So when I applied here I wasn't quite sure if I had made the right decision: It is quite a way to go (3.5-4 hours of driving) and what feels like in the middle of no-where. But I must admit, when my hubs and I arrived at the local on Friday evening we absolutely loved the region with its gorgeous nature and the architecture. GOD I have a thing for old houses and different styles. I told him "even if this weekend is a dud, just coming and seeing this place was worth it".

Early on Saturday, we built up the stand and got to meet our amazing stand neighbors (these are just two of them Traubenlila and Atelier von Umbra) And despite being not completely overrun by people, the crowd was super hyped and friendly! I got to meet so many new amazing people and one thing I need to point out:

People start to recognize me/my style. Apparently I am doing something right eh? :D

My new bookmark designs (the ones with the bat) were.sold.out. I disliked how "not clean" some of them were but holy moly. I literally was down to the last one on Sunday. My cat bookmarks? Almost all adopted. Just learned that yellow isn't really a favorite color of people apparently :D

I gotta say the raffle was super successful too!

But there are many things that all the "guides for artist alley" do not tell you that I had to learn myself and through my fellow artists. While there are some that only applies to my style and to me two things I can recommend everyone:

STANDING It is easier to approach people when being at the same eye height. I don't mean to say "do not sit!!!1!-.!" but make it easier for people to come to you. If you sit at your stand and are busy drawing and not selling... Well sorry, don't be surprised if no one is buying your stuff. When I made my rounds I did want to talk to some artists but they were soooo deep in conversation or focused on drawing. I was just standing there. A willing buyer. And now imagine someone who is shy coming by. They don't dare to raise their voice. I had been calling people over and one even said to me "oh I don't want to disturb you" See what I mean?

Secondly:

Give them something

I was handing out my business cards. And by making them come to me and taking something from me the WORST scenario, they take a cursory look and move on. But with some people we literally chatted for quite a while (some came around the second day to chat again and I am NOT complaining, loving the crowd).

And I lied. The worst that can happen to you by offering everyone a card is to get a "no". The world doesn't end at a no.

These two things and implementing some stuff the lovely Kai had suggested to me on my stand helped me so SO much. I wasn't completely in the green. It was just a tad too far away for that and I did not have enough stock of some stuff. But the curse of 19 bucks has been broken. :D

Now I am super hyped to prepare for the next events. Which is FeenCon! It is a different crowd (fantasy compared to the anime/comic peeps) and outdoors. It will be a completely different setup compared to the last few and I can't wait to be there. And tbh the Vorfreude (a German word for the joy of anticipation) is making me giddy!

And one thing I was a bit bitter about was that I wasn't accepted to Dokomi, THE convention for Germany. The biggest and most profitable one. I am no longer bitter, I am actually glad: Now I can refine my stand, my stock, my own costume etc. etc. etc. Maybe I am lucky and I'll get in next year. And I hope to be better by then!

Y'all have a great start into the new week~~

P.S.: Sorry, I totally forgot to mention the organization of the con itself. They were constantly checking on us if everything was alright and if we needed anything. I was baffled that they were this present and attending. And Helge was my hero even before the event by answering my every question and handing out cold water while we were sweating our asses off in the window front area. GIVE THAT MAN A MEDAL! Maybe I should make a medal for all the helpful people there. We had coffee galore and hot water as we needed as well (for my 5 minute meal, that was a greaaaat thing). But being so friendly itself was such a breath of fresh air compared to the huge corpo places. Ok, now I got this out of my system as well :D