Friday, May 29, 2009

National Stationery Show 2009


I thought I'd better blog since Mincy said it looked like I was still getting ready to go to The National Stationery Show. Well, I'm still recovering. Just a quick recap and a more in depth review later.

The show was smaller than the previous year, by 30-40%. I think that worked in our favor because there wasn't as much to look at though. We took more orders than we thought we would, considering the state of the economy and met a lot of cool vendors like our neighbors Old Tom Foolery. It was a considerable amount of work and money, and we'll really only know if it was worth it financially down the road as we get reorders, but right now both Mincy and I think it was definitely worth it if you want to move into the world of wholesaling.

So currently, we're busy sending out orders, ordering more cards from printers, making more magnets, and mailing out catalogs. Plus organizing the studio to be more efficient, which we really should have done before the show, but definitely ran out of time...like we ran out of time to sleep and shower if we weren't leaving the house.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Last Minute National Stationery Show To Do's

We leave for New York for the National Stationery Show in 52 1/2 hours. The guest bedroom is covered with open suitcases, cameras, ipods, press kits, business cards, magnets, greeting cards, and about 12 pairs of shoes awaiting final selection. I keep trying to make final "to do" and "to pack" lists, but it's been particularly busy at work this week which is seriously getting in the way.

The past two nights I was up until 1 a.m. doing etsy shipping and gathering things to take. Tonight will probably be the same, but Mincy wants to sit down and go over everything we're going to do and say in the booth, and to figure out where we're going to keep everything in the booth. He's right, I feel a little unprepared, but I think the first time you do anything, you're never going to feel 100% ready. As long as our packages arrive before we do (they're scheduled to arrive Thursday, the 14th, and we're landing in NYC Friday, the 15th at 5:30 a.m. or some ungodly hour. I really should check the times and flights, etc. -- add it to my "to do" list, I guess).

We shipped the cards, shelves, magnet display, giveaway buttons, business cards, order forms, glue gun, and I'm not actually sure what else because my fabulous fiance did all the shipping. I'm so lucky he's organized like that. We're also taking a few extras of just about everything in our suitcases in case a package gets lost (we shipped 5 boxes).

My Pretty Kitties card got selected for presentation in the New Product Display which is great! And my giveaway is a pin featuring one of the panels from that comic card -- I think I have about 225, so we'll see how long those last.

I'm also going to be featured in the Day 1 issue of Stationery Today (the daily distributed during NSS) in the NSS Product Peek section. Plus Mincing Mockingbird's already had a wholesale order. So there's lots exciting things going on amid all the chaos. I'll hopefully post more about the experience when we get back.

In other exciting craft news - Mincing Mockingbird and I will be sharing a table at both the Los Angeles & San Francisco Renegade Craft Fairs in mid-July.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Its Always Sunny with The Frantic Meerkat

So this was the highlight of my weekend manning the booth at Unique LA. Okay, I didn't take this photo because I was too shy to actually acknowledge that I knew who Kaitlin Olson and Rob McElhenney of "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" were. But luckily someone at Unique LA did.

After posing for photos with some fans (some were particularly loud and obnoxious -- must have been the free beer), they browsed through our booth, Kaitlin looking at cards, prints and magnets, and Rob checking out Mincy's bird paintings. Why is it I get so nervous when famous people are looking at my cards & magnets? Kaitlin bought two comic cards and one of my magnets. She also said she really loved my stuff which is a huge compliment from someone who works in comedy.

Unique LA was tons of work (thanks to my hard-working fiance who did set up by himself on Friday), but also very fun. We reconnected with people we often only see at craft shows like Two Guitars and Amy Olson, a couple from Portland who we previously met at San Francisco's Bazaar Bizarre. And of course, Michelle Caplan, and Hannah of HannahMade.

Of course, the fun thing about LA is that you never know who's going to show up in your booth and gawk at your wares.