This file is a collection of various messages having the common theme of
using a sander to aid in the making of felt. The information is primarily
from the feltmaker's list. I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages
having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files
and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, most of the
message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made
in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as
to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please
respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The
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ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS POSTED TO THE FELTMAKERS' LIST ABOUT BOOTH DESIGN
*Linda Wright, Tue, 7 Oct 2003. I was wondering if anyone out there would share their advice on a booth or table design/setup/hints/etc. I am doing an inside craft show next month and am trying to figure out the best way to display. I need something more vertical. I have soft sculptured Santa’s and some tree ornaments, angels, pincushions.....
*Ruth Walker, Tue, 7 Oct 2003.
Probably the most efficient vertical design is some sort of gridwall with
its accessories. You do not need to purchase the things that can hold the
gridwall pieces next to each other: just use cable ties (which I call zip
ties). You may know someone from whom you can borrow the gridwall to see if you
like it. Go to
www.google.com and do a search on gridwall; lots of companies will pop up.
Make sure you put everything UP.
Don’t make people look down at a table top! It should all be from elbow height
up -- eye level is best, for the obvious reason that it is at eye level.
* Trine Schioldan, Tue, 7 Oct 2003. Re: Linda's
question about tips/design strategies for an indoor craft show, the one thing I
recommend is to bring your own extra lighting. Don't count on the overhead light
provided inside the building. Make sure there is bright light shining on your
Santas, and to show off the colours of your pincushions, etc. Colour will
attract customers to your booth, but they have to be able to see it! Good luck
at your craft fair - I hope it goes really well for you.
*Nicole Chazaud, Tue, 7 Oct 2003. Ruth's comment about eye level is very
important, it is a proven successful sales location. I have seen tables used for
craft, and if you have a lot of pieces which require to bet set on a table take
a hint from jewelers, which I see at shows all the time. A regular folding
table, narrower is better, and put PVC pipe extensions on the legs so the table
is about 4 feet tall or almost counter height, or use a lower table and a taller
one right behind the shorter one, giving the idea of pedestals. I use
collapsible pedestals.The best suggestion I can give is creating a unique
shopping environment for your customer. When they step into your 8x10 or 10x10
area, keep them there, meaning if they are in your booth and can look at your
neighbors' objects at the same time they loose focus.
*Ann McElroy, Tue, 7 Oct 2003. The best
suggestion I can give is creating a unique shopping environment for your
customer. When they step into your 8x10 or 10x10 area, keep them there, meaning
if they are in your booth and can look at your neighbors' objects at the same
time they loose focus. I agree with this. You need to grab peoples attention.
One thing that always seems to draw people is a basket of bright colored roving,
tied up with raffia. I don't know why but people can't resist it. I use a
stepped display for part of my table. It stops one piece blocking the view of
others.
*Sandra Duvall, Tue, 7 Oct 2003. I have helped set up exhibits and booths in
several different mediums. I do know that everyone likes to "touch" the items.
I suggest that for felt and hand-woven item that you have a " touch basket" with
items inside for people to touch that include felt ball, flat felt, needled flat
and 3-D needle felt, prefelt and hard. It certainly saves from having display
damage.
*Rebecca Lavell, Wed. 8 Oct 2003. I use wooden shelving units from
IKEA....easy to take down and put up although a bit heavy for constant dragging
around. I have clip on lights that I can put wherever necessary...I like the
shelving units because you can adjust them to each venue....high or low sides or
whatever. I set them up around the outside leaving room for customers to come
in and browse.
There is a wonderful used store
fixture place in the Okanogan that I visit twice a year and always find
something I can’t live without....like acrylic risers and torsos, bamboo hangers
and wooden wind chime display that works great for felted jewelry. I like to
have many different levels in my display and lots of colour. Having a mirror is
important and something to sit on....I don’t like low chairs in a booth. I think
a bar stool type seat is better...keeps you at eye level and makes you more
approachable. If I am demo-ing the felting machines I like to have seats for
people to watch....if prospective clients can sit down they will stay and chat
longer. I am thinking about doing a kind of modular felt rug that can be
adjusted for different size booths.....just haven’t figured out how to work
around the tripping aspect.
I find music in a booth
irritating....especially if it is from the booth next door.....after a 5 day
fair with one of the participants playing plinky Peruvian music (the same CD for
the entire time) I was ready for the loony bin...ditto for repeating videos....I
did a local home show and was next to a private school who had their intro video
playing all day every day and by the end of 3 days had it memorized.....took me
days to get it out of my head!
Always take lots of sheets or fabric
to cover your stuff when you aren’t there. Probably the coolest thing I have
seen over many events is this rope of tape my girlfriend has....she and her
husband are both grips in the movie industry and when I forgot my duct tape she
produced this rope about 4 ft long tied in a loop with every conceivable type of
tape imaginable on the loop...when it runs out she just replaces it....very,
very cool.
I have a setup box that is strictly
for shows...with ratchets, wrenches, pins, scissors, tape, zap straps, etc. I
think the most important thing I have learned is to have organized take
down.....I think people are offended sometimes when they offer to help and I
refuse it. If you pack everything up with thoughts of the next show then you
don’t have to repack when you get home. I put and inventory list on the inside
of each Rubbermaid so I know what I have to replace at home and I tag the
outside of the Rubbermaids so I don’t have to keep opening them to see what’s
inside. If you keep all your Rubbermaids the same size (not too big) then they
stack well for storage and fit better in the van. My life philosophy at the
moment is you can never have too much fibre or too many Rubbermaids.
*Allison Pitt, Wed 8 Oct, 2003. Rubbermaids?
*Rebecca Lavell, Wed 8 Oct, 2003. A maid in dressed in rubber to help you
set up your booth.....no seriously, they are plastic bins with lids...they come
in lots of sizes are very sturdy and perfect for storage......I thought they
were universal...obviously not.
*Anna Salvesen, Wed 8 Oct, 2003. Hi Allison, Oh dear, I can only imagine
what you were thinking! Rubbermaid is a brand of plastic products commonly
available in the US at every K-Mart, Target, grocery store, etc. In fact, the
products are so common that they have become a household name for plastic
containers, similar to Xerox (for photocopy), Kleenex (for disposable paper
handkerchief), and Tupperware (another popular plastic container company and big
competitor to Rubbermaid). Rubbermaid makes reasonably priced, big, stacking,
robust storage tubs with a very good moisture-tight and air-tight seal (I think
one or two felt list members who were flooded can attest to this!). They are
perfect for securely lugging stuff around from place to place. I, of course, am
a huge fan of Rubbermaid products, but have no affiliation, etc.
*Donna, Wed 8 Oct, 2003. I buy Wall Mart clear (to almost clear) plastic
boxes with snap lids. They stack very nicely and cheaper than Rubbermaids.
*Helen Swartz, Wed 8 Oct, 2003.I like Rubbermaid tubs, but I buy the Dollar
Store (a chain here in Mid-Missouri) clear tubs because the store is in town and
I don't have to drive out of town and they work just fine. I am sure they are
not the quality of Rubbermaid but they work and are much less expensive. I can
see through them and that helps me with my stacks of tubs. I can't take them
everywhere. Some festivals will only let you take wooden boxes. I have some of
those also and have to repack sometimes because I don't leave anything in the
wooden boxes to store. To each his own!!!
*Ruth Walker, Thu 9 Oct, 2003. These containers are made by Sterilite (and can
also be found at Target). The lids do snap into place and they do stack nicely
as long as you have a few made the same year. I have three different lid designs
and have to determine my stacking accordingly! They are definitely less
expensive than Rubbermaid, and have white lids, which I find less distracting
than the colored lids.
*Betty Kirk, Sun 12 Oct, 2003. I have had several of the Sterilite brand
containers crack with the rough handling of showing, Rubbermaid may cost a bit
more, but haven’t had one of them crack yet.
*Elizabeth Harkin, Wed 8 Oct, 2003. I also use the PVC pipes to bring the
table height up. It makes a big difference in the look of the booth. I also
agree that if they can see the booths next to you their eyes and attention will
wander. I have quilt display poles and I hang a quilt at the back of my booth
to define my space, even though I am selling my jewelry. It is tall and it gets
their attention. I use a wooden folding room divider on the sides; anything
with height to cut the view of my neighbors. I want to create a vignette that
has its own mood or style to set me apart from everyone else. I also like to do
something so that if a customer wants to come back she can find something about
my booth that will set it apart from the others so she can make her way back to
mine and make that purchase. Can you tell I have been doing shows a long time?
*Linda Wright, Wed 8 Oct, 2003. What great
suggestions. I have to agree with you on the organized take down. My husband
has been doing craft shows for several years and has always been very particular
with how his pieces are stored. His effort pays off because he always knows
what is where. I have often been scolded for using the incorrect piece of
unmarked, unlabeled, bubble wrap to pack something in and I dread helping him
pack and unpack. Great ideas from everyone. Lighting, vertical display, color.
I think I am going to set up a test booth in my basement and work out the
details.
*Dawn Nicholson, Thu 9 Oct, 2003. To add to all those other wonderful ideas
posted, I would decorate a Christmas tree with some of the Santas and ornaments,
even a small tree on the counter would be an appropriate and vertical display.
*Rebecca Lavell, Thu 9 Oct, 2003. PVC pipes are great! and light....I am
thinking about incorporating them in my booth too. When I did a show this
summer there were two booths incorporating PVC, They had the whole outside in
PVC, forming a ladder type ends connected with long pieces down the sides and
then sat wicker baskets on all the way along for shelves......kind of hard to
explain but it looked good. I was impressed with how quickly they set up. So
many things come into play.....the space your display takes for transport and
the weight and how much help you have lugging things about and the rules for
each venue. I find each show I do I see something I like and I keep changing
and altering my displays all the time.....keeps people interested and it keeps
me focused too.
*Karoliina Arvilommi, Fri 10 Oct, 2003. Well, we have a large collection of old
rigid suitcases, easy to carry, easy to stack, lots of different sizes for
different things... and they look really great. Lets all use up our old stuff
before we buy new?? Please...
*Trisa Rasku, Sat 11 Oct, 2003. I have an assortment of the plastic containers
plus some old cardboard boxes and shelving and I agree that it is good to
recycle. By the way, I was able to see Karoliina's wonderful felts in person in
Helsinki in September. I was sorry not to make a connection with the real
person, but next time. I had a great time in Finland and it certainly seems as
if felt is very popular.
*Linda Walker, Sat 11 Oct, 2003. I was just wondering if anyone had any photos
of their booths that I could look at. I am more of a visual tactile person than
anything else. So far I have the material to cover the table, wooden crates, one
of those folding book cases, a 4 foot Christmas tree to hang the ornaments on.
My spinning wheel is ready to go, except I am not selling anything I have used
it for... Much more stuff and I will not be able to get it into my car, even
with the roof rack... It’s a small indoor show, and they will provide a table. I
need to go back and re-read all those good ideas...
Page Updated: 10/12/2003