Wow, I can't believe it's been two weeks since I was last here! So much has happened, so I'll try to walk you through everything Stationery Show related. I should warn you now, this is going to be a long post :) After signing up for the show only two months before it began, I didn't have much time to finish everything I had wanted to – mainly my 2011 calendar got pushed to the back burner. But, aside from that I was able to finish printing many new cards and wedding suites, which I'll show you in the next few days.
Jake took the last two weeks off from his job search to help me prepare for the show and it was such immense help! After we packed up the car we started the drive to my mom's house to drop off the dogs. On the road the passenger window came off the track to we had to duct tape it in place until Jake could take the door apart and secure it for the rest of the trip. After that we had to put a finishing coat of paint on the shelves before heading to bed.
Early the next morning we drove the rest of the way to NYC, had a perfect drive with no traffic and were able to unload the car in record time in front of the Javits. I had been worried about dropping everything off and finding parking, but none of that turned out to be a problem at all. After checking in I finally got to meet Amber and Kseniya and we started to set up the booth and build the furniture. Jake assembled most of the furniture while we made decisions about placement. Over the next three days the rest of our booth mates showed up and we all put up lights, hung shelves and cards, installed the floor, and collated 350 giveaway calendars. When the doors finally opened I think the booth looked amazing!
The next few days were a blur of meeting new and old friends, talking to retailers and the press, going to networking parties and eating great meals. I made such amazing friendships with all of the booth-mates, which I hadn't been expecting. I can't tell you how awesome everyone was and how much fun I had on this trip. I also can't believe how supportive all of the other exhibitors were. I felt like I got to meet so many stationers whose work I just adore and they were as sweet as I had been hoping. It was especially fun to meet bloggers and Twitter friends in real life. The fabulous ladies in my booth were: Kseniya of
Thomas Printers, Amber of
Flywheel Press, Nancy and Beverly from
Hazel & Violet Ink, TJ from
Ink & Iron, Kelly from
May Day Studio, Katrina from
Papermill Designs, and Maia from
Dandy Lion Press. What a wonderful bunch of printers, who, as Amber said during the trip, are now colleagues!
Aside from having a wonderful experience and eating in many delicious restaurants, I learned so much from the process. I totally feel like I can build my own booth next time and I'm actually thinking about exhibiting at the NY Gift Show in August. I just need to formally commit and send in my application! Thanks so much to all of you for your support and kind words while I was preparing for the show and thanks for sticking through this long post :) I can't wait to show you new work from the line as soon as I finish photographing it and catch up on my email (Not having internet access during the trip was slightly crippling and showed me how much I really do need an iPhone or Droid).
