Wednesday, September 3, 2014

What Was I Thinking?

So I was approached via my Etsy site, to participate in a festival with my artwork. http://lafelinefilmfestival.com/  Do you love all those cat videos on line? Well this is the festival for you!
 I have a lot of cat paintings and I thought, "This would be a great way to meet a targeted audience, schmooze with some nice people and sell some work.  I've never sold my work out of a booth at a fair before, so this will be an adventure and push me out of my box. aka my studio."

I asked the universe to send me the $200 fee for the table and a week later we got a rebate from our insurance in the amount of $197.  Can't argue with that.
Bean
I informed my hubby and my son they were "hired" for a day of play, eh....work and we'd be making some new memories.  We all love movies, check. We all love cats... We all love my cat paintings,  check. With massive amounts of enthusiasm.....on my part, I went to work, and I mean work, preparing for this show.

Some of the long list of items to get ready:

 Inventory I decided to bring:   original paintings on canvas, prints matted to 8 x 10 and 11 x                                  14, and a I created a trio of kitty paper dolls with their own theme. These I really am happy                 with and will sell on my Etsy site in a digital form. Looking forward to seeing how well they                    are received. Here is Lucy.
Lucy's Spring Wing Paper Doll

Display, I want  to keep the backdrops neutral so that i can use them for my "a Little Beachy" items if I want to sell them along with my animal art.  And make the artwork stand out. I did purchase inexpensive curtain panels in a bright green to hang at the corners of the tent, so that they'll bring  some attention to the booth from far away. Tablecloths~ I decided on burlap. And for the "walls" I got three flat sheets to create a solid back ground and give us some shade,
The tricky part is how to hang my paintings from the tent. I saw lots of people on line with very expensive panels, but that wasn't an option for me.  I finally found a picture of a booth where the artist draped metal chains and used "S" hooks to hang her work.  This was brilliant. It will give me flexibility to hang wider pieces and many smaller up and down the chains. Will let you know how this works after the show.

Signage: I'm getting a banner printed. Figure this would be a nice large display that will be                                    something I can use for future shows, if I enjoy this experience. I also scored a large, very light weight, unfinished wood frame at Michael's and painted it. I'll hang a sign inside that as well.

Along with all the above, there seems to be a never ending list of  "to do" items to accomplish. Keeping my fingers crossed that it will be a fun experience (for the whole family)  and I'll find some good homes for my kitties.  

I must say thanks to all the veteran craft/art show sellers out in the big wide world who are so generous with all the information they've posted on line in their blogs or on Pinterest. Truly feels like a community has helped me prep for this.
http://www.bobestrin.com/artshow.htm
http://daskendesigns.blogspot.com/2010/05/10-tips-for-outdoor-craft-shows.html


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