My Annual Craft Show came to an End.... :+}

[DWSudekum]

Pumpkin Logs as the couple calls them are really made of Pumpkin like cake that has some kind of I think cream cheese filling.  Looks like the pumkin bread and filling is rolled into a tight tube like look.  They were offering lil samples all day.  Lots of takers including myself.  Very Yummy....  The Logs were actually kept in a little fridge, so guess must keep them cold.  Anyway they sold very well. 

Think I did see couple booths selling real nice looking lil ornaments.  Bet they weren't hand made.  Don't know how well they sold. 

Think I (we) need to get into making a product that a WOMEN or young girl likes OR maybe CHILDREN.   

The gal next to me selling the purses traded me my scroll craft for a purse I wanted for my wife.  She had them decorated with all kinds of different things from Sports to Hunting to Fishing to different special occasions.  She did Great....  Danny  :+}

Cuteness sells Danny.  Trust me on this.  It generally is the women that are doing the buying, at least at the shows that I have been doing.  Make things that your wife will go .. ok when are you going to make me one? hehe.  Not everything will sell every time. I have found that most of the time if a person had to break out more than $20 - $30 at a sale they will hold off and perhaps come back but most of the time will not.  I have had good shows each time I go out but I pick which shows I do carefully.  I tend to be the ONLY scroller, there are turners that attend but most of my shows are juried which limits the number of each style of craft. 


DW

[jimbo]

Danny make sure you have a good selection on your table, plenty of things to get attention, I try and do something new for every show I do, I have one this W/E and have made some jewelry, men's and women's  not sure how they will sell but worth a try, I have done about 15 fairs this year and takings are from $100 to $1500 so you have to go with the flow [so to speak]
Good luck for your next one
Jimbo

[Marcellarius]

Hey Danny, feel sorry things didn't worked out the way you hoped.
enjoy an embrace the compliments and try to keep that feeling.
next to the selling remember all the fun there is in making things with the scroll saw.
and all the fun we have here on the forum.
it couldn't have been the price, right?
Hope this will not effect your feeling on the scrolling an general.
you know I don't sell, but give away my work.
In my opinion the things people most appreciate are the projects with the 'personal'  touch.
something with a name or some bible verse people cherish.
or maybe a special animal that they like.
maybe you can make some examples of that kind and take orders trough out the year?

[wombatie]

Danny I'm sorry you had a bad craft fair, I know how disheartening  that can be.  About 4 years ago I did the local street market, I made something for everyone, ballet shoes - girlie , Shane Warne (cricketer ) - manly, Brad Pitt  - sexy, Maralyn Monroe and Elvis - nostalgia  and names, there were other things as well. But after sitting there from 8.00am until 2.30pm all I sold was 6 names all of which I had to come home and make. The stall cost me $20 and the names I sold came to come $30, I spent more than $10 on coffees. Everyone  loved my stuff, lots of people took cards but no one rang, lots of people said do you have so and so and I said  no but it would not take me long to make one for you if you want it, the answer was always no I just wanted to see it.  I have never done another one, everything I sell now is by word of mouth. The rest of the time I make things I want t make for practise or enjoyment. Have I made you feel better about your fair,I do hope so.   

Marg

[Danny]

My Warmest Feelings and Thoughts are that having such a Wonderful Scrolling Family that have experienced or shared feelings is worth being a part.  In a nut shell....
I only do One Show each year.  Nov.  Next year....  Take this years left over scroll projects.  Give childerns toys a try.  Decide on a eatable product.  My Wife will find a Craft Hobby especially for girls n Women.  Hows this sound?  LOL  Danny  :+}

[Billy in Va]

Sounds like it will keep you off the streets fow a while!

[glenn wouters]

Hi Danny

I have the same here in Belgium.
If i try to sell some scrollwork i almost have to give it away for free, or people just don't buy it.
And if you scroll a dog they want a cat, and if you make a cat they want a rabbit.
So i started to make wooden crates, just simple crates like apple crates.
And they sell like hot cakes.
I make them to the size people want, and since then i spend most of my time making crates in all sizes and shapes.
I keep on scrolling, but just to give as a gift or for myself.
Scrolling is too much fun to do, and i never had the intention to make money with it.
But the crates are also fun to do, and with the money i make with it i can buy tools, books about scrolling etc.

So i think i take the best of both, the fun of scrolling, and the pocket money of my crates.

Glenn, belgium

[Danny]

Hi Glenn....  Sure would like to see a picture of one of your crates.  Yes?  I will be
looking into different things for my next years show.  Of course along with some of
my scrolling.  Thanks....  Danny  :+}

[Jim Finn]

I was told years ago that ornaments do not sell well so I have never made any.  I am not actually interested in them anyway.  I have made some seasonal items but find that if I make four of them for instance I have to hold them for three years to get them all sold.  I no longer make seasonal stuff for this reason.
      I do about 25 sales a year , most of them are outside, so cheap rent.  I make things that women like ,kids like and even some men like.  I make boxes.  I make them of cedar, with an inlayed image on the lid.  Largest is 8"x11"x2".  Kids like them to keep there "treasures " in and women like to buy these boxes to give as gifts. I sell them for $15 each and sell a bunch. ( aprox.330 per year)  It took a while to figure out the most efficient way to make the boxes and took a while to learn to do inlay well.  I make these boxes about 20 at a time.  I also make rubber band shooters and sell them easily for $5. I make these about 20 at a time also.  I offer some intarsia and some lettered signs at various prices. I rarely sell anything for more than $40..................I do not do fretwork at all......not yet.

[Billy in Va]

Have my last show of the year  Dec 2 and I told my wife tonight that if I do not sell some ornaments, I am going to put them in a box, soak them in kerosene, light them and set them adrift down the boat ramp!