Etsy ~ Made In Canada Show

In early October I had the opportunity to take part in my first market. 

I had applied for the Etsy Made in Canada show months earlier but had been wait listed. Two weeks before the show I was told they had a cancellation and they wanted me to attend. How could I turn it down!? Of course, the short time frame for preparations sent me into a bit of a panic mode.... but I managed to get it done!

Step one was to come up with some booth signage. I knew that I wanted to create a barn quilt to be used as my sign. Barn quilts are a massive part of rural Americana and have a great vintage look to them. I packed up the kids and we headed down to Lowes. While we were there picking up a nice piece of wood for the sign I also had them cut me some doweling and two by fours to create a quilt ladder. The kids were unimpressed with how loud the saw was. $20 later and we had everything we needed. 

I created the barn quilt by drawing out one of my favorite block patterns using one of my quilting rulers. It was easy to do because it is one block I use often for baby quilts. Using painter tape, I taped off the first sections I planned on painting. I wanted the lines to be nice and crisp. Using acrylic paint, I painted on a thin layer of color so that you could still see the wood grain through the color. I love the effect that it has. I blew up my logo in word, printed it off and used pencil to carbon copy it onto the painted board. Once that was done, I used silver paint sharpies to fill it in. I think it turned out pretty great!

The next step was to work on my booth layout. This was easily the hardest part of the pre-show prep. I could not figure out how to lay everything out so that is was attractive and easy to see. Eventually I decided that I really couldn't have a traditional table set up and started to get creative with a few items around the house. In the end I think that the booth looked cute and professional. Thank goodness we have a lot of vintage themed furniture in our home!

At the last minute I decided that I needed to add in some less expensive items that people could just grab as a small gift for friends. I thought that these small 15" lovies would be the perfect solution. Easy to make and at at low price point that people would be ok with. 

The studio was a MESS during the prep.

In the end I think it was a pretty good experience for my first show. My friend Ronda came to help me out and we made a bit of profit which is awesome! Now I want to focus on bigger and better shows. I am hoping to get into a few of the larger markets in 2016. Nothing like taking on some lofty goals with a new baby on the way!

Mrs. E