These are the top 5 mistakes handmade vendors commonly make at craft shows. If you're wondering why sales aren't higher, take a look through the list.
I recently wrote How to make a good art show display and that blog I talked about limiting what you bring to show so that you don't over pack and end up making 20 trips between your car and your booth in 90 degree heat - yes I've learned from experience. But since I went over the idea of not taking to much I wanted to
7 art booth display photos show you how to display paintings, prints, and photographs in your craft show booth.
One of my most popular articles details the types of products that sell best at craft shows; you can read that here: What Sells Best at a Craft Show? This article explores the other side: Types of products that don’t tend to sell well, or that can actually harm the sales of best-selling products. I’ve created...
One of the most magical things about Disneyland is the nighttime fireworks display.
There are many details to think about and prepare for once you've been accepted to a craft show. Check out the detailed list and download the free checklist
The original article on Craft Show etiquette continues to be a popular article so I thought I’d expand on it and break it down a bit more to give you a really good look at what each category of craft show participant might look for from you. Here are the other etiquette articles:...
This is the final post in a four part series celebrating Youth Art Month. This week's post focuses on creative ways in which to display artwork in the classroom and at home. Cheap and easy ways to display artwork.
A tabloid-sized (11x17) PDF file for printing and display in your classroom, showing kids the relative heights and shapes of all kinds of clouds. Please note this product is licensed for personal use, classrooms, for small craft businesses where you are hand making items or hand finishing printed items for sale in craft markets, craft sites like Etsy and similar. None of these images can be used for resale as a part of a collection, in banners, avatars, branding, logos or websites without further licensing. Images may not be used in layered templates made for resale, digital scrapbooking kits, printables, banners, avatars, website design made for others, printed and redistributed as is, or sold at third party print outlets such as Zazzle and Cafe Press. Please inquire about extended licensing for use in branding and logo design, mass produced products, reproduction to fabric, business website banners. Images are Copyright dogfoose.com. All rights reserved.
Resources and teaching ideas for teaching about astronomy for middle school students
Learn about the life and work of artist Ruth Asawa while creating your own DIY hanging sculpture! 20 fun Art Activities for Women's History Month on the ART CAMP blog.
There is an area in the south western part of Nova Scotia that is affectionately referred to by the locals as "The French Shore", approximately 40-50 miles from where we live. The spirit of l'Acadie runs deep in Nova Scotia. As one of the province's founding cultures, there are numerous reminders of the French settlers who first claimed Nova Scotia as their home in the seventeenth century. While driving through the Acadian Shore region, you will pass through several French-speaking villages and will marvel at the soaring beauty of the Acadian churches, one of which is Sacred Heart Church or l'Eglise Sacre Coeur located in Saulnierville, Nova Scotia. You might be asking yourself where I am going with this story. Please read on as I explain. Quilting and quilters know no boundaries and as we all know, can be found throughout the world, including the Acadian Shore of Nova Scotia. Three short years ago La Guilde Acadienne de Clare was formed and with a lot of hard work and dedication to the craft, the founding members decided to organize and host an annual quilt show and sale in the Sacred Heart Church. On Sunday afternoon I dropped off five of my quilts to be included in the display. Today, Mr. Painted Quilt, Ollie and I made the trip up the French Shore to visit the show. Here is the breathtaking view taken from what used to be the choir loft. A virtual sea of over 200 quilts in every color of the spectrum...and all locally made! EDIT: I have added a copyright watermark to the above photo because people have been using it without my permission for their own personal gain. I have specifically stated on the sidebar of my blog that I am very approachable and easy going and have never refused anyone who has asked permission to use any of my photos, written material or free patterns. Having said that, I do get kinda miffed when people just assume that they can lift or copy my personal property without asking. Below is one of the guild members in traditional Acadian attire. The quilts on display were stunning. And do you recognize this one? It's my friend Debra's version of Safe Harbor! Cool, huh? And while I'm on the subject of Safe Harbor, I was speaking with my friend and longarm quilter Alice just this afternoon and my Safe Harbor is on it's way back to me as I write this. With any luck it should be here by Friday and you know that I will start to bind it as soon as soon as I tear open the box. I'm hoping to have the patterns ready for sale in my Etsy shop within the next two weeks, so please bear with me. If you're in the area this week, treat yourself to the show. This year the dates are July 29 - August 2nd. There are even a few quilt shops in the area that sell fabric at great prices and sewing machines too! And if you can't make it this year, why not think about attending next year? Nova Scotia is a wonderful place to visit and an even greater place to call home. The scenery is spectacular, the people are the friendliest on earth and the seafood is to die for! So when are you coming? Happy stitching! Note* If you'd like to read more about the Acadian culture, just click HERE.
Whether you’re creating a craft show display or photographing your products, product composition is important. Composition helps: Create organization and structure Create a focal point (that tells shoppers to “look here!”) Lead the eye throughout your space so shoppers don’t miss important details Without proper composition, a space can feel cluttered, disorganized, and uninspiring. This...
When I started my handmade business, I thought more was more. The more options of handbags I offered, the more sales I could make because I’d be appealing to a wider variety of customers. I had: No clear customer I was targeting. No clear style I was known for. No product...
Craft Fairs are challenging. Customer relations, product display, and more must be done. Here are 7 tips to help you avoid common selling mistakes at shows.
Learn all about the medieval manuscript making process with a fascinating but short documentary, several living books, and simple DIY project.
This summer has been an incredible journey into the world of art. It started with a family trip to the Harn museum that inspired explo...
For a blog that’s all about selling at craft shows, this article may seem out of place. But too many people sign up for craft shows, full of hope, and walk away with their dreams crushed, vowing never to sell at another craft show. I don’t want you to lose money at craft shows, or...
From slice to scab, a tabloid-sized PDF file for printing and display in your classroom, showing kids how the human body deals with a cut finger. Please note this product is licensed for personal use, classrooms, for small craft businesses where you are hand making items or hand finishing printed items for sale in craft markets, craft sites like Etsy and similar. None of these images can be used for resale as a part of a collection, in banners, avatars, branding, logos or websites without further licensing. Images may not be used in layered templates made for resale, digital scrapbooking kits, printables, banners, avatars, website design made for others, printed and redistributed as is, or sold at third party print outlets such as Zazzle and Cafe Press. Please inquire about extended licensing for use in branding and logo design, mass produced products, reproduction to fabric, business website banners. Images are Copyright dogfoose.com. All rights reserved.
A display of kindergarten abstract masterpieces. These paintings were created at the very beginning of the year during our line and color study. We coated them with glossy Modge Podge to help the colors pop. Well, my helper moms and I can finally sleep in! The school-wide, hang-up-and-display-everything-we've-made-all-year art show is ooooo-ver. I'd like to thank the kids for their hard work, my amazing mom-helpers who put in countless hours hanging masterpieces, my former student teacher Lauren who worked for hours on the day of the show and my dear mom who drove down from Indiana to help and cheer us on. It was a huge success...one that will be hard to top next year. I thought I'd share with you the two-dimensional artwork from the art show. This is a photo-heavy post...and just the tip of the masterpiece-iceberg. Stay tuned for the upcoming episodes of In the Art Room: Clay Display and, not to be missed, our Walk Like an Egyptian program performed by our Super Second Grade Stars! But for now, sit back and enjoy these fabulous works of art. I'll provide a brief description of each. Feel free to leave a comment with any questions or thoughts below. Enjoy! These sweet kindergarten self-portraits were on display along side photos of the artist. The self-portraits were created on flesh colored construction paper with oil pastels. These were cut out and glued on top of bubble printed paper the kids had made. Hair was then painted. Finally, construction paper that we had cardboard printed was placed on top as a shirt, complete with collar and name tag. Kindergarten display of collage cats, winter landscapes, and fall printed trees. For this kindergarten winter landscape, we began by learning about tints and shades and painting the sky and snowy land. From there we collaged trees and houses. Finally we used metallic oil pastels to enhance the sky, the trees and the house. Because I have my classes for 1/2 hour, I had to think of a quicky project for my wee little ones. They were able to create this butterfly relief sculpture in just the nick of time. Egyptian collage landscapes by my first grade artists. You can read all about this lesson here. The idea of using the first grader's weaving for the body of a crocodile originally came from pinterest. But art teacher Lauren came up with the genius idea to create crocodile puppets. Here's the lesson. Love those teeth. The first graders also created these abstract collages at the beginning of the year. We did some leaf rubbing and painting. From there, we tore the painting into strips and glued them down to a larger piece of white paper. This was a great lesson on positive and negative space. In the second grade gallery, we have our circle loom weavings which we attached our Sculpey beads to, our Egyptian profile portraits, leafy prints and our golden tree paintings (not pictured). I also have the students write an Artist Autobiography every year that is placed along side a framed photo of the artist. Leafy Print Lesson can be found here. Our third grade gallery includes our sarcophagus, foil leaf reliefs, cardboard weavings and our haunted trees. Not pictured are our photos and bios. You can read more about our sarcophagus lesson here. A close up of one of the third grader's cardboard weavings. This year we tried our hand at adding beads to our weavings. We attempted to hide the cardboard with some scratch art paper designs. I hope this artist is able to find a good place for tacos while she's artin' it up in Paris! When painting our sarcophagus-es (sarcophagui? We eventually took to calling them our sarcopha-dudes), some of the early-finishers tried their hand at optical illusion drawing. This lesson was pulled from pinterest and was so simple, that I just wrote out the directions on the board and the early-finishers followed the steps. Fourth grade awesomeness: framed photos and bios, Mona Lisa group project photo (seen on the far left) Egyptian prints, cartouche, moon-light paintings, woven pouches, and Egyptian god portraits, Egyptian god portrait lesson here. The kid's all time favorite thing in the whole wide world to do: weave! Once the fourth graders get a taste of weaving, there is no turning back. I have one sweet girl who has woven 12 pouches now for her family members in Mexico. All the time and hours spent are immediately forgotten when you get a sweet note like this the following day...love it!
