Well I think it is official, my sister and I are finished with selling at craft shows. After our disastrous experience in Berkeley where half our products were smashed to pieces, I think we will settle for selling through store fronts. Our first attempt will be in February, at a local Antique and Craft store in the Niles area near our home. Rental spaces seem the way to go, so wish us luck in our new undertaking!
Thank goodness we don’t sell origami! This was the thought that kept swirling around my head all morning this past Thursday during out final day of craft fair selling. We had set up a booth on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, and what a prime location! Shops everywhere, people all over the place, pocket bulging with money just waiting to be spent. The only problem?
We were experiencing what it might feel like to be part of a small hurricane. The flier said, selling during “rain or shine”. Ok, rain, we got rain, WIND now, WIND was Not mentioned. Not just small gusts that make you cold, oh no, I’m talking about winds that were picking up peoples’ tables and throwing them across the street, spreading their merchandize everywhere. It was very scary to watch people as their tables were lifted up and thrown, we heard numerous crashes from people who sold such items as glass, ceramics or even one table who sold giant metal statues. After about three hours of attempting to sell our crafts, we gave up, just as the table down the way upended glass bobbles all over the place, creating a horrible crash. Some times the price of selling just isn’t worth waiting it out.
Here are some tips if you plan to sell in a big city which might have wind:
1. A tent seems like a good idea, it keeps out the rain, but make sure you have blocks weighting it down or it will be picked up by the wind. One seller had a bike hook in the middle of their tent and held on to it, immobilizing their tent. Great idea.
2. Either have very heavy tables or make sure you have blocks to it down.
3. Its best to have weighty products, the seller who outlasted everyone? He sold candles, his table was going nowhere.
4. Even the heaviest items can be blown away, if you have a table cloth under them. The people selling metal statues had a very billowy table cloth on their table and the wind picked it up and sent their statues flying. Make sure if you want to decorate to tape down all edges of the cloth.
5. Try not to have banner, loose cards, paper bags or light weight signs on your table, these items will find their way to the other end of the street, make no mistake!
6. Easy set up, easy break down. Nothing more unpleasant then spending time taking down each priceless glass bowl, when the wend is picking up. Make sure you have a way to get you products to safety in a quick manner. I placed my items under our table in boxes with lids.
7. If you sell an item made from glass or ceramics, DO NOT WAIT to pack up. Don’t try to out wait the wind, it is stronger then your products. The second you feel things getting active, begin to pack up. Sure it sucks to not make any money, but better to only eat the vendors fee and not risk your merchandize.
8. Bring sunglasses, goggles, or any protective eye wear. Sure I looked a little funny with my cosplay steampunk goggles on but, I was able to protect my eyes from flying debris.
Good luck for all you crafters out there!
So, back to mantel clock demolition! Here you are, with a beautiful coiled mantel clock movement, uncertain about what to do with it. Don’t be scared, power tools are tons of fun to play, er, work with! The Dremel is a relatively safe power tool to work with, and unless you somehow held the cutting tool to your finger, all appendages should be safe.
1. The first thing you should do when cutting open a clock movement is find a good place to work. You want to work outside if you can, but a cleared solid table in a well insulated room can work.
2. If you are inside place a tarp on the carpet as cutting is messy work and the blow back from the cutting with go everywhere. If outside make sure you own a broom. 
3. Put on goggle, this is non negotiable, when opening a clock movement, springs, gears and parts can go everywhere. You can choose to where gloves and a gas filter if you want, it depends on you.
4. One thing to remember about the Dremel is that it is delecate, you can’t cut open a large movement like the ones found in mantel clocks in one sitting, the Dremel with over heat and then you will need a new fan. Be sure to have plenty of time to allow your Dremel to rest.
5. Now you are ready to cut! Place the cutting tool on the dremel (this was explained in a past post). The movement is two pieces, held together by solid brass bolts, that no bolt cutter will be able to cut through, thus the Dremel. Place you gloved hand over the edge of the movement where the springs stick out to prevent them from popping and place the other part of the piece upright on the table. 
6. Make sure you have a solid hold on the movement and begin cutting slowly through the closest bolt, pausing frequently to allow your dremel to cool. Be careful as you continue to the next bolt as your spirals will begin to loosen and try to pop out.
7. Once you have all the large bolts cut through you can move to the small parts, slowly cutting them either with the Dremel or a bolt cutter, until the two large brass pieces pop apart and you can open the movement completely. 
8. Now the movement is cracked open and you can get to the goodies inside!
Look for my next post on how to clear and cut gears for decoration and jewelery making.
If you have done this properly you should have a piece that looks like this!
So, you like clockwork steampunk jewelry? Know how to work metal pieces together, can rivet, solder and cut? How about gear harvesting? Say what?!
One of the biggest problems that steampunk enthusiasts face is the acquirement of gears. Sure you can buy them online, but they are soooo expensive, so why not find them yourself? The best places to look are at thrift shops, antique malls and small abandoned shops pushed in the very back of the district. No really its true, the dustier the better!
I found this little beauty
Abandoned Antique Metal Clock
in a large antique shop in San Francisco over the summer during a steampunk supplies trip, and have been having fun with it ever since. The first thing you do with any of these antique mantel clocks is to safely remove the glass enclosing the face and remove the hands. This is because once you attempt to remove the movement, if the hands are still in place, nothing will happen and you will be left yanking on the movement.
Once the hands and face are safely removed, place the clock on its face and go get your Dremel or some other cutting tool. Unlike so many other clocks, the movement on this baby is bolted to the encasement, making it impossible to remove the movement, short of cutting the whole thing out, it’s not going anywhere. The movement is bolted on all four corners so it will stay in place and each corner must be carefully cut through, (don’t forget your safety goggles, and a tarp!). Once the bolts are all cut, you can then safely remove the movement from the mantel frame. Don’t forget to have a pair of bolt cutters on hand because the movements are often held in place beyond the four bolts and a small sturdy bolt cutter is enough to cut the whole thing loose. Watch for the springs as they will sometimes come undone and pop out at you, another reason for the goggles and even safety gloves to protect from rusty cuts.
In the end though, the trouble is worth it as the movement is now free and ready to be torn apart! My next blog post will be exploring the safe ways of opening a clock movement.
So my sister and I have finally branched out, stepped away from our safety zone behind the computer keyboard and have began selling our products in person, very scary. Over the last two weeks we have attended a total of four craft fairs, and what an ordeal they have been! Let me first start off by saying that I am still very new to the Bay Area of California and because of this sometimes I do not understand exactly how far away certain areas are in regards to my home. This geographical misunderstanding is how Rag Bag Artistry found itself in the social room of a Methodist Church in the out of the way city of Salinas. Now Salinas is a farming town, a small little home town (much like Milledgeville Georgia, where our family is currently living) and Salinas is a good hour and a half away from Fremont, when the traffic is good. Thus Ali and I set out for Salinas at five in the morning on November 5 to reach the Methodist Church by seven. For those of you interested in one day spreading your business from Etsy to Craft Fairs and such one suggestion, unless your product sells directly to older women, do not sell at church charity events, it’s just not worth it. Thankfully we were able to make our money back and pay for gas but altogether the experience was lacking.
Along with our trip to the Methodist Church we returned Saturday for another event in Salinas which was very well advertised and was supposed to be very active, or not. Another tip for those interested in selling in person, just because an event is heavily advertised does not mean that there will be lots of people attending. This second event in the local Salinas’ Salvation Army community center was a complete bust, most of our business came from other vendors bored and walking around buying from each other. In situations like this the best thing a seller can do is stay put or they will find themselves spending money instead of earning it. Thankfully we were able to keep put and left not too depleted.,
Later Saturday evening Ali and I found ourselves in a sports bar on a golf course, about an hour away from home selling our crafts in their back room. Ali is an avid snowboarder (she just went this past weekend!) and was a member of “Rusty Bindings” an online meetup group for snow board and ski lovers. They host an event every few weeks at this bar and we just happened to stumble upon their holiday craft show meetup, and got a chance to sell at an event FOR FREE!
So the moral of this post is don’t give up selling at craft fairs, you will get some stinkers, you might get a good sell or you might find something unexpected.
Social media sites and how to integrate them seamlessly to gain followers! We are super uber fans of HootSuite and its amazing ability to both watch and create content for various social media sites from one single hub.
Because we are thankful for so much in our life!
My sister and I recently went to Joann’s fabric to find some ideas for Christmas crafting, and boy did we! Joann’s has exploded with small artsy trinkets that will look lovely on bows, necklaces, headbands, hats, the list goes on. At a “buy one get one free” discount the items ranged from $.50 to $2.00, what a great deal.
Along with their lovely small decorative items the store’s supply of flowers for the holidays has increased with the addition of GIGANTIC poinsettias in numerous colors to tiny holiday stands of berries, charms and candy canes all at “buy one get one half off”. Altogether I saved over $40 and got some of the most adorable and useful Christmas crafting decorations that I have seen.
After our lovely outing to the craft store, my sister and I ended up spending quite a few hours together crafting and creating new exciting headbands from the items that we had found at Joann’s. I don’t typically use Joann’s as a source of supplies, most of my creations are made from metal parts not fabric, but I am willing to try something new, and after all the things that we found, I’m happy that I did.
You can check out more of their sale items online
We adore our creations, but sometimes you wonder if others do — and you know what, they do! Ali’s scarves got some love and attention today as we were featured over at Sheena’s blog, Oh The Handmade Life.
We are totally excited and hope you will stop by over there to say HI
