Great New England Spring Craft Fair
This weekend's Great New England Craft Fair at the Hampshire Hill's tennis courts in Milford was a success, if for nothing else but the fact that it was able to happen at all because of the collapse of the Hampshire Dome after heavy snowfall this winter.
Thanks to incredible management and drive, I would say, the fair was reorganized to fit into 3 tennis court areas at the Hampshire Hills Athletic Center next to the dome.
The East Wing
The West Wing is where my booth was located.
The South Wing
The rooms were labeled the East Wing, the South Wing and the West Wing, so there was still plenty to see. In the East Wing there was the raffle and music for those lucky vendors and a passport was offered to all attendees at the entrance to encourage visiting to all the wings and have it marked off so they may enter into drawings for prizes.
My booth was a great corner space, I really got to spread out and still have plenty of room behind the tables for working. With spring in mind, I decorated with a lot of silk flowers thanks to my friend, Mary P.
They looked really great on my A-frame display along with my crazy gourds and my "for Mom" bags with tags.
I made some special "D" hearts (DiZigns, Diane) to giveaway this weekend, to Moms or anyone really who took the time to say Hi and look at my items. Some of them I added a jewel and some a tiny heart locket. They were in curly maple, rosewood and mahogany (mahogany was what friends and non-friends called me when I was young as my maiden name was Mahoney, just a little tidbit). I think I made a few customer's day with them. I'm so glad. As an experiment, I made some as thin as I could....delicate I think, we'll see how long they last, but a success for sure.
Karen and her granddaughter, Luna, were a couple just walking by that I HAD to give a heart to. Karen had a booth at the fair, Karen's Crowns and Pillows, as displayed on their heads. Thanks Karen and Luna (what a great name)!
Noah and his mom, Jessica, purchased this adorable rosewood heart for his grandmother. Thanks you two!
Ernie and his friend, Simonne, both purchased a bag from my me. Simonne's was a velvety red bag with a heart and a pearl and Ernie's was one I termed "Greek-like" because of the mimic of dentil molding in the design. Ernie was a customer of mine from the 2016 NH Expo. He says "keep making bags" and I say....I will! Thanks Ernie and Simonne!
Lisa's purchase was another small rosewood heart and she let me take her picture. Thanks Lisa!
I didn't have a lot of customers this weekend, but my spirits were not dampened and how could they be with these beautiful smiling faces letting me photograph them with their purchases.
To take up some time though and give a plug to my neighbor vendors, I took pictures of their items/booth for some and a few videos of some others. Please take the time to hear and see the vendors talk about their art.
Stephanie from Marston Pottery let me take video of her beautiful pottery booth. I couldn't edit my videos (problem), but they really are fine just as they are. #1 features Stephanie and #2 features the pottery. Thanks so much Stephanie!
Pamela from The American Bead Collection also did a fabulous job in her video describing her business and a concise, complete wrap-up of it. Thanks so much Pamela!
Cindy, from Love Green, didn't want to be on video or even on camera, but she let me take a picture of her incredible succulent arrangements. They are so cute and the plants are so small, I love them! Her company is Love Green and I really have always loved green and....one more....I LOVE the logo. Thank you Cindy!
Here in the land of fantasy and miniatures and gourds, is the Stone Gourd. Vivian also chose not to be photographed, but look at her gourd art! I decorate my gourds, but Vivian takes it to the ultimate level! They are beautiful and colorful and fun. I first checked her out at the Hudson holiday fair at the Memorial School in 2015 and then here she was just across from me here. Thank you Vivian!
So, to sum up, it was great time. Not always in sales, but always in meeting people, vendors, families and contagious good feelings all the way around. Please check out the links and like and share the pages. Thanks so much!!
https://www.marstonpottery.com/
http://www.americanbeadcollection.com/
http://lgterrariums.com/
https://www.thestonegourd.com/