my first craft show

ok, here’s my story. the days before i was not my normal self. i was happy, anxious, excited, joyous, terrified. there were so many things to do still and thursday evening martin finally served me a glass of champagne and a chocolate bunny to calm down (while i was still stamping notepads). i so needed that. and furthermore i decided what to pack into the gift for the raffle. all sellers were told to pack a bag with a giveaway and at the event you could buy tickets to win something. in my bag was a loop scarf with “la vita e bella” (life is beautiful) handprinted in blue, a little notepad and a pocket mirror and pocket bottle opener. at the event i’ve heard that others didn’t pack so much into the bag but i wanted it to be really special. i hope the lucky lady was happy about her gifts.

the event was called “eintagsladen” and took place in darmstadt in the city center. the “centralstation” is a big hall where usually you can eat (during the day) and dance (at night). huge and very cool with an industrial touch.

that was my little stand. i’ve bought a metal display with 5 levels to put my new collection of bags on it, next to it was a metal cake stands with 3 levels to put the pocket mirrors and bottle openers into and i’ve found a lovely vintage turquoise sewing box on dawanda. the quote scarfs were placed on the side table which i didn’t like much. but we were so packed with boxes and stuff that we forgot our coat rack at home and so that was a spontaneous solution. nobody really understood what they were and they were barely noticed until i’ve put up a sign that said “these are very long scarfs”.

i’ve sold: fabric pouches (mostly one size but different fabrics), kisslock bags, pocket mirrors and bottle openers, leather pouches, notebooks and notepads, some buttons (made with fabric leftovers) and scull pendants. on thursday i’ll show you everything more detailed. the prices were either on the items but i had some very cool picture frames on the table. and i had a bunch of fresh flowers, too. overall a very colorful small table filled with all my favorite things.

in the beginning it was hard for me to get in contact with the people who stopped by. i smiled, i said hello but i couldn’t engage them into a conversation. that took a while. and i realized it’s so hard to sell my own things because i take it personal when people stop by, make grumpy faces, touch everything and leave without a smile. there were people trying to get a discount and they were not even showing they LOVE the product. they just said they don’t want to pay the price and i thought before i give you the item for (almost) free i’d rather give it to my friend as a present from the heart. and there were even people who looked at everything and then said “oh well… i can do all this myself”. that’s ok to think. but don’t tell that to my face. i was pissed. i’m honest about it.

but in general i had very nice conversations with my customers and my personal highlight was that one lovely lady stopped by to tell me she came all the way from mannheim to see my stand and that she reads my blog everyday and she was smiling all over her face and i was almost in tears. that was so overwhelming and the greatest compliment of all. abba (honey, i hope this is spelled correctly) THANK YOU. you rock and you really made my day!

since this was my first show i was very intimidated by all the other stands and the super artsy things other sellers had. and i was just in the middle of two women who have the most artistic products EVER. i felt so little. and what happened? we got to know each other and they were super supportive and nice and we had so much fun together. i’ve met them both at schnick schnack shopping some month ago and from nicole park i’ve bought a brooch before and manuela of juime always puts me in awe when i see her stand. it was good to spend the time with them and i look forward seeing them again on other craft shows.

overall it was a great experience and i can’t wait to have my second show end of june in mainz. this show taught me to be patient, to stay calm, to not take it personal when people look at my stuff weird AND from now on i want to be even more creative when i sew my things. i’ve lost the creativity along the way a bit because i just wanted to fill my table and my craft room at home turned into a sweatshop with me as the only worker :-) but that’ll change for the next show. that’s what i’ve promised to myself. but i still feel like a million dollars. that was just so cool!!

on thursday i’ll show you my brand new items and what i’ve bought. so stay tuned.