# County fairs



## Adam Fausch (Jul 30, 2016)

my kids are into 4H and they are getting into doing projects in the fair. 

The wife and I also enjoy entering in the open classes. 

There seems to be dropping interest in people entering wood working projects. Even at the state fair many of the classes will only have a few entrants in them. 

What does anyone else think? 

It also doesn't always seem to be just woodworking. 

I would think with Pinterest and DYI gaining popularity that entering projects in fairs and such would be increasing. 

Maybe it's just me.


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## Tony (Jul 30, 2016)

It seems to me like there is a drop in people making things in general. When I do Craft Shows or we go to them, almost everything for sale is jewelry, clothes, things that aren't made by hand, just bought in mass. Tony

Reactions: Informative 1


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## David Hill (Jul 30, 2016)

I see a lot of junk jewelry, clothes, metal work, foods (some are interesting) when I go to Market Days events. Can't go to the "big" shows because I actually do work---folks get bent outa shape when I'm not in clinic.


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## Schroedc (Jul 30, 2016)

Quality handicraft seems to be on the decline in a lot of areas. I see tons of jewelry and a lot of photography but ceramics and wood and other sculpture abd even sewing are getting smaller. Or when I'm seeing a woodworker it's all stuff that is cnc a lot of the time (@JR Custom Calls does a lot of different stuff and his work shows effort and variety so he's a quality exception) Now don't get me wrong, it can be nice stuff but it feels really manufactured when every single item is exactly the same with very little variety.


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## Adam Fausch (Jul 30, 2016)

Yeah my wife does a lot of needle work. And yeah it seems down too.


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## JR Custom Calls (Jul 31, 2016)

Schroedc said:


> Quality handicraft seems to be on the decline in a lot of areas. I see tons of jewelry and a lot of photography but ceramics and wood and other sculpture abd even sewing are getting smaller. Or when I'm seeing a woodworker it's all stuff that is cnc a lot of the time (@JR Custom Calls does a lot of different stuff and his work shows effort and variety so he's a quality exception) Now don't get me wrong, it can be nice stuff but it feels really manufactured when every single item is exactly the same with very little variety.


I agree. Most of my CNC'd stuff is MDF. I don't even try to mix myself in with handcrafted stuff. But, I do one off custom stuff on the CNC as well. Heck, it's not even so much that stuff is CNC'd, as much as it is people buying CNC'd stuff, painting it, and reselling. We have tons of people who buy from us that are just happy to be buying because it's made locally. We have the Kentucky Proud designation, which is a program through the state dept of ag. We are one of the only in the state making what we make. Most everyone else buys from a place down in Texas that wholesales MDF cut outs. Another thing we do is every design we make for people is drawn up and a preview sent to the customer before we cut it. Even if I have two people with the same last name order a door hanger, I draw it up just for them. It'll be similar, but won't be exactly the same. The exception to that is 'stock' items that we keep on hand or can easily add to a sheet of material to cut out... non personalized stuff.

Reactions: Like 2


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