Friday Thoughts (Ep. 50!!)

Hello Patrons, friends, buddies, pals, a very happy FRIDAY to you all! It's on the cool side of warm and party cloudy in Seattle as I write this, fresh air is flowing into the open window, and I've got one of those cheesy 10 hour jazz youtube videos playing.

Let's get started with a welcome to our newest patron, JENNIFER! Jennifer is a local Washington watercolor artist who I met at Urban Craft Uprising last weekend, and I'm so excited that she's now joined us here on Patreon! Welcome, Jennifer! You rock!

I also want to mention that we had a lot of $5+ patrons join us in the month of June, and I'm so excited about that! As part of the Sage tier rewards you'll receive a thank you card and sticker in the mail. I'll be mailing out your cards+stickers after the beginning of July, so keep an eye on your mailbox, and thanks again for joining us!

Last week Ragon vs. This week Ragon

So this past week, as I'm sure you gathered by now, I tabled at my first big market of the year, and my first real craft show, at Urban Craft Uprising. Since I saw it as such a huge deal, such a big intimidating show, I really started to psyche myself out. Which I'm sure you gathered as well.

When will I learn that it's all going to be okay whether I'm stressing about it or enjoying the process, so I might as well enjoy the process!

The process leading up to the show involved turning my apartment living room studio space into a block printing studio. I hand printed 20 organic cotton kitchen towels and 20 Bella + Canvas t-shirts, and ran string all over my living room to provide myself with more space to dry the products. (Which is a step up! With my first block print batch I just draped the shirts all over the things in my storage closet.)

The day before set up I tested out my display on the floor. I measured out the table side with masking tape and practiced on top. This is especially important to know what labels to make, and what products to bring and what to leave behind.

Unfortunately this stage is what really freaked me out. Seeing my living room a wreck of Ragonia display goods, boxes everywhere, needing to be packed up, the stress overwhelmed me for a bit. The solution for me, in that moment: curl up in to a ball and take deep breaths. Then leave the whole mess, walk down the street to the Goodwill, buy a couple big binders and boxes for show storage, and walk back. Much better.

Set up day, the day before the market!

Yikes, looking back I had some strong stress going on. I was so intimidated as I was setting up, constantly looking at the other seller's tables, feeling self-conscious. I imagined that everybody knew that I was new at this, that people knew my tablecloths were from Goodwill, that my wire rack display looked cheap and amateurish. 

And maybe some of that is true, but so what! I started to remind myself that I am new at this, and that's okay! I have improved already, and I will continue to improve. My display improves a little bit every time, and I learn a little more with every market. 

I was feeling the discomfort of being outside of my comfort zone, and that's GREAT! A little bit of growing pains means Ragonia (and Ragon) are GROWING!

My next Arty Business series is going to be all about MARKETS, so I'll talk more about the how-to's next week!

In the meantime, I wanted to share a couple pictures of my display this time. In case you're like me and like to pore over every detail of other people's displays.

Check out my new shelving and new business cards!

And a big array of handmade pins! Giving the pins this much space was a great move. People like to choose the exact pin that they want, and pulling them off of this grid to give them to the customer was easy.

A view of the back of the table, and my handsome partner/helper Zach! Peep the cashbox behind the shelves, and my iPad that I use as my POS. At busy events, ease of payment is important!

I also wanted to share my under table set up, because it worked really well! If someone wanted to see a shirt in a certain size it was really easy to grab it when they were organized like this! But having the prints neatly organized in a big binder with huge pockets was the most helpful.

And how it all looks packed down at the end and beginning! I use a roller suitcase for a lot of shows because it's super easy to transport!

The show itself was very fun, and I'm so glad that I did it. I met a lot of people who follow me on Instagram, which absolutely fills me with joy every time. I met so many sweet and enthusiastic new people, including new patron Jennifer! The camaraderie between the vendors was also so encouraging, and I really hope to get to see all of them again in the future.

There were moments where it was very busy, especially when the doors first opened and at after lunch time (around 3pm.) There were a few times where the sales were rapid fire, one customer is ready to purchase while I'm ringing another up, forming a chain of sales. 

That said, the market overall was a lot slower than I expected. A lot of the vendors agreed that it was pretty quiet, slower than the year before at least. I heard a rumor that the organizers said it was the slowest year yet. One vendor told me that 2019 overall has been the hardest year in a while for markets. Gulp.

As far as I can see, that's just the way the craft/art industry goes sometimes, so I'm not dissuaded. There are going to be slow shows. I made back what I paid for the table and more, gave out 100's of business cards, and still have a lot of stock leftover for future markets. It's all good.

I don't have a problem sharing with you all the breakdown of what I sold last weekend (again, this was a slow show in my opinion.) If you use the Square app like I do you can get a close understanding of what people purchase. For example, almost everything but earrings brought in an average of $300, so I'd say I should devote my time fairly evenly between all these products. I'm not surprised earrings didn't sell well, because I didn't make very many before this, and I don't feel like I have the pricing exactly down for them.

Stickers are consistently a best seller, and I'm glad that despite their smaller price tag they're still bringing in a comparable amount of money. Before this market I raised my glossy sticker price from $2 to $3, and I'm so! Happy! I did! It didn't slow down the sales at all, and because I hand cut them like a crazy person it helps pay for some of that labor.

Any way I hope this little breakdown is helpful to you, too!

So that's Urban Craft Uprising 2019 for Ragonia! Not exactly what I was expecting, but great nonetheless. 

Back to regular business! After taking a few days to rest and clean and recoup, I got back to a few projects that started before the market. 

Like the tissue paper design above! I sent the design off to Noissue and should receive my order of paper in the next few weeks. I'm so excited to use this cute custom paper to package my orders of t-shirts, tote bags, and towels. Once it arrives I'll be making a little post about it on Instagram!

I also packaged up and sent out my first wholesale order today! I was contacted by the owner of Gallery Boom in Olympia, Washington with a request to wholesale some of my stickers. She ended up ordering stickers, pins, and a few prints. If you're in or near Olympia, you should check it out! Wholesale is totally and completely new to me, so I hope to tell you all more about it once I learn a little more. But I do know it's a great and important way for artists to earn what's essentially passive income. So here's my first try! 

Whew, that's a lot of big stuff. I think I'm tired. 

I have a couple of conventions lined up for the autumn, a few markets in the summer, but no huge projects on my doorstep right now. Which I think is good, because I really want to take a little time to practice, experiment, and make some things for fun. I need some time to play.

You'll hear all about it. :)

Thanks for reading and supporting! This community is growing and I am LOVING it! I've got some great ideas for Patreon thanks to all of your, and your enthusiasm. Seriously, this page is thriving thanks to you all!

xoxo

Ragon