Runs on Coffee and Cream

My first vendor show in years is on April 23rd. I'm so excited but also a little nervous. I always found vendor shows inspired me. I'd be overstimulated and exhausted by the end of the day, but I'd have so many ideas and plans in my head for my next projects and shows. 

I've been sewing at a slower pace than I used to but this is because of 1. kids and 2. avoiding burnout. It's working out though. I enjoy disappearing to my sewing room and creating. I'm also loving finding amazing fabric again. 

Anyone else a Gilmore Girls fan?

One of the things I love about being off work? I can attend all those weekend events that happen around the city. Working retail typically means you work all weekend, every weekend. There's always local craft shows I want to check out but I'm at work.

Not anymore!

A couple of Saturdays ago I did errands in the city with Emma. We made our way downtown and hit up the Makers North: The Spring Show late in the afternoon. Going to the event with a stroller made me realize I'd probably be a pain in the butt taking over a lot of space. So I figured going later in the day made the most sense since craft shows die off towards the end. There'd be more space for me!


I wanted to buy from pretty much every vendor. I think if it was closer to Christmas and I had gifts to buy for, I would have walked out with a lot more than I did. There were amazing smelling soy candles, personalized wine glasses and wool socks, adorable prints for the wall, handmade jewelry, and baby clothes.


The items I bought were ones I was eyeing up prior to the event. Things that I spotted on Instagram and Facebook.

The first was a pillow from Penny Goods. I had been eyeing up the dinosaur pillow before the event but after seeing pictures of their set up from the start of The Spring Show, I'm kicking myself I didn't go earlier. I clearly needed to buy Emma the big orange cat pillow. But luckily, I can just watch for them to do another local craft show and buy her another pillow!




I also bought a couple of hair bows from Alfie + Iris. I completely fell in love with them when I found their Instagram. Their bows are so pretty. And the material... ugh! As a fellow fabric addict, I want all the hair bows because of the fabric! They use gorgeous vintage-looking fabrics. I'm a little mad I didn't pick up their new Malibu Barbie-looking print bow. But again, maybe at their next show.


And because I was hungry and they actually had product left, I went home with 2 donuts from Beards Bakery! We try to visit their bakery regularly to try new things and they were set up at the show across from a friend's booth, so it was fate!


Whether I apply for future Makers North shows this year or not, I'll definitely attend them to do some shopping and to check out the local vendors. The feeling at these shows is so energetic and they inspire the crap out of me. I leave them with creativity bursting from me. It helps keep me in check when preparing for my own craft shows that I'm vending at.

Speaking of which, I'm off to cut out some new projects for my next show!

xo Jen

This past weekend was the Holiday Makers' Market here in Hamilton. It was a wonderful day and there was definitely a festive vibe throughout the church. The traffic was really steady for most of the day and sales were great. I loved selling some of my geek pillowcases (Spider-man, TMNT, Batman) that I know will be Christmas gifts. And once again, my kitty kickers sold really well. I hope they made some kitties happy!

I was able to pick up a couple of Christmas gifts as well and it was nice seeing all the other talented vendors there.

My table:






Inside the church:




It feels strange that this was my last show for 2012 and for a few months probably. Between August (Fan Expo) and December I always have a steady stream of craft shows so I always feel a little lost when my next show isn't for a few months. But in reality, I really need the time off to start building inventory for the upcoming comic conventions in 2012.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!
xo Jen

This upcoming Saturday is the Holiday Makers' Market. It's a local show that I have participated in for a few years now. The Makers' Market is apart of the monthly Art Crawls and the Supercrawl in Hamilton and then they do a couple of holiday shows. It's a fun show. Being inside the church with other talented vendors provides such a festive feeling. And this year they're having some food trucks parked outside!




To advertise for this show, there was a section in The Hamilton Spectator, our local newspaper, that showcased some of the handmade items that would be at the show and my tote bags were one of the items picked!




They also did a small interview segment on the CHCH Morning Live show:
http://www.chch.com/index.php/morning-live-blog/item/10561-christmas-gift-ideas-from-the-makers-market

If you're in the area, come check out the show and shop handmade this holiday season!!

xo Jen

This past Friday night was the last James North Art Crawl of the season. It was absolutely freezing that night. Luckily, I was able to borrow some gloves from a friend and I picked up a white hot chocolate on the drive home to help me warm up.

It was a decent evening. There was quite a lot of people out considering how cold it was (there was a frost warning too). But I was happy when it came time to pack up so I could get home.


My basic set-up for the night.



Some interesting people walking around.


My next show isn't until December 1st which gives me time to stock up on some new items, especially stockings. I'll be updating Etsy this week with new tote bags so keep an eye out for them!

xo Jen

This past weekend was so busy for me. It went by pretty quickly. Friday night and all day Saturday was Supercrawl, which is this awesome art and music festival that goes on in Hamilton. They shut down a street, all the galleries are open, stages are set up throughout the street and there's craft and food vendors everywhere. It's a pretty awesome time. Because I didn't know if we were moving back to Hamilton, I never signed up for this show. But luckily I was able to squeeze in. Only for the Friday evening, though, since I had family plans for Saturday. The weather was perfect since the rain stopped in the late afternoon and I had a great night!

My booth had some of the courtyard's garden in it, so I had my table set up a little awkwardly.




It was absolutely packed for most of the night. And for the second year in a row, Said the Whale played right near us so I was able to dance and sing along from my booth.

Saturday was an incredibly long day. We set up a garage sale with my Dad at my parents' place pretty early in the morning. And then by lunch time I was on the road with a few ladies heading to Toronto for TIFF. Every year we go scope out the celebrities up in Yorkville. We've been lucky in the past and have seen some really cool celebrities (Emily Blunt, Emma Stone, Colin Firth, Jon Hamm, Gerard Butler). This year was very different. It seemed like we walked everywhere in Toronto, but we didn't see many celebrities. It was a little disappointing but we still had a fun time.

The highlight of the day was seeing Maggie Smith.

By chance, we just saw her come out of her hotel to catch a cab. Luckily my Aunt yelled her name and she gave us a smile and wave. I was so excited after seeing her.

We also saw Colin and Justin at some TIFF event going on. I had no idea who they are, except that they're decorators. My Mom and Aunt were pretty excited to see them though.

We also spotted Spencer Rice (from Kenny vs. Spenny) out front of a hotel. He ended up coming over to us and we got a picture with him (my Mom has this photo). He was pretty funny and it was nice of him to come talk to us.
 

Days later, and I'm still sore and stiff from all the walking we did Saturday and the lack of sleep I had over the weekend. I wish I could say this upcoming weekend will be less busy but the way life is right now, I doubt it!

I hope you're having a great week!
xo Jen

Fan Expo Canada is over and now it's time to get ready for a few Fall and Holiday shows! I have a few projects in mind that I'm excited to start working on. I will be slowly updating my Etsy shop over the next week or so with new items.

And right now I'm having a sale in the shop: Get 15% off using the coupon code: MOVINGSALE

My next craft show is the Waterdown Fall Artisan & Craft Show at the end of the month. It'll be nice to do a small, local show again. Definitely come check it out if you're nearby!

 

I had quite the busy weekend on my end. I'm looking forward to getting into bed shortly and reading. I have a few errands to do tomorrow but I'm excited to have some time off to take some Etsy photos and start on some new pouches.

xo Jen

Last weekend was the Holiday Makers' Market in Hamilton. It was a great day and very successful for me. The church was pretty busy all day which was nice to see. It seemed like most vendors did well and all the visitors seemed quite talkative and in a positive mind set so that was motivating.
I apologize in advance for my photos. The church seemed bright enough to not use my flash on my camera, but photos still came out a bit blurry. And then when we did use the flash everything was washed out... I guess it's just this time of year when days can be very grey.


My table!


My table and purse rack. You can see my helper peeking through the shelving too!





Megan made me a sign for my pillowcases!


The church is beautiful inside!


Blurry!!



It looks like my next show will be Wizard Comic Con in April which gives me a few months to restock. It'd be nice to do a smaller show before then because April seems so far away... either way I can concentrate on etsy and continue working on some other craft ideas I have.

xo Jen

This past Saturday was Supercrawl in Hamilton. It was an amazing day and insanely busy. They blocked off part of James Street and there were vendors set up everywhere and they had a few different stages set up. It was a beautiful day out so it was great that the festival started at 2 p.m. There were some great bands playing the show and I was able to listen to music all day. I loved that I could hear Said the Whale from my booth in the evening. And then while I packed up my booth I was able to dance to Broken Social Scene.

My booth...
 

My helper for the day...
 
Megan, my youngest cousin, has been attending craft shows with me for a while now. We have a lot of fun at the shows together. It's cute watching her take over the booth - she straightens up my table and makes change for me. It's a lot of fun having her there. The whole afternoon she was eyeing up some of the cute plush at Needlings' table. She had to buy a couple of Littles.


I'm looking forward to Supercrawl 2012 now. It can only get better and I'm excited to see what bands they bring in next year.

xo
Jen