Mayfest Chronicles

Having taken my last final Thursday afternoon, I am now a college graduate! A bit to my mom's dismay, I did not walk at graduation. I was never too excited about college graduation to begin with. As an Arts & Sciences graduate, my graduation would have been large and very impersonal. While my high school graduation was very meaningful (I was valedictorian), I just wasn't excited to be a part of my college graduation. So, some time ago I realized I really didn't care to participate. Then I hopefully applied for Mayfest (which overlapped with my graduation). Once my acceptance letter arrived, I knew I had made the right decision! After the stunning success of this weekend I think my mom agrees.

I am still a bit flabbergasted at how wonderful this weekend truly was. For days prior the stress of finals and preparations were wearing on me and I was in a state of panic. As Saturday morning came and the hubby and I were making our short drive downtown to set up, my heart was pounding as I was so worried about the outcome of the weekend. I was terrified I would let everyone, including myself, down. That morning as the hubby and I were setting up, a family friend spoke blessings over us, 'I hope you sell out today.' I nervously laughed it off. Later that morning after everything found a place, my husband suggested I take some much needed (for future applications and the like) photos of my booth. I disagreed, thinking I would take them on Sunday, that I would have a few more pieces made then and that it would be better timing. And then, low and behold, the blessings of our friend came true and by Saturday afternoon my booth was looking quite desolate! So, Saturday evening, I came home and found a few hours of sleep and spent the remainder of my evening designing, measuring, wire wrapping as fast as my little hands and modest tools would allow. Let me mention that I managed to forget my tools at Mayfest and had to make a 2am trip to Wal-Mart to purchase some extremely inadequate tools to recover my stock. At any rate, I was able to create quite a few new pieces and by Sunday morning my booth was looking happy once again.

I wasn't sure what to expect from Sunday, after the unimaginable success of Saturday. Many folks who had experienced Mayfest previously said that Sunday was ususally the busier day. As the day began and a couple of hours passed, I was afraid everyone had been wrong. Then the crowd started pouring in and and things didn't stop! Purchase after purchase was made, my husband handling the money while I was busy packaging jewelry in That Winsome Girl cellophane bags and my lovely new take out box gift bags. It is such a joy to see and hear so many wonderful remarks about something I poured my heart into. Needless to say, Sunday, despite a slow start, turned out incredible, even more busy than Saturday!

I attempted to take some photos of my booth on Sunday after we had set up. At that point folks had already started shopping and it was incredibly difficult to snap a photo without random people passing in front of my booth. The ones I was able to take didn't turn out well as they were rushed and I wasn't able to see my LCD in the sun to see if they were clear. A good friend stopped by and her husband was armed with his amazing (I'm totally jealous) camera and snapped lots of photos. Hopefully he'll share them with me and allow me to share them with you! In the mean time, here is my rather lack-luster evidence of a busy weekend. You'll definitely want to click on them to view them larger.

Unfortunatley it is nearly impossible to really see the details, or even colors, of my display in these photos. I made, or in the least painted, much of my display. The That Winsome Girl bunting sign was sewn using a vareity of vintage fabics from my mother's stash (which I "borrowed" a couple of summers ago to sew my first quilt). I added the lettering by printing, carefully cutting out, and ironing on transfers. I also made my tablecloths which was quite the adventure. I have decided that, while I love sewing, I loathe such large scale projects. It is difficult to manuver, pin, press and sew such large pieces of fabric. All my rotating earring racks, as well as my credit card info frame and business card holder were painted a glossy white from their original, dreadful black.

Here (to the far right, above the dress form) you can sort of see a snippet of the old picture frame I repurposed as a stud earring display. I painted the frame glossy white, to match the rest of my display pieces, and strung wire to hang my cards.

Here is a photo of a litte information corner, for a lack of a better description. You can see the credit card info frame I mentioned, as well as the newly white business card holder. I have my pretty mailing list sign up sheets and a flowery pen. You can also see my two new business card designs, which received lots of compliments! Overall I got tons of positive reviews on the beauty and pairing of all my packaging. I work so hard designing, printing and cutting out all my earring and necklace cards, and make all my packaging from cellophane bags to the new take out boxes I described (unfortunately I don't have a photo of them at the moment, but will be sure to take one soon). I really think that packaging and your overall appearance really add to your products and help cement a memory of you and your product in the customer's mind. It is my goal to make each and every customer feel appreciated and I like to pay attention to every step along the way of their purchase.

To sum everything up, the weekend was wonderful! Far more than I would have ever imagined in my wildest dreams. I am so thankful for the experience and so very excited about days ahead. I have already received a number of custom orders which I am so excited to work on. I am taking today off to get my apartment back in shape and to spend a little quality time with the hubby. Bright and early tomorrow I'll be getting back to work in my studio. I have lots of work to do to get my stock replenished. I am planning on getting photos taken and have many, many, many new items sprinkling into my Etsy shop in the coming days. Hopefully two weeks from now I'll have a couple hundred items up for sale, adding more from there over the summer.

I also want to say that anyone and everyone can feel free to leave comments on posts. Please don't be shy! You don't need any account in order to leave your thoughts, and they always brighten my day. :)