Thursday, December 6, 2012

2012 shows completed

This past weekend I had my final craft fair for 2012. I had two open houses and seven craft fairs  this past year. It has been an exciting ride with lots of ups and downs, but for the most part, it has been a great experience. I'm also happy to report that it ended on a good note.


This was one of the few juried shows that I did this year. It was by far my largest show and was the only one that I had on a college campus. You may or may not be able to tell that I had a huge window right behind me. This was so much better than sitting in a gym, but it made it a little hard to take pictures of my booth.

The show had one of the best crowds that I had seen anywhere this year. It was a great mix of young families, older ladies, high school students, and college students and facility. The juried atmosphere made for a huge quality mix of items that catered to every aspect of the crowd. I had some of the best conversations with customers of the season at this show.

I also had my best sales record to date for 2012. It was a thrill to end the season on such a high note. Additionally, it was great to have another show to add to my "will come back" list. It was not perfect but was definitely one of the best from this year.

My mom was able to come up from Chicago for this show, and Jake and his dad also helped with the set up and tear down process. I am pretty fearless about doing shows on my own, but I appreciate the company and help when I get it.

What's next? It is surreal not having another show date on the horizon yet. It's also a relief to get my trunk back for a few months (most of my show supplies have lived in my car since the beginning of November and have time to regroup. I came away from this year of shows exhilarated, and I have a lot of ideas for tweaking my booth and products for 2013. I'm not planning to change anything radical, but I'm hoping to maximize my strengths to create a more successful booth. I am going to organize my thoughts on all of that over the next few weeks and put together a comprehensive booth/shop plan and a list of potential shows at some point in January.

How did your 2012 show season go? Does anyone still have shows the next couple weeks?

16 comments:

  1. Yes! My biggest and best show of the year should be this weekend! So far, pretty good overall sales this year.

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  2. I love how you plan your shows. That's the key. Take all the available information (good and bad) and use it for your next show. Brilliant.

    Have a terrific day. :)

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  3. Rose, you are amazing. I love your craft show stuff and you've even given me ideas for a direction with my own blog with this post. :) You keep on keepin' on. :)

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  4. Wahoo!!! So glad to hear you ended the season with a great one! Younger crowds are so coveted! I like how you said you will try to maximize your strengths, that's a great goal! Enjoy your reflection! I think later shows always breed more shoppers too as they really seem to be ready to spend in December over November.

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  5. PS- Love the new winter banner!

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  6. Glad to hear your big show did well! I, too, and super relieved to have the season end. It's fun, but soooooo much work (and a little nerve-wracking sometimes!)

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  7. Rose, you are always so organized--from where you store your booth supplies to the lists you make for your business. I always love reading about your shows, I glean so much. Glad that your last show of the year was so sucessful!

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  8. Congrats!! Sounds like it was an all round great and successful show, Rose! Oh, how lovely your Mom was there plus your hubby to assist you!
    Great new winter banner btw :)

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  9. My human occasionally does cat shows, but the last one was such a disaster that she swore never to do one again... except that one is coming up this weekend and the table fee was really cheap and she still has some calendars here to unload along with lots of cards and books... so yeah, she's doing it.

    We have been doing better online sales than last year!

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  10. Congrats on your sales record! Your displays looked great.

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  11. Glad to hear you last show of the season was a huge success. That is always a nice way to end the season. I finished up my show season last weekend, and I am so happy it's over. I hope you have a wonderful December.
    Valerie
    Everyday Inspired

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  12. Congrats on your successes and shows. Love the new banner.

    I did my last show last weekend too. I'm learning to listen to what customers want and sold a few things to tweens/tweens - new for me. I'm learning more about displays.

    Hubby has been helping with the last 2 shows since my surgery. I'm aching to bead again, but not sure my hand is ready.

    Keep up the good work.

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  13. Congratulations, Rose!
    It seems that juried shows may be the best.
    How great to have light shining on all your wonderful products!

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  14. so glad the shows ended on a good note! When I was making jewelry, I enjoy a show in a college town, since there were so many students enjoying the items. And then older folks, who could afford my more expensive necklaces. Great that you doing an overview - good luck on that! {:-D

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  15. That's so great that your year ended so well! I'm glad this show was a success!

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  16. That was some year you had. I don't know how you find the time to make enough stuff to do that many shows. Congrats on such a good year. I love the new header you have up

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