Friday, November 7, 2008

Art shows!

I've been invited to participate in my first-ever show! I received a convo (private message or e-mail) through Etsy inviting me to join a local artists' show presented by one of our local downtown art associations. I was very surprised but quite pleased and honored.

The invitation provides me with quite a dilemma. I've been to one art show in my entire life, and it was strictly paintings. I've never attended a craft show. I've never been a vendor! So I'm having to figure out very quickly if I want to do this, first of all, and second of all, what I need to DO. I have e-mailed the organizer back and hopefully I can get some questions answered promptly so I can get my ducks in a row. Thankfully, my husband is quite arty and is already scheming displays and set-ups.

Here are some random thoughts:
- Need to find out what kind of space I will have and what type of table I need to bring
- Must use a white or cream-colored table-cloth - no black or dark colors to show lint (or cat hair!)
- Need a small, attractive mirror so people can look at my wares on themselves
- Should I swatch some of my yarn stash so people can get an idea of future items? (probably)
- How many of my items should I bring?
- How do I handle sales - can I have a computer hooked up so people can go through my Etsy store? Would that be too tedious & time-consuming for this type of event? Probably - but how else am I going to accept credit cards? They would need to at least have a PayPal account for CCs. I will need to have some cash for change. What about invoices/sales slips? This brings me into a whole realm of marketing that I haven't had to address just yet because Etsy has been wonderful.
- Thank goodness I used that particular website for my business cards; I know I can customize postcards and other little dealios for marketing purposes.
- Where oh where can I get a mannequin head or wig stand? I know I can get one off of eBay or an online retailer but for whatever reason, I'm really stuck on being able to see & touch it before I buy it. I want to be sure it's worth my money AND displaying my goods!
- Not to mention, it would be very nice to have a dress form or mannequin torso for scarves - the torso and head would be super-useful for future (hopefully) shows AND for photographing items to show on Etsy.
- I think having a little guestbook might be a genius idea for people who are interested in my products but don't have time/money/interest in current items.

Have to get back to my day job for now :-) Any feedback would be much appreciated!

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