I love your editing style, specially those parts where the little doll was and you voiced over it ♡ Being a crafter myself I have to urge you to not get discouraged, it's hard to begin but it is a first step we all must take to learn, you were lucky to have it at a free table con versus paying all the expenses and not being even close to break even. I started tableing with one product and learning and attending markets over and over made me able to have a wide range of items now that I do sell and do well. I work with different materials, one of those being hama beads, I make keychains, phone straps and wall decor but what I do is taking the time to make every product my own, I add charms, change color schemes and morph it into something different. You can buy pre made stuff and make your beautiful flower pins even more unique, chains, charms, decorate them with more than one thing and you'll see what q difference it makes, I can swear by that, have little mystery bags with small but cute items, that really helps with sales. If your art features series that are not that widespread I find a good sells tactic is to cosplay one of the character of such series and hold/wear the items of the series, that creates much more hype about the item itself, say, you are cosplaying Howl and you have Calcifer pins, that gets double the attention. The berets are a great idea for you, everyone can sell them, but the way you customize things is what will set you apart, find your target audience, you can't always have everything that everyone will like but for example I see your items being sought-after by lolitas and people with that kind of aesthetic. Don't give up!! I'll be watching n_n ♡
Thank you so much for the encouragement! For all my talk I find I get discouraged & give up easily-even without realizing it. More of a looking back and thinking “how hard DID I try before I stopped?” thing. After this event, I did a market and it was overall not as great an experience as I hoped. Not even terrible I think just wrong for me in my approach. I ended up taking a break from applying to shows because of it. There’s other stuff going on that contributed to that but overall I’m trying to get back into it. You’re right that persistence is important. I will keep at it as best I can! Thank you for watching and leaving such a thoughtful comment :)
Love the aesthtic and the stlye. Especially yhe hats. I think the fact that 100% of your products are handmade is very difficult at cons. It seems alot of con artists offer alot of cheap products with a wide range of ips. They buy from factories or vograce, and only a few original pieces like prints. I think your stuff looked great and your style is really cool, i've seen too many booths with almost the exact same kawaii aesthetic so I would love to see a booth like yours😁 P.s. killer section for the video was great😂
I think boothing is a balance between artistic integrity and business. Not to say most people don’t have both, but I found myself having to think differently than usual. I’ve done a craft fair since then, and I have to admit that despite the encouragement from ppl who have seen this video, it was pretty discouraging for me. Maybe I’ll talk about it in another video lol. But for all the work I’ve put in, I haven’t seen much return which is normal but has hammered at my resolve such that I’m taking a break rn. Like I know you’ve gotta work hard, but I’m tired of it rn 😂 I also prefer putting my all into a passion project. Making stuff just for sale was getting to me. Especially trying to make it cost/time effective since I like intricate things but ppl aren’t paying what that costs. Aaah that’s a lot 😅 Anyway thank you very much for watching! This was definitely fun to try & I really appreciate the feedback from everyone
Oh man I really liked your flower hats!! Ill have to check your etsy. Im surprised they didnt sell. I feel your pain with the underground popularity thing, my friend keeps telling me to try tabling but I only have the motivation to draw hxh and wha 😅 Which are like you said, people recognise but arent.. committed? I personally cant control my wallet when I see Witch Hat stuff at a table but I realise I'm likely an exception. The artists usually mention about it when I buy the wha related thing too, like "Oh Im glad you like wha!". Your brushbugs are so cute in every iteration ✨
Thank you! My Etsy has dwindled since this video. I’m mostly making doll sized accessories here and there. I have a lot of hats left that I let expire. I’m guilty of giving up on things before they have time to get going, but I also don’t have the resources or support to make Etsy my main thing atm. Eventually when I’m more stable I’d like to continue tabling for fun! Not a defeat-more of a redirection 😄
Such a lovely share! I work on my makes while the family sleeps - I sell on Amazon handmade 😊 - You are going to do so well because you are so open to reflection and improvement. If you went to more of a craft market I’m sure your florals would have done well, but the cons are more specific interest driven. The crowds are so supportive of their unique artists! I think your $30 is pretty low. Don’t sell yourself short! Just display them prominently and they will do so well! @hibiscusstitch and @lionaroundsewing may give you some price ideas - they are selling plushies so your items are more unique though which is such a draw for this con crowds! Wishing you the best.
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment 😄 Between you & me, I’m awfully good at reflection. Pushing myself forward is my biggest problem! But you’ve inspired me to look into more things, so thank you! That’s a good point about cons being a specific interest & art shows being better for general designs. I love fan art, but have also felt pressured to do it more since it’s easier to grab an audience quickly with fan work than original. And then there’s the issue of making the RIGHT fan art. Anyway! Thank you again. I have some original stuff in the works now that I’m proud of, so I’ll keep at it. Thank you for watching!
Oh I think ghibli would be an awesome fandom to for your aesthtic. With alot of round shaped characters like calcifer from howls moving castle, soot sprites from spirited away, and totoro
Thank you for the suggestion! I hadn’t thought much about Ghibli. I think because I’m not super attached to the movies. Soot sprites would be easy to make though ehehehe
I think this was an excellent experience! I honestly wouldn't consider the display purchases too much into your profits if you are to continue selling at events (which you so should!), as you said they are investments into your business. I've done different events, small and big, anime/comic cons and craft fairs and it's always different within each type. I spent a good year just throwing my hat into all kinds of events just to check out what works for me and have a good few events I can rely on going to each year now. I don't do this full time, but it is definitely a nice side income for me though and full time hasn't been my goal. 100% having variety helps! You did amazing with having different price points, but having different series or original work that satisfies different niches. Little things add up so much, they are one's bread and butter with the bigger items being the profit making assists. I think everything you did was more than successful for the first time. You learned so much about your own products and have an amazing base set up for your future endeavors!
Aah thanks so much for the encouragement! I’m doing a swap meet this upcoming Sunday & a spring craft fair the following Saturday. These are both different niches than the first event I did, so I’m looking forward to my floral stuff possibly doing better. Also no anime so less stress to have series variety- I think a big stress/burnout factor from that first event was that pressure & that I had no backlog inventory which I do have now. I’m doing this full time just for now & if my online sales could pick up, I’d feel much better. Full time forever isn’t my intention either & I think once I’m doing this as a side thing, it’ll be SO ENJOYABLE. I’m really looking forward to that, so the toughness only comes from my current situation. I’ll keep on trucking 🫡
![[CRAFTER’S] Artist Alley Vlog #4. An end to my set up journey?](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/AGCBWalX-nY/mqdefault.jpg)
I love your editing style, specially those parts where the little doll was and you voiced over it ♡
Being a crafter myself I have to urge you to not get discouraged, it's hard to begin but it is a first step we all must take to learn, you were lucky to have it at a free table con versus paying all the expenses and not being even close to break even. I started tableing with one product and learning and attending markets over and over made me able to have a wide range of items now that I do sell and do well.
I work with different materials, one of those being hama beads, I make keychains, phone straps and wall decor but what I do is taking the time to make every product my own, I add charms, change color schemes and morph it into something different. You can buy pre made stuff and make your beautiful flower pins even more unique, chains, charms, decorate them with more than one thing and you'll see what q difference it makes, I can swear by that, have little mystery bags with small but cute items, that really helps with sales. If your art features series that are not that widespread I find a good sells tactic is to cosplay one of the character of such series and hold/wear the items of the series, that creates much more hype about the item itself, say, you are cosplaying Howl and you have Calcifer pins, that gets double the attention. The berets are a great idea for you, everyone can sell them, but the way you customize things is what will set you apart, find your target audience, you can't always have everything that everyone will like but for example I see your items being sought-after by lolitas and people with that kind of aesthetic.
Don't give up!! I'll be watching n_n ♡
Thank you so much for the encouragement! For all my talk I find I get discouraged & give up easily-even without realizing it. More of a looking back and thinking “how hard DID I try before I stopped?” thing.
After this event, I did a market and it was overall not as great an experience as I hoped. Not even terrible I think just wrong for me in my approach. I ended up taking a break from applying to shows because of it. There’s other stuff going on that contributed to that but overall I’m trying to get back into it. You’re right that persistence is important. I will keep at it as best I can!
Thank you for watching and leaving such a thoughtful comment :)
Love the aesthtic and the stlye. Especially yhe hats. I think the fact that 100% of your products are handmade is very difficult at cons. It seems alot of con artists offer alot of cheap products with a wide range of ips. They buy from factories or vograce, and only a few original pieces like prints.
I think your stuff looked great and your style is really cool, i've seen too many booths with almost the exact same kawaii aesthetic so I would love to see a booth like yours😁
P.s. killer section for the video was great😂
I think boothing is a balance between artistic integrity and business. Not to say most people don’t have both, but I found myself having to think differently than usual. I’ve done a craft fair since then, and I have to admit that despite the encouragement from ppl who have seen this video, it was pretty discouraging for me. Maybe I’ll talk about it in another video lol. But for all the work I’ve put in, I haven’t seen much return which is normal but has hammered at my resolve such that I’m taking a break rn. Like I know you’ve gotta work hard, but I’m tired of it rn 😂
I also prefer putting my all into a passion project. Making stuff just for sale was getting to me. Especially trying to make it cost/time effective since I like intricate things but ppl aren’t paying what that costs.
Aaah that’s a lot 😅 Anyway thank you very much for watching! This was definitely fun to try & I really appreciate the feedback from everyone
Oh man I really liked your flower hats!! Ill have to check your etsy. Im surprised they didnt sell. I feel your pain with the underground popularity thing, my friend keeps telling me to try tabling but I only have the motivation to draw hxh and wha 😅 Which are like you said, people recognise but arent.. committed? I personally cant control my wallet when I see Witch Hat stuff at a table but I realise I'm likely an exception. The artists usually mention about it when I buy the wha related thing too, like "Oh Im glad you like wha!". Your brushbugs are so cute in every iteration ✨
Thank you! My Etsy has dwindled since this video. I’m mostly making doll sized accessories here and there. I have a lot of hats left that I let expire. I’m guilty of giving up on things before they have time to get going, but I also don’t have the resources or support to make Etsy my main thing atm. Eventually when I’m more stable I’d like to continue tabling for fun! Not a defeat-more of a redirection 😄
Such a lovely share! I work on my makes while the family sleeps - I sell on Amazon handmade 😊 - You are going to do so well because you are so open to reflection and improvement. If you went to more of a craft market I’m sure your florals would have done well, but the cons are more specific interest driven. The crowds are so supportive of their unique artists! I think your $30 is pretty low. Don’t sell yourself short! Just display them prominently and they will do so well! @hibiscusstitch and @lionaroundsewing may give you some price ideas - they are selling plushies so your items are more unique though which is such a draw for this con crowds! Wishing you the best.
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment 😄
Between you & me, I’m awfully good at reflection. Pushing myself forward is my biggest problem! But you’ve inspired me to look into more things, so thank you!
That’s a good point about cons being a specific interest & art shows being better for general designs. I love fan art, but have also felt pressured to do it more since it’s easier to grab an audience quickly with fan work than original. And then there’s the issue of making the RIGHT fan art. Anyway! Thank you again. I have some original stuff in the works now that I’m proud of, so I’ll keep at it. Thank you for watching!
Oh I think ghibli would be an awesome fandom to for your aesthtic. With alot of round shaped characters like calcifer from howls moving castle, soot sprites from spirited away, and totoro
Thank you for the suggestion! I hadn’t thought much about Ghibli. I think because I’m not super attached to the movies. Soot sprites would be easy to make though ehehehe
I think this was an excellent experience! I honestly wouldn't consider the display purchases too much into your profits if you are to continue selling at events (which you so should!), as you said they are investments into your business.
I've done different events, small and big, anime/comic cons and craft fairs and it's always different within each type. I spent a good year just throwing my hat into all kinds of events just to check out what works for me and have a good few events I can rely on going to each year now. I don't do this full time, but it is definitely a nice side income for me though and full time hasn't been my goal.
100% having variety helps! You did amazing with having different price points, but having different series or original work that satisfies different niches. Little things add up so much, they are one's bread and butter with the bigger items being the profit making assists.
I think everything you did was more than successful for the first time. You learned so much about your own products and have an amazing base set up for your future endeavors!
Aah thanks so much for the encouragement!
I’m doing a swap meet this upcoming Sunday & a spring craft fair the following Saturday. These are both different niches than the first event I did, so I’m looking forward to my floral stuff possibly doing better. Also no anime so less stress to have series variety- I think a big stress/burnout factor from that first event was that pressure & that I had no backlog inventory which I do have now.
I’m doing this full time just for now & if my online sales could pick up, I’d feel much better. Full time forever isn’t my intention either & I think once I’m doing this as a side thing, it’ll be SO ENJOYABLE. I’m really looking forward to that, so the toughness only comes from my current situation.
I’ll keep on trucking 🫡