* Jenni Bowlin *

Wow!!

We did it! I kind of feel like I gave birth to another baby (except this was much more exhausting)!! Here is a photo of my "cluttered" booth - just the way I like it I suppose. I really had alot of self doubt the night before the show opened but Jared kept reassuring me that all I could do was be "me" - and boy is this me! I try to keep things simple in my home (and my life for that matter) but something else always finds its way on that shelf, or in that cabinet with every flea market trip. I tell myself "no more" but it doesn't seem to work.

I had high hopes this time of taking lots of photos. I have so many friends in this industry (and made a lot of new ones!) that I really would like to have proof of that someday. Alas, all I came home with were 4 photos. So. . . if you have a photo you took or know of a blog where one is posted please post here with the link as I would love to hop around and see them all.

There are so many amazing people in this industry. I thoroughly enjoy getting to meet and spend time with everyone. From the designers to the magazine editors and other company owners, it really feels like a family renuion a bit with each show. The icing on the cake is getting to meet many of you - blog readers, kit club members and store owners. I can't imagine a better way to connect with people all around the world - isn't that amazing? How else in my lifetime would I be able to make new friends from the Netherlands to Puerto Rico? It is all such a blessing and I found myself really reflecting on it flying home. This industry is really full of "nice" people - and I say "nice" is good. At the end of the day we are all trying to make a living and support our families but I truly belive you can do this by being decent, fair and considerate. Nice is good.

And just to give you a few quick highlights, I did get out of the booth a tad bit and found some great things on the show floor! My hands down favorite thing that I can't go on living without were a new set of felt flowers from Maya Road. I'm not sure if they meant to do this, but they are a dead ringer for the old "button" style millinery flowers that I love so much. They were almost like tiny ruffles and had pearl centers and the most DIVINE colors. I was really smitten in case you couldn't tell. Sassafrass Lass had the best paper I had seen from them yet - colors and patterns. It was a happy booth (and they are nice people over there). Nunn Design had fabulous new jewelry pieces that I feel in love so I pulled together some pieces for an April mini kit. I'm so excited about this one! I also had the privilege to meet and chat with Pam Garrison and Charlotte Lyons. I really wanted to leave and walk around with them and Rebecca Sower all day but Jared wouldn't let me (something about responsibilities and a crowded booth). The next day I came back to the booth to a wonderful surprise from Pam - so very sweet and thoughtful (I loved it Pam- thank you so very much)!

More rambling later, but here is another quick photo from the booth. I made the flowers by tracing around a 5" dish in my studio. Do this twice. Cut a slit to the center of each circle and punch a hole there with a regular sized hole punch. Fold accordion style all the way around each circle and then join both pieces with glue or a tape runner. I used old floral drapery nails used for tie-backs as my centers.