The Best of 2011

Here is our list of the top ten shows we did this year, in order of net profit.

1.       Folk-fest St. Pete

St Petersburg, FL

2.       Inman Park

Atlanta, GA

3.       A-kon

Dallas, TX

4.       Crafty Feast

Columbia, SC

5.       NYAF

New York, NY

6.       2^nd Most Awesome

Louisville, KY

7.       Chatty Crafty-December

Chattanooga, TN

8.       Handmade Market

Raleigh, NC

9.       Nashicon

Columbia, SC

10.   Indie Craft Parade

Greenville, SC

Not surprisingly, several local and nearby shows made it, because we didn't have that much expense in it.  If I did this list by gross profit, it would look different.  Also surprising is that 4 out of 5 of our furthest traveling shows (8 hours or more) still made the top ten.  Which proves our theory that traveling around the country to do shows is WORTH IT!  We hope to return to all ten of these shows in 2012. 

Show Report- December

We only had one show in December:  Chatty Crafty

This is the 3rd time we've done this show, and this time it ended up being one of the better shows of the year.  Back in June, we didn't have much luck here, and weren't sure why.  This time we ended up finding a collector, which really helped turn the whole show around.  I was immensely surprised that we didn't sell any dolls, and only sold a few of our Christmas ornaments, but I'm very glad that we finished out the year on a positive note.

Show Report- November

Chomp and Stomp
A chili cookoff/bluegrass festival in Atlanta.   Joe got to try a good bit of the chili, but by the time I tried to get around, most of it is gone.  It goes FAST!  And the festival is packed with people.  Most were there for the food and music, so we didn't make a ton here, but it would be a great festival to come to.  I have to say, the organizers were sticklers for details, and ran a tight ship of loading in and setting up.

The same weekend as Chomp and Stomp, we went to the opening reception of the Day of the Dead Show at Young Blood Gallery.  Joe had two coffins in the show.  We have never seen such a large reception.  The entire place was packed so we could hardly move around.  And they had a band outside, so the entire parking lot was packed as well.  It was amazing to see so many art supporters out, and it made us wish Columbia galleries could draw the same crowds. 
















Pleasant Hill Elementary craft show

This one is unusual for us, as we don't do school shows.  We generally don't fit in to the atmosphere, some of Joe's stuff is decidedly not for kids, and I really take issue with having to compete with Avon and Pampered Chef.  That being said, this is where our niece goes to school, so she enjoys having us there.  We did this show last year and did better than we thought, and we did about the same this year.  Plus we had picked up a few fans, which always makes us feel special! 










Indie Craft Experience
At this point in the year, this is our 6th show in Atlanta and I feel like we might as well just move here.  This was our first time at ICE, and we enjoyed it.  I didn't know the area well, but some said the building was in a bad part of town.  There seemed to be a crowd pretty much nonstop in the building, however.  This was another show where they gave shoppers tote bags, which is an awesome idea!
We saw a ton of our friends here and did pretty well too.

Show Report- October

October was a good month for us.  We filled every weekend with shows.

Folk-Fest St. Pete

Held in St. Petersbug, FL, this has been our best show for the last two years.  We love this show!  The atmosphere is great, the music is awesome, the other artists are fun and laid back.  This year, we were one of the three featured artists at the show. 
We met Matt Deterior, another amazing artist there, and did an art trade.  Check out his work!
 St. Petersburg really has a wonderful art community with excellent local support.

New York Comic Con/Anime Fest
Again this year we were on the Anime Fest side of the convention.  Next year we are definitely making the switch to the Comic side.  We did well and beat our 2010 sales, but it was nothing like the ComicCon side.  Several people made comments to us that we would have fit in better over there, and we have to agree.








Little 5 Points Halloween Fest
This was a one day show in Atlanta, which was fun and somewhat profitable.  We had a few drunk annoying people in our tent toward the end of the night, but that happens.


Trillum Arts Festival
We went to this little show on the recommendation of an artist we had met at a different show.  Held in Traveler's Rest, SC, we figured it was near enough to be a day trip and wasn't very expensive.  Well, it didn't much pay off.  Traveler's Rest seems to have an older, conservative population, which doesn't usually work our well for our stuff.  Good music and nice people, though.