Recap of Handmade Paper Guild Holiday Sale

The Holiday Sale last Thursday, Friday and Saturday felt slow, it seemed empty and there were lots of lookers.  We were all quite discouraged.  However, on Saturday (usually our slowest day) we had a steady stream of people.  Lo and behold, things started moving for everyone.  When I completed my inventory after the sale I discovered, my to my surprise, that I had my best show in years.  Maybe things are looking up folks!  Maybe three years in the dumps is enough.  We can hope, can't we?

We have the sale with the Kalamazoo Valley Potters and an art group called Art Etc.  The Weavers' Guild also is there and brings in lots of people.  We are at the Kalamazoo Expo Center (fairgrounds).  The best thing about this space is that we have lots of space!  It also, however, contributes to that feeling of not much activity because it is so cavernous.

As you can see, I really concentrated on the paper mosaics this year.

While I did well, I still have lots left.  Let me know the color you need for that special someone and I'll see what I've got.  (I know, I know, get on Etsy!)

To those of you that attended:  many thanks.  To those that continue to support me in various ways:  many thanks.  And so I'll end with my attitude of gratitude.  Happy Thanksgiving all.

Lorrie

Signature Artists Cooperative Gallery Sale

In May I was thrilled to jury into an area artists' coop. The group, Signature, meets monthly, has an annual exhibition and also opens a wonderful Gallery each December. The Gallery features the artwork of about 20 different artists. Incredible handmade gifts and artwork is available: jewelry, photography, pastels, ceramics, wood, stained glass, fiber, steel, blown glass, handmade paper, and paintings. If you still need that special something and live in southwest Michigan, check us out.

The picture is of my space on opening day. The work of pastel artist Melody Allen is beyond mine. I didn't take any pictures of the entire space because I wasn't sure about "permissions". Next year I will show you the whole store.

Hours for the remainder of the "run":

Tuesday - Thursday: 10 - 7

Christmas Eve: 10 - 3

Christmas Day: closed

December 26: 12 - 5

December 27: 12 - 7

We're located at 4644 West Main, Kalamazoo, MI 49006. The store is in the Westwood Plaza next to Coney Island. 269-382-4134.

For those of you that have already been there. Many thanks for coming and encouraging local artists with your presence and support.

Lorrie

Handmade Paper Guild Holiday Sale

I would judge this year's Handmade Paper Guild Holiday a success! We joined with the Kalamazoo Valley Potters, the Weaver's Guild and Art Etc. to put on a really nice holiday gift show the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Some challenges:

* We were in a new venue so we had to organize ourselves a bit better than usual ahead of time. I wasn't one of these organizer people so I'm very grateful to our Holiday Chairperson, Barb Stewart and her committee. One big change was that members had to commit to a table or two (or three or four) way ahead of time and stick to the commitment: no dropping out at the last minute because it would leave a big hole in the table layout.

* We were in a new venue, way across town from our usual spot, so our customers had to find us. The Weaver's have a big following so that certainly helped but our postcard to our mailing list seemed to do the trick. More advertising would certainly be a plus, but how to do it economically?

* We were in a new, much bigger, venue so we had lots of room to spread out but how to make it a bit cozy too? Thirty customers in this cavernous place made it seem like no customers were there at all. But, thirty customers at our old space made it seem like we were crazy busy.

* We were in a new venue but it is still located in Michigan: my lovely, but suffering, State with regard to most economic news. Enough said about this as I'm quite tired of hearing about it and the experts' guesses as to when it will be getting better.

Getting the idea that the new venue was a problem and an opportunity? Mostly opportunity, IMO, and I hope the groups decide to remain there for next year. My sales were about even with last year. (I haven't heard a total for the group yet.) It's not what I had hoped for but it wasn't down and I met some new wonderful people along the way. One gal from my yoga class that I didn't know beyond a smile and nod before each class, even made the effort to call me after the sale and tell me how much she and her daughter liked my work. Now that's a nice phone call to get!

This is my little corner of the world. Notice some of the work of the Potters behind my work.

This gives you a view of the work of one the Handmade Paper Guild artists as well as a look at the entire space. Big, big, big.

The soft lighting from the handmade paper lamps made by Liz Faust helped to cozy up the space a bit.

Many thanks to all that stopped by...

Lorrie

Blue Sunshine

Look what's blooming in my garden today...

Of course, this fun side table is just on a flowery rug.  In reality, we are getting our first snow of the season and roads are quite icy.  Let's be careful out there!

The Handmade Paper Guild Show two weeks ago went well.  In my next post I'll show some pictures.  Then we immediately left for western New York for Thanksgiving.  And now I'm working hard to get ready for a month-long Gallery Show with the Signature Artists Cooperative.  I was thrilled to get juried into this 30-member group in May so this will be my first time participating in their annual Gallery Show.  I have no idea if I have too much work or not enough.  Plus there's always that whole thing about guessing what things will sell.  Oh my!

I wish you a wonderful month of December filled with family, good food and wonderful thoughts.  Something to strive for anyway...

Lorrie

Paper Mosaic Frenzy

In anticipation of the Handmade Paper Guild Holiday Sale this weekend as well as the month-long Signature Gallery Shop I've been in a paper mosaic frenzy...

Picture frames and 10" x 10" mirrors...

More picture frames and 10" x 10" mirrors...

Some holiday stuff...

Some fun stuff...

Most prices range from about $10 to $50.  I will have larger stuff available too but I don't have pictures of it all yet.

Back to the studio...

Lorrie

Handmade Paper Guild Holiday Sale - November 18, 19 and 20

The annual Handmade Paper Guild Holiday Sale is fast approaching.  We always have lots of wonderful artwork and gifts available at a variety of prices.  You can find journals, cards, stationery, Christmas ornaments, jewelry, lamps, picture frames, mirror frames, gift boxes, scrap packs, and artwork all made from handmade paper.  It's quite an assortment!

Some good news this year:

*  We are once again showing our work along with the Kalamazoo Weaver's Guild!  This makes for a wonderful opportunity to see and purchase work by area weavers, as well as by papermakers, potters and a variety of area artists that display with Art Etc., all under one roof.  Plenty of parking too.

*  To accommodate the four groups, we're at a new, larger location.  Come find us at the Kalamazoo County Fairground, 2900 Lake Street, Kalamazoo, MI.

The show is Thursday, November 18 from 5 to 8; Friday, November 19 from 9 to 8; and Saturday, November 20 from 9 to 4.

Here are some pictures from past sales...

Hope to see all you locals there!

Lorrie

Handmade Paper Guild Holiday Sale

This Thursday, Friday and Saturday the Handmade Paper Guild of Southwest Michigan will be having it's annual Holiday Sale.  We join forces with Kalamazoo Valley Potters and Art Etc. (a group of area artists) on the campus of Kalamazoo Valley Community College, 6767 West "O" Avenue.  You'll find lots of high quality, handmade items that make perfect gifts for loved one (or yourself).  I'll have an assortment of everything I do:  paper mosaics, cards, ornaments, handmade paper fish and mirrors and more.  Come join the fun:

 

Thursday, November 19, 5:00 - 8:00

Friday, November 20, 9:00 - 8:00

Saturday, November 21, 9:00 - 4:00

 

 

Handmade paper fish

Paper mosaic mirrors and picture frames.

 

Paste Paper Card Packs

Handmade Paper Mirrors

Greeting cards and collages

Paper mosaic artwork

Have a good week!

Lorrie

Lorrie Grainger Abdo - Yep, that's me!

Here's my new booth sign for several of the shows I'm doing during the holiday season.  Cutting out all those letters was an exercise in patience.  I also have one in the works that says "Paper Artist and Instructor" (even more letters).  It seems obvious to me that what I do is all paper related but people almost always seem surprised when I tell them that the mosaics or the collages or the paintings incorporate handmade paper or are made from paper that I've painted.  I'm hoping a sign will help.

Lorrie

Women's Expo report

I had guessed that the Women's Expo would either be a boom or bust situation for me. I was right and it wasn't on the "boom" end of things. After Friday night, when it became readily apparent that most of the ladies attending were not really buying things but were looking for giveaways from vendors and a fun night out, I changed my tack.

On Saturday I started pitching my classes. I teach locally but what seemed to push people's buttons was the idea that if someone acted as a hostess and got together a group of ladies on their own I would gladly come to their house to teach a class (for a fee, of course). The lady in the booth next to me does home jewelry parties and was selling/booking a boatload. I hope that this comes to something. And if you are a new reader that stopped by my booth; talked with me; picked up a business card and are now following up on my blog: Welcome and I thank you! A party at your house is great fun for everyone. Please scroll through to look at some of my work.

Here is a picture of my booth:

I always try to jam as much as possible into the booth and, in looking at this picture now, I think it shows. I might be better off just showcasing some work rather that trying to show it all. Advice from anyone in this department?

Nonetheless, I met some great ladies and had numerous people make very nice comments about my work. I always appreciate that! In the end though, this show was so much work and had so little immediate and obvious payoff. The key, I think, will be in any follow up efforts I make.

Enough whining. More new collages in the next post. And, I'm off to Florida and warm weather tomorrow. What's to complain about?

Lorrie

New Collages

Tonight and tomorrow I am participating in the Kalamazoo Women's Expo at our local convention center. I've been reading up about different ways to market art and think it makes good sense to do more than just the art/gift shows. Typically, women are my buyers so a Women's Expo seems like a reasonable alternative. I hope this strategy works! I'm told that there will be about 60 exhibitors. I think it will be salons, decorators, massage therapists, etc. I am the only artist.

In addition to my usual stuff like handmade paper fish and mirrors, mosaics and cards, I purchased new business cards, made some new signs, made a bunch of 5 x 7 digital prints that look really nice matted in 8 x 10 mats, and made some new collages. Here are two of them...





Both of these collages are 6 x 6 and mounted on a frame. I priced them at $28. Ah, pricing... always a difficult thing.

Our weather forecast for tomorrow stinks so I hope I do well tonight. I'll let you know.

Lorrie

Holiday Sale II

The second sale of last weekend was the Handmade Paper Guild Show. We are a Guild of about 25 members and one of only two handmade paper guilds in the country (as far as we know). We've been having this holiday sale, in conjunction with four other artist groups, at a local community college for 5 (or 6?) years now. Each member is encouraged to bring in handmade paper items for sale, work the sale for a shift or two, and just enjoy the experience. The Guild takes a small percentage of each sale. This helps to fund workshops that we hold throughout the year.

This is a sale that is open to the public and we usually get quite a bit of traffic. The economic issues that we all face in today's world kept traffic and sales down. This table had a sign on it that said "Great Gifts for Under $20" and may have helped remind people that great handmade values are possible.

This was my corner of the sale. You'll notice some of the items that didn't sell at the Holiday Sale I Thursday night were moved to Holiday Sale II early Friday morning. Phew!

This year a Guild member came up with the idea to sell Craft Packages. Pictured here, the packages contained all kinds of paper-related goodies. The scrapbooking customers went crazy with this item.

More of my stuff along with artwork by a very talented papermaker (former art professor at Western Michigan University). Each artist must tag their art with the price and a code that indicates which artist gets credit for the sale. All purchases go to a central cashier and each artist then gets their money (minus the Guild commission) a couple of weeks later. Do inventory discrepancies occur? Sure. But that's the risk you take with any group sale, so as an artist you must decide if the benefits outweigh the risk.

Lorrie

Holiday Sale I

This past weekend was quite the flurry of activity. Two Holiday Sales for me, my son/husband went to Florida for the USL soccer nationals (my son played, my husband watched), my girls were good sports about it all, and my mom helped me out to make it all happen on the home front. Except for the pace of it all, everything was good.

The first sale was at a neighbor's house. Each year she graciously opens her home to allow 5-9 artists to display their work and about 400 people are invited in to view, socialize, and hopefully buy artwork and jewelry. It never ceases to amaze me (and so many others) that she allows us to pound nails in all of her walls to hang so many 2D pieces. Every piece in these pictures has a new nail just for this 3-hour event! We split all the expenses, give 10% to a charity that is chosen each year, and then donate one piece each to the hostess. This year, despite the lower number of guests, we still did well financially. With the economic picture so bleak, we exceeded our expectations.

Notice the house in the brown room in the picture above? It is a handmade paper piece of mine titled Happy House. A dear friend of mine bought it. That bit of news certainly made me happy and I hope she gets lots of enjoyment out of it too.

Even the fish got their own room... the powder room. People seem to buy the handmade paper fish for either their cottage or their bathroom. So, this placement in the house seemed appropriate!

After looking at all these pictures, isn't is amazing how much stuff we put into this sale? It takes two days to put it all up and we are able to take it down in about an hour and a half. Of course, when we're done the house looks like Cindy Lou Who's house in The Grinch who Stole Christmas!

Lorrie

Crunch Time

It's crunch time. Typically I do only two or three sales a year. This year two of the sales are the same day. Yikes, how am I going to do that?!? One of the sales is the Handmade Paper Guild Holiday sale which starts this Thursday and runs through Saturday. Because it is a group show I don't have to be there every minute of the sale. The other sale is only Thursday night so I must be at that one. But, it's not like it is a chore as it is a really fun evening. My neighbor opens her home to hundreds of ladies. They drink wine and buy art. It is usually a good evening financially for the seven artists, but this year, I fear, the guests may tend to keep their wallets in their purses. Since I'm in Michigan (worst economy in the nation, by many measures), I wouldn't be surprised. As a result, I've been working on more "gifty" stuff with lower prices in order to entice buyers. Plus, since I've been doing some new things (pictures to come) and am eager to show them off to potential buyers, I remain hopeful.

One thing I've been making for years are paste paper card packs. There are eight cards/envelopes in each pack and they sell for $12 each.

Remember those 60 sheets of paste papers I did a couple of weeks ago in the garage? Here's a sample of what they've now become.

Lorrie