White Rock Local Market

The White Rock Local Market is located at 702 N. Buckner Blvd. in the Green Spot Market parking lot. This is a great little market that supports farmers and food producers who practice natural, sustainable, organic, or beyond organic practices. It also supports local arts and crafts vendors in the dallas area. The market is held on the 2nd saturday and 4th saturday of the month. The 2nd Saturday offers an arts and craft market along with the food vendors. The 4th saturday is for food vendors only.

Getting into this market to display your stuff is hit or miss. They have changed the jurying process so you now need to be selected by a jury for each month you want to participate (you send them a list of all the months you want to participate for the entire year). The problem is that they don't let you know if you've made it in until the month preceding the month you apply. For me, that is a bit difficult because if I want to get into other events, I need to know my schedule for other shows months in advance. So that part has been a bit frustrating lately, but I'm learning to go with the flow and the organizer is very understanding when you need to book other shows. :)

If you apply for and get into WRLM they have a new rule that you now need to have 25 lb weights on your tent. A tent is not required, but during the summer it is nice to have some protection from the brutal Texas sun. The weight requirement is new due to the massive windstorm we had during the June Market. All of these years, you've been told that Chicago is the windy city, right? Wrong. Dallas can definitely hold its own in a wind competition - not like there are wind competitions, but if there were Dallas would win hands down every time.

At the June market we had tents blowing over, roofs blowing off, sculptures crashing to the ground, and babies flying out of their mothers arms (yes it was THAT brutal). As the winds came and went, we would hold the tent with all of our might because we didn't want to kill any animals or small children and besides when your tent blows over everyone stares at you - and we couldn't have that. So, during this one particularly strong gust of wind Alicia and I were both holding the tent as hard as we could. In a slow motion scene reminiscent of the world's best action movies we watched as this wind picked up one of my table cloths and every single piece of merchandise on it. There were purses flying, scrabble tiles spiraling out of control and young children screaming. It was like Sophie's Choice. Do we let go of the tent and risk putting lives in danger to save the purses? or do we let the purses crash to the ground and save the people from the flying tent? We decided to save the people and let the purses go. Customers were running over and trying to catch them. But that wind is stronger than any customer will ever be, so all attempts to save them were futile. When the wind died down we literally shoved all of my merchandise into my bins, folded up the tables, collapsed the tent and we were on our way home. It was WAY too stressful to stay after that and by that time I needed a drink.

Overall, the WRLM is a great value for the money. The entry fee for vendors is only $25 and the customers are very loyal and return month after month.

Bring some extra cash for purchasing items from your neighbors because you are going to need it :)

Here are my ratings. (1 is the worst and 10 is the best)

1. Cost of entry to revenue ratio - 9
2. Ease of Set Up/Break Down - 9
3. Venue - 10
4. Show attendance - 9

Overall score - 9.25

North Texas Institute Craft Fair Review

I really wanted to write my review of this show when I got home last night, but I took a few deep breaths and decided to wait until at least today to write it so I could give myself some time to cool off. Turns out I was a special kind of upset because this review will be as bad as it would have been if i had written it last night :\

I heard about this show last year but since it was a first-year show, i decided not to do it. Since there are a lack of craft fairs in Texas during the summer (go figure) I decided to try it out this year. I should have stayed home and caught up on some TV because this show was definitely not worth the time I invested into it.

This is what I think happened {cue wavy lines and dream sequence music}. The organizer was sitting at home one day pondering Christmas in July and that sparked an idea {insert light bulb going off}. "I think I shall organize a Craft Festival and I will pick all of my favorite artists so that I can get all of my Christmas/Holiday shopping done. I will not advertise nor will I put up signs in the neighborhood. I will not make this a location that is well known and popular. I want to have my pick from all the merchandise and shall not let anyone else enter! And the best part will be that I will use their entry fee for me and me alone!!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHA..."

That pretty much sums it up. No one came and the only one that shopped was the organizer. The entry fee was 70.00 for a two day show. Not bad, right? Wrong. This show should have been free. There were literally 20 customers ALL weekend. What I made in two days, I usually make in one hour at a normal sale. Take my advice and don't ever do this festival if you value your sanity.

On the upside, I met some great people from Etsy Fort Worth and I look forward to doing the Cowtown Indie Bazaar with them on Sept. 4, 2010.

Here are my ratings. (1 is the worst and 10 is the best)

1. Cost of entry to revenue ratio - 1
2. Ease of Set Up/Break Down - 5
3. Venue - 1
4. Show attendance - 1.

Overall score - 2

Some of my products :)

Just wanted to share with you guys what I am actually selling at these yet-to-be-reviewed DFW craft shows.

I create vintage-inspired wooden box purses and jewelry out of up-cycled, recycled materials like old watch parts, game pieces and reclaimed wood. So, Here are a few examples of my items :)

* All products in images are Copyright 2010 Arrowsarah

Intro :)

Hey, everyone! This is the first blog that I have sworn to myself (and to others) that I will keep updated and current so we'll see how this goes.

Let me start off by saying that I am not an expert in the craft world. I am just a girl that started doing these shows throughout the DFW area last year. So any thoughts, opinions or reviews expressed in this blog are mine and mine only. You can listen to them if you want or you can disregard them. Your choice :)

The goal of this blog is to chronicle my experiences at local craft shows... and hopefully along the way provide you with some good information and mild entertainment.

I will also try to give you honest reviews of the shows that I participate in (again, based on my opinions only). I am also going to try to rate the shows based on these factors:

1. Cost of entry to revenue ratio
2. Ease of Set Up/Break Down
3. Venue
4. Show attendance

If there are any other areas you would like to know about just ask.

Like I said my main goal is to provide you with my experiences at these shows but from time to time, I will be showcasing new products, ranting, raving and everything in between.

Hope to see you along for the ride!