Three months of intense preparation led up to the big day(s) at the American Sewing Expo in Novi, Michigan this past weekend. I loved meeting everyone in person! How fun to watch the reaction of people when the saw all of the colors and felt the fabulous felt! I heard such wonderful comments... the 'oooohs' and the 'ahhhhhhhhhs' were plentiful as I expected they would be.
Some of my favorite moments were when on-line customers recognized my name and my wool felt and came to introduce themselves. I totally loved it!! Overall it was a fabulous experience and I hope to do it again. Now that I've been through it once, the next time will be a piece of cake!
The '
Felt On The Fly Live' experience included all 99 luscious colors of felty wool felt available in single sheets and, of course, my famous
Color Stories....we did some really cute Make 'N Take projects including a Puffed Star Ornament, a Heart Ornament and an embellished Tiny Tote, all made with die cut wool felt. I think you'll be seeing these little kits in my
Felt On The Fly shop very soon.
Patterns from some very talented designers were also featured in my booth.
Jennifer Carson of The Dragon Charmer was so very generous in allowing me to borrow her fabulous Jewel Dragon for display alongside the pattern. And...by the way....
kits including the pattern, felt and wool roving will soon be available in my shop.
From
Lolli Dolls, Anne sent me adorable 'Zoe' (made with FeltOnTheFly felt, of course) as a
wonderful example of her doll patterns, pictured on the right, 'Rosie', 'Ellie' and 'Grace'. Zoe and the patterns were much
admired. Check out those eyes! They are hand-embroidered. The hair, the dresses, the shoes.... all in wool felt! So crazy cute... and the patterns are well-written and detailed. Even instructions for those sweet little socks are included.
I also had kits for those adorable owls from
Garden Birdie (left), and patterns from
GingerMelon:
I also had a little lamb from
JudyElizabethsFlock (below) - which is made partly from my wool felt -for those lamb-loving folks out there....it's just the sweetest thing!
Also on display in my booth were adorable little creations from Kendrea of BitsOfMe (currently on vacation from Etsy) including those sweet little acorn cap dolls inspired by
Sally Mavor's book, Felt Wee Folk.
One more very eye-catching item on display in my booth was this lovely egret and grape leaf pin created by
SandhraLee who shares with me a love of wool felt and Florida. The pin is made with my wool felt, a cotton batik print and beads:
I was happy to show off the work of crafters I admire. When shoppers asked 'What can I make with this amazing wool felt?', I was able to show them some terrific examples of projects.
The show was wonderful. I surely couldn't have done it without the help of good friends. Many hands helped in the preparation, and some experienced friends gave me very good advice and suggestions. My heartfelt thanks to all!
And a special thanks to
Felicia Kramer for allowing me to use photos she took of my booth at the Expo.
