Tuesday, September 21, 2010

the one where i go on and on about that one conference i went to.

leigh standley, curly girl design

ok, i know you don't want to hear every last detail about a conference i went to and i know you don't want to hear how lucky i am that somehow we pulled it off to be able to go, etc. etc.
i know you don't want to hear me gush about the amazing girls i met or how cool it was to meet the pioneer woman or how awesome it was to sell out of bracelets AND necklaces and have people begging for more. (though that was pretty awesome.)
but guess what? i'm gonna gush. just a little bit. and i might just break it into a few posts. i have that much to say.
i have to.
it's part of my nature. talking a lot, that is.
(a part that i can not deny.)
plus, i feel like a good portion of you readers were part of the reason i was able to go. and don't i owe you that much to tell you all about it?
{part one}the market:
i spent most of my time in the handmade market at the creative connection. since there was no centralized checkout (like we have at the queen bee market, ahem.) someone had to be at the booth at all times.














it was a huge challenge trying to figure out how to build a booth that showcased my products, but could fit in a suitcase. it wasn't perfect, but it looked pretty good for what we had to work with. thank you husband for the pvc pipe puzzle that somehow turned into a sign holder thing. phew.

the banner was definitely my favorite part. and yes, my friends - i traced and cut out the felt lettering BY HAND. i'm old school like that. and slightly stupid. that's beside the point. it looked sweet.

it's always a guessing game on what will sell and what will flop. i usually sell more bobbies and headbands than anything, but at the creative connection it was all about necklaces and bracelets. it was so fun to sell to the conference participants and then see my work all over the place for the next 3 or 4 days.


these rosette bracelets were a hit. a few of the staff members from TCC bought them on the first night and wore them all week - great publicity for me! just wish i'd made more!

sitting at the booth for 4 days was a bit of a pain and it wasn't exactly high traffic, but i was lucky enough to have a booth right next to close friends and spend the long days laughing and bonding with them. more about them later.


here are their cute booths: lindsey from the pleated poppy-


maggie from gussy sews-
.






and a few other booths i loved:
 
     digs


     lollibags


i didn't take nearly as many pictures as i should have. there was so much to look at! but my favorite part about the market was the friends i made.
didn't that just get you excited for the queen bee market? just over 8 weeks away! (oh boy, lots to do, lots to do!)
to be continued...





7 comments:

TLF said...

Seriously, seriously, seriously love your necklaces! If you'd ever like to host a giveaway on my blog, that'd be totally awesome! :)

Suzanne said...

I totally should have bought a bracelet too. I'm adding it to my Christmas list.

And I feel so much better knowing I'm not the only person who CANNOT stop talking about TCC. We can bore people together.

I Sew Lucky said...

I have to say that I LOVED your table!!! I still want several of those hot little bracelets! I wish I would have got to your booth sooner before the colors I wanted were gone:) I was wishing I was over there by you ladies:( I would have loved to have got to know all of you:)

Sweet Harper said...

Love your banner! Can't wait to check out some new shops too!

Two Little Tots said...

I LOVED meeting you and hanging out for a few hours. I wish we had more time together! Loved your table and your stuff...I {heart} my headband...wearing it tonight...going out with a girlfriend.

Heather @ Glitter and Gloss said...

That banner is amazing - can't believe you did it by hand!! {Your whole booth looks amazing - kudos for fitting it all in a suitcase!) I wish I would have been at that conference to meet you and all of the other fabulous ladies you mentioned! I totally would have come home broke, because I would have bought like ten things from your shop!!

Tauni said...

Am totally jealous.

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