I posted a pic of these little guys before I took them off to the Bazaar Bizarre earlier this month. They turned out to be a thorn in my side... painstakingly put together 30 of them and not one sold at the show. I never really talked about how the show went - I had very mixed feelings. Of course it's always great to be up in the Bay Area, but the success (simply in terms of profit) wasn't what I'd hoped it'd be. I don't like to look at these things as a success or a failure purely on the monetary profit I bring home with me. It's important to recognize that connections are made, business cards are picked up and people who otherwise wouldn't have ever visited me online may pop in after seeing me at a show. So I'm not going to say it was a total waste of time. I just didn't do as well as I hoped. On the first day (Saturday) I sat there for 4 straight hours before making one measly sale. After that it sort of picked up and then got busy for the last couple hours. The next day (Sunday) was much busier and definitely more prosperous for me - which is strange because everyone around me was saying that they made twice the sales on Saturday. This lead me to believe that Sunday was more of a family-type crowd. The gal behind me was selling bags and purses and the guy next to me was selling jewelery. So, Saturday very well could have been a younger, hipper crowd. The type of crowd present hasn't always been a determining factor for me, though. I'd often get the young, hip folks who were looking for creative baby shower gifts. That certainly wasn't the case this time. Which brings me to my second hypothesis (yes, I was a science major for a brief moment): maybe we're on the downside of a baby wave. Some moms and teachers at my son's school were talking about how next year's classes have fewer younger kids and most of the kids in my son's class have siblings that will be ready to start in a couple years, so they expect enrollment to increase again at that time. I wonder if there is something to be said about patterns in sales - one year baby centric, the next not so much. Sure there is, right? So, I think things are down now. Which makes me question - why am I doing all this? I'm not in it for the money... cause, well, there's not much there. I don't really have a big plan yet that I'm working toward. (who has time for a business plan with a 1 and a 4-year old?) I suppose the answer is simply that I like making things. I could keep making things and not sell them - but then the house would just get filled up with stuff and we're just about nearly busting at the seams as it is. I could work on making things for the house, sew my own clothes, bake more, garden more, build that shade structure I've been thinking about - but, what is it about things that come out of my sketchbook that make me want to continue to focus on baby booties, pillows, bibs and mobiles? It's an escape, for sure. It's a step back from the responsibilities of the house, the kids, the family. It's all mine. That's probably it right there. It's my little world that I can retreat to for a little crafty R+R before tackling that mountain of laundry.That being said (boy, I'm chatty today), trying to figure out a new use for these little wooden guys. Thinking of making some mobiles out of them. There again - baby focussed - they may sit in the Etsy shop for a year. Ack. Maybe I should scrapbook today instead.
