I believe I leave in 6 weeks for the show, and my whole timeline has been shot to hell but that's okay because somehow it always works out. Some progress points besides the walls -
- Booth flooring is here and is fabulous.
- The wedding catalog is designed and ready to go to the printers and the last of my gift products is being produced. The product catalog is awaiting photos of the last of the new gift products to be photographed.
- My wedding invitation binders, which are being custom made by my bookbinder friend, is near completion.
- I have the paper and have ordered the plates for my Stationery Show mailer. I've also in my nonexistent spare time compiled a list of about 300 retailers that will be receiving the mailing. If you have a shop in your area that you think might be a good fit for Joie Studio, please let me know!
- I cannot believe I am about to say this but the 2012 calendar is all designed and will be ready for the National Stationery Show.
- Booth graphics have been ordered. The guy doing the custom vinyl and acrylic sign work for me has assured me that he will show me how to apply the decals once they are done cutting.
- Shipping the crate has been arranged.
But the progress isn't without sacrifice. For those of you who are here on my blog because you are thinking of showing at NSS one day, here are the concessions I've had to make:
- In January, I cut my baby greetings and custom line out for 2011 because there was just too much going on already and I wanted to focus on the designs that I already had. They will be ready for debut in 2012 instead, leaving me more energy to focus on my wedding and greetings line.
- In January, my year and a half old baby had to switch from daycare part-time to daycare full-time. In March, he went from normal hours to extended hours at the daycare.
- My house is filthy because I don't have time to clean it.
- I need to bring in a second printer to help me complete all the projects in time for my clients and for the National Stationery Show.
- I have had to outsource die cutting because I don't have the time to set one of my presses up for die cutting right now.
- I was going to letterpress print the cover of each of the catalogs but that's not looking like it's going to happen anymore.
- I haven't slept more than 5 hours on any given night since January.