My First Craft Fair : Shop Local

With the Etsy Craft Party tonight and my very first craft fair tomorrow - today I am Thankful.  I am thankful for Etsy because it's given me a creative outlet within my life, an opportunity that I don't think I could have found anywhere else.  I've put hours I can't even count at the day job this week, I'm up at 5am everyday, and I am away from my husband every few weeks to travel.  I do love my job, but I needed that little extra thing in my life; where it's ok bring my sketch book on the plane and have craft parties to go to as my excuse to take Friday afternoon off.

I'm thankful that this afternoon Etsy is giving me the opportunity to meet some other crafters; many of which also balance day jobs.  I get to network within the craft community and this time not with blog comments and shop hearts.  We can network like real business men and women at an event which celebrates our creativity.

I'm also thankful that tomorrow I'm going to be in my first craft fair!  I never would have had this opportunity if I did not join Etsy and learn so many crafty business skills from Etsy members that I'll be using tomorrow when Miss Meghan Elizabeth is in person for the first time.

So now that I've gotten my feelings out ;-) on to the craft fair preview pics!

My husband and I made all of the displays ourselves.  I sketched my vision, he played superman carpenter, and we painted it all white.  I'm planning on offering tutorials on both the necklace display and earring display soon.

The dry run I did in my parents driveway last weekend.  I'll be using two of my tent sides to add a nice white backdrop and changing the blue table cloth out to a beige, unless you like the blue?

The necklace display finished! How awesome is this?  I'll be adding some fresh flowers into the window box on show day.

The earring display.  This craft project ended up being FREE for me!  Everything I used was either re purposed or scraps.

And the little intro table.  Again - if you like the blue let me know but I'm planning on changing out to beige to keep everything  uniform.  I also have printed a few more pics of my necklaces on models to feature.

And that's it! The Festival is from 10am - 4pm in Wakefield, MA.  It's right on the beautiful lake and although I've never been, I've heard it has great food, awesome live entertainment, a kids play area and of course - over 140 vendors!  I hope I'm not in over my head.  I'm going into this as a learning opportunity.  If I make my investment back between supplies to sell in person and my booth fee I'll be happy because of the loads of market research I'll get done in the six hours.

Wish me luck!  And if you end up at the fair and tell me "I heard you'd be here from your blog" I can offer $3 off.  This is only an in person deal for those who connect with me through social media.

Happy Weekend!