i like creating a friendly and encouraging workspace, even if it means taping shit to the wall because there isn't enough room on my desk or i'm too impatient to wait until i have a frame. i also like that i now have TWO poems about rhubarb, meaning i now have a collection of poems about rhubarb!! swoon!
NSS - the end. maybe.
today was the last day of NSS. saying goodbye to our booth neighbors while rolling out of javits with all our crap felt like camp had ended or something. i'm supreeeemely grateful to have met so many wonderful people and for the amazing opportunity i was given to see what the stationery industry is like (for smaller, independent companies at least).
i've developed a super strong (and crazy?) desire to exhibit my own stationery line next year. i mean, it'd be FROM SCRATCH starting NOW, but i feel like i could do this. i have so many fucking ideas but i rarely make time to let myself explore them and actually create something from them. i should just change that.
i have so much more to say but my brain is a swarm of thoughts and feelings. for now i'm off to enjoy a few more days in new york with my beloved husband!
NSS - day two.
today started off better than yesterday. for example, i did not fall up the stairs into javits and spill coffee. i did see a guy ordering meat from the deli at the grocery store with a pomeranian sticking out of his backpack. when i told him how cute his dog was, he like didn't care or didn't seem to think it was interesting information. ANYWAY. we had a great day today at NSS! people are responding really well to the goddamn magical unicorn card. sam is cute. wine in front of the kitchen mirror at our air b&b. in bed before 10pm. that is all.
NSS - for real, for real.
WELP! today was day one of the national stationery show! hooooooly crap. we set out for javits around 9am (show begins at 10!). on the way, i stopped by the grocery store around the corner to grab coffee and morningtime treats for me and sam. while walking up the steps into javits i TRIPPED and spilled one of our beautiful iced coffees all over the concrete and also split the cup down the side so coffee was just slowly spilling out of the side of this cup while i laughed hysterically at myself -- NOTHING WEIRD! strangers literally applauded when i got up and successfully walked into the building. so. that was GREEEAT.
we had a few moments of calm reflection (i.e. secret silent panic) between booth visitors today and i sketched out a couple of prototypes for my new stationery line that i'll be launching soon:
...anyway...
today was pretty great. we talked to a lot of buyers, got a few orders, and saw some of our favourite designers all in one place. we're off to get manicures or wine or both! NEW YORK IS AWESOME! STATIONERY IS AWESOME! hooray!!
NSS - finishing the booth
today started off pretty nicely. sam and i went to the grocery store around the corner for fresh-baked raspberry pastries (omg......) and coffee. we got to javits by 9am and began the daunting task of FINISHING the booth. we didn't have much of a plan of attack, just a mess of things that in some way needed to end up on the wall and a plan in sam's head for how it should all look.
another friend of sam's joined us and helped hang shelves, assemble furniture, hang signs, and position product. things went so much faster with three people! we had our ups and downs in terms of available energy to complete the task, but overall i'd say we did a pretty awesome job putting that damn booth together. i'm thinking there's only like a 2-3% chance that any of it is currently sitting on the floor after falling to its death because we didn't adhere it to the wall well enough.
after everything was mounted to the wall and all the trash had been moved to the end of the aisle, the booth started to look pretty great. we got everything organized for tomorrow and taped off the booth (because people just do that at NSS? i don't know, i guess it's a thing? as if there's any way that would stop someone from going in and stealing all sam's stuff or photgraphing her product). sam had a celebratory swig of whiskey and we called it a damn day.
on our walk out of the building i saw anna bond of rifle paper co sitting in a chair looking at her phone... i swooned a little; i'll admit it. it's an honor for me to be in this place where all these great designers and illustrators are showing off their hard work. it's also a privilege to help my friend with her first time exhibiting at NSS. we've all got a big day ahead of us tomorrow! more to come.
NSS - the booth begins
what a super long day spent assembling a booth out of thin air!! sam ordered long strips of foam core and we tie-wrapped them to the existing pipe & drape setup provided by javits. it's not the most professional looking faux wall i've ever seen, but it's not bad considering we had no fucking clue what we were doing.
i enjoyed piecing the foam core together and figuring out creative solutions for our lighting direction issues and stuff like that. we left javits sometime after 8pm with all 3 walls up and more or less stable...and all the lights clamped and functioning. tomorrow will be another long day of hanging shelves, assembling ikea furniture, and displaying product! eee!
right now it's time to put delicious belgian food in our faces as a reward for all this hard work!
