The National Stationery Show NSS 2015 - The Preparations Part 1

At the start of the year my big business goal was to take my brand national. Part of this plan included doing THE tradeshow for stationery, the National Stationery Show. To the uninitiated this is a BIG deal and unlike the craft shows has a 3 day set up period and the show lasts three and a half days.

It took me a while to commit (late February) but a few things fell into place and it seemed like the right time to take the plunge. Due to the lateness I had already committed to Renegade London and Unique LA which meant I was crunched for time. It's only me making/packaging/shipping all the inventory. For 2 1/2 months it was 7 day work weeks and for the last 3 weeks an average of 5 hours sleep a night. For me, one of the biggest benefits of doing a trade show was the deadline, after investing in a booth you don't want to waste that oney by not having a linesheet, catalog etc. At the start I read every blog post relating to NSS that I could find and started a pinterest mood board.

 As I was on a modest budget for the show I didn't want the added expense of freight shipping this can cost 1,000 each way to ship a crate,  so this booth needed to fit in a big suitcase. I was lucky enough to find someone who lived in New York and would be in London during the show, through a friend and saved a heap in accommodation. I was able to have IKEA furniture shipped to the apartment in New York which was a big relief to not have to go shopping during set up.

So this is how it began with some wonky lines and questionable perspective on a large piece of paper. I had a minor attempt at a mood board but ended up sticking 3 things to it and mostly just kept ideas kicking around in my head. The process was not unfamiliar, back in the day when I did my BA Fine Art Show or studio shows in London it was a similar amount of planning and frantic making in the lead up and it all mostly came together in the end. I think I probably averaged 5 hours sleep a night in the final weeks lead up, not through lack of trying to sleep more, my brain was just over saturated with to do lists and tight deadlines. Alongside this was still the day to day business stuff too. Shops decided to place wholesale orders which was great but made things even more hectic.

Some people do full booth mock ups with walls, (alas there was no space to do this) I made do with large sheets of paper cut to size and placed on the floor, I then started laying out product. Not the most ideal prep, but it does help to lay it all out, I didn't want any super high or low shelves and it helped to see the signage in proportion to the mock wall. I realized my original booth numbers were giganto and didn't use them.

Thought at the time... how the hell am I going to put up 100+ cards by myself !

Notice the not so helpful helper walking all over my walls !

Testing sticking power of glue dots

Yeah,  I ended up having major issues in the end with keeping stuff stuck to the fake walls at NSS, I went through, glue dots, double sided tape (two kinds) and then finally Industrial Velcro.  My point is be prepared, some things don't turn out as you would expect so be prepared to improvise.

Mounting the cards took 2 days

Card Armageddon

So I ended up with about 130 designs up on the walls and grouped them into : Birthday, Love, Friends, Holidays, Baby, Wedding, hello, thank you and other. When you have a Footmoose card you need an other category !

Laser Cut and Spray Painted Numbers

Signage was one of the easiest things for me, all the blogs said put your booth number on everything so people can find you, quite right too, Javits is a huge overwhelming space, you can get lost going to the restroom!
In Part 2, the hard stuff and to do list.

Renegade London - April 2015

My airport send off committee

I'm busy playing catch up with my blog posts after a whirlwind National Stationery Show, before I get to that here's what happened beforehand.

Hello London

This took longer than it should have.

New Country, New Signage

Embracing my inner David Hockney.

Renegade London

My sister thought me slightly crazy when I took her Ikea stool for my display. However, a couple were spotted at different booths so I wasn't alone.

Having helpers is not something I'm used to, I was told about this Swedish Store called Tiger, by my neighbor Ilka Dickens (who makes very funny cards) and it happened to be nearby in Spitalfields so I went for a wander. This giant pen was one of my purchases and proved to be a hit with my email list sign ups.

My sister being a trooper.

Loved this booth set-up

This booth had gorgeous ceramic planters and a really clean display.

Mini shoppers

Fabulous February

So January while being notable for my slow output, had its fair share of successes and definitely a really positive start to 2015. I Must Draw was featured in an article in the OC Weekly. There was an air of excitement as I hunted down a freshly printed copy which unfortunately ended in disappointment, and a trip to the library used book section where I landed a copy of a Martha Stewart business book. My husband tracked a copy down for me and there on page 28 I found myself looking at Footmoose in a very contented way.

OC Weekly Article !

In my quest for knowledge of all things paper I bought an online course about the Paper goods biz, (still haven't made my way through it all.) I learnt that half my line should be Birthday cards. It wasn't something I worried about before, I had all the major occasions covered plus the never ending line of any occasion "punny" cards. However it does make total sense, if you think about it. With that in mind 6 new designs have been created and I'm sure there will be more added to it.

a really nutty birthday card

With no event prior to Vee Day I had to make a late January display instead. I probably spent more time on making the backdrop but I think it was worth it. 

cascading hearts 100% recycled materials of course

Valentine's Display at Artists and Fleas

Wool Flower

With Valentines Day on the brain I got a bit obsessed with the idea of making fabric flowers but wanted to avoid the monotony of hand cutting each petal so I made a template and lasercut them instead. I've yet to attach a stem but I've used them as photo props to great effect. That's it for now, next event 21st and 22nd February @artistsandfleas in DTLA.

Looking Forward, Craft Fair recap

It's been an action packed couple of months. 9 shows in 2 months and I made it. There were some good and some great shows but the one common denominator was great people. Being surrounded by people following their creative paths can't help but inspire and bolster your resolve. I was lucky this year, this was my first holiday season where I was dedicated 100% to the job and I have to say it really paid off. The application process starts so early for some of the shows that come November it's usually too late. I made up a calendar and wrote all the application dates and show dates, (and space size) this helped me focus on exactly how much inventory I needed, what set up to take and make deadlines. I did one set up on my kitchen table, took photos and this helped save time with show set-up because I knew where everything was going to go.

For the most part I had displays and signage I was happy with, sometimes the hoarding of props pays off and having access to a laser cutter made a huge difference. I took a woodshop class and it was worth the money just to be able to use the table saw. I had grand plans for a mobile set up but had to abandon them when I realized it was going to take a lot longer than I had initially thought.

My favorite 3 shows were: Maker's Arcade, Renegade and Artists and Fleas. These are all curated shows so until you get the acceptance email usually just a couple of weeks before the show you have to plan blind. So before we get to 2015, here's some pics !

Rained out at Patchwork, Santa Ana

Don't wear white shoes in Rain :(

One of my faves Maker's Arcade, San Diego Photo by @jasfitz  www.letsfrolictogether.com

 This was the furthest I had driven for a show and despite being caught in an accident and racing to get set up on time, it was well worth it.

Photo by @jasfitz www.letsfrolictogether.com from Maker's Arcade

Prior to making the circular bauble sign at ENC

Sunny Day at Renegade.

I had a lot of dog visitors at Renegade.

Last Set Up of the Season

 The set ups were switched up based on space available but I think I saved the best for last at Artists and Fleas.

Handy to have a board listing your products.

It finally feels like Winter

Happy Halloween

The last week has been blissful in terms of temperature, I've even been wearing long sleeves which has been exciting. In a complete roundabout I've returned to sewing, its been months and the last thing I sewed was probably a hem. It's a good thing to have had a break as I have a renewed enthusiasm and I'm excited to make new things. Here's a couple I've been working on, although if you follow my instagram you'll have seen some of these behind the scenes shots. I'll be taking part in a few show in November including Patchwork Show on Nov 2nd in Long Beach and Nov 30th in Santa Ana as well as Maker's Arcade in San Diego on Nov 22.

Sample fox new design

I made this guy in a flurry of enthusiasm, literally drew onto the fabric and cut it out, not really thinking about how I would make it again without a pattern. I don't really want to unpick it apart so we'll have to see if the pattern I made is close enough.

Look at all the owls, I have banned myself from buying any fabric till I get through the mountains of wool that I have collected. I have mini wool mountains of felted sweaters and dismantled clothing everywhere, it looks bad but it always does when I'm busy.

Here's a felted sweater purse with appliqued bear.

Fox and Bear

Mr & Mrs Nighty Night Owls

The one with all the Cats

It's no surprise to some that when you practice something you get better at it, so as a result of drawing everyday I have definitely noted an improvement (and I was surprised). I am used to painting and drawing from life or photographs so imagining what a little chubby bird might look like holding an umbrella and being blown by the wind is an entirely different proposition. As I sit and doodle away, while The West Wing plays in the background (such a good series) I feel very lucky to have this time to enjoy the process of creating. My problem has always been focusing on one thing, no sooner do I decide to focus on paper goods and I'm designing a whole laser engraved line which then opens the possibilities to umpteen other products. I'm taking a break from ceramics to take a wood shop class. I've already made a dog bed but my big project is a retail cart for craft shows.....
 
Recent projects include a cat line of keyc hains and potentially gift wrap if I can find a way to do it that is affordable. While I only have dogs, I can appreciate there are a lot of cat loving people out there and they are fun to paint. There will be a corresponding dog line too. Holidays are around the corner and I feel like I've been in Christmas mode for a while now. I saw my first full on Holiday display in Hobby Lobby the other day, weird.

Lately I've been waking up in the middle of the night, usually due to being bitten by mosquitoes, they Looooove me, and I wake up immediately grab the tea tree oil and an icepack and try and go back to sleep. There have been times when there have not been enough icepacks and I have to resort to the frozen veg. On one such interrupted night though, my mind was racing with puns for cards and I had to write them down, fortunately there's always a sketchbook somewhere. There were some good ones so stay tuned and you will see the results shortly.

Imagining what a cat looks like

Cat ink drawing

Cat heads

Lil heads pattern

 

Potential grumpy cat Holiday card

Carpe Diem Seize the AC Unit & Biz card design

This is my very first year of being full time on the make and design front, which has coincided with probably some of the hottest weather ever, which I toughed out with one fairly innocuous fan which merely gave the appearance of a small breeze. Why didn't you get an air conditioning unit I hear you ask ? Well, frankly I didn't know you could buy them off the shelf, I thought stupidly that you had to install a fancy system running through your house ( a bit like plumbing) and I blame the husband on this one (he's American after all!) its not like Air Conditioning was ever an issue in London. Ask me about alternative heating solutions and I'm your man.  Upon realizing that I didn't need to take 3 cold showers a day to bring my core temperature down, we headed to Home Depot. I should preface this by adding it was probably a humid 93 degrees at this point,  I am not an impulse shopper nor do I know anything about Air Conditioning units, so we are standing in Home Depot looking at these two rather sad looking boxes and my husband says something like "we should get this one", to which I reply with some questions  like "are you sure this is a good one" or something along those lines. In the midst of this discussion, two separate sets of people take each of the boxes and we are left looking at the floor. Naturally I assumed there were more stacked away, this is America there's always more, right ? but much to my husband's fury that was it, SOLD out, the only two in the whole store. We walked away from our sad empty cart in silence  and went to another home depot to find that they had none either. So here we are very hot and bothered with no AC unit, (had I not known they existed I would have been hot, but not that bothered, can't miss what you didn't know existed in the first place.) We head back home where I make calls to several stores and the soonest we can get one is 5-7 business days. It was not a good time to be me !!

My husband at this point is lying on the couch unable to answer even the simplest question and I'm left to pull the trigger, Amazon Prime will get one to us in 2 days which sounds a lot better than 5 -7. It's a powerful, window mounted thing which seems to have all the bells and whistles. It arrived and took at least several hours to install. So now we have this white box sitting in our window, its reassuring red light says "I'm here if you need me". It's been fired up a couple of times and works like a charm.

In other craft related news, here's what I've been up to. New business card design. I ended up re drawing the design about 3 times but was happy with the final finished result. Customers are always happy to receive them so taking the extra effort to make something unique seems worth it.

initial design

Second Draft

red and black

final card