New Spring Show

Another new show on the way. My resolution to do more show is going well, this will be my second in 2011, I only did 4 in 2010 so I am halfway there with plenty of time to get many more in. This show will be in Rocky River on April 16th. This show is put on to support the Women's Alliance for Recovery Services.

The show will be at the Rocky River Memorial Hall, 21016 Hilliard, Rocky River, Ohio.

So come out and support the Women's Alliance and local artists! I hope to see you there.

Surprise Show! Bazaar Bizarre Valentine's Market, Cleveland, Oh

My favorite indie craft fair, Bazaar Bizarre, has set up a new show for Valentine's Day. Come visit me and the other fabulous vendors to pick up a special something for yourself of your sweetie. Or upcoming birthdays, baby showers, bridal showers or any other festivities that you have coming up. There is something for everyone here!

Stop by the former United Bank Building, across from the West Side Market. The address is 2012 W. 25th, at the corner of Lorain Rd. The show will be this Saturday from 10 - 8.

Bazaar Bizarre has partnered up with the awesome local retailers Room Service and Salty Not Sweet to create an amazing event. See you there!

Side note: I am working on a new and improved website and store so it may be a little quiet around here for a bit. No worries I'll be back in full force soon!

Bazaar Bizarre Winter 2010

I'm back from Bazaar Bizarre and it was wonderful. Thank you to everyone who stopped by and welcome if you are visiting for the first time. Unfortunately I left my camera in Cleveland so I don't have photos of my booth for you. I hope everyone who shopped had a great time and I hope the rest of the vendors had fun too. If you are in the Cleveland area you should check out Last Minute Market next weekend, many of the vendors will be showing there.

I was supposed to have another show next weekend but unfortunately it didn't come together so I am officially done with shows for 2010. It's pretty exciting and now I get to look forward to 2011 and put together a new list of shows. If you have any favorite Midwest shows that you like to visit let me know and I will do my best to check them out.

Don't forget to stop by throughout the rest of the week for some more holiday inspirations!

Show 2 complete

Today I went to the Huggs for the holidays craft bazaar. I normally only have good things to say when I return from a show but today this was not the case. No problems with the show itself or the organizers, everything was well organized and they did a great job. The problem was with the traffic - slooooow. Not many people and the people that were there were not in the mood to buy anything. But I made enough to cover my booth fee so I guess I didn't loose money - you have to look at the bright side, right? I did meet a few nice people and made a possible connection for another local show in the summer so hopefully it will lead to good things in the future. I hope to see you at Bizarre Bazaar in December!

Mark Twain Craft Bazaar

The first show of the season is over - and it was a success. A great way to kick off my set of shows. There was a great crowd and people were there to shop which is always very important. I had a wonderful time and I'm sure I will be back next year. If you stopped by to see me at the show, THANK YOU! I will have most of the products from the show on Etsy soon so keep checking back. Here are a few photos of my table. Sorry they aren't great, I left my camera at home so I had to use the camera phone - not too bad though! You will notice my wonderful new shelves from Ikea!

Ikea Adventures - new craft show displays

I visited one of my favorite stores yesterday... Ikea! I could honestly spend days wandering through that place and never get tired of it. I was on a mission to find some new shelves to use for display in my craft show booths. I haven't gotten them out of the boxes yet so all I have to show is the stock photo from the Ikea website.

I got two of these:

And one of these:

They are simple, easy to assemble and I think I will really like them for my shows. I have about 2 weeks until my first show of the season, once I get my display staged I will try to post some pics. But first, I have to take a one week break because I am headed off to Quilt Market in Houston, I can't wait!

Holiday shows confirmed!

It's official, I was accepted to all 4 of the holiday craft shows that I applied to! Yikes, 4 shows, that's a lot. I have been a sewing machine (hehe) over the past few weeks and I am kicking it up a notch as my first show is in less than 4 weeks and I will be out of town at Quilt Market for one of those weeks, so only 3 work weeks left! I will add the dates to the blog soon so you can come visit me and check out the goods.

Here are a few snaps of my booth at last year's Bazaar Bizarre show.

Holiday season 2010 craft shows

I have applied to 4 shows for this upcoming holiday season. Yay! Hopefully I will hear back from them soon so I can plan exactly what I need to have ready.

Two of the shows are small, one day shows at the local schools. Those are not juried so I am just waiting to make sure there is enough space. Hopefully I will do well at those and I can continue to do them because the booth fee is pretty reasonable. They are The Mark Twain Craft Bazaar and the HUGGS for the holidays show that benefits the families of the Westerville Police Department.

The other two shows are bigger and juried so I am waiting to see if I get accepted. Bazaar Bizaare I've done 3 times so hopefully I will have no problem getting in to that one. The other one is a new show in Columbus called The Indie Exchange. I am a little nervous since it is new and pretty expensive but they are making big promises so hopefully it will be a great show. I should know more about these shows in the next few weeks and then I will REALLY have to get sewing.

I added a few new photos to my Flickr page of some of my recent projects for my show applications, check them out!

TNNA

I was lucky enough to get to go to another wonderful trade show last weekend. TNNA (The National Needle Arts Association) was in Columbus so I got to go and take a peek around. I am not very into the needle arts...yet. I was very inspired walking around the show and seeing all of the beautiful samples so I think I might need to pick up my knitting needles and crochet hooks and get started again with these crafts.

Not many people let you take booth photos at this show so I only snapped a few shots of some nice looking booths.

The one and only Rowan:

Noni Designs:

Amy Butler, again. This lady is everywhere, now with yarn!

New from Mallory Hill!

Linen Zips!

Sorry for the not so pretty picture, I got excited about these new little guys and just took a quick snap on my iphone because my camera was downstairs and I was being lazy. I had so much fun stitching these fellas together, I tried a couple different versions but these simple zips were my favorite. I am going to be at the summer Bazaar Bizarre in Cleveland on July 3rd (Stop by if you are in town!) so I will be zipping up a bundle of these for the show and then any leftovers will go into my Etsy store for you!

Bazaar Bizarre 2009

I'm a little behind on this post I guess I can use the holidays as an excuse - there has been a lot of shopping and crafting to prepare for this Christmas. Bazaar Bizarre was two weeks ago and it was a blast! I had a great time, met some wonderful people and sold lots of stuff. The weather was great, which can be a big problem in Cleveland this time of year, but it was sunny on Saturday and just a little rain on Sunday. Luckily that didn't deter any of the shoppers. I don't think there is anything else I could have asked for. Overall it was a great weekend! Thanks to Shannon and all the vendors and shoppers for making it such a great show!

If you stopped by my table during the show and picked up a card, thank you so much and welcome to my blog! I hope you stay a while and come back often.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

How does it work?

I found this awesome animation on Swiss Miss of how a sewing machine works to create a stitch. I never really thought too hard about it but this is pretty fun to see how it works.

click here to see it!





I am busy, busy working on finishing touches for bazaar bizarre that is this weekend in Cleveland. If you are in the area you should stop by to see all of the awesome vendors!

Woohoo - Show number 3!

YAY! I just got notification that I was accepted to the Cleveland Bazaar Bizarre! So exciting, I love doing craft shows and I am hoping to start doing more next year. Now that I know I will be setting up my table again this holiday season I need to get sewing. I already have a few projects in mind for Christmas presents so I have to get busy. The show is December 12th and 13th which seems like it far away now but it will be here before I know it.

In other news Quilt Market is just around the corner and I am getting excited for the trip down to Houston. Since I lost all of my pictures from Spring market (I still don't know how that happened) I will be sure to keep better track of my files to bring you some fun photos from this year. Market starts on October 10th, can't wait!!

Anyone else going to be at Bazaar Bizarre or Fall Quilt Market this year?

Craft Show Number 2

What is this? Another post? That's right I am back in the blogging mode (hopefully it lasts a while)


I had success at Bazaar Bizarre in December so I am heading to another craft show in May. When I signed up it seemed so far away and now that it's April already it is just around the corner. I will be at Oddmall on Saturday May 9th from 10 - 7. The show is up in Cleveland, actually in Hudson, just outside of Cleveland. You would think since I live in Columbus I would do a few local shows, don't worry I have a few on my list for the year.

Anyway, this is the first show for Oddmall and I am very excited to be a vendor at the very first one, hopefully it will take off and I will be along for the ride. Since I worked non-stop for weeks to get ready for BazBiz I still have some inventory left over. I am thinking of a few new products that I can bring with me and I will need to add to the stuff I already have. I am pretty excited for show #2. I have put together a list of about 10 shows to do this year. I am sure there are tons more that I could do but I figured I should start out slow since I still have that day job and everything else going on.

Anyone else out there heading to the show? Stop by if you are in the area.

Success at Baz Biz!

I have been way overdue on a post but I have been super busy getting ready for and attending Bazaar Bizarre. I have been working into all hours of the night for the past few weeks getting ready for the show. I got a lot done and I must say I am a little proud of myself for getting so much accomplished. The show was this past Saturday and Sunday up in Cleveland, OH at an old studio. The building was great and we got there early on Friday so we got a great table by one of the windows so we had good light and a little ventilation when the room got too hot.

Overall the show was a success. We sold lots of the little items which were good for stocking stuffers and little holiday gifts. I sold some of my bigger items and purses, not all of them but I did sell a few which made me very happy. Some articles that I have read say that a good show is when you make ten times your booth fee and a great show is when you make 20 times your booth fee. We didn't quite make the 20 times our table but we were in the middle so I am very happy for my first show.

I met some great people, including Shanon from Stitch Cleveland who put the whole show together, and some of the other crafters around me. I learned a lot and had a great time. The show was a success on all sides so I am happy to say we will be looking into more shows next year. Here are a few pictures of my table, we changed it around a little as the show went on to see what items would sell better.

My favorite part of the show was hearing the compliments from people looking at my stuff. Even if they didn't buy something many people still took the time to say that the bags were pretty or some of my items were great ideas. Many people even asked if I was "the artist" I never really look at myself in that way but it is nice to find people who appreciate what I do and understand what it takes to get one of these shows together. All of this made me very proud of my little craft show table and made me want to continue with shows and this little business of mine.

If you are visiting my site because you saw me at the show please let me know how the show was for you and any feedback is always appreciated. We are working on updating the etsy shop so check back in soon for updates.

Bazaar Bizarre

So I am back to the "real world" now after quilt market is all over. It was nice to be lost in the fabric and design industry even if it was only for a few days. Every time I come home from market or any other show I realize how much I really do miss the industry and how excited I am to try to make my own mark in this world.

On that note I have a very exciting announcement...I have been accepted into Bazaar Bizarre! It is an alternative craft show that I will be showing at in Cleveland December 13th and 14th. They have shows in a few different cities throughout the year. I went to the show in Cleveland last year and there was a great mix of crafters and I found some great Christmas presents for many people on my list. Here is the vendor list, it looks like there are lots of great people that will be there.

This will be my first craft show so I am trying to not get too excited about tons of sales and just consider it a learning experience no matter what happens, of course selling out would be nice too. It will be a great chance to meet some other crafters in my area and the get the feel of a craft show to see if it is something I want to continue doing. So I have TONS of work to do to figure out what I want to have at my table and then, of course, make it all. I will be very busy for the next month but I am very excited about the show.

Anyone else going to the show?

My new "store"

This week I opened my own "store." Ok, it's not really a store but I have my own booth at a local craft mall. I have my own little spot that is about 5 feet high, 4 feet wide and about 3 feet deep. I pay a monthly rent and then they take care of all the rest. It's open 7 days a week and all I have to do is keep it stocked. Each night their sales are downloaded to a website so I can track my sales and see what I need to add to the booth. I signed a six month lease so we will see how it goes over the holiday season. I haven't done any craft shows yet so I think this is a good way to see what sells and what doesn't. Here are a few pictures of my booth, let me know what you think about my setup, any advice is always welcome.

I am thinking about moving the light to a lower shelf so that it actually lights up the booth rather than just sits at the top. Its only been a few days so I will just have to see how it goes.

I am off to watch the season finale of "Project Runway." I am so excited, I like all three of the finalists so it's hard for me to decide who I want to win it all, but I'm excited to see all the lines. I know everyone thinks Kenly is rude but I really like her. I spent the last two weeks getting inventory together for this little booth, and that gave me stress. I can't imagine designing a whole line to show at Bryant Park, I don't think I will ever need that kind of stress in my life. I think my goals of having my own booth at Quilt Market will give me enough stress.