Birds of a Feather Fair - Nov. 6

Yesterday was the first ever Birds of a Feather Fair in Florence, KY (right outside of Cincinnati, OH) and I was thrilled to participate. This was the first "modern fair" I'd ever heard and jumped at the chance to showcase/sell my art to my ideal market. We headed up to Cincy Sunday morning and got setup in the Hilton hotel (fancy smancy!).

The booth setup was a bit different than I was anticipating (tables all lined up side-to-side, like one super long table), but my husband was super helpful in aiding the layout. Since my particular table was actually composed of two narrow, long ones, I placed one of them in front of my large table and the other one along the side. This actually worked WAY better than I had hoped!

Once we got the layout figured out, everything went up in no time. :)

I could not believe how many people poured in to this banquet room! There had to be a few hundred people who came out (about two hours in, I overhead one of the directors commenting that two hundred people had already come). I've never been to such a successful show before!

It was wonderful to meet the two lovely ladies who put this whole show together. I was astounded at how hospitable they were, even coming over to my table and acknowledging me by name as soon as I arrived. They went out of their way to help me set up and floated around the room during the fair checking up on everyone. I could not have asked for better hosts. :)


Strangely, although the turn out was better than anyone had imagined, it was a slow selling day for me. I really can't understand why. The whole place was packed out, people were constantly at my booth, and the demographics appeared to be the people I thought would be interested in my style of art (women in their late 20s - early 40s, well-dressed, stylish, from the Midwest, etc). It was a bit disappointing.

My best seller was by far my mini paintings, as it often is. I was hoping to sell out of my calendars, but those didn't seem to catch on. I did meet a whole bunch of awesome people, however, and really enjoyed the atmosphere. There were so many nice, talented people who had many similarities with me. I'm so glad that I went, and it proved to be another important learning experience.

And Then... It Was Over

It's amazing how much time I spent arranging and rearraning my festival setup and then just like that it's all over.

This was by far the smoothest art festival I've done to date. The setup and tear down was a breeze and I had no rough spots whatsoever. The only complaint I had was the weather. Saturday was an abnormally cold, overcast day. It was so cold that I couldn't even take off my gloves to paint a demonstration, as I normally do.

My first sale came within ten minutes of opening, and my last sale right at the end when all the other vendors were packing up. Biggest lesson learned? Be on time and stay until (literally) the last minute!

Now time to restock for the festival next month... And back to schoolwork. :(

Art Festival Prep

It's a busy time of the year for me! This weekend marks the season's first art festival, and I've been busy all month preparing my store front for it. I think I have my booth much more polished than last year. I've also been busily (but happily) painting so that my little shop will be full of items for purchase. I seriously cannot wait until Saturday!

Sorry, but the kitty is not for sale. :)

Fall Fair Prep

It's time to start stocking up for fall art fairs! As the season rapidly approaches (my first one is exactly one month away!), I've been busy reworking my display. It's amazing how an attractive- looking setup can bring in more sales. I quickly learned at my first attempt last October that it doesn't matter how great your artwork is if it's not displayed in an eye-catching fashion.

Here's one of my tables I'm working on. As you can see, there's still several more pieces I need to paint to fill in the gaps.

My kitty keeping me company while I work. <3

Whew, my second year of graduate school starting today, beginning a new job, painting, preparing for fairs, drawing my manga comic... These next few months are going to be busy busy!

Snow and a Show

This weekend was my second craft show for which I'd been busily preparing for the last two months. My husband and I got up early on Saturday morning (isn't my boyfriend-for-life wonderful?) to pack my car up with merchandise and found the ground completely covered with snow. What a wonderful surprise! This was very unseasonable weather for the area and suited the day's holiday festivities very well.

The show was in the gym of the seminary I attend. It only took my husband and I about 20 minutes to get set up. Score! Before the show began, I was able to wander around and meet some fantastic artists.

Me in front of my display. I liked how it fit together so colorfully! :)
I was hoping that there would be a younger shoppers with the seminary and university in town, but was a bit disappointed that the majority turn-out was women with old-time country, traditional tastes. Not so good for the styles of the things I create.

Also surprising to me were the things that sold. Only one mini scrapbook and one mini painting sold, which were the things that I thought would sell quickly. Instead, I just about sold out of handmade cards.

The BIG surprise, though, was when a very nice young woman bought one of my large paintings for her daughter's nursery!
As if that could not be topped, I woke up the next morning to find that someone from the United Kingdom had bought another one of my paintings from my Etsy shop! :)
As exciting as it was to sell these two paintings, I was also sad to see them go. :(

Overall, I had a good time selling my items at the craft show. The biggest lesson I learned? It doesn't matter how beautiful your items are or how creative your display is if the venue does not suit your demographics. From now on, I will be scouting out some more contemporary venues geared toward my personal style.

Now that this is done, I'm off to write papers and start painting some Christmas presents! :)

Christmas Art Fair

These past few weeks have been VERY busy in my little studio... Not only have I been prepping for an art fair this Saturday, but I've been fulfilling custom orders and painting Christmas presents. Oh, did I mention that I'm in graduate school too?

Here are some shots of my practice set-up for this weekend. The lovely pegboards are courtesy of my wonderful grandparents. I don't know how I did the last fair without these for my paintings!


Some mini paintings with easel displayed on a little bookshelf.

I picked up a tiered kitchen basket from Hobby Lobby and am using it to create a spacial display for my mini scrapbooks.

After the fair this weekend and final papers due next week I will be feeling much better. Whew! :)

Saturday's Painting

I painted this picture while I was at the art fair this weekend. It was fun to do a "live demonstration," plus I'm quite pleased with how this turned out. :)

(Please ignore my messy art desk...)

A Day at the Fair

This past Saturday was a perfect day to be out all day at the Wilmore Art and Craft Festival! I was surprised at how many people came to look... It was wonderful to meet so many new people. :)

Here is my humble little booth:



Thanks for coming to see me! :)

Prepping for the Art Fair

This upcoming Saturday is Wilmore's annual art and craft festival. This is the first art fair that I have ever entered and I am really excited about it!

I've been working on creating a shop front so that it will be easier to set up on the day of the fair.



Here is my display for some simple jewelry I made. I'm using the tea cup at the top as a place to store my business cards. :)


Come see me on Saturday! :)