I looked into local events around Bedford in hope to try and start selling my designs and cards. I used to do car boots with my parents when I was a kid but nothing like selling handmade crafts. It was the Wootton Fun Festival and it was a mixture of stalls from crafts, cakes and tombolas.
It probably wasn't the best place to start as it seemed like a fun, cheap event and my products are slightly more expensive than an average village fete. About 3 hours went by with no luck but eventually I ended up selling £19 worth of cards. I had many people comment on how beautiful my paintings were and also a few people comment that they looked printed. I guess people assumed I just printed out some designs, bought some cards and tried to resell them when in fact I'd made them all myself. Every person that bought something from my stall was incredibly nice and kind.
In all honestly I was glad after just selling one card but when I got home and counted the earnings I'd made I was so surprised. The next day I had a lady contact me that had bought one of my cards, she ended up buying an original painting and another couple of cards. So from the one fete I'd earned £35.50 which for a first time really isn't all that bad!
I've learned that I need to make a sign or banner that states I'm an artist and my crafts are handmade, I'd also like to get an extra table that allows me to paint at the same time so that people can see I do create my art work. A good first experience and look forward to the next!
