Putting Value in a Crafted Item’s Soul

With regards to craft shows, there has been a bit of confusion going on these days. Seems like a lot of people come to these events expecting it to be nothing more than a glorified flea market. And I’ve actually had experience wherein some of the visitors would try to beat down the price of my handcrafted masterpieces. I wish to remind those who attend these craft shows that these things are considered to be bad form.

I will now explain the basic difference between a craft show booth and the ones you see in a flea markets. With flea markets, people simply set up their booths and fill it up with whatever trinkets they have bought on wholesale. They will have no personal attachment to their wares, as it is strictly business, and they are willing to let customers haggle. After all, what they’re really after is to make the best profit out of anything.

Besides, chances are great that even the crafts you’d see in a flea market are mass-produced in a factory. Very little actual handcrafting is involved, and the piece ends up without having a soul. It may look good, but it is just bland and cannot add life to your home.

In contrast to this, a craft show is chock-full of items that have been carefully made by artistic hands that take care to look over every piece and make sure it fits with the overall theme of the craft. There is the craftsperson’s muse that has inspired the work itself, and this is what makes the craft more alive.

And the person who is presenting the crafts at the booth at a craft show will most likely be the same person who spent time and effort making it. Now, if you try to beat down the price, it will be like reducing the value of his or her artistry, as well as cheapening the efforts of that person’s who has given his very soul to the item.