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     The Garage Sale Art Fair was held February 27th.  I really look forward to this show every year.  It is great fun catching up with people and the deals are crazy good.  Usually I am there as a shopper.  This year I went with Connie to sell some of Norm's art fair equipment and his art work.  I have not helped her do a show in about ten years.  It was always fun being on the artist's side of the fence and I missed that.  It was really nice talking to the artists as we set up.

     So, three of us loaded up a cargo van, and I happened to be the only person with two good hands, and headed for Kalamazoo.  The load in was super easy.  We were able to park right next to one of the many entrances into the Kalamazoo County Expo Center.  So, the walk from the van to our booth was fairly short.  There wasn't any extra space around the booths for storage.  This event is held indoors and space is at a premium.  That wasn't a problem though because the van was not far away.  We were able to go back and forth all day to get things. 

     The doors opened at 9:30 am on Saturday morning for customers.  The line was huge and stretched out for a long ways indoors.  People said it was huge outside, too.  When they let the crowds in the place was packed.  At about 12:30 I heard thy had already had 6,000 people come.  Shoppers want to get there early because the deals are so good.  By one o'clock I was already seeing a few booths had shut down and left because they had already sold out.  

     This show is produced Michael Kifer and Bonnie Blandford's Road Wife Productions LLC.  They do a great job.  They were always visible to take care of problems.  Even though Saturday is wild and crazy they were both in great moods and they stayed like that all day long.  On Friday night during set up they served cold bottled water and pizza.  Someone brought in the best brownies to share, too.  Then, on Saturday, to encourage shopper spending, they have a drawing.  About once an hour they draw a shopper's name and give them $20 in Garage Sale bucks to spend at the show.  About 2 pm Bonnie began making announcements from artists for further mark downs.  Poor Bonnie was getting these announcements fast and furiously.  She happily stayed on course and kept making announcements. 

      Artists occasionally posted funny signs to grab the customer's attention.  This sign was on Alison Fox's table.  Alison came with a tons of things.  I walked by her booth about 2 in the afternoon and she was down to a few pieces. 

     This show had about 150 artists.  The artists were housed in to adjoining rooms.  There was food available to purchase from the concession stand in the building.  The food was not the highlight of the day and people were not there to eat but to shop. 

      This artist with the pottery sells a lot of his inventory every year.  I have seen him before but this year he was determined to get rid of it all.  This was taken later in the day when most of his stuff was gone.

There are about 150 artists that get into this show.  Many artists apply hoping to get one of those spots.  I saw several AFI members there.  AFI member Joan Tweedell was not far from our booth.  I have read many of her show reviews over the years but hadn't met her.  She had some very pretty work with her.

My iPhone usually takes crisp photos but I think it was taking a hiatus the day I was at the show.  I had to sharpen these photos.  Sorry about the blur. 

This really is a great show to get rid of your no longer wanted stock.  I have seen some strange items for sale at this show, too.  Last year someone was selling a microwave.  Every year there are a few strange items.  It is worth a try and you never know who may want that item you brought.  This show is a great way to kick off the new art show season.  See you there next year.

Let's hope this show becomes another holiday tradition!

Here are some thoughts :

1)     The Elegant and Central location of the Highland Park Country Club was a superb selection.  The Club itself is beyond lovely and on high traffic roads.  I feel the site and hostess details will be keys to drawing our friends back again and again. On Friday night, there were spotlights circling the inky darkness and trying to draw the Friday Shopper’s attention.  On Saturday and Sunday evening, there was a pianist playing at a baby grand in the entrance way, which set a scene of chic charm as clients made their way into the warmth of free hot chocolate and the laughter of easy conversation. There was an open bar for patrons. But the massive fieldstone fire place, natural wood floors, glitter and gleam of huge chandeliers, entire walls of windows, the circular bricked entrance driveway, heavy linen and silver…..well, they define elegance. It may have been this Art Fairs first year but it will not be the last!  

2)     The crowd was nicely knowledgeable, compellingly friendly, warmly witty and low-keyed affluent. More traffic was needed. I think that comes with time and word-of-mouth…..tradition….etc.

3)     We had free access to electricity and it is my own fault that I did not bring more strobes. Live and learn!

4)     The set up was wonderful. Across from each row of booths were a number of linen clad round tables with a center Christmas decoration where you could take the customer and sit down with them. People could just rest there also.

5)     Amy, as always, treats her artists well: we had a Continental breakfast and hot lunch available with gallons of coffee/soda/water available at all times.

6)     Check In/Out was clean and fast, as usual, at Amdur.                                                         

7)     It was loverly. I hope to see you next year.

8)     We took in over four times our entrance fee, did not have to pay for breakfast or lunch and danced a jig when we got rooms at a 5 star Marriott Suites on Groupon for $49 a night.

9)     It was heatening to hear how many of my clients expect to see me this summer. Wow!

I had fun!

So sad...I had my 1st show in 8 years, Barrington IL Art Festival by Amdur Productions. Very organized, easy setting, tons of parking. Show was right in the middle of town, coffee and cupcake shops, adorable gift stores and boutiques set in old style homes,tons of local independent business, banks and investment companies, the town is charming, beautiful amazing houses, mansions with horses.

Saturday was chilly and  light rain couple times. People browsing, I didn't have a good day but too early to judge. 

Sunday was starting to be crowded, people finally coming inside my booth,tons of families excited to be out for Memorial Day, they were asking questions, leaving their e mails, I was 11:00 am,starting to feel excited when they notified us to secure our tent because a storm was coming. End of the story...storm came, hitting hard, I got in my car and went to Mc Donald's drive through to kill some time, then I came back to check my EZ UP, EASY DOWN tent. I'm glad I did. Water on the roof was just about to cause a disaster. Other artists helped me to on do my tent so the water just came down like a waterfall. Amdur team told us that storm was coming heavier so just go ahead and pick up, we wouldn't be penalized.

There's always good things in bad things, all I can say is that I am glad I met wonderful artists and they helped me to take all my tent and displays down in minutes and load my car, everybody soaking wet and they didn't care, they were all helping other artists. I'm looking forward to see them in other shows that we will be doing this season, we will stay connected :). It's 1pm and I'm already home blogging, geez! Thank you weather!

Please, tell me not to get disappointed and all sows are not like this!