On Sunday the 12th we found ourselves at the local gaming store “Gamer’s Armory” for their first craft fair show. Of course we couldn’t pass up this opportunity to show off our jewelry and browse gaming supplies.
As usual we arrived a bit early. The doors for vendors were to open at noon, we were there about 11:35 AM. This is not a problem as far as we are concerned. Let us park closer to those doors. A few minutes before noon we took our totes and stacked them by the door.
Shortly after 12 PM the doors opened and several vendors flooded the gaming area where Mike had set up tables for the craft fair in a really good configuration. We were lucky enough to snag a two table setup near the front where people would be entering.
We went about setting up our tables. This time we brought two earring spinners. One for geek/gaming and another for more classical designs. Additionally we expanded our wire grate towers to better display the busts. These two things added quite a bit to our set up times.
But, we finished just as 1 PM rolled around and the event started.
Once again, this layout was a little different than some others we’ve used recently. Mostly due to the addition of extra earring display and the orientation of the space. You can see what we’ve used in the past over here.
Almost immediately after the event started people started to file in and disperse among the vendors. Those first couple hours people seemed rather busy and engaged. I know we were having fun, and by the laughter in other parts of the room it seemed we weren’t alone.
Like other shows there were some lulls, during this time we got to know some of our neighbors. There was Corey and Amanda, who were right next to us, and their amazing 8-bit art. It was their first event and we were their first sale (during set up). Then another jewelry vendor, Christopher, who specialized in flatware jewelry! The author William Tracey whose shared universe is filled with music based magic. And the artist Tom Derosier, who can be found at The Crow’s Bazaar. Those are just a few of the people we got to know to one degree or another.
Towards the end of the night we bought a game addon we have been looking for, and almost bought another. In case people weren’t aware both Kellie and Tom are big gaming geeks with a sizable board game and RPG collection.
We also got a few leads on other shows in our area, a craft consignment shop and where to get some better displays. These things alone would have made it a great time.
What really did it though was being able to hang out with “our people.” That and see friends we hadn’t seen in a while since COVID started.
There is already talk of doing a show in June, which we would be happy to be part of!
