My First Craft Fair

September 22 was my first crafts fair as Nine Tailed Arts. Previously, my only experience with selling my crafts was at a small convention at the University of Connecticut way back in 2013. That was when I was exclusively making Pokemon-themed items and sometimes selling them on Etsy. I’ve always liked the energy and community that develops within artist alleys and craft fairs, which is strange because I’m a very introverted and anxious person. Maybe I’m just drawn to people who are passionate about their art.

Selling on Etsy was a challenge and eventually became a little exhausting. Fulfilling orders and making sure they were shipped on time just became a bit of a chore over time. After a while, I turned off my store and tried to focus on making art for myself or a few friends who needed something. But over time, I think I started missing the feeling of selling my art and seeing how happy it made other people. COVID times especially made me think what I really wanted to do in the future, regarding work and my art, photography, crafting. I realized that joining another craft fair was something I really wanted to do.

So I decided to bring back the Nine Tailed Arts name and see if tabling at a local craft fair could be something I could get into. Brighton Bazaar was the first fair I applied to and first fair I got into! Color me surprised. I guess I need to be more confident in my art. I knew planning and stocking up for a crafts fair was going to be difficult, so in order to make it less of a draining experience, I decided to limit myself to one fair a month if everything went well.

And it went well! I was so surprised. You can see below how my table looked the last hour or so of the show.

My table an hour before the show ended.

I was a little surprised that the needle felted items didn’t sell as much as I wanted, but they’re probably a little harder to justify buying. All my rats sold out, I only had two chickens left at the end of the night, and all my spider keychains were bought. So I think I have a fairly good idea of what people want to see, and I’m keeping my eye on social media to see what other artists are doing. But I need to remind myself that I am doing this for myself, and stressing out over having enough stock of items to sell isn’t going to make anything better.

I also realize that many people want an online store to go back to, but opening an Etsy or another shop again just seems like too much right now. Maybe in the future I can do something at least for my photography.

But so far I’m enjoying how things are now, and getting excited for the next one on the 30th!

Thank you everyone for your support,

Allison