Fabulous Finds! Spring Recap!

After two days of much needed rest I am finally back home from the craft show and back to blogging! Just in time to share how the big craft show went with all of you! Hooray! I tried really hard to learn from my mistakes from the fabulous finds november show and come prepared for the spring sale!

The first thing I knew to bring loads of? Business cards! I ran out much too quickly at the last show and since my other goal for this event was to network more - cards are a must! I even got to use my snazzy new card holder my sister send me in the mail. Isn't it fun?:


Yay! I also knew this time to stock up on a variety of goods and to bring loads of change (especially loonies and toonies) in my change box! Talk about preparation! Once fraser and I got to the winery friday morning we had just enough time to unload, unpack, and set up! Rio once again was a most fantastic craft show host with the tables all laid out and organized for us to go! All I had to do was figure out how I was going to arrange it all and get selling! I even got to use an extra wine barrel as an extension on my table (which was perfect since I ended up having so much product to display). Take a peek at how my table ended up looking:


Ok, so it is pretty similar to my november set up (link), but that added barrel was handy. It was also great to bring my little ikea mirror from my bedroom so people could hold up the earrings to help them decide on a pair! Turns out all those crafty business books came in handy since I made sure to go through their craft show check lists before attending and had all the tricks and tools of the trade down. What's that? You need tape, scissors, and extra signage? Just take a peek in my tote - I've got it all! Yay!

As for the sale itself, I was preparing myself for the masses of crowds the november show had and in comparison this show seemed a lot more relaxed. There were still loads of people attending but the atmosphere was less frantic. A few of the vendors were expecting a few more sales out of the show but my table did alright. I got loads of positive feedback on the packaging for my vintage cabochon flower stud earrings and they ended up being my big seller! I also sold quite a few pocket mirrors, plush microbes, pins and magnets! Hooray! Best of all at the end of the show I got to take my unsold mustaches to frock (a super cool boutique in downtown kelowna) and consign them there. Oh! And chantel from funktional (another awesome store from kelowna) is now carrying my pocket mirrors and flower studs (along with the brooches, bags, and felt feather earrings she's had since the fall)! How exciting! I love consignment selling! I heard quite a few people comment on how they bought some of my items from the shops downtown and how much they enjoy them! Oh I'm just swooning with all the positive comments!

Other fun exciting things from this show (yup, list time):

1) I was one of the three features artists in a newspaper article they published in kelowna

2) Fraser and I got to pose (with mustaches) for an article in Snap Okanagan magazine

3) My table was filmed and I got interviewed on a local tv show

4) I got to meet a blog reader who I didn't know before the show (she was the single person to claim one of my freebies)!

and

5) I once again won the vendor's choice award (and got another bottle of summerhill pyramid winery wine!)

Yay! So much fun! I was so busy with my table that I didn't get to spend a ton of time wondering around the show but from what I did see the other vedors just keep getting better! I love going to a craft show where I want to buy something from every table! Rio selects such great artisans for her sales and I'm so happy to be a part of their crafting community. My favourite table was the fabulous laser cut cuteness from ugly bunny:


I remember sarah jane (the lady behind ugly bunny) from the last show but I simply adore her new line of silk screened and laser cut items. I totally feel inspired to get printing and I really want to see if I can figure out CAD (or perhaps bribe lindsay into helping me) so I can try my hand at laser cut goods. Don't you think some of my illustrated designs would be fun in acrylic pendant/brooch form? (I certainly do)! And although I didn't manage to take a picture of all the booths I drooled over - here is a snapshot of the view behind my table:


Lovely! I also picked up a super adorable owl cushion (who I've named professor hoots and now resides with my sad bunny pillow on my stripey little couch in my living room) as well as some fun lip balm! If you're interested in taking a peek at some more shots from the show you should check out the fabulous finds group on facebook (natalie even shared a whole album of pictures there).

Once the show was over, fraser (who, by the way, was beyond wonderful helping me make magnets, break change, and keep me from crafting panic) and I packed up out goods, took a trip downtown to drop off the consignment sales and drove home! I was so exhausted from the two days of madness that I couldn't even make it through a cary grant movie and went to bed! In fact - I slept for a good 13 hours, got up for a bit, and went back down for a nap! Whew! That show totally took all the energy out of me. Now that I've had a while to rest up I am happy to be back home and am ready to take some time away from craft selling to focus on some of my own projects I've been meaning to work on. I'm also considering doing a shop and blog makeover sometime over the spring (to freshen things up and adjust my pricing so I can expand my consignment selling) but we'll see how that goes (no promises). Hey! Maybe I can even take a substantial chunk out of my giant to do list of crafty tutorials I've been blogging about! Hooray!!!