Showing posts with label halloween. Show all posts
Showing posts with label halloween. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Catching up! My first Art Fair and inside Cloud Nine Studios!



              Hello Everyone! What a busy little bee I have been lately. I am grateful to have a second to breathe now and catch you all up on how my first art fair went! The Fair was from Friday-Sunday. Friday morning was set up from 9am-11am but when I got there they were still mopping the event space! We ended up only having about an hour and a half for set up which made me STRESS big time. When the event started it was like a ghost town. Friday I went home with $6 in sales. 
I felt very defeated.


Saturday came and I showed up with a positive attitude ready to hustle my stuff! I rearranged my booth a little to help the flow of traffic enter easier and I lowered my prices to see if it made some difference. Thankfully, the amount of people walking around was amazing! I was starting to see which things people were consistently drawn to in my booth and what was selling and not. I left Saturday with breaking even for the fair. I was happy with my decisions and feeling more confident about my work and space. 


Sunday rolled around and going into the day I was already even for the weekend. So anything that I sold was profit. This made it a little easier for me to let go of pieces for an even lower price. At first I was stubborn in my pricing but then I realized I can just make more of them and the more I sold the better I would feel about my first show. The traffic was a little slower again on Sunday but I end up about $100 plus for the weekend. 

(Mikaela and her homemade dog treats)

For my first fair I am extremely proud. My goal was to at least break even and get some great experience and advertising and I ended up in sales. I now know what people are interested in and what works for displaying my pieces and what doesn't work. Selling online is very different then selling in person. I had used a lot of strategies that I would for selling online at first at the fair and quickly realized the differences!



I was able to meet some great artists and people walking through. I handed out a TON of businesses cards and have some possible commissions that I am hoping will follow up! I am so grateful for all the help that my boyfriend George was able to do for me. I am so lucky to have someone who fully supports me and is always there if I need him. Also a HUGE thank you to my room mate Jessica for taking time out of her day off the help me set up! She really kept me in check when I wanted to break down before it even all started. 


My goal this week is to update my Etsy shop and list everything that I photographed before the show so if people decide to find me from my business card that everything is looking up to date and professional! I have a lot of work ahead of me but I feel only good vibes from the whole experience.....except for the parking ticket I got trying to unload my car! Oops. Oh well! 


I should be back on schedule for the blogs now! Be sure to check out my Etsy for all the new items and updates! Also be sure to click the subscribe button on the top right of this page if you liked this blog and want more!

Until Tomorrow - Dream Away
Samantha Menzo


Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

Recycled Sweater Coat- 2XL by - LauraAnnLyon



Song of the Day:
U2 - Beautiful Day


Color of the Day:
Little Angel





Thursday, August 20, 2015

How to prepare for holidays on Etsy!


Good Afternoon everyone! It's my favorite kind of weather here in Metro Detroit Michigan.
Yep you guessed it....Overcast and gloomy! I am working on editing images if a few special wine bottle pieces that will be going up on my Etsy shop!


I started painting wine bottles a few years ago when I didn't have a space to really paint or make art in. The wine bottles didn't take up much room and I could finish one pretty quickly because I didn't have much time when I was working and going to school. 



Trying to sell items online can be hard. It helps to take advantage of the holidays with making themed items for them. Wine bottles was a fun and easy way for me to do this! The thing that I have realized is that making items for the holidays takes a ton of time! 


So I have come up with a system that helps me prepare! First I got a great calendar and put it somewhere I will look at everyday. Next I went through the calendar and marked each holiday with some sort of highlighter or marker. 


Then I turned back 1 month from a holiday and marked that day with a due date for getting that holiday work up online! That way I will have a whole month to promote my items! Who is going to buy a decoration the day before a holiday? It wouldn't even get to them in time! So putting them up at least a month early will really help with actually getting sales! 


After I went from that date and turned it back another month! I marked all of those dates in my calendar so that it is a reminder for starting to create products for that holiday! Nobody is thinking in August that they should start making Halloween products but this reminder date will help give you enough time to create products without too much stress!


It's exciting starting holiday items so early! It gets me in the spirit and since it's still summer and I am already thinking of fun fall festivities I am really pumping myself up for the new season! Everyone complains about stores putting out holiday decorations so early but I enjoy seeing it. 

Well today's blog is kind of a short one I will try to have tomorrow's be a little longer, but I hope this helps some of you properly prep for a successful holiday online store! 



Until Tomorrow - Dream Away
Samantha Menzo


Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

Jewelry Organizer Wood Wall Hanging Display Holder Necklace Earring Storage Jewlery Organization Frame With Shelf FREE SHIPPING by - DivaDisplay



Song of the Day:

The Temper Trap - Soldier On



Color of the Day:
BENJAMIN MOORE GARDEN CUCUMBER 644