Crafts in Chelsea Wrap Up

Last Saturday I vended at Crafts in Chelsea which is a joint fundraiser between the NewNewTeam and P.S. 11. Needless to say it was a huge success! The school raised about $8,000 and imagine all the extra programs this will provide! That day was also unbelievably WINDY! There was reported 50mph gusts and I definitely do not doubt that. I was sharing a space with Linda from PurtyBird and in the midst of our stuff getting blown over, displays falling, items strewn to the wind we had a lot of frustrated fun. This was my first time really in a weather situation I found it very funny because I feel there's just so much I can do and I should just try to find the humor in the situation. Linda was the funniest and most awesome share. She was extremely helpful and very cool to talk to!

Fortunately around 12:30 we got moved to another space down on the street and it was a godsend. The wind was just a breeze, there was sunlight and it was warm. For some reason our first spot was this vortex of wind that never stopped. My display still needs a lot of work. I managed to buy some 5 x 7 binder sleeves and those are totally awesome. It makes it so much easier for people to flip though and look at my prints. They were also protected and didn't fly off thanks to the wind. I will have to buy more.That day I was surprised that many people brought prints. I ran out of my Animal Trio because people wanted to buy them for their nursery or for a baby shower.

People also brought my pins. I had taped them to my big orange box to prevent them from being blown away and that actually made it easier to browse and choose a pin. Maybe it was because of the extremely bright orange-red fabric of the box but it caught a lot of people's eyes. Also people love love bright colors. All my orange goldfish pins were sold along with my red panda pins.

Another thing I notice is that even though it's somewhat close to Christmas (maybe?) most of the people who brought stuff from me brought it for themselves. I guess it's present buying time isn't really here yet. Though I've been very busy doing custom orders which I looooove doing! So if you want some custom print (I've been doing families and weddings a lot) just pop a convo to me at LiPeony.

I also brought some awesome things at the fair too but that's for another post =D

Here's Linda from PurtyBird with her awesome felt monsters and scrabble tiled necklaces and glass tile magnets. People really liked buying small ticket items but when they did they usually brought more then one.

Here's a victory pose at the end of the fair of me and Linda! WE SURVIVED!

Here are some tips for surviving windy craft fair day (gleaned from NewNewTeam)!

1. If you are going to bring a tent bring some study weights to weight it down and also weigh down your table (s). (A lot of people bring in empty plastic cartons and fill it with water when they get to the fair)
2. Try not to put sides to the tent because it'll act like a sail and your tent can hurt someone.
3. Or better yet don't even bring a tent if you can help it.
   
4. Have lots of tape and clamps!
5. Find out the weather beforehand!
6. Have your displays laid flat (clamped securely if possible).
7. Have a container for you biz cards. You don't want those to fly away.
8. Remember if things get too hairy... breathe... you'll recall this day and laugh =)
   

Due to the success of my felt pins... I'll be bringing them back to my shop later this week =)

Until next time... don't get bloooooownnnn awaaaaaay!