Hello there and sorry for the absence! I came back home from Paris on Sunday but unfortunately the stress and travel took its toll and the flu got the best of me. Now I'm back better again and thought to write a post about the event as it had its turns and was quite eventful!
I started my journey on Wednesday morning from Helsinki. The flight was really early and I arrived to Paris before noon but the travel from the airport to the city center and to Vincennes took forever. But when I arrived to the hotel a bigger problem emerged - Prima's shipment was stuck in customs. Oh my gosh! The products had arrived well on time but unfortunately there were big difficulties with the customs to get the products released.
So when we should have been setting up the booth, we were on the phone trying to get the shipment released and the show on the road so to say. Naturally it was bad that the products were there but so were Sharon's and mine workshop supplies and kits! We were experiencing a language barrier while trying to resolve the problem, but luckily our interpreter or should I say miracle worker Andrea came in early and set to work right away. But as we didn't have products to put to the booth, we needed a plan B...
Thursday dawned and the show opened. We had arranged the tables so that we could demo and boy I was happy that I had brought some supplies "just in case" as well as my two journals. I was using watercolors, stamping and coloring with them and Color Blooms and Sharon demoed Sparks and Waxes. It was great to hear people's reactions and they were intrigued by the products and techniques!
I was so happy to meet Sharon again as we have met briefly a couple of years ago in the same event. She was teaching then and I attended the show and some classes. I was also thrilled to meet
Nathalie! She was so sweet and so awesome! Whenever Andrea was needed elsewhere, Nathalie helped with the language. I understand some French but speaking is a whole other story.
Because the products weren't there, we needed to cancel some workshops, too. For my first one, the one on Thursday morning, there was a misunderstanding and while we were under the impression that Version Scrap would inform the students about the cancellation, they weren't notified. After that first workshop we were always on site with either Andrea or Nathalie to explain and inform and apologize. It was a terrible situation for everyone. We all felt so bad for the people who had enrolled to the classes. I know some French, like I said, so I could say: "Je suis désolé. C'est une catastrophe."
Saturday was a fantastic day as I got to keep one of the four scheduled workshops! Three needed to be canceled, but I got to keep one! Boy I was overjoyed! As you can see from the picture below, I was just thrilled! The people attending were so skilled, worked like a whirlwind and everybody's bottle was just awesome. I felt honored, privileged and touched. Keeping workshops is my passion and they give me so much!
What also made me feel really touched and emotional was the feedback - naturally the feedback from the workshop, too, but most of all about the difficulty with the products, need to cancel the workshops and all that. Everyone was so helpful, understanding and kind. So a big, huge, heartfelt thank you to all and each and everyone!
Among it all I had some wonderful food and most of all company. The company was in fact so great that I forgot to take photos! I only have the one of the "Prima girls" - Sharon, Nathalie and me. Great that I have that but such a shame that I don't have more! I enjoyed working alongside Sharon and Nathalie and being in the booth.
First of all I met wonderful people during the show! They came to the Prima booth or then I just bumped into them along the show floor. It was great to see familiar faces and hear stories of projects people had made. Thank you to everyone who said hi!
Besides people in the show floor I also met and went to dinner with Marsha, Harold and Birgit on one day and with a bigger crowd on another. The bigger crowd consisted the 13Arts girls Terhi, Olga, Marta and Fiona, us Prima girls Molly, Sharon, me and Andrea, Debby Schuh and her interpreter and then Birgit. It was really amazing to be gathered to the same table!
One last note still concerning the workshops. First of all, my apologies once more that we needed to cancel! I felt completely horrible and helpless! I'm deeply sorry for the lost time and the inconvenience and disappointment.
I should get all the email addresses of the people who were enrolled to my workshops from the organization, from Version Scrap. I want to send all the people who were enrolled the .pdf instructions at least as the workshops were cancelled. I gathered some of the addresses already on site, but I'm missing quite a few.
So if you were enrolled and want to get the instructions, please send me a mail. My address is rkovasin@gmail.com. The instructions are in English but if you need help or have any questions, I'm doing the best I can to help!
All in all, it was a really eventful few days in Paris! I was happy to be asked to attend, to keep the workshop, to meet lovely people and dine with friends... Paris had a lovely though quite chilly weather, too, and the food was great!
I hope someday to return to Paris or France and keep more workshops there. And there might be a chance of that happening... just saying! Fingers crossed!
Thank you for stopping by today! Wishing you a lovely evening!
