SACE 2015 Fall Show Sneak Peek #2

Only 2 weeks left till my favorite craft show of the year.

The Statesville Artian and Crafters Expo.

Let's see who else is going to be there....

I love journals...I have books stashed everywhere in my house.  No Evernote for me. lol.  Glenise shares her handcrafted journals created with vintage finds in her Etsy shop Stone Bridge Lane.  I can't wait to see these creations in person.  My favorite one in her shop is this Brave Girl Journal.

For the accessory lover, we will have Debra from Outtadabag. She creates bags of all shapes and sizes.  I really like this Chili Pepper Bag.

For those of you outside of the southern United States, and outside North Carolina....this is a corn hole board with the colors of the NC Tarheels.  After moving down here, I quickly learned that THIS is the team to cheer for, at least if I want my neighbors to talk to me. lol.  Susan from Design Crazy has these, and so much more to offer.  Painted glass.  Upcycled pieces.  And some AMAZING barn quilts.   

The artistic tool of choice for Robert and Billie is a scroll saw.  And they are very talented with that saw.  Check out the detail of Santa Clause on sleigh during his midnight flight.  They have a lot more to offer on Specialties Crafts.

Here's another great looking Santa, this one is from Flowerpot Friends.  Cheryl and her hubby just let their imaginations run wild with flower pots...so very cute.

There are soooo many other artists that don't have an online presence, so you need to be sure to stop by The Statesville Christian School in Statesville, NC on Saturday November 21.  Look for me, I'll be there too. :)

Be blessed,

Debbi

SACE 2015 Fall Show Sneak Peek #1

I have been so busy this year with craft show after craft show, that I have sorely neglected my blog.  But I am going to remedy that with this sneak peak at some of the handmade lovelies you'll find at The Statesville Artisan and Crafters Expo Fall 2015 show.

First up is Arty Fartsy.

Artsy Farsty is a small craft business that was started by Brooke and Emily. They make ladder yarn necklaces, earrings, and stationary.

Then comes The Hobby Sisters.

"Our names are Candice and Katie and before you ask, no, we aren't really sisters. :-) Our kids are great friends who love to play together so we were always hanging out together so we started making these things and this all just kinda happened. We hope you love our stuff as much as we do." You can also find them on Google+.

Carol will be there as Blessed Stitches.  She creates hooded towels, key chains, and other various handmade sewing items.

I did absolutely no gardening or canning this year, so you will see me visiting Kim's booth, Sweet Morning Farms.  Artisan jams and fresh breads....yummmmmmy.  My Hannah is a bread fanatic, so I will have to hide my money. lol

Now this is a local show in Statesville, NC so I'm sure many of you won't be able to visit us there.  But on the day of the show I will be sharing tons of pictures and links.  If you are in town, come on down.  We are also having a chili cook-off, and that is sure to be fun.

Be blessed,

Debbi

This Is Me...All Over The Place

I love doing arts and craft shows.

Cramming everything in my van.

Setting up all my displays.

Discovering what I forgot.

Sitting in the southern heat.

Needing a "break", and finding my daughter has decided to take a walk and scope out the competition.

But my most favorite part?

Visiting with old friends (fellow vendors).

And making new friends (customers).

Lots of them. 

:0)

So here is where you can find me locally for the next few months.

The Evening Farmers Market in historic downtown Statesville, North Carolina.

We open every Thursday from 4 to about 6 from April through October.

This is such a great group of people, the farmers, the live entertainment, our balloon guy, and of course, our customers. 

Love.

Love.

Love.

Next up, on October 3rd, I'll be at the October Fall Vendor Expo at the Statesville Rec Center.  This is a charity event for a local teen who is battling cancer.

On October 17th, I will (hopefully) be at the Taylorsville Apple Festival.

I say hopefully because I haven't received my vendor packet yet.  But this is a very large festival.  I did it about 15 years ago, and I would love to get back into it.

And lastly,

The Statesville Artisan and Crafters Expo.

This is my second year with this show, and my third show with this promoter.

Now I know that you can't have a show without crafters and artists, but I also firmly believe that it's the promoter that can make or break a show.  And Melissa Friend is an amazing promoter.  Concerned about her vendors, and works tirelessly to spread the word.  I just love her. :0)

So, there you have it.

And here you can find me.

How about you?  

What are some your your favorite shows, to participate or just visit?

Be blessed,

Debbi

Faith Community Fest

This past Saturday I participated in a local festival, The Faith Community Fest.

The promoters did a great job setting this up, there was about 100 vendors, including food, direct marketers, and of course, HANDMADE!!  There was also live music and entertainment.  The weather was nice and didn't get too hot until it was time to pack up. lol

The only down part, there wasn't a lot of foot traffic.  :0(

But this did give me the chance to play around with my tent set up, and to meet new artists.

Look at the new set up.

I love my hot pink tent....so easy to see in a sea of white. lol  The only drawback was it was a little too pinky dark under the tent.  I'll have to look into maybe some pretty string lights and a small generator. And some longer table skirts.  Opps.  I thought I had purchased 2 flat grey sheets, but one of them turned out to be fitted.  Now there are pluses to both, so I'm thinking a flat sheet (for length) with a fitted sheet on top, what do you think?  The small table in the back was a last minute purchase, thus the plastic cover. 

I try to fit the items I offer to the type of show I'm at, the promoter sent out a list of vendors and I could see what else was being offered, so here I had less jewelry and more crochet.  In the basket were some children sized crowns and ninja masks.  And the new card holders were Hannah's idea.  Much easier than the slinky, and easier to carry and display the cards.  They didn't tip over or blow away.  The star blanket turned out to be a wonderful background!

Here's the small table, just the perfect size for these shelves.  I'm working on how to hang cloth from the back to hide where I keep my phone and drinks when I'm sitting back there.  hmmmm, any ideas?

You may recognize these shelves from my last show.  I love the shutter look, but they were just too big and bulky to cart around.  So I had Chuck cut them in half, and they worked out great.  I love the colors of light grey back with the pink/red shelves.  Now I plan to repaint the other shelves to match.  And I like the way the shelves set off the whole tent area as separate from everyone other booth around me.  I also want to get a small area rug, maybe a large welcome mat, to really draw people into the booth.

So, what do you think?

What should I change?

What should I keep the same?

Be blessed,

Debbi

The Statesville Artisian and Crafters Expo 2015

This is a little late in posting, but a few weeks ago I attended my first craft show of the season.

The Statesville Artisian and Crafters Expo was held in our local mall.  While the show was ok, and the promoters worked hard, there was very little foot traffic.  I think that was because the mall is dying.  :0(  When we first moved down here, the mall was at full capacity, but now there are only a handful of shops there.  I heard that the owner of the mall is letting all the leases expire so they can tear it down and build a strip mall, but I don't see that happening.  That whole area of town is is shrinking.  Oh well, at least I made my booth rental and a little extra by the end of the looooong day.

Here's a few pics to lighten the mood.

This is Rena....she does thumbprint art, AND she had her 18 day old baby with her.  I was impressed. 

This is my spot.  

And this is Mabel...my new mannequin.

My new blue shelves and the modge podged heads, you almost can't tell where the cat chewed one of the noses off. lol

How this for a business card holder? Thank You Pinterest. The only problem was that kids kept playing with the slinkys causing the cards to fall.

 

I met lots of talented people there, and you can see pictures of all the vendors on the SACE 

2015 facebook page.

Now my next show in May is...

Faith Community Fest.  This one looks like a lot of fun.  I bet Hannah doesn't spend much time at our booth during this show. hahaha

Are you participating in any shows this year?

Be blessed,

Debbi

One Week Left Till The Start Of My Craft Show Season

Friday was the first day of spring (and Hannah's birthday) 

and that leaves me only 1 week to complete my preparations for....

my first craft show of 2015!

While munching on birthday cake, I found some more display ideas on Pinterst....

(I love love love Pinterest)

Yesterday I got my canopy...it's bright pink!  You know how I love color!

What tips do you have for a successful show?

Be blessed,

Debbi

Yes...I'm Still Here

When did my life become so hectic?

Oh yeah, when I got great ideas of more things for me to do. lol

I've started taking some on-line classes to renew / revitalize my writing skills for more freelance copywriting / blogging jobs.

We've switched Hannah's homeschool from mostly on-line to mostly workbooks, which is better for her, but more work for me.

AND....

I've decided to jump into the craft / art show scene this year, with 4 lined up already, besides my weekly table at the local farmers market.

So to prepare for ease of portability and set up, I hit up Pinterest for some ideas.

Hat Stand

I've been on a real hat kick lately, and these stands would be perfect!

Suitcase Jewelry Display

And how about this great jewelry display?  It's made from an old suitcase, and I just happen to have one in the shed!

rack necklace display

I also like the idea of using a great vintage rack head for some of my long necklaces.  And I just happen to have one of these lying around also.

3 tier display stand

And for my new line of candles, this sectional stand would work great.

Add caption

I already have shutter shelving, but they were somewhat difficult to set up, but these are arranged differently, so I'm going to try it this way.  Of course, I'll need to buy new wood for shelves, but you got to spend money to make money. :0)

So, what do you think?  Do you like any of these ideas?  What do you do for your craft show displays?  I'd love to hear from you, because I am excited, and very nervous. 

Be blessed,

Debbi

What To Do When You're Snowed In?

Besides fight with your kids?

How about taking video's of your cat playing in the snow...

I missed when he was pouncing on a leaf frozen to the ground.

It was pretty funny.

Want to know what else I'm doing?

Setting up my spring/summer/fall craft show schedule.

I love doing craft shows, meeting people, watching them touch and look at my creations.

When it's a good day, they actually purchase something.  :0)

First up?

The Statesville Artisan & Crafters' Spring Expo.

I participated in their fall show last year, and this is a very well organized show.  I'm looking forward to jumping into the craft season with this show.

April 2, 2015 is the first day of 

The Evening Farmers Market

in Pecan Park, 

in historic downtown Statesville, NC.

This market is open every Thursday evening from 4-6, and is a great time.  We have our own balloon man, tons of fresh fruit and veggies, fresh baked goodies, and handcrafted items.

Plus special times of live music.

Then there's the Statesville Arbor Day Celebration...

and The Spring Art Fest at The Coffee Mill....

The Hiddenite Art Festival...

The Taylorsville Apple Festival...

and any other festival I can find within a 75 mile radius of my house.  :0D

I love it when a plan comes together.

Be blessed,

Debbi

The Other Booths at The Last Show

Yesterday I shared with you some photos of my booth at The Artisan Craft Expo.  Today let me show you the other amazing talent that was there...

my Hannah took these pictures, and forgot to get business cards, so I can't tell you who created what...but it was all lovely.

I'm already planning and looking forward to next year!

Be blessed,

Debbi

My Last Show Of The Season

As if November wasn't busy enough, I crazily thought I would enter a few craft shows.  Kind of dip my toes into the water kind of thing to see if I want to jump into the arts and crafts show season next year.  Well, one of the shows was cancelled (I didn't complain) and the other one asked me to bring something other than crochet items.  Now, the majority of items in my shop are crochet, so I spent a week just drawing and coloring cards.  Forget eating, sleeping and showering. lol  Here's a few pictures of my "booth".

Here's an "overview" of my booth.  I had a 10' x 10' space, and since it was indoors I didn't need to worry about the weather, so that was a nice bonus.  Chuck helped me design and create my displays.  Well, it was more like I got an idea then it was "hey Chuck, can you make this?"

And he did.  Love my man!

This is my Rusty Art that I spent the week completing.  I call it "Rusty Art" because my mom's nickname was Rusty, and these are her sketches.  She was a very talented artist, and participated in many shows in NY, most notably, The Allentown Art Festival in Buffalo.  In order to supplement the sales of her larger pieces, she would make these wonderful cartoon pictures for the kids.  My sister and I would help her by filling in the pictures with color, and this is how I learned to use pencils, and pastels, and about the hue and tone and value of color.  When my mom passed, I inherited her sketches, so in her memory, I share her "Rusty Art".

This is one of the display ideas I had that Chuck helped me with, and trust me, we had no idea how to do this.  I saw this in an antique shop and loved the idea and took pictures for future use, but let me tell you, this display is NOT a one-man job. lol.  Trying to hold up the shutter doors while sliding the shelves through was like an old slap stick comedy.  But we got it, and it looked great.  This was for my seasonal items.

The blue rack is the one I usually use for my scarves, but since they didn't want more scarves, I used it for my crochet indian poncho.  I made this several years ago, and love it.  The pattern is very intricate (lots of ends to weave in) and it is done in a suede yarn (which I will never use again).  And it is very HEAVY.  It kept sliding off the rack.  The blanket next to it is a very large star pattern made in a loose crochet pattern.

This was my one and only table, filled with my small items, and business cards.  I had electricity so I was able to show customers my online shop.  I really liked that.

And my last picture for today, the big sellers of the day.  My handpainted gift bags.  I sold out!  Yea me! lol

I displayed them on an old window frame that Chuck added feet and hooks too.  I have another one in the shed waiting for me to remove the glass for more bags and ornaments next year.

I have to say, I really enjoyed doing the show, and I do plan on entering more next year.  Time for me to start saving some money for a tent!

Did you do any shows this year?

Be blessed,

Debbi