GIVEAWAY - Mary's Granddaughter Mixed Media Journal! CLOSED


WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED FRIDAY 6/17!

Mary Steiler taught her granddaughter, Gainesville artist Cindy Steiler, how to sew and crochet as a young girl and really sparked her love for things made by hand. Cindy loves to paint, sew, embroider and crochet.

I have worked with Cindy (although we've never met) and she is an
inspiring
artist with a passion for her work and brings out that passion in others! Her work is amazing and distinctive and her characters make me want to know more about them.

She has worked as a set and costume designer and scenic artist for the stage. Cindy is mom to a wonderful daughter and amazing French bulldog, Chihuahua and Jack Russel Terrier.


WHAT YOU GET:


One lucky winner will receive this mary's granddaughter gorgeous girl and her goat moleskine cahier journal. It has the great little signature inner pocket and 64 acid-free pages of which the last 16 are detachable.

The image is done in pen and acrylic paint and has a little antique bisque arm from Germany attached. This journal comes with a sleeve made of a wool and rayon blend felt.




HOW TO WIN:


It's easy, peasy - just leave your contact information below!

For additional entries:

(5) Twitter this post
(5) Blog about this contest; linking to this post
(5) Follow my blog
(5) Facebook this post

Let me know if you have done these things so I can give you additional entries. This contest is open to everyone.

DRAWING:
Enter by midnight, Sunday, June 12th! Good Luck!

The Bicycle Cap ... why the story behind our work matters

The Bicycle Cap by peSeta for the New Museum from casa peSeta on Vimeo.

I hope this video inspires us to tell our
own story

with our work - we are the only ones who can!

(also inspired me to get my bicycle tires aired up for this weekend)

Happy Memorial Day Weekend everyone!

xo all

15 Craft Shows Tips & Tricks to sell more, stress less and have more fun - part trois

11. Accept Credit Cards

With propay it's easy and inexpensive - paypal also has a virtual terminal that can be rented monthly as needed. I bought a card slider (aka knucklebuster) for about $20.00 on Amazon. I imprint the cards and then put them through after the show - this is a little risky, but I haven't had a problem. If you sell pricey stuff you probably need to be able to process the cards at the show. Google it - there are lots of options - you can even process cards with a slider attached to your phone.

Alot of people do buy with cash at shows, but I find customers with larger, multiple item orders pay with credit. Your average sale $ will increase when you accept them.

Make sure to put up signs that credit cards are accepted - it costs you money to accept credit cards so make sure you advertise it.

12. Get a cash bag - keep your eyes on your moulah.

My niece once had one customer distract her while their accomplice walked off with her cash box. She didn't notice until they were long gone - she lost hundreds of dollars. Alot is going on at a show and, especially if you are working alone, you need to know where your cash is.

I have an amazing traveler bag (this is so not a fanny pack!) from JennyNDesign that is perfect.

13. Be nice to your neighbors.

Say hello. Tell them your name. Don't encroach on their space. Be considerate. If you ask a neighbor to keep an eye on your booth so you can run to the restroom (something I don't really recommend, but it can happen) - realize their commitment is to their own booth, not yours, so make a run for it and be sure to thank them.

(at Art Star last weekend after setting up my tent I noticed my neighbor staring at my wall - on her side - and realized hubby had stuck an X made with duct tape on the outside to cover a hole - I rarely use the sides and hadn't noticed it - since my outside wall was about to become her interior wall I quickly ditched the tape - the hole BTW was about 1" and the duct tape a gigantic 6" X!)

14. Don't be afraid to do a show alone.

You can do it! I've done it many times. It's more fun with a partner, but don't let your inability to lasso a friend into helping you (I bribe people with free jewelry and cookies) stop you. The set-up and take-down is a little tiring solo, but no one knows your work like you do - it isn't that hard.

15. Try to offer a freebie.

When I'm offering up a little free something or other to someone (usually a cork stopper with my logo) every head near my booth whips around - people love freebies! You could give out a sticker, pin, etc - I once saw someone giving out free teabags with their logo - people drank it up!

16. Oops I have one more - After KJ reminded me yesterday that buyers like to tell people they know the artist it is a good idea to save a part of your display area for a little self promotion - set up newspaper stories, any articles you are in, any books you are in - you can put pictures of your work in a book (think Blurb) very inexpensively and it makes you look very impressive.

(I know I would be impressed or depressed since I've never done this)

Photos of your work being worn or used are a must; a photo of yourself with your own story - makes your handmade item even more personal. You can set up your laptop and flash pictures of your work and draw people in.

We could go overboard with this - remember we are not DaVinci - but we are the creators of our own amazing work and if we are not impressed with it no one else will be either!

Hope some of these tips help someone - I didn't focus on our displays since being the crafty mavens that we are, we can most likely come up with something amazing - just think staging areas (grouping things in different areas) and using various levels and especially having items or photos at the customer's eye level.

I made my first magazine ad yesterday directed to retail stores - whatcha' think? My brother, the artist, said "very nice - the only thing that is unreadable is your studio name in your logo" - ha!


* be nice typography print by tiny bungalow