After arriving late Thursday evening we all went straight to bed to rest up for the following day. Friday we got up early and walked to Spring Garden Road to tour Dalhousie's Theatre Costume Studies department. It was neat to see all of the equipment that they use, and get a rundown of the courses that are included in the program. Their sewing room has a glass wall that looks onto the attached shopping center.
After the tour we had lunch at Pete Frootique's! The equivalent to our Coleman's, only with many more delicious treats and a large produce section. I had a spicy Pakora and a cheery flavored 7up!
When our bellies were full we trotted down to Marginal Road to tour NSCAD's woodworking, metalworking, and ceramic departments.
Sweet knitted icicles
lol
Giant kilns
We had to walk back towards our hotel to tour the Textiles department on Grainville Street. The department was a collection of really old buildings connect by stairwells and ramps. We saw some fascinating stuff like a jacquard loom, a laser cutter, and a 3d printer!
While I was touring NSCAD I saw this poster....
The Nova Scotia Symphony Orchestra was performing Dark Side of the Moon and I was in town to see it! SO LUCKY. Words cannot describe the emotion I felt while listening to this rendition. Every musician and vocalist was SO pro. I bonded with a older lady sitting next to me who was also a a huge fan of Pink Floyd. We rocked out together and exchanged emails. It was great. :D I could write a whole blog about this performance, going into detail on every song, but with midterms next week I really do not have the time. I'm hoping to get a recording of the show. Gah! So good.
This was the only photo I could get before they asked us to not take any photos. It really doesn't do the set-up justice.
Saturday was the first day of ACTS. Katelyn and I attended an early morning seminar. The topic was "Exporting for the Craft Producer". It covered the basics of exporting your product internationally with a focus on America. It was very overwhelming, haha, but I learned a lot. There are so many issues with exporting that I didn't even realized existed. So, I think it'll be a while before I start to sell internationally.
This is me at my section of the booth :)
This is Katelyn's Self-Portrait Doll! I loved seeing Katelyn carry her mini-me on the flight wrapped up like a baby. It was hilarious! I'm sad I didn't get a picture of it!
These are Katelyn's hand-embroidered handkerchiefs inspired by the coastal women of Newfoundland, pre-confederation.
Katelyn's naturally-dyed, embroidered and beaded pillow inspired by Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss"
Carol's dyed, felted and beaded broaches!
Heather's art-nouveaux inspired print
and her screen-printed scarves!
Chelsie's "Heart of Town" shirts. A screen-printed map of downtown St. John's designed to look like an anatomical heart.
Krystal's conceptual knitting based on funding cuts to the arts.
and her knitted Canon camera
That afternoon a few of us ventured to the mall to visit the Mac Cosmetics store. We all stocked up on pretty eyeshadows and lipsticks, and then had a bite to eat in the food court. I had greasy ol' Taco Bell, mainly to make my boyfriend jealous :P. That night was the reception and the Craft Alliance Awards. It was a great night for Newfoundland! Kings Point Pottery won one of the Top 5 retailer awards, the Craft Council's Anne Manual won the industry leader award, and Alexis Templeton won best craft producer!!! After the awards Heather, Chelsie, Katelyn and I got dolled up and headed out for a late dinner at Bistro Le Coq. Here we drank the cheapest wine on the menu, ate fancy grilled cheeses, flirted with our cute waiter, and talked about all kinds of inappropriate things, haha, it was definitely one of the highlights of my trip.
Sunday was spent working the booth, chit-chatting with the vendors and retailers, and shopping around in the bitter cold. I went to DeSerres, an art supply store, and got a lot of really neat things, I so wish we had one here in St. John's. I'll have to write another blog about all the cool things I found...IF I have the time. Another highlight of my trip was this antique/collectibles store. It was in a massive building that used to be an old bank with really beautifully detailed moldings and windows. Here I found a coo-coo clock (YES, IT WORKS), a vintage silver clutch, a vintage costume necklace and an antique bell. <3 Anyone who knows me well, knows that this kind of place is my heaven. The hoarder inside of me was in her absolute glee!
Sunday evening we went to The Old Triangle for drinks and apps with the students from NSCAD and NBCCD. At this point I was feeling pretty under the weather and absolutely exhausted, I left pretty early and headed back to the hotel to pack and get some much needed rest in order to make the most of my last day.
I spent Monday morning and early afternoon shopping with Carol. We went to Taz records and I dug on my hands and knees trough old Guitar Worlds and Rolling Stone magazines to bring back some gems for Billy. Then we hit up The Black Market, where I found all kinds of treasure...earrings, necklaces, a dress, a tote bag, all very reasonably priced. On the rest of my excursion I managed to acquire lots of jewelery findings, fresh water pearls, colorful tights and Steve Madden boots!!!
At two o'clock I went back to the trade show for my very last shift, feeling both relieved and sad that my trip was coming to an end. I was pretty run-down and looking forward to the comfort of my apartment and kitten cuddles...but was also dreading going back to reality and responsibility. I will most definitely return to the Trade Show in the future with my own little booth. :)
back at it!!!
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