Outdoor Craft Fair: the Good, the Bad & the Ugly

Saturday was the first time I’d done an outdoor craft fair (but I’ve done indoor ones for about four years now) & I have to say—not a big fan. The event was the first annual Catholic Heritage Festival for the Diocese of Arlington so there was a lot more going on than just the vendors. Here are my reflections on my experience as one of them:

So the Good—Friends & Family: my friend & downline Areana had a table with me and it was nice to share the day with her. More friends stopped by—our friend Erin, who isn’t even Catholic, drove out with her family. My family came to visit and there were kid activities to keep them happy and they got to see me “in action.” My friend JoEllen, her husband & four young kids helped me pack up quickly when the festival was closed due to a storm coming. I also met a few new stamping diehards for my newsletter and got nice compliments on my display.

The Bad: I couldn’t sleep the night before because the weather forecast was poor and I was sure they’d cancel it completely—kind of stressed me out because I’d already packed the car and worked so hard for so long. The weather held off for quite awhile (albeit it got annoyingly windy) but then they did cut the festival short by about 2 hours due to a lightning storm coming (metal tents=bad place). We were on top of a hill too—not good. There wasn’t much activity the first hour and a half either because there was a mass & mass + shopping = sacrilegious. So there was only about 2 hours of “shopping” but then a lot of people didn’t come to the festival to shop—therein lies the risk of doing a craft fair in conjunction with a larger event. So, while I got some nice feedback, the sales were less than hoped for L. I know it couldn’t be helped but I left a little discouraged nonetheless. The bright side is that I got all my stuff packed up before the rain hit (rain + paper products=disaster).

& the Ugly: So I managed to escape unscathed (ironically, it was at the Bull Run Park near Manassas, site of the famous Civil War battle, and there was a shooting range nearby that I could hear as I drove away—adding to the drama or maybe I’m just easily amused), but then had the perfect end to my day AFTER pulling into our dry garage. When I opened up the door to the van, my box full o f paper items fell out and dumped everything in a puddle that had formed from the rain on the van! Triage was quick. Then, when I brought in my big magnetic board with all my domino magnets on it, I noticed little teeny ants crawling all over it! A sheet I’d left under a table and placed on top of the board had collected the unwelcome visitors & in our rush to pack up, had not been noticed. Sigh.

The Aftermath: Luckily, after the initial shock of puddles and ants, in the end there wasn’t much lasting damage. I did do some soul-searching regarding my crafting hobby though. My conclusion—when this seems to feel like a job, it’s time to cut back! If anyone has insights on how to moderate/balance making enough stuff to have for a craft fair yet still remain sane/don’t bite your kids heads off—please share!!! I’ll be working on that over the next few months (Lord knows I have enough stuff now for the rest of my holiday shows!)

Me & my Shtuff. I went a little nuts with Vistaprint —notice the matching banner & my t-shirt. Then, I also got new business cards, business magnets, a car magnet AND a hat (my daughter was wearing it). It was all “Free” (just paid more than usual shipping). Vistaprint isn’t paying me for this, but it’s great fun if you want a few more marketing items!

Areana's Table. Check out the fun headbands--made from sealed paper! We'll get her to guest-blog about them :-)

Barrettes anyone? The Disney Princess ones were popular.

Quality Control. Then, as you can see, I've become obsessed with making jewelry...think I have enough rings & pendants??

Outdoor Craft Fair: the Good, the Bad & the Ugly

Embellish It Yourself Mini-Albums

Here are a few mini-albums for Saturday's craft fair. These were made with SU!'s Scallop Circle and Clear Scallop Square dies. I first used SU's Glue Stick to adhere the paper on chipboard (mostly the stuff that comes with packs of paper) before running it through the Big Shot. Only the front and back are chipboard and then I added cardstock inside for the pages (also run through the Big Shot).

I tried a variety of themes and then created a little bag of coordinating embellishments so people had a choice. For example, in the first picture, the image from "Special Blessings" lends itself to a wedding, baptism, first communion etc. so I offered all those sentiments. Next, I broke out the Sticky Cuts and glitter for tween albums.

Finally, I used the new "Pony Party" and the retired "Prehistoric Pals" for a girl or boy birthday album respectively. For the boy embellishments, I used the new "Look Who's Turning" stamp set and provided all the numbers so someone can pick the age the kid is turning. This project makes a great gift and still lets someone else add their personal touch.

Embellish It Yourself Mini-Albums

Craft Fair Countdown...

Well, my first craft fair of the season is less than three weeks away (the Catholic Heritage Festival at Bull Run Park, Manassas, VA Aug. 22--come visit!) and I'm going on vacation next week so here's a "double post" since I'm going to try my darndest to avoid the computer for awhile--some photo binder clips I've made to sell and a new display idea I picked up fromKerry on splitcoaststampers.com. (Love the free sharing of ideas on that site!!)

First off, some jumbo binder clips (from Staples) that I altered to hold photos. I used retired Simply Scrappin' Kits for these. My SU! glue sticks hold the paper on very nicely & then dimensionals pop the images out. Note the snowflake on the Christmas one--that's the new SU! Snowflake punch.

This next version of the photo binder clips uses some that were on clearance at Staples. They had a round end and were too top-heavy to stand upright so I turned them on their sides. I used the Batty For You stamp set and a random soccer ball stamp I had. Luckily, SU! colors coordinated nicely with the clips. I dipped the images in a Versamark Pad, covered in Clear Embossing Powder and embossed (2 layers to get a nice smooth glass-like appearance).












Now, here's a little preview of a new display idea I got from Kerry: using upended wire shelving! She used these for a craft fair to add height and I loved the idea. I also have this area in front of the folding doors of our furnace and it was the perfect solution for adding more organizational space. I can still move it easily if we need to service the furnace and I can then use it for my craft fairs too. These are 6 ft. high & tied together with plastic cable cord ties--got it all at Lowe's. Right now they're just leaning against the doors but for the craft fairs, I'll use Kerry's idea of bungee cords to secure them to the table since there won't be a wall to lean them against.

I got the "S" hooks and long narrow basket from the IKEA kitchen section. My punches are on a towel rack I found at a thrift store. I rigged this other wire basket with some yarn so that it'd hang. More counter space was saved by using S hooks to hang my brown & pink organizer tote too.

See you in a couple of weeks :)

Craft Fair Countdown...

Notebook & Beaded Pen Sets

I took a break from my making-jewelry obsession to make a few altered composition notebooks with matching beaded pens. I like making these because I can do a lot in front of the TV :)

I made these for my craft fairs last year too and sold out of them so y'know--had to make more! (I sell them for $7 if you're curious. When I sell them alone, the beaded pens go for $2.50.) I always stick with Stampin' Up! designer papers, ribbon & stamps for these because everything coordinates easily,which saves me a lot of time when creating in bulk.

The first set is from the retired Rockabilly Specialty Paper (with tweeners in mind). My seven year old son wants the rock star one of course. That stamp is from the "Little Something" retired hostess set.

This second set uses the retired Good Morning Sunshine paper & coordinating stamp ("Cheep Talk") & retired rub-ons. I also used the Scallop Circles #2 die & the Circle Scissors Plus.







This last one uses the retired Raspberry Tart paper and more dies--SU! Birds & Blooms Sizzlet and SU! Sweetest Stem embosslit.

Few nitty gritties...some people make these by folding the paper over and then covering the inside covers. I simply cut very close to the edge, adhere (with SU! glue sticks), trim off excess and sand the edges. My 5 year old daughter has a notebook I made a year ago and it's withstood her um, lack of order without coming apart so I stand by my methods. My year old pen has held up well too.

I use Pentel RSVP pens--some people roll the paper up and insert it inside the pen. I didn't think you could see much of the paper, so I use sticky tape (the 1 1/2" wide Scor-Tape) to adhere it to the outside of the clear barrel and then use the tape again to adhere the ribbon & then clear micro-beads. SU! now sells Sticky Sheets so you could also cut those to size and use them too. Be sure not to adhere the bottom of the pen while making these because then you can't open them to refill the ink (one of the main selling points of these pens!) Also, add the paper & tape with the cap on--otherwise, you might not be able to close it all the way if you take it off. I also use sticky tape (the 1/4" kind) to adhere my ribbon to the notebooks.

Finally, I love to add some final bling to my images so if you look closely, you'll see I added Stickles to the first two sets and colored half-back pearl embellishments to the last one.

Notebook & Beaded Pen Sets

Ribbon of Hope

Do you watch So You Think You Can Dance? Well, if you saw last night's episode, Ade & Melissa, to much acclaim, did a beautiful dance about a woman who has breast cancer. How ironic that I was putting the ribbons on my new domino pins made with Stampin' Up!'s Ribbon of Hope stamp as I was watching it!

I added this set (which is really not a set, just one individual stamp on the last page of the catalog for just $7.95) to my last order on a last minute whim and I'm so glad I did. Did you know there's a color associated with pretty much every cause? It's an interesting thing to google. Anyway, that's a versatile stamp.

So, pretty similar to the Christmas ornament domino pins or magnets I make for craft fairs, I decided to do something with this set. I'm making them into pins & I'll also attach an elastic cord so they can be ornaments too. I made these with Staz-On inks and then covered the whole domino with Iridescent Ice embossing powder. For the breast cancer pin, I just wrote "HOPE" myself with a black sharpie.

A few tips when working with the Staz-On. Because it's a solid image stamp and the domino surface is slippery, the stamped image looks mottled at first. To smooth it out, I used a blender pen. It also pushed the color around enabling me to get that darker around the edges dimensional effect. If you get a stray mark outside your image, a Versamarker will clean it up! The yellow image was really light after embossing, so for more definition, I outlined it with a darker yellow fine-tip Bic Mark-It permanent marker (yes, you can write OVER the embossing powder, pretty cool). Since SU! doesn't make a yellow ribbon, it occurred to me to make the ribbons red, white & blue for the "Support Our Troops" pin. I live in a military-heavy area, so here's hoping these go over well :)

Ribbon of Hope

Deal of the Week!

This week's deal is item #112454 Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware on page 178 of the SU! Idea Book & Catalog! Regularly $29.95, from July 20, 10 AM (MT) through July 27, 9:50 AM (MT), it's only $18.99!

Deal of the Week!

Scratch, Sniff & Smear!

Let's do a card, shall we? This one uses the new in-colors, Circle Circus set and Razzleberry Lemonade DSP. I know, it's been awhile...

For my last technique club, I got a request to do a "scratch & sniff" card. So, this is my good faith effort. It's a really easy technique to do but the results are mixed I think.

First, you mix 1 teaspoon kool-aid with 1 1/2 teaspoon clear embossing powder--make sure you use the kool-aid with no sugar because you don't want a carmelized card after heat embossing. Stamp your image in Versamark or with craft ink; sprinkle on mixture & heat set.

The problem I ran into was really having the right color kool-aid and smearing--I used the orange from the Tart & Tangy stamp set but the "Mixed Berry" kool-aid is purpley, so I had to settle for what hopefully passes as a red grapefruit. Then, the kool-aid granules kind of smeared a bit when you touch the image. Maybe it helps to wait a little before handling the image? I don't know because I was impatient. The good news is that it really does smell good & stays that way for a while (good to know if you want to mail it). My friend Danielle can attest that it tastes good too (she couldn't resist, it smelled too good--hee).

Scratch, Sniff & Smear!