Patchwork Show Santa Ana

Today was Patchwork's Spring Show in Santa Ana, California. Here are a few shots of my booth set up and some of the new shibori dyed items I had for sale. (I share a booth so this is my half)

We had a corner spot!

A view down the table.

New shibori dyed zip cosmetic bags.

New shibori dyed silk scarves for sale

Street Fair Find

I went to the street fair yesterday in my town. One vendor who really caught my eye was The Pemberley Woods. Artist Kayla Harris creates remarkable castles and other items from the pages of vintage books. I snapped a shot of one in her booth.

Hand made paper castle by The Pemberley Woods

She also makes paper bouquets, rosettes and garlands. You can purchase one of Kayla's creations on Etsy at her shop here

LA Printer's Fair

Last year I did a post  about the LA Printers Fair at the International Printing Museum. This year, I'll be exhibiting instead of just shopping. If you're a letterpress lover or just a history buff, the museum is a must see. They've got working presses, some over 100 years old, and tons of letterpress equipment including wood type and presses for sale. The fair has not only vendors with finished printed items (I bought cards), but also sellers with supplies (I bought ink in tubes and a wood hammer for knocking my type in place) and misc cool stuff  (I purchased a vintage drawer handle from a Hamilton type cabinet). There are also demonstrations and you can try out some of the presses yourself. Who knows, you could walk away with a nice little table top press (or at least some of my cards).

You can check out the museum website here and info about the fair here. The museum is located in lovely Carson, California just south of LA. The fair is on October 4 from 9 until 4.

Patchwork Long Beach

The last two Sundays were spent at the Patchwork festival. Here are a few pictures of my booth in Long Beach on June 2.

 

I'm getting quite a collection of vintage suitcases. They make excellent displays and I can pack everything up inside for transport and storage.  A trip to Home Depot gave me an easy and inexpensive way to hang my tote bags. A few bungee cords, plastic chain and some carabiners make an easy display.

I have new zip pouches to go with my tote bags. I printed the pouches on my letterpress from some of my linoleum blocks. Now I just have to photograph them and get them in the shop!

Craft Show Display

I love to use vintage suitcases in my show booth. They add height and I can carry product inside. I purchased this suitcase from a fellow vendor at one of my spring shows. It was in sorry shape. The suitcase has cardboard sides and the frame is wood-it probably dates from the 1930's. The paper on the inside was peeling off and the the cardboard was separating from the frame. I thought it would make a perfect display! I peeled off as much of the paper interior as I could, and then re-lined it with kraft paper bags from the grocery store. (I wanted to use cork but wasn't sure if I could glue shelves to it.) My husband kindly cut shelves for me and even glued them in, clamping everything together. I stained and glued on the trim. Now, I have a great display for my smaller collages.

New Promo Postcard

Since I have a craft show tomorrow (Abbot Kinney Street Fair in Venice, CA) I did a new promo postcard to highlight my collages. I created this on the computer using scans of a vintage book cover, vintage wallpaper, old stamps and a shipping tag. The bird illustration I got from the Graphics Fairy (see her blog here) and the butterfly is from Dover (check out their clip art here).

Patchwork Culver City

This past Sunday was the Patchwork show in Culver City, California. Since most of set up was on Saturday, I had time to walk around the show and check out cool stuff. The booth next to me was MandaLanda who did super creative things with vintage books and book pages. Even their booth walls were covered in vintage type. Another eye-catching booth belonged to Make Shop Live who specialized in recycled and repurposed goods like the bottle cap magnets on the left. Cute felted toys filled Jenny Smith's booth. I gave the "Best use of Kraft Paper" to Klai Brown's creative booth. It was the perfect background for her ceramics. Melissa Renzi had a display of her collages and last but not least, this adorable owl onsie® from Random Nicole (one of the fearless leaders of Patchwork!).

Patchwork Santa Ana

Yesterday was the Patchwork craft show in Santa Ana, California. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and the crowds were out. We had a great location in a corner spot.

My booth mate, Gilded Moon sells beautiful jewelry (I bought a pair of earrings at the show last weekend and have my eye on another pair!)

Here's my table stuffed with cards, bookmarks, notepads, paintings and a few more miscellaneous items.

After the last show, I decided our booth needed some jazzing up so I made bunting. I saw bunting on a blog by South African artist Heather Moore (etsy shop skinny laminx) and thought that it looked really quick and easy, which it was. At a local quilt shop, I purchased for $10 a pack of 42 pre-cut pieces (Moda, California Girl) with the edges pinked. I simply cut each piece down the middle and had enough pieces for 3 strands of bunting. I pinned and sewed the fabric onto 12 foot lengths of twill ribbon. It was an easy one night project. Here's the result:

I like to walk around the show and check out everyone's booth and product but I rarely have the chance. Before the show opened I snapped a few pictures as people were setting up. Here are a few of my favorite items and displays. 1. Beautiful necklace made from vintage parts by Bazaar Latino (I purchased one from her etsy shop just last week)

2. Eye catching display from Bazaar Latino's booth mate Hephzi Creations. I love the way she lined the vintage suitcases with fabric to display her jewelry.

3. Huggable dolls from Imaginery Friend. (You can reach her at Girlalwaysfallin@aol.com)

4. Cool things made from vintage items- like these paper art dolls. I love the one in the middle with the sheet music skirt (darn, I think she sold!) These are from You Are It and you can see more at www.sewsweetnsimple.wordpress.com and at missvickyb.blogspot.com.

Two weeks until Patchwork Culver City! More show inspiration to report then.

Craft Show Product

Since my first craft show of the year (Patchwork Long Beach) is this coming Sunday, I thought I'd make some items using my new collages. I've done 6 different note cards, and a few decorated Moleskines with matching bookmarks which will be sold as a set. If they do well at the show, they'll debut in my Etsy shop in a few weeks.

Patchwork Culver City

I've just finished up 2 weekends of craft shows. Patchwork Long Beach was a wet and soggy day but the sun came out about 11 and so did the crowds. I didn't bring my camera because it was pouring rain when I left my house. It was supposed to rain the following weekend for Patchwork Culver City but the weather was beautiful and we were all indoors. My booth was right inside the door from where the food trucks parked so the smells were fantastic all day. I had to indulge in some fries from Fresh Fries who serve up things like sweet potato fries with nutella and peanut butter and "Curry Crazy" fries with curry mayo and mango chutney. You can follow them on twitter here

I had some new displays in my booth that I purchased from my local Borders Bookstore when they went out of business. The wood shelves are great but weigh a ton! The vintage suitcases from my favorite local thrift shop came in handy because they gave my display some height and I stuffed them with product for transport.

Patchwork Show-Long Beach

Here are some pictures of my booth at the Patchwork show. I had a great corner spot. These photos were taken before the wind picked up and started to blow everything over. I spent most of the show chasing cards across the parking lot and picking up my canvases. All in all though, it was an excellent day.

My lovely corner spot


Lots of product to sell


A rare shot of me in the booth


New collages for the show using type and vintage documents.

More Patchwork

Exhibiting at craft shows means you meet some really nice vendors and see some really cute booths and product. Here are a few of the booths around me at the Long Beach show.

Pretty Paris had a booth that reminded me of a pastry shop full of tasty bonbons


Relight made soy candles in recycled glassware and their booth had a retro flare


Chabuki had super cute clothes for baby