Atlantic Craft Trade Show 2012

 I've been back from the trade show for a few days now. Unfortunately it was a disappointing show for me, most everyone found it much quieter than previous years. And then to top it off I managed to catch a stomach bug on the second day which lasted through the rest of the show the 5 hour drive home and then 3 more days. Finally back on my feet now so I thought I'd post some photos at least. 

I had this idea to blow up and print these frames , mount them to foam core and then hang a purse in each one. It was a much easier display to transport, quick to put up and pretty effective I thought. They brought a lot of great comments and a teacher asked the favour to take photos for her class in booth design , so that was very nice. :)

NSDCC Christmas Craft Show 2011

I'm back from the NSDCC show and I'm posting the pics of my booth. the show was quieter than last year but still good and lots of fun to see friends again. 

 I had a corner booth this year with only two walls and I really liked it.  The booth was only 5 x 10 which was a bit small but I was trying to cut costs. May go back to a larger booth next year.

These are some brooches I made with left over scraps of my blow torch evening bags and then added felt, stitching and more melting. I've been called a pyromaniac by some. :)

                         The journals were back again because they always go over well. I added E-reader and
                                                                   I- Pad covers this year.

                           Key fobs were a good seller this year , a good stocking stuffer.

              I think the purses looked great all grouped together and people were really drawn to them.

 The felted ornaments had to be the best seller. I think it was the lower price point and they were really cute too. :)

 I can't believe I have to reload the car tomorrow and head back on the road for another show in Halifax at the Dalplex. And then there is another the next weekend but at least that is here at home at the CBCCD.  and then a little one day event at CBU. I'm looking forward to the end and a nice break.

Acts show 2011

Back from Halifax and the Atlantic Craft Trade Show. I meant to post pictures and comments during the show but I headed to Halifax without any of my electrical cords. Couldn't upload my photos or even recharge my phone. I tried to insert the memory card right into the camera but it was too small and got stuck (welcome to my world :) )But thankfully I didn't forget anything else and it all went well. In fact in went really well!
 I took more orders than I thought I would for my first time and my purses are on their way to the Florida Keys ( my first U.S. order, YAY!) and off to an Art Gallery in Ontario ( YAY again! ). My landscapes did very well too and this summer I'll have my work in all the coastal communities that are so popular with tourists like Mahone Bay, Chester and Lunenbourg. That's very exciting because these were the areas that I had in mind when I was creating the line.

After many trys to remove the memory card ( I'm a pro at this now if anyone needs a tip ) I succeeded, so here are some pics of my booth at the Acts show.

My booth had a split personality, one side evening bags and the other quilted lanscapes. I wanted to bring both and not lose the opportunity but was worried how the booth would look. I think it turned out well dividing it down the middle, the separation seemed to do the trick. There were comments about if both parts of the booth were mine because they were so different buy they were all complimentory just surprized.

I had the pedestals made by a local handiman. They are out of 3/4 inch plywood and painted with melamine paint. They all come apart and pile flat in the car for travel but wow do they weigh a lot! I think they were a good investment as they will last a long time and are very versitile. The heights range from 2 1/2 feet to 4 feet, I had him make two of each and that gives me a lot of variations.

The process of making the bags is not so long but the explanation takes a while, so I thought that a slide show of the process would be a big help and probably do a better job than I could. So I photographed myself making a piece of the fabric and used a digital frame in the booth to show them. Again one of the pedestals came in very handy.

Here's the slideshow.