Yesterday’s Craftacular was a little mayhem, a large push, unbelievably exhausting…and a lot of fun! After a late night packaging and packing spree on Saturday, we hopped in an always-handy Arecibo SUV at 8:45 on Sunday morning and headed to the Metropolitan Pavilion on W 18th Street in Manhattan.
After unloading our Rubbermaid bins and the paper covered display boxes/shelves I’d made the day before on to the sidewalks of W 18th, we made our way in to the venue and wound our way through all the other vendors who were taking advantage of the brief set-up hour before the rush began. At 10 a.m. there was a noticeable swell in the room, as hundreds of craftacularites made a mad dash in to the room to get a peek at all the work they’d been waiting (in some cases) months to see.
There was a steady stream of people moving around the entire room for, well, the entire day. We were tucked away in a back corner which we thought might be the kiss of death, but it turned out to be a nice reprieve from the havoc in the center aisles.
Just so there’s no confusion: this was the first show I’ve ever done with my own work. I’ve done lots of art fairs with my mom for her prints and drawings – including my first foray at three days old – but never my with my own work. I was excited to have people see albums, journals, and cards in person and have a chance to handle them and really get a feel for the stitching and the papers and the textures. When you sell the majority of your work online and you happen to be a pretty extroverted person, it makes a huge difference to have a few chances to show off one on one.
We powered through the afternoon and, finally, as things wrapped up around 7:30, got our bins packed up and ourselves packed up, and managed to grab a cab right outside, into which we loaded our tired bodies and gear and headed for Brooklyn. We toasted the whole experience with tacos & Pacifico at Chavella’s (our amazing neighbors) and then collapsed in a heap when we finally got home.
It was a busy day, and I’ll put some more pictures up on Flickr soon, thanks to our little gem Caroline (my best promoter ever!), who grabbed some great shots in the middle of the afternoon.
For now…back to the last bit of the holiday rush and huge thanks to everyone who came out and supported all of our work – you know we appreciate it all!!!
“A Shopkeeper’s Story” by Bob Hicok.
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