Silver Lake Art Craft & Vintage this weekend!

This weekend I'll be at my first LA craft fair, the Silver Lake Art Craft & Vintage. 

If you're local, I'd love to see you! 

This weekend in Saline...

This weekend at the Saline Summerfest...

I hung out under my red umbrella. My mom told me she almost put up on her facebook to "Visit Katie in her red tent!" before realizing that might not be the best turn of phrase...

Also - check out my new banner hanging behind me. Exciting stuff. 

I took part in a collaboration with my fellow vendor - You Look Delicious. Lookit that Man-Eating Arctic Unicorn wearing one of my mustaches!

We came up with a new hanging brooch display. Later we backed it with white paper, and I think it worked quite well.

Many people admired the huuuuge mustache... but no one purchased it. I'm sure it will find its way to a happy home soon.

I came up with a new brooch design. This one has been in the works for awhile, so I'm glad it's finally realized.

I hung out with my sister a lot, due to her manning the 212 Arts Center booth, which was just two down from me. She bought me a frozen hot chocolate when I was covered with sweat, so I pretty much owe her my life.

I made two purchases - a pretty quilted pouch from Hip To Piece Squares and a beach glass ring from Annie O'Kane. I love both!

More Craft Fair Fun: Saline Summerfest

I've been a busy bee, prepping for my second craft fair.

I'll be heading to my hometown of Saline, Michigan for the Saline Summerfest. It starts tomorrow, August 5th, from 5pm to 9pm and continues on Saturday, August 6th, from 10am to 8pm. If you're in the area, come out and see me!

I created a few new things for this fair - can you spy a giant mustache?

This little school of fish are my favorites, though. 

10 Things I learned from My First Craft Fair

Helloooo! 

1. Don't be afraid to talk to people. Some people want to talk while shopping, and some don't. I found that a simple greeting made it easy for me to gauge people's interest and help them shop if needed. Also - I was a little nervous that someone might steal my stuff, and greeting people is a deterrent. And talk to the other merchants! Everyone seemed distant at first, but I was really glad that I made the leap to chat with them - we made friends with the ceramic artist next door!

2. Get a dolly. No more lifting for me - my shoulders are killing me. 

Like father, like daughter. And there's Meghan in the background. 

3. Family is invaluable. My whole family came to help this weekend and keep me company. My sister, Meghan, drove in on Thursday and stayed through Monday. She made me a new logo, hand-wrote all my signs, drank beers with me and did a lot of the heavy lifting (literally). When things got a little slow on Sunday, we traded off leaving the booth and shopping. Who else would do this but family? Sidenote: we both fell off our chairs within a 24 hour period - Meghan on Sunday night, me on Monday at the yarn store. Yup, we were tired. 

4. Have one awesome thing that catches the eye and draws people in. For me, it was the "Mounted Curios" display. People would laugh and point, and then they would come and look at the rest of my stuff. One kid even walked toward it like a zombie, chanting "mustachesssss." I think next time I'll make one giant mustache and see how it goes!

5. Branding is awesome... to a point. So many people commented on the "brand" of my little booth. There were lots of "cute" comments and I was the only red tent on the street (Under the Red Umbrella-tent!). Turns out there's a reason for that - red tent means the light looks red, which means your merch looks weird. At least I looked less pale?

6. The tent is not waterproof. Luckily it only sprinkled for about a half hour on Sunday morning. Whoops. 

7. Practice your set-up beforehand. I set up my table at home beforehand, and took a picture for reference. At the fair, I was able to get the table up in 10 minutes! 

8. Square is a lifesaver. If you're thinking of getting into small business, go for this card reader. It works with your phone, and takes a small percentage of your transactions, but the best part is the app it comes with. You can manage cash and credit card transactions, easily calculate sales tax and take pictures of your sold items. Very useful!

9. People either love or hate the mannequin head. Little girls kept petting that blonde wig, and some people were outright afraid of it. Meghan and I named her Lulu.

10. Relax a bit and have fun. On Saturday I was a ball of nerves and only left the tent for about 10 minutes. But on Sunday, I was feeling a little more relaxed and took some time to step outside the tent, do a little shopping, and eat a corn dog, and I had a much better time because of it. It's a fair - have fun!

photos from the craft fair

Well - I did it. I went. People looked. I sold. I'll do a word-y post tomorrow, but in the mean time, a few iphone photos from the craft fair:

And a few butterbeers for good measure...

Craft Fair Prep = Intense

The past week has been a little crazy with craft fair preparations. As I mentioned last week, I had to take a surprise trip to Michigan, which interrupted my crafting schedule. After that, I hosted a bachelorette weekend for my friend, Lizz, who is getting married in September. 

So Sunday afternoon, I was ready to get back in the studio, and came up with two new products: a cuff-style bracelet, and some fascinator headbands. 

Bracelets in progress

My sister, Meghan, is coming to Chicago tomorrow to help me out. She is a wonderful photographer, so better pictures are to come, but in the mean time, I thought I'd share some peeks at what my desk looks like. A bit trashed, but for good reason - bracelet making!

And here's one of my headband designs on my awesome model. She looks good, right? I actually think that glass head is really creepy, but maybe the sunglasses help the creep factor? Or do they add to it?

Side note: sometimes I actually wear that wig. Yup. 

Chris built me an easel to display all my mounted plaques and embroideries, and I painted it with chalkboard paint. I think once everything is hung up, it will look really cute. 

So things are looking good! Once again, the craft fair - Custer's Last Stand Festival - is this Saturday and Sunday in Evanston, so if anyone is in the area and wants to come say "Hi," I'd love to see you!

Ps. Thank you to everyone who has left me comments over the past two weeks - due to a crazy schedule, I haven't responded, but please know they are appreciated! You guys are the best!

Craft Fairs, oh my!

A few weeks ago, I happened upon an awesome chance to apply for the Custer's Last Stand Festival of the Arts, a huge street fair held in Evanston, IL, just north of Chicago. You may remember Evanston as the setting of your favorite teen comedy, Mean Girls. No? Just me?

Well, I was accepted to the craft fair portion, which means - I will be participating in my very first craft fair! I'm really excited, and I'm crafting non-stop, including a lot of new things, like those tiny mounted bunnies, owls and hearts above.

And of course - mustaches in many sizes and shapes. I've ordered a tent and decided that I should "get into" this whole craft fair thing. So stay tuned for more craft fair updates between now and June 18th & 19th!

The Renegade Run-Down

This weekend was the craft fair to top all craft fairs - The Renegade Craft Fair! I hit it up on Saturday when the weather was less than stellar - cold and rainy - but that meant that we got to the photo booth first! I saw a lot of inspiring stuff, but took home a surprisingly small haul:

I finally got my hands on a small print from Berkley Illustration, and my impulse purchase was that adorable little fawn cup from Soda by Amy. I bought a few other things, but they're gifts, and therefore must remain in a secret chamber until the time of giving. 

Part of the fun of Renegade is getting to meet all my favorite bloggers & etsy-ers. I met Elsie from A Beautiful Mess and Katie from Skunkboy Creatures. They were super sweet and took a picture with me. 

I had a funny chat with Megan from The Binding Bee about how cool it is to be featured on Etsy - but how people in 'the real word' don't quite understand. She was just interviewed for the "Quit Your Day Job" feature, and I think Chris was coveting one of her lovely hand-bound journals. 

I also grabbed a lot of business cards, but this one from Soda by Amy was by far my favorite. It's a little ceramic coin stamped with her info, and it really caught my attention. Amy joked that it was her best-selling item!

There is another renegade craft fair just before the holidays, and I am excited to see the differences between the two fairs. I have to admit that this trip was part reconnaissance - I hope to be a vendor some day. A girl can dream!