craft fairs

Craft News

/ Andrea / Leave a comment

Please help me welcome – Inspired For You – to WordPress.

Inspired For You is a multi business establishment that has over 40 local artists under one roof in our city. They now all come together under one WordPress roof.

This site is still a bit under construction, but it has a good start in showcasing all the different Blog sites, Facebook pages, individual websites and Etsy pages each artist belongs too. For those who do not have a site of their own, they will have their own feature page .

Now after the store’s first Open House last week, we are gearing up for the holidays.

So stop in from time to time and visit our artist family. Sign up for blog updates, view and Like the artist Facebook pages located in the horizontal menu at Inspired For You. Click on the Products tab and see a small sample of products sold in the store. Also visit Inspired For You – Facebook page and see the newest artist or featured sale.

New Additions

/ Andrea / 1 Comment

Over the weekend I have added a few new pages for greater ease of use.

The first is the addition of craft show pictures that were taken in the last two months. I know that the tent pictures pretty much look the same but in a different location.

The second was the simplifying of the Contact page.  This way it should be easier to  make a statement or ask a question. I had originally made it to cover everything.

Now there are two Custom Order pages; one for macrame purse quotes/orders and the other is for crochet market bags.

Here anyone will be able to receive a price quote based on the information filled in. You input specifications of what you would like to see in a macrame purse of your own.  I will send you a price by email including the shipping charge. There is a separate form for crochet market bags made from yarn.

To begin the process, take a peek at the gallery page of purse styles that I have made before. Then click on the available colors tab to choose what you like. Other things to consider; strap length,  flex frame  opening and what size opening frame you would need along with the purse body size.

If you have any questions about this, please Contact me and I would be more than happy to help you.

Thank you.

Harvest and Wine Fest-Cedarburg, WI 2012-Day 1

/ Andrea / Leave a comment

I love craft fairs.I really enjoy matching the item for sale with the purchaser. When you have sold an item to the right person, it is a wonderful feeling. It makes what you do more fun and causes you to go on and create more.

At first, this fest was very intimidating. It is one of the larger festivals that Cedarburg has in the city and they are very organized. You must be juried in by one of three organizations for a space in their imprint. The festival runs two days and boy are there the vendors and more than enough people visiting to accommodate all of them.
At the beginning of this day, I met a wonderful woman. She and her daughter came early, but the first time I saw her, she came to my booth by herself in her wheelchair and looked around.

She found this purse and asked to look at it. She said that she would have to consider it. She asked a few questions and one of them was if I made the items myself. I told her that I did and in fact, I had finished the one she was looking at the night before the festival. That was the start of a really fun experience.

She went away for about an hour, but returned with her daughter guiding her through the crowd. The daughter told me they were there to see the purse mom was interested in. Again they left to consider it, but not more that 15 minutes later they returned to purchase it. I asked her if I could put it into a bag for her and she said, “No, I am going to wear it out today. It is my favorite color.” She held it up to herself, showing that she was wearing an outfit with the same color.

That type of connection with people is the very reason why I continue to try and think of new things to share with others.

I can’t wait to see what the second day of the Harvest and Wine Fest in Cedarburg brings.

Until next time,

Be creative!

Macrame Walls

/ Andrea / 8 Comments

This is so cool, even if I do say so myself.I have had this idea for about 9 months.

I needed a better way to display purses at craft shows and art fairs.
Last year we toted 4’x8’sheets of plastic lattice panels and long pieces of wood to screw them to (see craft show tab). It was great to use hooks on the lattice to hang each purse and be able to move them around as they sold. But I wanted something uniform and befitting the theme of Macrame. I can still use the same hooks, they just sit on top of each square knot for strength.

To this picture, I will be adding one macrame plant hanger, with fake plant, in each corner. This is for a little bit of a joke. Because every craft fair I go to, at least 10 people make fun of them. They will not be for sale, but just as an accent to add to the theme.

There is about 3,700 feet of clothes line for these three panels. You should have seen the man in the check out aisle behind us when we purchased 39-100 foot bundles; we took two back. He had to ask what the heck we were doing. As a matter-of-fact he stopped by the venue to see the finished work as he had promised; he was impressed.

Here is a trick my husband picked up at todays venue for the bottom. He will be bolting the legs to ten foot panels to keep the legs straight and we will loop two tiny bungy straps (one on each side)between the bottom of each wall to the wood frame with eyelet screws (not shown) to keep the panels straight.

I am sending out applications for just two craft fairs this summer and I can not wait to set this up.

Not only does it look nice, but it is very easy to transport. They are held up with a bungy strap on each side at the top and when you are finished with them, just roll them up and put it into the back of the pickup track. The wood boards will be held together with lag bolts and wing nuts; easy to set up and take down. They will fit along side the rolled walls and the pop up tent.

Incidentally, before we took down the walls, I had another idea to use this same pattern for a hammock; just a little shorter width and a little longer length. I’ll get back to you on this; I’m still working out the details. Tell me what you think.

As always, be creative!