a guest post from Chrissie Cole

One of the many things on my list to do this year is to attend at least two craft shows with my mom. She is a big time quilter/crafter and while I’m not so much into the act of quilting I do enjoy seeing the amazing handy work and spending time with my mom.

I’ve picked out patterns and fabric and attempted to do my own quilting over the years but I’m just too hyper to sit still. Don’t tell her, but I have at least five or more started projects just sitting in the closet. Which mind you is nothing compared to most. She has easily over 100 started projects. So what better way to spend time with my mom than going to a craft show?

Deciding what craft shows to attend was a slightly difficult task. She doesn’t want to travel too far and there are just so many to pick from. Upon doing research there are several sites that offer information on the various craft shows so that it is easier to find them. One such site is Festivalnet.com. The site has over 23,000 North American events listed along with show details.

The larger reason, aside from spending some alone time with my mom, for attending craft shows is that she wants to make extra money. And, what better way for her to make extra money than making quilts and crafts which she enjoys better than most anything. The shows are motivating and will help spark creative ideas along with getting her out there meeting other people with a similar interest to her own. All of which are good things.

After looking at the craft show schedule and talking with my mom we chose two that are fairly close by which is always good. Below are the shows we picked as of now:

Melbourne Craft Festival this is works out perfectly, because of all the shows to go see, I happen to live in this city. I love staying in hotels and getting a break from my everyday life so I convinced her that we had to get a room on the beach for a night. She says it’s not necessary but I out voted her. Maybe next year I can push her into traveling further to see the even bigger shows.

Spring Fest Miami 2012 – she doesn’t live too far from Miami so another win in terms of distance, minus my driving down to her (about 2 hours) but that’s just fine. Both shows seem to be very populated so I feel good about attending them.

In attending these shows, as mentioned above, one of my main reasons is to gather more information about selling at these shows in the future. So that is one thing I will be focusing on while she spends money she will claim she doesn’t have on the crafts she doesn’t need. But isn’t that always the case? For me, it’s books. I have more books than any person should and yet I continue to buy them without even going to the book fair ?

If you have any suggestions for attending and selling at craft stores, please do let me know! Any and all information is always appreciated.

Chrissie Cole is a freelance writer for various blogs, including Speedy Incorporation, which helps new small business owners incorporate online as well as offering advice and information about running their business successfully via their small business blog.