Well, I think i started because a craft co-op started near me and had a small store where the members would act as clerks and sell the items. I was with them a year, didn't sell very many things though. I got a table at a local science fiction convention and sold more in 3 days than I did all year at the store. I was making stuffed toys at the time.
So I started selling at the conventions instead. I was doing 3 to 5 conventions a year. I paired up with another lady who did batik fabric and we were making small dragons mostly.
After a few years she had a heart issue and I was back on my own.
Another friend was in the SCA doing the medieval re-creation events and she talked me into going to Pennsic War, an event 11 days long in Pennsylvania 500 miles away. I had to arrange for a rented tent, get a trailer, have enough to sell for a week and a half, and went just on speculation. It was a good fit! The only 'toy' sellers were a lady with costumed teddy bears and a booth with 3 foot long dragons priced at $100. My items were low cost, in the $1 to $50 range.
It was exhausting, but I sold a LOT. I made things that were medieval -- Ravens, foxes, rabbits, bats, hawks, falcons, dragons, weird little monsters, cats, dogs, fairies & unicorns ( those two barely sold), snakes, and a bunch of cat toys. I experimented with new items, and made all my own patterns. One year I made an almost life sized cheetah (I priced that at $75, which was way too low!). I drew animal paper dolls with costumes (they didn't sell fast but people liked them). The really steady sellers were the cat toys. Every year, the cat toys. The event was outside and the grass in front of the cat toy table was the first to be worn down bare.
I did Pennsic for 15 years, till it got too much of the same thing over and over. The event started requiring insurance, and the costs were going up on almost everything. Plus my husband was having medical problems with cancer. The event needed 2 people to do it well and I made a decision to stop. Another vendor/merchant asked to carry some of my items and we worked out sending them by mail but she dropped out of the event after 2 years.
Around then I was selling cat toys to a guy a mile from me who made cat trees and scratching posts. I met him at an outdoor craft show and he was interested in carrying them. Plus I did online mail order a bit but wasn't experienced in websites.
But a friend of a friend wanted something new to sell at their booth at two big Renaissance Faires, they stopped here, I showed them (two ladies, they're selling partners)what I could make (stuffed toys and cat toys) and they said YES! So for the last 7 years I make toys they sell at the big Renaissance events. They handle the booth and selling and i stay at home making things.
But I do one Christmas craft show each year here locally.
Story from Elaine Moertle crafter from America