So, it took me long enough, but this is the final installment of the No Coast Craft-o-Rama review. Finally! Phew. I hope you've enjoyed and have found a bunch of new Minnesotan and regional indie talent!
Remember that these are in no particular order other than the order in which I pulled their business card out of my bag.
BUTTONPOM | Buttonpom's pleated handbags are incredibly chic and sophisticated while still being fun. I've absolutely fallen in love with this one, which is available on their Etsy site.
GERRI JO | I've already found my stocking stuffers and mini birthday gifts for the next year in Gerri Jo's cute little plastic charm necklaces. Each has its own little story, and my favorite designs are the sweet little blushing acorn (aww!) and the teapot.
BIGGIE HANDMADE GOODS | Handsewn and screenprinted, the bags at Biggie Handmade are a lot of fun. I really like that there's always a pattern on there to give it some punch, but I also appreciate the white space since too much of some of the patterns may get a little too busy. The raindrop design is probably my favorite - the color choices are great and work well together to pop.
Hello, slowpoke! Sorry this is taking forever to get completely up. The holidays - between wrapping and shipping - are taking all of my non-work time so I've been having a hard time scheduling posts as I usually do the night before. I even missed celebrating TTAH's one year birthday on Monday, so yes, a busy bee I am!
Remember that these are in no particular order other than the order in which I pulled their business card out of my bag.
GREEN LANTERN GLASS | I loved Green Lantern's pendants at the fair, but when I checked out their website, I was fawning over their stained glass. I love the modern patterns and beautiful colors that I think make an antique art new and hip again.
HARRILU | I struggled with this one. Remember in my last recap post I mentioned I was strictly shopping for ONLY other people? Harrilu came near the end, when I was doing so well, and the shirt above nearly made me break my rule which I had been so wonderfully observing. I picked it up off the rack and put it back down about five times before the logical part of me realized I could just buy it later online, when it started getting warm enough to really get some good use out of it (because, in my opinion, this shirt deserves its share of "strut" time...). You will be mine!
MISS AMY JO | I blew the most amount of money at Miss Amy Jo's stand. I purchased a great number of her gig posters (remember, Devon and I collect them) for Devon's holiday present, and I grabbed her awesome 2008 calendar (above) for myself since my office needed cheering up. Yes, I know. I ultimately broke my rule... but it was for a good cause! My office was looking so dreary... seriously...
MONSTER FASHION | I didn't pick up anything here, but Roxanne, our friend and craft fair companion extraordinaire, did. The wallets were super cute, and if I hadn't already purchased something for the one person on my list one of these would be perfect for, I would have picked one up in a heartbeat. I love the little whale!
So unfortunately I was not able to take pictures of the fair itself, but I hoarded business cards like crazy at all my favorite booths so I could faithfully report back to you all. The card for my digital camera has disappeared to the Land of Missing Left Socks, so I need to find a new one. Considering that my fiance and I never remove the card, I must admit I'm rather perplexed as to how it magically went poof, but I suppose that's how the Land of Missing Left Socks works.
Anyway, on to the recap. Overall, the fair was a lot of fun, but I wasn't as blown away as I hoped to be. There was a lot of overlap between booths, and though bottle cap magnets are cool, four stands with them that are also sitting next to each other? Slightly redundant. The map around the Midtown Global Market wasn't as efficiently designed as it could have been - my shopping group eventually gave up trying to read it and just wandered aimlessly, possibly missing some cool stuff. On the positive side, the turnout was great despite the rather unfortunately snowy weather. The quality of the craft in the work was great overall (there will always be a few exceptions), every vendor was very kind, professional and helpful, and I was exposed to a lot of businesses locally that I'd never heard of before (as well as my local favorites). We went through the fair in about two hours, which was perfect since we got there early and left just as the snow storm was starting to get really bad.
Here's the beginning of my "Best of" list. There's a lot, but there were also over a hundred vendors, so I'll be breaking this up in pieces. They're in no particular order other than the order in which I pulled their business card out of my bag.
ADAM TURMAN | Adam has a lot of great silkscreened gig posters. Devon and I love poster design, and we actually collect gig posters. We couldn't agree on a poster at Adam's stand since I loved the one above as well as his cityscapes, and Devon liked a poster of a girl with flowers, so we didn't end up with any. Since they're incredibly afforable (all of the posters I saw there were $25), I'm planning on picking up a couple once the holidays are over and done with.
ARMATO DESIGN | I don't think I've featured them on this blog yet, but I've known about Armato for a while and have really liked their stuff. I purchased the set of six pine tree cards (top) on white rather than blue stock for $14, and it's my official holiday card this year. It's even more attractive in person, and I'm in love with them and selfishly wish I could address them all to myself. I also picked up a gift card enclosure which is not available on their website to add a little more unique flair to one of the many Target gift cards on my list this year. The bridal shower invite (below also caught my eye at the fair, but alas! As I know nobody who is getting married besides myself, I couldn't dream up an excuse to purchase it.
LEMONADE BAGS | While I hadn't been to their site before, the name sounded familiar so I took a more thorough look at their stock. Probably the best part of the bags is the great selection of patterend fabrics that are used throughout the collection. Generally I'll find a format bag I like but can never find the right color or pattern to fit, but they were all cute. It was a good thing I was very strict and bought only for others, or I would have "accidentally" purchased a bag for myself.
PAPERED TOGETHER | My longstanding local favorite was there at the show, and I was delighted to see their full range in person. (And, by the way, their business card is flat out the cutest thing ever. I'll have to remind myself to scan it.) I was planning to originally make their holiday card pack my official holiday card, but Armato won because it had one edge on Papered Together: with the exception of one person, my entire holiday list is composed of Jews. What can I say, I grew up on Long Island. "Merry and Bright" doesn't work so well as a basic, pretty pine tree.
PINK SPARROW | My boss has been wearing a version of Pink Sparrow's adorable little felt owl (left) for a while now, and it's so cute that it always puts a smile on my face when I see it. Their booth was another case where it was good I had limited myself to only buying for others, or I probably would have gone crazy buying several variations of their skull and cross bones (right) and flower bouquets.
RECTANGLE DESIGNS | At the show, there was a variety of pillows I was really drawn to that I unhappily found were not available online. The online shop did, however, have the shirts that I found there - all incredibly desirable from the color selection to the design, but a bit too far out of my price range for a tee shirt. (Doesn't mean it's still pretty to look at though!) This design is from the Super Natural collection and sells for $48.
I am incredibly excited for this weekend's No Coast Craft-O-Rama. It'll be my first time going, as I sadly didn't know about it last year, but some of my favorite locals are going to be there (including Papered Together and Fantastic Toys), so it promises to be good! If you're in the area (Chicago folks, I know you can make it!), I highly encourage you to come out! I'm planning on (and hopefully will) take a lot of photos so come Monday, if you aren't lucky enough to get there, you can at least see what was going on!
I've been finding a lot of local finds in Minneapolis and the state in general, so I thought I'd just compile them all together into one bigger post about my (still relatively) new home base state.
Various Opportunities
Letterpress Internships Available at Lunalux: The local mother of all letterpress studios is looking for some interns who are interested in getting their hands dirty while learning about the beauty of letterpress. Located nearby me in the Loring Park neighborhood, it's easily accessible, and well, it's a chance to get on a press!
No Coast Craft-o-Rama Vendor Applications Now Online: Unfortunately, I didn't hear about this festival until (sigh)) two weeks after it had happened last year. I plan to be there this year with camera in hand, ready to blog! If you're in the area or ever wanted to see what the Twin Cities was like (because, you know, I'm sure it's every kid's dream, along with one day becoming a fire fighter...), it's a great opportunity to sell and get exposure! Let me know if you'll be there, and I'll definitely make a point of stopping by!
Notable Etsy Shops from Minnesotan Crafters
Papered Together: I think it's blatantly obvious by now that I'm a big letterpress fan girl. I just found out Papered Together is run by a local gal by the name of Krista. I had been planning on writing about the Etsy shop for some time now, but being that it is me we're talking about, I forgot (oops!). Here's the opportunity! Very cute stuff.
Pink Sparrow: The credit on this one goes to my boss. She came in with the most adorable felt owl pin the other day, and I scoured Etsy until I found the gal she bought it from - no easy feat when all you have to go on is that the crafter's from Minnesota and that it was, well, a felt pin. The Pink Sparrow stock is dwindling down, however - not surprising considering how cute the pins are - so I cruised through a bunch of sold items, and I think my boss may have started a trend. I probably will be sending her a convo to see if she can recreate some of the super cute stuff she's made in the past.
With Remote: Pretty cool graphic silkscreen prints.
I am very pleased to announce Bright Ideas week at Try This at Home. Bright Ideas is a launch for us (which we plan to continue annually). It is a week of inspirational resources and will
feature interesting product, informative books and websites, and
interviews from people in those fields in the craft community about
their process and their inspiration. Each day during the week will be dedicated to a different industry (or a combination of two related industries), and all posts will fall under that area. It's definitely a week to watch!
What's the schedule looking like? Here's what's mapped out:
June 17th: Blogs and Community June 18th: Jewelry June 19th: Accessories and Clothing June 20th: Paper Goods June 21th: Bath and Body June 22nd: Home June 23rd: Other Crafts
Soooo... WHAT? Four years in Providence, Rhode Island, and I never saw or heard of Providence Open Market? What kind of craft fanatic/RISD student was I? Someone please tell me this is the first year they're doing it. Please. Someone. I mean, I can't even excuse it by saying, "Well, I wasn't there over the summer!" because I was on multiple occasions for the weekend, and it runs into October. Whatever. Either way, here's to Cianci (yo Buddy! I hear you're out!) or Cicilline, or whichever of those snazzy mayors gave this the thumbs up.
On the bright side, I'll redeem myself this summer. Devon and I have been severely craving some Bob and Timmy's (dinner) and Pastiche (ohmygoodness dessert) on Federal Hill, so we're going back to the East Coast to indulge. Oh yeah, and see my family and his sisters, too when we swing down to New York. Now that I've found out about this amazing little bit of yumminess in downtown, I may have to schedule an extra day in. If you're in the area, definitely check it out for me, and give me a report!
One of the great things about working in a creative field is that it's easy to find people who appreciate the art of making things like you do. My coworker buddies Jessica (product designer) and Roxanne (graphic designer on my team who also happens to be a fabulous catsitter) are certainly no exception. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but I believe the idea sprang after a conversation about Etsy with Roxanne. While in art school we had both dabbled in crafts, but nothing serious - though we both thought Etsy was a great opportunity for us. Suddenly, the conversation shifted to crafting together and seeing if our friend Jessica was interested. Our little Craft Collective was born (or so I'm calling it, for now). This Sunday is our first little "meeting", and we'll work and inspire and help one another for three or four hours over a movie and perhaps a fantastic variety of snacks. Yummy.
The excitement over this, combined with my boyfriend's nearly incessant jokes over me suddenly "going Grandma" made me think: if the "make it / make it mine" attitude is becoming such a huge culture trend now, can't we redefine the idea of the craft circle? Certainly Etsy is helping to change the face of crafting from the ground up. With more buyers and sellers registering daily, I can't help but think of the new "craft circle" as a tool for the crafter that works similarly to the group critique of a fine artist. It's an opportunity to explore ways to improve your work and bounce ideas off of each other while in a relaxed social atmosphere.
Since I'm overflowing with ideas for my own little circle, here are some I'd love to share to inspire you to start up your own group!
Meet weekly or biweekly. To keep it fair, rotate houses or apartments so one person isn't always playing host.
Keep it social. Even if you're crafting for business, it's a great opportunity to take some time out and make new friends and get to know old friends better. We're crafting over some snacks and a movie (I'll probably suggest the BBC's Pride and Prejudice - after all, we do have a decent chunk of time set aside, and I've told Roxanne repeatedly she has to watch it. Mmmm, Colin Firth...).
Share ideas and resources. I've pitched the idea that we share a "supply bucket" that we can all chip in for to keep our mutual costs down - it could contain anything from PVA glues to scissors to wire cutters. I'm also taking out my Gocco to share so we can all print business cards... but that's after we decide our line names, of course.
If you don't sell through the same Etsy store, find another webspace where you can come together as a group to display all of your work and link to it on your Etsy profiles. This will get you the most cross-advertising for yourself and your other circle friends.
I'll definitely have more knowledge to impart once we get things going ourselves. I'll definitely keep everyone updated!
You don't need to shop Etsy more than once to know that art schools and programs are giving us some of the best new independent artists and designers that our community has to offer. Thanks to Grace at Design*Sponge (one of my few regular stops on the internet), the community gets to give back by offering a remarkable new scholarship (and when you're a student, you know that every penny counts!). Applications are being accepted until March 15, 2007. For rules and how to enter, or to donate money to the scholarship, see the D*S Scholarship page.
Note: Apologies to the readers that I haven't posted for the past few days. For personal reasons, this week is a very important one to me and my family, and I am trying to scale back my activities at home accordingly. To make up for it, I'm planning on multiple posts today! Thanks for your understanding.
What's in the Try This at Home Reading Room this month? Here are our May recommendations, powered by Amazon.com!
You don't need to shop Etsy more than once to know that art schools and programs are giving us some of the best new independent artists and designers that our community has to offer. Thanks to Grace at 
