I designed & created these monarch earrings and figured this sub would like them! I’ve always loved monarch butterflies and have great memories of raising them with my third grade class together. These are definitely the hardest earrings I’ve designed so far, even compared with my other butterflies. I tried my best to get the patterns correct, but the wings are just so intricate.
Need hand quilting ideas!
Going to big stitch quilt this for a baby shower on Saturday, so I can’t get too fancy with it.
I’m thinking about doing diagonals lines corner to corner, or doing big swirls between the stars. I don’t want to outline every star because some of those little stars have a LOT of seams that I don’t want to fight with.
Any suggestions on ways to big stitch quilt this?
I’m thinking about applying to one of the Markets for Makers events in Austin (they have one in Oct and one in Dec). I’m kind of waffling on the idea though for several reasons:
high booth fees $850 for 10’x10’ indoor table in Oct, $750 for 6’x5’ indoor table or 10’x10’ outdoor tent in Dec
it’s a ticketed event - they explain that it’s to draw in intentional buyers, but I don’t know if that justifies the booth costs (and eliminates casual browsers)
the intentional buyers might be a better target audience for my statement pieces ($50-100+), although the majority of my products will be $15-45
I’ve already applied to two other fairs (The Front Market in Nov & Vibe Artisan Market in Dec). I won’t be able to do all 4 markets obviously, but I’m not sure that I’ll get into *any* of them 😂 I’m currently focusing on indoor markets because I don’t have any booth things, and getting tables/displays for an indoor set up seems less overwhelming/expensive compared to an outdoor one.
If anyone has thoughts/experiences to share with a very overwhelmed newbie, I would appreciate it immensely
A couple weeks ago, I posted about having imposter syndrome and not knowing if my work was good enough to start selling. I’ve only been beading for about a year, after doing fiber arts for most of my life, and honestly the idea of selling my work was SUPER intimidating.
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! 🫶🏻🥹😭 I am so grateful to the craft fairs community for the outpouring of support, the detailed & thoughtful feedback, and lessons learned from your own experiences!
I wanted to report back that I now have an Etsy store and applied to two local craft fairs (one in Nov and one in Dec). I’m not sure how long the jury process is for them, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed! I’m also going to reach out to some botanical gardens and butterfly conservatories to see if they’re interested in selling my earrings at their gift shops.
I wanted to share pictures of some of the earrings I’ve successfully sold in the last weeks, especially all the super cool butterfly colors that people requested! 🦋🫶🏻
If I get into the fairs 🤞🏻I’ll definitely be back with more newbie questions! 🫶🏻 thanks for being such an awesome, supportive, uplifting community!
I designed and made these earrings using seed beads! Hope you enjoy this little dash of whimsy 🫶🏻🦋🌸
I designed and made these earrings using Fireline and 11/0 Miyuki delica seed beads! They’re a labor of love, but super fun to make!
I designed and made these earrings using Fireline and 11/0 Miyuki delica seed beads! The butterfly is definitely the most technically challenging design I’ve ever attempted, and I’m really proud of how it came out!
THANK YOU to everyone who responded to & upvoted my post last week asking for help with pricing my handmade earrings.
A few comments suggested that I show my creative process, so I made a time lapse video of myself making a pair of my butterfly earrings.
My question is: has anyone ever showed a video like that at their booth at a craft show? I don’t know if it’s worth lugging a computer monitor for it, or if I could just show it on my iPad? On the other hand, if the iPad is too hard to see, what’s even the point of bringing it?
Also, I know that the tray keeps moving around in the video 🙈 I’ll use an anti slip mat under it next time I try to do this
Thank you u/Full_Combination_336 !!!
Thank you u/from_random_fandom for the beautiful paintings! Happy crafting!
u/funny0nions thank you for the super cute drawings 😭😭😭 one of the subjects decided to pose as i took this picture lol
Made by the incredibly talented u/professionallybinges!!!
Dinner is spam, hash browns, cheesy eggs, cilantro-lime-jalapeño mayo, and strawberry jam at 11 PM because hello 👋🏻 ADHD and time blindness 😂🙈
My heart is so full today from the kindness of Reddit strangers. I’ve been thinking about turning my hobby into a side hustle by selling jewelry at craft fairs, but didn’t know where to start, so I made a post on the craft fairs sub asking for advice.
I had so many nice comments from people about my jewelry, and so many people took the time to give me incredibly thoughtful feedback and answers to my questions. They brought up a lot of really good points and now I have a bunch of ideas for cool things I want to make and things to watch out for in the future.
Multiple people commented about my “art” and it got me thinking. I’ve been crafting (knitting, embroidery, quilting) for the majority of my life, but I’ve never thought of myself as an “artist”. I’ve just been someone who makes things, but since they’re usually functional (blankets, scarves, hats, quilts), I’ve never thought of them as ART. I’ve always thought that form = art, and function = craft, but it can really be both! At the end of the day, these are objects of beauty that I created. It’s art! I think I’m an artist‽
People encouraged me to open up an online shop, regardless of whether or not I end up vending in person. I got some DMs and will actually be shipping out the first jewelry I’ve ever sold early next week (!!!)
A random question that I posted on a Friday morning ended up being a sort of soft launch for my jewelry side hustle 😂 I’m so thankful for kind strangers who took the time to look at what I made, answer my questions, and give me suggestions on things I should try! I’m awestruck that people actually like my stuff enough to buy it 🥹 imposter syndrome is SO real, but I’m a lot more confident in my skills thanks to this online community. 🫶🏻
Special shoutout to the girl’s girls out there. I asked about pricing suggestions in my post and had a WILD range of numbers. Someone who ordered two pairs of earrings from me told me she was proud of me for not lowballing the prices and undervaluing the worth of my work. 🥹😭🫶🏻
The internet can be a mean, cruel, dark place. But today it’s bringing joy and confidence to my little corner of the world 🫶🏻
I’m an enthusiastic hobbyist who started beading about a year ago. I’m thinking about applying to a fair later this year, but am struggling with some imposter syndrome. The handmade jewelry market is super saturated and I don’t know if it’s even with pursuing. I also have zero idea about how to price any of this.
Most of my earrings are more “statement” pieces. Should I also focus on making smaller pieces for dat to day wear, if I were to do a fair? Any advice for inventory goals? I was thinking 40-50 pairs of statement earrings, 100 pairs of daily earrings, and a bunch of assorted bracelets?
I honestly just want to make enough to fund my hobby and recoup any booth fees. I love my day job and don’t want this to become more than a casual side hustle. Is this even worth the effort of getting everything I need (tent, tables, displays, POS system, etc)?
EDIT: thanks everyone for all of the feedback and ideas! 🫶🏻🥹😭 I never expected to get this much attention, and I’m so blown away by all of the support!
I‘lol be setting up an online store soon! You can check out more of my work on instagram https://www.instagram.com/liuwhostudio and I’m happy to take orders via DMs in the meantime! Prices include shipping in the US!
Thank you u/ace_with_a_mace for the multitudes of findings and the huge stack of baggies!!! They will all be put to good use!
Thank you u/RHTQ1 for the charms, thank you cards, and super cute earring backing cards! I would have never thought to use circles, but they’re SUPER CUTE!
Thank you for the beautiful beads and the STUNNING pendant @ShadowStrike14!!!