Please check out our Special Edition of our Patron-exclusive podcast TL:DR. I breakdown all the good, bad and in-between from the Chicago Stationery Fest. So, tune in and enjoy the recap. Photos below illustrate the event and our road trip adventure.
The trip:
We lucked out and the weather for our drive was pleasant which is not always what will happen in March in the Midwest. Our hotel was cheap and looked like it. I’ll spare you photos of the peach bathroom but I’m sure you can imagine it after seeing the polyester bedspreads.
We ate our way across the city like good Chicagoans. We ate vegan Italian Beef at Buona Beef, donuts at Parlor Doughnuts, coffee everywhere, and amazing Pan Asian at Alice & Friends.
The Event:
Vendors started setting up on Friday around noon. It’s always amazing to see a space go from empty tables to full-fledged paper lover’s paradise in hours.
On Saturday morning, VIPs were allowed access to the event at 9am and by 10am, the floodgates were open.
The Marketplace was super busy on Saturday. Everyone was really happy and nice, even if they had to wait to get into the event.
Workshops:
I taught workshops on both Saturday afternoon and again on Sunday. I entirely forgot to take any pictures of the Secrets from the Ink Collector class but I got some positive feedback from students. It was a huge inky brain dump and I hope everyone left with some new techniques and tips.
My workshop on Sunday was a new workshop: Carve Your Own Stamps and it was so fun! We made a huge mess and had a great time!
Making New Friends:
Our nearby table neighbors were the delightful Hot Dang Press from the Atlanta area that makes iron-on transfers that they could apply on-site or you could take them home with you.
I had them iron-on the beloved Chicago city flag on my traveler’s notebook. I will definitely be applying even more of their amazing iron-ons onto other notebooks, clothes and bags. These two were a total delight! I hope they start attending other pen shows (Atlanta Pen Show, call these folks!!!)
I am familiar with Itoya and Sailor North America but I was not familiar with the retail face of this company: Top Drawer. I met a couple members of the team and was introduced to their new high-end pen line called Kolo and it includes a some beautiful resins and an interesting soft triangular shape. Certainly worth checking these out more in the future.
Celebrity sightings:
Wrap-Up:
Overall, we enjoyed the event. We had good sales, met lots of great people and ate lots of great food. Yes, there were some issues with some aspects. Be sure to listen to the podcast to hear a more in-depth description.
