Brooklyn Renegade Craft Fair

Friends! I have so much to share with you. I've been taking this amazing class and doing tons of drawing, drawing, drawing. Working on some super fabulous fun projects still under wraps. Tasting lots of yummy eats. So much to tell … BUT. It's gotta wait. I'm headed out the door on Friday for the Brooklyn Renegade Craft Fair — a first for me. Hoorah!

Come say hello and have a visit in booth #199. I'll be setting up camp with my traveling crafty partner-in-crime, Courtney Fischer. We plan to rock the house. Come lend a hand!

Fall show schedule

I'm excited to announce my line up of fall shows. I look forward to seeing you all along the way! You can always check in with my show schedule page here on the blog for updates and details.

Kerrytown BookFest

Ann Arbor, MI

Sunday, September 9, 2012

DIY Street Fair

Ferndale, MI

September 14-16, 2012

Traverse City Makers Market

Traverse City, MI

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Bust Craftacular at the World Maker Faire

New York, NY 

September 29 & 30, 2012

Ann Arbor Art Fair

The Original Ann Arbor Art Fair 2012 poster by Julie Beyer

I'm very excited to be dipping my toe into the Ann Arbor Art Fair world this year and will be set up for two days of the fair. On Wednesday and Thursday, July 18 and 19, I'll be sharing a booth at the sidewalk sale of the 322 Liberty Lofts on Liberty Street between Division and Fifth Ave. (Click link for map.) We'll be there from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day right next door to Seva and the Comedy Showcase.  

I've been updating my shop like crazy with a slew of new prints and will have them all with me at Art Fair. This is my only show this summer until September, so come by, say hello and see what's new! 

My boothmate is the super fun and talented jewelry designer, Elana Levine with Little Sisters Designs. I'm looking forward to spending some laughter-filled days with her and can't wait to see her latest creations! 

Spring Show Schedule

It's that time again: craft and art fair season! I will be at the following shows this spring.

Whip Stitch Art & Craft Fair
presented by the Ann Arbor Derby Dimes

Sunday, April 15, 2 to 10 p.m. 

Corner Brewery
Ypsilanti, MI

Crafty Supermarket

Saturday, May 5, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Clifton Cultural Arts Center

Cincinnati, OH

Craft Revival

presented by Handmade Detroit

Saturday, May 12, 12 to 6 p.m.

The Loving Touch

Ferndale, MI 

You can always check back here for details under the show schedule link at the top of the page. I hope to see you all out and about supporting your local artists and crafters!

2011 Holiday Show Schedule

This week brought lots of good news and I'm happy to share with you my holiday show schedule. I love this time of year and look forward to seeing as many of you in person, chattin git up, tons o' shopping and festivities. Stay tuned for one or two additions and special events later in the season, but for now, the main events are:

Handmade Arcade

Pittsburgh, PA

Saturday, November 12 • 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Ridge Fine Art & Handmade Wares Show

Ferndale, MI

Saturday, November 19 • 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Detroit Urban Craft Fair

Detroit, MI

Saturday, December 3 and Sunday, December 4 • 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

DIYpsi

Ypsilanti, MI

Saturday, December 10 and Sunday, December 11

And remember, you can always come back here and check out the schedule in the tab at the top of this page, or follow along with the adventures on Facebook.

Liberty Local recap and treasures

When I said a couple of photos from Liberty Local, I meant just that: two. Yikes! I thought I had taken more, but must have gotten distracted by all the goodies around me. Above is a look at my display and then, below, just one of the many amazing origami designs by my table neighbor, Beth Johnson.

These penguins are from her web site and I strongly encourage you to go visit for more. Beth also has diagrams to learn from and all kinds of useful info. She was super fun to be next to and I enjoyed listening to her talk about her work so passionately.

I made several purchases at the show—I couldn't help myself! I've admired Sarah Place-Minshall's sewn goods for some time now. (She makes them under the name Hip to Piece Squares. Cute, right?!)  I hadn't bought anything before because I literally want it all and can never decide. She has such spot on taste in color and fabric design. I've especially wanted a pair of her kimono house shoes and finally got some—and the super cute pencil case— both seen above. I was also extremely tempted by this, this and this. Someone go buy them before I do—please! 

I also picked up one of these awesome "Hell Yeah" tees for the boy. I seriously wanted one for myself, too and am regretting not snagging two. They are made by Alisa Bobzien who has a great sense of humor and style. I was also tempted by her sweet Michigan constellation tee:

What did you get up to last weekend? It was great to see those of you who could stop by the show and I look forward to seeing the rest of you somewhere's soon!

DIY Street Fair and 2012 Illustrated Wall Calendar

Here's a look at my tent at this past weekend's amazing DIY Street Fair in Ferndale. I don't have many photos beyond that, because I didn't make my way too much beyond that! It was a super busy, busy successful weekend and I thank everyone who came out and supported all the wonderful vendors.

I had run out of business cards recently, but didn't wan to order more just yet because I want to redesign them a bit. Instead, I punched out circles from some of my misprints and wrote all my info on them — people seemed to dig it. Hmmmm… do I still need traditional cards?!

I also debuted my new 2012 illustrated wall calendar — and it was a hit! I sold out early on Saturday, took orders to ship and then rushed home to bundle up some more for the final day! It is now available in my Etsy shop, too.

Kerrytown BoookFest

This past Sunday, I participated in the Kerrytown BookFest for the first time. I was so excited to be there because this was one of the first events I went to when I first moved to Ann Arbor. It helped me fall in love with this town very quickly. With speakers, workshops, book signings, artists and events, there is so much to take at. My favorite part is always the displays of book and letterpress artists. I also got to visit with some of my favorite crafty ladies: Chicalookate, Dang Argyle and Fartsy Arts (yes, they have real names, but why not throw around a little business lingo?!)

I was so crazy happy—and honored—to receive the award for best booth given to the exhibitor who has "the most attractive and engaging presentation," as judged by Lynn Yates, the Exhibitor Coordinator and noted artist, designer and teacher Susan Skarsgard. What?! Yowza! A good day, through and through. Thank you all so much! 

On the road again…

Where does the time go, I ask you?! Some of you may know that in the spring and summer I take on a couple of gardening clients and that is exactly where most of last week went hence the humming silence of crickets here on the blog. With all the rain we've had this spring, it's been weed and mulch city for me. But I think I'm caught up for the most part and my other excuse was a quick jaunt for a long weekend down in South Carolina for a family fishing trip in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains — gorgeous! 

I took a special friend along for the ride and can't wait to share details about that later once it's live elsewhere on the interwebs.

In other crafty news, you can now find a selection of Sloe Gin Fizz prints and cards at Naka in Ferndale.

And, last but not least, I will be back at it this weekend in Indianapolis for the Indieana Handicraft Exchange Saturday from noon to 8 p.m. Come on down and buy some handsome handmade handicrafts.  How bout it?

Five States, Seven Days = Twelve Tacos

 

Whewie! What a whirlwind. At last, at last — I'm back with a little recap of my road trip to Austin with the lovely Courtney Fischer for the Renegade Craft Fair last weekend. We had an absolute blast, met some terrifically fun people, logged an awful lot of miles on the old Crafter-wagon, saw some fantastic live music, spent some quality porch time Southern style, laughed a lot and, of course, ate some amazing food… 

Our first stop was lunch at Hillbilly Tea in Louisville, Kentucky for a super, home-y meal with house made sassafras soda and—what else—road kill stew with a side of corn pone. Ridiculously good food. I wanted everything on the menu. Thank you Designtripper for that tasty tip!

Another lunch time stop in Dallas at Cowboy Chow. Really fun atmosphere — I love the windmill as light fixture idea! That inset is a fried green tomato lollipop. Yup, that's right. It came with a side of house made ranch that was without a doubt the best ranch I've ever had. All for $1. Yowza. They also served watermelon iced tea — try it! Amaaaazing. Like a jolly rancher in your tea, only more subtle.

Here's a glimpse of Austin — in the rain. They kept telling is it never rains… but it did … and then it did some more. But we certainly didn't let that stop us and went on a great thrifting outing… followed by some delish swank cocktails at the Driskill. 

Uncommon Objects on South Congress in Austin: This store is the absolute mecca of thrift/vintage. You are not allowed to take photos inside and thank goodness, because that would have easily added three hours to this stop. Every inch of the place is perfectly curated. Whether organized by color or theme or object type, every little nook and cranny is jam-packed with gobs of good stuff. And then more stuff. I'm in awe.

And how about this tee? Michigan is everywhere! And… just in case you tuned in for a glimpse of Renegade Austin, a tiny little look at the show:

The amazing Dowdy Studio Wagon. Love, love, love. Bought, bought, bought.

 How's this for a make-and-take set up outside an Airstream?!

Some of the local fashion plates with Public School Portraits going in style in the background.

And here is the combined booth of Sloe Gin Fizz and Courtney Fischer. Whew! That's it, folks. Great trip, huh?! What? No pictures of tacos? I swear I ate twelve of them.

Spring flurry of activity!

Hello! I'm in whirlwind spring craft show mode over here. And so, in that vain, I thought I would give you a miscellaneous peak into 'what's the what' these days. 

I had great fun at the Blue House Spring Trunk Show a couple of weeks back and the house looks as charming as ever. The shop has moved into a different area and looks just perfect.

This past weekend I headed to Cincinnati with Courtney Fischer Jewelry for the always-amazing Crafty Supermarket. I'm convinced it is a city filled with the most generous, creative, crafty people around because that's all I've met there! Above is Grace Dobush's awesome Indie Craft Trend Engine to let you know that Ibexes are the New Bicycles! You can find out what the new new is online too, here.

I've been obsessing over this piece at the University of Michigan Museum of Art. I keep stopping in to see it — the detail is stunning.

I added this new print called Opening Doors to the shop this morning. You may recognize it from the Eye Candy blog series I've been posting over on the Blue House blog. I'll be posting again this Thursday, so stay tuned!

And, last but not least, spring has finally sprung in southeastern Michigan and it could not be more welcome!