Like the beautiful card above (from the talented sun+stone) says, "thank you".
Thank you first to Melissa, who is so very sweet in person, for hosting Studio Craft-a huge undertaking of time and effort. It was beautiful, your house is gorgeous, your goods adorable, and your family is super cool. I don't know how you did it-but thank you so very much for having me.
Thank you Sally for your help in the organization-the design was stunning and I am convinced you will be the next Martha. Every thing you make is simply gorgeous, modern, clean and practical. You are super funny and sweet-thank you for having me!
To Sumi of sun+stone-your stuff was amazing, I love my card and hope to have a bracelet soon! Please start an online store or blog because I know that everyone here would just adore your things.
Thanks to Alicia-who is so fun in person-your vision amazes me and it was areal pleasure to meet you. Thanks for putting up with my wallflowerish ways! Your business saavy and style are 10x better in person and I am in awe of you-yup-I am writing that!
And another thank you to Blair-who is always a positive source of energy an encouragement online. It was great to meet you and see your stuff in person. If you're reading this post-you seriously want to check out her purses because they are so cute, well made and unique.
Last, I'd like to thank Stephanie, yup her creations are really THAT good. Thanks for being inspiring and thank for bringing around such nice people.
Oh-wait
Last-thank you to all of you who stopped by and made everything such a huge success! I met some really nice people-thanks guys!
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Now-my personal reflections about what i learned...
Okay-I am really, like really bad at coping with stress+giant groups of people. Well, at least I was Saturday and every other time I've sold at a crafty event.
Which I guess made me realize-no I am not usually unbearably shy and stressed (I was a foreign exchange student and the editor of my campus paper-I thought I shined in new situations and places). I think I just get that way around my creations. This is going to sound bad.......
but in life-I pretty much just stuck with the things I was good at. In school, I did really well. The few times I didn't I completely gave up and would quit, convincing myself that that thing "wasn't for me". I did that with the piano, played until it got really hard and quit, I've done that with jobs, and definitely with some relationships.
----So now, at this point with my art or craft or whatever it is-I feel like-this is the first time I am putting myself out there, not knowing how I will do-and with very little training -to be judged. And that really, really scared me. It actually made me physically ill. But I think that that is really good for me. I am so immature in the sense that I really should have figured this out before the age of 24-but oh well.
I also realized that I love the "Art" portion of what I do much more than the "craft". I really want to explore other mediums and work up the courage to share my sketches. I really do not like making 40 cards with dahlias stamped on them-but I love the initial use of some of my stamps and imagine them on a grander scale. I think that after Christmas I will stop selling cards and explore others ways to express myself.
Anyway-with that said-
I am updating my etsy shop with the new goods sometime soon!
If you are still reading-sorry for the gush!
