our table at the concert

our table at the concert

Originally uploaded by feather.

this is why i have not been writing lately. for the last week i was trying to make some more stuff to sell at this weekend-long concert: http://www.concertontherock.com/.

in the picture you can see danny, an artist from new zealand, sitting at the table, and tom, doing a fortune telling down on the grass.

it was overall… an interesting experience. excepting the fact that i have a fairly bad headcold and very bad cramps, i was looking forward to camping and getting out of the city. the location in nakatsu is just lovely. the organizers were very helpful and this is their third year running. many people i spoke to were surprised at the small amount of people there, even tho there were more than last year. so i think they are still getting the concert rolling.

some good acts there! like nam ban jin and panda-no panda. (i really liked them!)

we were the first people to approach them to sell hand-made goods. it’s was all tom’s idea to begin with. he wanted to make baked goods, and put the idea in my head when he saw me crocheting one day.

but unlike concerts back in uk/us, etc, there isn’t alot of stuff-selling going on… so i think in some ways people weren’t geared towards that… but maybe next year! i would do it again, i think i would reconsider what to make and bring tho…

making things for sale- what i learned

anywho i sold three things! two things i’m calling ‘travel collage holders’ and the recycled paper coasters.

when danny and i started talking about this idea of selling stuff, i had pictured making mostly crocheted animals and stuffed dolls. but the reality is that they take so long to make that the selling price would have to be relatively high.

so i made a bunch of other things. a pretty motley variety actually.

on the other hand, danny made cushions out of old kimono fabric, and cuffs, and postcards. the cuffs were simply rectangles of kimono fabric, and vinyl either gold or black on the other side, and a velcro closure. they sold really well. they were for 1000 yen, and as of sat she had sold more than 10.

i think the cuffs suited the audience, who were there for a concert. not to buy paintings, no matter how much they cooed over them. mostly gaijin (western foreigners) came up to the table, and the women who bought the cuffs were buying them to match the outfits they were wearing.

i’m not discouraged tho. it was a bit of a kick in the pants, and now danny and i are talking about looking for other spaces/places to join up and sell stuff.

it’s also amazing watching danny work. she just goes at something full-on. i hem and haw. i think and stress. i criticize and rip out, start over and wonder how to make it perfect. she really doesn’t at all. she just goes for it, and she’s very productive. it was inspiring. i took a leaf out of her page and just went for it.

the things i made didn’t sell that great but, i think i need to consider the audience better.

like if i had made paintings of beer, they probably would have sold!