It has been two weeks since I was at the PaperPassion in Tilburg with Splendith. Wow, what a good show it was! I am really happy with how it went. So far each fair has been busier than the last: thank youu! It's so nice to speak to you during the fair, to see the enthusiastic reactions, and to see you go home with beautiful materials and inspiration. That makes the effort I put into the fair worth it! You give me so much energy to let Splendith grow, I can't say it often enough: without you there wouldn't be a webshop!
And a big THANK YOUUUU for all the help, it's really special how many people want to help me out. Of course during the fair, chances are you spotted my sisters, mother or husband! And in the preparations: my mother-in-law: for all the help with packing, all the meals that you prepared for me, my aunt: for your help with packing, my father-in-law: who painted all the cupboards and helped me set up and take down.
I keep finding trade fairs a challenge, so much comes together in a few days. That requires good planning and that is simply not my strongest point. I am organized to some extent, but not at all in certain things. For example, I always underestimate how much time certain tasks take, and that there are only 24 hours in a day. The days and weeks before the fair I worked for five weeks from 9 am to 11 pm. Sundays excluded but Saturdays sometimes too and now and then a meal break or time for a moment of depression or extreme joy. Before the fair I had had quite a few photography assignments, my normal activities remained and I was busy with the preparations for the fair. A little too much nice stuff: luxury problem.
You may recognize it: if you have a goal in mind, you forget to pay attention to yourself. Well, that's not really good for your body. After such busy but fun weeks I'm overly tired. And then there are things like deadlines for photography and a tax authorities, so an extreme week afterwards. Then you notice that you really have to take your rest. No matter how nice work is;). So there will be people who do fairs easily -> not me. When I slowly checked all my provisional deadlines this week: the rest!
Here's a photo report of the fair. In the pictures the fair seems rather quiet, it was Saturday afternoon at 4.30 pm too, haha! Saturday afternoon I finally realized that I would like to take some pictures of the fair itself. The other days it was always suddenly 5 pm and then everyone was gone very quickly. The fair itself is not super big, but I heard from people several times that there was still a lot to see on the small surface.
Oh and meet my sisters: the one with the ocher scarf is Priska and Lydia is wearing a striped shirt.
What did you think of the Paper Passion fair?
Love,
Judith
