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Months ago I joined in a finish-a-long, and while the deadline has long been in the rear-view mirror - I am still busy at work completing projects! My first llama pinnie encounter was on pinterest {I have some friends who own a llama farm, and quite frankly I just think they are among the coolest of animals!} It was love at first pin; I needed to have one of my very own. I don't know about you, but I have found myself with an abundance of pinnies over the last few years. Wonderful to look at, lots of fun to create, but rarely used in my sewing space. I'm okay with that - a painting isn't utilitarian, and people collect art, right?
Anyways - once I made my way to Tractor Supply Company to purchase a Schleich llama, I found an overwhelming number of other small animals begging to be made into pincushions. 'Pick me!' said the cow, and the deer, and the pig, and the squirrel, and the bison, and the giraffe, and the t-rex... and the tiny donkey! I couldn't just leave him there, right?
My mother in law - who is an amazing crafter - needlefelted 2 small spheres to coordinate with the little blankets I had made for them. Hot glue was my friend for this project - especially to attach that little ball trim!
So first up were pinnies that (if they were real animals) could travel, and in keeping with that theme I wanted to share this pinnie I put together for when I travel. It's made with an old metal salt/pepper shaker that had lost it's top. I spray painted a jam jar lid, and attached a vintage crocheted flower I found to the top.
The underside of the lid is fitted with a pincushion (just a circle, gathered at the edges, stuffed, and then held in place with stitches in a star pattern over the top). Lots of odds and ends fit inside: a seam ripper, mini scissors, needles, thread, and a tape measure.
Now I need to actually travel with a project! I always end up spending so much time packing clothes, that I lack the time to pick a project out to take with me.
I plunged into the craft fair world last fall {and it has only taken me months and months to find a minute to blog about it!} For the past two years our Young Life area has put on a craft fair to raise money - crafters pay a fee for their booth space and a table; in turn they keep all the money they make. I learned a few things about craft fair's along the way:
1. the web, blogs, and pinterest have tons of GREAT information - steal it, take in all the vast knowledge and previous experience of those who have gone before you in the craft fair world. Here is a board I particularly loved.
2. it's really hard to have exactly what people want. years working in a LQS taught me that. people ooh and ahhh over the samples and beg to buy them, but when the same thing is up with a price tag on it, they are suddenly not so sure. i sold a decent amount of items, but went home with a moderately full car. any advice out there? is that pretty normal?
3. designing a booth and props is fun! part of the crafting process for me was to create a little awning out of pvc pipe and some stands for display. i think presentation makes a big difference in sales {people really wanted to buy my props... see item #2 above}
4. people might not come with alot of money to spend. it seemed like this - and other fairs i have visited - are often visited by the casual browser and NOT the big spender. perhaps the ease of online shopping has made bigger purchases a little easier to shop for. i could be wrong, but most people are in the market for smaller dollar items - not the hand pieced and quilted queen size quilt or the hand hooked 100% wool room sized rug. buyers tend to plan for those items rather than see, have to have, and buy them on the spot.
5. enjoy it. though some use craft fairs as a primary income source, i look at it as a little extra fabric money and a chance to visit and get to know other crafters. {i think i spent most of my income at other booths}
I have included a few photos of my craft fair items to break up the text and give you some color to look at. Check out my etsy {the online craft fair} if you are interested in acquiring any of them. If you see a 'must have' in the booth picture at the top but not in my etsy, email me and I may still have 1 or 2 :)
