Earlier this month, we took Two Lof Bees to AICon once again.

With the convention itself scaling up, we decided to try to make things a bit bigger ourselves. We launched four new cushion designs, tried our hands at badge making for the first time, and put together a snazzy looking booth.

As usual, AICon included late nights of preparation, with Mim sewing and me making badges until the wee hours of the morning. Thankfully we had each other for company and we giggled as we worked through the night.

On the first day, we opted for an open booth layout, giving us more room to display stuff and hopefully giving people a more comfortable space to stop and look than if we had tables flush with the walkspace as many others had.

This worked in some senses, but also gave us nowhere to sit/stand without feeling like we were looming over people or in the way. On the second day, with less stock to display, we shuffled things around so that there was still a recess for people to stand in without interfering with the walkway flow, but also so that we had something to sit behind.

The most exciting and touching thing to come out of AICon for us was the number of people who dropped by to say hi who were wearing one of our shirts, had one of our stickers on their phone case, were showing a friend what we do, or simply stopped by to say that they love our work. I'm kicking myself for not asking if we could get photos of these lovely people.

All up, cushions were very popular. All of our Vintage Cat, Dark Dignified Bat, Stegosaurus and Shaped Strawberry cushions found new homes (there were even a few people who were sad to have missed out - keep your eyes peeled though, as we'll be making cushions available for order here on the website soon). The Ninjas seemed to be a favourite this year as well, as did Happy Strawberry and Neko. Mim's fairy tale inspired Girl in the ... series (we have to settle on a name for these soon - they're likely to expand to include boys) got some well deserved attention too!

I once again helped judge the art competition, which was even more challenging than previous years. There were so many fantastic and varied entries, and it bordered on heartbreaking to pick between them. For example, the winner of the Made On The Weekend division came down to a choice between this lovely pencil sketch titled "Fawn" and a deceptively scribbly Skeletor which took on fantastic depth when viewed from a distance as the white space between strokes became highlights on his armour. Congratulations to everybody who entered. You are all awesome! :D

We had hoped to put some effort into having some designs to match the convention's theme, but the only thing that "secret agent" inspired was an entirely off-theme stuffed stegosaurus. AICon 2015's theme will be "space", and we think we can do something themed this time.

Thanks so much to everybody who visited our little stall this year. We can't wait to say hi again at MAICon in September, and at AICon 2015 next year!