How I'm getting ready for a craft show..

Since I have 2 great Bazaar Bizarre craft shows coming up on November 2nd and 30th, I really want to be prepared this time.

Usually what happens is that I sign up for a show with hopes to be ready and then I have 1-2 days left to start any preparation for it. I get frustrated and stressed, Patrick gets the same and gives me the ol' stink eye like he'd be on it if it was his show.

Well, this time around is a bit different because I now have an 8-month old girl to parent and the house, and errands, and shopping, and my Etsy business. I am thankful I do have such a helpful and supportive fiance though. He still does the high-five whenever I get 1 sale on my shop--ha.

OK, so now to the nitty-gritty of how I am actually preparing for this first show. It is the You Bazaar and it takes place at the SF County Fair Bldg in Golden Gate park on Sunday, 11/2, from 10am-5pm, $1 at the door. Click on their logo for more information.

First, I started out about 1 month out, writing down exactly what I wanted to sell and how many of each item. I write this down in my trusty 'creative' journal that I've been keeping for years. It is like a diary, but just for my crafts and ideas and designs.

Secondly, I grabbed our large dry erase board that was hidden in the garage and posted it up in my small studio, just behind my work station. I put a calendar grid with the remaining 2 weeks and wrote in each day what I needed to accomplish in order for me to be on track and to complete everything in time, leaving a little buffer for last minutes ideas and such.

On this board I also wrote my ideas, my task list for Marketing materials (Business cards, Staple cards,etc.) to create on Illustrator and print, cut, and then organize. Plus a list for my table (display ideas, stands, gift bags,etc.), and finally, I write any ongoing custom made items or orders down for my Etsy shops. And, a running tally of items I want to sell, how many I already have in inventory, what my goal amount is for that item, and how many I've done, so every time I complete one, I check it off. It can feel pretty rewarding to cross off and check off items.

As far as making the items, all my items are now pre-cut but I still need to design them. Designing is fun, but totally time consuming and it is not always easy to force the creative flow. But, I need to do it, if not for this show, for my shop, to keep it flowing with new items. So, I've been designing in my head late at night when I start to falll asleep, and in the morning I write those ideas down in my journal or try to replicate them for real.

One thing that I highly recommend and has been working for me lately is to do a sort of "factory-line up". What I do is say I know that I want to make several cupcake ATM pockets, so I know that I don't have too much time, but I need to be efficient, but keep the same design alive. I pre-cut the felt into their pocket shapes, cut out each piece in duplicates (10 chocolate cupcake bottoms, 10 icing tops (different colors), then I do each step that is required for one, I do in duplicate for 10, which eventually saves time. Meaning that if I have to embroider a pink, an orange, a yellow, and a lime green sprinkle dot on the icing top, I do all the pink ones first on each cupcake, then do the orange, then yellow, and so on.

Another neat idea I have for this show is to finally use all the piled up brown grocery bags we have and make my own recycled (or upcycled?) gift bags (or bags for any items sold). I have it on my calender to do, so I am hoping that I can really get to that project since I'd like to see the outcome and recycling is something I feel really good about. I'll have to take a pic and post it on my blog once I'm done with it.



Ok, signing off for now..it is late and it is "cupcake day II" tomorrow. ;o) Jeyn