Bookbinding Etsy Street Team

Mini Book Photo Tutorial

2011-11-06T08:30:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone! I'm new to the blog, my name is Ruth Bleakley and I have been bookbinding since 2002 (has it been that long already?). I love brightly colored designs and work with Japanese paper to make a lot of yuzen and/or chiyogami journals - you may have also seen my illustrated miniature books on Etsy. I also make nautical wedding invitations and stationery under the name Concertina Press.

But enough about me - here's a tutorial I made about miniature accordion books that I thought you might enjoy, republished from my bookbinding blog.

I figure that many of you, since this is a bookbinding blog, will be able to follow along, but if you'd like written directions, you can visit my original minibook tutorial post.

Some notes: the boards I used were scraps from the back of a notepad - I tested them with my PH pen to see if they were neutral, and then went ahead. the paper is 8.5x11 (regular US letter size) cut into strips in the short direction, I believe they are 1.5"x8.5", grain short (so the accordion folds more easily) but it's been a while. The glue I used is PVA.

Ruth is also on Pinterest, Twitter and Flickr.

Fall Swap: MakingMyRent

2011-11-05T19:00:00.000-05:00

This mini coptic-stitched journal goes along with my fairytale themed series and features scenes from "Cinderella" on eachoutside cover. On the inside, are black Graham Owen's handmade black paperendpages and 180 pages of Strathmore sketching paper. I used waxed brown linento sew it up and the final journal measures approximately 3 1/8 inches tall, 21/2 inches wide, and 1 inch thick. --Amber of MakingMyRent

MakingMyRent's handmade journals always made with love are in her shop here.

Fall Swap: roundtheworldin80pgs

2011-11-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

This address book is covered in a red paper withgold coins on it, from Nepal. It is a one of a kind book, as are all my books.It was bound using a traditional French stitch, and headbands were added to eachend of the spine. There is enough room for 260 entries in this book, with spacefor name, address, phone number, email address with a clear division betweeneach entry. --Beth of roundtheworldin80pages

Beth's one of a kind items with papers from around the globe can be found in her shop here: roundtheworldin80pages.

Fall Swap: CamilleRiner

2011-11-04T18:00:00.000-05:00

I am happy to share one of my newest books with Cindy entitled, "Sky of Blue; Sea of Green." The image in this book is of a person joyfully swimming with a large school of silver fish. I wanted to communicate awe, peace and the idea of belonging to something larger than yourself. The relief print was carved and hand printed on my press, scanned and then digitally collaged with images of the sea. The poem reads: "We meet without words, in the deep green memories of the sea. Between the waves we rise in currents of silver reflections. We are at peace, a fallen tear returned home, pressed under the bright blue forgiveness of the sky." This nested accordion book has a blue and green cross dyed book cloth cover and a digital print collage slipcase and measures 4" high and approximately 9" wide when opened. I used metallic threads through the accordion folds to suggest the flicker and glint of a moving school of fish. Each book is signed. --Camille Riner

Camille's handmade books and notecards are in her shop here.

Fall Swap: UsefulBooks

2011-11-04T09:00:00.000-05:00

I sent Lisa one of my soft-cover books made from painted layers of kraft paper and Tyvek. The cover is embellished with a crow cut from a star chart out of an old book and a scrap of marbled paper left from a larger project. The crow has a little key charm dangling from his beak. He's clearly up to no good.

The front cover wraps around the the text block so it won't get ruffled if you throw it in your bag. The pages are heavily stained with strong tea so that each one provides a slightly unique surface for writing or art. It's all stitched together with a criss-cross long stitch which provides a little interest on the spine. The closure is make from an African trade bead and waxed Irish linen thread. --Cindy of UsefulBooks

Cindy's eco-friendly and cruelty-free handmade books and journals can be found in her shop here.

Fall Swap: BlueRoofDesigns

2011-11-03T18:00:00.000-05:00

Title: Slinky

Description: The spark that gotme going with this book was that I wanted to make something that was both smalland large. I decided to try a book with small covers and lots of pages.

The covers measure2.125" x 2.25". The book is 4" thick, has 61 signatures, and atotal of 488 pages - this set the record for the most signatures I'veever bound into a book. It took about 3.5 hours to sew it. The two papers usedfor the pages are manufactured by one of my favorite vendors, the French PaperCompany - Glo-Tone Shocking Green and Pop-Tone Black Licorice.

When choosing a coverpaper, I was immediately drawn to a textured black and lime green python print- I love its vibrancy. The pattern on the paper inspired the binding, avariation of the double needle Coptic stitch.

When you hold one ofthe covers in each hand, the pages move back and forth, much like a Slinky -this inspired the name. It seemed appropriate for both its movement and itssnakelike appearance. --Elissa of BlueRoofDesigns

BlueRoofDesign's handmade journals, photo albums and guestbooks can be seen here.

Fall Swap: MRsCHADT

2011-11-03T09:00:00.000-05:00

My swap book is titled"Grateful." This little journal is the perfect size to carry around and keep note of allthose things we're grateful for. When times seem bleak, this journal is a bestfriend with cherished thoughts and memories waiting to chase the ungratefulbleak thoughts of a bad day away.

It's my first attempt at a paperback coptic stitch journal. I wanted to keep itsimple, so I stamped the cover design and added a tab. The inside pages stickout 1/4" beyond the cover, I made it that way on purpose, because everyonce in a while we find ourselves a little short and need reminding that nothingis truly ever perfect. We just need to be grateful for who we are. :) --Suzy of MRsCHADT

MRsCHADT's albums, guestbooks, journals and more can be purchased in her shop.

Fall Swap: Veterok

2011-11-02T18:00:00.000-05:00

This was my first time participating in the book swap.Since it's October, I decided to make a classic hardcover sketchbook with a bitof seasonal creepy twist. The book is sized 15.5 x 11 cm (approximatelypostcard size), with pages of cream coloured Canson Mi-Teintes drawing paper.The headbands are sewn with black and ivory white buttonhole silk on a leathercore. For the cover, I used two vintage portraits that I was gifted with acouple of years ago. The portraits are glued and then sewn on the bookclothwhich I have dyed in shades of rusty orange and turned upside down to revealthe crumpled texture of the backing paper. I couldn't resist doing someadditional smudging with ink.

This design is much like the ones that I sell in my Etsyshop, and I hope PrairiePeasant will find it useful, either as a sketchbook oras a journal for daily activities and observations. --Elina of Veterok

Veterok's handbound books and journals from one artist to others are in her shop here.

Fall Swap: CinderLisaDesign

2011-11-02T09:00:00.000-05:00

This journal is oneof my softcover, fabric journals. The cover is made of felt and covered withtwo fabrics pieced together: a fine cotton batik in a blue, floral print withshades of pink, green and purple, and a bright yellow cotton with a layeredprint of leaves and tree branches. The inside is lined in a soft green Modaprint. I like to think of this as a "night and day" journal.

This journal is long-stitched and with the stitches puckered, and features acrocheted wraparound closure with an oblong button secured by a loop. The pagesare a recycled cardstock and there are 48 sheets. -- Lisa of CinderLisaDesigns

CinderLisaDesigns' shop full of paper and string and magical things can be found here.

Fall Swap: PrairiePeasant

2011-11-01T18:00:00.000-05:00

I was inspiredby the beautiful colours of fall for this book swap. My book is a fabricsoftcover book made from cotton quilting fabric interfaced forstiffness. The inside is filled with lovely handmade paper with grasstrimmings in it, made by a local Winnipeg paper company called BotanicalPaperworks. This book is bound with cotton embroidery floss in a longstitchbinding and fastened with a wooden button. -- Laura of PrairiePeasant

Laura's ecofriendly journals, cards and envelopes are in her shop.

Fall Swap Preview

2011-11-01T09:06:00.000-05:00

Treasury Time

2011-10-30T20:16:00.002-05:00

'Books for the Dark Night Ahead!' by PrairiePeasant

Boo-tiful books from the Bookbinding Etsy Street Team!

Accordion Folder XX... nauli $79.00	Jack the Halloweeni... PurplebeanBind... $18.00	Remembering. Book n... anticovalore $35.00	Halloween Set of Th... CinderLisaDesi... $10.00
Custom Steampunk Jo... LadyArtisan $225.00	Black Embossed Leat... boundbyhand $29.00	Blizzard Book with ... marcadeartspre... $32.00	Space Invaders Geek... DarkfireWorks $13.00
Vampire Fangs - Bla... buechertiger $37.64	Dates to Remember B... KandiceInWonde... $50.00	Skulls Journal OliveArt $35.00	Crimean harvest - m... veterok $28.00
Hand Bound Journal ... Baghy $42.00	Halloween Spiders M... LizzieMade $10.00	Handmade Journal Re... ElisCooke $49.00	Coptic Bound Journa... cathydurso $26.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Craft Show Confidential Index

2011-10-07T12:32:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that I wrote my first Craft Show Confidential post back in December 2010!

For those of you who may have recently joined us, I thought that it might be helpful to create an index of all of the posts to date.

Display Props

Book Stands

Book Display Units

Follow-up

Containers

Follow-up

Booth Set Up

Pipe and Drape Booths

DIY Fire Retardant Spray

Floor Coverings

Signage

Follow-up

Large Format Photography

Articles on Craft Show Booth Design

Merchandising

Hang Tags

Arranging Work

Miscellaneous

Handling of Work

Closing the Sale

Insurance

Craft Show Confidential: Floor Tiles - part 2

2011-09-30T22:09:00.003-05:00

On my last blog post, Katie of linenlaidfelt made the following comment:

You might also want to look into FLOR carpet squares. They come in lots of awesome colors and patterns. Here's the website: http://www.flor.com/

For those of you who don't know about FLOR, they make a nifty product. All of their modular carpet squares measure 19.7" x 19.7". The tiles come in a variety of colors, textures, and patterns - you can arrange them in an infinite number of combinations.

I thought that FLOR tiles were only useful for permanent applications, but after Katie's comment, I decided to do some further research.

I had a very helpful chat with Deidra, a FLOR representative. I asked her if FLOR was appropriate for trade show applications. She said the following:

Yes, since they are modular they are easy to pick up pack and move to the next location, great for trade shows.

She then added:

FLOR is engineered with structural integrity to "hug" the floor. Plus, the easy-to-use, non-toxic FLORdots that come with every order are designed to stick to the underside of each tile and not to the floor beneath. Using FLORdots secures the tiles to one another so there's no curling, gapping or slippage. Your design will stay put until you decide to change or replace it.

The next logical question was whether or not the FLORdots were reusable and here's what Deidra said:

No the FLORdots will need to be replaced when you remove them from each FLOR square.

So, FLOR can be used for trade shows if you purchase additional FLORdots. The cost is $4.99 for a set of 12.

The cost per tile on the FLOR website starts at $6.49 (when on sale) and can go up to $69.99 each. I was happy to discover that FLOR has an online outlet shop. Prices are much lower there, starting at $3.49 each.

For a 10' x 10' booth, you'd need 36 tiles - this would give you a rug that measures 1.8" shy of the full 10' length (118.2"). If you purchased tiles that cost $7.99 each, you'd pay about $288.00 for the entire rug. That's around what I paid for my area rug from Pottery Barn. The advantage over the area rug is that you can customize it further to coordinate with the rest of your booth.

I imagine that there's some way to do a FLOR hack, meaning that you can use the tiles but with something other than the disposable FLORdots. Perhaps using industrial strength Velcro?

If you're using FLOR tiles for your booth, I'd love to hear about it! Share your experiences with the B.E.S.T. team by sending me an Email and I'll include them in a follow-up post. Be sure to include your name and a link to your Etsy shop.

Many thanks to FLOR for granting permission for the use of their product photos in this post.

Craft Show Confidential: Floor Tiles

2011-09-23T10:00:00.004-05:00

Last week I gave you a general overview of the importance of flooring. Today I'm going to talk about one option - interlocking floor tiles.

Camelback Displays offers many options for floor tiles. The most basic being their foam rubber tiles:

As you can see, the tiles are assembled like a puzzle and it's quite easy to put together by yourself. The tiles are very comfortable to stand on and come in lots of colors. They're also eco-friendly - not only do they contain 20% recycled material, but they are also 100% recyclable.

Each tile is 2 ft. x 2 ft. in size - since they're modular, you can configure them in an infinite number of configurations. They're lightweight and easy to transport. They're waterproof and easy to clean, making them perfect for outdoor shows. Best of all, you can use them on your studio floor while you work, making them easy to store.

One variation on the foam rubber tile is the tile with the appearance of wood:

These tiles share many of the same qualities as the rubber ones. You can choose from a variety of wood finishes, such as dark oak, light oak, red oak, cherry, and walnut. These tiles offer the warmth of wood with the comfort of foam rubber - it's a great combination. An added benefit is that they add a more sophisticated look to your booth.

The last option I'll talk about is the carpet tile:

Once again, these tiles share many of the same qualities as the rubber ones, the most important being that they are have anti-fatigue benefits. They come in a number of colors, mostly neutrals. Not only do the carpet tiles add a cozy touch to your booth, but they also add texture. Of the three types of tiles, the carpet tiles are the most expensive.

Even if you can't afford a floor to cover your entire booth, you should at least invest in some anti-fatigue mats for where you stand. Take care of yourself!

Some last thoughts:

If you plan to purchase floor tiles for your booth, order them all at the same time. Dye lots can vary and you don't want to end up with something inconsistent.
Be creative! You don't have to stick with only one color - you can create a pattern with two or more colors, such as a checkerboard or stripes.

If you've used any of these types of flooring, I'd love to hear about it! Share your experiences with the B.E.S.T. team by sending me an Email and I'll include them in a follow-up post. Be sure to include your name and a link to your Etsy shop.

Many thanks to Camelback Displays for granting permission for the use of their product photos in this post.

Craft Show Confidential: Flooring

2011-09-16T09:23:00.003-05:00

Flooring is just as important as any other part of your booth. When I talk about flooring, I'm referring to all floor coverings - carpet, area rugs, hard floors, etc.

There are two main reasons why flooring is essential for your booth:

Aesthetics
Comfort

Let's start with aesthetics. You work so hard at perfecting the visual image projected by your booth. You strive to create an environment that matches your brand and adds value to your work. In general, your booth will look unfinished if you don't use flooring.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then here's the majority of my blog post:

This is the carpet that haunts the room where I do a craft show every fall. To say that it's ugly doesn't begin to describe it. It's like a casino carpet on drugs.

Now here's a picture of my booth:

You can just barely see the hotel carpet peeking out from under my area rug. Now try to imagine if I didn't bring my own rug - can you see how it would not only detract from the design of my booth but it would also draw attention away from my work?

When you take control of all visual aspects of your booth, you can shape the perception that people have of your work. A complete, well-designed display conveys an aura of "I pay attention to detail and my work is worth it."

And if you think that flooring is only for indoor shows, think again. In his article From the Floor Up, artist consultant Bruce Baker offers interesting insight into another reason why flooring is essential:

At an outdoor show, if you are trying to sell art and there is grass under your feet, you are basically having a yard sale no matter how you dress it up. Grass also gets worn out with a lot of foot traffic and, if it rains, there is the mud factor. People won’t hang around your booth if they are slopping through the mud.

Next, I'll talk about comfort. You're not the only one on your feet during a show. Walking a craft show as a customer, you can cover a lot of territory. When the floor of your booth becomes a comfortable landing place, people will stay there.

Bruce Baker seems to agree:

When we get tired, walking is easier than standing in one spot. As a result, many customers move on to the next booth not because they’re bored, but because their legs are telling their brain to “keep moving.” And that is exactly what they do—they move on before you have a chance to sell to them.

So how do you handle this? One option is to use flooring that is inherently comfortable, such as foam rubber mats. I'll talk about these more in my next post. Another option is to put padding underneath another covering, such as an area rug.

However you choose to handle it, not only will your customers benefit, but so will you. While I use an area rug in the main part of my booth, I have thick anti-fatigue mats behind the table where I stand. I have found that my legs are much less tired at the end of the day when I stand on the mats.

In a nutshell, a booth without flooring is basically naked. It's like getting dressed up to go out, but choosing not to wear pants.

Don't go out without pants.

Summer Book Swap: MakingMyRent

2011-09-15T18:49:00.000-05:00

This minicoptic-stitched book was inspired by the 20th anniversary of the fall of theSoviet Union. It's covered in burgundy bookcloth, a darker version of theSoviet's signature color, and features two vintage stamps from 1991 circulatedin the U.S.S.R. The stamps show two scenes from Russian tradition. Inside aretwo sections of a vintage Russian/English dictionary and 100pages of Wausau stationery paper. It measures approximately 3 x 2 1/2inches. -- Amber of MakingMyRent

MakingMyRent has books for sale in her shop here: www.makingmyrent.etsy.com.

Summer Book Swap: UsefulBooks

2011-09-15T08:29:00.000-05:00

Every so often, the paper level reaches critical mass in my studio, and I need to devote some serious time to making scrap books. Not books for scrapbooking, but books made from scraps of larger projects. This little cutie is one such book. The covers were cut out as windows from a large travel journal, and the endpapers are pieces of my marbled paper that went well with an illustration from an old Golden encyclopedia that I used to cover the book board. The mixed paper for the text block was also left from larger books made over the summer. The closure is an African trade bead and waxed Irish linen thread. I hope Surfbunny enjoys using it! -- Cindy of UsefulBooks

Find Cindy's books in her shop here: www.usefulbooks.etsy.com.

Summer Book Swap: SurfBunny

2011-09-14T11:52:00.000-05:00

My swap book wascreated from all handmade paper. The cover is a mulberry with skeletalleaf inclusions from Thailand, the pages are lemongrass fibers from ourgarden. The lemongrass was beat in our Critter hollander for about 4hours and then pulled western style. The form of the book is a JapaneseDaifuku cho (Great Fortune notebook) which was used by merchants as an accountbook. The tassels were usually much longer and worn woven into themerchants belt thereby aiding theft security. -- Duane of Surfbunny

Visit Surfbunny's shop at www.surfbunny.etsy.com to see their books and handmade paper items for sale.

Summer Book Swap: Notuboc (Yatsu)

2011-09-13T08:52:00.001-05:00

A tiny book made in the No-Longer-A-Secret Belgian style, this bright thing features more lemonade stands than you can shake a quarter at. the binding is done in similarly bright cotton pearle, and the covers are chipboard and scrapbook paper. -- Meredith of Notuboc

Meredith (aka Yatsu) has handcrafted blank books for sale in her shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/yatsu

Summer Book Swap: Camille Riner

2011-09-11T21:46:00.001-05:00

I thought that Meredeth would enjoy a book filled with the sights and sounds of summer. This book called "Forest Queen" was created after I installed my first bee hive and celebrates the restful quiet and the buzz of the summer season.

I used a book form I learned from Alisa Golden called a tetra tetra flexion. The pages of the book are viewed by "flipping" the book "inside out" from the center fold to reveal four panels.

There are two poems in this book, the first is about bees and reads, "Forest Queen-Your driving force feeds our dreams.-Making, Creating.-A working hive.-The honey flows." The second poem is about enjoying the lush wonderfulness of summer and reads, "Footsteps soft beneath your feet.-Birdsong splashes on your face.-Roots flow like skirts from the waists of trees.-An umbrella of leaves opens above your head.-Linger for a while in this refreshing shade."

"Forest Queen" features one of my digitally collaged relief prints and comes in a matching case and measures 2x6" closed. -- from Camille Riner

You can see this and Camille's other creations in her Etsy shop: www.camilleriner.etsy.com

Craft Show Confidential: Articles on Craft Show Booth Design

2011-09-09T10:22:00.001-05:00

When I write blog posts, I tend to do a lot of online research first. In the process, I've found many interesting articles about craft show booth design.

Rather than tackle a new post this week, I decided to share several of the articles below. I hope you find them useful!

And for visual inspiration:

Flickr:

Google Images:

Craft Show Confidential: Insurance

2011-09-02T23:35:00.001-05:00

Ever since Hurricane Irene devastated the east coast of the United States, I've often thought about the importance of insurance.

Now you may be wondering what this has to do with craft shows.

Well, for one thing, you may find that some craft shows require that you have liability insurance in order to exhibit. Sometimes show promoters will include liability coverage for vendors and the cost is included in your booth fee. If you have to carry your own liability coverage, you might be asked to send proof to the promoter, so be prepared to make copies of your policy.

No one wants to be held responsible if something goes horribly, horribly wrong, so be sure to confirm who is responsible for liability coverage as soon as you sign up for the show.

Then there's the question of having insurance to cover you when in transit to/from and while exhibiting at a craft show. This is known as "inland marine" insurance, so named because it's for when you're not at your usual business location.

What does it cover? Individual policies vary, but coverage could include any of the following: supplies, equipment, booth structure, materials, and/or other business property. It would cover any of these things in-transit and at the location of the craft show.

For example, I heard a story where someone's entire inventory was destroyed at a craft show when another vendor's booth fell on top of theirs. Inland marine insurance would cover those losses. The fact is that things happen - protect yourself and your business.

The Craft Emergency Relief Fund (a.k.a. CERF+ and my former employer), is a wonderful resource for learning more about how to better protect your business against from unforeseen emergencies. In a nutshell (from their website):

CERF+ is a national artists’ service organization whose mission is to safeguard and sustain the careers of craft artists and provide emergency resources that benefit all artists.

Even though CERF+ is based in the United States, they provide information that is helpful to all artists - their website is definitely worth a visit. Their companion website, www.studioprotector.org, offers additional tips on how to determine which insurance policy is best for you.

Craig Nutt, CERF+'s Director of Programs (and all-around cool guy), offered me the following advice on investigating insurance policies:

Look for what's covered, then look for what's excluded.
Read the policy thoroughly.
Ask a lot of questions.

Unfortunately, I don't know anything about business insurance in other countries. I'd love to hear from those of you in non-U.S. locations. I'm also interested in hearing folks' experiences with business insurance.

Send me an Email and I'll include it in a follow-up post. Be sure to include your name and a link to your Etsy shop.

Additional Resources:

Craft Show Confidential: DIY Fire Retardant Spray

2011-08-26T10:04:00.004-05:00

In the past couple of posts, I talked about the importance of using fire retardant fabric for your booth - in general, vendors should have booths that comply with local fire regulations.

If you have a pipe and drape booth set up, you have three options:

Buy drapes that are either inherently fire retardant or have been treated.
Purchase fire retardant fabric and make your own drapes.
Purchase the fabric of your choice and treat them with fire retardant.

Today I'm going to focus on #3. You can purchase commercial fire retardant spray, but it's pretty expensive ($15.95 a quart!). A less expensive option is to make the spray yourself.

Time for giving credit where it's due - I discovered the recipe in an article by Virginia Franco, How to Make Fire Retardant Spray. The recipe is simple and uses natural ingredients, so you can feel good using it.

Here's what you need:

Protective gloves
Spray bottle
Funnel
7 oz. of Borax: This is a non-toxic laundry booster you can find in your grocery store. A 76 oz. box costs around $3.00.
3 oz. of boric acid: This chemical is a weak acid that can also be used as an antiseptic, insecticide, or acne treatment. A pound will cost you around $4.25.
2 quarts hot water

Here's what you do:

Put on your gloves - safety first!
Using the funnel, pour the Borax, boric acid, and water into the spray bottle.
Shake to combine.
Test the solution by spraying a small piece of your fabric, let it dry, and then touch it with a lit match.
Spray the fabric more as needed until the fabric passes the lit match test.

Alternatively, you can dip your fabric into the solution if you put it in a tub or bucket.

If you've made fire retardant spray before, I'd love to hear about it! Share your experience with the B.E.S.T. team by sending me an Email and I'll include it in a follow-up post. Be sure to include your name and a link to your Etsy shop.

Craft Show Confidential: Pipe and Drape - part 3

2011-08-19T16:46:00.028-05:00

This week I'm going to talk about pipe and drape accessories.

Going back to last week's discussion about being in compliance with local fire codes, I found out that you can get iron-on labels for your drapes that identify them as being flame retardant. If you have these, you won't have to worry about losing paperwork.

If you have a sign for your booth, you can hang it using metal hooks:

The large part of the hook fits over the horizontal pipes at the top of your booth. The small part of the hook is for attaching your sign or banner (it slips into the holes). If you don't want your sign at the top of your booth, you can use fishing line or chains to lower it.

If you want to have table coverings that match your booth walls, you can get table skirts made out of the same fabric as your drapes. There are a few different styles:

Box pleats

Mini accordion pleats

Shirred

And if you love to stay organized, you can purchase carry bags for the different components of your booth. Nothing like having a skinny 8 ft. long carry bag!

If you have anything to add to the pipe and drape discussion, I’d love to hear about it! Share your experiences with the B.E.S.T. team by sending me an Email and I'll include them in a follow-up post. Be sure to include your name and a link to your Etsy shop.

Many thanks to Exclusively Expo for granting permission for the use of their product photos in this post.

Craft Show Confidential: Pipe and Drape - part 2

2011-08-12T17:53:00.029-05:00

My last post focused on the pipes of "pipe and drape" booths. This post will focus on drapes.

Something you may not know about craft shows is that vendors should have booths that comply with local fire regulations. Any fabric used for drapes should be either flame-proofed or fire-resistant. You can either use drapes that are inherently fire retardant or buy fabric and treat it yourself.

Not all show promoters will tell you what's necessary for their particular show and requirements can vary from venue to venue. I've heard stories where fire marshals have come to shows, lit a match, and touched it to a drape to see if it had been treated. Urban myth or not, it's best to play it safe.

Most drapes that you buy from a pipe and drape vendor will already be fire retardant. If you want to make your own drapes, a safe bet is to purchase your cloth from a theatrical supply company, such as Rose Brand. They supply fabrics that are used for stage draperies, so you can find a large variety.

I bought fabric from Rose Brand to use for my booth table coverings. Upon request, a Flame Retardant Certificate will be issued to you for your records (I have one). I've heard that if you show documentation of your fabric's flame retardance, you can avoid a fire marshal's match test. Thankfully, I've never had to pull it out.

The standard drape that you'll find at most trade shows is made from Banjo cloth (I'm not sure where the name came from - they're not made from recycled banjos). These drapes are the most economical and come in a range of colors.

Banjo drapes have an open weave and are inherently flame retardant, which means that the flame resistant treatment will not wash out (they are machine washable).

Premier drapes are another standard type of drape. They're a more opaque fabric than Banjo and have a smoother texture.

Although they aren't inherently flame retardant, they have been treated with a flame retardant product. I own a set of Premier drapes and I can feel the treatment on the surface of the cloth. They also smell a little funky.

There are other kinds of drapes, including ones made of polyester and vinyl. You can even have drapes custom-printed with your logo or other imagery. You're only limited by your imagination! Well, your budget too. ;)

You'll have to decide how many drapes you want to use for your booth. In my booth, each 10 ft. length of horizontal pipe holds three 60 in. wide drapery panels. As you can see, it creates a gathered effect.

You can pull your drapes tighter for a cleaner, more contemporary look. The drapes have pockets at both the top and the bottom - you can thread your pipe through the top pocket and add weights to the bottom pocket to pull it taut.

Next week I'll talk about pipe and drape accessories. If you have anything to add to the pipe and drape discussion, I’d love to hear about it! Share your experiences with the B.E.S.T. team by sending me an Email and I'll include them in a follow-up post. Be sure to include your name and a link to your Etsy shop.

Many thanks to Exclusively Expo for granting permission for the use of their product photos in this post.

Craft Show Confidential: Pipe and Drape - part 1

2011-08-05T21:31:00.031-05:00

Since folks seem interested in a general discussion of craft show issues, I'm going to dive right in with booths.

Booth requirements vary wildly from show to show. This can make it hard to decide what type of booth to invest in - and it is an investment. Having a craft show booth is a lot like having a house - it's never done. [insert groan here]

I bought my booth from Exclusively Expo in 2005 and have added to it over the years - shelves here, lights there - you learn what works and adapt accordingly. The company has been good to me and I recommend them highly.

The structure of my booth is what's known as a pipe and drape system. It's pretty much what it sounds like - the "bones" of the booth are made of aluminum pipes and they thread through fabric drapes, which then become soft walls.

The advantage of this system is that it's cheap compared to others. It's quick to set up and break down, and it can be set up by one person in a pinch. In this post, I'll be focusing on the pipes.

Here's a breakdown of the different components:

Bases

Steel base plate

Bases are put at the corners of your booth and are made of steel - they are heavy! The peg at the center of each base is what anchors the upright pipes - the pipes slide right over the pegs. For ease of transport, the pegs can be unscrewed from the bases and transported separately.

The slot in the base helps accommodate the pipes of your neighbors - you can just slide your base right over theirs. You can cover up most of the base with flooring or carpet.

Uprights

The exhibit booth standard height is 8 feet. There are two types of upright pipes to choose from - fixed (a.k.a. standard) and adjustable height pipes. Both of these pipes are made from anodized aluminum.

Fixed height uprights

Fixed height pipes are one set height and are cheaper than adjustable pipes. Sizes vary from 3' - 12' feet tall.

Adjustable height uprights

Adjustable height pipes are infinitely variable, within the minimum and maximum pipe size. For example, if you purchased a 6' to 10' adjustable pipe, then you could fit your booth in a site with 7' tall ceilings. If you know that you'll be doing shows with unusual spaces (believe me, it happens), then it might be a worthwhile investment to purchase the adjustable pipes.

Horizontals (a.k.a. telescopic drape supports)

Adjustable drape rods

Adjustable width pipes are infinitely variable, just like the uprights. Very often, a 10' x 10' booth isn't exactly that size. Your booth neighbors might set up before you and perhaps you lose an inch or two. The adjustable drape rods help you deal with that issue - and I have encountered this issue at most of the shows I've done. In addition, transporting pipes in a vehicle is much easier when they're adjustable.

The hooks on the end of the drape pipes are inserted into slots in the uprights - in a nutshell, they link together like Tinkertoys.

Some craft shows include pipe and drape in your booth fee. If you want to try out the setup before you buy it, you can often rent a set from a convention center or event rental shop.

I compared the cost for my booth in 2005 to today's cost - the price has varied little in six years - it still comes in under $500 for the whole shebang - this includes the pipes, drapes, and bases.

Next week I'll talk about drapes. If you have anything to add to the pipe and drape discussion, I’d love to hear about it! Share your experiences with the B.E.S.T. team by sending me an Email and I'll include them in a follow-up post. Be sure to include your name and a link to your Etsy shop.

Many thanks to Exclusively Expo for granting permission for the use of their product photos in this post.

Craft Show Confidential: Handling of Work

2011-07-29T19:20:00.024-05:00

Image by TheSeafarer

Most artists share the worry of how to deal with people touching their work. With regards to this issue, there are concerns that are particular to the book artist.

If your book has content, you want to allow people the opportunity to touch, see, and read it. It makes sense that someone would want to do that in order to make an informed decision before making a purchase. As I mentioned in this post, artist consultant Bruce Baker advises that people are 4x more likely to purchase work that they have held in their hands.

So you want to allow handling, but you don’t want your work to get damaged. This is of even greater concern for those who make limited editions or one-of-a-kind pieces. Their work isn’t as replaceable as production work.

Many craft shows have food vendors, which increases the possibility for damage. The oils from one’s hands are also a danger. Delicate papers are easily worn and/or torn.

You may think that the answer is requiring that your customers wear gloves. Unfortunately, your customers can’t have the full experience of your work if they have a barrier between them and your work.

In addition, cotton gloves can abrade the surface of paper. I learned this during a visit to the Special Collections department at the University of Vermont. For this reason, the library decided to discontinue their use of gloves.

In Helen Cole’s 2004 paper, TO [G]LOVE AND TO HOLD: Artists' Books in Australian Libraries, the concern is captured perfectly:

Strategies which are used to preserve the works, such as the use of gloves for holding and handling the books, and the use of protective interleaving to stop inks migrating from page to page, can put up barriers between the reader and the experience of the book as the artist intended. Books by their very nature are more than just visual. They are three dimensional objects with height, depth and length, the materials from which they are made have thickness, weight (or lack of it), texture and smell. We would like to facilitate an experience of the book for all the senses, as close as possible to what the artist intended.

So what do you do?

Ask a dozen artists this question and you’ll probably get a dozen different answers.

When I attended a workshop with Julie Chen a few years ago, I learned how she dealt with editions. She said that she kept three pieces from every edition she made. One she kept for herself, one she used for marketing purposes, and the last she gave to her mother “just in case” (a.k.a. Julie’s insurance policy).

Whatever you do, make sure customers are clear on whether or not your work handled. If you prefer to hold one-of-a-kind books when folks want a closer look, use signage to inform people on your policy. A sign saying “Please touch!” can go a long way both in putting customers at ease and in eliminating the inevitable, repetitive questions.

Personally, I have decided to allow people to touch my work. One of the reasons I love making books so much is that I appreciate the interaction it inspires. I know there are risks involved. If I see that there’s an issue of dirty hands, I offer the customer a wet wipe (I keep a canister behind the counter). If someone asks to see one of my one-of-a-kind pieces, I usually offer to hold it for them while I talk about it.

What is your policy on letting people touch your work? I’d love to hear about it! Share your experiences with the B.E.S.T. team by sending me an Email and I'll include them in a follow-up post next week. Be sure to include your name and a link to your Etsy shop.

Many thanks to Hilke for suggesting this week’s topic.

SELL OUT! Tips for hand-selling stuff, tip 9

2011-07-27T02:00:00.025-05:00

This series includes weekly tips on hand-selling homemade work without losing your soul or compromising your integrity. See the original introductory post here, tip #2 here, tip #3 here, tip #4 here, tip #5 here, tip #6 here, tip #7 here and tip #8 here.

Tip #9: Believe in your product.

When you believe in your product, it is easier and more delightful to sell. In fact, if you want to be a sales-person and maintain your integrity, it’s essential to believe in your product. If you love something, and you are willing to share that love with others, they will be more likely to love that something too. It is easier to come up with selling points and pitches for why someone might want to buy something if you think it’s a good thing to buy.

This may all seem obvious, but all too often, reluctant artist-turned-salespeople-at-craft-shows are WAY too self-deprecating. They act as if someone is doing them a favor by buying their work; they act as though they should probably just be checking themselves into a funny farm somewhere for daring to try to sell their work. How ridiculous that their little creations could be worth anything.

But I truly believe that the world is a better place for crafty goodness and art being in it. Do you? It’s not always a cake-walk to be an artist, especially if you venture into making it a career of any sort, but those who do venture towards professionalism generally bring better crafty goodness and art into the world because they practice their craft regularly. I solidly believe that. So thank goodness to all out there who do so! Thank you! The world is a better place because people bother to try to do what you do.

So, all that being said, when you switch into sales-person mode, don’t apologize for bringing heart to the world. Stand up tall and honor that what you do is valuable, even if imperfect at times.

"No woman should be shamefaced in attempting through her work to give back to the world a portion of it's lost heart." -- Louise Bogan, American Poet

Believe in your work. It will be easier for others to find the door into your work, the door towards that heart, if you do.

The best sales transactions are win-win. You are getting paid to make something lovely that you are adding to the world, and your buyers are getting to take something lovely away with them into the world. Perhaps you are meeting a need of theirs. For example, maybe a buyer is an avid journaler and she wants to ditch the boring journals, be bold, and add some color to her journaling life. She wants a journal that she can play in, she can scribble in, but it won’t matter, the book will still be pretty and playful, even with ugly scribbles and cross-outs because the pages are colorful and delightful to page through, no matter the color of ink on them. Or maybe the buyer has a dear friend that just got pregnant and has been looking for a pregnancy journal that sets a bright mood. Voila! In either example above, I have met a buyer’s need and she has met mine. Get it? Win-win.

One area where sales people sometimes get a bad rap is that there’s an impression that a sales person is talking you into something you wouldn’t otherwise do. Yes. That’s not so good. But at it’s best, sales is actually doing no such thing. A good sales person is a facilitator of sorts. They are helping gift-givers to find gifts, lovely-seekers to find lovely, and treasure-seekers to find treasure. I would even go so far as to say that at a sales person’s very best she is bringing a little more heart into the world. That is – if she believes what she is selling has heart.

In my personal examples a minute ago, I mentioned the journaler who wanted a playful space to journal in. Most likely she hadn't thought about the effect of writing on colorful pages. But once I introduce the notion to her, mention why others have liked it. She may think, YES! That's it! I want to be a part of that. Does that make sense? I filled a need she had (finding a new journal) but I filled a further need that she maybe hadn't put to words (for her journaling life to be richer) by introducing the parts of my journals I believe most in and talking to her about them. We've also gone a long way towards a nice relationship towards buyer and seller. Talking about things that make us both happy. Win-win.

I don’t feel bad when I talk to a customer for a long time and they buy four books from me. I feel happy that we found each other. I know that sounds extremely cheesy. But think about it. If you are a crafty sort, you’ve likely gone to a craft show because you like crafty things. You want to find treasure. When you find crafty treasure, that’s good right? As an artist, selling your wares at a craft show, you are most-likely selling to an extremely hospitable crowd. If you have product worth believing in, you have what your buyers are looking for. It is your job to help them find it.

Think about times you, personally, have gone to a craft show and bought something you deem as real treasure. Maybe you even met the artist and felt inspired afterward. Isn’t whatever you bought, most likely something that goes beyond materialism a bit? I’m sure people buying at craft shows still have buyer’s remorse, but somehow I’d suspect that they have it way less frequently than they have it after shopping at a strip-mall. People are thrilled when they find treasure at a craft show. Handmade stuff has heart to it. Especially when a buyer can meet the artist, learn the story, and root out that much more heart to something already lovely.

So I’d argue that it’s likely that customers are exceedingly inspired and happy when they find a booth that they buy stuff in. They have found product with heart, and that brings more heart into their lives, and that’s a beautiful thing.

If you believe in your work, you can honestly sell it. Because you believe when someone takes it home, it adds to their lives in a positive way.

So, make product you believe in. Don’t waste your time with something that doesn’t capture your own heart or imagination, because it won’t capture that of your buyers either. Even if your product isn’t perfect, or could be better, or be improved, if there is something about it you believe in, I guarantee that it will be easier to take the leap towards talking about in such a way that allows others to see the beauty in it too, to believe in it too. And buy it.

--------

Moving on...

This is my last post in this series. If you've enjoyed the series, there are a few places I'm happy to direct you for more information.

As I mentioned in the first post, I highly recommend checking out products or workshops by Bruce Baker, a jeweler who has been mentioned on this blog before who conducts workshops and sells audio “workshops” of sorts on all sorts of craft-sales related advice. I bought a cassette tape about “being a dynamic craft-seller” from a decade ago. I listened to that tape several times in the car on my way to some of my earliest craft shows, and even though it’s been nearly a decade since I listened to that tape, I know that if there is a Bruce Baker school of thought on sales, I’d be in it. Many echoes of what I remember learning from him can be found in what I’ve written in this series; I’d like people to know that and look up Bruce’s products if they found SELL OUT helpful.

Another place I can direct you to is the Art Fair Sourcebook. There are many guides to finding and choosing shows that are a match for your work, and although it's been a few years since I was making the rounds in any craft show circuits (I took an extended break when I had my son and moved abroad), I remember the Sourcebook as being the most helpful guide of it's kind. It's not the cheapest guide, but it's well worth the money spent.

Also, after I finished this series on my own blog, I realized that I probably had a bit more, here or there to offer on this front, if not time to keep the posts coming so regularly. Since the series finished I’ve posted one bonus tip you can check out at this link if interested (on the dreaded and oft-repeated phrase, “no problem”) and another is scheduled to go up on my own blog on Thursday the 4^th(that one will be regarding sales pitches).

Thanks BEST for hosting this series, I hope everyone has enjoyed it and I wish you all many happy craft shows to come.

Craft Show Confidential: Where to next?

2011-07-26T10:28:00.007-05:00

I've been struggling with developing new blog posts about craft shows from a book artist's perspective. I'm wondering if I've reached the end of the series.

I'm more than happy to talk about craft shows in general, like where to get lights, a tent/booth, shelves, etc. - these posts wouldn't really focus on anything bookish.

I'm also taking over the BEST member interviews, so eventually I'll be phasing out the craft show posts (handling both is too much for me). I want to make sure that I've tackled everything you'd like to see before I conclude the series.

I'd love feedback on what folks are interested in. Tell me what to do!

SELL OUT! Tips for hand-selling stuff, tip 8

2011-07-20T02:00:00.002-05:00

Tip #8: Positive sells; search within for the bright side and focus on it.

Let’s face a truth. There are times when being an artist is challenging in a harsh way. I don’t want to suggest that all artists are prone towards a melodramatic stereotype of being brooding, depressed or angst ridden. Hardly. All I mean to acknowledge is that sometimes the going gets tough when you are an artist. And unless you’ve barely tried to sell your wares, you probably already know that one of the riskiest places for the going to get tough is in the sales department.

Actually, if you haven’t tried to sell your wares it could very well be because you are afraid of that aspect of sales: the tough part. What if I don’t sell enough? What if I spend lots of time and money investing in this and no one buys my work? What if, what if, what if. And to be honest, your what-ifs aren’t even figments of your imagination.

I truthfully will tell you that the going will most likely get rough at some point after you enter into the world of selling your work. There. You can stop asking what if. You know the truth now. At some point something will suck. It’s not all going to be roses all the time. You can stop worrying about it now and go forth seeking out the roses. I promise they are there too. If you learn how to sell your work properly, you will almost certainly find them if you look. But you won’t find them if you are too caught up fretting with where they aren’t.

I guess my point here (at the risk of moving toward Pollyanna territory) is don’t dwell on the suck. You’ve heard the term “think positively.” Well, thinking positively is a necessity if you want to be a good sales person. Hear me out to the end here – I mean this in a really concrete dollars-and-cents sort of way.

One of the biggest drags on sales at a craft show is an artist who has a negative attitude. Someone who is pessimistic, whining, blaming the organizers of a show, cursing herself for not researching the market better, worrying and fretting with breaking even or paying bills (which can be painfully real worries!), fussing about the fact that she misjudged how much product to bring, obsessing about the opportunity cost of doing a show that sucks, or fretting or fussing about whatever demons are at hand is a sales person who has knotted eye-brows, a distracted demeanor, and a grouchy face.

No one wants to talk to a sales person like that. No one wants to buy art that’s polluted with dour air. We want our art, our crafty goodness, and our handmade lovelies to be just that: lovely, inspiring, and full of goodness. And someone who is focusing on the negative is pulling a dark blanket of dourness over all of his or her work, at best only during that show, and at worst, even while they create their work.

There is hardly a single tip I could offer you that is more valuable than the simple piece of advice at the heart of this post: search your heart, your situation, your work, your potential, your past, your dreams and anywhere else you can search to find the positive, especially when the going gets tough. I mean this in general, but I also mean this for those times when something tries to drag you down at a craft show. It is part of your job as a sales person to stay “on.” Staying on means you have to let go of the negative in a heartbeat. You owe your work an aura of lovely. You owe the muse within an aura of lovely. You are only hurting yourself if you turn to the dark side of your attitude while you are selling at a show. Like I said before, I mean it in real dollars and cents. There is no better way to make a bad show worse than by turning into a sourpuss. And by contrast, there’s no better way to make a bad show kinda okay (even financially) than by tossing aside your angst and looking for a silver lining for your cloud.

Say I go to an outdoor show and there’s bad weather (literal clouds). Rain rain rain. No one is there. My product is at risk for getting wet so I’m at risk for getting nervous. I’ve done the show before and had expected to do well because I had in the past, but the rain is going to certainly put a dent in sales. Crap. What do I do?

I buck up and deal:

Sadness, you’ll have to come back later, I’m in sales-person mode. I’m focusing on the moment, and in the moment my priority is to keep a good attitude so I can do the best job that I can with the situation at hand. Maybe I’ll focus on keeping a good attitude for the people who did come out in the rain (even if crowds are thinner than they would be otherwise), those people are probably the hardcore craft lovers if they showed up in the rain, so if I stay positive, maybe I’ll make their beloved show better too. I’ll beat out the grumps around me and offer my booth as a sanctuary. Keep a happy face. Maybe I’ll say something encouraging to the artist who looks down and out next to me (unless they want to commiserate, then I’m outta there – no one is dragging me down). Maybe I’ll mentally focus on how much fun it was to make the work around me. Wow, that piece is one of my favorites; I should rearrange to make it stand out more in my booth. I should put the yellow and orange pieces out front to contrast with the grey sky. I’m lucky, so lucky, to be here at all. To have the time and energy to do this work. To have a muse within who works with me to create such fun crafty goodness. I will let go of the rainy day and worry about all the worries later (if I must), but for now, I’m a sales-person. In this moment I am a sales person and it is my job to find the silver lining and to keep being a good sales person.

I bother with the inner monologue stuff here because I can’t tell you how many shows I’ve been at where, when circumstances made selling less than ideal -- too few shoppers, bad weather, change in venue that led to fewer repeat shoppers, etc, etc, etc – I bucked up and dealt and reaped reward because of it. There is nothing more satisfying than selling a bunch of your own crafty goodness when the going was tough around you.

It’s easy at a killer show. It’s harder at a not-so-killer show. But isn’t it satisfying to do a good job in the face of long odds? To do you’re best with a hand of cards that’s less than ideal? Celebrate those successes. A show where you made half of what you expected can be a success in that it might have been a show where you made a tenth of what you expected if you turned toward the dark side. You worked hard for what you sold. Celebrate it.

So, to sum up, don’t drag yourself down when circumstances are somehow less than ideal at a show. Search for the positive, focus on it, and make the very best you can with the cards at hand.

SELL OUT! Tips for hand-selling stuff, tip 7

2011-07-13T02:00:00.001-05:00

Tip #7: Don’t cross your arms or make similar closed-body gestures while selling your work. Also, look out for closed body gestures in your customers – such gestures send a signal worth listening to.

Open gestures suggest a touch of vulnerability – just enough so that you show you can be trusted. Closed gestures suggest you are feeling intimidated or that you don’t want to talk. They say “go away!” If you are crossing your arms or folded all over yourself in the back of your booth, you are telling your customers to go away. If you are consciously keeping your arms open, perhaps even showing your open hand when you show people your work, you are sending signals that you have nothing to hide. Try it. You may find it’s a bit difficult to let go and leave your arms open. It feels vulnerable. Vulnerability is a necessary part of being a sales person. You have to open yourself up to rejection. It’s important to become comfortable with this vulnerability, to remain confident while still vulnerable. So practice the open gestures. They will help you stay honest and help your customers trust you and know you are open to talking with them.

Similarly, if a customer is making a closed gesture (crossing their arms), try something to put them more at ease – hand them an item you are especially proud of or a photo of your process (uncrossing their arms). Or make a comment that has nothing to do with your booth that might make them smile. Or just step back, and give them space. Sometimes people cross their arms because they don’t know what else to do. Or they don’t know the person they’re talking to and so they are a touch out-of-ease. This is not a time to launch into hard sales. If someone had their arms open but then crosses their arms after they’ve been talking to you for a bit, it may be a subconscious thing they’re doing because you’ve crossed a line. Back off then. Stop talking about your work. Or try putting the situation at ease by asking them a question and listening to the answer. Pay attention to that signal – it’s just as valid of a way to listen to your customer as it would be to hear their stories.

Another gesture to avoid is the gesture of hiding ones hands. Hiding your hands subconsciously sends a signal that you have something to hide or you aren’t willing to open up with your customers just as much as arm crossing does. It's my opinion that over-eager sales people often put their hands behind their backs the most – I think it’s because they are trying desperately to open up to their customers (so they open up their shoulders) but they are still overly nervous and don’t know how to be open, so they can’t help but subconsciously still hide part of themselves (their hands behind their backs or in their pockets). Relaxing can help all of this. And practicing open gestures can actually help one to relax. Just as deep breathing does in yoga.

The point here is to pay attention to your body and the subtle signals you are sending. Try to align those signals with the ideas behind tips 1-6 (stay confident and available but not overly eager) and you’ll put yourself and your customers more physically at ease.

Craft Show Confidential: Large Format Photography

2011-07-08T19:38:00.059-05:00

When designing your display for craft shows, you might not think about what to do with your walls. You’re probably already using the back of your booth to hang a sign with your name and/or your business name on it.

Something you may not consider is hanging large photos of your work. In Larry Berman's article A Conversation with Bruce Baker, nationally-known expert and speaker on booth design Bruce had the following to say:

Large format photography displayed on the walls of your booth does more to pull people in than just about any method you can use to attract customers attention.

When people pass by your booth, they might not be able to focus on your work because of the scale or maybe because there are people blocking your tables. If you hang large photos of your work on your walls, you are more likely to catch someone’s gaze and subsequently pull them into your booth.

Paco Underhill, author of Why We Buy, supports Bruce’s thoughts by saying this:

Windows are the new billboard.

The walls of your booth are essentially your store windows – use them to your advantage. Don’t make your images too complex – they should be eye-catching and memorable. Get your message across quickly.

So what might you do with your photos? An obvious choice is a close-up of one of your pieces or maybe a grouping.

Something else to consider is to set the scene for how your work might be used. Not everyone understands that a photo album can be used for more than just special occasions or that a journal can be used in ways other than as a diary.

More from Bruce Baker:

It’s about who you will become when you wear the product or how it will make you feel if you own this object. Never underestimate the lack of imagination on the part of your customers, they need these images to show them how something will look on the body or displayed in a kitchen.

Look at the photo on the back left side of my booth:

I set up one of my journals on a table with a pen and a cup of coffee. I wanted people to think that by owning one of my journals, they could have a moment to themselves to reflect on their daily lives. I wanted to show how they could own a journal and that it wasn’t just a gift item – it fit into their lives. I used the photo to create a story and to invite customers to be part of it.

Here are some more ideas to get you thinking:

Show one of your open guest books on a table, surrounded by gifts.
Position your travel journal next to an airline ticket or a stack of suitcases.
Open up a photo album and put party pictures into it, along with a copy of the party invitation.
Focus on a page of one of your journals with “Gratitude Journal” written across the top and show the start of a list.

Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs suggests that people are motivated to fulfill basic needs before moving on to other needs. Needs that need to be addressed first include physiological and safety needs. The third level includes social needs - people crave connection with others and this includes family, friends, and romantic relationships.

Everyone already has lots of material possessions and at a basic level, your work is just going to add to the pile. People treasure experiences and memories created with their loved ones much more than things. If you can tap into the need for companionship through your photos, you can improve your odds of making a sale.

Take a look at the photo on the back right side of my booth. I created a scene where a mother and daughter were sharing a moment by looking through one of my photo albums. My goal was to help customers make an association between family and my work – if you own one of my photo albums, you’ll have the opportunity to spend time with family and share stories with them.

Stage your photos so that they appeal to your target customer. More from Bruce Baker:

Any photo is better than no photo but the image should focus on lifestyle and image. These photos should speak to your target demographic. When they do they get pulled into your space.

Using large format photography is like staging a house for sale – if people can’t imagine themselves in your home, then they probably won’t buy it. Use photos to help transport customers into a space where they exist with your work.

Some possibilities:

Show an image of a mother and child putting vacation photos into an album.
A picture of a parent and child reading a journal together, with a title on the front to indicate the journal contents - perhaps Our Family or Our Summer Vacation.
A grandparent and child cooking a meal while referring to a handmade book with the title Family Recipes.

Do you use large photos in your booth? How do you use them? Do you have any additional photo concepts to share? Send me an Email with photos and I'll include them in a follow-up post next week. Be sure to include your name and a link to your Etsy shop.

Resources:

SELL OUT! Tips for hand-selling stuff, tip 6

2011-07-06T02:00:00.003-05:00

Tip #6: Stand up! Or if you must sit, get a stool that’s high off the ground. Or else at least sit up straight and act interested. There are exceptions to the rule of standing, but the general idea – stay available and on the same level your customers are on, physically (without being intimidating), is what you want to keep in mind.

Not everyone will tell you to stay standing in your booth. Some will even suggest you are intimidating if you do so. I have to respectfully disagree. If you do not have the foggiest notion on how to engage with people, standing is a bad idea. If all you do is hover in the background with your hands behind your back, eagerly awaiting your next customer, standing is a bad idea. Of course you don’t want to come off as too eager or intimidating.

But too many artists take this as a welcome invitation to sit and disengage, hide in a corner. I find that if I stay standing as much as possible, but don’t hover, I’m at my most available when natural conversation with customers takes place. I think it’s best to stay active, dust or rearrange or sort things behind my small “desk,” so that when conversation starts, I can easily part with what I’m doing, but I’m not dragging myself out of some dormant and checked-out position to engage with people. If you sit during an entire show, when the inevitable happens and you need to stand to help a customer, it comes across as way more confrontational and intimidating than a gentle setting down of the product you were rearranging. The act of moving from sitting to standing is like making a big announcement: “Okay, now we’re serious, you’ve disrupted me enough to make me stand, you better buy something!” It’s subconsciously an intimidating gesture to someone who is leisurely shopping and doesn’t want to be pressured into buying anything but still wants artists available to chat with them about their work.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t stand during entire shows, but I try to stand a lot. And when I am sitting when a customer comes in my booth, I’m sitting and doing something active, but that lets me still be available (see tip 5). I also try to subtly stand up to start to rearrange or dust or whatever, rather than stand to engage. Does that make sense? If I find that I’m sitting when it would be better to stand, I stand and start rearranging or doing something booth-related before I engage in sales. Then when I do engage in sales, I’m not doubling the interaction so that it seems confrontational rather than engaging.

Some artists who have limited abilities buy tall stools. This is a great idea. You can stay active while sitting, but when you go to stand it’s not quite the production that it is if you are sitting low and raising to full height. You are already at full height, so it’s just a small move to stand. If you do have the ability to stand though, don’t use the tall stool as an excuse to sit and disengage. Stay lively and active, as much as possible while sitting. Don’t resort to reading or staring off into space, arms folded.

I did two of the biggest craft shows I’ve participated in while I was pregnant, and while I stood a lot, it obviously wasn’t practical for my health for me to stand the entire time. So I kept the basic ideas in mind, sitting up straight, not hovering, but staying available. I sewed more covers during those shows. I found that it was actually more effort to stay interesting-looking and not bored while sitting, but it was possible.

There are a few definite exceptions to the standing rule. One is if your booth space is extremely limited (like only one table or something like that). Standing in such a small space I think is too intimidating. I tend to sit in extremely small spaces and find other ways to stay active. I also think that if your product is fine art or really large and you have a limited amount of product in your booth (large paintings for example, or giant metal sculptures or something), if you stand the whole time you are just going to look too eager. There’s not enough for you to do naturally to make standing a good idea. Buy a tall stool in that case and brainstorm ways to make yourself busy but still available. For book artists, this usually shouldn’t be a problem.

Standing or staying up tall (like on a tall stool) is preferable because you are at eye level with your customers. You can engage them more naturally and you signal that you are available and lively. You can engage people while sitting low, but I think it’s far easier to be effective if you stand, which is why I recommend doing so as often as possible during a craft show, particularly if the show is busy. But don’t take my advice point blank and word-for-word. Apply it to your own situation and see how it works.

Marketing 101 for Book Artists with Laura Russell

2011-07-01T22:58:00.122-05:00

I had the pleasure of attending the Focus on Book Arts conference last week and one of the highlights was Laura Russell's keynote, Marketing 101 for Book Artists. She is not only the owner of 23 Sandy Gallery, which has book arts as the focus of gallery exhibitions, but is also a book artist herself.

Laura gave lots of good advice during her keynote. The point she couldn't stress enough – be good at shameless self-promotion. The only person you can count on to be your biggest fan is yourself.

Marketing isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s necessary if you want to get your name and your work out there. There are a number of ways to gain exposure:

Submit your work to juried shows: Galleries will often produce an exhibition catalog, which will include your work. The great thing about this is that you gain exposure long after the exhibit closes. In addition, a gallery will advertise their shows and this could have a larger reach than your marketing efforts – they will get your work in front of a new audience.
Sell to organizations with special collections: This includes public libraries, university libraries, and museums.
Self-marketing: Use your blog, Email newsletter, listservs, press releases, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, etc. to announce anything new - new work, events, awards and recognition, important acquisitions – who just purchased your work?

Delving further into self-marketing, if you like writing - share what you know. Your experience and knowledge may be of great value to others in the field. Show others that you’re an “expert” and you’ll gain exposure.

There are several ways to do this:

Write articles for journals, such as the Bonefolder or the GBW Journal.
Start a blog.
Write guest posts for others' blogs: Not only do you have a presence on the other blog, but you will likely earn traffic for your own website. It's a win-win proposition for everyone involved. Alyson Stanfield wrote a great blog article about this: Promote Your Art by Writing a Guest Blog Post.
Write for a trade newsletter, such as the Guild of Book Workers.
Write for other publications, such as The Crafts Report.

Paid and/or free advertising is another way to get exposure. With print media, you can take out ads in magazines, newsletters, or directories. There are also online directories where you can list your business, such as Google Places. Book arts-related options include Artist Book News, Artist Book Yearbook, Miniature Book Society, Moveable Book Society, or the Book Arts Newsletter.

Laura said something that I'm sure most of us already know:

The book arts world in underpriced for what we have as original art.

Pricing is a sticky issue! She suggested that when you set your prices, take your experience level into account – until you have made a name for yourself, it will be hard to sell your work at high prices. Try checking out work that is similar to yours – what are those books selling for?

Start low and increase your prices as needed – it’s hard to go down and those who have already purchased your work will be angry that they were charged a higher price. For the same reason, you want to keep your pricing consistent across all venues – it’s unfair to undercut your galleries and no one wants to feel like they’ve been overcharged.

Some options on how to sell new edition work:

Pre-publication discounts: If someone buys your work in advance, they get a special deal. Once the work has been completed, the price goes up. This is a great way to help institutions (universities, libraries) to stretch their budgets.
Standing order plans: Libraries and other institutions will sometimes get a “subscription” to your work, meaning that they will automatically receive every new piece you produce.

Laura recommended that for every book you create, you write a book information sheet. Librarians find this document useful because it's used for their cataloging system. This document includes anything relevant to your work, including:

Artist statement
Biography
Directions on how to set up your book for display
Colophon/technical details
Photograph

You can view a pdf sample book information sheet on page 11 of Artists’ Books Creative Production and Marketing by Sarah Bodman.

Laura had some suggestions on how to approach dealers, galleries, and libraries. Be sure to look for submission policies on website, including who to contact, how to contact them, and how to submit your work. Make sure you are sending them everything they ask for - artist statement, resume, slides/jpegs, etc. You don't want to irritate anyone just because you failed to do your research.

Whenever possible, schedule an appointment, don't just drop in - be respectful of others' time. For more information, check out Laura's great blog article, The Business of Being an Artist: How To Get Your Work Into Art Galleries.

I hope this information has been useful to you. Laura Russell has such a wealth of knowledge that I wanted to share it with you.

Below you will find a number of resources to help you with marketing your work. If you have any other resources you'd like to share, please send me an Email and I'll write a follow-up post.

Resources:

Listservs:

Book shows and fairs:

Artist Book dealers:

Retail book stores:

Art Galleries:

Book Arts Resources:

Artist Book Marketing Survey by Sarah Bodman
Artists' Books: Creative Production and Marketing by Sarah Bodman
The Blue Notebook by Sarah Bodman
Photographing Your Artist Books - Part I: What Makes a Good Photograph for Submission to a Juried Show or Gallery by Linda Kiley
Photographing Your Artist Books – Part II: How to Photograph Your Artist Books by Linda Kiley

General Resources:

8 Tips for Stronger Art Show Submissions by Michelle Davis Petelinz
9 Reasons Why Every Artist Should Have Their Own Art Blog by Dan Duhrkoop
Art Biz Blog, blog of Alyson Stanfield
The Art of Selling Art, book by Zella Jackson
Art Marketing 101, A Handbook for the Fine Artist, book by Constance Smith
The Business of Being an Artist, book by Daniel Grant
How to Get Started Selling Your Art and Promoting and Selling Your Art, book by Carole Katchen
The Quick and Easy Guide to Photographing Your Artwork, book by Roger Saddington
Self Promotion for the Creative Person, book by Lee Silber
Starting an Online Presence for Your Art by Alyson Stanfield
Tweetable Art: 10 Twitter Tips for Artists by Natasha Wescoat

If you'd like to learn more about Laura Russell, here's how you can connect with her:

Website: www.23Sandy.com
Blog: www.23sandygallery.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/23sandygallery
Twitter: www.twitter.com/laurarussell23

SELL OUT! Tips for hand-selling stuff, tip 5

2011-06-29T02:00:00.005-05:00

This series includes weekly tips on hand-selling homemade work without losing your soul or compromising your integrity. See the original introductory post here, tip #2 here, tip #3 here, and tip #4 here.

Tip #5: When no one is in your booth, or when you are not directly engaging with a customer, make yourself busy by rearranging product or dusting. If you look bored or like you have nothing to do you send a signal that you (and possibly by extension) your product are boring. Act lively, and you’ll bring out the best in your product (and yourself). You’ll become a magnet and draw people in.

How many times can you dust and rearrange the same stuff, you may ask? Lots of times. Lots and lots of times. If the show is fairly busy, you should never be slinking off to a corner to find something else to do. You should dust and rearrange when there’s a break. Stay available, without looking bored.

If you simply cannot bear to dust and rearrange any more, try doing something active that still allows you to be available. I often choose to sew bindings on my books. This is a bit of tricky advice though, because it shouldn’t be seen as an invitation to disengage in the corner to “demonstrate” your craft (too often an excuse for not actively selling stuff). Instead it should be seen as a way of keeping yourself busy and active, but still available (that’s key). I never think of sewing bindings at craft shows as production time, I think of it as a strategy to not get or look bored. Sometimes a book I could usually sew in 10 minutes takes 2 hours. That’s fine. It’s because I set the book down when I need to. I subtly stand and start rearranging product so I’m more available to chat with customers when they enter my booth.

The long and the short of this tip is this: brainstorm ways you can keep yourself active, but available. This is how you avoid the polar opposites of bad salesmanship: disengaging or hovering. You don’t want to do either. So think about how you can be available, but not in some one’s face, not only when you are engaging with a customer, but also when you aren’t actively engaging with them.

Not to belabor my point, but picture the following artists in their booths, visually. All have one thing in common, no one is currently in their booth shopping:

The artist looks bored, whiny or angry, she has a scowl on her face or is commiserating with another artist in the neighboring booth about what a lame show this is.

The artist is hiding in a corner, head deeply engaged in a book or something that looks potentially like accounting or homework from the way she’s concentrating, she looks like she could be at the library, for what she’s doing.

The artist is standing on the outside of her booth eagerly smiling, hands behind her back in a tight bun (or is she wringing her hands behind her back nervously?). Her eyes look like a puppy’s eyes in a pet store, she seems desperate for someone to acknowledge her work or like she hasn’t had human interaction in months.

The artist is just sitting, face expressionless, eyes staring off into the void. Perhaps her arms are folded.

The artist is quietly rearranging product, she smiles when she sees you, but goes back to rearranging product or dusting. Her shoulders are straight and she stands up tall. Her eyes look confident.

Okay, obviously I’m exaggerating somewhat, but only to make my point more clear. Who seems most interesting to you? Who seems most the most available but the least intimidating? Who do you think you’d most likely be able to have an interesting conversation with in the moment? And consider how the body language of each of these artists might rub off onto their work, who’s work do you suspect might be most interesting?

Now, who do you think will be the most likely to sell something?

I’ve been at many craft shows where it seemed dead. Really, hardly anyone was around. But there were 8 people in my booth. I am not a charmer by nature. I am a painfully shy chronic book-worm. But I believe in my work. I felt like it was worth learning how to sell it. And that effort matters.

Craft Show Confidential: Book Stands Follow-up #3

2011-06-24T14:59:00.001-05:00

I'm revisiting the book stand series today as I just came across a new resource.

Bill Conrad, Jr. and his wife, Jan are the folks behind The Bookstand. They create handmade wooden book stands in Camden, ME.

The design concept is simple - a wedge-shaped base has two dowels are inserted into it. You place your book on the base and the dowels support the back of it. The stand doesn't take up much visual space and allows your work to take center stage.

Image courtesy of The Bookstand

The book stands come in small (4.25" X 4.25") and large sizes (5.25" X 8.5") and are made out of pine and mahogany. These could easily be painted or stained to match your booth design.

They also make a fabulous two-tier bookstand (16" high, base dimensions are 4.625" x 8.25"). You can show two books in a small footprint and as an added bonus, you add height to your display.

Image courtesy of The Bookstand

The cost of these book stands is a bit higher than the manufactured ones, but the difference here is that you're getting something handmade.

Prices:

Small pine book stand: $30.00 per dozen ($2.50 each)
Large pine book stand: $34.00 per half dozen ($5.67 each)
Small mahogany book stand: $45.00 per dozen ($3.75 each)
Large mahogany book stand: $50.00 per half dozen ($8.34 each)
Two-tier book stand: $32.00 per pair

Visit their website to view their complete range of products.

Many thanks to The Bookstand for granting permission for the use of their product photos in this post.

SELL OUT! Tips for hand-selling stuff, tip 4

2011-06-22T02:00:00.004-05:00

This series includes weekly tips on hand-selling homemadework without losing your soul or compromising your integrity. See the originalintroductory post here, tip #2 here, and tip #3 here.

Tip #4 You are not being a slimy sales person by beingfriendly and talking to people. You are doing your job.

Last week I established that the word “if” often openspeople up and gives people permission to ask about one's work without feelinglike they are under pressure. This week I’m adding that it also sort of givesan artist permission to start talking about his or her work (after a fewseconds pause) because you’ve established that everything is at ease in yourbooth, that no one needs to feel pressure (yes, all because of the word “if”).

So, after the niceties and a bit of a pause, if the customerdoesn't ask any questions, or engage, (and provided they aren't acting turnedoff or put-upon -- which they rarely do) that’s when I usually say somethinglike, “I make all these journals and photo albums myself. I also make a lot ofthe paper for the covers.” (Perhaps I pause again here, if the customer seemsshy or hesitant) “Feel free to open any of the books, the pages inside areoften pretty colorful. I like to do that because I think it’s more fun to writeon colorful paper.”

What you say depends on your work, but yes, this is whenit’s time to give a bit of a pitch, without being in someone’s face, keepingthings informal, and without diving in before you are sincere with thoseintroductory niceties.

When I engage someone at a craft show, I’m doing my job as asales-person. After I got the hang of it, I found it to be lots of fun. Mycustomers have liked it too and I’ve found they are more open to my work morebecause of it. The thing is, you are giving someone what they came for at acraft show by engaging with them – personal interaction with an artist. You areshowing them your art and what's awesome about it. You are there to engage withpeople, you aren’t being a creep by doing so. You are doing your job.

So after you've put people at ease (always sincerely) don'tbe afraid to talk about your work. That's what people have come to a showfor. Hopefully it's what you'vecome to a show for too.

Craft Show Confidential: Hang Tags Follow-up #4

2011-06-17T18:34:00.001-05:00

You can create hang tags on your home computer by setting up a template in Microsoft Word. If you create the layout precisely, you should be able to print them out double-sided.

I use folded hang tags that are designed to be printed out on 8.5” x 11” sheets of card stock. You can see them in the image at right.

The outside cover of the tags is the same, no matter what the book is. I tried to keep the information general enough that it could be used for all of my books - they include my name and business name on the front, and a general blurb about my business on the back.

I customize the inside of my tags to include information specific to the book I'm selling. Usually this information includes types of materials used, relevant symbolism, color meanings, where a material is made, and/or eco-friendly details.

In the past, I hand-fed card stock through my printer and then hand-stamped my logo on the front cover of my tags. This took forever.

I decided that my time was better spent on things other than my marketing materials. I found this to be especially true when I was gearing up for a craft show – I'd much rather be producing inventory.

In addition, I worked on branding my business – I revamped my logo and decided on a specific shade of blue (I have a Pantone color!). I had business cards and letterhead printed professionally, so I decided to upgrade my hang tags to keep my branding consistent.

I sent my template to my graphic designer so she could get the layout right - it wasn't that different from my first design, so the design cost was minimal. We had to tweak it a few times to get the positioning right. Once the layout was set, I sent it to my printer and had them print up 200 sheets – that's 2,000 tags. I'm set for a lifetime.

It was worth the investment to get the tags professionally designed and printed. Sometimes you’re better off spending money instead of time. Now all I have to do is run the preprinted sheets through my computer to customize the inside of the hang tags – no more stamping!

Here's a link to the template I designed for my hang tags (Note: This is a MS Word document). You get 10 tags per sheet with a finished size of 2” (h) x 2.125” (w) when folded. You can customize the details as you wish. Once the tags are printed, here's how you cut the sheets:

4.25” vertical cut down the middle of the sheet, cutting it in 1/2 lengthwise.
Cut 2.75” up from the bottom.
Take the tag you just cut (2.75” high) and trim 0.75” off of the bottom.
Cut 2” up from the bottom for the remaining 4 tags on the strip.
Repeat this process for the second strip of tags.

I use a teeny hole punch for the hole in the upper left-hand corner. The hole can accommodate waxed linen thread and embroidery thread - it's a nice size.

I've found that stringing hang tags is a good activity for when you have slow times in your booth. It's easy (a.k.a. mindless) enough to do while keeping an eye out for customers and it's easy to quickly respond to customer questions. Artist consultant Bruce Baker says that while you're in your booth, you should keep busy doing nothing – this is the perfect activity for doing just that.

If you have any questions about my template, please let me know. I could try doing a video demo, if that would help. If you have a template that you use and you're willing to share it, send it to me and I'll include it in a follow-up post next week. Be sure to include your name and a link to your Etsy shop.

SELL OUT! Tips for hand-selling stuff, tip 3

2011-06-15T02:00:00.021-05:00

This series includes weekly tips on hand-selling homemade work without losing your soul or compromising your integrity. See the original introductory post here, and tip #2 here.

TIP #3: Use the word “If,” to help you break the ice withcustomers.

To sell your work at a craft show, you must learn to talk topeople. Buyers of craft like things with a personal touch. They want to knowthe story behind the art they are looking at. That’s one of the best thingsabout craft shows, after all – you get to talk to artists. So artists need tolearn how to engage people, which is not always an easy task for people used tohiding out in their studio making their work.

So after I've said hi when someone comes into my booth, andwaited a few seconds, I try saying something like, “If I can answer anyquestions about my work, just let me know.”

It's an invitation and often people will take it. Aconversation often naturally flows.

Before we move on though, please note the difference betweenthe above ice-breaker and the more familiar, "Can I help you?" or"Can I answer any questions for you?" where the answers will usuallybe, “No thanks, just looking,” at which point a shopper will most likely leaverather soon. Why? because they feel cornered.

When a sales-person says, "IF I can answer anyquestions," it changes everything. Like I said, it's an invitation, not arequirement. Everyone is put at ease. When I use the IF line at a craft show, Iam letting someone know I’m available, but I’m not aggressive.

Then that person knows that it’s fine to have a look aroundmy shop a bit. They don’t have to make a decision fast, or if they engage me itdoesn’t mean they have to buy. They don't have to ask questions but they can.The control is in their hands. All because of the word “if.”

Usually the response is, "Thanks." Or "Iwill, thanks."

But as a bonus, I’ve often found that a nice conversationflows right from there. That word “if” opens people up and lets them ask mequestions about my work. But it also allows me to take the next step if thecustomer doesn’t. So what is that? How do I keep things at ease and move on totalking about my work with people? Check back next week for tip #4.

Selling Your Handmade Books: The Checklist: Accounts

2011-06-14T08:59:00.004-05:00

We're adding to the checklist today. If you've been selling online already, you might still find that setting up some of these checklist items might be worth doing!

Once you have decided what your shop name will be, the products you will sell, and what level you'd like to work at, you are ready to get set up to sell!

There are four accounts that you need to set up for your small online business. Here are numbers 4-7 for the big checklist.

#4- Email: You may have a personal email that you've been using for years. If you are working at hobby level, this might be all you need to keep things together in one place. However, if you decide to go part time or full time with this business venture, I suggest getting a separate email account. This will help you keep the business separate from your personal emails. If you want to just keep your personal, I suggest setting up three folders in your personal account so you can keep all the Etsy info separate. The three folders I suggest starting with are: Etsy Invoices, Etsy information and Etsy emails. Etsy sends out emails everyday that you can opt into. One is Etsy Success, another is Etsy finds. If you want to learn a lot about the handmade business online, I suggest signing up for Etsy Success emails. Etsy Finds is an email sent out to buyers and puts Etsy's products out there to bring in potential buyers. It's way fun to look at these emails and way exciting to see one of your products in them! They have other subscriptions too that you can sign up for by clicking here.

#5- Bank Account: I set up a separate checking account for my business. It's just a separate free checking account through a local bank. This helps me keep the finances separate. If you're at hobby level and plan on staying there, you might be ok just using your personal account if you have one set up. However, it is super nice at tax time to have everything separate. If you have a debit/credit card associated with the new checking account, you can use that for all supply purchases and quickly see, on your monthly banking statement, how much money has gone into your various business expenses.

#6- PayPal Account: Etsy currently uses PayPal as their best option for purchasing items from Etsy. I know they would like to set up a monetary system with checkout right inside of Etsy and it's in the works, but it will be a very big move for Etsy, and therefore will take a lot of time in setting up. There are other options to use but most of Etsy users will opt for PayPal and it's best to accommodate your customers as much as possible in this way by setting up the payments to come through PayPal. So for now, you need to set up a PayPal account. There are three types of PayPal accounts: personal, premiere and business. For selling online, we only need the premiere account. Sign up by clicking here. You'll need to connect this account to your bank account; the sign in process takes you step-by-step through the process.

#7- Etsy Account: Your Etsy seller account is the final account to sign up with because you'll need the email, credit/debit from your bank account and your PayPal account to sign up for an Etsy seller account. These things can be changed later through Etsy in your account settings. It's always nice to just enter these things in once though. Some of my students had a hard time finding where to start their shop. There's a "Sell" button on the top of Etsy's pages, you can click on that and it takes you to the Seller's page. Once there you'll need to look on the right side of the page first for a blue sign up button and then a green Start Selling button. If you ever get stuck in this, click on the Sell button and look to the right side of the page.

Craft Show Confidential: Hang Tags Follow-up #3

2011-06-10T12:49:00.000-05:00

Beth from Roundtheworldin80pgs asked the following question after my last post about hang tags:

I loved the BEST blog posts on the book hang tags for sales but I don’t understand how they are attached to the book, perhaps I just missed that part. Could anyone explain?

I'm glad she asked! I have some images that should help to clear that up.

Here is an image of one of my photo albums with a hang tag on it:

Here's a close up of how the tag is attached. I create a loop around the ribbon and pull the tag through. I like looping tags this way because they're easy to remove if needed.

Here's one of my journals that's bound over leather straps:

Looking closer, you can see that I looped the tag over the strap. There's a spot on the binding that isn't attached to the covers, so I had space for the tag.

Here's how it looks on the inside of the book:

Lastly, here's one of my coptic journals:

There really isn't any good spot for attaching a tag directly to the book. In cases like this, I find that bookmarks work well. I just attach the hang tag to a strip of paper and slip the bookmark in between some pages.

In try to keep the basic form of my hang tags the same so that they're easy to produce. If needed, I can make modifications depending on the type of book.

I hope these pictures were helpful in understanding ways in which I attach hang tags to my work. If you have additional questions, please leave a comment and I'll do my best to clarify things for you.

If you attach your hang tags in other ways, I'd love to see some pictures! Send me an Email with photos and I'll include them in a follow-up post next week. Be sure to include your name and a link to your Etsy shop.

SELL OUT! Tips for hand-selling stuff, tip 2

2011-06-08T02:00:00.009-05:00

This series includes weekly tips on hand-selling homemade work without losing your soul or compromising your integrity. See the original introductory post here.

TIP #2: Always, always, always (you must!) smile and say hi when someone enters your booth or your selling space.

You simply MUST do this or you aren’t even trying.

This is the simplest and most effective thing you can do to be a good craft seller. It's that simple. Just "hi" with a smile. It immediately lets people know you are friendly and available to help if needed.

Yet I mention it because I can almost guarantee that this one tiny little no-brainer of an action will already give you a huge advantage over other booths at a craft show. Believe it or not, few craft sellers take their sales jobs seriously enough to even do this much. I'm not exaggerating. I've walked around many a craft show and noticed that it really is the rare booth where the seller doesn't clam up the second anyone walks in to check out their work. All a person has to do is say hi, and surprise! People are set at ease and might stick around to shop instead of rush out of your booth because they are afraid they interrupted you or made you feel awkward. So take note. If you do nothing else to be a good seller, just smile at people and say hi. Take a deep breath and set yourself at ease too.

Selling Your Handmade Books: The Checklist

2011-06-07T09:04:00.006-05:00

I recently taught a local class on how to sell handmade items on Etsy.com. It was requested by many wonderful crafters in my area, so I left my bookbinding tools at home and went to work with this wonderful group. The goal of the class was to have them set up their business by the end of the six week class. I created a check list for starting and operating a small business. The checklist is basically a list of questions to ask your self, or things to do to set your business in a path for success. For the next several weeks, you'll receive some of the tips I shared in that class.

Check list numbers 1-3

1- What are you going to create to sell to others?

This encourages other questions such as, would you like to create one-of-a-kinds, one item in a variety of colors? Or would you like to create several types of things: books, jewelry, aprons, furniture? Write down what you want to make to sell, not just everything you can create. Be specific with colors, sizes, and the materials you want to use. Be original! Don't go on etsy and browse and say "I'll make what they're making." Find something that shows others a bit of you. Find your niche and create your own! For example: I know that when I see this book below, it comes from Renate of Kreativlink.etsy.com as she's know for her felt soft cover books in which she hand draws fun designs, one design being this famous

swirled tree.

And I know if I see one of these longstitch books below with a fabulous quote in the front, it's from Beverly of lapaperie.etsy.com as she's known for the quotes on the first page of her books.

Making books is great, but try and find your own style and niche.

2- What level do you want to work at?

Pick the level you want to open up shot at and the level you might consider moving up-to, or down-to some day. This is important as it sets your mind and goals in the right direction for your business. I wrote a post on this over a year ago which can be read by clicking here but the levels are listed below.

Hobby Level - You love making books and want to continue but materials can sometimes be pricey. At the hobby level, you really just want to make back enough money to cover costs and help pay for future materials for more books. All your money goes directly back into the books and your creative ventures.

Side Income Level - Since you're in need of a bit of extra income and you really don't want to sacrifice making books to get a second job, you've turned to selling your handmade books in hopes that you can do what you love and still contribute money to the monthly cash inflow.

Full Time Level - You love making books and want to make it your full time job. Part of your sales income will go back to materials for books, with most of the income going toward your spending budget to pay off bills and living costs.

3- Pick a shop name.

For most of you reading this post, you may already have a shop name. I encourage you to leave a comment about your shop name and why you picked it. If you had to choose again, would you pick the same name?

For those who don't have a shop name yet, this may be the hardest thing you have to do on the checklist. Here are some tips to picking a name: Keep it simple, keep it short and keep it relevant. When I started out a few years ago on Etsy, I wasn't sure what I wanted to sell. I thought I'd just add things here and there to my shop and see what took off. The first item we sold on there: two dozen cinnamon rolls.

Daniel made them. They look scrumptious don't they? We quickly learned that cinnamon rolls were NOT what we wanted to sell after trying to figure out the timing to ship and the packaging. Good thing I didn't call the shop "Cinnamon Sweets" which was on my list of potential shop names. I would be selling handmade journals and photo albums under that name!

I chose a shop name in which I could add anything I wanted to my shop: Karleigh Jae. However, my name is spelled in a complicated way. Yes, compliments to my mom for a pretty spelling but it's not the best for an online business. I have to spell my website out for anyone who asks and for my customers, they have the hard time of telling friends, when they get a compliment on their new journal, "I bought it off etsy, her name is Karleigh Jae but I forget how it's spelled." Word of mouth is the best advertising for anyone, so make sure your shop name is easy to pass around as not everyone will have a business card on hand!

Also remember to keep it simple. Apple. Gap. Kraft. Nike. These are brand names that kept it simple and they are therefor easy to remember. I had a student who wanted to use something like "Rose Maria's handmade treasured gifts". Think about your customers who want to come directly to your shop. They have to type that long name in! It's also easily forgettable. However, think Calvin Klein. Wouldn't it be weird if it were: "Calvin Klein's Fashionable Clothes and Accessories For Men"? Let's see them fit that on the clothing tag!

I suggested that she shorten her shop name to Rose Maria. I had all the students try and come up with they way they would spell that name and they all spelled it the same way, compared to my name of Karleigh Jae (everyone always starts it with "C" and let's not even discuss the "eigh" part). Ask friends for shop name ideas if you are having a hard time coming up with a name and remember to keep it simple, short and relevant.

One more note about my shop name. I picked my own name because it was just something I was trying out and I didn't know what I wanted to sell. Difficult spelling put aside, I still wouldn't have picked it. Currently, my etsy shop is working on the full time level and my husband, Daniel actually puts in more time with it than I do (he even made the first thing that sold, remember the cinnamon rolls?) But, the shop is still in my name. So, I wish I had picked a name which allowed everyone to know right off that it's not just a one woman business but a husband and wife team. If I had picked the hobby level and stayed there, my name would be ok. For a business that I planned on growing, I should have thought on my name a bit more.

The checklist is super long so keep up with my Tuesday posts here on the BEST blog to grow your business!

Bound by Nature Exhibition

2011-06-05T07:00:00.066-05:00

There is a fabulous exhibition of artist's books currently on display in my city of Winnipeg. Bound by Nature is a group exhibition inspired by nature, landscape and books, curated by artist Deborah Danelley.

I thought I would share with you here just a few of the varied and interesting book structures used by some of the artists.

Wildflowers by Deborah Danelley and Carol Leach. Imagine a room filled with origami fold books! The pages for these books were recycled from garden, nature and landscape books and catalogues. To get an idea of scale, look at the traditional books used as part of the display.

Oeuf Bibiotheque/The Egg Library by Erwin Huebner. Each miniature booklet contains developmental information and DNA genetic codes related to cell biology. (Yes it is a real egg shell).

Bird Haiku by Lorraine Douglas, a flag book with stencil and collograph prints.

as often as I look....I am able to see by Wendy Cooper-Parkinson, woodwork by Derek Houghton. The covers.

as often as I look....I am able to see by Wendy Cooper-Parkinson, woodwork by Derek Houghton. The pages.

The exhibition will continue on display at the Mennonite Heritage Centre Gallery in Winnipeg until June 18. If you can't make it here for the show ( ;-) ) I have a few more images posted on my blog here.

Blog Interview: SweetBuddha

2011-06-04T08:27:00.017-05:00

Welcome again to the BEST interview series! Today I want to introduce you to Diana Gonzalez, a.k.a. "The Craftaholic".

Hi Diana. Welcome to the team! Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I live in Brooklyn, baby! Being a stay at home mother and an artist, I strive to inspire others to think differently about their life, and about what they create and call art.

Explain your name: Is there a story behind your Etsy-Name?
Sweet Buddha? Well, sort of. I follow Buddha's teachings, and I wanted the name "Laughing Buddha" but it was taken. I kept playing around with the name on Etsy until I found one that wasn't taken. I wanted a name that reflected my spiritual path.

How and when did crafting and bookmaking come into your life?
I've always been an artist and a crafter, really. Bookmaking came into my life quite recently, out of necessity. About 3 years ago, I started hand binding my own books, because I wanted to recreate the beautiful books that are sold in chain bookstores. They were so pretty, but mass produced, and I wanted to make my own after hearing my husband say, "Diana those are easy to make, you can totally make that."

What is your formal training?
I'm self-taught and work as a teaching artist. As of this coming August, I will have been teaching workshops for about four years. I run an art group thru meetup, where I host and teach art workshops of all kinds, such as jewelry making, block printing, and bookbinding. Its focus is on interdisciplinary arts, but we do a bit of everything creatively. I also have fun art swaps and social get-togethers with my group. That's my "real" job, on top of being a mother and wife.

What do you make and sell? Is there someone who helps you with the shop? What materials do you use and what techniques are your favorites?
I love to make books to sell. I usually make small batches of them, mostly because I get bored easily. I actually enjoy making all sorts of things. My husband and I designed a set of clear polymer rubber stamps and we have them for sale in our shop along with other items. I most often sell paper goods. In the future, I will be selling some of my photo transfer jewelry through my website. I love re-using and I love being eco-friendly with art and design. Most of the items in my shop are made from recycled materials. My books are made from old cardboard boxes, recycled paper, and old gift wrapping paper.

Do you have a favorite book about books?
My favorite book artist is Esther K. Smith. She works with her husband and they published a book called “How to Make Books”. I love her style and I really love book making. Her book is an awesome tool for the bored book artist who wants to create new items for her shop, or just wants to be amused creatively.

What do you call yourself: Book Artist, Book Maker, Book Binder - or something else?
I call myself an artist because that's what I feel that I am. I think labels are tacky, but if you want a label, it's best if you label yourself based on what YOU think yourself to be.

Is there a particular type of project that brings you the most joy?
As corny as it sounds, I love making hand bound scrapbooks and "wish books". Scrapbooks are fun - I like making them, as much as I don't broadcast it, LOL. I like making wish books - these are similar to scrapbooks, but more artistic and contain the images and things that personify what you want in life, what your "wishes" are.

Do you have a crafting hero/role model? Where is the source of your inspiration?
I don't really have a "craft" hero. My source of inspiration is fine art. My favorite artist is Jean-Michel Basquiat, I consider him to be my hero. His art truly changed my life and how I view art. He lived and breathed art. He made art on anything and everything, which I find inspiring. I love that. For me, necessity is the mother of invention. I love to create things that I need, like journals, sketchbooks and jewelry.

Do you have special plans for your crafting and your shop for the future?
I do have new ideas for the shop. I have some new vintage items that I plan on incorporating in book making this year. Also, stay tuned for more art books and kits.

Thanks Diana! It was great getting to know you!

If you'd like to see Diana's work, check out her Etsy Shop. You can also learn more about her on her website, blog, and Facebook fan page.

2011 Spring Swap: LinenLaidFelt

2011-06-03T16:20:00.005-05:00

Several months ago my husband picked up a 1966 Britannica Wold Atlas for free on a trip to Baltimore. There's a place called Book Thing of Baltimore that gives away used books. But there's one catch: you can only take 150,000 free books per day, per person.

The atlas was packed with outdated, quirky data colorfully displayed on dozens of political and topographical maps from around the world. I decided to repurpose the pages of the atlas into a series of sculptural books featuring the vibrant map imagery. The books unfold in a malleable array of pages to reveal a random assortment of maps and graphics. When closed, the folds return to an orderly stack. --Katie of LinenLaidFelt

More photos of these vintage map books and Katie's other creations can be viewed in her shop here. (I apologize for missing Katie's swap book in the first round! She sent it to me by the deadline but it got lost in my inbox. Sorry, Katie!)

SELL OUT! Tips for hand-selling stuff, tip 1

2011-06-01T02:00:00.002-05:00

Now that Memorial Day weekend has officially ushered in the summer craft show season, let’s talk sales.

Usually craft sellers aren’t naturally into the whole sales-person role; we are artists, not salespeople. But if you’ve ever done a craft show or are thinking about participating in a craft show, you know that sometimes you have to put on the sales-person hat. So, how? What’s the best way to go about this task?

For the next 9 weeks, I’ll be posting weekly tips on being a better sales-person in a series of posts entitled “SELL OUT!” It’s a series on hand-selling homemade work without losing your soul or compromising your integrity. The focus here will be on the actual act of selling.

This series was originally posted on my own blog, starting a few months ago. Laura, of Prairie Pheasant, asked if I'd be willing to re-post the series on the BEST blog for fellow book artists. I'm happy to do so; I hope others find it useful. I’ve tweaked a few things to be more specific for this blog and I’ll be putting up a new post on Wednesdays for the next 9 weeks or so.

I based this series on what I learned from years working craft shows myself, as a vendor, as well as what I learned working as a salesperson at a small and highly successful handcrafted pottery retail store for many years. Also, please know that I didn't start out as being good at hand selling stuff, but I’m happy to say that I did become good at it. It was something I was kind of proud of when I was regularly doing shows (I took an extended break from shows when I became a mom). It felt like a bit of magic every time I engaged with a customer. I felt like sales I made were most often of the win-win variety, which is the best sort. And that is a good good feeling that I want other crafty people to share.

Most of the tips will be aimed towards selling at craft shows, but a lot of the principles of hand selling could easily crossover to other sales venues too. All types of hand selling are not the same, but many principles are. The idea is learning how to be engaging and helpful when you are in a position of selling things to people. To be engaging but not annoying, pushy or slimy. Mostly it’s about being true to your best self and your product.

I also want to acknowledge Bruce Baker, a jeweler who I bought a cassette tape about “being a dynamic craft-seller” from a decade ago. I listened to that tape several times in the car on my way to some of my earliest craft shows, and even though it’s been nearly a decade since I listened to that tape, as I read over my tips I see many echoes of what I remember learning from him present in what I have to share. I owe Bruce a great deal of gratitude; if there is or was a Bruce Baker school of thought on sales, I’d be in it. I’d like others to know that and look up Bruce’s products if they find this series helpful.

SO onto TIP 1:

1. To sell stuff, you actually need to do something. It is an active job.

The reason non sales-people often have an impression of a sales job as being one where you have to be annoying, pushy or slimy is because people bad at sales come across this way. But this image is missing a major part of the picture. If you are in a position of being a sales person of sorts, you should actually be trying to sell something. If you just sit aside or ignore the role or don't do anything active, you are also being a bad salesperson.

The annoying, pushy or slimy sales person is, in fact, at least trying to do their job. They just aren't doing it well. The inattentive salesperson who hides in a corner and reads a book when they could be engaging with potential buyers isn't even trying to do their job. They are running away from it. Creative people who are thrust into the role of selling stuff (I.E. newbie vendors at craft shows) often end up being the types who don't even try to sell, lest they do it poorly.

So consider this a shake-up. I am grabbing anyone out there who is guilty of hiding in the corner when they should be engaging with potential customers and I am shaking you awake. You need to figure out how to better do your job.

So what the heck do you do with yourself when someone walks into your craft booth? How do you go about “doing something” or being "active" as the tip suggests? And by doing something, I mean without becoming annoying, pushy or slimy?

For the answer check back next Wednesday, when I’ll offer tip #2.

2011 Spring Swap: BlueRoofDesigns

2011-05-24T09:00:00.004-05:00

Every now and then, I find myself entranced by something that most would consider mundane. One of my latest obsessions is Netflix mailers – I love how they are able to be mailed twice. It was from there that the concept for my book evolved. I couldn’t shake the idea that “fits in an envelope” meant that the structure was literally enclosed in an envelope. Postage was added directly to the front cover of the book for mailing.

The covers are made of two #10 string and button envelopes that were stuffed with mat board to add stiffness (bookboard was too thick). The spine is covered in black bookcloth. Each signature of black pages was encased in a thin strip of envelope security pattern paper. The crosshatch pattern on the paper was echoed in the binding – Keith Smith’s “Dos Esquis” binding from his book 1-2-& 3- Section Sewings. On the inside front cover, I mounted a small handmade envelope. Inside the envelope is a small paper book, bound with a pamphlet stitch using baker’s twine. The book was collaged with pieces of junk mail envelopes and Netflix mailers. I used alphabet stamps to add the mailing address. --Elissa of Blue Roof Designs

Find Elissa's handmade journals, photo albums and guest books in her shop here.

Spring 2011 Swap: LadyArtisan

2011-05-23T12:32:00.003-05:00

Portable, personalized, refillable. This notepad has leather covers stitched together with linen thread, hand-dyed and carved with Hilke’s initial in a font I designed. The paper is scrap paper, leftover tea-stained drawing paper from another project, and is attached to the back cover with brads so it’s easy to refill. The stones are some leopard jasper beads I had in my stash, just waiting for a project like this. And, yes, it really did fit in an envelope although it was a larger envelope (and padded since it was being shipped overseas). --Eva Buchala, Lady Artisan.

You can see Eva's items for sale in her shop here.

2011 Spring Swap: Buechertiger

2011-05-21T19:59:00.001-05:00

Do you feel the stare of monster's eyes in dark damp hot nights? Do you hear them scurrying away on cool mornings, just after dawn on your way to work? Do you remember the glow of you personal's monster's eyes under your bed when you were still a child?

This accordion folded booklet by buechertiger is part of an open varying edition, hand stamped from hand cut erasers. It shows several differerent monster's eyes, inspiration taken from various graphic novel monsters and other graphics. Two of the 25 different pairs of monster's eyes are featured with a head. -- Hilke of Buchertiger

Buechertiger (aka Book Tiger!!) has these books and others in her shop here.

2011 Spring Swap: Katarsis

2011-05-21T15:53:00.003-05:00

This is a coptic bound book, about 3" x 5". It's covered with origami paper. Origami paper also used for the insides. I also put Strathmore dry media paper on the inside for the pages. Despite its size, it still fit in an A7 envelope! -- Kat of Katartsis

Kat's a new member of our team. Welcome, Kat! You can see her work in her shop here.

2011 Spring Swap: UsefulBooks

2011-05-20T08:19:00.003-05:00

In the process of playing around with paint and Kraft paper a couple of years ago, I developed a cover material that I use to make soft cover books. It's flexible, strong and wonderfully textured, resembling leather but cruelty free. I knew that Laura of Prairie Peasant, a fellow EcoEtsy member, would enjoy this little double pamphlet book made from a piece of this material and scraps of paper from larger projects. --Cindy of UsefulBooks

Visit UsefulBooks' shop here.