I had an open studio last spring that I actually wrote about here, and foolish me, I decided that I needed to do another one. I had forgotten how much work is involved. It has taken me at least a day and 1/2 to get everything out. I've sent out 3 emails with pictures and for techno tard me, that's a big job.
My house keeper (John, my husband) has been cleaning for 2 days and has dish pan hands and on top of that, I made him take me out for a late lunch/early dinner, because there was no where to eat, let alone cook. Every counter top and table is weighted down with jewelry. I have to admit, it looks great, but I won't know til tomorrow if anyone is coming - it could be a whole lot of work, down the old draino - I hope not, but for something like this, you don't know until your door bell rings.
My house keeper (John, my husband) has been cleaning for 2 days and has dish pan hands and on top of that, I made him take me out for a late lunch/early dinner, because there was no where to eat, let alone cook. Every counter top and table is weighted down with jewelry. I have to admit, it looks great, but I won't know til tomorrow if anyone is coming - it could be a whole lot of work, down the old draino - I hope not, but for something like this, you don't know until your door bell rings.
I have tried everything to get the post before this one with the same title removed - Once again, a technological problem has me stumped. So it's going to stay there as a testament to my techno-tard status..because I have no other choice in the matter and I will continue what I started here! !
Okay -back to my open studio. This one was not as busy as the one that I held in the spring, but there has been continuing business from it. I had the sale on Wednesday and today is Sunday and I had another sale today. I used all of my dining room, most of my kitchen and parts of my great room to display product...so it's a great activity if you claim part of your home as business space.
As you can see - it's really nice to have unlimited space to display your product. I have allot of product cuz I am way too prolific and I never know when to stop when I get a good idea and one thing leads to another - and I'm not happy unless I follow those shots all the way to the end and make everything along the way.
I will definitely do another one of these - all my sales are in boutiques about 50 miles from my home, so it is nice that my neighbors in my subdivision know what I do and what is available to them that I can supply. Since we live in Arizona and many people go north for the summer, I will do an open studio in March before everyone leaves and this one that is closer to Christmas will be earlier. There's allot of stuff going on now most of which was not on the community calendar. I think that I will do it as soon after Thanksgiving weekend as I am able to and I may get a few more people wandering in.
Both of these Open Studios have been good for me. I have sold enough to make it very worthwhile - more than any single show I ever did when I was doing shows. I have met new people that like my work and reconnected with old customers. All in all, it has been worth the effort - it would be fantastic if I didn't have to get everything out and then put it all away again :)
If any of this product, catches your eye - it is all available in my shop - Come visit.
I've done a couple of home shows myself-and I agree with you Linda that they can be very good for business. Even though there is a lot of preparation. Another tip is to "recruit" those who have come to your studio to host a showing in their home. It's a great way to get new people to view your work. (and you don't have to do all the cleaning!)
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