Exploring the Magic of Craft Shows and Handmade Merchandise

Part of my blog site is my mostly handcrafted items available for purchase in my online store (as well as on some other online platforms). What has been the result of that? Absolutely nothing. I haven't sold a single item from any place I have them listed online. It could be that I am just slow at getting new (or variations of) items listed or that I just don't get enough traffic to any of the online sites. Building an online presence is extremely hard, and I don't spend enough time building that. I refuse to spend money at this time to pay for marketing or to boost my visibility. I will suffer through this and hope that it changes in time!

The other way I sell my handmade items is at craft shows. I have a friend that has so graciously displayed some items when she is at a show that I wasn't at. (Thank you #rebekahjaneart www.rebekah-jane.com )The shows she was at were slow sales. Not a good sign as a newer vendor trying to make their way in the craft show world. Especially after I have spent lots of money to craft things - I need to make that back.

Paw Prints onthe Canal Vendor Event

I was a vendor at an event recently (Paw Prints on the Canal). I didn't do horribly; it could have been better. We got rained out the last hour (I missed a sale as one person got there just as it started to rain; all the other vendors packed up, so I followed). I made back my vendor fee, which is always my number one goal. Did I make as much as if I had gone to

work for that same amount of time? Nope! But as Gene said, I made some connections, talked to people, and got ideas. So it wasn't a complete bust.

After that show, I went to update my website - saying where my next shows are, only to realize, in typical form, I had double-booked myself. The drive time between events is 2 hours one way! Not to mention that one event starts earlier. Decision time, which one to cancel... Never an easy choice. So I won't be attending the Apple Cider Festival in Grantville this year. Instead, I'm going to a women's retreat for some self-help/self-care!

Two of my best sellers were not handmade items, but something I buy in bulk from a vendor site. Granted, both items were something I would have purchased if I had been there as a shopper. My spot was next to someone who did T-shirt pressing (she had 600+ designs to choose from and multiples of each design), and I feel like she did slightly better on sales. Hers were in a way handcrafted, but not in the same sense as some of my items. It left me wondering, is the handcrafted item truly a dying item that will never sell, and if it does sell, will it sell way under its true value?

As I ended the craft show day, feeling mostly satisfied, I wondered what I could do differently. What changes would benefit me, how to boost sales, etc. This led me to think, what are people truly looking to buy? Especially if it's not close to the biggest gift-giving days (Christmas/Hanukkah). Are you looking for that unique gift to tuck away for someone, buying for yourself, your pets? Is it that you prefer the mass-produced items (thousands of the same item to be found anywhere), or do you like the uniqueness of handmade, one-of-a-kind items?

I love crafting, so finding a way to put all my crafted items out in the universe seemed ideal. However, it's hard! I definitely don't need all the unpaper towels, cloth napkins, bookmarks, cat beds, and cat toys and assorted items I make.

When you are at a craft show, are you looking for those handmade, unique items, or are you looking for something that is more picture-perfect? Drop your thoughts in the comments, I'd love to hear what you have to say! (Be sure to check out my merchandise for sale after reading today!)

Till our tails cross again,

Mel

#crafting #craftshows #handmade #madewithlove #vendor #crafty #craftycats #cats #fyp

Top 10 Trending Cat Names from 2024

As a multi-cat owner, deciding on names has always been difficult—I want the name to

match the personality of the cat, which can be hard. By the time we need a name (1st vet visit), they are too young to get to know the personality (or have come with a name, and

we rarely change it). I also want the names to be unique, not something that gets used all the time.

Coming up with a single name is hard enough, but we recently had to come up with six names! That was hard—Ash literally got named in the parking lot at the vet's office before her first visit.

The personality has always played a big part for me in naming them (along with not wanting to be embarrassed telling people the name of my pets). Only one time have I named a cat in honor of someone else. Tanner - he got named for my great-grandmother who passed away a little under 4 years ago. She had an orange cat named Tanner. My little tribute to her and her cat is having my own Tanner. However, our Tanner is so different in all the ways from her Tanner. The one thing they share is they do like attention. Our Tanner just takes a bit to warm up to you to get the attention. Her Tanner was happy to get attention from anyone and liked to go for car rides!

Where does your pets name fall on the top ten list of 2024 pet names?

Top 10 Male Cat Names:

1. Milo

2. Oliver

3. Leo

4. Charlie

5. Loki

6. Max

7. Simba

8. Jack

9. Ollie

10. Jasper

Top 10 Female Cat Names:

1. Luna

2. Lilly

3. Bella

4. Lucy

5. Callie

6. Nala

7. Kitty

8. Willow

9. Cleo

10. Daisy

Surprisingly, we have one on the list - Jasper! From house sitting, I know quite a few Milos, Lillies, Lunas, Lucys, and Kitties. I wonder all the time about people who land on Kitty and say that's the name. Were they thinking, "Oh, we aren't keeping this cat, it's a temporary name until we find something better," or just pure naming laziness?

What is your pets name?

Till our tails cross again,

Mel

#purrfectdozen #catnames #cats #feline #trendyname #top10 #bestnames #catlife #catlovers

Jasper's latest Vet adventure

Chillin' at the vets office waiting for his intake paperwork to be done.

So last month I wrote about Jasper heading back to the vet to see his favorite doctor and vet techs. As much as I love them also, it's the last place I want to go with Jasper knowing the diagnosis is going to cost me a pretty penny, let alone whatever prescriptions/diet changes, etc., will cost me.

First, we start with the very bougie visit - it's a Friday, and we didn't want to chance waiting till Monday for an appointment. Our trusted doctor was scheduled for surgeries all day. So we take the option of him hanging out most of the day at the vet's office in the cat section. Dr. B will do her exam, check him out, run tests, etc., between her surgeries. So he gets lots of visits from all the staff throughout the day.

I knew going in we would potentially need blood work and a more detailed ultrasound that gets sent out to the ultrasound professionals. As you can imagine, the dollar signs are going up and up and up. At drop-off, we go over the usual paperwork, I give him love, tell him to be good, and head out.

His initial exam results indicated he was healthy and happy. Moving on to the ultrasound, he gets his belly shaved for this procedure! He's accustomed to odd shaved spots due to his diabetes and the Librya tester. Meanwhile, I receive a text saying everything appears fine so far, just awaiting the ultrasound results. He's relaxing and enjoying the company of his favorite people. We receive the final diagnosis - nothing significantly wrong. His pancreatitis is simply having a flare-up, so we need to make a small dietary adjustment and add some fiber to his diet.

Who doesn't love a good cat nap!?

Just a few hundred dollars for this diagnosis, but also some comforting info: bloody poop is no longer an emergency visit for him. We just need to be aware and know that he is having a flare-up, keep an eye on it, make sure he is eating/drinking and holding a steady weight. If any of that changes, we go to the vet. Easy enough!

He's now on the most expensive diet possible: a prescription dry food costing $80+ for an 8 lb bag, $100 for prescription wet food for 24 cans (that should last us about 2 months), plus he gets Metamucil twice a day in his wet food and some sprinkled in his water.

Headed for some pets and kisses from his fav hooman!

His system is still flared up a bit—a big change from all the foods he used to eat to the new prescriptions. He no longer gets to do his "food tour" through the house, which he lets us know his disappointment in by sitting at his door and doing his biggest, loudest meows. Maybe one day the food tour will come back into play, but not anytime in the foreseeable future.

Till our tails cross again,

Mel

#purrfectdozen #Jasper #pancreatitis #prescriptionfood #dietchange #feline #catdiet #milliondollarcat #tabbycats #cutecats #catsfyp