I’ve finally gotten around to listing most of the things that I didn’t sell last month and that aren’t over at Twelve Mile Market! Here they are, you can either see them directly in the etsy shop or you can go to the shop tab at the top of this blog and rest your lovely eyes on them there.
Heehee! Yesterday was May’s Crafty Wonderland in the basement of the Doug Fir Lounge on Burnside. I decided to ferret out all of the goodies crammed into the nooks and crannies of my room, stuff them in a bag and head out to set up shop. I was really nervous… I mean, what if people didn’t like my things? I know that I like them, but that’s because I’m the one making them… of course I like them. I’m even madly in love with a few.
All that worrying was for nothing. I had a great day meeting the other crafters and shoppers and I’m really excited about going again next month. I wanted to give a HUGE thank you to everyone who came out to support us (whether you bought something or not, just going can make a big difference) and a double thank you to everyone who bought something yesterday. It’s you guys who make all of this possible and enjoyable. At the end of the day I even did some trading with the other crafters…
I got to pick out one of Cate’s wonderful original illustrations in trade for a lion and moo cow and I traded Ciao Birdie an embroidery piece for one of her bird collages on wood. It was a really, really great day!
I feel like this is probably what my brain looks like. A little lion over here, some felted rocks over there, and me sitting right in the middle of the nesty-mess-chaos, looking out at everything. It’s a good brain to have, let me tell you!
Thank you again to all of you who came with empty bags and left with them chock full of goodies!
As ya’ll know I’m going to be a vendor at Crafty Wonderland on May 10th (Mother’s day for you guys… don’t forget!). I’ve been sewing things and knitting other things and dreaming up still more things to haul out there with me. Here are some of the things I’m sure you’ll see if you go!
The lions.
The weird squiddies and aliens.
Chickens!
Oh, there’ll be some bunnies, leeches, finger puppets and more things there too. Just wait and see!
Star sent me a postcard in February:
So I sent her some felt leech finger puppets and then promptly forgot about them. Fast forward three months to my next visit to Olympia. Ben’s doing homework while Star hibernates in the other room… guess what he’s using as a bookmark? Yes, a leech. How great is that? PLUS he comes up with a great idea: make some sort of packaging for the little suckers (heeehee… that was totally on purpose) and sell them. Well, now that I’m going to be at Crafty Wonderland in a few weeks I decided to take that idea super seriously and now (TAH DAH!) I’ve made a little envelope to hold two leeches. I’m going to stick one in the shop to see what happens and I’ve already got about six ready to go with me to the sale.
This is the front, there’s more cool things on the back and flaps, but I’m going to be all secretive and keep that to myself. It’s worth picking one up to find out though! I still have to decide how much monies I want for them…
I just got my e-mail telling me that I got in to the special May 10th Mother’s Day Crafty Wonderland! I’m so excited. I’ve gone to a few of them and I always wind up coming home with something cool, like postcards from Berkley Illustration. It’s in the basement of the Doug Fir on Burnside. I’m super super excited! You should all come and support independent (if not local) crafters. Woot!
Sunday, May 10th
Set up begins at 9:30am, show runs from 11am-4pm
Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E. Burnside
Note: I took this picture at the last Crafty Wonderland. This is only about 1/2 of the sellers there AND it was 20 minutes before the sale ended, imagine what it’s like when the meet is in full swing!
This is a list of the future sales. Check them all out and you’ll be way cool. So says I.
I went to the very last Portland screening of Handmade Nation at the Museum of Contemporary Craft last night. I went down early and stopped by Crafty Wonderland in the basement of the Doug Fir which was great. I cut it really close to closing time but there were still about twenty people shopping. I wandered around in that area for a while after the sale closed, stopping in at some of the vintage/indie/knick knack stores down the block. Then I wound up over by Powells and Anthropology. I got a gift certificate to Anthro for my birthday so I popped into their sale room where I found something that made me get all wheezy-excited. Star and I were downtown at Anthro a few months ago and I’d seen for $128. Everything about it screamed “BUY ME, I’LL LOVE YOU FOREVER!” except the price tag. Now, only a few months later it was sitting pretty in the sale closet. “NO way! Ok, if they have it in a size 4 I’ll do a little dance and try it on, ” I thought. Damn, they did. So I had to try it on. “If it fits, I’ll just see how much is on my card,” I thought again. Sigh… it did. “Ok, if I have $25 or more on this card, I’ll get it.” Double damn, I had $25. Now, you can see where all these escalating promises get me into trouble every time. Usually they don’t work out and I go on my merry way, but when they do work out it’s usually when it’s the big stuff. Now, I know I made a promise not to buy any new clothing, but this is how I’m going to justify my insane extravagence: 1. It’s Anthropology, so I know that I’ll probably still be wearing it when I’m old because it’s just that well made, 2. I had a git card and it was on sale AND I’d had my eye on it when it wasn’t on sale, 3. JUST LOOK at it, it’s gorgeous, 4. I’m almost 1/4 way through 2009 and I haven’t gotten anything new until now so that’s good. Ah well, what am I justifying myself to you for? Meh. I love it and that’s enough.
Anyway, back on track. At 5:30 I trotted down to the Museum of Contemporary Craft for the movie. I got a complimentary issue of American Craft and some buttons. They were taking pictures of people wearing handmade things (handmade by themselves OR others) so I got up and they took a picture of me with the necklace I made a few years ago in my jewelry making class at the college.
The movie was great and the people in the audience were all decked out in their fancy handmade bits and pieces. It was one of those great moments when you realize how big this whole handmade/DIY movement is. I just watched Wallmart: The High Cost of Low Prices and Handmade Nation seemed to balance everything out in my mind. Here’s the official trailer for the video, you get a pretty good feel for what the movie is like and it covers just about everyone who was interviewed.
One of my favorite interviews was with the Little Friends of Printmaking. I love their work, their aesthetic and their mentality about work and what they do. I linked to their gigposters.com page because thier regular site is terrible to try to navigate around in.
I got my ticket to the Portland screening of Handmade Nation documentary this Sunday! It’s showing at the Museum of Contemporary Craft all weekend, they’ve added a bunch of extra screenings and they’re selling out so quickly! The showing I’m going to is at 5:30 so I think I can hit up the Crafty Wonderland right before that while I’m all the way downtown anyway. I’m really REALLY excited. I’d heard murmurings about the film on the internets for a long time and now it’s finally here!
Here’s a little preview of the artists/movie/museum of contemporary craft:
