Hi All-

I am sad to say it, but we will not be having a Handmade Faire : Halloween Edition this year. As many of you know this is a large scale show but it is not run by a large scale group - it's run by 2 people. At this point, I don't feel like I can give the Handmade Faire 100% of my time and focus, which is what is needed to put on a show like this. I work very hard getting great artists, advertising, organizing, promoting - and I care too much about the Handmade Faire to do it without giving it 100%, and I just don't feel like I can give it 100% at this point.

I need to focus on my personal life, my business, and myself at this point. Though the July show was a fantastic success, it was too close to the October date - no room to breathe between shows, and with a family and an art business of my own, I need time to breathe in between!

My sight for the future is that we will have a show in the spring or early summer of 2010, and a show in October as well.

I hope everyone understands that it's not a lack of dedication to this show, it's actually the opposite - I am too dedicated to this show to not make it the best I know it can be.

Hope everybody has a great fall and winter, and we will be contacting you in the spring/early summer for the next show. In the meantime - if you have not already applied to previous shows and you want to be alerted when applications for future shows open up - please fill out the "notify me " link.

Thanks - Take care everyone!

Abbie Galie

The Handmade Faire was a giant success. We could not have asked for a better day! The weather was beautiful, the shoppers were plenty, and our vendors were as unique and talented as promised!

We estimated aprox 8000 people attended our show today, which is 3000 more than we had expected! Thank You Medford and Burlington County for coming out and supporting the arts today!

Right now, our plan is to have another Faire in October, the "Halloween Edition" on October 24th, right back at Freedom Park so I hope to see everyone again!

Our Goodie Bags were a huge hit - the 100 goodie bags were gone within 20 minutes! We started giving them out right at 10:00, no early birds - and we gave them by the group, so more than 100 people showed up in just the first 20 minutes, we were shocked!

I am so pleased with our vendors, they were courteous to each other, they cleaned up after themselves- the park was pretty clean when we left, not much clean up was required by us. Just what we had hoped for!

See you all in October! If you want to give us some feedback - good or bad - check out our feedback page

and if you want to be notified about future Handmade Faire events (application openings, event details) fill out your info here, on our notify request.

Pics will be up shortly! If you have pictures of the Faire please either email them to us, abbie@handmadefaire.com
or join, and send them to our flickr group! Or - you can put them on our facebook fan page! Link Below!

The Handmade Faire: Summer of Love is here!

We have found the most unique and talented artists from all over the East Coast - come see their amazing creations in person!

★★ Where: Freedom Park - 86 Union Street Medford, NJ 08055 ★★
For directions, click here

Take 70 to Jones Road (between Medford Ford and Acme Supermarket - at the light) turn onto Jones Road and Freedom Park will be directly in front of you at the end of the road! Only about 1 block off Rt 70!

★★ When: Saturday, July 18th 10-4 ★★

★★★First 100 Shoppers receive a reusable screen printed tote bag from that says "Buy Handmade - Artfire.com" filled with all sorts of goodies - coupons, samples, trial sized items, pencils, buttons - you name it! These don't begin until 10am - so early birds do not get the worm this time!★★★

★★Giveaways - We have many giveaways for throughout the day. they will be given at random to people who are shopping with our artists! Shop to win! If you don't see any of the Goodie Faire's - you can always stop by the Info tent on your way out, show us your goodies and say the secret pass phrase "I love to buy handmade" and you may just get a goodie! While Supplies last - limit one per customer! ★★

See you on Saturday!!!

Hello Artists!

The Handmade Faire is tomorrow and we are really looking forward to it.

If you haven't found it already, our vendor packet is available for download on our website on the Faire Rules page:
http://handmadefaire.com/rules/rules.html

Please remember these key points:

Setup must be finished by 9:30  (no earlier than 7:45am)

Breakdown is NOT to occur any earlier than 4:00 - we are extremely strict on this! Early breakdown = no participation in upcoming shows

*IF* the ground is not too soft from the storm tonight, you can drive directly to your spot to unload. Please unload and then go park your car asap, keep the cars off the grass for too long.
(Hard Ground Permitting) Some Vendors will be able to park directly behind their booth. Mainly vendors #9-#37 

If you have one of these spots, in order to park your car behind your tent, you must have a "wall" or back to your booth to cover your car - we do not want it to look like a flea market selling out of the back of your trunk! Haha!  The tent walls that come with EZ Up Tents will be sufficient, or a drape, curtain, etc. 

You can find your booth # by going here: http://handmadefaire.com/8.jpg

You will also be told your booth # when you arrive tomorrow AM. Checkin is w/ me - Abbie - I will be @ Booth 1 in a purple shirt. Pola will be able to help you as well.

There will be food available on location for sale from 2 local food sellers. 

The event will be rain or shine!

****Don't forget weights for your tent! If you don't have professional weights - something like gallons of water, sand bags, even concrete blocks will work.***

Can't wait to see you all tomorrow, it is going to be a fantastic show. We have had a lot of interest in advertising- as well as coverage in all the papers for the event!

Handmade Faire: Summer of Love
Freedom Park
86 Union Street Medford, NJ
July 18, 2009 10am-4pm

Burlington County’s most cutting edge art and craft show - The Handmade Faire - Summer of Love. The festival will take place on Saturday, July 18, 2009 from 10am-4pm at Freedom Park in Medford NJ. This event will go on Rain or Shine, and is free and open to the public. There will be goodie bags - a reusable screen printed tote full of coupons for the vendors, samples, treats and more for the first 100 shoppers starting at 10:00. Also, throughout the day we will be having giveaways of a variety of items. As usual, the giveaways will be rewarded at random to people who are already shopping from our awesome vendors!

Freedom Park is a new home for what will be the third Handmade Faire event. The previous events have been held in Waretown, and most recently, Medford’s Flying W Airport last October. With the space available at Freedom Park, along with its central location, the third Handmade Faire is expected to grow even larger than previous shows.

Expect to see the most talented emerging artists from the local, regional, and expanded Indie Art Scene. Last year’s show welcomed artisans from as local as Medford to as far away as Maine. We welcome 100 of the most unique, talented and creative artists with a large variety of products and specialties including clothing, jewelry, paper goods, children's items, ceramics, and more. Items will cover a wide range of budgets and prices so everyone can leave happy! The Handmade Faire has become Burlington County’s most cutting edge art and craft fair - come see for yourself! This event is not to be missed!

The Handmade Faire is the brainchild of Abigail Mylod-Galie, 27, an artist living in Historic Medford Village. Pola Galie, Abbie's mother in law who is also an artisan, and former Medford councilwoman is the other half of this completely home grown event.

Growing tired of showing at mediocre craft shows, sitting in a sea among flea market items & manufacturers' representatives, Abbie longed for an outlet where handmade artisans could shine. In the true essence of the Handmade and DIY lifestyle, Abbie took things into her own hands and started the Handmade Faire in 2008. Abbie says:  "I love the art community, I love being surrounded by fabulous art and artists, and I am thrilled to have the ability to motivate and support the handmade lifestyle because it allows myself and other artists the opportunity to not only live, but thrive on the Handmade Lifestyle.

Participation in advertising, promo's for goodie bags, and giveaways are not limited to handmade artists only.

Promo's for Goodie Bags: Just as we did in previous events, we will be giving out goody bags to the first 100 shoppers. Goody bags generally are made up of:

* Promo Materials ( Buttons, Pencils, Stickers, Matchbooks, etc)
* Product Samples ( Chapstick, Bookmarks, Testers, ect)
* Coupons (maybe attach it to a business card?)
* Anything! You are creative people, if you have something that would work - send it in!

Please though, not just a plain business card/postcard - at the very least include a coupon! Please send these in ASAP. Items received after July 13th will not be included in the goodie bags.
Please send at least 50, but ideally 100 of your promo items.

GiveAways
We are also having a giveaway. As in previous events, we reward shoppers who are already spending money with our artists. Giveaways will either be chosen at random from shoppers, or we will be creating a Gift Basket(s) and buyers may enter to win the basket. We are asking for a variety of items from any price range. A pair of earrings? A shirt? A bag? An accessory? A set of cards? Even a gift certificate! Anything like this would work. How we give these away is still to be determined - it depends on the amount of items we receive. Could be a basket, could be one at a time, could be a few baskets! You can give these to us at checkin on teh day of the show, but please let me know ahead of time if you plan on donating a giveaway so that I have an idea of what to expect and plan for.

Advertise in our Handmade Faire Magazine
We are creating a 8.5'x5.5' mini magazine to give out to the shoppers on the day of the Faire. This magazine will include our vendor map, a categorized list of vendors, an article called "Why Buy Handmade" as well as a section that will feature some of the answers from the artist application that asked "Why do I buy Handmade?". We are selling a variety of ad sizes to be included in this booklet ranging from full page to 1/8 of a page and starting at only $20. At this moment we are selling all ad's as black and white only (except full page) however - after receiving printing quotes there is a good chance it will be in full color. In that case, if you have already secured and paid for a b/w ad you will be upgraded to full color at no additional charge.
1/8 Page Ad b/w(2.25”w x 1.9” h) $20
¼ Page Ad horizontal (4.625”w x 1.9” h) $40
1/4Page Ad vertical (2.25”w x 3.95”h) $40 (Business Card Sized)
½ Page Ad (4.625”w x 3.925”h) $80
Full Page Ad - Full Color (4.625”w x 7.975”h) $160
Deadline: July 7th, 2009
Click Here to secure your Ad!

email me if you are interested!

We have just added a new batch of artists to our accepted artists page. At this point, all applications received up to yesterday have been responded to with either an acceptance or a denial. If you applied but have not heard from us, please let us know (and check your spam filters!)

I am starting to work on the Handmade Faire booklet that we will give out to shoppers on the day of the Faire. This book will feature a vendor map, a categorized list of vendors, a "why I buy handmade" section featuring some of your answers from the application! We will also feature an article on "Why it is better to Buy Handmade". We plan on making it something like a magazine!

We are looking for advertisers for the booklet as well - artists, if you like this would be a fantastic place to place an add for your business and say "mention this add for _________" and say anything from 10% off, a free goody ( i give out promo buttons to my cusotmers). Even just an ad that does not offer a discount of some kind - it gives the shopper something to take home with them and because we are making it in a magazine style, it is something that they can hang on to and read. Advertising rates are pretty inexpensive and you are welcome to buy a larger sized space and share it w/ a friend too.

Here is the info on the ad's in our brochures, it does say that all ad's are black and white (except full page) although upon receiving a few price quotes, there is a good chance that we will end up doing it in all full color glossy coverstock. In that case, the prices will go up but if you already have paid for a b/w priced ad, you will be upgraded to the color at no extra charge.

ADVERTISE IN OUR BROCHURE
We will have over 500 brochure booklets professionally printed that we will give out to vendors/shoppers during
the event. All ads are black and white, except the full page ad. This Brochure will be in the form of a “Why Buy
Handmade” magazine - also featuring a vendor map, a “Why I Buy Handmade” and articles on the positive
economical, and ecological impacts of buying handmade as well as a select few artist interviews.
1/8 Page Ad b/w(2.25”w x 1.9” h) $20
¼ Page Ad horizontal (4.625”w x 1.9” h) $40
1/4Page Ad vertical (2.25”w x 3.95”h) $40 (Business Card Sized)
½ Page Ad (4.625”w x 3.925”h) $80
Full Page Ad - Full Color (4.625”w x 7.975”h) $160
please contact us at ads@handmadefaire.com to reserve your ad space.

find more info in our "Sponsorship Package"

The Handmade Faire is quickly approaching and we are gearing up for a very awesome show! We've made a few changes this year to our Artists page, instead of displaying plain text links only, we've decided to display a "sneak peek" image of either a piece of their work or their logo.

So, check out our Artist's Page - more vendors are added daily.

And if you're looking now and wishing you could participate-- the good news is, applications are STILL open! We have lots of room and we hate turning away talent, so - we are keeping our applications open as long as possible!

See you soon!
Abbie

Our Applications are open! If you've applied before - you know that spots fill up fast in certain categories so please be sure to fill out your application early!

In the meantime, while you're waiting for a reply to your application - please check out our Spread the Word page, and our Sponsorship page. If you, or a business you know of might be interested in sponsorship please pass along our information!

Thank You! We are so extremely excited for this years Handmade Faire!

Abbie

We are very pleased to announce that we are going forward with the Handmade Faire and are planning our third event for July 18th 2009. This is the "Summer of Love" event!

This year's event will be held at the beautiful Freedom Park in Medford NJ. Freedom Park is wildly known by locals and non locals as a central location of many Medford activities-- the largest being the Medford Fireworks Show which is held here every year.

The Handmade Faire: Summer of Love is set to be an amazing show. We are growing with every event we hold and this one is set to be larger than the last. We still maintain the highest standards for quality, uniqueness, and talent when it comes to our vendors- we pride ourselves on finding the most unique selection of artists and fine crafters around with artists coming from all over the East Coast.

Applications will open up very soon, so keep a lookout! If you want to be sure you don't miss the application process (certain categories fill up fast!) make sure you fill out the "Notify Me" link. Please note - if you have already applied/vended with us - you are already set to be notified the moment applications are opened!

Thank You all for your continued support as we look forward to our third Handmade Faire!

Abbie & Pola Read More...