[My favorite memory was] All of it! The best run event I’ve been a part of. Customers were happy, vendors were in great spirits, and the volunteers were always around when you needed them. Honored to be a part of the Winter UCU event!

All the new shoppers! I don’t know how you all do it but you always reach your hardcore, loyal UCU shoppers and a TON of new shoppers.

I loved the camaraderie between vendors! I feel like it is such a nice community! I also especially loved how the folks attending the event really value the handmade aspect of the market. It is totally the target demographic I am hoping to reach. I loved when I got a chance to talk to a woman about watercolor for 15 minutes and geek out with her about paints!

I 4X’ed the amount I’ve brought to my best show ever for this. That show was a two day show so I thought I’d be more than good with inventory. People went wild and I sold out of a few varieties every day and had to make more at night. Which is insane. The sales were just that incredible.

[My favorite memory was the] new milestones! I can’t pick one favorite moment: beating my previous sales record, getting my first wholesale order, being featured on the Design Milk IG page (presumably due to UCU’s promotion), and of course, talking with customers who were purchasing my kits as a means of self-care or self-discovery. It was rewarding to be able to connect my months of creative work with the customers who would ultimately reap the biggest benefits.

[My favorite part of the weekend was] seeing previous customers still using my purses and telling me how much they love them

This was the best organized show I have done (out of probably 50 different shows I have done over the last 12 years I have vended.)

Thank you!!! This year was especially lovely! The more other shows I do the more appreciative I am of yours. Thanks for being so organized and accommodating. UCU has uped the ante every year as far as quality of goods, display and branding and has forced me to keep up and I am so grateful. I had the nicest shoppers, the sweetest vendor neighbors and the most thoughtful volunteers this year. It was a pleasure.

Making my daily sales goal by 1 p.m. on Saturday was absolutely stellar. It usually takes me 8+ hrs at cons to do this where there are thousands of attendees.

[My favorite part of the weekend was] definitely chatting with customers. So many return buyers, telling me stories about the things they’d bought from me before, folks bringing friends / family to my booth, people saying they came just to see me. Shoppers in my booth playing with my goods and smiling and laughing all weekend long. I also loved chatting/connecting with other vendors.