team spirit at the clover market!

Last Sunday was the final Clover Market of the season and my last show for the year as well. I decided not to do any Christmas shows, because if I've learned one thing after doing six shows since May it's this: shows are a lot of friggin' work! Family life is busy enough during the holidays!

a dear little customer checking out Penelope

I don't seem to have the discipline to pace myself with product production between shows. I routinely do all-nighters before each one due to insecurity. Did I make enough new stuff? Do I have enough of a certain item to make an impact? Am I just too lame for words? Once I'm there, though, and the customers start coming in, it becomes fun and feels like it's worth it. In my previous life as a designer for a clothing company in New York City, I never got to chat with customers or see their reactions first-hand. I really value the insight meeting the customers gives me and I feel less and less like I'm blindly making stuff and hoping for the best.

One of my new products: lavender sachets. Finally a use for my precious vintage tablecloth scraps- boy do I hate to waste good fabric! I'm using the lavender I brought back from Willow Pond Farm in June. Gosh. it smells good! Teacher gift anyone?

Michabella

This particular Clover Market was extra fun, not just because of the stellar fall weather. I got to pal around with several members of some of the Etsy teams I am on. Michelle of Michabella from the treasury-curating team, Curation Nation, was there with her jewelry collection. I love her pendants made from geode slices and her lucite filagree earrings. Her fool's gold pendant is on my Christmas list... honey, are you paying attention?

Beeps' Peeps

From the Etsy Kids Team, Brita of Beeps' Peeps was there. I enticed her to come to the show because Ardmore is such a family place. It seems like every other shopper there is pregnant or is pushing a stroller-

Beeps' Peeps

the perfect audience for her play mats and cheerful, kid-friendly accessories!

funretro

I was looking forward to meeting Natalie of funreto, also from Curation Nation. I cannot tell you how many times I've used her cool vintage pieces in my treasuries. I don't know how she does it, being a full-time teacher on top of running a busy Etsy shop, but she does it well.

Almanac Industries

I am such a sucker for letterpress! I met Jacob & Whitney of Almanac Industries at the Brandywine Arts Festival in Wilmington and loved their aesthetic which is masculine and vintagey..

I mentioned the Clover Market to them and they actually jumped on it and did the show. I hope to see them again next time.

youngest member of "team chirp"

My dear husband and kids have been such troopers while I've pursued this craft show adventure. I did not realize the impact it would have on them, having to endure my frenzied hysteria before each show and my neglect of household duties, not to mention the early morning set-up duties. Yay for team chirp! Now back to a normal life for a few months at least ;)

what a difference a year makes

I've been getting my etsy shop ready for the holiday season and decided to renew this cardinal coin purse that I'd allowed to expire after last Christmas. I remember thinking at the time that the picture was really awesome and that it was a good seller (I sold 5).

2010        vs.       2011

I've done a lot of product photography and editing in Photoshop since then, so I was alarmed when I renewed it and saw it next to the newer items in my shop. EGADS! What a dark, sad photo, standing out like a big ol' bruise! This is a typical newbie Etsy seller mistake and a rampant one on Ebay as well. Pictures just look more appealing brightened almost to the point of overexposure.

A little bokeh goes a long way too. That's the blurriness in the background that you can get if you open your aperture up a lot. I'm lucky enough to own a lens for my DSLR camera that has a 1.8 aperture (smaller numbers mean bigger when it comes to apertures), so I set my camera on aperture priority at 2- 2.5 and shoot away. If you have a point & shoot, there is usually a macro setting that you can use for coseups of your item that can help achieve a little bokeh also. If the background is too in focus, you can work around it by moving your item farther away from whatever background you are shooting against.

Hopefully this year since I've retaken the photo, my little cardinal purse will be even more popular...

clover market, october 2011

beautiful customers

I don't know if it's the name of the show, or just random luck, but this past Sunday was my third show at the Clover Market in Ardmore, PA and the weather was perfect, yet again! I'm still getting over the nasty cold contracted at Crafty Bastards, so the warm sunny day was a welcome change. I signed up to do all three fall Clover shows, so there is one left on Sunday, November 6th. I really look forward to outfitting my young friends in person. Aren't  these tweenies the sweetest?

As always, there were original and nicely displayed items out the whazoo. From Christine Shirley, hair pins made from vintage earrings.

Paige Sullivan, owner of Christine Shirley, has such good taste and a knack for display- and she should, since she also works at Anthropologie.

Next to my shabby chic booth was Kaye Rachelle showing modern screen-printed pillows, table linens, and wall organizers. There is such variety at this show! The show founder & organizer, Janet Long, is also an interior designer and curates the show with an eclectic eye, everything pleasing.

Fresh Vintage was back, but this time instead of the Tastycake truck, owner Colleen Allison arrived with the coolest old camper recently scored on Ebay.

It did double duty as a the biggest display prop ever and the mode of transport for all of her 1940's & thereabouts wares.

This is definitely the place to come for vintage home accents (sorry, I don't know who this display belonged to) as well as original handmade gifts. People, if it's not vintage or antique, it's HANDMADE here. I had to clarify that a few times with people who thought my things were mass-produced.

November 6 is your last chance to come out before spring 2012...

crafty bastards 2011

Well, I'm back from the Crafty Bastards show in Washington DC and oh, what a day it was!

I'd been compulsively checking the weather all week, and it was looking good, then BAM! The day before, the forecast changed from clear to showers. And cold. Not ideal, but after being anointed at the Art Star show in Philadelphia this spring, I wasn't going to let some dreary weather stop me. Fortunately the rain paused for us during set-up and take-down, but basically it drizzled the whole time and was in the low 50's F and breezy. That gets cold when you are sitting for 7 hours! At least I had my Mom there to keep me company and make me button up my coat.

I was pleasantly surprised by the crowd that came out. I was expecting a ghost town kind of day, but it was downright crowded. It is such a beloved show in the Adams Morgan area of DC, that the people I asked said they wouldn't miss it for anything.

My new mannequin, Penelope, enjoyed her time in my display bassinet. Pardon the fuzzy photos which were taken with my phone and might have had raindrops on the lens.

I tried something new and played a CD of birds chirping to get people in the mood. The doggies loved it.

We were in a fun section of the show near the local roller derby team who were arm wrestling with people for $1 and whooping it up.

We were also near the Young & Crafty vendors, a new thing this year at the show. There were 6 kids' booths with some really cute stuff. I felt bad for them that they didn't get a nice sunny day for their first show. They all looked a little cold & miserable.

I loved their shop names ;) For being mostly under the age of 13, they all did a remarkable job.

Here is Jenny Nelson of Home Sweet, also from Delaware. She had a ton of new hand block-printed patterns this time. She is definitely one to watch- this year she even made an appearance on the Nate Berkus Show!

A highlight of the day was when Tara Gentile visited my booth and bought a onesie. I recognized her right away from her blog, which I have followed for some time. It was neat to get to chat with her and see that she puts her money where her mouth is and supports handmade business. She was there helping out her friend, jewelry designer Megan Auman whose blog, Crafting an MBA, I also follow. I consider them the premier craft business bloggers out there and was a little starstruck to get to meet them in person.

Since I was busy in the booth, my husband got to do the gift shopping for the kids, and I think he did a really good job. For techno-savvy Ben, he found this great little robot t-shirt from redrocketfarm. I think he was getting into the idea of buying directly from the artist.

And for my suddenly tween Emma who is turning out to not be much of a girly-girl: owl print pillowcases from bark decor.

Mom sneaked away to buzz around the show and came back these cards from Katherine Watson. We have the same taste I guess, because I'd bought some of Katherine's cards at the Bust Magazine Craftacular last December.

Goodbye DC! I hope we get to come back again next year...

antiquing in berlin, maryland

Emma & Nana at the Hotel Atlantic

While on vacation this summer near Ocean City, Maryland we found a new place of interest to throw into our mix of days lounging on the beach and nights overeating the most unhealthy food imaginable: Berlin, Maryland. The quaint little town is quite close to Ocean City Maryland, just 9 miles from the Route 50 Bridge, near the intersection of Route 113.

It has a traditional main street (and it is even called Main Street) lined with Victorian brick buildings, and just beyond, has white clapboard homes that scream "small town America!". So much so, that the town has been the location for two Hollywood movies requiring a small town America backdrop: Runaway Bride (1999), with Julia Roberts & Richard Gere, and Tuck Everlasting (2002). And believe me, the town hasn't forgotten it. Posters and mentions are allover the local deli, Rayne's Reef. I just glanced at the Tuck Everlasting trailer since I wasn't familiar with it, and it takes place in the 1800's with horses and carriages, so they must've had to bring in dirt to put on the streets to make it look old. That would've been fun.

Fun for me, though, really means rummaging through old stuff, and there was plenty of it on Main street. There are two antique malls: Town Center Antiques and I think the other one is called Stuart's Antiques, but I'm not positive. I even bought something there, if only I could find the receipt. There is also Culver's Antiques specializing in Victorian light fixtures, if you're into that kind of thing, and Toy Town specializing in vintage toys. There are probably more that I missed because I had limited time. Darn kids wanted to go to the beach, but I did manage to get some pictures.

I was looking everywhere for a life size doll before I found Penelope, my vintage department store baby mannequin, on Etsy. (I'll take a picture of her in my booth when I go to Crafty Bastards next month).

Perfect for my imaginary beach cottage!

Happy travels!

savoring the change of seasons at terrain

mums

We had gorgeous Indian summer weather this past weekend after the tropical storm passed! Perfect, because we had family visiting, an outdoor wedding to attend, and time to go exploring as well. The day after the wedding festivities, we took in the Brandywine Festival of the Arts, then decided to see what the Terrain at Styers garden store had on display.

Terrain is owned by the same group that owns Anthropologie. Need I say more? You know the displays are gonna be good! A few years back, they purchased the venerable Styers Nursey in Glen Mills, PA as an experiment, then transformed it into the stylish purveyor of plants, furniture, accessories & gifts that it is today. There is even a cafe featuring local organic fare. There are supposed to be more stores in the works based on this flagship.

one of the outbuildings

Some people miss the old Styers which was more of a hard core gardener's nursery with a huge selection from the common to the exotic.

sedum, etc.

The plant selection is definitely pared down now, but what I like about the place is how they make even the most common plants look good through thoughtful pairings and compelling displays.

asters and anemone

Mums, pansies, asters, and sedum never looked so good!

coleus & potato vine

A feast for the eyes!

rustic shovels

white pumpkins

 Inside the main building is where most of the accessories & gifts are found.

dried flower & herb wreaths

velvet pumpkins

a coffee table book

one-of-a-kind stool

cast iron acorn

It's all notoriously pricey, but we always manage to walk out of there with something ;)