3 of 31 How much inventory should I make?

This is a very good question, but a hard one to answer.

So, Sara Duggan of crochetbusiness.com suggests to make items that are:

* Quick to make
* Small price points
* Cater to the largest audience attending the event

She suggests bows, flowers, dish towels, baby items like booties, blankets, and little layettes. She advises to stay away from extensive pieces as they rarely sell. This is not to say that they wouldn't sell, its just that they would be more appropriate for an art show rather than a family event, which is where I'm going to be.

Some questions Sara says to consider when thinking about what to make:

1. Traffic to the show - This event is geared towards families and anyone attuned to natural living. It takes place at a park on a Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm. They want to focus on whole body wellness, Backyard gardening, green cleaning, fresh eating, yoga, music, art, nature conservancy, and basically anything Eco-friendly.
2. Season – Fall, but moving into winter and the holidays that come with it.
3. What can you make in the amount of time you have? - I have 9 months to build my inventory. 
4. Are your items quick sales? A quick $5, $10, or more? - I can make just about anything, but I will need to focus on items that are easy to make, and with low price points.
5. Variety – be sure to offer a variety and always make more than you think you need - For me and this event that means hair bows, market bags, flower headbands, little amigurumi animals, hot beverage cozis, play food, hats, maybe yoga mat bags.

2 of 31 Making the decision to do it

Making the decision to be a vendor at the Natural life Festival was pretty easy. I know my target market will be there, it's only a short trip down the road, I'll be there with people I know in a friendly environment, and it's an event I would enjoy to be at myself.

The fee is minimal ($35) in advance, and I have plenty of time to get ready for it. I'm asking the event coordinator all kinds of questions now, so I can be as prepared as possible = less stress & successful event!

www.naturallifefestival.com

1 of 31 Days to preparing for a craft show

One of my goals this year is to attend my first event as a vendor. Being my first go at doing something like this, I most certainly realize I'm going to have to put quite a bit of thought and hard work into this event. So, I've looked over the internet for a comprehensive list of things to consider in order to make this opportunity the best it can be for my first time. I found Sara Duggan at crochetbusiness.com discusses mollyeleen.wordpress.com 's list of 31 Days of craft show preparation.

Day 1 - Prepare for unexpected things

To me this means:

Duct Tape

Extra cash flow for making change

A portable charger for my phone

Extra business cards

Water on hand to prevent dehydration & fan to cool me off a bit

An extra person with me to help w/ sales and when I need to use the potty 

Extra inventory in case something sells out
Find out what to do if it rains because this is an outdoor event.

Where do I get my supplies?

I don't know about you, but I LOVE yarn! More specifically, I love natural and organic fibers - and sometimes they can be hard to source at a decent price. Don't get me wrong, I get that organic yarn isn't going to be cheap if it's authentic. But I can only get them if they are at a price I can afford. As a compromise, I often have to shop clearance and discontinued yarns. Every once in a while, I'll find a regularly carried brand of natural organic yarn that is within my budget. Here are a few places I look for yarn first:

www.yarn.com - Also known as WEBS

This place is my first stop when looking for yarn. They have a large selection of gorgeous fibers and a pretty decent selection of organic yarns. This site will often have discontinued yarns at incredible prices. They also offer volume discounts starting at $60 on most yarns!

Eat.Sleep.Knit

This site specializes in hand dyed, hand painted yarns. The majority of the fibers they carry are natural, but there are only a few organic yarns. They also have a rewards program called the "yarn-a-thon". When you reach certain milestones, you earn a prize. It's a really cool idea that I hope they will continue to do in 2014 and in the following years. One last cool thing is that they give you a yarn lotto card with every order. It's a scratch off card that could earn you anything from a $5 credit to a free skein of yarn! Sweeeet.

Green Sheep Shop

This place is right up my alley. I really, really like this yarn source. I believe it is operated by just one woman in Southern California. It has beautiful, organic, low impact (even vegan!) dyed yarn and she even has monthly sales. LOVE It!

Jo-Ann

Now, I'm not much for big corporations, but if I need some organic cotton yarn ASAP - Jo-ann is the only place I can drive to in my local area that has it. The cool thing about Jo-ann's is their coupons and that they take competitor's coupons as well. The only organic yarn they carry is Lion Brand's Nature's Choice in a handful of colors (less than half the colorways what they offer on their website). It's better than nothing at all.

Check it out...What's It All About? (First Blog Post)

Hi everyone out there!

This is my first official blog post, and I'm so glad you came to check it out! :) I've been yearning to start and maintain a blog for so long and for many reasons, so here it is.This is a place for me to share my adventures of crocheting with natural fibers and who knows, maybe one day learn how to knit?! My goal is to showcase my physical creations for sale in my shop and to begin designing patterns.

My intention for this blog is to create a place where I can share my personal knowledge, connect with others who are like minded, to learn more about this amazing existence and live a better life as nature intended.

I'd love for you to leave a comment or question for me. I will never sensor or edit your responses, however, if I deem a response mean or inappropriate I will remove it. :)