It’s my illustration birthday!
At Christmas time 2017 I accepted my first commission. I didn’t have a plan to become an illustrator at the time. As I come up to my first year I have been reflecting on the last twelve months. I want to share what I have learnt and my reflections with you.
This week, my focus will be on my first Christmas season as seller. This has been my busiest time of the year as you might expect. I was surprised to find that it seemed to start as early as October. This was when my first commission for Christmas came in. I also found that, in line with recent shopping trends, bespoke presents are in demand at Christmas time. Over the Christmas period I have been commissioned to produce the most house portraits in a similar given time window, with a total of 3 requested before December had even begun.
One of a kind presents for one of a kind people
The number of commissions I could take on and window I could create them in was always something never very far from my mind. Consequently I chose quite a conservative window of stopping taking Christmas commissions on 8th December. This meant that customers didn’t have to be a super early bird to get one, but that I absolutely knew I was able to deliver all of the commissions on time. Especially in the context of increased ‘off the shelf’ Etsy orders and markets.
I also created a range of ceramic christmas tree ornaments and generally got my stall in the Christmas spirit. You may have spotted me in Christmas jumpers on a couple of occasions recently! As for the Fair’s I chose I attended 4 between October and December. There are a lot to choose from and I wouldn’t return to all the ones I did this year. However, each one is a valuable learning experience. Plus, there is always chance to chat to other stallholders about the world of craft and illustration when a fair is quiet.
The most wonderful time of the year
The best thing I have learnt is that I see myself doing this next year. I didn’t have any horrible experiences, where everyone’s stall is flocked around except mine. I did have occasions where I forgot important items, like carrier bags or my display stands, but there’s nothing that was a true crisis. Even the day where I didn’t make back my stall fee (unfortunately there was one) serve to help me decide which stalls to approach in future.
If you came to see me at any of my markets this year, or visited my Etsy store, supported me on social media I’d like to say a big
THANKYOU!
Year one has been brilliant and I have lots of ideas for year two 🙂