Craft East Buyers EXPO

Yesterday, my daughter, Jill and I attended the Craft East Buyers EXPO in Halifax. This show was formally known as ACTS, Atlantic Canada Trade Show. I've attended this show twice as part of the Newfoundland and Labrador wholesalers. Since the format has changed considerably, I decided to check it out. This event, which was held in a downtown hotel, wasn't open to the public as it was a wholesale show for buyers.

We visited just about every booth and chatted with the makers. Some had their displays in a suite at the hotel while others opted to set up in several large rooms with other vendors. Four floors of the hotel were taken over for this event.

There was lots of interesting art and craft to see. Many of the vendors were new this year, but I did speak with many people I've met over the years.

Here's the vendors from Newfoundland & Labrador:

• Michael Harlick from Black Hen Studio
• East Coast Glow - Wild Island Apothecary  
• Elizabeth Burry Design 
• Ewe Design 
• Molly Made Fibre Art Studio 
• Natalie Jewellery  

I do have to share one vendor from Nova Scotia as their business cards for this event was very innovative.  Have a look:

          
I've bought several pieces from this company, Hand-made Fused Glass Products.
Enjoy!

Display at the Wholesale Show

This morning was the set-up for the Wholesale Show. Since I'm only using one arm, the complete set-up was left to my husband. It gave me some time to walk around and chat. He did a fantastic job! I think he will be kept on, as the old saying goes! There were lots of buyers this afternoon. It's open again tomorrow from 10 - 4.

This is also the evening of my daughter's art exhibit in Dartmouth, NS. Good luck, Jill!!

Lights, Camera, Action . . .

Lights, Camera, Action! No action here as we want the objects to be perfectly still (and they were).

The Provincial Craft Wholesale Show is this weekend. Thank goodness I had most of my products completed (I do both a Cash & Carry and orders) before I fractured my right arm (doctor appointment this Friday). Today, my husband finished taking photos of all my wholesale items (fibre art pendants, shimmers, needle felted ornaments) for catalogue / order form.

Have a look at his setup. I just sat at the table and made sure he got things in order. He's a great one for inventing gadgets to make things work. Note the metal stand to hold shimmers. The top part rotates so shimmer is front on. That's a wire from the shimmer to the top and not a string. On each side of the light box there are two lights from Costco. We have lots of different lighting treatments. It's difficult to shoot without shadows but he did it! Now, a little bit of computer work and all will be ready for printing / posting as a PDF.

NL Wholesale Show

This has been a very busy weekend. Saturday was the set up for the show. I also attended a couple of seminars and had a meeting about exporting to the USA. That was interesting. Today the show was opened to shop buyers. My Fibre Art Pendants were very well received and I have orders for them already. I also had a great time talking to the various shop owners and vendors. The whole weekend was an excellent networking adventure. Here's a photo of my little corner of the show.

My Display at the Atlantic Canada Trade Show (ACTS), Halifax

Here are several views of my section of the Newfoundland Labrador booth at the Atlantic Trade Show. The company setting up the displays were very cooperative and prompt. My section didn't have a black panel, which had been requested. Within minutes that was corrected. My lighting was changed too.

To the left (on back wall) is a large poster displaying the wholesale items. Below that is a clear Plexiglas shelf holding Art Cards and Wearable Art Pins. Thanks goodness for the Dollar Shop! I purchased small art easels to hold samples of the cards. If you look closely, you will see them.

Everything hanging is attached with Velcro.

I have a sample binder with samples of all my wholesale products. My tablet has a spread sheet installed for doing orders and that is connected to a small portable printer. So, I'm all set up. It's going to be a very busy weekend.

A Bit of Eveything

Well, my bags are packed for my trip to Halifax this afternoon. I'm looking forward to my first time visit to the Atlantic Canada Trade Show (ACTS). Yesterday was a flurry of work getting last minute things done

• Wholesale Product Catalog was printed
• Product Sample Binder was finished
• Purchased a new carry-on bag
• Wall signs for each product is done 
• All electronics are charged

In between work, I did manage to check out a few more blogs on the Grow Your Blog Hop. To my surprise, my blog has grown too. Thanks for visiting and signing on to get updates! It's much appreciated. I've also gotten quite a number of comments. You can see those in the various posts below.


Elaine Quehl has finished four small quilts which are called Encore. They look great!

I also found this neat finger pincushion from Nunn Design. I think the colours caught my eye - so bright and cheerful!

Don't forget to check out Sew We Quilt for the the hop, She Who Sews with Quilting Treasures.

Check out the weekly post from the Needle and Thread Network (all Canadian Textile Artists. I added my blog this week.