Organizing a craft event? You’ve got your venue squared away, and now you’re ready to squeeze in as many vendors as you can..and not just any vendors, RAD vendors that make awesome stuff.

I organize a monthly outdoor craft market and have found some interesting ways to ‘tap into’ the craft community and get a lot of responses to our calls for crafters. Here is a step-by-step guide:

• First, you need to have some sort of web site for the event. It’s important to have a place where prospective vendors can easily get information on the show, how to apply, and how to contact you with questions. This can either be a page on your existing web site, or if you don’t have a web site, you can start one easily in minutes using Blogger or Wordpress (both are free!). Here’s an example of a blog my friend Moira of Bookish Lady put together for her Valentine’s Day themed craft event:Crafts and Kisses
• Once that’s ready to go, you’re ready to start posting. A great place to start is IndieCraftShows.com. This site is a great, free resource for crafters and organizers alike. It’s easy to create a login and start posting the call for everyone to see.
• Trade publications are another way to go. There are hundreds of magazines that focus on the craft industry. One that I’ve had luck with is The Crafts Report. For $25 you can list your show in their online ‘craft show finder’ and reach vendors on a national level.

Looking mostly for local artists? Here are some more easy (and free!) ways to find artists in your area:

• Craigslist…ahh, the neverending free resource that now reaches people in all nooks/crannies in the US and beyond! On Craigslist there are a couple of categories you could post your call in. Post in the ‘Artists’ section of the community bulletin board, or under ‘Creative Gigs’ in the employment section. Craigslist now allows for pictures and hyperlinks so you can really trick out your call and make it look appealing.
• Your local paper: A lot of local rags offer free or very affordable classified advertising for arts and events. Check out your favorite
  local newspaper and see about their online and print classifieds. If you’re in the DC area, the City Paper has their Crafty Bastards classifieds section which is free and has become a ‘go-to’ place for crafters and craft show organizers alike.
• and my new favorite way to find vendors in my region is Etsy. Etsy now has a ’shop local’ feature that allows you to search for artists by city + state. For my upcoming craft event, I did searches for DC, MD and VA and then contacted artists who had work I liked. You need to have an Etsy account to contact the crafters, but it’s free and easy to set up.

By following these steps you’re mailbox will be flooded with tons of applications from near and far, and your indie craft event is sure to be packed with cool vendors selling the hottest handmade products!!

Here are some of the vendors I found for my market using these ‘tactics’…(I’m gonna be broke by the end of the summer):

For the full list of 2008 Ballston Arts & Crafts vendors (which just posted yesterday!) check out our blog: ballstonarts-craftsmarket.blogspot.com.

If you build it, they will come!!

xo, kristina

kristina bilonick is a dc native and fellow craft-addict, cooking up only the finest from her downtown dc studio. www.kristinabilonick.etsy.com

The 2008 Takoma Park Street Festival is accepting applications for craft vendors. The festival is Sunday, October 5, 2008, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fee is $125 per 10 x 10 ft. space.

The festival allocate spaces to eligible participants based on the order applications are received, taking into account, however, the need to offer an appropriate mix of participant/vendor types and items sold. The festival is usually filled by June. The application can be downloaded from the web site, here.

The Takoma Park Street Festival is entering its 25th year as a multi-cultural music and crafts festival in downtown Old Takoma. Check out their web site for more information.

Post in the comments if you have done this show in the past and what you think of this local opportunity.

If you are currently a seller on Etsy.com or are thinking about setting up shop, you will be interested in their new Cooperative Advertising Program.

For me, I have always been afraid to buy my own ads in national magazines because the price just seems too high for such a small space to show off my work. So Etsy is trying to help sellers out by securing advertisements in magazines like Bust, CRAFT and Mary Engelbreit’s Home Companion. Here are some important points from their announcement:

• Etsy will purchase ad space in various magazines, cover half of the cost, and design the ads.
• Etsy Sellers are able to purchase spots in the ad at the discounted rate.
• You will get to display your shop name, an image of one item, its price, and its category.
• The limit is one spot per seller, per advertisement.

The first opportunity for a space in the Bust ad sold out in 6 seconds! The next ad will appear in the May issue of CRAFT and is on sale on Thursday, February 21st, 2008 at 3:00pm EST. 36 spots will be available to sellers at a price of $50 each.

My advice if you do plan to buy a space is to make sure you pick a spot in the right magazine and that you put your best photo forward. You wouldn’t want to pay $50 for a spot and send a bad photograph of the wrong item for that publication’s demographic. So, do some research and know your customers!

Upcoming opportunities are:

– Mary Engelbreit’s Home Companion, spots go on sale: Monday, March 3rd, 2008, 30 Spots at $75 each

– Venus Zine, spots go on sale: Thursday, March 27th, 2008

Visit the Storque article for more information on this program (including where to go to buy a spot!).

Oh course, this is only for people who currently have an Etsy shop, so what are you waiting for?

Tina Seamonster blogs her life and craft at http://www.ilikeseamonsters.com. She thinks you are rad.

Hey crafters! You can’t hide inside with your knitting and C-SPAN for much longer. Winter will be over soon and you will need a tent and sunscreen and it will be time to go out into the world and sell your wares. With that in mind, it is time to start applying for spring/summer shows. The first local opportunity that should be on your radar is the Ballston Arts + Crafts Market.

The need to know info:
Second Saturdays, May through October
Ballston Arts + Crafts Market
10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Welburn Square, across from the Ballston Metro station.

I like this market because of the Metro accessible location, easy load in and out areas and nice neighborhood with really close smoothies and lunch options. It really is almost hassle-free. You will need a tent, though, so keep that in mind.

To apply to sell your items at the market, please download the 2008 Arts+Crafts Market application here, and be sure to note the guidelines and eligibility before applying. There is no application fee, and applications can be sent via mail or email as outlined on the application.

This year’s deadline for the first round of jurying is March 3, 2008. Applications received after 3/3 will be reviewed on a space-available basis. If you are selected, you can pick to sell your wares at some or all of the dates, which makes it really convenient.

For more information on this market, check out their blog at http://www.ballstonarts-craftsmarket.blogspot.com/

Going out of town takes a lot of preparation and certainly getting ready for a craft market does too. Combine them both and you have a big project on your hands. Planning is essential. You have a lot of work ahead of you the day(s) of the actual market and you don’t want to be an exhausted wreck before you even get there. Your purpose during the market is to smile and engage with shoppers and to be ready to talk about your crafts. If you’re stressed or worn out just from the getting there part, the day is going to just drag on and you might not have as much success as you had hoped for.

Crafters usually don’t have a lot of extra money and unlike a vacation where the purpose of the trip is to have fun and consequently spend money, the purpose of traveling to a market is to make money (plus gain exposure, network with motivated crafters and market your creations). There is a careful balance necessary when traveling to a market out of town. Try to be frugal in as many ways as possible so that the show pays off, but allow yourself certain luxuries in order to make the weekend functional. An example of this is staying at a hotel that is more expensive than your normal budget, but is only a few blocks away from the market, thus making it much easier to get there and back.

Packing- Be really conscious of how you are getting there (flying or driving) while you pack. Instead of waiting until the night before to pack everything, find some spot in your home where you can start collecting everything you’re going to need. Once you’ve finished making a product put it in that corner. New business cards come in the mail? Put them directly in the corner so they are all ready to go for the trip. Buy new displays? Put them in the corner. Make a new sign for your booth? Put it in the corner. That way you aren’t scrambling at the last minute. And you’re not constantly trying to remember little things. Anything you see in your house that makes you think “I have to remember to take that with me to the market” just pick it up right then and put it in the corner. Don’t rely on your frazzled brain to remember it later!

Travel Plans- Once you’ve decided if you are driving or flying to the market start planning the details early.

If you are flying, determine if you can rent a tent, tables and chairs from the show. Most shows offer this for an additional fee and renting them from the show is going to make setup much easier. You should also determine early on how much luggage you’re going to have. Find out your airline’s baggage restrictions and how much they charge for oversized bags. Figure out where you are going to stay based on the location of the market. You may decide to rent a car, but chances are this is not cost effective. Figure out if there is a convenient way to take public transportation. Other options are a local car service or a cab, but make sure you have enough cash and have budgeted this into your costs for the trip. Multiple rides in a cab (four trips for a two day show) can really add up. However you choose to get around make sure it is going to work for the amount of stuff you have, and likewise, make sure you don’t have too much stuff that you can’t get from place to place with all of it.

If you are driving, you’ll probably feel like you can bring way more stuff than if you are flying. Make sure everything you pack is essential. Driving a long distance in an overstuffed car can be stressful if your visibility is obstructed. Make sure you have really good detailed directions to your destination and a driving map of each state you’re going through. You never know when a route is going to be closed for construction and you want to be prepared.

Whether you are flying or driving, before you leave home get a really good grasp on the layout of the city you’re going to. If you’re taking public transportation study their map and study a map of your route if you are driving or taking cabs. You need to be familiar even if you are taking a cab. You don’t want to get lost on the way to the market, it will just make the whole day much harder.

Fun- The number one most important thing to remember while traveling to a market out of town is to have fun! The whole ordeal is just that, an ordeal. You have to get ready to get there, you have to get there, you have to haul a bunch of stuff, you have to pitch a tent, you have to unpack all your stuff, you have to make it look pretty, you have to pack it back up at the end of the day, you have to deal with weather for an extended period of time, you have to figure out logistics, you have to get along with the people you are traveling with or you have to figure out how to make all this happen on your own if you are traveling solo, you have to smile and talk to strangers all day, you have to handle money, you have to get yourself food and you have to figure out a way to take bathroom breaks but not leave your stuff unsupervised.

Seriously, doing craft markets is really hard work and not for the faint of heart! If you’ve done one, you are a rock star. So just prepare yourself mentally that it’s going to be a grueling day. But so worth it! You get to show off your hand crafted work to the world, you get to meet crafters from other cities, you get to see crafty friends from all over the country, you get to talk up your product (when else is it really appropriate to brag?) and you get to take money from people in exchange for something you made. What could be better? It’s so exhilarating! So for all the grueling work just keep a positive attitude because this is going to be a great day!!!

So go get ‘em! Get prepared, get ready and then you’re going to have fun!

Additional Reading:
To read more specifics on how to get ready for a craft market in general you can read an article I wrote for Get Crafty a couple of years ago. All the info is still true, but notice the photo with a disposable camera. Now I don’t go anywhere without my digital!

HOW TO: prepare for a craft fair

Christy Petterson is currently preparing for her second drive to DC to participate in Crafty Bastards and her third drive to Chicago to participate in Renegade with her line a bardis. She co-organizes the Indie Craft Experience in Atlanta, co-produces the annual Starlets of Craft Calendar and co-edits Get Crafty.

Welcome to guest blogger Christy Petterson!

Christy is currently preparing for her second drive to DC to participate in Crafty Bastards and her third drive to Chicago to participate in Renegade (this weekend!) with her line a bardis. She co-organizes the Indie Craft Experience in Atlanta, co-produces the annual Starlets of Craft Calendar and co-edits Get Crafty.

When she’s not busy prepping for, travelling to and selling her goods at craft fairs, Christy will be dishing out tips and hints to help you get ready for your next craft show. To get a taste of the helpful info Christy will share, check out the How to Prepare for a Craft Fair entry (complete with checklist) she wrote for Get Crafty a couple of years ago.

Welcome Christy!

That gigantic super cool craft show is just a month away. What are you doing to prepare? Brainstorming new items? Buying a new tent? Building up stock? Asking your brother to fly 3000 miles to help you man your booth? (Yes, I did this and he is coming.)

Maybe you haven’t even begun to plan and are wondering where to start? My advice is to spend some time with your promotional materials. These are going to be important before, during and after that big show. Think you don’t have time for this? It shouldn’t take long and you will be happy you did it!

Printed materials. Do you have them? If not, get some! There will be so many people who want to remember you or show your stuff to a friend. Afraid of dealing with printers? I understand. There are a number of online companies that will help you design and submit postcards, business cards, fliers, etc. Use their online tools to create a piece or if you have some skillz, download a Photoshop template. I love Vistaprint.com, but be warned if you go with them, be ready to be spammed for the rest of your life. I have friends who swear by Overnightprints.com because you can get those fancy rounded corners on everything. There are many more places to get your materials fast and cheap.

Have you taken a good look at your promotional materials from the standpoint of someone who knows nothing about you? Try to avoid business cards with just text on them. We need to see what you make! I would also say try to avoid business cards in general. I always throw them away. They are too small and look like scraps of trash in my bag. I truly believe the postcard is the way to go.

Think about creating your postcards to double as products. Why not create an art card with a really cool picture of one of your items or perhaps with one of your designs? If you put your shop name on the back of the card, it turns into a freebie rather than an advertisement. I have a postcard from Glitterlimes.com on my wall that has been with me for 3 years. I took it to every new job and now it is on my daughters’ closet door. It is beautiful; like their products, it is art. Make a set of 4 different cards, package them up and sell them, but give one of them away as your promo card. People will want to take something that has value.

LemonCadet made these little felt bean stickers and added them to her postcards. I picked one up because I liked the bean. I promptly put the sticker on the back of my cell phone. There she is. My orange bean reminds me of LemonCadet every time I use my cell. How brilliant is that? Make your customers know that you like them even if they don’t buy something right then. That might be corny, but indie craft is about people. And the more you act like a person and not a used car salesmen, the more people will dig you.

Other things you could be thinking about are overhauling that web shop for post-show shoppers, clearing up your brand identity and oh yeah, making some stuff. These are topics for another post, though. Get to work!

You got in! You beat the 4 to 1 odds of making it into Crafty Bastards. Whether this is your first or fourth year, you must be saying, “Now what?!”Last year’s show brought in nearly 15,000 shoppers. This is a unique opportunity to reach an amazing number of people. What fresh and brilliant goodies are you going to offer them? (Note, even if you didn’t get in, the following ideas will work for all of the other rad shows you will be doing this fall!).

The biggest mistake that I always make is first concentrating on the old favorites. Of course this is important and will be done in the coming weeks; but a good thing to do first is brainstorm new designs, ideas and products. This way you can work out the bugs and figure them out long before the day of the event. Last year, I actually came up with my zombie design at 2 in the morning the night before the show. Seriously! I had one Gocco screen left, and 9 t-shirts. I remember standing there, exhausted from heat setting and pricing, thinking, “Should I just go to bed?”� I pressed on and made the new design. Of course, this design is all I heard about all day and I sold them all. Waiting to explore new ideas until the last minute can be exciting, but sad when you don’t have enough to sell!

Another thing that is easy to forget is to explore how you can turn your most popular items into new products. This can be super fun and you know that if someone liked a design in one medium, they will dig it in another, too. If you make a rad stuffed Ninja Fetus (Fort Cloudy) or a super cool Batty (MagpieDC), why not take his picture and put him on a pocket mirror or a badge? Designs for rings can turn into refrigerator magnets or pendants (see Block Party Press for examples of this).

Larger pieces of art that are limited edition like Rania Hassan’s “Knit XIV”� can be made into postcards or small prints. All of these ideas are good because you are offering your best work at different price points. A more casual shopper might pick up a $5 postcard set, but then come back months later for the bigger piece. Lower priced alternatives are also good for people who are buying gifts.

Think about creating something completely unexpected with either an old or a new design. I just finished turning my zombie shirt design into holiday cards. I know it is July, but it is never too early to start making holiday cards. I have rarely in my life sent Christmas cards to anyone for lack of an interesting card to send! I figured there must be other people out there like me. So, the Zombie Plague Holiday Card Set was born by modifying a current product.

Ok, Crafty Bastards, you have 10 weeks! Get to work! And be sure to post links to what you are making in the comments! We all wanna see!

My wee microbrand made its 500th sale on Etsy.com last night. While this by no means makes me a top seller on the internet’s best source for handmade goods, I will say that I have some mad skills. And lucky for you, I wanna share. So, let’s go, Etsy 101.

In case you don’t know, Etsy is the best place on the internet to sell all things handmade. It has been around since June 2005 and has an amazing growing community of thousands and thousands of sellers and even more buyers. Registering and setting up a shop is completely free and listing items is a mere 20 cents each. When you sell something, there is a 3.5% sales fee. Sound easy? Yes, setting up is easy, but selling can be another story. I’ve got tips, though. So listen up!

When I started my shop in November 2005, I made the first mistake that all sellers make. I didn’t think about my user name. Be careful when picking your user name because it will be the same as your shop name. And you can’t change it. Lucky for me, the user name that I picked wasn’t far from my indie craft business name, so no harm. But remember that branding and name recognition is super important when creating not only your Etsy shop, but also your microbrand. No one is going to remember “lisa523designs” or something like that. Pick something original and interesting that people will want to talk about!

After I started my shop, it took about 3 weeks to get my first sale. This is something that new sellers need to understand. It takes time to get started. There are so many shops on Etsy that you may not be noticed at first. Do not despair! Here are some tips to setting up a good shop and listing items.

1. Make something interesting. For real. If you are selling something that hundreds of other people are selling, you will not be noticed. I have heard so many times from people that they aren’t selling anything, then I go to their shop and see forgettable knit scarves (in the middle of summer!) or marble magnet sets and I know why. By all means, make and sell what makes you happy, but remember that your most original items are going to actually get noticed!
2. Take good photos. I don’t usually do this myself. I am lazy about it. Recently, though, I took some photos of my hubby, Jeff, wearing one of my shirts out in the world.
   
   I sold 3 of these shirts that day. Seeing a product in action, with good lighting is invaluable.
3. This is obvious, but write a good description. Include measurements, etc. I sometimes think of my descriptions as blog posts. Craft them, make them interesting, give your item a life and a story.
4. Include international shipping information. Think globally. You are selling to the world. And if you tell people you will ship to the world, you will sell to the world. Last month, I sold items to customers in Finland, Singapore, England, Scotland and Australia. Remember that in countries like England, our dollar isn’t worth much. This makes for an entire country of people who think your products are an amazing value!
5. Make your shop’s banner and name and items consistent.
   
   Create your own little world. Don’t just toss up a bunch of stuff that doesn’t explain who you and your brand are. Have a vision for your brand and follow through with it.
6. Create a memorable avatar. The avatar is your face on Etsy. It is beside everything that you do. I find that I like avatars that are actual faces. This reminds me that these are real people making items. Avatars that are items are also nice, they let me know what I might see in the shop. Stay away from avatars of your pets or your children. There are far too many of these on Etsy and frankly it makes me think you don’t have many interests outside of these things. Angels, too, I can’t tell you how many avatars there are of angels. Bored now.

Once you have your shop set up and have added some items, the real work of Etsy begins. This does not have to be stressful, though. It is not the end of the world if you don’t sell a million items. It took me about a year to begin to sell consistently on Etsy. In that year, I have to say, I didn’t really do much. I listed items. I blogged about my stuff, I sent out postcards with orders. Slowly, the orders started coming in. By November 2006, I was consistently selling 1 item a day. Amazing!

So earlier this year, I did an experiment. I set a crazy goal. I wanted to sell 2 items a day or 60 items a month. I decided to treat my Etsy shop like a garden, something I work on everyday. Start with 30 minutes a day. And don’t tell me you don’t have 30 minutes a day. I have two-year-old twins and a job and I can find 30 minutes a day. Skip the phone call with mom, don’t watch Scrubs, wake up 30 minutes early. You can find 30 minutes. Of course, I would not have met my crazy goal by just working on it for 30 minutes a day. I would say I spend closer to an hour or so a day. Some days less, some days more. But starting with 30 minutes a day will get you on your way. After one month of my experiment, I met my crazy goal! So it can work.

Here are some things that you can do in those 30 minutes each day to grow your shop:

1. List a new item each day. If you don’t have a new item to list, relist an old item. Every time you list an item, it cycles through on the homepage and in the “Time Machine”. New items also show up on the first page of a search. Example, I make a shirt about zombies. If I list a zombie shirt every day, when someone searches for the word, “zombie,” I am always on the first page of results. Sweet! Listing a new item only costs 20 cents. You can’t go wrong with spending 20 or 40 cents a day.
2. Check out the Etsy community. There are forums and a chat room and a blog. If you feel comfortable, participate a little in these. Remember that other sellers often make up a large percentage of buyers as well. A few forum posts a day will get your avatar and shop out there into the community.
3. Practice organic marketing tactics. Seriously, no one is interested in someone who only wants to talk about their products. But by all means, if someone is talking about gnomes and you make a rad gnome pin, tell them.
4. Buy a Showcase spot on Etsy.
   
   These are available every two weeks or so. They are hard to get, but if you are at your computer when they go on sale, you will snag one. For $7, your item will be featured in the Showcase for a whole day, which is linked to from the homepage. This can be invaluable. My best showcase day ever, I sold 11 items. Granted, you might not sell one, but at least more people saw your items that day. When you have a Showcase spot, rotate which item is displayed.
5. Have a contest. I have an ongoing contest on my shop where people have to guess the landmark that is behind me in my avatar. If you guess correctly, I send you a free refrigerator magnet. These magnets don’t cost me much to make, so they are a good marketing tool as well as a nice present for someone. I have found that 2 out of 5 people who participate in the contest actually place an order at that time or later on.
6. Along those lines, be generous. I always always send extra stuff with orders. If something costs me less than a $1 to make, it doesn’t hurt me to send it for free. An extra badge or card or magnet sent to someone who buys a shirt, often becomes a gift that they give to a friend. That friend almost always shows up to purchase.
7. Check out the Etsy Wiki for way more tips, people are always coming up with things.

If you have more time, think about marketing outside of Etsy. See the internet as your access to an entire world of buyers. Or perhaps even better, a world of new friends who dig what you do. It is your job to help these people find you.

1. Try Google Adwords. I could talk for an hour on this topic, but here are the important points. You can spend as little or as much as you want per day on this. You can experiment. In general, though, only try Google Adwords if you have a specific item with very specific words that you know someone will be searching for. Again, with my zombie and also seamonster shirts, this is easy for me. I know that someone searching for “zombie” and “shirt” will likely dig my items when they click on my ad. I also try to think of things that people might be searching for and try to buy those key words, too. When the zombie movie, 28 Weeks Later came out, I added the movie title as a key word and got some clicks this way. Only you know your niche and products, but I bet with some thought you could make Google Adwords work for you.
2. Buy ads on other indie craft sites. The prices for this type of thing totally varies, as does the benefit.
3. If you are comfortable, try social networking sites like Myspace, Facebook, Flickr. I, personally, find these sites to eat up way too much time, but you might dig them.
4. Start a blog where you document your craft.
5. Wear or use your own items out in the world. When someone asks about it, give them your card. This is obvious, but I often forget to do it!

In nearly 2 years, using Etsy has increased my online sales by 75% or so. But I have had to work on my little shop. If you click around on the site you see all kinds of shops selling all kinds of items. I have heard from many people lately that they want to give up on their shops. But seriously, if you believe in your work, your shop will succeed. It just takes time and a little bit of hard work. I never thought I would sell 1 item, much less 500.

If you have any questions about Etsy or selling handmade online, please post them in the comments and I will answer them. I totally dig helping out.

I never respected my poor Print Gocco until she was gone. Over the four years that she was the main tool of my craft, I treated her super bad. I stored her in a closet under shoes, dropped her dozens of times, let my twins knock her off of a chair, never cleaned her, never changed her batteries, ever. I shouldn’t have been surprised when over the past few months, she began to decline. She was making spotty prints, not exposing bulbs, ruining screens. It was so sad. My quest for a new machine began and was far easier than I expected.

Wait, what’s a Gocco, right?

Wikipedia says:

Gocco is a fully self-contained compact color printing system invented in the 1977 by Noboru Hayama. Using flash bulbs similar to those found in old cameras, an original image is thermally imprinted on a master screen.

The name “print gocco” is derived from the Japanese word and concept “gocco”, loosely translated as a type of make-believe play used to learn common rules and knowledge.

In December 2005, Gocco’s parent company, “Riso”, announced they are ending production of the Gocco system due to low sales in Japan. An Internet campaign was started to find a new home for the product (www.savegocco.com).

So, over four years, I used my Gocco to make nearly 1000 prints. I printed on blank cards, silk screened t-shirts, lunch bags, pillows, underwear. You name, it I printed on it. (See photo below of 2 and 3 color cards.)

The Gocco is the answer to all of your silk screening wishes and dreams. It is compact, easy, low stress, fun. The only real drawbacks to the Gocco are the smallish print area, about 4 inches by 6 inches and the constant threat of supplies disappearing since the parent company announced the product’s demise.

It appears that all of the worries surrounding the Gocco’s future can now be quelled. This week, Paper Source made this announcement on their website:

“In our excitement about getting the Gocco machines and supplies in at Paper Source, we sorta jumped the gun with our announcement that the machines are available to order from us immediately. We’re delighted that on June 22nd Gocco machines and supplies will be offered for sale online. We’ll be happy to take your pre-order over the phone. Please call us at 888.727.3711 to pre-order any of the Gocco items listed…”

This is super news. Having a major store supporting Gocco is totally rad. Their product list’s first item is this, though: PRINT GOCCO ARTS FOR PAPER $395.00. I am not sure what they are selling for $395 or if that is a mistake, but I bought my new Print Gocco from Northwood Studios 3 weeks ago for $165. I also saw one available on Etsy’s Feltcafe this morning for only $100. So this $395 price point should be researched before you run out and buy one from Paper Source. Some other good online sources for Gocco machines and supplies are Welsh Products and Wet Paint Art. I have ordered from both myself. Welsh Products has the best price and customer service.

UPDATE:The updated Paper Source site reveals the $395 item to be the larger print area (6.5in. x 9.3in.) Gocco machine.

My new, smaller, cuter Gocco is orange and happy and easier than ever to use (see photo, she will always be stored in her box with bubble wrap!).

Last night, I made a small batch of t-shirts in under 30 minutes. How rad is that? It is not this easy for beginners, of course. There are tons of tips and tricks that I am always giving out. These might not be helpful to you until you are in the middle of a project, so book mark this post and come back to it:

• Start out using the Gocco inks. They are never too thin or too thick for the screens. They are a sure thing. Later on, feel free to experiment with other silk screening paints, but only after you see what the Gocco can do.
• Mix paint! The Gocco ink for fabric only comes in bland primary colors. Mix them to make new colors and you will be mucho happy.
• Change the batteries in your machine every few months. I never changed my batteries and know I got less than perfect prints because of it. I also had the scare of, “is it broken?” When I just needed new batteries.
• Clean your screens! I used to just toss mine. But you really can clean them (with the Gocco cleaner or baby oil or water) and use them again.
• Store your screens in foil.
• Only use print outs from a laser printer, no ink jets!

I would love to hear your tips, please comment with them below!

My prints are pretty simple, but to see some amazingly intricate work, check out the gocco flikr group.

You can also get more information at www.savegocco.com. Have fun!