American Craft Council Fair in Baltimore

I will be attending my first large art fair in Baltimore, Maryland on Saturday, February 21 and Sunday, February 22. I was invited by Annie Howe of Bmore-papercuts to attend this event with the American Craft Council. Annie is hosting a station and wanted to have other paper cut artist from the area to join her for this event. The craft fair will have over 650 exhibitors from all over the country showcasing their work ranging from contemporary jewelry, clothing, furniture, and home decor artists.

We will be participating in the 2015 Make Your Mark Inspiration Stations. At these station you will meet some of the artisans and watch or participate in the artist’s creative process.

Here is a list of who will be hosting a station:

BALTIMORE

Visit the “Make Your Mark” inspiration station and try your hand at the art of paper cutting. Experience different techniques inspired by Annie Howe of Bmore Papercuts in Baltimore and Janelle Washington from (WashingtonCuts) in Alexandria. Learn how paper cutting artists use simple tools, like small blades and scissors, to create complex and intricate images from paper.

Art Glass Center at Glen Echo

Artists from the Art Glass Center explain how glass is transformed in a kiln with temperature and time. Join in the discussion and handle samples of glasswork made with various techniques in a variety of styles.

Baltimore Area Turners

Accomplished woodturners will be making functional and artistic items out of ordinary wood, demonstrating their technique and process from start to finish.

Bowerbox Press

Experience the power of the printed word. Using a traditional letterpress and wooden type, you can add your voice to an ongoing poem started by Val Lucas of Bowerbox Press.

Sebastian Martorana

Using many of the same tools as Renaissance masters, Sebastian Martorana carries on the traditions of marble hand-carving. Join this present-day master in this centuries-old art.

Station North Tool Library

What’s the Station North Tool Library? Think of your neighborhood lending library, only with tools. Learn about their wide array of classes and check out a selection of tools – everything from simple hammers to portable table saws and palm sanders. If you’re feeling daring, pick one up and give it a try.

Towson University Metalsmithing and Jewelry

Towson University Metalsmithing + Jewelry program, in conjunction with the university’s Interdisciplinary Object Design program, presents a variety of processes in traditional and experimental metalsmithing and jewelry techniques, as well as digital technologies. Attendees can help develop the creative content for a thematic multimedia project.

Mark Melonas of Luke Works

Mark Melonas is an artist, designer, and craftsman with experience in many materials and a unique interest in concrete. With his team of skilled artisans at Luke Works, Melonas designs and creates one-of-a-kind furniture in wood, concrete, and metal. Get your hands dirty as Melonas demonstrates how to make functional objects out of concrete.

MAKE TRIBE

MAKE TRIBE is a series of community-driven craft workshops and skill-share suppers, produced in partner-ship with a variety of Baltimore businesses and artisans. Each day, MAKE TRIBE invites a different local maker to their show booth to demonstrate how their products are made and to share their skills.

Union Craft Brewing

The Union Craft Brewery makes award-winning ales and lagers. Stop by for a taste of what’s brewing right in the heart of Baltimore.

Baltimore Clayworks

Join Baltimore Clayworks as they host a free interactive workshop for ACC goers! In this hands-on experience participants will donate time and creativity to craft unique cups, mugs and tumblers that will be donated to support Community Arts programming at Baltimore Clayworks. Make cups, make friends, make a difference!

Weaver’s Guild of Greater Baltimore

Dedicated to the exploration of the fiber arts, The Weaver's Guild of Greater Baltimore joins with the ACC to host a 'Spinning Bloom of Looms.' We kindly extend our invitation to you to sit at the loom for a while and by 'throwing the shuttle,' add your own signature to a weaving-in-progress. Sit and weave or you can also felt a woolen pin to wear home.

The Baltimore Convention Center

One West Pratt Street

Baltimore, Maryland 21201

SHOW DATES AND HOURS

Friday, Feb. 20: 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 21: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 22: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Advance Tickets are on sale and can be purchased here. Tickets will also be available the day of the show - one day passes are $16.00 and a 3 day pass is $34.00.

Friday after 5pm the tickets will be $5.00

10 things I learned at my first craft fair

I participated in my first craft fair on December 28, 2014 in Richmond Va. My friend from college who owns a t-shirt printing company called Petal Foot invited me to attend with her. The cost was reasonably low, so I decided to give it a try.

The overall theme was for the holidays and it was based around Kwanzaa so I knew that this would be a good venue for me to introduce my cut paper art style and hopefully get a couple of sales.

I created a much better collection of paper cut art than I thought I would. Being a paper cutting artist it was lots of hours of me sitting and cutting out the same thing over and over, so that was no fun. I did pick my easiest paper cut to duplicate and the more difficult art I got them printed professionally, which I received three days before the craft fair. Talk about cutting it close! Learned my first lesson.

So after six hours of sitting, smiling, conversing and getting a headache from the loud music I was a bit unhappy with my results. I did learn some valuable things for an artist so that helps me looking forward to my next fair.

*Know your customer

I thought since this was a Kwanzaa fair and my art is very afro-centric that my items would sell well. I didn’t factor in the type of customer that would be there. My price point was a little out of most people's price range and even though I had a good variety of prices they were still high for the customer.  Selling original art is no easy feat.

*Know your venue

The space at the Kwanzaa venue was pretty small and extremely loud. It was hard to talk to communicate with the customers that did come by so I wasn’t able to really “sell” my artwork. The Kwanzaa program was long and that took most of the customer’s attention away from the vendors. Also, there was a large chuck of time where the vendors were asked not to sell items, so that sucked.

*Give something away for free

I had created a couple of small diamond paper cuts that I was going back and forth on giving away free and then decided not to. The price I listed wasn’t favorable with my customers even though I had a lot of interest in them… especially the younger kids. So maybe candy next time.

*Have a card reader and a receipt book

I love that Etsy provided their own card reader and I ordered one early. The reader accepts cash but I had several customers ask for a receipt in hand. Thank goodness for my husband! He had bought a receipt book earlier for me.

*If you do custom orders have a way to get your customer’s information while you are there.

I tried to prepare for custom orders by showing what I offered but I wasn’t prepared for getting potential customer’s information. I had several people tell me that they were interested in having custom art and silly oh me just handed them an business card and told them to contact me by way of my website…..

*Do giveaways

I didn’t even think to do this at all! But my friend from PetalFoot did and I lost most of my email contacts to them..

*Ask for help

My husband attended the Kwanzaa fair with me and without him I would have been burned-out. He was able to write receipts out, pack, load, unload the car and was great support. My parents visited and that gave me a boost of morale! My mom even offered to buy us food when we left, which leads to me to my next lesson.

*Bring snacks and your own spending money!

I had a bottle of water and a small bag of Doritos, which my husband ate! My water lasted the first hour and I didn’t have enough snacks. So I was starving by the middle of the fair. I didn’t have enough of my personal money to even buy the food that was being sold there so I was starving after two hours.. The program was 8 hours long!

*Set up your table a week before and try to re-use household items

This was the best thing I could have done to prepare for the fair. I spent hours looking through Pinterest for examples and had a vision of what I wanted my table to look like. I visited my parent’s home to rummage through their household items and found:

• a metal cash box with keys (sweet find!)
• colorful bowl to hold my cards
• metal basket to hold my smaller items
• Tree limb to display my angel ornaments/tags
• Target circular that displayed a fold able 6’ in table with a handle on sale (great deal that went fast, should have gotten two)
• String

I also visited my local Goodwill store and found 2 interesting wire racks to display my prints.

*Remember to purchase or make the small and forgotten items

I had ordered a couple of Kraft bags but ordered them too late! I ended up running to Staples and buying a box of generic “Thank You” plastic bags. Not the look I was going for.  Remember to make or purchase:

•  Price labels
• Your business sign
• A sign in book for emails
• Business cards ( a lot of them)
• Table cloth ( I just bought some fabric that fit the dimension of my table and did a couple of hand stitches to create a hem and to make the ends look nice. I also, used sewers tape to iron a hem on for my table runner.)
• A small bag for pins, tape, markers, scissors etc.
• Heavy duty bags to carry my items into the building
• Sturdy box to hold extra merchandise
• A safe place to hide my personal items like wallet, car keys etc.

So even though I didn’t break even, I learned a couple of valuable lessons and I hope my mistakes and lessons will help you to have a successful or at least an interesting first craft fair! I look forward to my next craft fair and to put my changes in place.

Please share in the comment section if you have any other lessons or tips! I would love to hear from you!

*Bonus

Here is a list of great online resources that helped me prepare.

• handmadesuccess
• Shopify
• Pinterest- Craft Show Ideas
• Festivalnet
• Goinghometoroost