Bizarre Bazaar - vol. VIII

My eighth and final craft show at the bizarre bazaar was this past thursday and although I'm a little sad to be done with the selling I'm also relieved that I get a whole extra day each week to work on goods in preparation for the holiday season (seriously - i'm never prepared enough)! Here I am eager to get the craft selling underway:


How nice! It was a little cooler than normal this week and luckily I dressed for the weather - but certainly was not prepared for the insane gusts of wind we had this week! I know I always bring up how windy it is (and how the wind destroyed my colourful pennant flag banner I usually have up) but it was extra strong this week! In fact, it ripped two tents out of their cinder block footings and rolled them down the hill. For the second tent it actually took the bungied cinder blocks with it! And although I was praising my lovely c-clamped button display, most of my other goods were getting blown around (especially my felt brooches) and it was tiring always trying to keep on top of it. Whew!

On the plus side of things the sales were pretty good this week! I sold quite a few button sets, postcards, plushies, and (the big seller of the day) pocket mirrors! Hooray for restocking:


Yes - much better than the slim pickings I had at my last show and I even managed to get a ton of new coloured felt cases made! I had to keep them in a tin under my table to keep them safe from the wind:


How lovely! Plus now that I'm done with the biz baz I can stock all my extra goodies into my etsy shop! I'm not entirely sure how quickly that will happen though since I am moving this wednesday and will need to take pictures of all my products first (which is quite the time consuming task). But if you're extra anxious for any particular item I've been selling at my shows (i.e. certain pocket mirror, coffee sleeve, or post card set) I'm always willing to speed up the posting process and make a reserved listing for you. What fun!

As for my future in craft shows I'm not entirely sure how many more I will do. I've been invited to join a few holiday shows this year, but am a little cautious joining up since the booth fees are pretty steep ($120-$200) and although they promise tons of attendance, because most of my products are inexpensive, I would have to sell an awful lot of goods just to break even! I'd really like to do some bigger craft shows next spring/summer though so I'll be sure to keep my eyes peeled for the right opportunities! All in all my first summer of selling has been pretty good with lots of lessons learned, some good networking, and a sprinkling of sales. Plus (best of all) I actually stuck to my new years resolution of craft selling!!! Now I just need to keep up with my blog post a day and find some time to start learning the banjo and I'll be set! Hooray!