what went wrong: the wind started picking up. A storm was in the region, but it went elsewhere and every time it leaves, it gets windy. As the wind started getting stronger, it was blowing away some of the items that the vendors were selling. I was being cautious by hanging on to my canopy to make sure it doesn't fly away. Sure enough, by the time I was careless, the wind blow my stuff away, damaging my display boards, breaking my easel, and the canopy go bended. Unable to fix. It was rough. As the wind started to ease down, I was putting my canopy down. The kids that were still running around, they came back to my booth and they froze, only to find out that it was destroyed by the wind. The good news was I made good money. The bad news was my craft display got destroyed. I saw some people leaving because they were having the same problem and they couldn't stay out there to do business. If you can't beat 'em, Join 'em. I started packing my stuff as well. Then again, the show was pretty much over. When I came back home, I threw out the damaged stuff from my craft display. It was time to make plans to make a new craft display. I also found out that a friend of mine, who also had a show in PA had the same problem. Her daughter got her stuff damaged from the strong winds and cried. I felt bad so I thought of something to cheer them up. My friend requested Spongebob, but I gave her 2 free samples for her kids. It made their day from this whole mess that we all went thru.

It took me a month and a half to retrieve everything that I've lost from Magnolia Mayfair. I bought a stronger and bigger canopy. For weights, I bought big bricks from the Home Depot. My next two shows were in Gloucester City and Medford. These shows had one thing in common. It was out in a heatwave. I bought a cooler with me to stay alive. I didn't get a lot of business in these shows because whenever a hot day comes, everyone takes off to the beach. I swear I came close to putting my head inside the cooler. It was ice cold. I might do that next time I have a show during a heatwave. I didn't do too bad with the sales for both of them.

This next one I was in was a new one to me. This was my first evening show. It was called First Friday @ Haddonfield. This is like a sideway sale for arts and crafts. I found out about this show by driving by it and I didn't waste any time in applying. Since time was short for the year, I only applied for September and October. My spot was next to a dinosaur statue. It was cool. It was a calm show. SOme people were either looking at the dinosaur or my stuff. The looks on their faces are the best, lol.

A week later, I made my return to the Maple Shade Fall Festival. This was one of my favorite ones because a lot of people come out and I sold a lot of fuzzies. Some of them recognized me from last year's show. It was awesome. I got a couple of visitors. My brother and my old friend Emely came to see me. She came with her daughter and a couple of handmade headbands that she made. I was stunned that she sold a couple of them. I can tell she had a chance in doing well at a craft show.

A few weeks later, Nor'easter hit us. When it left, it got a little cold and windy. It left just in time for my next show. I made my return for another First Friday in Haddonfield. This show somewhat drove me up the wall because the set up happened during rush hour and it was windy. The wind kept knocking down one of my display boards. Fortunately, It wasn't severe like the Magnolia Mayfair was. I didn't do too bad with the sales. It coulda been better.

The next day, It was time to go back to the Stratford Fall festival. This was my third appearance. This time, the kids didn't tackle me, lol. They came in as a group to see who I had next. I did well once more, but nothing tops my first time at this show. I dominated. For this one, it was an even match between Maple Shade and Stratford.

I thought I was done for the year, but I wasn't. The sponsors of the Gloucester city show invited me out to a show called Gloucester Day. Sometimes you have to say, "What the hell!". I came out to this show and my spot was at a regular street. I didn't expect much from this show and it turns out I was dead wrong. A lot of people came out of nowhere and started enjoying the festival. A lot of people came to my craft booth and weren't hesitant to buy some fuzzies. These guys went mostly for the horror movie killers. In fact, someone wanted me to make Freddy Krueger so since I had time in my hands, I decided to make him at that moment. I had my box of pipe cleaners with me to make more in case the business was slow. This show was another even match from this show to Maple Shade and Stratford. It was nice weather that day. So yeah, the actions of this show caught me by surprise.

At last we reach the final two shows. These two shows happened at the same day. One in the morning and the other at night. These shows were mostly holiday shows. The first one was at Haddon Township High School (HTHS). I didn't care too much about making my profit. I did anyways. I didn't sell a lot and I can tell that the sponsors didn't do much of a good job in spreading the word about the show. These were the same sponsors who organized First Friday @ Haddonfield. From how slow it was, it bought me time to make more fuzzies. I mostly made xmas ornaments and I really made good ones. After the show, I ordered food and went back home to get directions for the next show. Before I went to the show, I went to pick up my friend Emely to the show. I recruited Emely to this next show to sell her handmade headbands. She was very excited to have her first show. This next show took place at Gloucester City once again. These guys love me, lol. This was called the Gloucester City Holiday Polar Express. This was an indoor show. Our tables were together so I can help her in her new business. We did a good job working together. Emely did a good job her business. The headbands she made were very nice. Look her up some time to see what they look like: http://www.pinkaccessories.etsy.com/ It was a nice show. It was one way to conclude the show for the year.

It looks like this year was full of surprises. I'm started to get recognized in a certain way. For 2011, I will not be alone. Emely wants to do more shows so I will give that opportunity. Let's see what 2011 will have in store for us. Until then, yo voy a tomar una cerveza ;)

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