Lisa is thinking about traveling a little this year to do craft fairs..Anyone hitting the circuit yet? how are things going?

well ime getting ready to hit the road also first stop pacific primitive rendezvous .... the ren fare was good this year hope all goes as well...

since the regular event I do on Memorial weekend has been moved to labor day. my first one for this year is this weekend, fri-sun.

Here in eastern,Ky the money isnt flowing as freely as normal..The coal industry is taking a hard hit right now..Hundreds and hundreds of layoffs..Its affecting the whole regions economy..Im afraid as to what its going to do to the local fairs this year..

Well so far ive done 10 events and only made money at 2 events....even at a nationally recognised and juried event i just barely made expenses and then weather was a factor in two of them......definately doesnt seem to be alot of disposable income just floating around just begging to jump into our pockets

I have about 6 weekend events done already this year and with the exception of the Ren fair they all were poorly. The ren fair was nearly one of the best in the last decade for sales but it was spotty two weekends poor two excellent and overall a sucess. Inventory, inventory, inventory!

Today was the art sale Gala at a show we do here. We sold our peices but I think it was God's grace as there were many that I thought were really nice peices that did not sell. There is a show conected to this one that will go over the weekend we will be selling smaller stuff at, it will be interesting.
Hopefully it will work as I have specialty stuff that I only sell there as it normally does not do so well at other venues.

Our living history group at Kings Mountain National Park has one Trades and Crafts event each year in May. This is the only one I attend for selling.
I make cook fire sets, trammels, trivets, blow tubes, various hooks, and knives. I keep my prices below on line listings for the same items.
This year I sold out by Sunday afternoon. I even sold the cook fire set and trammel I was using. I only live 2 miles from the park and have had 3 additional sales resulting from the event.
Sitting around the fire Saturday night, one vendor told me my prices were too low and I was hurting others. I did not even try to answer. Blacksmithing is a hobby for me and it's the only hobby of mine that pays for itself. I made enough profit that weekend to pay for my forge fuel and supplies for the next year.
Being retired on a fixed income, keeping my prices low is the only way for me to continue my hobby.

My shows started in Feb. They've all done the normal amount or better.