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...