Wow, what a weekend!!  The Vampire Diaries Convention in Parsippany, NJ came and went so quickly I’m still reeling!

I arrived late Friday night to set up and be ready for the Gold Pass patrons that were there to pre-register.

The location of my table was ideal – I was literally five feet away from the autograph table where a couple of very special guests would be greeting the fantastic TVD fans!

What a challenge it was to arrange my table – I created soooo many new pieces and I just wanted to be able to put them all on display at once.  Logistics being what they were, unless I rented three tables it wasn’t happening, lol!

So I tried my best to artfully arrange my wares and my table did receive a lot of attention.

Cluttered, yet classy….I think

This was an incredible learning experience for me.  I learned that I do absolutely adore selling in person as opposed to online.  I mean I do need to keep a strong online presence, obviously, but nothing takes the place of being there with someone and working with them directly to get to the perfect piece they are looking for, or didn’t realize they were looking for!

Not only were the patrons there amazing, but the other vendors as well.  I got to meet some very special people, such as Zephyr and Kierstin.  They specialize in autographed posters and photos of celebrities.  I can’t tell you what an amazing view I had the entire weekend of a GORGEOUS signed pic of Jensen Ackles directly across the way….sigh….

Then there was the mom and daughter team of Joan and Joanna – a dynamic duo to say the least!

I also met a great couple of best friends Jezzalyn and Lauren.  They were looking for matching bracelets to represent their friendship.

The lovely Monica bought a pair of earrings and put them on immediately – warmed my heart!

Zephyr, Kierstin, Joanna, Joan, Jezzalyn, Lauren and Monica are going to be featured next week, so keep your eyes on this space!

I’ve been getting asked “What were your biggest sellers?”  – well, I had a couple of really big hits – my wrap necklaces and a lot of my pentagram jewelry.

My wrap necklaces were a big hit!  This is my Goddess Spirals Gunmetal Chains and Angel Wings piece

The Ladies of TVDNJ – They will be featured next month, so watch this space!

Also up there were my stamped necklaces.

Stamping is a new medium for me (please refer to my last post “Stamping out The Vampire Diaries – Jewelry That Is!”).  I had so much fun doing it and am still enjoying exploring its potential that I’ve come up with a TON of new stamping ideas.

Imagine this – five silver circles stamped with the most memorable quotes and word associations of Supernatural!!  Here are some descriptions of what I have on the drawing board:

Dean’s bracelet:

Son of a Bitch

Pie

Eye of the Tiger

Awesome

Jerk

Sam’s bracelet:

Moose

Spectacu-lacular

Salad

Bitch

Clowns

Castiel’s bracelet:

Angel

Trenchcoat

Pizzaman

Ass-butt

I’m God

Crowley’s bracelet:

King of Hell

Morons!

Let’s Make a Deal

Son of a Witch

Hello Boys

I even came up with a other bracelets celebrating Bobby, Charlie, Gabriel, Dick Roman – I can do pretty much any SPN character, just let me know if you have an interest in someone specific or if you want a combined bracelet!

Now, back to the TVDNJ convention!

As I mentioned earlier, my table was so close to the autograph table for a couple of special guests.

First to come in and sign was the most beautiful Torrey DeVitto!  She was so stunning and treated each and every fan as if they were the most important person on the planet.  A true, genuine person.

My daughter, Raven, insisted on giving her a present!  She grabbed one of my geode necklaces (because she said it matched Torrey’s shirt) ran over and gave it to her.  Torrey very graciously took the gift and immediately put it on!

Later on came the charismatic Charlie Brewley! He was very upbeat and also treated everyone very nicely.

Raven said we can’t give Torrey a gift without giving one to Charlie as well, it wouldn’t be fair.  So I tore apart my table trying to find a piece that could remotely be considered masculine.  Aha!  I found something!

I had a very simple dalmation obsidian stone on a black cord.  Great!  I lean over to retrieve a gift box from my bag on the floor.  And promptly stumble over my own two feet and land on my rear end.  I look up and I see one of the Creation people trying to help me up, the volunteer at the table with Charlie AND Charlie, all looking over at me with their jaws hanging open.

The Creation lady asked me if I was ok.  “Aside from an extreme case of embarrassment, I’m fine,” I replied.

I then looked over at Charlie and said, “Yes – I AM always this graceful.  But this is actually your fault.”

“What did I do?” he laughed?

“I was trying to get a box so my daughter could give you this.” I said and walked over with Raven, so she could hand him the necklace.

He looked at it and appeared to like it, I think, lol!  He then asked me a bit about my jewelry making, said hi to Raven, and I went back to my table to try to salvage what was left of my dignity.

I want to point out that I do not have photos of the celebrities because there are very strict rules in that you are not supposed to take photos of the celebrities while they are at the autograph table and I respect the rules laid out by both the celebrities and Creation Entertainment.

So overall it was an amazing time filled with fantastic people, learning experiences, and more inspiration to “carry on” and continue my journey on the convention circuit.

Raven was also very inspired by the weekend and told me that she wants to become a jewelry designer when she grows up. I’ve never received a greater compliment.

Raven taking a very well-deserved rest after working such a hard weekend!

I’d also like to thank all of you who have been wonderful customers and those who have been such supporters that have donated to my Go Fund Me Page:

http://www.gofundme.com/EldwennesFantasySPN

It’s because of support like this that I’m able to get my small business started.  I still do need a little boost in order to successfully complete the convention circuit for the remainder of the year, if you could please pass my link along I would greatly appreciate that!

Remember, every donation receives a gift certificate worth MORE than the donation amount!  And it never expires – so there’s no time limit.  It’s good until ya spend it!

 

Thank you, everyone!!