full show report
I meant to post this yesterday, but I was just too tired to write coherently! The show was a great success – I met loads of lovely people, made some money, and managed to stay awake and reasonably alert through all three wonderful, exhausting days 🙂
My table. The orang utan got a lot of attention!
You can’t really see it in the photo, but I did wear the tiny blue rose hair clip. And if you look carefully just in front of my right arm, you may catch a black and white peek at my latest design-in-progress on the table. More on that next week, most likely…
I was tweeting from the show whenever I had a spare minute (so not very often). Being able to communicate any interesting personal news immediately is one of the most appealing things about Twitter, and I loved being able to read the replies on my phone in quiet moments!
My Who’s Who in the Crochet Zoo was a fun talk – I brought along 15 different animals in all shapes, sizes and yarn types, and tried to share some of my knowledge and tips. I had 15-20 attendees and I think they enjoyed it too.
My Crochet a Decorative Rose class on Saturday also had about 15-20 people (I was too busy teaching to count). On Sunday, though, the same class was insanely popular – people were lining up 1/2 hr early to get tickets, and it sold out within minutes! I felt like a crochet rock star! I’m still working on the pattern for the roses, but it’ll be up here in the next day or two, so if you wanted to come to my class but couldn’t get a ticket, check back here soon…
I’ll also be sending out a thank you discount code to everyone who has signed up for my mailing list, so if you’re not on my list yet, you might want to sign up now so you can take advantage of the discount!
Hmm, what else can I tell you about the show? Oh yes, the new business cards! I put out both new designs (Discworld and Guinea Pigs) and the old ‘classic’ style cards, and people took whichever they liked best. It looks like around 50 each of the Discworld and classic cards were taken, and close to 100 of the Guinea Pig cards, so I think going for the cute eye-catching card designs was worth it! I’d like to think that people might pin them to their noticeboard instead of throwing them away as soon as they got home…
The old card is top right – see how much more eye-catching the new ones are? (All the info is still there – it’s just printed on the back)
I didn’t really get much of a chance to look around the rest of the show, but my lovely booth neighbours from Upper Canada Quiltworks were demoing and selling a very intriguing looking craft: punchneedle. Ever heard of it? I’ll do a post on it when I’ve had a go – I couldn’t resist buying one to try! It makes a sort of looped embroidery. I can’t wait to try it out; I have loads of design ideas already.
It’s a punchneedle!
So, all in all, the show was amazing. As always, the best part of being there was getting to actually interact face to face with people. It was lovely to see some familiar faces from previous shows, and to make new friends! Of course, it’s not all good – you have to wonder at the insensitivity of those people who walked past my table with a look of absolute contempt on their faces because my art/craft is ‘only toys’… Hello?! I hope I’ve never been so cruel to anyone’s face, no matter my opinion of their work! But for each one of that type of person, there were 10, or 20, or 100 people who smiled when they saw my work. And that reaction is just better than anything you can experience online… ♥
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June said
Ann, I was responding to puglette who had asked if the two were the same 🙂
Your idea is intriguing though! I think it could work – esp if you get the larger size of punchneedle. I have the ‘medium’ size and it takes 3 strands of embroidery floss, so it’s pretty narrow. I think the needles also come in ‘large’ and ‘extra large’, so extra large would probably work well with yarn. Do let me know what happens if you try it!
Ann said
I didn’t really mean that punchneedle was like needlefelting…? I know exactly what punchneedle is, just never tried it. 🙂
What I was thinking was that the contrast between silky floss and felt would be interesting texturally and quick to do. Now that you mention it, though, I wonder if thin enough yarn would go through the punchneedle? Maybe halfway through wetfelting, you could use it to add in surface designs, then continue the wetfelt process…
Guess I’m getting some punchneedle supplies.
June said
Punchneedle is actually nothing like needlefelting! You use embroidery floss and punch it into woven cloth. The punchneedle came with instructions, and I also overheard the demo about… hmmm… 100 times while I was at the show, so I’m pretty sure I know what to do 🙂
It looks simple enough, but I haven’t actually tried it yet (I have to buy an embroidery hoop first). I’ll report back with a full blog post and pictorial demo when I’ve had a go!
futuregirl said
I can’t wait to see your take on punchneedling … I’ve resisted getting one, but I’m curious. Glad the show went well. It’s terrible that you actually had contemptuous passersby. Almost unbelievable. I can’t wait for the rose pattern! 🙂
puglette said
Hi June!
You ARE a crochet rock star!!
Is punch needle the same as needle felting? So glad to hear you did so well at the show.
hugs,
puglette
:o)
val said
sounds like a great time overall! I love the guinea pig cards….now you need an orang one!
Shusha said
Congratulation on the show!
I still love the discworld card the best, even thought the right one is more inpormative.
Did they explain you how to use the punch needle? it looks complicated!
June said
Alina, Maria: it was so nice to see you both again!
Silverlotus: thank you! It’s actually the regular AquaAmi Sea Turtle pattern combined with 4 AfricAmi Elephants (made in worsted weight yarn to shrink them slightly). I designed the disc based on the actual Discworld map, so I can’t publish a pattern for it due to copyright issues! I posted as much detail as I could on how I created the disc in a post last year: www.planetjune.com/blog/discworld-update/
Silverlotus said
I thought your talk on Friday was great. It really inspired me. I wish I could have taken your other class.
I love the Discworld card! Is it your extra-large tortoise and elephant patterns combined with a Discworld you designed? Any plans to share the world pattern?
Else said
I wish I could have seen you in person, June! Your booth looks fantastic. I am so glad you were well-received. Congratulations, you deserve it!
Maria D. said
Hi June,
It was great seeing you last Sunday at the show. I enjoyed your class very much and I finished my rose once I got home 🙂 Love it!!!
Ann said
Punchneedle always looks like fun, but I never think to pick one up. I bet it would be awesome to embellish felted stuff.
Alina said
Nice seeing you again. Your work is wonderful. Your business cards are too cute to throw them away.
I have seen this punchneedle embroidery few years ago at the Fall show, but that time I just admired it. Next time, I wanted to buy a kit, but there was nobody selling them. This year, I saw lots of people near your booth, but I thought it is about quilting, so I didn’t pay attention. Too bad, maybe next time 🙂 It looks like very easy and nice needle work. The crosstiching takes much more time, but I still like it a lot.
Misty said
Glad to hear that you had a great time and that your classes went so well!
I’ve never tried punchneedle but I would like to because it looks like fun. I look forward to hearing what you think of it.