Violin Teacher and Music Gifts: Travels to ASTA Conference 2018
I travel with Violin Teacher Music gifts, and received something new that I have never experienced before - fans! What fun! One of my fans convinced me to get out of the small time sales and fork out the large amount of money and travel with violin purses and music art to go to bigger gatherings such as music conferences, "big league" Xmas shows and even very large food festivals. So, with my violins, guitars and pianos (which make great teacher gifts), I made a last minute decision to travel to Chicago to the Band and Orchestra Teacher Midwest Conference the week before Xmas. That was rough, as Chicago is pricey, and I was stuck in the back of the Exhibitor Hall by a "Face Lift" booth. And since I joined so late, I wasn't in the program. But I met more fans who told me I'd do well in the right places, and people who might carry my cards in their chain stores. So, even though I was far from breaking even, I braved the recent ASTA Conference in Atlanta.
At ASTA, I learned some things that maybe I already knew. The mini violin purses are not only great for young violin players, but they make cute night purses. They are a lot easier to make than the larger and largest size purse, and just max out the easy to purchase price of $75. Don't misunderstand - They take many hours to make, and the materials (beads, buttons, zippers and brooches!) come close to $25 per purse, but I think I can style them cute enough for teens in the future. And all my cat purses sell out. Sooo, I am redecorating a couple of existing purses to be ready for the cat lovers! At the conference we got to see and hear Rachel Barton Pine. Her Bach lecture was too packed to enter, but she streamed it! Her lovely daughter posed with her own violin purse.
Performance Highlights were seeing the Mark O'Connor Family Band with the sweet, talented Maggie O'Connor et al. They've really come up with a lot of toe tappin' incredible music that's hard not to stand up and dance to. In addition, we saw the the trio "Time for Three", an electric string extravaganza. I have never heard anything like it in person before.
Best of all, Cards and Prints flew off the shelves to find homes in New York, Hawaii, North Carolina, Florida..., and a couple of teachers used school credit cards to purchase my prints for their classroom walls! I crated many of the prints with this use in mind - Fun Educational Music Art! And although plenty of my educational note cards were purchased, the most popular were the cutesy less educational animal cards. So grabbing my violins and traveling to ASTA was well worth it. Next, we'll try to get into the Suzuki conference in Minnesota, even though it's passed the deadline! Check for my cards and art in full, HERE. It's easier to view them on my new web site, music teacher gifts. All around, the event was a lot of fun. Thanks to ASTA and all the traveling violinists! (and of course violists and cellists)