First Monday Trade Days, Weatherford, Texas, May 30, 2009

Saturday, May 30, 2009. The birthday of Tony Bartolowits and Jamie Ezell, two people you've probably never heard of. It was also the date for the June, 2009 edition of First Monday Trade Days in Weatherford, Texas.

Rachel Bates was there, in her usual location (K44) with her TileSmile wares, brightening up the scenery with her beautiful smile.

She had lots of foot traffic at her corner of the pavilion, though lots of that traffic was male. It seems that men stop and look at her tiles all the time, but they never buy them. When women stop there is a good chance they will make a purchase. I'm not sure why that is, but it could be because the men want a closer look at Rachel. That's only a guess, mind you.

I was also located in my usual spot, that being #K3, under the pavilion. I had company, this time in the form of Ellen Kreager instead of my wife, Debra. Debra was home, resting after a hectic week of school, and Ellen wanted to test the waters in Weatherford, selling her leather pillows, which are also available online under the name of Thunder Moon Designs. She has some absolutely beautiful pillows for sale, most of which I had not seen before.

Once again, I used my tie dyed t-shirt display as a flag pole, if you will, to call attention to our shop. It can be seen for a long distance, which is perfect in a crowded place like this. I have a hole already drilled into the top so I can add an actual flag to the display later. This will be a tie dyed flag, naturally.

I've decided I need a different display so my candle holders get more attention. I have a couple of tables set up at every event, and I built a small display to show off some of my products and separate them from the mass of wood and wax on the rest of the table. What I need, though, is to get the candle holders up in the air, in multiple layers, instead of all on the same plane, sitting on a flat table top. The way I have displayed my wares at every event I've ever attended, no one can really see them clearly at a medium distance, much less from across a crowded parking lot like we have in Weatherford.

I need to catch the attention of passers-by at a reasonable distance, and to do that I need to build a new display fixture. And I have drawn inspiration from the "step-ladder" fixture Ellen set up to show off her pillows. It spreads out wide, so it's fairly stable. Her version holds three shelves, so it can display lots of merchandise. And the ladder folds up for easy transport and storage. I figure I can have a slightly wider version ready to go for the next show in Weatherford, which will be on July 4. I'm looking forward to getting in the shop and building this thing.

Last time we were in Weatherford we had, for all intents and purposes, a yard sale next door. It was unpleasant. This time we were graced with Sheree Gailey and her cousin, Sarah Gailey, and later with her daughter, who's name I do not remember (sorry). They were selling purses, designer sunglasses, wallets and keychains. And they were fun to be around, easy on the eyes, and good company when we weren't talking to customers. I honestly hope they show up again, and I wish them much success. They had more sales than just about anyone in our area, and all of those sales were to female customers, obviously.

I had four sales Saturday, three of which occurred after I had packed almost everything away to drive back home at the end of the day. I sold two shirts and two candle holders, and I took a picture of the lady who bought the first shirt of the day. I don't know her name, but she was in her 60s, was really cool, and she had bright red hair with hot pink highlights! Unfortunately the pink barely shows in this photo.

So, next time in Weatherford I should have the new display built and ready to put to use. And I would love to have Ellen with me again, and to have the lovely ladies selling purses and accessories next door.

Rachel will be in Tennessee on the Fourth of July, so her space will be empty. But I will be in attendance, candle holders and t-shirts at the ready, to help bring a bit more beauty and joy to the world as we know it.

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First Monday Trade Days, Weatherford, Texas, April 4, 2009

This time out we had great weather in Weatherford! Now if we can only figure out how to keep Debra from frying in the sun...

This recounting of events will be short, due to my tight schedule this week and next. I'm building a set of shelves for a client in Irving, some drawer fronts and a cabinet door for a friend in Fort Worth, a pair of closet organizers for my son (haven't started that one yet), and I have to do some work for my mother today, Wednesday.

We made a few sales, had a lot of interest. Oddly we sold no woodworking at all, though lots of people were looking. The big display I built for the tie dyes caught everyone's attention, drew people in to our booth, but I have to tweak the setup a bit next time so the shirts don't obscure the candle holders. I think many people completely missed the rest of our wares, seeing only the T-shirts.

Rachele Bates of TileSmile fame (also a fellow member of Design Style Guide) was present, along with her friend, Beth. They had a better setup than we did, and they had more sales. From a distance you could see everything in their booth. Okay, maybe you couldn't see every tile they had for sale, but you could see that they were selling tiles, and you could see it clearly. That's very nice.

I'm considering placing the T-shirt display farther out in front of our booth. It will eventually have a tie dyed flag on top. By placing it way out in front it will still draw people toward our booth, but they will be able to see the woodworking as well.

Next month's space is already paid for, and we're expecting sales figures to climb again. And we'll be adding more shows in other cities as the year progresses. Maybe we'll be in your town sometime during the next few months. Look for us!

Fort Worth, ETC...

I belong to two different Etsy teams. One of them, Design Style Guide, is an interior design team. We each produce items which can be used to decorate a home or office. I make candle holders and bookends and wine rests, and they fit right into that idea.

The other team I belong to is, on the one hand, more generalized, in that it doesn't matter too much what your selling in your Etsy shop -- soap, cookies, Edwardian chairs, jewelry, note cards, clothing, pottery -- and on the other hand it is a lot more specific because everyone on the team either lives in Texas or is from Texas. This team is called Etsy Texas Crafters, or ETC for short, and I've actually been a member of it longer than I've been in DSG.

On December 2, 2008, there was a meeting of ETC members from the Fort Worth area. It was held in (drum roll, please...) Fort Worth. We met at La Madeleine way out on Camp Bowie.

In attendance were Samantha Leonard of Old But New (really cool jewelry), Robert Leonard III of Draknor Designs (web design and hosting), Angela Niles of Flutter Bugg Creations (handmade crafts and gifts), Lori Browning of The Paper Elephant (handmade cards and paper favors) and Snuggle Junkie (handmade baby blankets, rag quilts, fabric and supplies), Connie Owens of HossLass Art (functional cards and original art with a western flair), Rachel Bates of TileSmile (handmade ceramic tiles), Cari Shannon of GoodScents (soap and bath products) and, of course, me. I was promoting both my woodworking business and my new tie dye business (right now that's just t-shirts but it will expand).

We met each other, had a little small talk, I ate some onion soup, and then we got to the point, which was becoming active members of ETC. One thing we can do (obviously) is to continue having meetings such as this one. Once a month seems reasonable. Beyond that we simply went over the things that ETC already does every Monday on Etsy, including the 1st Monday sale every, ummm, first Monday of every month. 

The issue for me was that no one has a really clear idea how to promote ETC successfully or how ETC can promote out individual businesses successfully. I have found that communication within ETC is limited and unreliable. This is an easy fix. Getting people who have never had support from an organization to suddenly start seeking that support is a bigger issue, but it can be overcome as well, and these are all issues we'll be tackling in the near future, one suspects.

All-in-all I had a great time, met some cool people and, perhaps, found someone to produce a few pieces of jewelry I've been searching for and someone else to make some Halloween cards for next year. I think Lori -- who ran the meeting -- will have a full plate dealing with all the issues we have before us but I also think she's capable of handling it. And, with the help of the rest of us, and maybe some more Etsy people from the area, we should be able to make some progress in 2009.

Here's to a great new year for Etsy and for Etsy Texas Crafters!