Martha Stewart American Made Event

On Wednesday the 17th I boarded a Megabus bound for New York City to attend the Martha Stewart American Made Event. I was very proud of myself because I was by myself.  I really hate going long distances by myself and I really don't like NYC. So like most folks I am on a half empty bus which is very nice I take a little nap and before I know it I am in NYC!! So with directions in hand trying hard not to look like a tourist I start walking to Grand Central Station.

Main corridor of Grand Central Station

Grand Central Station Clock

Arriving at my destination which is Vanderbilt Hall I take in the scene before me. There are people everywhere!! Which doesn't bother me in the least especially crowds that come together for a common purpose and that's for the love of crafting, Martha Stewart and creating. So I start on the left hand side checking out the make and take sections and the cool folks demonstrating the various Martha Stewart craft supplies you can purchase.

To me this is a good time to be immerse in the creative world with like minded people. I love craft shows or any type of crafting event. I love making stuff with my own two hands. And I love knowing that someone is going to be on the receiving end of my love and hard work by either getting my craft item as a gift or spending their money and making a purchase.

The welcome sign for all us crafty folks!!

And there I am in front of this really cool sign!!

The sign was made out of all sorts of stuff really cute the way they did it.

There's where I wrote my name on the big chalk sign that was on the other side of the sign. Doing graffiti in NYC Awesome!!!

Big chalk sign!!

Some of the activities they had were you could make your own pom pom keychains. This was cool but not any thing new. I remember making these back in the 70's. but hey everything old is new again. Then i saw a guy showing folks how to make scrapbook envelopes. Which was nice to see those who had never done anything like it try their hand. Its good to see folks receptive to a new crafting skill. I spoke to a young lady who was demonstrating scrapbook punches, stencils and she even had a pair of fringing shears!! I was happy to play with those!! Its one of those crafting things you just gotta have whether or not you even use it. You don't care its just so cool and you kick yourself for not thinking of it first!!!

Making pom pom keychains

More pom pom keychains

Helping some ladies make their own envelopes 

There were other stations as well but I wasn't able to get pics the space was kinda small and very crowded. They had a paper flower station. They showed you how to make paper flowers out of hang tags. Cute idea especially if you have leftover tags you don't know what to do with. Waste not want not! a few other things I dont even remember. But they did have these guys called Manic Pumpkin Carvers actually carving pumpkins very cool!!

Manic Pumpkin Carvers at work

Pumpkin carvers

After I walked around for a bit I decided to go grab some food in the food court. Ate some pizza which wasn't too bad. Even though the crust was frozen crust and the price was reasonable 6 bucks for 2 slices about the same as here in Philly. After lunch I walked around Grand Central Station to kill a bit of time. That place is quite impressive. they have some cute shops tucked in there. I came across a cute stationary store that had these really cool Halloween decorations in their window. And I watch one of there staff wrapping gifts for someone.

Seeing all there was to see I headed back to Vanderbilt Hall. Heading over to the crafters corner I was surprised to see some familiar names one was Matt from Mystic Knotworks he is one of the sellers on the website Artfire that I belong to as well. Great guy although I didn't get a chance to meet him personally he is always pleasant in the Artfire forums. I did see one or two of the finalist there from the contest. I guess the other were going to be there on Thursday.

Once I checked out all the crafters I stood in line for a screen printed bag sponsored by Toyota and then it was time for my panel on Success On Etsy. which was the main thing I came for since I just opened my shop on Etsy a month ago. Figured why not I will give it a try. That was cool to actually see people behind the Etsy brand and to talk to successful sellers who started just like I did at the kitchen table with a budget of whatever was in your pocket at the time.

All in all I am glad I went it was a good experience to get me out of my shell and to start working on my networking skills. Although I am a little disappointed that I did not see more of the finalists of the contest. And that the sellers area was a bit cramped for my taste makes shopping that much harder.  but I did get to actually see Martha Stewart and I was able to get a picture of her while she was doing her book signing. Now that I know what to expect next year I will be ready to not only go to it again but I will be entering the Martha Stewart American Made Contest

Screen printing gentleman doing his thing cool to watch!!

Some of Etsy successful sellers doing a Q&A session. So funny I was sitting behind  and off to the left of the balding gentleman. I knew I should have moved over!!

.

And here is the woman herself Martha Stewart!!!!

 So that's my trip to the big apple by myself to see the crafting queen. A lot of my pics did not come out which is ok. But the event has a tumblr page you can see more of the Event

Until next time Happy Crafting!!