Photo Friday: The One Big Show!

Last week I was in Coventry for The One Big Show—a trade event put on by CHA, the Craft & Hobby Association. It was an action-packed day and evening of networking, seminars, good friends and colleagues and…cupcakes. (I mean, what better way to spice up a business meeting than with cupcakes, right?)

Side note: Ages ago, a British colleague mentioned that someone “sent her to Coventry”, then explained that it’s a phrase used to describe when people stop talking to you! Maybe it’s different if you go to Coventry voluntarily? Because we were all definitely talking.

A couple of the highlights from my trip…(Besides the tea, Marks & Spencer Simply Foods and the chance to stock up on books in English)—

My official name badge—which I forgot to take off after the event and had to be reminded—”The show’s over now, Sara, you can take off your badge.” Good thing I didn’t wear it off to the airport.

Attendees could participate in demos and make-and-takes.

The absolutely lovely Jenniffer Taylor (whose top I adore), a participant from TV’s Great British Sewing Bee, who now coordinates with Coats. And she’s in a band! Crafty and musical, I love it. You can read more about her on her blog as well.

We chatted, we networked—I know there are several crafty plans in the works from this event!

Me with the lovely Louisa McLean from Crafter’s Companion. We’re comparing notes on which seminars we’re headed to.

The event brought industry leaders like Colin Poole (CHA-UK Board Chair) and Yasmina Saidatan, BBC2 Apprentice Winner 20015 plus Start-Up Loans Director.

Attending Sarah Hurley‘s Creative Blogging session. Sarah had a ton of great info to share and I was madly scribbling notes—you can see her blog for all kinds of fun stuff and a great example of a well-presented and organized papercrafting blog. It was really fun to come home to my issue of Making Cards magazine with a free stamp on the cover designed by…Sarah Hurley! How cool!

After her seminar, Sarah and I co-presented a session on Interpreting Trends. Sarah talked about some of the trends she’s seeing (from chevrons to mustaches) and places she goes to spot trends, like StyleSite and LS:N. I followed up with info on how industry leaders can trace the growth of trends over time and match them up with different customers. I also taught a seminar on How to Get Published in Magazines, and laid out the nitty-gritty— from crafting proposals to writing instructions.

Then lunch and a nice chat with pal Jane Gregory, who owns Addicted2Craft. Jane has an online store and runs residential retreats that look absolutely amazing. She and Carolyn Schulz and I had a fantastic time catching up and even working on a couple of future plans together. (Look out, London!)

Then it was time to attend some seminars, too! I sat in on Tony Sheridan’s report on the CHA Research Headlines. (Tony is the Managing Director of Create & Craft television in the UK.) The statistics were interesting but what I love hearing is: Crafting is on the rise across 17 different categories, from papercrafts to cake decorating to sewing. In fact, 28% of British women have tried a new craft in the past year. That’s amazing and I frankly can’t think of many other areas that see this kind of growth. Even better, the research shows that crafting has become more than mainstream but—dare I say it—it’s become cool. Finally!

After the event was over, I headed off to the airport for some book shopping. You don’t realize how book-starved you are until the cashier watches you stuff eight new paperbacks and three kids’ magazines into a carry-on and says, “Wow…you must really like to read!”

Happy Friday!