As many of you know I have done several craft fairs (indoors), but never a fair outdoors with tent and all. This is indeed a year of great opportunities and with my DH's support I think this tent and all was like my Birthday gift together with Anniversary, Christmas and Mother's Day! Hehe! It was all worth it. The best part was right before the festival when my DH said to me "Enjoy it all!"
I woke at 5am bright and early, prepare some last minute things and by 6 I was out the toward Lewisburg Downtown for my first Lewisburg Arts Festival. There were more than a hundred artists booth plus all the food vendors and shows. After receiving my Artist Booth packet I went with a couple of brothers from my church to put together the tent. My DH needed to work that day :(
There were several cars parked were my tent was supposed to be so we had to wait for the towing truck to come and move them :/
By 7:30am we were finally putting the tent and all went absolutely perfect. I think my brothers left me about 8:30am and I proceeded to embellish my tent.
I followed so many cool ideas from amazing demonstrators like
Ronda Wade and others, also from searching the web. One website I found was
Volume 25 (not a demo) and truly gave me some direction in how to start with it all.
Step 1 : Get the Tent
I found my tent at
Hutshop and it is true, by day three I received my tent in front of my door. The first time I opened it (in my Living Room), it was a good practice (thou I was not able to put it too high…hehe!) I tried it a week before and put it all together in the backyard. It was good to do.
I got an EZ-UP 10 x 10 Canopy and also bought the velcro sand bags for each leg at amazon. It was windy so I am thankful I got those. It took about 5 bags of play sand to fill the four.
Step 2: Get your Design done
I started drawing how I wanted things to look and decided I would use only 2 tables. I wanted to allow the ladies to come in without feeling crowded.
If you fall in love with the curtains, I found them in amazon
here, they come in different colors! Also, I found using shower curtain rods for them made them look straight and pretty! I discovered hanging them from the canopy perse made them look uneven.
Step 3: Get the Tables and Tablecloths
My wonderful church was so generous to lend me both 6' tables a few weeks before so I brought them home and started practicing the set-up as able. My tablecloths I found in amazon according to the table's measurements. I wanted tablecloths that touch the ground from every side so I could hide my boxes, purse and bags under. :)
Step 4. Make it feel welcoming.
For this I picked my favorite colors, a cute Walmart rug , two chairs I already had to which I placed coordinating sashes and my own paper made banner. This is what I do! The best compliment was when one sweet lady asked me if the banner was for sale. :D
Step 5: Prepare your displays.
I wouldn't leave this for the last minute thou. I started working on things little by little since more than a month before, and many of my display projects were made using completed projects I already had.
Step 6: What was I going to sell?
Cards indeed. I picked all my cards I could find I made this last year for demonstration purposes, place them in Stampin'Up! awesome clear envelopes -which I love- and placed my business card in each of them. I also made some new ones I will be showing you here this week. :)
Step 7: Prepare, prepare, prepare!
Step 8: Be friendly…I would surely say most the people who came inside 'my orange room' came because I invited them, made them laugh with my funny introductions or simply told them I had a cute incentive when they purchase 5 of my cards. It was such a blessing. Crafters and non-crafters alike were polite and so encouraging in their comments.
Let me tell you a few things.
I moved to this city only 6 months ago. I do not know many but God showed His mercy in multiple ways.
*I prayed for no rain…we had no rain!
* I told Him my concerns about, "If it rains…my rug and boxes and all will be a mess (you see my crafts are all done on paper, water and paper do NOT mix). Well, my tent was on the top of an subtle incline and the street water drain right in front. If it were to rain, my boxes and rug would have been pretty good and dry.
*I had no control over where I would be position. I was #94, in front of the beautiful park, in front of a ton of musical events (free music) and on a wing. That meant people went to the right, pass my booth, and had to come back up. So I had 2 opportunities to say hi and show them my BIG smile.
And hi I said. I finished embellishing my booth right at 9AM….people started coming in (an hr in advance) and asking questions, buying cards, getting my business cards and more till 4PM.
Many sweet friends came to say hi and I was so busy with my new contacts I couldn't talk much.
Needless to say I believe it was a very positive experience. I loved it and I met a bunch of beautiful ladies that inspired me with their enthusiasm for stamping and scrapbooking. It was a joy indeed.
By 4:15PM I got myself some lunch and the wind started blowing soo hard that even thou I had awesome sandbags I decided to start picking up little by little. There were some wind-gushes that were sure to turn a few canopies upside down. Many vendors took them down and from then on were getting ready to leave.
It was super sweet to see one of my new stamping friends coming back to my tent for some cards I kept for her (cause she needed to find an ATM). She was sharing with her friend about what I do and that was so wonderful to hear. Then I also discovered my own neighbor was one of the ones I talked with that day. We were both so joyful to find out that we are NEXT DOOR neighbors!!! Really!
So much happened on Saturday I am still processing it all. I met Sunday with the doorprize #1 winner and what a joy it is to find crafters you simply and easily connect with. Praying and hoping for lasting friendships. Now getting ready to send some mail full of love to these amazing ladies.
I will share more tomorrow, about the wonderful friends who helped me, and will post a photo of my full booth from the outside. It was really cute (I think!) and many ladies (not even crafters) stop to tell me they liked it. That made my day!
If you have any questions feel free to ask and I will reply asap. I am in no means a professional craft fairs person. I said this was my first tent fair but surely I learned a ton for the next to come. Thank you for your prayers and awesome support. This promises to be another fun creative week so stay in touch.
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| My New Business Cards made with My Digital Studio |
Leave me your love with your comments. Would love to hear from you. Especially if you got to be there and saw it all. Your perspective is priceless!
Creative Blessings,
Jessica Urrutia
Your Stampin'Up! Independent Demonstrator
