Mixing it up with the Public + My Etsy Reader

Staying at home as a retiree and sewing up stuff all day and trying to support the habit with an Etsy shop makes for a lot of alone time.  Hubby is constantly being asked for his opinion on all sorts of things that he is no expert on but he is also retired and nearby.

So yesterday was one of my few outings into the real, non-cyber world at a crafts fair.  Christmas-by-the-Lake was held at my old alma mater, Avon Lake High School.  It was a scholarship fund-raiser sponsored by the PTA so I felt good about supporting them and the most fun was meeting up with old friends and neighbors.

The front of ALHS as I knew it - pic from the web

For me, it was a good, even fantastic,  show since the one I did in October was a money LOSER!  I was pretty busy most of the day and if hubby hadn't come to assist I would not have survived the set-up and take-down on my own.  We even stayed overnight at a nearby hotel to avoid the long drive in the AM when the weather might have been iffy.  Disclaimer: The expense did not cut into my profits since I used my Hilton Honors points for a free night. I also got out of having to cook dinner for two nights straight :)  Cooking is definitely not my thing.

New Main entrance which is really at the back - low res pic from ALHS page

I was so busy talking, walking and selling I completely forgot to take pictures to put on this post. My selling space did look pretty spiffy and was quite generous. There was extra space around the allotted 10' x 10' so my hanging racks for bags and aprons could angle outward and made lots of room for shoppers to see and finger the wares.

Since I have nothing else to  dress up the post with, here are some items I sold.

               This wool purse was snapped up right away. 

I had just completed it days before.  My favorite part of this is the ruffle made from the selvage.  

The fabric is a herringbone that has been hand dyed by RubyMountainDyeworks. I was trying to match another purple solid to make this style:

                                       However, it was too red. I wanted it for the side pockets.

This gray bag also went to the show with me and was admired often and sold for my full asking price even when the buyer tried to get me to come down.  This little baby got more "favorites" in the shortest time on my Etsy shop than anything I have ever made. Now I am really determined to get just the right coordinating fabrics to go with that nice thick coat weight royal purple.  I have enough for at least two bags, so in the mean time, perhaps solid purple with a stitching detail?

                                                                Aprons went pretty well, too.

 This one had matching potholders that have a sort of bra-like look in this photo.

At right is the apron I wear at shows.  The two giant pockets hold my cash and other necessities.  This was my first show where my phone was one of those necessities.

Etsy has made available a credit card reader, the Etsy Reader , that works like Square and some other similar things but this one connects directly to your Etsy shop so that items are removed from your online shop as you sell them directly.  You can even use it for sales that are not Etsy items and it worked smoothly and efficiently and helped me make more sales. It emails you a record of each sale, adds up your totals, helps you make change and will email a receipt to your customer. Thanks, Etsy!

Oh, and those little cuties I put in my previous teaser post are still with me. I sold ONE but they were all handled fondly by lots of hands.  They will see another show day. Too small and fiddly to list and ship on Etsy.