Tales from the darkside...

iIn other words, I did another craft show yesterday and it was bad.

I hate to be negative, because I did enjoy myself, chatting with other crafters, catching up with old friends, but as for sales, it was bad.

Most of the people I spoke to were in the same boat as me. They were struggling to get their table money back. I think I made about $38.00 over the cost of the table. I used to think that I would be happy if I made around 10 times to 20 times the cost of my space. For instance, if I paid $50.00 for a table, I expected to make $500 to $1000 that day. That was an achievable goal in the past. Those days are gone, at least for me. I haven't seen that return in awhile. I hope some of you are making that much.

As for customers, the "lookers" were friendly, gave compliments freely, chatted about the weather and inquired about my product. Two little girls came to my booth 7 times to admire my little pink sock monkey.

One of the girls really wanted the sock monkey and she held it in her hands, looked at her money, whispered to her friend, looked at me, and then would put the monkey down and walk away . This happened all afternoon. I really wanted her to buy it. Not because I needed the $4.00 but because she had fallen in love with it. But, as nice as I am, I wasn't going to give it to her.
With every purchase, I was giving my customers a free bag. The little girl who loved my monkey was just as in love with the bags, and would pick out a bag and hold it up to the monkey to find the right match. In the end, her mother told her she couldn't buy it. I was a little sad to see them leave!




Here are the bags I bought off of ebay. They looked nice with the clay, and people really appreciated the gesture. I paid $5.50 for 100 of them. Not bad!


I met a few crafters/artists and we shared ideas about Etsy., finding good items at garage sales that sell well on ebay, wholesale places to buy supplies, new craft ideas, and marketing suggestions.

As bad as the craft show was, I came away with some inspirations. For instance, I saw someone wearing polymer clay buttons on her jacket. I've been making buttons myself, and I think mine were much better, so that verified my idea that buttons might work for me.


I think I'm going to try and make stickers for my next show, to sell alongside the clay. I have been working a lot with graphics, so a lot of the work is done. I just have to get a new ink cartridge and labels, and I'll be set to go. I have a lot of ideas in regard to stickers and labels, and I think images of cute clay babies might look great on stickers. I have three weeks before my next show to put together a cute collection. I think I can work it nicely into my display.

Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Sometimes I think we artists/crafters are a little insane. I've done three shows in a month with horrible results, yet I still expect that the next show will have different results. Or so I'm hoping. To create, to make things, to do art is so important in my life that the
financial outcome, as horrible as it sometimes is, does not make me throw my hands up in the air and scream, "I quit!" I just keep creating. My friend Mary Ann, always says to me, "You just keep on keeping on, Debbie."

Albert Einstein also said, "True art is characterized by an irresistible urge in the creative artist."

Spoken as the true genius he was.

Polymer Clay Community

I have been using polymer clay since 1982 and started teaching it in 1987. Polymer clay has been in my home since and I assume it'll be there when I die. I've joked with my kids that at my funeral I want everyone to take home a clay souvenir. (they don't think it's funny, but I'm serious about it)..

Through my experience and journey with clay I've never joined a clay group, a swap or taken a class. I just love it so much, I dove in and found it was something I was good at. I've never considered myself an elitist or part of the "art" community when it comes to clay. I do my thing, you do yours. I admire other people's work and am inspired by some. A lot of people know who I am because of all of the shows I've done and now, because of the Internet. I still have a day job though, cause I've never been quite able to only live on my clay alone. It supplements my income and satisfies my creative cravings.

So, it really amazes me at all of the negative postings I've read on some clay forums in regard to the Polyform/Donna Dewberry partnership. A lot of clay "divas" are mad that they weren't consulted or chosen to be a part of the decisions of the clay and some complain about the certification. Some didn't bother applying for it, so they have nothing to whine about. Others did, but were cynical and negative. I personally applied cause I didn't want to miss out on it and thought it would be fun. If something comes of it, cool. If not, I'm not going to be disappointed.

When I read the comments that people make on the boards, I wonder where their egos come from. Some of the complaints: that they weren't chosen to be a part of it, they weren't consulted about the new clay , they doubt the competence of the manufacturers , they make fun of the trainers and they even have made fun of the names of the clay colors. I've noticed an arrogance mixed in with a lot of ignorance and wrong assumptions.

I've not made any comments on my own on the boards. It's a waste of time to argue and try to justify what Polyform has done. My goodness, they've been in business for 30 plus years and they sell clay around the world. The polymer diva's who buy clay couldn't have kept them in business that long. Too bad these complainers couldn't have taken the factory tour with me. They'd soon realize that the thousands and thousands of bars of clay that were EVERYWHERE weren't being sold to just an elite few.

My opinion is that polymer clay is what it is to the person that is using it. If you make stunningly beautiful canes and it takes you hours to complete a piece then I can see how you would feel that your piece is valuable and an expression of art. Maybe it can go into the Smithsonian Museum. Or maybe you are like me and make cute little characters that make people smile. Finally, you might be a 6 year old cutting out a Christmas ornament and baking it for your mother. Each one of us feels our work is meaningful. It's not the median we use, but what we do with it.

Clay is like crayons. Some people scribble and others make beautiful artwork.

Here are two links to show what can be done with crayons....

Jeffery Robert

The Crayon Artist


Now let's all stop arguing about the medium and start creating with it.:)