WOW! We survived the Scrapbook Expo last weekend. Not only did we survive but we made so many new friends. It was great to put faces (real-life bodies & faces) to names. Thank you all who came out and dropped by our booth to shop, do a make & take or just to introduce yourself. We sold out of so many things but we still have a lot of merchandise. If there was something you saw at the show that you would be interested in and for whatever reason you did not purchase, let me know and I'll try to get it for you or point you in the right direction
PAY IT FORWARD
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| 1st Make&Take Day2 |
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| 1st Make&Take Day 1: Sheila |
I want to say that this show left me with a renewed outlook on Scrapbooking & Crafting in general. I realize how this wonderful hobby that we share can bring so many different people together. I witnessed first-hand the wonder of "pay-it-forward." For those of you that came by on Friday you may not have had the opportunity to meet my wonderful cousin Vanessa that volunteered to help both Friday & Saturday. This is because we noticed that our "booth neighbor" was all alone because her volunteer never showed up on Thursday for set-up day and Friday for the actual show. Although it was a good thing, poor Marina was being consumed by customers crowding into her booth. So, Vanessa volunteered to give her a hand. You may have gone by this booth "Mon Ami Gabby." If you did you found my cousin Vanessa up to her elbows in gorgeous trim & ribbons. She spent the whole day with Marina and Marina was so very grateful. The following morning (Sat.) as we are setting up our make & takes for the day and with only 5 minutes before opening, I realize that we did not have enough paper rosettes for the day. OH NO! Vanessa remembers that yesterday Marina made these gorgeous crepe paper flowers with the crepe paper that she sells and tells me they would look great on our make & take; as well as offer a different look for those that did not like the spooky eyeballs on our original tag. I hustle over to Marina & tell her my dilemma. She literally drops everything that was in her hands, pulls out the prettiest purple crepe paper and within 30 seconds makes this amazing purple flower. I squeeed! She showed me how to make the flower (super easy) & gave me a roll of the paper. I couldn't thank her enough. And all she could say was, you saved me yesterday! How quickly "pay it forward" came. My next dilemma was to find the double stick tape that I need to make the flower. I ran up & down every aisle to every booth in the whole expo. No such luck. Finally, when I was about to give up, the first booth in the first aisle by the front door had double stick tape. (I believe it was Sparkle n' Sprinkle) Not just tape, they had 2" tape - YAY!!! I told her my problem, she pulls out this GINORMOUS roll of 2" tape and says here you go - 50% of the original price! Bless you! I run back to my booth and begin to prepare the beautiful flowers we were about to present as our NEW make & take. All I can say is "everything happens for a reason." Several people bypassed our make & take on Friday because they were not interested in making a "spooky eye tag" no matter what techniques we were teaching. Well, not on Saturday. At one point I had to give up my chair because we had people lining up to make our tag. (SQUEEEE!) 7 crafters at a time around the table. Poor Vanessa, she handled it like a pro. We had crafters as young as 6 all the way to seniors. No one left that table without having learned at least one new technique or tip. All-in-all it was a great day. Our booth was packed with shoppers & crafters - never a dull moment. Now for more "pay-it-forward" moments. Marina (Mon Ami Gabby) had to run to her truck and restock her beautiful purple crepe paper because she ran out. Everyone loved the flowers and we just pointed them across the way to purchase the paper from her of course. Then, right before closing I had a customer that tried to buy my very used 2" roll of double sided tape from me because the booth where I purchased it had sold out as well. Every time someone asked what tape we were using we indicated it was from the 1st booth in the 1st aisle. (PAID IT FORWARD!)
So you see my friends, always lend a helping hand. You never know when it will come right back to you. Keep on crafting... Much Love!
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