Dromgoole’s & Plotter Event:
My trip to Houston for the Little Craft Fest started with a trip to Dromgoole’s to experience the Plotter Event that included custom corners for your Plotter and a workshop on how to create a vision board for your Plotter.
On Thursday, I helped the Dromgoole’s team packing up and shuttling a mini-store worth of product into the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Conroe, Texas. From the shop to the hotel took over an hour. I had no idea how big the Houston are was and how busy the freeways are there!
The Little Craft Fest 2025:
It took about four hours to set-up and a lot of bending time and space to get it to all fit.
The whole set-up of the Dromgoole’s booth was envisioned and executed by Ashley who is an amazing illustrator and a wonderful lady I was honored to work with this weekend.
The show ran from Friday through Sunday. Each day was a Stamp Rally event that allowed attendees to go to designated tables each day, collect stamps and once the page was filled, they could take their program to the stamp rally table to collect a “gift bag”. Dromgoole’s participated on Sunday and we spent the first couple hours of the show stamping programs for folks before regular shopping resumed.
I’ve heard mixed reviews on the contents of the Stamp Rally gift bags. Some folks on Friday and Saturday received oodles of high value merchandise and goodies while others on Sunday said they mostly got totes with stickers and postcards or business cards and were not as “glorious” as had been promoted.As a vendor, the frenzy of the stamp rally events made it hard for folks who weren’t participating to shop since the gift bags were first-come, first-serve and a limited number were available each day. It also meant people raced around to get their stamps and could not take the time to shop, if they did come back, until much later after they’d been run off their feet. Chicago Stationery Fest held a stamp rally event as well but somehow, the rules or process for the rally seemed less chaotic to me and less frenzied. If you participated in either rally event, please provide your perspective if you enjoyed it and if it was worth it.
Outside of the stamp rally event, there were classes and workshop held all day long, some starting as early as 8:30am and some running as late as 9pm. From what I’ve heard from other instructors, the classes were largely well-attended and enjoyable. There were a couple sessions that were too much lecture, not enough hands-on but that was the only complaint I heard all weekend. It seems like a lot of people came for the classes and workshops.
Overall, the vendors in the Marketplace featured a range of products but there was a heavy concentration of cute stickers both available in sheet and as die cut vinyl stickers. There were also lots of washi tape, charms, enamel pins, some paper products like cards, prints, postcards and such. Elite Accessories (distributor for Kaweco and Diamine in the US) had a table as well as Kenro (Ferris Wheel Press, YStudio and Esterbrook) and Sailor/Penlux North America. I think that was all the US distributors. The fountain pen shops were Dromgoole’s, Vanness Pen Shop and, of course, Little Craft Place. I think the grand total of vendors was about 100 or so. I don’t know the official count but it was more than was at Chicago Stationery Fest.
All the attendees seemed happy and friendly and looked to be having a good time. None of the issues that had been present at the Yoseka Stationery Fest or the Chicago Stationery Fest were present at Little Craft Fest. Some of this was a result of a larger hotel venue with plenty of places inside for people to enter the event, more space indoors for shoppers, and better lighting.
While the event did have two food trucks park outside the entrance, many people said they had to wait 30 to 40 minutes to order which was frustrating.
As for the marketplace, I heard mixed feedback from the vendors in attendance. For some, this was their first ever show, for others who may have been at the Yoseka Stationery Event last summer or the Chicago Stationery Fest a few weeks ago. The feedback I received was mixed. Many of the vendors I spoke to who had been in Chicago felt that, despite the issues with that event, they had stronger sales and enjoyed the event more. Some even said they would be unlikely to return to Houston because of low sales. Others had strong sales and felt good about the event and look forward to returning.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DI_4gKExe4g/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
I would love to hear feedback from anyone who attended the event. Did you enjoy yourself? Did you spend more or less of your budget? What kinds of things did you purchase?
And now….
The Giveaway:
And of course, I know you’re all really here for the giveaway. The vendors at Little Craft Fest were super generous and filled a Stamp Rally tote with about 5lbs of products including (but not limited to):
- Museum Wooden Stamp Set (CoraCreaCrafts)
- Acrylic keychain charm (Cherrykins Doodles)
- Washi Tape Grab Bag (Calliope)
- Esterbrook Rubber Stamp (Esterbrook)
- Planning & Journaling Companion (CoreCreaCrafts)
- Sticker Storage Book, Adhesive Card Pocket and Tip-In Tape Rolls (Lauren Phelps Designs)
- CoffeeMonstersCo Blotter Paper (Esterbrook)
- Stickers Sheets (AM Paper & Art Co.)
- Prints and Garlic Bread Washi Tape (Beanpolice)
- Texas Sticker Sheet (Mind-Speaks.com)
- Sassy Handlettered Stickers (@licia.letter.and.plans)
- Little Craft Fest Ltd Ed Sticker Sheet (Kwohtations)
- Metallic Marker (edding)
- LCF Riso Print (The Washi Station)
- Passport: Texas and New Pen Day Clear Stamps (Everyday Explorers)
- Ltd Ed Single Pen Sleeve Lanyard (Rickshaw Bagworks)
- Procrastination Clu (not a typo) Pin (MisoHappy)
I’ve also added (purchased with my own money) a bottle of CoffeeMonstersCo Forgotten Iced Coffee Ink from Esterbrook. I’m also throwing in some new Well-Appointed Desk stickers, a roll of Inky Dreams Washi Tape and the last remaining Chicago Stationery Fest Ltd Ed Col-o-ring!
Plus a ton of stickers, postcards and ephemera including a program.
And that’s not all!
We are also including the limited edition canvas tote donated by Dromgoole’s!
TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and tell me which vendor would be your first stop if you had attended the Little Craft Fest. Play along and type in something. It makes reading through entries more interesting for me, okay? One entry per person.
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FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Friday, May 2, 2025. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Monday. Winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your actual email address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear. If winner does not respond within 5 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. Shipping via USPS first class is covered. Additional shipping options or insurance will have to be paid by the winner. We are generous but we’re not made of money. US and APO/AFO only, sorry.
Lauren Phelps Design would have been my first stop! I love her products and she is always so generous with her happy mail freebies, I want to thank her in person!
Oh so many vendors to choose from! Maybe the Washi Station because they have a lot of cute cat items to pick.
Dromgooles! I love that they have a wide selection!
I would have gone to the Little Craft Place table and then probably to Hubman & Chubgirl, Sumlilthings, and Tokubetsumemori. So jelly of everyone who was able to go – it looked like so much fun!
Ana, thanks for sharing the great photos and your impressions! You introduced me to a few new makers (looking at you, Creeping Moon). But my heart belongs to LCN so that is my very first stop every time. I can relate to your spending a lot of money there 😉
I’d stop first at the Dromgoole’s booth so I could do artsy-craftsy stuff. And I REALLY want that bag they’re giving away; it looks super sharp! Great review of the show, BTW!
I think I would’ve beelined to Once More With Love, as I love their stickers. I meant to go to this, as it’s close by, but didn’t want to go by myself. A bummer. Glad it was fun!
Oh man….So hard to choose. I have to pick Little Craft Place itself, because I ADORE that shop online and can’t imagine how amazing it’s booth is IRL, but Peko.Puff also would draw me like a magnet. And Creeping Moon! And Sailor Pens! And Dromgoole’s!
Sorry, didn’t really do it right.
First booth to visit… Dromgoole’s booth – look at all that ink and paper! That pic makes me giddy. Wish I could’ve attended. Thanks for offering this give-away for those of us who could not attend.
Wow, so much cuteness in one place – I would have been in heaven! Peko Puff looks inviting, as well as Robo Roku. I think I’m in my kawaii era.
Oh my goodness Creeping Moon is a MOOD! I love it. That’s the first place I would go…and then, Sailor?!?
What fun!!! I would probably beeline to the Sailor table, and then work my way around every booth! As someone who grew up in Houston, and moved away during my later childhood, I’m so happy to see events like this are happening.
LCN Studio, Creeping Moon, and Aio Little Studio after making a complete circuit of everyone.
Everything that you highlighted looks oh so yummy
Too bad you aren’t closer (distance wise)
Tough choice, because I’ve not been to a pen or stationery show, so I’d want to see ALL OF THE VENDORS! But I’ll say Itoya Studio because I love their Oasis Profolio notebooks and I’d want to see if they had anything new and fun. (They had some with National Park designs on the covers and I’d love to see more of them.)
As a CSF attendee it was really interesting to read your comparison! I definitely will try to go to LCF if it happens again next year.
I think I would have have ran to Traveler’s for the red cover and then Esterbook for a TCMC ink.
I’m sure I would have gotten distracted on the way!
Just from the pictures you have posted, my first stop would be Once More With Love. The little munchkin character made my eyes light up! lol
Wow, that’s an amazing giveaway! If I were at the Texas craft fair, I’d visit Dromgoole’s first, as I’ve heard of them, seen them on Instagram (where I hang out almost exclusively), but have never been able to visit in person. There are others you mentioned that I’ll be looking up later. I know Vanness, of course – who doesn’t. But the others are more new to me. Woohoo! I hope I win!
Oh, and I want you to know – I am not just here for the giveaway. I happily read every word of this page and love now having more vendor names to get to know.
Wow! Looking over the list of vendors to pick the first one I would visit was just about an impossible task. They all had enticing wares…….even a coffee vendor! I finally narrowed it down to a few vendors before picking Savannah Scribbles as the vendor that I would visit first. After that I would visit every booth…..at least once.
Wow, I’ll have to attend the next Fest. It looks fun! I’d probably stop at the first table I see and work myself around. Though, I’d like to stop by Creeping Moon and AM Paper and Co. I do plan to look up all these stationers! :0
I’m sorry the vendors had such mixed experiences because that looks like a phenomenal bunch of people and products.
I’m sure the first table at which I would stop would be either the one closest to the entrance or whatever one at which Ana was lingering. Creeping Moon and CoraCreaCrafts are favourites and I also would drop a lot of my allowance at LCN’s table. I see many other vendors unknown to me with enticing wares for sale as well.
It looks as you had a very good time.